Aurora

The Lake of Shadows and Songs stretched out in front of us for miles upon miles. Its water was strangely unfrozen, strangely uncovered by snow and very blue-green, as if we'd all of a sudden stepped into some tropical land. I swallowed and looked at Adrian. "You say you have been in this forest many times but you have never stumbled across this lake? It is enormous, surely you must have seen it before." I knew my voice held impatience, but I could feel that Adrian was just as frustrated. He passed a look to me, it was not particularly annoyed, however, it was not sympathetic in the slightest.

"Maybe I have seen it. If I have, I do not remember. I rarely came this way, and when I did come, I came as a wolf in a procession with my father, who knows these woods like his own heart. He and his guards guided us around the lake, I'm sure. We are much faster that way. And I would offer to become a wolf and go around myself but I see that as futile since I have sworn my allegiance to you and unless you have some wolf blood in you, you cannot become any faster. No matter how fast you can run," Adrian added with a smirk when I opened my mouth. He must have known I was about to retort that I was quite a fast runner, thank-you-very-much. "I suppose we simply start walking around. We will lose precious time; I can see no alternative route, however." And that was that. There was nothing else to do. We gave each other one more look before I shrugged and we began our journey around the lake.

There was a thin strip of sand that bordered the tropical water. Looking up, I saw that snow covered trees bordered this strip of sand and I watched when snow would fall from the tree. The moment it hit the sand, the snow would melt and disappear. I knew that this forest held much strange magic, but this awed me more than the strange giantess that was the gate Keeper or even wolves who could change to men. Those oddities were of the creature sort and I'd been taught that many strange things roamed this Earth. The forest was an altogether different story. It seemed that its magic extended not only from its citizens but to itself. I supposed I should be so surprised and realized that this forest would always intrigue me with new things I would discover. It was something I welcomed, something about living here that I looked forward to. As we walk, I sighed to myself. This is your home now, I whispered in my mind. Your home. The words gave me unknown comfort.

It was Adrian who saw it first and halted. I brushed into his shoulder as I stopped and I tried to blurt out a flushed apology but he shook his head and pointed to something that lay beyond us. A hut sat on the strip of beach, a dock extended into the waters and moored to that dock was a diminutive sail ship. I'd seen pictures of monstrous sailing vessels that roamed the oceans - some of their captains had been respectable merchants, others had used more nefarious means of getting what they wanted. Still, the stories of high adventures on the rolling seas had always fascinated and excited me. I'd enjoyed reading about all the different parts of the ship, the different uses for the members of the crew, the songs, the stories...this boat was only like those ships in the way that it had a mast and a sorry looking sail. I knew it was not much of a boat, but it was a boat, a way to get across the lake. The sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was around midday. It seemed like forever ago that I'd stood in the Keeper's library and she'd told me not to trust Adrian. My stomach grumbled.

"Hopefully whomever lives in that house will allow us the use of his boat," remarked Adrian, his voice low.

I grinned. "Hopefully they will have food," I added. Adrian flashed me a smile - the kind two friends might share who had their own private jokes. His long legs took fast strides towards the hut on the beach and I had to jog to catch up with him. The sand was difficult to walk through with our heavy snow boots. As soon as we stepped onto the sand, I noticed an increase in temperature. Not much, but enough to be noticable. Adrian noticed it too, for his head jerked back and he made a motion to take off his heavy, yet slim-fitting, jacket, but before he was able to pull it off of his back, a strange looking squat man rushed out of the hut.

"Oh no, don't take that off, it's terribly chilly inside my house, you'll just want to put it back on!" To me, the man looked like an albino mole. I'd seen pictures in the biology books in our library, the ones we'd used in our discussions, but I'd met a live mole in our cellar a couple years ago. It was a strange, ugly blinking thing who had curled in on itself as I'd shone my lantern on it. This man now looked like the creature, except his skin was without color, as was his hair. His eyes were a shade of watery pink and spectacles were perched on his nose. He was round and short and, as we got closer, I noticed that his skin was wrinkled and sagging all over the place. I almost pulled away from him in disgust but did not wish to offend him. Instead, I glanced at Adrian, who was, with a reluctant shrug, putting the jacket back on. "I am sure you are here to pass across the Lake? I am the ferryman. You may call me Charon. Please follow me." His voice was high and his movements quick and jerky. We followed him inside his tiny hut as I recalled, with some astonishment, that Charon was the name of the hooded man who carried lost souls across the River Styx after they died in Greek myth. I wondered if they knew that the true Charon was but a mole-like man who lived in a tiny hovel. I suppressed a laugh as we stepped inside.

Inside was not too much colder. There was a dying fire on the hearth. The hut itself was meager and a little depressing. "I am Aurora of the Forest," I said, trying out my new name. It tasted sweet and unfamiliar on my tongue. "This is my guide, Adrian, Prince of Wolves."

Charon, startled, knocked over a chair and a ceramic plate that shattered as it hit the wooden floor. "Prince of Wolves? In my home?" The broken plate forgotten, Charon scrambled to his knees. "Oh I am not worthy, I am not worthy," he moaned, flailing his arms about. Adrian flushed, bent down and picked the old man up off the floor. With a disconcerted smile, I bent down to gather the broken ceramic in my hands and tossed into what I hoped was a bin for rubbish.

"Please don't," Adrian said, talking about the fawning and adoration. "All we ask for is pasage across the lake and maybe something to eat."

The mole-man blinked and peered into his glasses up at our nervous faces. "Of course! Of course, anything for the Prince of Wolves, oh if only I had something more fitting for the future king of All the Land and Earth..." Once more, Adrian blushed. I knew he did not appreciate being reminded of his future status, still, I had to admit his discomfort did give me some amusement. I hid a grin and gave Adrian's shoulder a casual touch as Charon busied himself to getting us a loaf of bread. Over the dying hearth hung a pot. "Oh I had some delicious soup here but the fire has gone cold and it is not fit to serve His Highness," Charon moaned. Flashing me a dark look - annoyed at my amusement, perhaps - Adrian strode over to the fire and began to build it up using only a couple more logs and some well timed breaths. In a few moments it was once again roaring. "The Prince is so kind! Too kind! Thank you, oh thank you-" Charon was off again on his knees, flailing his arms again.

"Enough," Adrian told him, his words gentle yet with force. Charon stopped. "All this makes me uncomfortable. I wish you didn't know that I was the Prince, this would be so much easier." Adrian's tone was a sigh, he was speaking more to himself than to the man.

"Adrian is embarrassed by who he is going to become," I explained to Charon as I went to the counter and fetched the loaf the small man had pulled out. He came over and located for me a knife and we sat around his small table. "He is afraid he will not meet the standards of the creatures of the wood."

With a strangled look at me, Adrian turned back to Charon. "You are one of the only creatures I have met who tolerates my presence. Most others do things for me out of fear." He hesitated. "Please let us not talk about that anymore. You have a boat, you say you are willing to take us across the lake. How long do you believe that will take?" His tone was deeper now and I could tell he wished for the conversation to take a more practical tone. When he raised his eyes towards me he shook his head just slightly but his mouth was smiling as if to say, Unbelievable. I can't leave you for one moment before you start spouting off my fears. Instead of giving him a shameful look, I only smiled. Aggravating the Prince of Wolves was an interesting pasttime. I never knew how he'd react. In many ways, he was just like a child. Sometimes painfully honest, other times ungracious and spoiled. At this moment, though, he was letting his annoyance roll off his back, a very mature thing to do. Once again I was reminded about how complicated this young prince was.

"I have taken plenty across before now and I have the ability to conjure air where their is none. It will only take a few hours to get across the lake. Hopefully we will be there by sundown. You may stay in my other house for the night. One does not sail across the lake at night."

"Why?" I asked after I swallowed a hunk of the pleasent tasting bread.

Charon stared at me. "It is not called the Lake of Shadows and Songs for no reason. There are strange things in those waters miss, especially for a human."

"How did you know-"

"All humans look and feel the same. Most creatures of the forest look different, have different spirits that make another creature feel a particular way. I assumed you were both humans before you said that I was in the presence of the Prince of Wolves. Only then was I able to tell from your spirit that you are part wolf." For some reason, this offended Adrian and his face closed. "Oh, pardon me, I shouldn't have said that. It was rude. Please forgive me." Adrian waved his hand in a dismissive apology but his face still looked somewhat dark and stormy. Charon's brow wrinkled further in guilt. I flashed a curious look but he did not explain why this comment had insulted Adrian so. "It is strange, of course, you do not see many humans who consider themselves part of the forest. Aurora of the Forest," Charon said; the last part was a musing to himself.

"I only just became a citizen of these woods this morning. Before then, I was Aurora of Lunarenstein."

Charon looked surprised. "You were from the Great Castle?"

"Yes, what do you know of it?" I questioned.

The mole man shook his head. "Not enough. Only that some time ago, it was home to a powerful and handsome warrior who fell in love with our Moon Queen - before she was trapped of course. He went into the forest after her, but as everyone knows, a child of the earth and a child of the moon can never be together, no matter the strength of their love." His words made me unbearably sad. I imagined the Moon Queen, so in love with her handsome warrior but not being able to be with him because she of one world while he, another. "It did not matter anyway. It was soon after that the Witch of Fear stole the Moon Queen and sealed her away in that tower of hers. For four years she could not catch the man, who sought shelter from the creatures of the wood. One day, though, she found him. However, as she was about to kill him, somehow the Moon Queen saved him. She threw him up into the stars. There he waits for her to come for him."

This story struck me as odd. I knew that it had been twenty years ago that the Moon had been stolen. Delphine had been in the castle for some time before then, there were girls much older than me who could attest to that. I wondered if Delphine had known man, wondered if maybe he had worked for her and then had fallen in love with the Moon Queen by chance. It seemed like a likely tale, but Delphine had never told us this part of it. After a moment, it occured to me that Delphine probably hadn't known. She had told us that the Moon Queen had been stolen by Death's Lady - The Liche Queen - when in reality, it had been this Witch of Fear. I remembered what the Keeper had said, that sometimes Death is confused with Fear.

I looked at Adrian. "Did you know this story?"

He stared at me for the longest time with a sad look in his eye. "Yes, I knew of it. It is the story of Selene and Endymion. It happened only two years before my birth. We were all told of it." He looked away for a moment, out the tiny, grubby window and then back at me. "It alwas made me very sad to hear it. To hear that sometimes, the power of love does not triumph over all." When Adrian said that, I looked down at my hands, littered with scars and callouses. Delphine had proved that much to me in my sixteen years. She had proved to me that I was not worthy of love, that I never would be. We sat in quiet as Charon got up to get us soup. We ate in silence and then departed for the small, rickety sailboat.

As we got in, the boat shifted. "Charon," I started, and the ferryman peered at me through his specatcles. "Earlier, you spoke of strange things. What sort of things?" I asked, straining my eyes into the water and seeing nothing but clear blue-green nothing.

"Nothing harmful, Aurora of the Forest. Simply do not be surprised if you begin to hear singing as we approach the middle of the lake. The Shadows live deep underwater, they are the spirits of the water and, as everyone knows, all water leads to death. The Shadows are creatures of Death and many times their intents are not so...good." Charon fumbled on the last word. "I am sure you two will be fine. I have made this trip many a time and have never had any accidents before. I assure you I am a capable ferryman." With that, he pushed off with a pole. He was able to conjure wind that pushed us off very quickly. However, he wasn't always able to keep us in line with the other shore, so sometimes he slowed us down and used the pole to right our direction. I sat with Adrian close by my side at the back, or stern, of the boat.

I looked at my companion. "I do have a question." When Adrian raised an eyebrow, I gave him a small smile. "It is a harmless one, I assure you."

"After you exposed my plight to our humble ferryman? I'm not so sure I'm in the mood to answer your questions." His tone was light. Then he sighed an overdramatic sigh. "If you must, ask quickly."

"At nights when we do not have kind hosts to take us in, where do you expect we sleep? You cannot think that we are going to be settling into the snow."

Adrian looked taken aback, like he was surprised I would ask such a question. Then his expression changed. "Ah yes, I forget that you have limited experience in the forest. What happened at the Keeper's is not strange. Creatures of the forest usually live underground and trees are the doors to their homes. When knocked a certain way, most trees will open up and expose chambers under their roots. I'm not so sure where all of them come from - if they were carved out by the creatures or if they were here much before then - it does not matter either way. Many spirits have died or left, leaving their homes empty. We shall stay in these abandoned places. Some are larger than others, but most have at least three rooms with a bedchamber, washroom and a place to prepare a meal."

"The forest surprises me more and more each day," I answered, not even bothering to hide my awe. Adrian smiled and looked forward. I mimicked him, except I looked over my shoulder. Jutting up from the lake were large rocks. Large black birds were settled on these rocks, birds that resembled a cross between a crow and a seagull.

It was then that I was struck with the deepest sense of foreboding and fear. I looked at the boat. It was a deep shade of wood - mahogany. I recalled that strange dream I'd had when I'd been overcome by grief and fever. It was when Adrian had just told me I would never be able to return to Lunarenstein, just after he'd saved me from Lourdes, before I'd asked him to accompany me on this trip. I'd dreamed that I'd been sailing in a mahogany boat over a glass lake and blackened hands and wrists had pulled me over the side. At the time I'd thought it had been just a dream, or maybe a hallucination brought on by the wound and by my blinding horror, but now I wondered if maybe it was a vision of some sort, of something that was to come. I tensed up and Adrian asked me in a low voice if I was all right. I did not answer. We were reaching the middle of the lake and i was beginning to hear the humming of voices. Charon turned around and assured us once more that this was particularly normal but I wasn't listening. The boat began to rock and I knew that what I'd seen had not been a mere dream. I held onto Adrian tightly and tried to explain what I'd seen but no words came out of my mouth.

The humming voices turned into a chorus of heavenly, haunting voices and it was then that I saw those blackened hands and wrists rise out of the water. Charon, alarmed, began to conjure up more wind - I felt it try and push us along. We did not move. I stood up on shaky legs and looked over. I dimly registered Adrian trying to pull me down. In the water, one of the hands reached farther towards me and I heard the voices singing in a language I could not recognize but at once understood - Come to us, Aurora, come to us. Beyond any shred of sanity, I obeyed, leaning over towards the hand. Adrian's arms were around my waist, pulling me back but the arm was reaching towards me. Our fingers touched and my head went fuzzy and then bright, like fireworks had exploded behind my eyelids. I looked behind me to see Adrian yelling something. I could hear nothing over the din of voices. And then I was falling back, back into the glass lake while hands gripped me.

The Lake of Shadows and Songs was a crushing green oblivion. The hands belonged to creatures that looked like the outline of a human. They were, in a sense, shadows. My head processed this fact. Somehow the water had woken me up, my head was clearing and I began to realize what foolishness I had just done. There were more hands at my ankles, pulling me down, lower and lower. I could feel them, but I no longer wanted to let them take me. I could no longer hear the song and I did not want to hear. Realizing I did not have much time before I ran out of breath, I fumbled with my bow and unstrapped it from my back. I took an arrow from the oddly full quiver. This lake was enchanted, was it not? I did not think I actually had a chance to fight with these arrows underwater, still, I knew I must try. I pulled back and muttered a prayer to Artemis and sent the arrow flying. Even in the water it shot straight into one of the shadows which twisted and shrunk. I heard a gurgling scream in my ears. The others began to back off, the ones at my ankles let go, still, I was sinking. I kicked my legs up, realizing the white hot ache in my chet, the need for air. The bow was heavy in my hands, but I knew I could not give it up.

My head was once again becoming fuzzy, but this time for a different reason altogether. I kicked and kicked but I was down farther than I thought and my clothes were heavy. Blackness clouded over my head and in one last attempt to fight for my life, I opened my mouth and screamed out for Adrian. Only a strangled, watery cry came from my lips, any last air I had was now gone. Everything grew darker, but in that final moment, I saw a shadow - this one different than the others - against the green. I tried to reach for it, but failed.

When my eyes once more opened, the first thing I saw were Adrian's dark eyes full of concern that melted to relief as soon as my eyes came into clear focus. His arms were around my body and he crushed me to him in a thankful embrace. "Oh thank the gods," he whispered under his breath. When he pulled away, his face clouded full of anger. "What were you thinking? Why did you take the hand of that...thing?" I shook my head as I took in a few deep breaths. I did not know why I had taken the blackened hand. All I could remember was the feeling that I had to take it or something bad would happen. Adrian's tone softened. "What happened when you were underwater? I tried to go in after you but the hands stopped me. Then all of a sudden they were gone. What happened?"

It took me a moment to remember. "I shot one of them with my bow. I don't know how, I just did. The rest scampered away after that, but then I realized I couldn't breathe and I panicked. It must have been your figure I saw before I lost consciousness." Adrian nodded and embraced me once more. "The voices were calling to me. They made everything numb and blurry. I just felt that I had to follow them."

"Voices?"

"The singing. Didn't you hear it?" I felt stupid asking.

Adrian sighed. "Yes, but it was just soft humming. Easy to ignore." I was quiet.

"She heard their siren call," came another voice. Charon's. Sitting up, I realized we were almost to the other side - I could clearly see another hut and another run down dock. Charon eyed with something that looked to me like respect. "Many twice as brave as you have sucumbed to their voice. I do not know why some hear it louder than others, I only know that you, Aurora, truly are of the forest. You are not as human as you believe or you would not have heard it."

I exchanged a look with Adrian. "My father must be one of the forest then," I observed. Adrian looked up as if expecting to see my father appear and looked back down at me. "Maybe I shall meet him along the way." My voice was quiet. My body ached, my lungs burned.

"You showed true bravery in the face of fear," Adrian told me.

With unexpected courage - or maybe it was just exhaustion taking over - my right hand reached up to touch Adrian's cheek. "You saved my life," I said. His head made one jearking nod. Something glittered around my wrist. I pulled away from Adrian quickly to examine it. It was not a bracelet, indeed, there was something golden etched onto my skin, like a tattoo of gold ink. "What?" I asked, my curious eyes tilting up to Adrian's. Even though I was sitting up, his arm was still around my back, holding me up, making sure I did not faint again. Now he held up his free hand, his right hand. Around his wrist was the same design in what looked like gold ink. It was an ivy vine with leaves, a bracelet on our skin.

"When I saved your life, it fortified our oath. This is the mark it has left behind. We will have it with us always." He brought his right wrist down and I brought mine up. Our hands clasped and when they touched, our golden tattoos glittered. I stared at them for a moment and then at Adrian, feeling a painful urge to hold him, to kiss him...instead I looked over my shoulder at the water and laughed, thinking of how strange a turn my life had taken and wondering what strange turns it would take now.