The Forest Council

It was late. Later than she’d realised. But she never normally got lost, she knew these woods like the back of her hand, she relied on that. But this part, this part here was different. She knew that she’d never seen it before. There were no sounds of distant cars or dogs barking, no sounds at all. It was unnaturally quiet. More like a tomb than a forest. And then, a rustle and snap. Like a twig snapping and someone clicking their fingers simultaneously. She gasped as she sensed movement behind her.

An impish figure emerged, all in black, as if the very shadows themselves had come to life. Perhaps he was a shadow. Perhaps he’d been watching her all along. Black hair framed obsidian eyes. What appeared to be either a black thorn or some kind of claw adorned his right ear. She jumped as his voice cut through her observations.

“What are you doing here?” He asked with a voice that flowed out like silk hiding a subtle threat.

Adele fought to stay calm. There was something unnerving about that inky gaze.

“I…Uh….I was walking in the woods and I… I’m lost I-“

“You’re not meant to be here.”

“Yes,” she clung at that desperately, “right, I need to leave,” she said nodding, as if to herself. “If you could just kindly point me in the right direction, then I’ll be on my way.”

“You’ve come here for something.”

“No. No you’ve got it all wrong” she said, fighting to keep her composure.

“And yet you don’t seem that surprised to see me. Do your kind usually wander out here so late at night?”

Her response was stuck in her throat. There was a further rustling in the bushes surrounding them. Out walked a shimmering figure with silver hair that seemed to glow in the moonlight. Reflected a moon that was slowly getting brighter as night fell. He had pointed ears and a vacant expression, as if he’d seen so much that all new things bored him. Another, smaller figure appeared by his side, completely covered in shining, green ivy leaves. Adele could only make out a stub nose and beady, green eyes, like marbles set in a face otherwise hidden by foliage.

“Our leader, the head of the forest council,” Shadow-man continued, “will decide what to do with the likes of you.”

Her heart fell as she braced her body to run. Before she could make a move, the newcomers’ hands grabbed her roughly. There was no point in trying to escape. She was held with such easy strength that there were moments her feet floated over the ground, only brushing it. She didn’t know the way out anyway. She wasn’t in her forest anymore. She needed them to get back, and they knew it. Moon-hair smirked as if he was suppressing laughter, as if he could read her thoughts. His two companions remained stone faced as they dragged her into a fast-paced march.

The forest was becoming denser as they walked. The shades of green seemed heavier, thicker, like moving from folds of satin to velvet. The circumference of the trees was larger. That meant they were older, ancient in fact. Covered in moss so thick it had clearly never been disturbed by human hands. The forest floor here was so littered with foliage and vegetation it seemed a living, breathing thing on its own. No sign of concrete peeping through the leaves, or stone slabs set there to make a clear path for idle ramblers. A glow of colour caught her eye. She noticed flowers that opened as they passed and glowed like otherworldly jewels. They lit up the advancing faces in an abundance of undulating colours. Yellow, blue, green, orange, purple. No red though. The only colour missing. Adele thought she saw the sparkle of something, or someone, watching her, peeping from behind the petals. To think her eyes were deceiving her was a pointless exercise by now.

They reached a circular grove, circled by more of those mystical flowers. There they were. When these flowers opened, they glowed ominously red. There were torches lit alongside them. Adele could feel the energy, the heat. The flowers pulsed with it, not the flames. She saw the waves of glittering colour and felt the heat of them pass over her. She began to sweat under her thick, woolen jumper and quilted coat. Branches and vines slowly rose up from the ground with their approach, curling and writhing to form seats. One by each flower.

“Put the prisoner there,” Shadow-man ordered coldly.

She was dumped like a sack of potatoes in an empty space on the floor. Vines immediately shot up to bind her wrists. Well and truly trapped then. She gazed at the flowers, the tiny, curious faces that now gazed back at her boldly as her captors took their seats. Others soon joined them. Some burst out from the ground, covered in dust. Others seemed to appear out of thin air. Some of them looked human, but had an otherworldly glow confirming none of them were. More creatures that resembled her unwanted companions appeared, as well as versions of them. Moss and bark instead of ivy leaves. They chattered amongst themselves in a language she couldn’t understand but felt the vibrations of in her chest. This soon died down to a whisper and then faded into silence. The torches crackled and a faint breeze made the leaves sigh.

“What happens now?” She dared to ask out loud. A dozen angry pairs of eyes darted in her direction as if she had rudely interrupted their concentration.

“We are waiting for our leader, he has the power to judge you,” Shadow-man responded without looking at her. The waiting and silence continued.

After some time, it was impossible to guess how much, she saw a glow in the distance. A man, ancient and thin as a reed, a long staff in his hand and hair silvery white. An older version of one of her captors, his silver cloak trailing in the mud and causing a loud rustle as various dead leaves stuck to him. Power emanated from his serious expression. He sat in the remaining empty seat, calmly took out a wooden pipe and lit it. Smoke began to billow from his mouth in a thick, languorous cloud. She couldn’t wait any longer.

“Please sir! This is just an awful misunderstanding. I got lost. I-”

Her plea was interrupted by a loud, booming laugh, that emerged unexpectantly from the newcomer.

“I cannot help you. I am not the head of the council.” He continued to giggle to himself. Some of the others burst out laughing too. Shadow-man rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded like ‘always late’.

They continued to wait. She didn’t understand, all the seats were taken. A barn owl had joined on a nearby perch, she spotted it from the corner of her eye. Maybe other animals would be drawn in to watch too. Where was this mysterious leader? All of a sudden the council rose. Shadow-man dragged her up with him. Still no one came.

“Where are they?” She asked, feeling a fool. Her captor looked at her with disgust.

“I apologise for her insolence,” he said to no one in particular.

“Who are you speaking to?” He looked at her as if he might hit her.

“The owl! Who else? No one knows more secrets. No one sees more. No one else will get to the truth of you better than he.” Her continued shock clearly had tested his patience to it’s limit and he shoved her forward so roughly she almost fell face first. She stood there, not knowing what to expect, eyes cast down.

“Look at him!” he hissed.

A perch had risen in front of her during this commotion and the barn owl was now sat there expectantly, had alighted there without a sound. She looked, and was unable to escape those big, black eyes. She was immediately swallowed up in them. She watched the flames of the reflected torches and glow of the red flowers dancing there. She saw her own face staring back at her. Her own reflected face seemed to become larger and larger until she felt herself converge with it and step into the blackness.

She was now in what appeared to be a study. Black, elegant furniture appeared out of the blackness of the owl’s eyes. The reflected fires had come together in an immense fireplace and roared before her. The red flowers were gone. She was surrounded by bookcases that reached up so high she couldn’t see the top of them. In fact, she couldn’t see the ceiling at all. None of the books had titles on the bindings. What was this place? She didn’t have much time to ponder that as she was soon faced with its inhabitor. She heard a low hoot behind her. As she turned she clasped her hand over her mouth to suppress a scream. It was the owl but grown to a size that towered over her. He cocked his head inquisitively. Was he going to pass verdict by observing her?

“What are you hiding?” He said calmly. Shocked that the bird was speaking to her, Adele remained frozen.

“Why are you here?” He asked with more anger now.

“I… I got lost. Please, I just want to go home!”

The large beak snapped threateningly in her face and she screamed out this time.

“Don’t lie to me!”

“You know exactly where you are. Your grandmother spoke to you of this place. She was good to us. But you!” He snapped his beak again. “You have trespassed. You slipped under the veil expecting to take from us.” He cocked his vast head again. Adele said nothing.

“You never inherited your grandmother’s magic did you?”

She looked away and clenched her fists, remaining silent.

“So I’m right. Then there can only be one reason for why you’re here. To take some of ours.”

Adele knew there was no sense in lying now.

“Only one red flower Council Leader. Just enough to find him.”

“The red flower, the source of love magic.” He clearly didn’t expect a response and continued in great anger again. “Just one?! How dare you? That is someone’s home! That is what preserves them!”

She thought of the small faces gazing at her with remorse.

“I didn’t know that until I came here!” She cried out, beginning to weep. “I saw the face hidden behind one of the petals as they took me here and realised. I wasn’t going to do it.”

“It’s bad enough how you humans pluck and pinch at our homes in your world. Now you want to destroy the magic in ours?!” The fire seemed to rage higher.

“No, I never wanted that!”

“But you considered it. All for what, him was it?” Adele didn’t know what to say.

“To steal his heart,” the owl continued, “the one who spurned you.”

“No! To find him again. He’s missing. He’s the one who’s lost.”

“No,” the owl replied calmly, “he’s lost to you.”

“He would never have left me unless it meant danger.”

The owl made his way across the room, as if he’d had enough of her.

“He’s fine,” the owl continued, “he lives.”

‘He might be alive, but he’s not fine’ she thought. Would him being alive be enough? It had to be, she was at their mercy. She thought of her parents and little brother at home. They needed her.

“You’re right, the reasons for coming here were wrong. I’ll never do it again, I’ll never come back here again. I promise.”

“Now that,” he said, ruffling his feathers and tweaking them with his immense beak, “I can believe.”

Her heart swelled and overflowed from her eyes again in relief. She’d been a fool. She didn’t need magic to find him. She would never be so foolish again.

“But it’s not enough,” the owl continued. He stretched out one wing and then the other contemplatively. “In magic, there is always a price.”

“Wh-what?” She stuttered, “But I don’t have any magic! You know that. I didn’t take any magic from you either. I never touched a flower.”

“No but you’re here, you made it through the veil, that is a magic of its own. The forest gave you enough to enter, you have to pay if you’re going to leave.”

“Ok, what can I pay with?! I don’t have anything here.” She scrambled in her head for what Nana had told her about gifts to the forest folk.

“My hair?” She said, “I can give you my hair, for your nest.” Silence.

“Or there’s many beautiful things at my house, you can follow me there! You can fly across the veil, I know you can.”

“Not enough.” He was pensive again.

“I know!” He exclaimed. “Your former lover will never look at you again.”

Her heart dropped and shattered. This had all been for him. She had risked everything for him. What had been the point of any of it? Of her confession, of rethinking her actions? A minute passed.

“You know, time is a funny thing here,” he said observing his claws, “you might have been gone a minute, a year, more.” He was right. Her mind was racing. There had to be some way she could tweak the deal. ‘Never look at her’, only look, she had to be careful of the wording.

“Could I see him again? Even if he would never look at me again?” She pleaded with her eyes. His black ones stared blankly back. She was prepared for him to refuse, but she had to try.

“I’m in a belevolent mood. Sure. I’ll even give you the ability to find him, if you want?”

She couldn’t believe it. Would it hurt more to find him? She had to know either way, she had to take this chance while she could. ‘All magic has a price’ a voice in her head crooned. She hesitated. Well, she’d be paying for it, her love would never look at her again.

“Yes.” She said quickly.

It was done. The dark room melted away around her, dripped down the sides of her consciousness. She was back in the grove, staring at a silent owl that hooted at her softly. The council around her were in chaos, all talking and arguing amongst themselves. Had they seen it all? Would they agree to the deal? Was it too lenient for them?She couldn’t wait for them to agree or offer up a worse deal. The owl turned it’s soft head around and hooted urgently. She knew what it meant. Run.

She ran. She ran and refused to look back. Tripping over hidden roots she used the force of it to keep catapulting forward with no real idea where she was going. After a while, the voices behind her began echoing and fading. When she looked behind her, she realised that no one was chasing. She was alone. As she continued to stumble forward, she realised that she had reached a clearing, one she recognised. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was over, she could find her way home. Dawn was just beginning to break as she reached her house. She quietly took the key from under the mat and opened the backdoor. Up the staircase by the kitchen, feeling glad she’d oiled the hinges of her old, wooden door, she eased it open and collapsed on her bed. She was home. She was safe. She’d never go through that again. And Felix, he didn’t need to see her to hear her, to feel her. And now she knew she could find him. She went to bed with a smile on her face.

She woke up to her mother opening the door. How wonderful it was to see her face.

“Oh!” She gasped, “hello you, you’re not meant to be here.” Not the greeting she expected.

“What do you mean mum? This is my bedroom.” Was what she tried to say, but nothing came out. No, had the council taken her voice away? Her mother looked nervous, she was acting strangely, approaching her with caution. Had her face been marked? She turned towards the mirror on her bedside table, tried to shriek but couldn’t. Yes she could find Felix, but he would never look at her, Adele, again. He would only see what she was now.

A barn owl.