The End of the Beginning
Perion and Courinn quickly moved throughout the watery chamber, helping the captives as their cocoons emerged. What started as dozens, soon doubled and tripled, until there were close to one hundred recovered victims. All were gently and carefully assisted to their feet, only to limp away. Many had been prisoners for quite some time, leaving their muscle functions badly impaired.
Tilda presently arrived with Jack Salento and his mother; only recently captured, they were in much better shape. The young and strong Jack soon regained his full strength and was able to assist in the rescue. As Tilda later explained to Marie and the others, moments after she heard the final cry of Gwylligwitch echoing throughout the lair, Jack and his mother, along with the other newly captured victims, promptly awakened from their eerie repose. The youngling of Gwylligwitch, as Courinn revealed, had indeed vanished after being set free. Even after a thorough search, it was never found.
With some difficulty, Anna Meehanan held out frail, unused arms as Marie joyously threw herself within them. It was like she had instantly stepped out from a raw, chilly night into a warm, sunshine filled spring morning. She felt that hidden, empty place inside her—ever painful, scarred and scared and hopelessly alone— fully heal as quickly as if Courinn had used her power. It felt like home again.
“It’s gone, mommy!” Marie sobbed into her mother’s shoulder. “It can’t hurt us anymore!”
“I know, Emily, I know,” her mother said, also crying. “You found me. After all you’ve suffered, you found me! No mother could give more than you have.”
“Please forgive me,” said Marie, “for the way I acted that day, for throwing your charm into the woods. I didn’t know … I didn’t know!”
Her mother took hold of her wet face and held it. “No, no, Emily, there’s nothing to be sorry for. I know all the guilt you’ve carried about that, but you were trying to warn us something was wrong. We should have listened to you!”
Marie stared back, nodding in great relief. She had desperately needed to hear those words spoken to her. “So many times, I was sure I lost you.”
“But you didn’t and you never gave up,” said her mother, full of pride. “Vampire bats, vicious caretakers, insane hermits or a horrible monster. You didn’t give up, no matter how scared you were.”
Marie looked upon her mother in bewilderment. Had she read her mind? Before she could ask, her mother again hugged her tightly.
“Yes,” she whispered, “almost everything you did, I saw and heard. From the moment you took the charm, I’ve watched and waited for you. You’re the strongest, bravest young woman I’ve ever known. I love you, Emily Marie.” She wiped away Marie’s streaming tears.
A young gnome was recovered among the captives. It was Thurle’s son, Hennock, who was sincerely grateful for his rescue. He already knew of his father’s fate, having seen it during his captivity, just as Marie and her mother shared semi-mental contact. As a token of friendship and faith, Marie gave to him the shards of the golden diamond, which Hennock and Rhysis in time re-wrought. Hennock and Marie, along with Perion and Courinn, became good friends in the years to come.
Before they were set to depart, both the fallen knight and Courinn’s father were given a temporary burial under a shelf of rock exposed by the melted ice. It was agreed that a small party would return for a service with befitting dignity and honor. When their shrine was erected months later, it resembled nothing less than a lordly monument of two great mausoleums, where the inscriptions read under their names, ‘Honor Peace’ and ‘A Knight’s Soul Saved’. Courinn often visited the shrine, especially when she was in need of strength and council. She always came away feeling her father had spoken to her.
It was daybreak by the time Perion and Courinn, in her enchanted form, began accompanying the captives away. With the rising sun, they saw a plain of fertile, green grass bordering Lake Gwindylo, amidst an outcrop of angular rock formations, all in place of the ice and snow from the prior night.
Perion led them sharply southward, parallel to the steadily growing, bolder-like formations that led along a wide pass between a mountainous ridge. It was a difficult march for many of the victims; most were thirsty, hungry and very weak. Courinn used her healing skill for the worst off, as she could. Many had a lifting of heart at simply seeing a wondrous unicorn pass up and down the survivors’ ranks. Tilda and Jack also worked tirelessly attending to the others’ needs. Marie patiently helped her struggling mother along. When Anna stumbled and fell, Courinn took her up on her back.
After traveling another hour, they heard a shout in the woods and were soon met by Brage and Tybain, heading their way. Thereafter they found Professor Mifflin along with the rest of the boys, whose quick and compassionate aid made the slow journey somewhat better. Yet having to fend for one hundred captives was a difficult task.
From the scores of victims, Marie suddenly came bolting out. She ran with all the strength she had left, which was considerable, having not slept the entire night whilst waging a superhuman battle against a supernatural foe. She raced past Perion and Courinn, past the exiled boys, past Professor Mifflin with no word of greeting. She ran into the waiting, aching arms of her father, who was the last to appear.
“Emily!” he exclaimed, fully embracing his daughter. Marie could not recall him ever speaking her first name before. “Thank God, you’re all right!” he gushed. Marie saw a swollen cut under his eye before she hugged him back as tight as possible. James kissed her cheeks many times in euphoria, fighting the urge to cry.
“What were you doing?” he asked, not in anger, but in genuine confusion. “You could have been killed in these woods and nobody would have ever known. What was it you had to find out that made you run away, sweetheart?”
Marie listened, wide-eyed. After all she had been through, he still thought of her as the same troublesome girl who came home too late one night.
“Don’t you know by now, dad?” she said. “Don’t you understand? I made our dreams come true.”
“Seeing you again does make my dreams come true,” he answered.
“No, no,” she countered in frustration. “I brought mom back to you! To us!”
James sighed heavily. He bit his lip and shook his head. “Marie,” he said, “I’m so happy that you remember your mother again. I know this is hard for you, but regaining your memory—it might seem very real, like mom is coming back. But you have to understand that she’s not. Not today or any other—”
“—James,” a voice clearly called out. He raised his eyes, past his daughter. Upon the back of a shimmering, black unicorn sat his wife and his love— alive and unharmed and as beautiful as the day he met her.
There are, of course, no words to describe what the practical, sharply skeptical James Meehanan felt at that moment. A chaotic storm of conflicting emotions assaulted him. All he could do at length was gradually step forward. As Marie helped her mother down from Courinn, James raised a trembling hand to Anna’s hair and lightly stroked it.
“Anna,” he spoke, barely audible, delicately touching her face, confirming she was real.
“Yes, James, it’s me. I’m here. I’m with you again.”
The tears came, unchecked. It was the first time Anna had seen him openly cry; such was the joy of this moment. He took her in his arms and kissed her as she joyfully returned it. When Marie joined them, James lifted her high into the air, leading to a colossal embrace between all three. It was long said afterward of those who beheld this spectacle, that they had witnessed a true miracle.
Some two hours later a hundred people emerged from the woods, pouring into the small town of Woldred. The village folk emptied from their homes, lining the streets as the exhilarated reunions began— relatives and friends greeting those long thought dead or missing. Ambulances and medical personnel swiftly appeared, aiding and assisting the weak, sick and starving. Even the dratted mayflies turned up, as usual.
Tybain stood with Brage, Perion and the professor. Peering ahead, he saw Tilda with Jack. She looked genuinely happy with the strapping, young gentleman, but Tybain could not let the moment pass. He stepped up behind Tilda, leaning in close.
“Are you sure this guy realizes what he’s getting into?” he whispered.
Tilda smirked, warmly glancing at Jack. When she turned to face Tybain with a playful sneer, he was nowhere to be seen. All the boys had quickly disappeared.
The genuine shock of it all had to claim one more person of interest: the sheriff himself. As expected, news spread to Highland Pointe and Upper Lanasink ‘like ghost-flight’. By the time Dan Radich arrived with his men, he stared in silence. With a tear in his eye, he guessed who was largely behind this wonderful turn of events. However there was no sign of him— Raynor Mifflin was also long gone.
After a full confession from Tilda that morning, the sheriff and police surrounded Nioma Jentiss’s house. Entering with a search warrant, she was not to be found. It appeared she had fled quickly, with little time to hide anything incriminating. Detailed files were discovered on all the missing victims, along with their personal items.
Nioma was not heard from for many years. It was generally assumed she fled into the woods, living a solitary, meager existence, not unlike how Earl Macmanus survived. It was also said she had befriended one of the many evil things still lurking in the wood, no doubt forcing that unfortunate creature to wish it had never taken up with a human.
If the sheriff was unable to connect all the dots, Professor Mifflin did, concluding that Nioma was probably appointed by the Helots to personally select their victims, tracking and choosing their whereabouts until Gwylligwitch came for them. Mifflin doubted Nioma was in direct contact with the monster, but had probably operated within a remote system of communication, also devised by the Helots. Yet the one question remained, which the professor pondered long after: what did these missing Helots plan on doing with all the victims the vecubus had captured? And what retribution would they seek for the ruin of their designs, if they ever returned?
Tilda Jentiss on the other hand, cleanly broke off her dealings with Bettyann and Trish. The Salento family took her in, where Tilda worked hard in school, graduating with top honors. Her and Jack’s relationship blossomed and they fell very much in love. In her second year of college, studying psychology, she and Jack married and their bond remained happy and strong. Tilda became a certified children’s counselor for those with troubled families (and troubled histories within the woods) generously helping young people with the very same problems she experienced growing up. She did not miss her mother and hardly ever thought about her again. Sadly, Bettyann and Trish soon found others to join them in their mischief.
Marie returned home with her mother and father to a village extending its sympathy. James received many apologies from friends like Walters and Kosko, who were so downright suspicious of him. He stopped his drinking for good, waking up everyday, thankful for how blessed he was. The county fair later that month was a real celebration, and for a time it seemed everyone forgot about their differences and genuinely enjoyed one another’s company. Many now supposed— apart from James, herein a firm believer— that most of the ‘spell’ in Spellhollow had been driven out from the woods. They would soon learn differently.
Marie’s relationship with her parents took on a new level of understanding and maturity. The family spent a generous amount of time together, getting to know one another again. They were each different people now— a bit older and with some rather unique experiences behind them. In school, Marie also became an outstanding student, although somewhat of an outsider. She found that she hated anything resembling gold and could easily bait a fishing hook with a worm. Her prior life as Charlotte remained fixed in her memory. Even after several more psychiatric visits, she suffered bouts of confusing and sometimes frightening jumbles of the past and present.
After some lengthy soul searching, Courinn decided to roam the woodlands, helping those in need, trying her best to carry on in the spirit of her father’s final words. She learned a good deal more about the wood and its secrets. Her healing powers considerably increased, as did her wisdom. In time, she came to be known as something of a benevolent, wandering wizard.
Marie remained very close with Perion and Courinn, often visiting the professor’s home with her mother’s full consent— so fond was Anna of Raynor Mifflin. Marie became a well-trusted companion of the exiled boys. When traveling within the wood, they were careful to not stray anywhere too far north, for word had reached the professor that the few surviving sluag were seeking both the fierce mortal and unicorn that had slain their chieftain and destroyed their home.
Some weeks later, Marie asked her mother for a favor. Anna drove her, Courinn and Perion north, some twenty miles along the interstate. They came to a simple, unassuming house. When Marie knocked at the door, a silver-haired woman with a kindly face greeted them. She had no words when Marie handed her a wedding ring that had once belonged to a brief friend. Neither Marie nor her friends spoke. Perhaps the poignant, yet proudly endearing look in their eyes, followed by the old woman’s tears, said everything that needed to be said.
One night that summer in a dark corner of Highland Pointe’s least popular watering holes, a figure approached a remote table, where a tall, sudsy glass awaited. As he sat down in front of it, Sheriff Dan stared at him from across the undersized table with an ever-curious gleam in his eye. Raynor Mifflin nodded his appreciation and then lifted his glass to toast. The sheriff did the same.
“All right Raynor,” said the sheriff. “For the last time, let’s start from the beginning.” But of course, it was not the last time ... .
Marie returned to the woods on Midsummer’s Eve with Courinn and the Exiles. Amidst much shouting and cheering, Courinn and Dyllion squared off and had their race, a lightning-paced, five-mile stretch along a section of Luck’s End Loop. Courinn scarcely beat Dyllion by a horn, in spite of his boastful claims that he would easily best her next time.
The next day, Midsummer, Marie again entered the Faeriaye Realm as she promised, where Steavyn greeted her with open arms. Walking through the dewy, misty morning woods, he marveled at the streaks of rainbow light in Marie’s eyes. They spent a good deal of time together the rest of the summer, and their feelings for one another swiftly grew. However, they did not realize the full repercussions of their very first meeting. And there were indeed.
Within the enchanted domain surrounding the exquisitely flowered fields of the Faeriaye Kingdom, many unnamed creatures and magical beings who had once only known hate and barbaric war began to awaken and arise, where they had been buried in peaceful slumber for centuries.
A pact had been broken and there would be blood spilt for such a fierce betrayal.