They gathered their items and set off again, Astrid walking between Teofil and Thaddeus as she told the story of the Lost Forest. Though the day was sunny and a warm breeze stirred the grass around them, Thaddeus felt a chill as Astrid related the tale. Suddenly, the rustling of the grasses started to sound like whispers, and the wind felt like the breath of Death itself.
“The Lost Forest was once filled with magical beings,” Astrid said. “Gnomes, fairies, elves, dwarves, witches, wizards, all of them living together, all out of sight of men. Even ogres and trolls and goblins, on occasion, though they’re mostly bad and fond of eating others. Anyway, a great sickness swept across the land. It infected those who lived in the forest and surrounding country, and it was quite deadly. Many died from it, and those who cared for their loved ones who were first infected caught it as well, until only a handful of survivors remained.”
“How awful,” Thaddeus said, looking down to watch for rocks.
“They never found out where it originated,” Astrid continued. “And so they buried all the bodies in a long pit somewhere deep inside the forest. After many years, the infected blood from all of those bodies found its way into the soil. The trees around the grave grew darker and twisted, and bore fruit that tasted vile and sour. The foul fruit attracted evil into the forest, and as time went on, the magical creatures who had survived the sickness left the forest and the darker beings took over. The gravesite and village has since been lost, and any who have gone in search of it have never returned.”
“Wow,” Thaddeus whispered. “That’s quite a story. And we have to go through this forest?”
“Just keep in mind that’s what it is,” Thaddeus’s father said. “A story.”
“Suit yourself,” Astrid said. “But I’ve heard it from more than one source.”
“You forgot the best part,” Fetter said.
“What do you mean?” Astrid asked, her voice edged with annoyance.
“About the well.”
Astrid sighed, and Thaddeus glanced back in time to see her roll her eyes. “You and that ridiculous well,” Astrid said.
“It’s the best part of the story!” Fetter nearly shouted.
“Keep your voices down, both of you,” Miriam said. They all fell silent a moment. “And you did leave that part out, Astrid.”
“See?” Fetter immediately said. “I told you!”
“Shut up!”
“Oh, for the love of geranium, both of you keep still!” Miriam said. She marched up to get between Astrid and Thaddeus and lowered her voice as she told the part of the story Astrid had skipped. “You see, the people who lived within the forest had no idea what was making their loved ones so sick. It could have been something they were eating, or maybe the water they were drinking. To be safe, they dug a new well outside the boundaries of their village. At first, the water from this new well was cool, clear, and plentiful, but it soon dried up with no explanation or reason. Those who still remained would gather at the edge of the well and lower the bucket with hopes of finding just a little bit of fresh water, but there was none to be had. They cried as they circled the well, so very thirsty and still heartbroken from the loss of their loved ones, and soon their tears filled it up, but that was too salty for them to drink, so they had to move away.”
Miriam gave a nod and adjusted her pack across her shoulders. “To this day, that well remains, somewhere deep within the Lost Forest, filled with the shimmering tears of a great number of magical beings. The magic contained within that Well of Tears is powerful indeed, because it’s the collected power of so many different enchanted creatures.”
“The Well of Tears?” Thaddeus whispered.
“That’s what they call it,” Fetter said from the back of the line. “Isn’t it a great name?”
Astrid made a disgusted sound. “It’s a horrible name. Ridiculous and romantic, and not even a good part of the story. No one’s ever seen it, and do you know how many tears it would take to fill a well? It’s not even possible!”
“Oh, and the infected blood from all the corpses getting into the trees and making them dark and twisted is possible?” Fetter said.
“Enough!” Miriam held up her hands. “I want you both to remain silent until we stop to set up camp. Understood?”
“Yes, Mum,” both replied in sullen tones.
“Good.” Miriam took a breath, then smiled at Thaddeus when he looked back over his shoulder. “Gnomes,” she said, shaking her head.
Thaddeus grinned and faced forward again. He followed his father who forged a path through the tall grass, keeping an eye out for rocks. But more often than not, his thoughts strayed to a mass grave filled with the bones of magical beings surrounded by dark, twisted trees and a well filled with tears, and he wondered—not for the last time, he was sure—if he would ever stop being surprised by this strange new world.
Chapter 2
The small fire crackled and popped, and the wind carried the smoke across the fifty remaining yards of the grassy plain, then into the darkness that had gathered between the twisted tree trunks of the Lost Forest. Overhead, the stars winked down at them. Without the lights of a city nearby, they appeared brighter and closer than Thaddeus had ever seen them.
“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Teofil whispered.
Thaddeus smiled. “They look so close. I’m not used to seeing the night sky outside of a city.”
Teofil smiled back. “City weaned.”
“Pretty much.”
Teofil looked back up at the sky and pointed. “See those stars there?”
Thaddeus followed Teofil’s finger to the Big Dipper. He decided to play dumb. “Those bright ones?”
“Yeah, those. See how they’re all in a box like that? That’s Faux Flora.”
“Faux Flora?” Thaddeus frowned at him. He started to ask where Teofil had learned his constellations, but then he noticed his father looking at him across the campfire with raised eyebrows. His father shook his head slightly, which told Thaddeus he should let Teofil talk.
“I’m not familiar with Faux Flora,” Thaddeus said, sharing a quick grin with his father before looking at Teofil’s profile.
“You don’t know Faux Flora?” Teofil gave him a quizzical look, then returned his attention to the stars. His eyes gleamed in the starlight, and Thaddeus pushed aside his learnings and his ties to the human world as he scooted closer to Teofil and listened to something from this magical new realm.
“Flora was a fairy princess who lived among the treetops,” Teofil said. The soft, deep tone of his voice, the sound of the fire, and the cool breeze that carried the smoke off into the woods really set a mood. Nearby, Fetter and Astrid were settling beneath their blankets. Miriam knitted and smiled as she listened to her son. Thaddeus’s father stretched out on the ground with his hands behind his head as he too looked up at the stars.
“She was kind and loving, and watched over all the forest creatures and plants,” Teofil continued. “But there were those outside of the forest who felt they deserved her love and protection as well. These Plains Dwellers tried to convince Flora to come down from the forest treetops and live with them on the grassy plains, but she refused. She loved the forest too much to leave it.