UnSeelie Dreams Chapter Three Page 7

Thomas traveled the narrow path lined with wild may apples and fallen leaves wary and with sword drawn. Large ancient roots jutted from the ground creating an obstacle course. Fruit blossoms perfumed the air. The blue incandescence teased him from afar as it flickered along his peripheral vision yet Thomas ignored the lanterns as they tempted him to stray into their territory.

The path seemed to get smaller and, finally, disappeared as he entered a sweeping valley. Thomas noticed silvery glint bouncing off the ground in the distance. His instincts told him to keep going forward; his skin crawled with each step as he tightened his grip.

As he moved toward it he found the mirage moved ahead as well, just beyond him. It shone like a star fallen to the earth. The tiny hairs rose on the back of his neck, there was no sound only the hush of dread, the calm before the storm.

This is the Shadowlands.

To reach your destination you must stop and allow it to come to you.

“No.” Thomas grounded out. “I will not stop.”

Energy stronger than Thomas pulled him to a halt in his tracks, the sword falling from his nerveless hand. He did not know why he stopped but found he could not move, the air around him grew heavy. Thomas struggled against it for a second then forgot why he was struggling.

The portal appeared a few feet in front of him. Its hematite surface was the size of a shield. Star light seemed to pierce it at intervals and it reflected the sky like a mirror. Thomas felt the atmosphere give way with ease. Flecks rose from it like a thousand fireflies swirling around him.

He moved closer to look into the silvery core and saw another self reflected there. The other was cloaked in a grey hauberk with a pitch black wolf pelt flung over his broad shoulders. Thomas looked into eyes the color of old coins, iris ringed with amber; he was startled at his own image.

“Tis’ the devil’s work.”

Tarraine.

The other self stared back at him with a knowing look. Those eyes held secrets buried beyond Thomas’s grasp, as well as a mocking challenge for him to awaken and discover himself.

A howl echoed in the distance snapping Thomas from his vision. He turned around to find the orchard gone and shadows racing over the ground, gaining ground and getting closer to him.

The Wild Hunt comes for you.

Wolves.

Fear caused Thomas to stumble back and fall against the stone surface of the portal and tumbled downward through it. He opened his eyes dazed and confused by the rush just to find himself right back where he started in the tunnel. Sorrow filled him as he became more disheartened by the circumstances. The sylph sat comfortably in the center of his palm.

“What should I do?” Thomas asked the tiny winged being. “How do I escape from this grave?”

“She tricks human.” Eco answered from around him. The sylph flew up with a screech at the truthful insult. “She feeds like spider on sorrow.”

Thomas frowned as he realized he could see quite easily despite the darkness surrounding him. There were vines above him and there were tiny blue lights floating around him. He attempted to brush them aside and was pinch for his effort.

“Ouch, damn, stop.” He moved back cautiously. “Eco, please, show me the way out.”

Laughter shook the ground under him and he gripped a vine to remain upright.

“Be careful of what you hunt for in the darkness.”

She hunts you.

The words played over and over inside his mind. The girl from the woods in Poitou; the witch he saved only to be damned by. His lips tingled with the memory of her kiss, his gut twisted with desire and anger. The other growled softly at the thought of her.