Fourteen: Hitting a Nerve  

The Elfwoods Forest had always been mesmerizing to the prince; they had been ever since he propped his head onto his palm, elbow on the windowsill. With his cheek smushed against his hand, he stared with wonder at the glimmering leaves and flickering stars way above. It was such a familiar sight for him to behold each night, a view that put him to sleep. 

So, why was he so nervous now?  

Perhaps it was the creaking of the grass beneath him, the feeling of being watched, the cruel darkness of night surrounding them with no mercy, or maybe the threat of Mushrai lurking around. Floryn had said something about them knowing all in the woods. Did that mean they could hear them now as they made quick pace through the forest, to a location unknown to the prince?  

What if Floryn got too far ahead and Everett lost him? What if Everett fell for a simple trick and got dragged away by those horrid, rotten mushroom people. What if he spent the rest of his tragic life surrounded by fungus? 

“Stop freaking out.” Floryn instructs him swiftly as he dodges a thorn bush that Everett would have ran right into if not for him being the guide.  

“I’m not freaking out.”  

“Yes, you are. I can feel it.”  

Everett’s eyes widen.  

“What do you mean you can feel it?”  

Floryn leaps skillfully over a stream that the prince nearly tumbles right into.  

“Elves can sense emotion.”  

“You say that so simply.” Everett says, stunned at the possibility. He wished Floryn was not so vague with his words so that he could understand what he fully meant. “Elaborate.” 

“What else is there to say, princess?” Floryn swings off of a thick tree branch, landing in an impressive crouch. Everett’s eyes roll far up into his skull. He forgot how obnoxious Floryn could be.  

“I hope you can feel how annoyed I am right now.” The prince sneers, to which Floryn lets out a surprised laugh. “Well, can you?”  

“Sure can!”  

Everett swings his arm playfully at Floryn’s head when he only offers the prince an even more irritating grin, but the assassin ducks before it can make contact. When the assassin keeps smiling, even a minute or two later, Everett lets up a giggle of his own. 

“Why are you so smiley?” He pokes at the man’s broad shoulder. 

“I can’t help it.” Floryn begins, his voice seeming to drift off in a way it hadn’t before. His mouth parts, his eyes becoming serious and solemn. “You’re so...” 

“So?” Everett tries to finish for him, but he can’t. Theres a swift sound from the brush nearby, and the leaves flutter and sway in rapid movement. A hand shows itself briefly but disappears into the green. Floryn draws an arrow on his bow, aiming directly for the plant. His body moves in an instant, and Everett rushes to his side.  

“I won’t hesitate to shoot! Show yourself, coward!” Floryn growls, voice demanding and scary. So scary it sends a shiver down Everett’s spine. Small, sharp chill bumps form on his body, down his arms and up his legs. He almost forgot the man he was travelling with was an assassin. It was best he did not forget again. 

The brush stays still a moment more.  

“I said show yourself!”  

The brush trembles and out pops an old lady in a loose black dress done with inelegant patchwork. 

But this was not the common old lady like Eda. No, this one was wicked. Everett could tell by the look in her eyes; she wanted something from them. 

“Where are you headed, boys? Lost, perhaps?” Her voice croaks into the forest, sending a howling echo that rings loudly in Everett’s ears. He throws his hands over his ears, shocked by the pure power of her voice.  

The lady takes interest in the prince’s reaction. She lets out a laugh, pointing an accusing finger at him.  

“A human?” She takes a step closer, hands raising up when Floryn narrows his eyes, his bow lifting and aiming straight for her head.  

“Stay back.” He warns, but she does not falter from his threats. 

“Why on Mother Nature’s planet would you bring a human here, Fae-blooded one?”  

“It does not concern you.” Floryn snaps, and Everett presses his hands tighter over his ears. The air grew thicker by the second. Floryn could hold his ground, but for how long? Was this old lady truly just someone passing by, or was she a trick herself, planted by the Fae Woods to draw in victims and kill them?  

“You have stepped onto my property. I should think I am concerned with those who trespass on my land.” 

“Our apologies. We will be leaving, then.” Floryn sounds irritated that he even had to admit it. If they were on her land, she did have a right to concern herself with their presence.  

“Not so fast. I want to take a closer look at the human.” Her voice taunts them, and she fades to smoke. Floryn shoots a wild arrow just as she disappears and reappears behind Everett. The arrow wedges itself deep into an unsuspecting tree.  

Floryn looks frightened now; an emotion Everett had yet to see on him. The old lady corners the prince against a tree trunk, raising her hands up to touch at his hair. An arrow flings itself at the tips of her fingers and hits the trunk just beside Everett’s neck. He gulps, swallowing down the vomit trying to force itself up his throat.  

“Get away from him, you hag, or the next arrow goes through your skull!” Floryn hisses like an enraged cobra, drawing back another steel-tipped arrow. His shoulder locks in place, angled nicely at ninety degrees, perfect form.  

The old lady snickers, popping the bloody fingertip in her mouth to suck away at the fresh blood dribbling down her digit.  

“What about this human has you so riled up?” Everett clamps down even harder on his ears again, the pain of her voice penetrating his eardrums. Was she doing it on purpose? He found it to be likely. “Are you two a destined pair? With the way you’re acting, I would assume that to be true, but Fae cannot be destined to humans.”  

Floryn says nothing. His brows furrow closer together, and a pained expression falls across his face. His fingers tremble on the string of the bow.  

“Did I hit a nerve, pixie?” She sneers, drawing a hand up to Everett’s cheek. She rests her palm on his skin, sending uncomfortable shivers down his entire body. Floryn growls another warning, but the old lady is too quick.  

A strangling vine, glowing with a mysterious purple magic swirls itself up Everett’s body. It tightens around his waist in seconds, up to his neck where it tightens even more so. The prince gasps for breath, his face already growing red from the struggle.  

“Let him go!” Floryn cries in desperation, taking several frightful steps forward, arm still drawn back.  

“If you kill me now, he will suffocate anyways. That vine will not break unless I command it to, and I must be living to do so.” The old lady cackles.  

Floryn hesitates for a moment, unsure if he can believe her words, but he knew then that he must. He then drops his bow, defeated.  

“What do you want?” He winces, eyes locked into the prince as he squirms and flails. His limbs grow darker purple and red as his oxygen depletes to dangerous levels. He did not have long left.  

“I want something impactful to you. Perhaps a bad memory, they give me strength. Much like you Fae people feed on emotion, I feed on memories.”  

Floryn drops to the ground on his knees, eyes clamping shut with the internal preparation for what was about to come.  

“Take them, I don’t care! Take whatever you want! Just let him go, please!” 

The old lady rubs her hands together; a cruel grin cements itself on her mouth.  

“Well, only if you insist…”