A Midsummer Night's Fling

Nine

Chapter Nine

When the next night came, I tried to see Emilee. I didn't know if the Mother had actually taken my ability, but I was going to find out. My heart raced when I stepped onto the magical path and could see the woods outside her town. I raced to the end, only to discover that I couldn't leave the road. Try as I might, the barrier held. In desperation, I reached out with my mind to find her, and discovered that the Mother had taken that ability away as well.

Rage boiled through me, as well as pain. I yelled, kicked, threw things, anything that I could think of to try and release the emotions bottled up inside me. Nothing helped.

Over the next several weeks, I tried various other means of returning to Emilee. First, I asked other rule-breaking Fae to help me. They didn't want their records associated with mine. I tried to steal a magic orb from outside the Mother's home—that was a really bad idea. I even took a sword to the magical barrier, but it yielded the same results as everything else before—nothing.

I didn't leave my house any more after that, preferring to suffer my heartbreak alone. Weeks passed, and then I stopped keeping track of time. It was too painful. Eventually I stayed in my bed all day. If anyone came by to check on me, I ignored them. The Mother summoned me once, stating that she was concerned about my behavior. I blew her off too.

If I couldn't see Emilee, I never wanted to see anyone.

Finally, I was unable to stand it any longer. I hated who I was becoming, but I couldn't be who I was before, not without her. I had to find her. I got out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, greasy and unkempt. My facial hair had grown out considerably and my skin was pasty white. I ran my hands through my hair, making it look better than lying in bed had done, and changed my clothes. When I looked in the mirror again, at least I didn't resemble a homeless man—as much.

Opening my front door, I peeked around to make sure no one was watching and then left The Glen. I traveled down the magical path to the woods, just to feel closer to her. I sat in the dirt with the sunshine filtering through the trees and wondered what she was doing. Gradually, a crunching sound broke through my consciousness. Looking around, I saw branches moving, and suddenly, my love was there—right in front of me

She was sobbing, searching, and saying my name over and over again. Her clothes looked rumpled and her face had new and old tear stains streaked down it. Her hair was ratted and oily. I sprang to my feet.

"Emilee, Emilee, I'm here! Right here!" I pounded on the barrier separating us, yelling as loud as I could, but she couldn't see or hear me. I clawed at the invisible wall, screaming until my throat couldn't take any more. I half wished I'd never come. Seeing her without being able to hold or talk to her was killing me.

"Somebody help us!" I screamed out in frustration. "Gods, witches, anyone! I'll do anything you want—just let me be with her again!" I collapsed into the dirt—sobbing—my pain overtaking me. I wondered if immortals could die from a broken heart.

"My help will cost you greatly," a soft voice responded behind me. I turned to see a cloaked figure. A witch.

"I don't care what it costs. Just do it," I spat in my haste to answer.

"Hold on, young one. This truly is a large thing you ask for." The witch removed her cloak, revealing that she was a young woman with beautiful blonde hair and a fit form.

"Young one? I'm at least twenty times your senior," I scoffed. The separation had made me a bitter person. It was my way of fighting back; the Mother had hoped I'd shape up and instead I was determined to be as nasty as I could.

"You're being rude," she pointed out. "I am not like other witches. I too have been alive a very, very long time. Longer than you."

"I've only heard of one witch like that," I said skeptically. "Baeg, banished goddess and Queen of the Witches."

She remained silent.

Oh, crap.

In instant humility I bowed low to the earth and asked for forgiveness. Being rude to a goddess and queen could put me in a worse situation than I was now, not that I could imagine anything worse at this moment.

"It's understandable. Now, about you and Emilee," she began.

"How did you know her name?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm a goddess, Raith."

"Oh, right. Sorry." I could feel hope creeping once again into my system. The old me was resurfacing, but I was afraid to let him out. I didn't want to lose him and Emilee again.

She gave me a stern look before continuing.

"There is a well, The Wishing Well, which my power is connected to. If you will bring a coin to the well and make your wish, I will grant it."

"What's the catch?" It sounded too easy on its own.

"Emilee won't become Fae, you will become human," she said.

"And the price?" I asked, fine with becoming human if it meant I would be with Emilee.

"All of your memories," she cooed.

"Excuse me?" I sputtered. "What does that mean?!"

"You will give me all your memories of being Fae, your time with Emilee, all of it. And I will take all her memories of you." Baeg smiled wickedly and wrung her hands in excitement.

I was in shock. "How am I supposed to find her so we can be together if neither of us remembers the other?"

"I'm not completely evil," she laughed. "There is a catch to the price as well—neither of you will remember anything until the moment you touch each other's skin for the first time. In that second, all your memories will be returned."

My head was reeling. It seemed like too much to ask, but so welcoming at the same time. I can find her, I know I can. Somewhere in there I'll remember her. I have to!

"Alright," I agreed. "I'll do it." I'll do anything to have her back.

Baeg shared a sickly smile, and beckoned for me to follow her.

We walked for hours, far away from The Glen and anything near it. The farther we walked the more dead and dark the forest became. We must have been on a magical path as well, much like the one that led to my home. I didn't know where we would end up.

Oddly enough, I wasn't nervous. I figured that either I would end up with Emilee, or I would die. Those were my two choices either way.

We finally entered a clearing as dead as the trees around it. The dirt was black, like it had been burned, and branches reached into the clearing like ghostly hands grabbing for lost souls. There were only two beautiful things there—the magic orbs floating in the air and the well.

The black, stone Wishing Well was magnificent. The closer I drew to it, the more amazed I became as it towered over my head, twice as tall as I was. We circled it without climbing the narrow, stone staircase that wrapped around it. It was devoid of any life, yet the magic glittered from every crevice. As I gazed upon it, I mused that the water itself must have the same magic quality sparkling from its surface causing the brightest source of light to be the well itself.

All of the orbs were attracted to Baeg, their Queen, and she held some in her hands, whispering to them lovingly. She's nuts. Almost as if she'd heard me, she turned and looked at me.

"Well, young one, do you still want to continue with our deal?" She tossed the magic orb into the air, watching it fly around her.

"I'm positive," I answered.

"You can never reenter Fae, Raith. Do not make this decision lightly," she warned.

"I don't want to come back," I replied. "I want to be with Emilee." I didn't have anything else to say, it was as simple as that. I turned from her and approached the well. I ascended the stone steps until I was standing at the edge of the water. Pulling a coin from my pocket, I looked into the well and wished.

"Take me to my Emilee!" And with that, I kissed the coin and threw it in.