Lira, unsure what to do, bowed awkwardly. The motion felt unnatural. Owen followed suit beside her.

Zabaria laughed, a sweet sound that sent the colorful birds, now roosting in the trees, twittering.

"You may rise. Though this is my Garden, I am not a queen here."

Lira looked up again and saw that more spirits had slipped into the glade. There were several white foxes with two or three tails each peering out from the surrounding ferns; a golden eagle had alighted on one of the black fountains; and from the water rose nymph-like creatures with blue scales, webbed fingers, and bright red hair braided with seaweed. She realized with a jolt that the second forest spirit was there as well, the one that had lost her companion to Bebinn's Fury. The spirit looked on the two teenagers with dead, grief-filled eyes. The vines covering her body were lackluster, almost brown. Was she dying?

Lira turned to Owen, whose eyes held a thousand questions, but he seemed to be waiting for Lira to speak.

"You come from Bebinn's Carnival, yes?" asked Zabaria. "Fauna told me she met you there," she continued, gesturing to the forest spirit on her left.

"Yes," said Lira, her voice shaking. She cleared her throat and pulled her shoulders back, spine straight, like how she had been taught in music lessons. "We were taken from the human world by Bebinn and brought here."

There was an uneasy murmuring from the assembled spirits and Lira took a side-step closer to Owen. Zabaria's hand lifted and the whispers melted away. She did not smile, but her eyes were kind enough. "And what is it that you do for Bebinn?"

"Well, I—I play the violin," Lira replied. She unconsciously touched the instrument, tucked away in the pack that still sat on her shoulders. Somehow, she didn't think Zabaria would appreciate that she was a child-snatcher herself, but the forest spirit was not fooled.

"And why does she have you play the violin?" she asked. Lira felt like she was a child again, answering to a teacher or her mother about some transgression she had committed, the truth pulled out of her one simple question at a time. Even though this time, it wasn't her fault.

"To..." Lira paused and swallowed again. Her mouth had gone very dry. "To bring other kids to the carnival."

Outraged gasps, barks, and screeches erupted from the clearing and Lira flinched away from the onslaught. It was only when Zabaria raised her hand again that the clamor subsided. Her beautifully carved face was still expressionless, but her gaze had cooled noticeably. There was a rigidness to her posture, and a stillness of her vines, that Lira didn't like.

"And do you know why she has you do this? The purpose for all these children?"

Lira shook her head vigorously. She wanted to make sure Zabaria knew she had no hand in this. Not one she could control. "All of us do something different for Bebinn. But none of us know why."

"All of you?" asked Zabaria sharply.

Words tumbled from Lira's mouth. "There are six of us that serve Bebinn. The other children come and go. I don't know what happens to them." A familiar nauseous feeling coiled in Lira's stomach as she thought of all those kids whose fates she didn't know.

Zabaria looked visibly agitated now; her dress began to seethe like an ocean in a storm, tiny white caps appearing in the folds. She looked at Fauna. "It seems Bebinn's reach has extended farther than we thought." Returning her attention to Owen and Lira, she continued. "We have been trying to uncover Bebinns's intentions for a long time. But we are no closer to learning them than we are to discovering her motives. Whatever they are, one thing is clear. They are unnatural, and they have repercussions for us all."

Zabaria stepped off her dais, her gown flowing around her so she seemed to float as she walked alongside the pool, gesturing with a delicate hand to the rest of the glade. "Human souls often come here while they wait for their passing, though you will not see any now. Over the millennia, I've become quite good at reading souls, what they have done in their past lives, whether they are good or evil or something in between, as humans so often are.

"But over the last few cycles, something has changed. More and more often I have encountered souls that I cannot read. It happens from time to time, of course, but it was once rare and now is too common for my liking. They appear cloudy, like a film has been placed over them. I am convinced nothing good can come from this, and I cannot fathom how or why they came to be this way. The one thing they seem to have in common is that they have all passed through Bebinn's carnival at one point or another."

"And you think it has something to do with the children?" asked Owen, speaking up for the first time. Lira let out a small breath, glad she could share the scrutiny with someone else.

Zabaria turned her solemn amber gaze on him. "Yes, I believe they play a part in this. I believe they are the gears in a much larger machine I cannot yet understand. As you yourselves are."

"Can't you do something about it? Force her to tell you or make her stop?" asked Owen, though he was careful to keep his tone respectful.

Zabaria came to a stop directly in front of them. This close, Lira could see her skin was smooth and unblemished in an ageless sort of way, a beautiful russet color that offset the darkness of her hair and creeping vines. There was an aura of wildness about her body that spoke of roaring seas, remote mountains, untamed forests and the claws and teeth of beasts more powerful than anything Lira could imagine. But there was also the gentleness of blooming flowers, the downy softness of nests, and the radiant energy of the sun in the depth of her eyes.

The latter was carefully tucked away at the moment in favor of the raw, wild power she needed to confront this unknown threat.

"This is not the human world. The same rules do not apply in terms of power or the ability to wield it. I cannot interfere with Bebinn's domain, not when I don't know what she's doing or the exact consequences. I have been sending scouts, but it is at the risk of their own safety and it is hard to glean anything from what they report."

"But we just told you she's stealing kids," protested Lira. "You said yourself it's unnatural."

Zabaria shook her head dismissively. "Unnatural yes, but not unheard of. Other spirits with lesser morals have been known to trick humans across the barrier for corrupt reasons and tragic ends. Those under my control do not, and I cannot punish those beyond my reach without proof." She held up a hand as Lira opened her mouth. "Proof that is tangible, not word of mouth."

Fear and anxiety clawed at Lira's insides as her mind raced ahead of the conversation. She switched tactics, desperate for an answer. "Then, send us home. If we leave, Bebinn won't be able to use us to kidnap anymore."

For the first time since they arrived, Zabaria looked sad, apologetic even. A lump rose in Lira's throat. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. You say that Bebinn brought you here, that you do not voluntarily submit to her demands. If that is true, then she has found a way to hold you. You must break that hold before you can return home."

Lira gaped, feeling her last hope trickle away. A slow leaden sensation was over-taking her body, like her blood was freezing from her extremities inward. Instead of speeding up, her heart slowed, her senses taking information in and processing it in slow motion.

She had known Bebinn owned her, had been reminded of that fact over and over again since that fateful night. But she had been so sure that Zabaria would be able to help. Would be able to set them free.

"So you can't do anything?" Lira choked out at the same time that Owen said, "How are we supposed to break it if we don't know what it is to begin with?"

Zabaria looked between them and Lira had the uncomfortable feeling she could read their minds. She supposed reading souls was akin to the same thing. Instead of answering, Zabaria replied with a very surprising question. "Can you take out your violin?"

Confused and numb, Lira obeyed. She pulled the instrument from her pack, the polished wood shining in the steady light from the toadstools, and made to hand it to the forest spirit. But Zabaria shook her head, shedding yellow flower petals.

"Play," she said.

Lira raised it to her chin and brought the bow to the strings. With quick movements and nimble fingers, sound poured from the violin, filling the clearing with pure musical vibrations. The rustling of spirits and murmuring of the stream faded so only the melody could be heard, reaching into every corner of the glade and pulling unseen energy into the song. Familiar flickers of power buzzed in Lira's fingertips, electrifying her blood and burning through her core. Sweat broke out on her neck and even as the song grew, icy pangs of fatigue gripped her organs. She cut off with a gasp, breathing hard, but the notes hung in the air for several moments before dissipating and allowing natural sounds to return.

Slightly dizzy, Lira let the instrument hang limp again; playing had drained her more than the physical exertion of their journey here. Around them, spirits were watching her with blank, almost obedient stares or had fallen asleep entirely. Even Owen was giving her a strange look.

Zabaria watched her with solemn eyes, seemingly unaffected by the music. "Part of your soul resides in the instrument," she said. "When you play, it links with the rest of your soul and uses your energy to weave a summoning spell in the music. For you, that is how Bebinn holds you."

Lira stared at the violin in horror, as though she could see her soul trapped within it.

"Breaking it will do you no good," continued the forest spirit. "I suspect you must play yourself free."

"How?" croaked Lira. It was hard to speak with her heart in her throat. How had Bebinn trapped part of her soul in the instrument? Wouldn't she have felt it? Like a missing tooth or limb, wouldn't her body be constantly seeking what should have been there?

Zabaria shook her head, braids swinging. "I cannot say. Your soul is made of music. You must find what is out of harmony." She turned to Owen. "You were not taken as a child, correct?"

Owen shook his head though the motion was slow, like he was trying to wake himself from a daze.

"No," said Zabaria. "I thought not. Yet, your soul is naïve, like that of a child in too large a body. I cannot say for sure, but I would venture that is what made you susceptible to her music." Lira flinched at the cast of blame. "It will be a different matter for you to free yourself from Bebinn's grasp." Zabaria stepped back and addressed them both. "I cannot discern the other children's means of enslavement without seeing them. It will be up to you to help them break their chains."

Owen blinked several times, a sense of realization finally awakening him from the stupor the music had coaxed him into. "So, what it comes down to is you can't do anything?" he said with a harsh bite of finality.

Zabaria's dress began to froth once more and her vines extended into the open air between them in a disturbing manner, curling and uncurling as if to reach out and grab them. "I can only help what I know and right now that is very little. You are looking outside for answers when you should be looking within. Here is not a place to free yourself from one only to place yourself in the debt of another. You must discover the extent of Bebinn's crimes before I can know how and what to do."

Though Lira was still trying to come to terms with the fact that part of her soul was trapped, she forced herself to focus. "I've been there for four years and I still don't know what she does. How do you expect us to find anything?"

"You say there are others," said Zabaria. "Children who operate different parts of Bebinn's plans. Seek them out, learn what they know, but be wary. If you find anything, send word with one of my messengers." She gestured to the multitude of colorful birds. "It may help to discover what you can of Bebinn as well. She was once human herself."

"Once?" asked Lira. She had always thought of Bebinn as human, albeit a witch. If she wasn't a human and she wasn't a spirit, what was she?

"I believe Bebinn was a rusalka, once a common, now rare spirit of a woman who dies either by her own hand or another's because of an unhappy, loveless union. They are able to pass between the spirit and human worlds until their death is avenged and they cross over permanently to move on. I fear that her days as a rusalka gave her time to learn much about the spirit world and perhaps even learn magic from a dark spirit. I believe humans call them demons? It would explain why her appearance has remained unchanged and her ability to cast certain spells. But it seems she has learned more than she should. Knowing her past may help us understand her motives."

"And I suppose we just walk up to her and ask her to show us scrapbooks of her favorite childhood memories?" snapped Lira, growing tired of the spirit's instructions and lack of helpfulness.

Zabaria gave her a measured stare. "Our time together has come to an end. You must return while our meeting still remains unknown. I will have my messengers waiting for you amongst the carnival. I bid you farewell with this last message:

"The answers to the past are held within the carousel. The answers to the present are hidden in one of six. The answers to the future are written in your chains." 

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So, what do you think of their meeting with Zabaria? Worth the risk? Let me know in the comments! Thanks for reading, you beautiful souls :)