JoMarie Bentzler

One day when she went down to the pond, where she played and fed her animals. She ran with her sack of breadcrumbs, through the forest. She loved the forest it was always so flowery and alive, so she ran all the way there and when she got there. She played with the animals for a short time, when she heard the sound of something moving around behind her. Startled she spun around to see was it was but she saw nothing. She went back to playing with her animal friends, but once again she heard a sound coming from behind her. She walked up to the edge of the woods and reached towards a branch filled with leaves, when she heard singing. It was a song of sorrow and loneliness. Then her eyelids became heavy and she felt her limbs go heavy. She fell down to the ground. Thankfully her animal friends managed to pull her away from the edge of the forest. To the pond they put grass under her head. When she awoke it was to a man standing over her. She looked at the rest of the man. His face had marks on it, his eyes where rimmed with black and his eyes themselves were bright blue almost white but his teeth is what scared her, they where sharp like a wolf's. She screamed and ran away from him. He moved after her. She ran fast but not fast enough, the man caught her in his arms, pinned her to a tree and made her look at it.

" Who are you to come into my forest and feed my animals, my creatures?" The man said gently. She looked down and saw the animals coming out of the forest and standing behind him. She couldn’t talk she was too frightened to, but then she saw his ears they were formed to a point.

" Ah, I’m frightening you." Giving to the girl a quaint smile. He let her go and she sank down and brought her knees up to her chest. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

" What are you?" She asked.

" I, I am the last of my kind thanks to your mother." He said mother bitterly.

" And what is your kind." She said crossly.

" Elven, my kin" He stopped and sighed. " Our kin were wiped out after your mother went to live with your father, the people of the towns came and hunted us down." He said looking into the pond.

" So you're like what to my blood" She said rather unhappily.

" I am not related to you." He glanced at her through the corner of his eyes " but come it is getting late and there are things that dwell in these woods in the darkness that I will not speak of here, for speaking their names would awake them." He held out a hand for her. She slapped his hand away and stood up by herself. He laughed and went to the edge of the pond and got his bow and arrow. He took out a coat very long and made of black fur and handed it to her.

" Take this it will keep you warm, we have far to travel and it will become cold." He said smiling, his canine teeth showing. Then over his head appeared a little light, like a firefly. It flew down to his ear and whispered something to him. He looked at her, smiled and said…

" I know."

She put the long coat on and buttoned it up.

" It looks nice on you." He said.

" Thank you I guess but I don’t suppose you’ll let me go." She said gently and slowly.

" No, I’m sorry but you have seen me and my fairy therefore…"

" Fairy?"

" Yes, my fairy, she helps me and thank you for interrupting me."

" Sorry." He nodded. He put his stuff on the back of a deer and the deer ran off into the woods. He suddenly turned to her; she was looking into the woods. He walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders.

" I’m sorry but you have seen me and if I were to let you go home. Some time or another you would tell of an elf that lives in the wood still. They would hunt me down and surely kill me." He sighed. " What is your name." He said all this very sadly. " No but I know from where you come from, the animals tell me."

" My name is Calypso."

" My name is Memnon Vernoun." He said, smiling. " Ok lets go" He turned and whistled softly. A few seconds later a black horse came running out of the woods. The horse stopped in front of Memnon and went down on one knee then stood up again.

" This is Valumont." Memnon said. He jumped on the horse's back and pulled Calypso onto the horse. He set her in front him. He whistled to the horse and it took off.

After about thirty minutes of trotting through the woods. The fairy began to sing again and once again, calypso fell asleep. Then she felt hot breath on her neck.

" Wake up." He said. She sat up they were still trotting along.

" I’m sorry, the fairy puts me to sleep."

" It’s ok it did that to me at first to, but I sent her away so she will not sing right now." He said, smiling showing his white canine teeth again.

" How far are we?" She said still sleepily.

" Not far." He said, yawning " about a half a days ride."

" Maybe we should stop for the night." She said, looking at her breath as it left her mouth. Suddenly she felt cold.

" Yes, we should." He said. He stopped the horse and got off. He helped her down, then looked around at the woods around them.

" This will be fine for tonight." He looked at her. " I’ll be right back." A worried look came over her face. " Don’t worry I must get firewood." He turned to go, but turned back around and kissed her on the lips gently, then more passionately. He put his arms around her and pushed himself closer her, but abruptly broke off and turned and ran into the woods. Calypso put her hands on her lips, smiled and the deer appeared behind her. The deer dropped some blankets on the ground in front of her and ran away. She picked them up and laid them down. She fell asleep soon after, but awoke to someone kissing the back of her neck. She sat up and looked at the fire in front of her.

" There, warmth." Said Memnon from next to her. She turned to look at him, when from behind him jumped a little thin creature. It jumped on her and stabbed her in the chest. She screamed with pain. Memnon got up and threw the thing off her. They stood together listening to laughing coming from the darkness.

" What are they." She said clutching her chest.

" Remember those, thing I said that dwell in the darkness."

" Yes."

" Those are it"

" Great "

" Get on the horse, now." He said, They got on with her holding the reins and Memnon shooting arrow into the tiny skeletal devils. Then one arrow’s from one of the tiny devils hit the horse. They tumbled down to the ground. Memnon grabbed Calypso and looked into her eyes.

" I love you." He said. They grabbed hold of each other. As the little monsters closed in on them. Calypso thought to herself ‘ I love him, I will not die, let them be gone and died for good.’

Then just when they jumped towards Memnon and Calypso, they all exploded and turned to dust. Both of them looked at each other.

" What just happen here." Said Memnon.

" My powers." Said Calypso laughing and then it started to rain.

" Lets go home, then." said Memnon kissing her.

" Yes, lets." She said.