Gage

Lily Winterwood was not the prettiest girl in town; she was not the smartest, nor the luckiest, nor the kindest. Her hair was golden in the summer and light brown in the winter. She had the curves to be recognized as a woman but not enough to be sought after by the boys of Soria. She was neither the tallest nor the shortest; the waves of her hair just long enough to be tied back by a ribbon. Her skin held enough color to know she spent time outside, but too much to be tasteful. In short, Lily Winterwood was an average, ordinary girl. In fact the most exotic thing about Lily was her eyes. Surrounding the iris was a warm chocolate brown that exploded into a periwinkle blue that had many of the girls in Soria envious.

Unlike the other girls her age, Lily did not crave excitement or adventure. She didn’t dream of falling in love with a prince, or discovering she was a lost princess secreted away to Soria. Her only desire was to take over her father’s inn. Lily wasn’t the type of girl who strayed too far from her comfort zone, beginning and ending every day the same way. Even on the day she met Gage, Lily had been up a half hour before the sun rose to complete her daily chores. It was her job to discard any bread that had gone bad, or was too rough for anyone to eat (she often fed the hard bread to the local strays) as well as keep track of what was running low, she changed the sheets of unoccupied rooms, washed and hung the dirty laundry, wipe down the tables before the guests came down, and other numerous tasks. Once those were done, Lily offered to help her mother.

“I need you to pick more herbs,” was her mother’s request as she kneaded a large pile of dough. Usually gathering herbs was a task left to her father, but he had travelled west to purchase items like salt and yeast needed to make their already delicious bread and other meals even tastier. With the cold season drawing closer, Lily’s mother wanted to preserve as many herbs as she could before winter killed all the growth in the mountains surrounding the town of Soria. It was because of such times that growing up Lily’s father had often taken Lily and her sister with him so they would know which paths were the safest and which herbs were the right ones to gather.

“Okay,” Lily said with a smile, grabbed the empty basket from beside her mother and left.

†

The herbs Lily needed were in a grove that wasn’t more than an hour’s walk away. It had only taken her three quarters of that time to find the grove, and twice that time to collect a hefty amount of each herb. The grove where the herbs grew was covered in shade from the trees, but by the time she finished the sun was sitting at the highest point of the sky, and her skin had become slick with sweat. The heat season had been especially cruel that year, even the shade of those trees was not enough to escape from the searing warmth. So Lily headed deeper into the forest where the tree grew closer together and the air was easier to breath. The part of the forest was known as the Elves’ Forest because the trees grew so close together that their bark touched and the ground was riddled with thick roots.

Normally Lily’s father wouldn’t allow her to travel so deeply into the Elves’ Forest because it was easy to become lost in the thick mass of trees. Lily suspected that some of the local legends of monsters hungry for the flesh of lovely young maidens and elves spiriting away humans because of their fondness for them had something to do with that as well. Lily didn’t believe in such stories because as far as she knew no one in Soria had ever disappeared because of the forest. So it was a huge surprise for her to find the center of her path a large hole. That wasn’t what was surprising, though, no finding an unconscious boy at the bottom of the hole was. All around the hole the trees remained upright with no obvious marks or mars. The hole itself wasn’t very large, maybe six to seven feet in width and sloped down four or five feet deep. There were no broken branches or leaves scattered in the hole or around the edge. The only damage was done to the ground of roots, the roots at the edge cut open and exposed. It almost seemed as if the boy had just simply appeared in a roaring wind.

More curious than frightened, Lily set her bag that held some water along with her lunch and her basket filled with herbs at the edge of the hole before Lily slowly slid down towards the stranger. There were more broken roots poking out the ground she’d hadn’t noticed before, and Lily picked up a broken root that was strong enough to protect her incase the beautiful boy was dangerous. Brushing the loose dirt off her skirt, Lily turned her eyes to the mystery boy and gasped. At the moment she was willing to believe every story she ever heard about the elves.
The boy looked to be two years older than her seventeen summers, and he was the most beautiful boy Lily had even laid eyes on. His short dull copper hair was spread around him in soft curls; his completion was the color of peaches and cream, his lips a pretty shade of pink and soft looking. His nose was dainty and his were cheekbones high. He looked tall, but it was hard to tell, and didn’t appear to be very strong. His face and plain blue tunic were covered in smudges of dirt, but no cuts or scrapes on the pretty stranger could be seen.

Crouching down, Lily gently poked pretty boy’s cheek with the root. When he remained silent, Lily poked him again harder. This time she was rewarded with a soft groan, the sound more masculine than she thought it would be. Lily thought about all the stories her mother told her about elves. She had said that the elves lived in the forest, in the thick brush of trees because only they could move through the wall of trees; that their beauty was beyond compare, stealing away the breath of those who gazed upon them; that they dressed in plain clothes, leaves and dirt decorating their hair and faces. The boy appeared to fit the description, but Lily wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

“So what are you? An elf or just a beautiful stranger?” Lily thought out loud, moving to kneel beside the pretty boy. Slowly, ever so slowly, Lily reached out her hand to trace the beautiful stranger’s cheeks. She found the skin to be softer than she thought. Lily had become so engrossed in the stranger it was only when his eyes suddenly opened, revealing a piercing green color that was almost as shocking as his beauty had been, that she realized she’d been leaning over him. Letting out a surprised squeak, Lily fell back on her bottom as the strange shot up. Without thinking the hand holding the root whipped out, connecting with the back of his head.

“Ow!” His deep voice rang out, and the pretty boy turned to frown at her. Lily scooted further away, pointing her root at the boy like a sword. “What the hell did you hit me for?”

“You shouldn’t have suddenly woken up like that!” Lily retorted, her root firmly pointed on the stranger.

“Do you make it a habit to hit everyone who wakes up suddenly?” The stranger’s lips quirked, like he was suppressing a smile.

“Only the pretty ones.”

The stranger burst into laughter at her comment, “You can put that down, I’m not going to attack you.”

“How can I be sure?”

“You can’t. But then again, you should have known that when you crawled into someone else’s hole.” The stranger grinned, stretching out his slender hand, “I’m Gage.”

Lowering her root, Lily hesitantly took his hand with her free hand, “Lily Winterwood.”

“Nice to meet you Lily. Now we’re no longer strangers,” Gage nodded, stretching his arms over his head before standing. “Say, Lily, where are we?”

“Don’t you know?”

“No, not really.”

“How’d you end up here? Surely you know that much.” Travel from the other side of the forest was impossible because of the thick growth of trees.

“I’m not sure,” Gage gave her a sheepish smile as he offered her his hand.

Accepting the hand, Lily brushed the damp dirt off her bottom, “How could you not know, Gage? You couldn’t have just abruptly appeared here!”

Gage shrugged, “I can’t seem to remember. I might have hit my head.”

Lily sighed softly, she couldn’t be sure if Gage was telling her the truth, but decided to let it go. Instead she answered his earlier question, “You’re an hour outside the town Soria. You’re currently located in what we call the Elves’ Forest.”

“Why do you call it that? The forest, I mean.” Gage climbed to the edge, gracefully pulling himself as he once again offered her his hand and easily pulled her out too. Lily sat at the edge of the hole, digging through her bag for lunch, and offered some of the bread and cheese she’d brought with her to Gage. Thanking her, he took a seat beside her.

“We call it that because you see how closely the trees grow together?” Gage nodded and Lily continued, “Well there is a legend that the elves took refuge into the woods centuries ago, and to protect themselves from humans somehow convinced the forest to grow in such a way to keep humans out. Legend also says that there is a thousand year old tree at the very center that the elves pray daily to.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.”

“I suppose. Legend also says that elves are fond of human children and like to steal anyone foolish enough to wander into their forest.”

“Is that why you are here? Hoping to be stolen away by an elf?” Gage asked around a mouthful of cheese and bread.

“No, it’s very hot today. This part of the forest is always cool because little sunshine penetrates the leaves.”

“You weren’t scared about the elves stealing you away?”

“I’m seventeen winters, hardly a child,” Lily grumbled.

“Don’t pout,” Gage laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “Everyone younger than me just seems like a kid to me.”

“How old are you then?” Lily shot back, shrugging off his arm.

“I’m twenty-one.”

“You don’t look it.”

“I’ve got a baby face.”

“Mmm,” Lily agreed. She finished the last of her bread and cheese, and stood up grabbing her bag and basket full of herbs. “Well, I’ve got the head back now. You might as well come with me.” When Gage just stared at her, Lily added, “You need somewhere to stay, don’t you? The only town nearby is Soria and my family owns the local inn. There might not be any available rooms, though, because the sea traders are supposed to reach port today, but I’m not sure.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The two set out, Lily taking the lead as she was the one who knew the forest better. It wasn’t long before the trees thinned out and the smothering heat returned. Breaking the silence, Gage asked, “Are there any other stories about the forest?”

“Just that there are creatures that like to feed on the flesh of pretty girls.”

“Oh, that’s it?”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I like to hear the different stories. I guess I was hoping for more.”

“I’m sure you can ask the sea traders. They have lots of stories to tell. I remember once when I about seven winters, there was an old trader who told a group of us kids about these creatures called Sirens.”

“I’ve heard of those, I think. They sing right?”

“Yup, the trader said that one night, when the moon couldn’t be seen, he heard the most beautiful song calling out to him. While the sound was intoxicating, it was still soft enough that the trader could fight against its affects. The old trader changed course, and has never returned to that part of the ocean again.”

“Has anyone else ever had the same story?”

“Sure, the sea traders share all sorts of tales, so a lot of them get re-told several times.”

“I see.”

“Do you have any interesting stories from your home town?”
Gage locked his fingers behind his head and stared heavenward, “Not really, at least not that I can remember.”

“You really can’t remember anything?”

“No…what I do remember is just fuzzy.”

“Well, what do you remember?”

“Mostly that myths and legends are important, but we don’t actually have any of own.”

“You are the strangest boy I have ever met.”

“How mean, you don’t even know me that well yet!” Gage pressed his hands to his heart and stumbled as if he’d been wounded.

“Well, you have all the makings of a story, Gage.”

“Starting with the girl who began the adventure!”

“No thank you, I don’t want an adventure.”

“I can hardly believe that. Why did you crawl in my hole then, why not just turn around and walk away?”

Lily looked away; she couldn’t very well tell him that his beauty had attracted her. “I was curious, that’s all.”

“They say that curiosity is the seed of adventure.”

“No one says that.”

“Yeah they do.” It continued much like that, Lily told Gage all the stories she could remember and Gage asked questions about everything, until they reach the town. It almost seemed like Gage was searching for a particular story, but none of the ones Lily knew were the right ones. Any questions Lily asked Gage was answered with a shrug and smile. The beautiful boy was so different from anyone she’d ever met—he seemed fragile, but had hidden strength, he appeared more girlish, but was manly in ways she didn’t expect, he looked open and honest, but held his secrets close.

Unfortunately for Lily, that was the day her unwanted adventure began.