Hidden through time

12. Next chapter in life

Written 2015 by VeGirl ©

We stood in the woods of the forest park behind my nanna's house, where I had played while growing up, anxious to get going. I had been relieved that we didn't have to drive all the way back to Scotland but I was also amazed that this apparently existed here. "So is that where we're going, Andlang?" I looked around in the magnificent forest that surrounded us. "Or where to?"

He looked bemused. "Are you really ready to leave the human realm?"

I looked deadpanned at him. There were two words in that sentence that made me flinch; realm and human. "Excuse me?" The old dagger had been sharpened and was now hidden in a sheath in my belt. "Could you explain the thing about realms again?"

He narrowed his eyes slightly while contemplating the reason I had left that other question hanging in the sideline. "In the old legends, there are stories told about different worlds that most of us can't travel between."

"But you can?"

He simply shrugged his brows affirmative. "Not everybody of my kind can, but we are a few that have been trusted to protect the gates." It was with a guarded poise he revealed this and it looked like he wasn't allowed to say this.

"You can't tell everything, can you?"

His brows were stitched in a tight line and his green eyes wary. "There are rules, and I have been cutting a little too close to what I shouldn't do." He spoke slowly and guarded. "I hope there won't be too many repercussions."

I had never even thought about the possibility that he could have people deciding over him; that there were rules, rules that he broke for my sake. There were no words that could describe how dumb I felt at that moment.

He flashed off a smile that stunned me. "Are you ready to get going?"

I simply nodded.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and I looked wide eyed into his enigmatic green eyes and that was when he snapped his fingers.

Our surroundings changed in a flash but it didn't look that different at first. My eyes were still locked in his.

As he slid that protective arm from me I started to look around.

Trees still surrounded us and the foliage was green just as before, but at closer attention I noticed birds chirping in an unfamiliar way and as I looked closer, there were tiny animals hiding in the huge ferns around us.

"Andlang?"I breathed silently and felt my skin tingle.

"Yes." He affirmed after a short look around us.

"It's beautiful."

He didn't stop to smell the proverbial coffee. "We better get going, they're gonna know we're here in just a short while."

"They?"

"The faeries." He said. "They're tricky creatures..." With a grip of my hand he drew the pace up and I stumbled after him. My attention was around us instead of being on the ground where I put my feet. His steadying hand saved me from diving into the green moss of the forest several times. "Francine, you have to pay attention." He scowled me softly.

"I'm sorry." I looked straight at him and that's when I noticed his changed clothing again. He was dressed in a green hooded jumper and cargo-pants in the same colour. "What's with the clothes?" I asked just as I had done before.

He smiled. "When travelling incognito it is best not to be seen." He still spoke in a low voice. "Why didn't you ask when I demanded you to wear khaki?"