There's actually meant to be a chapter in between this and the last one,
but I found it difficult to write, so went straight into this one.
As you would have learnt at the end of the non-existent fourth chapter, this one starts at the exact point where Tabitha ended her story before Sofia threw it out of the window. (It ended on the point they kissed with the rain falling down on them, hope that jogs your memory lol.) Anyway, it's only just been written, so there's probably things that I've overlooked that don't make sense, so if there is, kindly point them out to me, thanks!
***
'Erycen...this is where the story ends.'
Erycen shook his head, a smile forming on his lips.
'No Tabithina,' he replied, 'the story only just begins.'
The air distinctly got colder and the slight breeze that tiptoed around them now whipped itself up into a harsh wind, delivering lashing blows that stung their faces. The rain that had fallen delicately and romantically turned into a downpour and Erycen took Tabitha's hand and started to lead the way to his castle.
'Come on,' he called over his shoulder, shouting over the roaring wind.
Tabitha gripped his hand firmly, and broke into a run. The wind got fiercer and sent the rain crashing into them like bullets. A bolt of forked lightning lit up the sky and it was at that moment Tabitha fell, breaking her hold with Erycen. He looked back and ran over to her, before a loud booming noise sounded off behind him, and it was as though an invisible something pulled him backwards by his midriff. His body was thrown about ten feet away from Tabitha, who screamed and got up to her feet. As she went to run over to him, she felt something take hold of her ankle, and she almost tripped again. Stumbling, she looked to see what was holding her and she saw that a thin vine, from a small green and yellow leafy bush, had entwined itself around her. She pulled her ankle away viciously, and at once felt pain searing through her leg. The vine felt like a set of razor sharp claws punctured in her leg, and as she tried to pull away, they dug themselves in deeper. She cried out in agony and fell to her knees as thin trickles of blood ran down and buried into her left trainer. She looked helplessly at Erycen, who was still on the floor, motionless, and tried to crawl over to him. Her hands sank into the mud as she shifted her body forward uncomfortably, using help from her right leg. As she crawled over, the vine went taut, and she screamed agonizingly again, unable to move from the pain. She shifted back over to the bush, and the vine went slack, releasing its grip.
She moved her hands towards the bush hesitatively, before plucking up the courage, and thrusting them both in. An electric pain washed over her, like a thousand needles jabbing her body simultaneously. Her teeth gritted and grinded together and her eyes turned into squints as the pain became more unbearable. Her hands brushed against the poisonous leaves that seemed to follow her hands wherever they went. She tried to prise the vine away from her ankle, slipping her fingers underneath to make a gap between them. Lifting it up, she tried to ease her ankle out of its position, but the vine tightened its grip, and pinned her fingers and ankles down together. Her eyes turned hazy and her vision blurred as tears formed in her eyes. She pulled with all her strength and she fell onto her back as her fingers were released. She held them up to her face and her hands were almost instantly covered in blood seeping out from deep cuts from the tips of her fingers. The rain, which Tabitha had forgotten about in the midst of her pain, washed them clean. Her ankle still held captive, she turned around to look at Erycen.
He was slowly beginning to stir, his hands clutching his head. He slowly got into a sitting position, and Tabitha called him weakly.
'Erycen, help!'
Still dazed, but realizing Tabitha was in trouble, he got to his feet and stumbled over, but again, when reaching Tabitha he was flung backwards. He was better prepared this time, and managed to turn his body round and land on his chest, his hands breaking his fall.
'What's going on?' Tabitha cried anxiously.
'I do not know Tabithina,' Erycen shouted over the roar of the wind, which seemed determined not to let the pair talk to each other. 'Try not to move your leg away from the Sominef.' She assumed he meant the plant that held her in its iron grip.
'What is it?' she yelled, her voice hoarse.
'Sominef,' Erycen repeated. 'It's a poisonous plant that holds you in captivity.' He didn't expand on this and Tabitha called out impatiently.
'Go on.'
'What?' shouted Erycen.
'Carry on,' she shouted back.
'I do not have anything more to say,' he replied over the roaring wind. 'It holds you in captivity, when it decides to let you go, it does. If it does not decide then . it does not.'
'Oh,' muttered Tabitha, 'that simple.' She was getting a bit fed up. Here she was in freezing cold weather, a nasty plant - the vine gave a short lash of anger at this thought, as though it knew what she was thinking - had a hold of her, and Erycen couldn't save her.
A loud screech overhead interrupted her bitter thoughts and she looked up as best as she could, while the rain fell down on her fiercely. A black object was gliding through the sky, and Tabitha guessed it must be a bird. Tabitha watched it as it flew behind a cloud, and then she turned to Erycen to ask how long it usually took Sominef's to release its prey. His face was deathly pale, and all questions flew out of Tabitha's mind. He was looking up at the area of sky where the object had just flown, and she could see his hands slightly shaking. Whilst the wind had been cold and cruel just seconds before, it had now stopped completely, like someone had turned off a machine that controlled it. The rain had disappeared just as fast.
'What's wrong?' Tabitha shouted to Erycen. He turned to her and furiously put a finger to his lips.
'That thing over there,' he said, pointing behind him to the sky 'is an Arxal.'
He pronounced the last word with such emphasis that Tabitha knew that an Arxal was a big deal.
'What's an Arxal?' she asked fearfully.
'A bird,' he replied. His face turned a slight shade of green. 'A bird that likes to feast.'
'Oh,' said Tabitha, relieved, though she still suspected there was more to an Arxal than that. 'So will it peck us?'
'Oh no, it will not peck us,' said Erycen. A beat passed. 'No need, for it will just eat us whole.'
Tabitha was about to ask if it had a large beak when she saw the Arxal emerge from a flurry of clouds and there was no need. The Arxal certainly had a large beak. In fact, it had a large everything. It was roughly half the size of a car at the moment, and it still looked miles away from them. As it drew closer, it grew larger and larger, its wings producing enormous gusts of winds that hit them in the face. Panicked, Erycen turned to Tabitha, a look of desperation on his face.
'Oh, I am afraid I do not know what to do,' he said, almost crying from terror and anxiety. Tabitha struggled to get out of the grip of the Sominef, only succeeding in making the vine wrap tighter around her ankle. She gave a moan of helplessness and looked up to see the Arxal gliding towards them, getting ready to land. She could almost see it clearly now. It had red beady eyes, the size of her dad's old recording discs he kept at home. These looked small in comparison to the beak, at least eighty times bigger than an eagle's. Its magnificent wings were brought together gracefully as it landed, and its dangerous looking talons landed neatly on the floor, only a couple of feet away from Tabitha. Its talons were the size of cars, and as she looked up at the huge truck-sized figure of the Arxal, looming menacingly over her, she pulled her leg away from the Sominef so hard; she thought it would break before the vine would. Erycen again tried to run to her, but was stopped when he was just slightly out of reach. He pushed his shoulder against this invisible barrier that disconnected them, but was tossed easily aside again when his hands made contact with the imperceptible wall.
The Arxal lowered its head towards Tabitha, who shrank back trying to make herself as small as possible. She felt vulnerable next to this huge unblinking animal, and tried not to make any movement or sound.
The creature suddenly made a thick gargling sound from the back of its throat as it lifted up its head and thrashed it about angrily. Tabitha edged further away, the vine beginning to taut again. As its head violently swung from side to side, the beak swiping dangerously close to Tabitha, she saw it had a thick brown rope wrapped tightly around it, making opening the beak an impossible task. The rope was camouflaged against the Arxal's sleek black-feathered body, but Tabitha's sharp eyes followed it upwards, where it led to the Arxal's neck. And sitting there, barely visible amidst this huge mammoth of a monster, was a man, holding the ropes tightly.
He glanced at Erycen - slowly recovering from being knocked back for the third time - and Tabitha, stuck in position by the Sominef, and then leapt fearlessly from the Arxal, rope still in hand, and ran around a thick tree trunk several times before securing the rope with a triple knot. Tabitha looked up at the Arxal, who was still struggling, outraged at being put through this abuse. It flapped its powerful wings and took off into the sky, only to be pulled back midway through taking off. It made the same gargling sound, as though a screech was trying to escape from its throat, before perching itself onto the tree, that groaned underneath its weight, where it sat glumly.
Tabitha turned, intrigued, to the hero who had just come to the rescue. Like Erycen, he was dressed in a suit of armour, though unlike Erycen's, his was well kept and shone like new. His black hair was braided neatly into plaits that were held up in a ponytail, away from his caramel complexioned face. He was a bit taller than Erycen, and judging by his shoulders, broader too.
Tabitha held her breath as he walked past her, giving her a wide smile. His gleaming white teeth were perfect and dazzling. A roaring sound came over her ears, and her heart beat faster as she blushed awkwardly and smiled back, quite forgetting that she was still in captivity from the Sominef. He gave a little wave and then carried on walking over to Erycen, who was now beginning to stir into a sitting position.
She felt a cold wave of dislike come over her as she looked at Erycen, who was now paling in comparison next to this godlike being. She watched, in outrage, as her hero offered Erycen his hand, to which Erycen slapped it away miserably. He struggled to stand, and looked over at Tabitha weakly. She looked back at him in disgust, and noticed, for the first time, Erycen's imperfections. The way his hair was stringy and rather greasy, not like her knight in shining armours perfect braids. His sparkling blue eyes were not nearly as beautiful as she once thought, and she immediately decided that brown eyes, the colour of her new obsession's, were much nicer.
Her hero, who had shrugged when Erycen didn't take up his help of being brought to his feet, had walked away, and had his back turned from Erycen, who drew his sword and ran at him cowardly.
'Look out,' she cried, watching the spectacle unfold in front of her. Her knight turned around and quickly brandished his own sword. He smiled a smile of thanks to Tabitha, whose heart melted. She heard that strange sense of roaring in her ears again. It sounded like a rush of static electricity, or a bad aerial signal on television.
'Tabithina,' Erycen groaned, displaying his crooked, stained teeth and breaking the roaring sound. Two from the bottom row were missing, and as Tabitha stared into these black-holed gaps, she thought she was going to be sick with revulsion. His sword was quickly knocked from his hands, and her hero pointed his own in Erycen's face, the tip just inches away of killing him. Tabitha clapped her hands delightedly.
'Kill him, kill him, kill him,' she chanted happily, and her knight in shining armour shot another - perfect, straight and unstained - smile in her direction.
Her hero placed his sword on Erycen's shoulder as though he was being knighted, and lowered him to his knees. He pointed at Erycen's hands with his sword, and Erycen obediently put them behind his back. Her knight then revealed a leather rope and bound Erycen's wrists together, stopping once in a while to look up at give Tabitha a wink.
Erycen was dragged over to the tree where the Arxal was held. He was mouthing something to Tabitha, who couldn't understand - nor could be bothered to see - what he was trying to say. The static roaring dominated her ears again, and she held her hands steadfastly over them. It wasn't causing discomfort, but she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she willed it away. It roared louder, threatening to stay with her forever, before it gradually began to die down and faded away completely.
She opened her eyes brightly and looked around for her hero. Now Erycen was less than imagined, she could be with him instead. They could live in Erycen's castle happily ever after. But her dreams evaporated when she couldn't see any movement by the tree. She craned her neck behind her shoulder to look for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Even the Arxal, she noticed when turning back to the tree, had disappeared.
'They're long gone,' drawled a voice from below.
Startled, Tabitha turned to the direction of the sound. There, only perhaps three or four inches high, was a fairy. He had shocking, bouncy red hair that seemed to explode in every direction. He had a slightly upturned nose, which gave him a rather proud and pompous look. He wore a dirty looking shapeless piece of cloth, which draped over him like a dress. He had gold, almost transparent wings that looked like the most delicate leaves, and skinny little bare legs that poked out from underneath his cloth and ended in chunky black boots. She stared, open-mouthed, at the tiny fairy, hardly daring to move from fear of upsetting him.
'What did you say?' Tabitha whispered softly, not wanting to deafen the little man. He snorted contemptuously.
'I'm not deaf,' he spat, 'there's no need to whisper. And I said, "They're long gone."'
'Who?' asked Tabitha, who had quite forgotten upon seeing this extraordinary fairy.
'Erycen and Sorefus,' said the fairy impatiently. 'You know, Erycen, your former lover, and Sorefus, your current lover.' He looked at Tabitha disapprovingly. 'Quite a busy girl aren't we missy.'
'They are not my "lovers", as you like to call them,' she said haughtily. The fairy rolled his eyes.
'Well whatever you like to call them, they're gone.'
'Well I must find them,' Tabitha said, 'Soree ... Soreef ... what was his name again?'
'Sorefus,' said the fairy lazily.
'Sorefus won't be able to find me,' Tabitha went on. 'I must tell him how I feel.' She got up to leave and only remembered she was still attached to the vine of the Sominef when her ankle held firm. Disheartened, she sat back down. The fairy giggled, and Tabitha glared at him.
'Having trouble?' he laughed. Tabitha said nothing but glowered at him. He fluttered his wings and perched on her shoulder.
'And why, pray tell,' he continued, 'are you worried about Sorefus? Shouldn't you be more concerned about finding Erycen?'
'I don't ...' Tabitha began, before she stopped herself. She didn't particularly want to go into talking about her feelings with a three-inch fairy. 'I just don't find Erycen to be as charming as I thought,' she said casually. The fairy giggled again in disbelief.
'And you think Sorefus is?' he asked. Tabitha nodded and he dissolved into a fit of laughter. He rolled onto his back and almost fell off of Tabitha's shoulder. She shifted her position roughly, and hoped that he'd lose his balance and fall.
'You mean to - ha ha - tell me that ... you honestly find Sorefus to be - I can't believe this - charming?'
'Yes,' said Tabitha forcefully, 'I do.' She almost added, 'got a problem with that', before sensibly deciding that offending a fairy that perhaps had magic powers wouldn't be the cleverest thing to do.
'The same Sorefus who just almost lopped your head off with his sword?' the fairy asked incredulously. Tabitha screwed up her face in confusion.
'Sorefus didn't lop my head off with his sword.'
'No,' said the fairy. 'He didn't. But he would have done, if it hadn't been for Erycen, who saved you at the last second. Though if it was up to me and I heard you lusting after Sorefus, I probably would have left you headless.'
Tabitha chose to ignore his last comment.
'Sorefus didn't almost lop my head off with his sword either,' she informed the fairy. He smirked.
'Okay, he didn't,' he said patronisingly and Tabitha felt him fly from her shoulder and perch himself on top of her head.
'No, he didn't,' argued Tabitha.
'Okay,' said the fairy indifferently.
Tabitha knew he was baiting her, but she couldn't help rise to it.
'He didn't,' she said, a little louder.
'Yes yes, okay dear,' said the fairy, in the tone of an adult who is agreeing with a child to keep them quiet.
'HE DIDN'T.'
'Okay, sure. Whatever.'
'HE DIDN'T.'
'Right. Okay.'
Tabitha gave an angry cry of defeat and folded her arms. It didn't seem at all strange that she was sitting here, tied to a plant that cut her whenever she moved, having just fallen out with a fairy.
'Are you ready to hear my explanation?' the fairy suddenly spoke up.
'What?' asked Tabitha coldly.
'Are you ready to hear my explanation,' the fairy repeated, 'of why you think Sorefus didn't try to attack you.'
'He didn't attack me, how's that for an explanation?'
'If you're just going to be rude,' the fairy said calmly, 'then I won't share it with you.'
Tabitha was just about to tell him that she didn't care if he shared it with her or not, because she knew the truth, before she stopped herself and thought that talking to him was at least better than being here by herself.
'Okay,' said Tabitha, 'what's your explanation? Lets hear it.'
'Well, you must excuse my choice of words,' the fairy apologised, 'but in actual fact you won't hear my explanation, you'll see it.'
'I'll see it? What do - ouch! - Hey, what was that for?' The fairy had rapped her hard on the head with his knuckles, and considering that they were smaller than her smallest fingernail, it hurt.
She stopped complaining as her surroundings blurred out of view. She suddenly felt woozy and light-headed. The colours around her formed into one multicoloured mess before her focus shifted back into view, and she found herself standing by the tree that the Arxal was sitting on top of.
She glanced at the Arxal, shuddering slightly, before she did a double take and realised that she was free from the Sominef.
'Huh, what ... I-' and then she clamped a hand over her mouth. For there, sitting just a few feet away was herself. But then, how could she be her, when she was her? Or was she really her, and she, herself, an impostor? It would make sense that she was her, especially due to the fact that she wasn't clamped to a Sominef and she was. But then again, she couldn't be her because she was wearing her jeans, jumper and trainers and she was wearing an old-fashioned long pink dress.
Her thoughts were broken when a low groan was uttered to her left. She looked, and to her horror saw Erycen lying there.
'Erycen,' she gasped, running over to him. He didn't seem to be able to hear her, and his eyes kept opening and closing slowly.
'Oh, Erycen,' Tabitha sighed tearfully, reaching out a hand to stroke his blonde hair from his face. But her hand didn't touch his hair. It touched something cold and damp instead, causing her to withdraw her hand sharply. Hesitatingly, she did it again, and once again, found her hand pass through Erycen as though he wasn't there.
'Oh ... Erycen,' Tabitha repeated, a tear trickling down her cheek. A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up and screamed.
Standing over her was Sorefus. His mouth was turned up into a sneer and his eyes glittered dangerously. She no longer felt any warmth for him as she stared into his eyes uncertainly.
'I ... I er ... I ...' she faltered, unable to say anything, but Sorefus didn't seem to care. In fact, he didn't seem to notice her, as he looked at Erycen, the sneer growing more pronounced. Tabitha thought for a moment, before thrusting her hand into his leg. As suspected, it shot straight through and came out the other side. It was fascinating, because where the leg stood so opaquely, her arm did not appear. She waved her hand and wriggled her fingers and the other half of her hand seemed to be doing it of its own accord.
A glimmer made her look up and she screamed as Sorefus stabbed his sword through Erycen, who managed to roll out of the way just in time. She scrambled out of the way in fright, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She quickly glanced over to the other her, who was too, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She turned back to the fight and watched Sorefus jab Erycen with his sword. Dodging the heavy blade, Erycen tripped and fell over a log. But instead of acting on Erycen's disadvantage, Sorefus turned and walked over to the oblivious Tabitha.
I don't remember any of this, Tabitha thought to herself, alternating between watching Erycen struggle from the log and Sorefus walk over to the other Tabitha. Tabitha's eyes widened in horror as she saw Sorefus raise his sword determinedly at the other Tabitha. She desperately looked over at Erycen who was now running over as fast he could.
'Look out!'
Just as Sorefus was going to kill the other Tabitha and Erycen was running at him, ready to hit him with his sword, the other Tabitha had warned Sorefus, who turned around just in time and hit Erycen hard on the legs with his sword. It didn't make contact with his body with the armour protecting him, but it still brought him down to his knees. Tabitha, meanwhile, was shaking with fury at the stupidity of the alternative her. Seeing the look on her face as Sorefus hit Erycen disgusted her, and she felt sickened with the fact that this had all actually happened, and she had actually done that. I hope the Sominef cuts off your circulation, she thought violently.
'Kill him, kill him, kill him,' the other her chanted happily, and Tabitha could bear it no longer. While Erycen was struggling, fighting to save her, getting his wrists tied together, she was egging on Sorefus. She walked over to herself, drew back her hand, and slapped her in the face hard.
Tabitha had been so mad that she had forgotten that the other her wouldn't be able to feel it anyway, so when she did actually remember, it was a shock to find that she was staring up at herself, hand clutched to her cheek, where a red handprint was forming.
Tabitha stared back at herself, open-mouthed. The other her most definitely reacted to the slap. She moved slightly from side to side and found that her double was following her movement with her eyes.
'Can you see me?' she whispered.
She didn't say anything, and Tabitha bent down to touch her again. She moved her hand as though she had been touched with a hot rod as Tabitha made contact.
'Tabithina, please, look past his curse and see me for who I am, please! It's the only way we can be saved! Tabithina, please!'
Tabitha turned and saw Erycen, now positioned by the tree where Tabitha had been moments before. She turned back to herself, who was now shutting her eyes and putting her hands over her ears. She prodded her sharply in the shoulder, and although she made contact she didn't open her eyes. She shook her more violently, and she still didn't awake.
'Fool,' Tabitha muttered grimly, and ran over to Erycen, who looked straight past her and focused on the other her pleadingly.
Sorefus meanwhile, had untied the rope from the tree, and was now holding it with all his strength, while screeching at the Arxal. Angrily, it bent down and tried to peck them, at which point Sorefus jumped on its beak, dragging a struggling, wrist-bounded Erycen firmly with him. The Arxal reared back its head and tossed the pair onto its back. Using the ropes as reigns, Sorefus pulled them back harshly, almost snapping the Arxal's neck. It gave a disgruntled gargle from the back of its throat and flew into the air obediently.
Tabitha watched all this unfold, trying to hold her hand in Erycen's, silently begging him to be suddenly able to see and feel her. She watched him being bundled onto the Arxal, and didn't stop watching until the huge creature became an insignificant dot in the sky. She sighed helplessly, and turned back round to herself, who was now chatting to someone.
At first, she thought she was talking to someone invisible, and felt paranoid that now she was the one who couldn't see certain things, but as she walked closer and followed her own gaze, she saw the tiny figure of the fairy, who looked up at her when she came over. He didn't look surprised to see her.
'Oh, hello ... let me guess, I did a time reversal spell?' he asked, looking at Tabitha, who had just walked over.
'Er ... yeah, I er ... think that's what it was yeah,' replied Tabitha. She glanced at herself, who was staring at her in open-mouthed confusion. She looked at the fairy for an explanation, and wasn't given any.
Serves you right that you're confused, she thought angrily to herself, about herself.
The fairy turned to the sitting Tabitha who was now looking a bit frightened. 'It's been nice knowing you,' he smiled, and rapped her hard on the head with his knuckles. She disappeared, and Tabitha felt her individuality flood back.
'So, has your opinion changed?' asked the fairy.
'What,' asked Tabitha, who, in the midst of the event, had forgot the reason why she had been sent back in time in the first place. 'Oh yeah ... yeah, I agree with you,' she said, 'but why didn't it happen like that before?'
The fairy sighed and looked at her pityingly. 'Has that scene taught you nothing?' he asked. 'It did happen, you just didn't see it in that way.' Seeing Tabitha's mouth open, he guessed her next question. 'The reason being - and this is just a guess, though probably a correct one - is Sofera had Sorefus covered with the allurement charm, making him seem flawless through your eyes.'
'Sofera?' asked Tabitha in revelation, 'Sofera put the alluring charm on him?'
'Allurement, and yes.'
'Why?'
'So you'd fall in love with him, making it easier for him to kill you, I suppose. I don't know -'
'Making it easier for him to kill me?' Tabitha spluttered, interrupting him.
'Yes,' the fairy replied calmly.
'Why?'
'Sofera's orders.'
'Sofera wants to kill me?'
The fairy looked at her as though she was quite possibly the stupidest person he ever had the displeasure of meeting.
'Yes,' he replied.
'Why?'
'Why? What do you mean, why?'
'Well ... why, why does she want to kill me?'
'Dear child, can't you remember your own story?'
'Yeah, but I don't remember the -' Tabitha's eyes widened and she looked up at the fairy who stared back at her unblinkingly.
'You ... you know about the story?' Tabitha asked in hushed tones, and the fairy looked back at her with the slightest of scorn on his face.
'Of course I know about the story.'
***
The only reason I've got to figure out now is how he knows about the story lol. Anyway, this was really hard for me to write and I'm not that pleased with it at the moment. If you have any comments or criticisms please review and share them with me - thanks!
As you would have learnt at the end of the non-existent fourth chapter, this one starts at the exact point where Tabitha ended her story before Sofia threw it out of the window. (It ended on the point they kissed with the rain falling down on them, hope that jogs your memory lol.) Anyway, it's only just been written, so there's probably things that I've overlooked that don't make sense, so if there is, kindly point them out to me, thanks!
***
'Erycen...this is where the story ends.'
Erycen shook his head, a smile forming on his lips.
'No Tabithina,' he replied, 'the story only just begins.'
The air distinctly got colder and the slight breeze that tiptoed around them now whipped itself up into a harsh wind, delivering lashing blows that stung their faces. The rain that had fallen delicately and romantically turned into a downpour and Erycen took Tabitha's hand and started to lead the way to his castle.
'Come on,' he called over his shoulder, shouting over the roaring wind.
Tabitha gripped his hand firmly, and broke into a run. The wind got fiercer and sent the rain crashing into them like bullets. A bolt of forked lightning lit up the sky and it was at that moment Tabitha fell, breaking her hold with Erycen. He looked back and ran over to her, before a loud booming noise sounded off behind him, and it was as though an invisible something pulled him backwards by his midriff. His body was thrown about ten feet away from Tabitha, who screamed and got up to her feet. As she went to run over to him, she felt something take hold of her ankle, and she almost tripped again. Stumbling, she looked to see what was holding her and she saw that a thin vine, from a small green and yellow leafy bush, had entwined itself around her. She pulled her ankle away viciously, and at once felt pain searing through her leg. The vine felt like a set of razor sharp claws punctured in her leg, and as she tried to pull away, they dug themselves in deeper. She cried out in agony and fell to her knees as thin trickles of blood ran down and buried into her left trainer. She looked helplessly at Erycen, who was still on the floor, motionless, and tried to crawl over to him. Her hands sank into the mud as she shifted her body forward uncomfortably, using help from her right leg. As she crawled over, the vine went taut, and she screamed agonizingly again, unable to move from the pain. She shifted back over to the bush, and the vine went slack, releasing its grip.
She moved her hands towards the bush hesitatively, before plucking up the courage, and thrusting them both in. An electric pain washed over her, like a thousand needles jabbing her body simultaneously. Her teeth gritted and grinded together and her eyes turned into squints as the pain became more unbearable. Her hands brushed against the poisonous leaves that seemed to follow her hands wherever they went. She tried to prise the vine away from her ankle, slipping her fingers underneath to make a gap between them. Lifting it up, she tried to ease her ankle out of its position, but the vine tightened its grip, and pinned her fingers and ankles down together. Her eyes turned hazy and her vision blurred as tears formed in her eyes. She pulled with all her strength and she fell onto her back as her fingers were released. She held them up to her face and her hands were almost instantly covered in blood seeping out from deep cuts from the tips of her fingers. The rain, which Tabitha had forgotten about in the midst of her pain, washed them clean. Her ankle still held captive, she turned around to look at Erycen.
He was slowly beginning to stir, his hands clutching his head. He slowly got into a sitting position, and Tabitha called him weakly.
'Erycen, help!'
Still dazed, but realizing Tabitha was in trouble, he got to his feet and stumbled over, but again, when reaching Tabitha he was flung backwards. He was better prepared this time, and managed to turn his body round and land on his chest, his hands breaking his fall.
'What's going on?' Tabitha cried anxiously.
'I do not know Tabithina,' Erycen shouted over the roar of the wind, which seemed determined not to let the pair talk to each other. 'Try not to move your leg away from the Sominef.' She assumed he meant the plant that held her in its iron grip.
'What is it?' she yelled, her voice hoarse.
'Sominef,' Erycen repeated. 'It's a poisonous plant that holds you in captivity.' He didn't expand on this and Tabitha called out impatiently.
'Go on.'
'What?' shouted Erycen.
'Carry on,' she shouted back.
'I do not have anything more to say,' he replied over the roaring wind. 'It holds you in captivity, when it decides to let you go, it does. If it does not decide then . it does not.'
'Oh,' muttered Tabitha, 'that simple.' She was getting a bit fed up. Here she was in freezing cold weather, a nasty plant - the vine gave a short lash of anger at this thought, as though it knew what she was thinking - had a hold of her, and Erycen couldn't save her.
A loud screech overhead interrupted her bitter thoughts and she looked up as best as she could, while the rain fell down on her fiercely. A black object was gliding through the sky, and Tabitha guessed it must be a bird. Tabitha watched it as it flew behind a cloud, and then she turned to Erycen to ask how long it usually took Sominef's to release its prey. His face was deathly pale, and all questions flew out of Tabitha's mind. He was looking up at the area of sky where the object had just flown, and she could see his hands slightly shaking. Whilst the wind had been cold and cruel just seconds before, it had now stopped completely, like someone had turned off a machine that controlled it. The rain had disappeared just as fast.
'What's wrong?' Tabitha shouted to Erycen. He turned to her and furiously put a finger to his lips.
'That thing over there,' he said, pointing behind him to the sky 'is an Arxal.'
He pronounced the last word with such emphasis that Tabitha knew that an Arxal was a big deal.
'What's an Arxal?' she asked fearfully.
'A bird,' he replied. His face turned a slight shade of green. 'A bird that likes to feast.'
'Oh,' said Tabitha, relieved, though she still suspected there was more to an Arxal than that. 'So will it peck us?'
'Oh no, it will not peck us,' said Erycen. A beat passed. 'No need, for it will just eat us whole.'
Tabitha was about to ask if it had a large beak when she saw the Arxal emerge from a flurry of clouds and there was no need. The Arxal certainly had a large beak. In fact, it had a large everything. It was roughly half the size of a car at the moment, and it still looked miles away from them. As it drew closer, it grew larger and larger, its wings producing enormous gusts of winds that hit them in the face. Panicked, Erycen turned to Tabitha, a look of desperation on his face.
'Oh, I am afraid I do not know what to do,' he said, almost crying from terror and anxiety. Tabitha struggled to get out of the grip of the Sominef, only succeeding in making the vine wrap tighter around her ankle. She gave a moan of helplessness and looked up to see the Arxal gliding towards them, getting ready to land. She could almost see it clearly now. It had red beady eyes, the size of her dad's old recording discs he kept at home. These looked small in comparison to the beak, at least eighty times bigger than an eagle's. Its magnificent wings were brought together gracefully as it landed, and its dangerous looking talons landed neatly on the floor, only a couple of feet away from Tabitha. Its talons were the size of cars, and as she looked up at the huge truck-sized figure of the Arxal, looming menacingly over her, she pulled her leg away from the Sominef so hard; she thought it would break before the vine would. Erycen again tried to run to her, but was stopped when he was just slightly out of reach. He pushed his shoulder against this invisible barrier that disconnected them, but was tossed easily aside again when his hands made contact with the imperceptible wall.
The Arxal lowered its head towards Tabitha, who shrank back trying to make herself as small as possible. She felt vulnerable next to this huge unblinking animal, and tried not to make any movement or sound.
The creature suddenly made a thick gargling sound from the back of its throat as it lifted up its head and thrashed it about angrily. Tabitha edged further away, the vine beginning to taut again. As its head violently swung from side to side, the beak swiping dangerously close to Tabitha, she saw it had a thick brown rope wrapped tightly around it, making opening the beak an impossible task. The rope was camouflaged against the Arxal's sleek black-feathered body, but Tabitha's sharp eyes followed it upwards, where it led to the Arxal's neck. And sitting there, barely visible amidst this huge mammoth of a monster, was a man, holding the ropes tightly.
He glanced at Erycen - slowly recovering from being knocked back for the third time - and Tabitha, stuck in position by the Sominef, and then leapt fearlessly from the Arxal, rope still in hand, and ran around a thick tree trunk several times before securing the rope with a triple knot. Tabitha looked up at the Arxal, who was still struggling, outraged at being put through this abuse. It flapped its powerful wings and took off into the sky, only to be pulled back midway through taking off. It made the same gargling sound, as though a screech was trying to escape from its throat, before perching itself onto the tree, that groaned underneath its weight, where it sat glumly.
Tabitha turned, intrigued, to the hero who had just come to the rescue. Like Erycen, he was dressed in a suit of armour, though unlike Erycen's, his was well kept and shone like new. His black hair was braided neatly into plaits that were held up in a ponytail, away from his caramel complexioned face. He was a bit taller than Erycen, and judging by his shoulders, broader too.
Tabitha held her breath as he walked past her, giving her a wide smile. His gleaming white teeth were perfect and dazzling. A roaring sound came over her ears, and her heart beat faster as she blushed awkwardly and smiled back, quite forgetting that she was still in captivity from the Sominef. He gave a little wave and then carried on walking over to Erycen, who was now beginning to stir into a sitting position.
She felt a cold wave of dislike come over her as she looked at Erycen, who was now paling in comparison next to this godlike being. She watched, in outrage, as her hero offered Erycen his hand, to which Erycen slapped it away miserably. He struggled to stand, and looked over at Tabitha weakly. She looked back at him in disgust, and noticed, for the first time, Erycen's imperfections. The way his hair was stringy and rather greasy, not like her knight in shining armours perfect braids. His sparkling blue eyes were not nearly as beautiful as she once thought, and she immediately decided that brown eyes, the colour of her new obsession's, were much nicer.
Her hero, who had shrugged when Erycen didn't take up his help of being brought to his feet, had walked away, and had his back turned from Erycen, who drew his sword and ran at him cowardly.
'Look out,' she cried, watching the spectacle unfold in front of her. Her knight turned around and quickly brandished his own sword. He smiled a smile of thanks to Tabitha, whose heart melted. She heard that strange sense of roaring in her ears again. It sounded like a rush of static electricity, or a bad aerial signal on television.
'Tabithina,' Erycen groaned, displaying his crooked, stained teeth and breaking the roaring sound. Two from the bottom row were missing, and as Tabitha stared into these black-holed gaps, she thought she was going to be sick with revulsion. His sword was quickly knocked from his hands, and her hero pointed his own in Erycen's face, the tip just inches away of killing him. Tabitha clapped her hands delightedly.
'Kill him, kill him, kill him,' she chanted happily, and her knight in shining armour shot another - perfect, straight and unstained - smile in her direction.
Her hero placed his sword on Erycen's shoulder as though he was being knighted, and lowered him to his knees. He pointed at Erycen's hands with his sword, and Erycen obediently put them behind his back. Her knight then revealed a leather rope and bound Erycen's wrists together, stopping once in a while to look up at give Tabitha a wink.
Erycen was dragged over to the tree where the Arxal was held. He was mouthing something to Tabitha, who couldn't understand - nor could be bothered to see - what he was trying to say. The static roaring dominated her ears again, and she held her hands steadfastly over them. It wasn't causing discomfort, but she gritted her teeth and closed her eyes as she willed it away. It roared louder, threatening to stay with her forever, before it gradually began to die down and faded away completely.
She opened her eyes brightly and looked around for her hero. Now Erycen was less than imagined, she could be with him instead. They could live in Erycen's castle happily ever after. But her dreams evaporated when she couldn't see any movement by the tree. She craned her neck behind her shoulder to look for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. Even the Arxal, she noticed when turning back to the tree, had disappeared.
'They're long gone,' drawled a voice from below.
Startled, Tabitha turned to the direction of the sound. There, only perhaps three or four inches high, was a fairy. He had shocking, bouncy red hair that seemed to explode in every direction. He had a slightly upturned nose, which gave him a rather proud and pompous look. He wore a dirty looking shapeless piece of cloth, which draped over him like a dress. He had gold, almost transparent wings that looked like the most delicate leaves, and skinny little bare legs that poked out from underneath his cloth and ended in chunky black boots. She stared, open-mouthed, at the tiny fairy, hardly daring to move from fear of upsetting him.
'What did you say?' Tabitha whispered softly, not wanting to deafen the little man. He snorted contemptuously.
'I'm not deaf,' he spat, 'there's no need to whisper. And I said, "They're long gone."'
'Who?' asked Tabitha, who had quite forgotten upon seeing this extraordinary fairy.
'Erycen and Sorefus,' said the fairy impatiently. 'You know, Erycen, your former lover, and Sorefus, your current lover.' He looked at Tabitha disapprovingly. 'Quite a busy girl aren't we missy.'
'They are not my "lovers", as you like to call them,' she said haughtily. The fairy rolled his eyes.
'Well whatever you like to call them, they're gone.'
'Well I must find them,' Tabitha said, 'Soree ... Soreef ... what was his name again?'
'Sorefus,' said the fairy lazily.
'Sorefus won't be able to find me,' Tabitha went on. 'I must tell him how I feel.' She got up to leave and only remembered she was still attached to the vine of the Sominef when her ankle held firm. Disheartened, she sat back down. The fairy giggled, and Tabitha glared at him.
'Having trouble?' he laughed. Tabitha said nothing but glowered at him. He fluttered his wings and perched on her shoulder.
'And why, pray tell,' he continued, 'are you worried about Sorefus? Shouldn't you be more concerned about finding Erycen?'
'I don't ...' Tabitha began, before she stopped herself. She didn't particularly want to go into talking about her feelings with a three-inch fairy. 'I just don't find Erycen to be as charming as I thought,' she said casually. The fairy giggled again in disbelief.
'And you think Sorefus is?' he asked. Tabitha nodded and he dissolved into a fit of laughter. He rolled onto his back and almost fell off of Tabitha's shoulder. She shifted her position roughly, and hoped that he'd lose his balance and fall.
'You mean to - ha ha - tell me that ... you honestly find Sorefus to be - I can't believe this - charming?'
'Yes,' said Tabitha forcefully, 'I do.' She almost added, 'got a problem with that', before sensibly deciding that offending a fairy that perhaps had magic powers wouldn't be the cleverest thing to do.
'The same Sorefus who just almost lopped your head off with his sword?' the fairy asked incredulously. Tabitha screwed up her face in confusion.
'Sorefus didn't lop my head off with his sword.'
'No,' said the fairy. 'He didn't. But he would have done, if it hadn't been for Erycen, who saved you at the last second. Though if it was up to me and I heard you lusting after Sorefus, I probably would have left you headless.'
Tabitha chose to ignore his last comment.
'Sorefus didn't almost lop my head off with his sword either,' she informed the fairy. He smirked.
'Okay, he didn't,' he said patronisingly and Tabitha felt him fly from her shoulder and perch himself on top of her head.
'No, he didn't,' argued Tabitha.
'Okay,' said the fairy indifferently.
Tabitha knew he was baiting her, but she couldn't help rise to it.
'He didn't,' she said, a little louder.
'Yes yes, okay dear,' said the fairy, in the tone of an adult who is agreeing with a child to keep them quiet.
'HE DIDN'T.'
'Okay, sure. Whatever.'
'HE DIDN'T.'
'Right. Okay.'
Tabitha gave an angry cry of defeat and folded her arms. It didn't seem at all strange that she was sitting here, tied to a plant that cut her whenever she moved, having just fallen out with a fairy.
'Are you ready to hear my explanation?' the fairy suddenly spoke up.
'What?' asked Tabitha coldly.
'Are you ready to hear my explanation,' the fairy repeated, 'of why you think Sorefus didn't try to attack you.'
'He didn't attack me, how's that for an explanation?'
'If you're just going to be rude,' the fairy said calmly, 'then I won't share it with you.'
Tabitha was just about to tell him that she didn't care if he shared it with her or not, because she knew the truth, before she stopped herself and thought that talking to him was at least better than being here by herself.
'Okay,' said Tabitha, 'what's your explanation? Lets hear it.'
'Well, you must excuse my choice of words,' the fairy apologised, 'but in actual fact you won't hear my explanation, you'll see it.'
'I'll see it? What do - ouch! - Hey, what was that for?' The fairy had rapped her hard on the head with his knuckles, and considering that they were smaller than her smallest fingernail, it hurt.
She stopped complaining as her surroundings blurred out of view. She suddenly felt woozy and light-headed. The colours around her formed into one multicoloured mess before her focus shifted back into view, and she found herself standing by the tree that the Arxal was sitting on top of.
She glanced at the Arxal, shuddering slightly, before she did a double take and realised that she was free from the Sominef.
'Huh, what ... I-' and then she clamped a hand over her mouth. For there, sitting just a few feet away was herself. But then, how could she be her, when she was her? Or was she really her, and she, herself, an impostor? It would make sense that she was her, especially due to the fact that she wasn't clamped to a Sominef and she was. But then again, she couldn't be her because she was wearing her jeans, jumper and trainers and she was wearing an old-fashioned long pink dress.
Her thoughts were broken when a low groan was uttered to her left. She looked, and to her horror saw Erycen lying there.
'Erycen,' she gasped, running over to him. He didn't seem to be able to hear her, and his eyes kept opening and closing slowly.
'Oh, Erycen,' Tabitha sighed tearfully, reaching out a hand to stroke his blonde hair from his face. But her hand didn't touch his hair. It touched something cold and damp instead, causing her to withdraw her hand sharply. Hesitatingly, she did it again, and once again, found her hand pass through Erycen as though he wasn't there.
'Oh ... Erycen,' Tabitha repeated, a tear trickling down her cheek. A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up and screamed.
Standing over her was Sorefus. His mouth was turned up into a sneer and his eyes glittered dangerously. She no longer felt any warmth for him as she stared into his eyes uncertainly.
'I ... I er ... I ...' she faltered, unable to say anything, but Sorefus didn't seem to care. In fact, he didn't seem to notice her, as he looked at Erycen, the sneer growing more pronounced. Tabitha thought for a moment, before thrusting her hand into his leg. As suspected, it shot straight through and came out the other side. It was fascinating, because where the leg stood so opaquely, her arm did not appear. She waved her hand and wriggled her fingers and the other half of her hand seemed to be doing it of its own accord.
A glimmer made her look up and she screamed as Sorefus stabbed his sword through Erycen, who managed to roll out of the way just in time. She scrambled out of the way in fright, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She quickly glanced over to the other her, who was too, watching the scene unfold in front of her. She turned back to the fight and watched Sorefus jab Erycen with his sword. Dodging the heavy blade, Erycen tripped and fell over a log. But instead of acting on Erycen's disadvantage, Sorefus turned and walked over to the oblivious Tabitha.
I don't remember any of this, Tabitha thought to herself, alternating between watching Erycen struggle from the log and Sorefus walk over to the other Tabitha. Tabitha's eyes widened in horror as she saw Sorefus raise his sword determinedly at the other Tabitha. She desperately looked over at Erycen who was now running over as fast he could.
'Look out!'
Just as Sorefus was going to kill the other Tabitha and Erycen was running at him, ready to hit him with his sword, the other Tabitha had warned Sorefus, who turned around just in time and hit Erycen hard on the legs with his sword. It didn't make contact with his body with the armour protecting him, but it still brought him down to his knees. Tabitha, meanwhile, was shaking with fury at the stupidity of the alternative her. Seeing the look on her face as Sorefus hit Erycen disgusted her, and she felt sickened with the fact that this had all actually happened, and she had actually done that. I hope the Sominef cuts off your circulation, she thought violently.
'Kill him, kill him, kill him,' the other her chanted happily, and Tabitha could bear it no longer. While Erycen was struggling, fighting to save her, getting his wrists tied together, she was egging on Sorefus. She walked over to herself, drew back her hand, and slapped her in the face hard.
Tabitha had been so mad that she had forgotten that the other her wouldn't be able to feel it anyway, so when she did actually remember, it was a shock to find that she was staring up at herself, hand clutched to her cheek, where a red handprint was forming.
Tabitha stared back at herself, open-mouthed. The other her most definitely reacted to the slap. She moved slightly from side to side and found that her double was following her movement with her eyes.
'Can you see me?' she whispered.
She didn't say anything, and Tabitha bent down to touch her again. She moved her hand as though she had been touched with a hot rod as Tabitha made contact.
'Tabithina, please, look past his curse and see me for who I am, please! It's the only way we can be saved! Tabithina, please!'
Tabitha turned and saw Erycen, now positioned by the tree where Tabitha had been moments before. She turned back to herself, who was now shutting her eyes and putting her hands over her ears. She prodded her sharply in the shoulder, and although she made contact she didn't open her eyes. She shook her more violently, and she still didn't awake.
'Fool,' Tabitha muttered grimly, and ran over to Erycen, who looked straight past her and focused on the other her pleadingly.
Sorefus meanwhile, had untied the rope from the tree, and was now holding it with all his strength, while screeching at the Arxal. Angrily, it bent down and tried to peck them, at which point Sorefus jumped on its beak, dragging a struggling, wrist-bounded Erycen firmly with him. The Arxal reared back its head and tossed the pair onto its back. Using the ropes as reigns, Sorefus pulled them back harshly, almost snapping the Arxal's neck. It gave a disgruntled gargle from the back of its throat and flew into the air obediently.
Tabitha watched all this unfold, trying to hold her hand in Erycen's, silently begging him to be suddenly able to see and feel her. She watched him being bundled onto the Arxal, and didn't stop watching until the huge creature became an insignificant dot in the sky. She sighed helplessly, and turned back round to herself, who was now chatting to someone.
At first, she thought she was talking to someone invisible, and felt paranoid that now she was the one who couldn't see certain things, but as she walked closer and followed her own gaze, she saw the tiny figure of the fairy, who looked up at her when she came over. He didn't look surprised to see her.
'Oh, hello ... let me guess, I did a time reversal spell?' he asked, looking at Tabitha, who had just walked over.
'Er ... yeah, I er ... think that's what it was yeah,' replied Tabitha. She glanced at herself, who was staring at her in open-mouthed confusion. She looked at the fairy for an explanation, and wasn't given any.
Serves you right that you're confused, she thought angrily to herself, about herself.
The fairy turned to the sitting Tabitha who was now looking a bit frightened. 'It's been nice knowing you,' he smiled, and rapped her hard on the head with his knuckles. She disappeared, and Tabitha felt her individuality flood back.
'So, has your opinion changed?' asked the fairy.
'What,' asked Tabitha, who, in the midst of the event, had forgot the reason why she had been sent back in time in the first place. 'Oh yeah ... yeah, I agree with you,' she said, 'but why didn't it happen like that before?'
The fairy sighed and looked at her pityingly. 'Has that scene taught you nothing?' he asked. 'It did happen, you just didn't see it in that way.' Seeing Tabitha's mouth open, he guessed her next question. 'The reason being - and this is just a guess, though probably a correct one - is Sofera had Sorefus covered with the allurement charm, making him seem flawless through your eyes.'
'Sofera?' asked Tabitha in revelation, 'Sofera put the alluring charm on him?'
'Allurement, and yes.'
'Why?'
'So you'd fall in love with him, making it easier for him to kill you, I suppose. I don't know -'
'Making it easier for him to kill me?' Tabitha spluttered, interrupting him.
'Yes,' the fairy replied calmly.
'Why?'
'Sofera's orders.'
'Sofera wants to kill me?'
The fairy looked at her as though she was quite possibly the stupidest person he ever had the displeasure of meeting.
'Yes,' he replied.
'Why?'
'Why? What do you mean, why?'
'Well ... why, why does she want to kill me?'
'Dear child, can't you remember your own story?'
'Yeah, but I don't remember the -' Tabitha's eyes widened and she looked up at the fairy who stared back at her unblinkingly.
'You ... you know about the story?' Tabitha asked in hushed tones, and the fairy looked back at her with the slightest of scorn on his face.
'Of course I know about the story.'
***
The only reason I've got to figure out now is how he knows about the story lol. Anyway, this was really hard for me to write and I'm not that pleased with it at the moment. If you have any comments or criticisms please review and share them with me - thanks!