Song of the Chapter - Whispers in the Dark by Skillet

The morning light dawned early, waking the girls, who found that Zolen was already awake and out of sight somewhere. Blaike was stoking the fire, attempting to heat water for the Fae coffee, as Harper called it.

"I brought some of that sugar stuff that they had in that meal hall," Harper said as she showed the sugar to her two campfire companions. Just as she was talking to them about how tasty the coffee would be, Zolen strode up to the fire, two rabbit-like creatures in his hands.

"Did you kill that thing?" Harper asked

"Why yes, I did." He said, smugly.

"How long did it take you to catch it?" Harper continued.

"Not long, I think. I set a trap last night. And this morning our little friends found their way into it." Zolen explained.

Harper covered her ears and shook her head, "Don't call it your friend if you want me to eat it!"

Zolen just laughed and started dressing the rabbits to cook over the fire. The rest went about whatever they had been doing as well as beginning to pack up their belongings. Eliana began to feel anticipation at the thought of entering the pass, especially due to the way Zolen had protested it. She tried to hold on to Blaike's confidence, keeping her courage up as well.

"Ugh!" Harper declared. "Roughing it for all this time has been murder on my hair!" She attempted to pull her knotted hair into a ponytail. "I would kill for a hairbrush!"

Zolen looked up from what he was doing, studying Harper for a few seconds before he spoke. "Your hair does not look as though its been murdered." He sounded confused at her outburst.

"Oh. Yeah, no. I mean I look awful. That's all." Harper waved her hand, as if brushing away Zolen's concern.

He continued to study her for another moment. "You look fine to me." He commented, then turned his attention back to their breakfast. Harper, on the other hand, turned away to hide the blush that filled her entire face.

The food Zolen prepared was filling, especially when wrapped in the mallon bread. Everyone was satisfied with the meal and ready to depart into the pass. They all seemed to heave a collective sigh and begin to make their way through.

Entering the covering of the pass, created by a bevy of trees right at the entrance of the narrow passage created between the outcropping of two mountain peaks converging at the same point, Eliana felt a dramatic change in temperature. The pass was much cooler than even the peak of the mountain had been. She found herself pulling her arms around herself to try to keep warm. Blaike noticed her motions, pulled a cloak out of his pack, and wrapped it around her shoulders. Seeing his concern for Eliana, Zolen reached into his pack and did the same for Harper.

"Thank you" Harper mumbled in response to his gesture. Eliana had said nothing, just looked into Blaike's eyes as he wrapped the cloak around her, bringing him quite close to her. Close enough to feel the warmth of his breath on her face. Close enough to take in his unique sent, one that could only be found in the strange land she never knew existed.

Blaike broke the intense gaze on that occasion, "We should move a bit faster if we want to make it through before nightfall." His voice came out in barely more than a whisper. Eliana nodded her agreement, moving once again deeper into the pass.

The overhang of the rocky mountain, coupled with the dense trees, gave the pass a feeling of heaviness. It was dark, although the sun had been up for a few hours at that time. It seemed that the trees sucked up all of the available light, leaving nothing to reach the ground floor. The path they followed, if one could call it a path at all, reminded Eliana of the worn dirt trail they walked on their way through the Wildlands. However, the pass seemed even more abandoned and dire than even those forgotten trails.

Even the air seemed heavy there, as if it were stale, an old atmosphere that no one had taken in their lungs in decades, or longer. An hour went by, then another, they were barely able to mark the passing of time due to the limited light. But somehow, Blaike was able to watch the shadows change and would tell them as he noticed the next stage of day. Eliana found herself wondering if he had been through the pass after all. She wanted to ask him, but decided to wait until they reached the Seer's refuge, not wanting to distract him.

A strange sensation washed over Eliana suddenly. She noticed that the necklace she wore under her tunic, the one Aine had willed to her, was growing warm. Thinking back over their morning trek, she realized that it had been feeling a little warm since entering the pass, but she had welcomed it, the added heat helping against the drop in temperature. At that point in the day, however, the warmth was becoming uncomfortable, too warm in fact.

Her hand went to the place on her neck where it lay, touching the metal to confirm that it was indeed quite warm. Something made her think of the StarStone, still in it's hiding spot, and she remembered how it had also become heated during the attack by the Oprey. Her concerns increased, wondering if the heat was some kind of a sign of impending attack. Those thoughts flowing through her mind, she reached for the stone and found that it was warm as it had been before, only not nearly as noticeable as the heat of the necklace. Eliana had wanted to keep the necklace a secret, but the turn of events was making it almost impossible to leave it hidden under her tunic.

"Elaina, what is it?" Blaike said quietly to her, noticing the frantic thoughts that must have been plain on her face.

She felt an instinct to trust him, to tell him suddenly. It was as strong as the instinct to grab the StarStone had been, as strong as the instinct to keep the necklace a secret at first. Perhaps the instinct had kicked in because Blaike would know what to do. Perhaps the timing was right.

"My grandmother's necklace is getting warm. It's kind of hot, actually." Eliana confessed.

"Necklace?" He said, with eyebrow raised. "May I have a look?"

Eliana nods, pulling the collar of her tunic down just enough for Blaike to see the geometric lines intersecting across her neckline. He reached out and placed his fingers just under the edge of the metal, lifting the necklace away from her skin slightly. Eliana heard him almost gasp at what he saw.

"What?" she asked him.

"It has left marks on your skin from the heat. What is this necklace made of?" Blaike wondered aloud.

"I'm not sure. I just thought it was some kind of costume jewelry. But Aine had left it for me in a safe deposit box. Something made me put it on the morning we went cave exploring. I've worn it ever since." She explained.

"Has it ever gotten warm like this?"

"No. Just as we entered the pass. But the StarStone had done something similar with the Oprey."

Zolen had approached them by that time, wondering what they were inspecting. "Where did you get that?" He asked as he saw the necklace for the first time.

Blaike and Eliana both turned their focus to Zolen, but it was Harper who spoke up first, "Oh, Aine left that for her."

"That is Fae hewn, using metals found in our mountains. There is also another element used, but I have not been told what it is." Zolen said, shocked. "I have never seen it used to forge a necklace."

"We must remove it before it causes more damage to your skin." Blaike said, sounding somewhat frantic to Eliana. He turned her around to undo the clasp, but struggled to get it loose. "It will not unlatch." He said

"What?" Eliana had not felt the same level of concern that Blaike seemed to have, but hearing that it wouldn't unlatch brought her nerves to the surface. "Why is it hot?"

"I do not know, but we must do something to protect you if we can not remove it."

"Just a moment. I think I saw something we can use." Zolen declared as he turned quickly to a section of dense plants along the mountain cliff. Harper was standing near by, but had no idea how to help. Blaike seemed to have calmed down but Eliana saw the concern in his eyes. And it warmed her heart. She found herself looking at him, willing him to return her gaze. Just as he did, also stepping a little closer to her, Zolen returned.

"I have something!" He all but shouted, causing Blaike to take a surprised step back.

"What is it?" Eliana asked. He showed her a handful of some type of leaf.

"This is Ferlish Glabra which has cooling properties." He explained, then stepped closer to Eliana. "Here, hold these for a moment." Zolen handed the leaves to her, then reached for the necklace. He lifted the ornate design off of her skin, revealing the red marks left from the heat of the metal. Next, he grabbed one of the leaves from the pile Eliana held out to him and wrapped it around the edge of the necklace.

He turned to Blaike, who seemed anxious to help, "Go get some thin vine we can use to secure the leaves." Blaike responded immediately, turning to run toward the overgrowth. Zolen returned his attention to his task, taking yet another leaf and wrapping it as well, this time from the top portion of the metal, closer to Eliana's neck. Already she could feel the cooling sensation from the leaf.

"It's like it has menthol in it!" She exclaimed. The feeling was similar to sports ointments used to relax tightened muscles. By that time, Blaike had returned with several thin vines. The two males worked side by side without speaking until the entire necklace was wrapped in the plant material. Eliana's tender skin was immediately soothed.

"What happens when the metal heats through the leaves?" Harper asked. She had been quietly watching the entire operation, taking in the scene before her.

Zolen turned to face her, "It will not. The Glabra is able to difuse heat from Fae metals which contain Starlight."

Eliana's eyes shot over to Zolen, "This metal has Starlight?" She was shocked. The StarStone and the necklace? The thought running through her mind was how? How had Aine been able to leave with them, and why had they been left for her?

"Fae metals have always contained an element of Starlight. That is what causes the heat. However, they are only supposed to heat during battle. The Starlight must have been activated when we entered the pass. Has this happened before?"

Eliana thought back to the Oprey, Only the StarStone had responded to that threat. The necklace hadn't been heated at all. "No, not even during the Oprey attack."

Blaike spoke up, placing his hand on the small of Eliana's back, sending a chill over her skin. "That attack was short lived. The oppression was only over us for minutes. We've been in this pass for hours." Blaike looked closely at Eliana. "I am very sorry I spoke so strongly about taking this path. I was not intending any harm to befall you." His eyes held sincerity.

"It's alright. I made the decision. There was no way for you to know this would happen, I hadn't told you about the necklace. Besides," she continued, gesturing to Zolen, "we've found a solution." Then she smiled back at Blaike, who returned the expression.

With the crisis averted, the group picked up on the trail where they had left off. The time lost could be easily made up with a little extra speed, Blaike had said. So they all moved quickly, keeping a steady pace and forgoing a stop for the evening meal. Instead, they snacked on fruits that they had packed along with some type of nuts that Zolen had gathered on the Mountainside.

Before long, a new situation came upon them, bringing both Blaike and Zolen running in front of the girls, defending the group from threat of attack. Harper and Eliana were completely in the dark about what was happening. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

Blaike had been leading them, just as he had the entire trek, when he came to an abrupt halt. His left arm went out to keep the girls behind him, while his right arm made a swift motion across his chest to pull out his sword. If it hadn't stopped Eliana's heart with fear, she would have swooned at the beauty of the fluid move. Zolen was next to Blaike, weapons drawn, within a heartbeat. Both warriors were on alert for whatever enemy sought to harm them. Harper stood a little closer to Eliana as the scene played out in front of them.

"Safety in numbers." Harper whispered.

"Shhh" Zolen shushed her, which Harper actually obeyed. That in itself was evidence to the danger of the situation they were in.

The two males moved their gaze in an arc around the group, checking each vantage point for the enemy. It must have been an instinct or a Ferlish sense, because Eliana didn't detect a thing. She stole a glance over at Harper, whose eyes were wide with fear. She was surprised to discover that her own fear was lessening, the longer they stood there, rather than increasing with the unknown. Eliana was growing more and more curious, instead of afraid. She pulled away from Harper's grip on her arm and took a step closer to Blaike.

"What is it?" She whispered.

Blaike gave a slight turn of his head, just enough to angle his mouth closer to her ear, but never took his eyes off of the scene in front of them.

"A Locelor, similar to a wolf and a bear, or so I've been told. Don't you smell it?" He asked her.

Eliana hadn't smelled anything other than the same scent of the pass they had smelled all day. She looked at Harper, "Do you smell it?" She asked.

"God yes, it smells like death." Harper said, her face turning white on the last word.

The next thing she knew, Blaike had pushed her back further from him, causing her to tumble into Harper. When she looked up to see what had caused his actions, she saw it. A monstrous creature had made its presence known just a few feet in front of them. The creature was enormous, much larger than any bear she had heard of. It did look somewhat wolf-like but it lumbered more like a bear. Its great fangs were bared in an aggressive posturing, it did look ready to attack.

But something pulled at Eliana, drawing her to the strange creature. She wasn't afraid, even though her intellect told her she should be terrified. One look at Harper would confirm that thought, her friend looked ready to pass out. The odd thing was, Eliana saw something other than pure wild animal in front of them. She saw a creature afraid, of what she didn't know. But Eliana was sure that the Locelor wouldn't harm her, in fact she was positive that if she went over to where it stood on hind legs, it would become docile.

Without a word to anyone else, Eliana took a step forward. Immediately, the wild eyes looked to her, and then the aggression in those eyes melted away. It remained in its threatening stance, but made no further move to attack. Another step brought Eliana to stand shoulder to shoulder with Blaike and Zolen, one on each side. The males looked over at her, Blaike's eyes going wide with concern.

Eliana reached into her waistband and pulled out the StarStone, showing it to Blaike and nodding her head toward the creature. He shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together, his eyes pleading with her not to do what she had planned. Eliana grabbed his free hand and squeezed it in reassurance, then turned back toward the creature. Its mouth was now closed over the fangs it had been baring at them only moments before. Progress, she thought to herself. Blaike grabbed her hand again, bringing her attention back to him. The look in his eyes told her he didn't like it, but he agreed. Something other than danger was about to happen.

Another step forward put her in front of the group and the warriors who desired to protect her. Two more and she was nearing the Locelor. It had lowered its large paw, then loose at its side. More steps continued to put Eliana closer to the beast, but by the time she stood in front of it, the creature who had seemed ready to pounce mere minutes earlier, was finally back on all four legs.

〰🖤〰

My sincerest apologies for the slight cliffhanger. Honestly, writing this "attack" was such a challenge! I'm not sure the length is good, or the flow as well. I second guessed how quickly Eliana stepped forward to "tame the beast" I had a variety of visions for how this would play out and sort of mixed them all together... And each time a threat approaches this group, it gets harder to write!

Thanks for sticking with me, even though I'm so conflicted about the story! A side note: all of the landscape photos I use in the story aesthetics are my shots of locations in Yosemite and Lake Tahoe. I started writing this story on that trip and the land was a huge inspiration.

I added this song by Skillet, which I first heard live and knew I needed to use in this story. Skillet is one of those bands that you have to hear live, their sound is impossible to completely capture in a recording. Listen anyway...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]