Chapter 8

Rhapsody led them into a forest of untold beauty. Large trees filled with pink blossoms and bright red berries were spaced out evenly. The ground was carpeted with pink flower petals that must have dropped from the trees. As the sun dipped further below the horizon the pink petals began to glow with an ethereal light.

Aurora latched onto one of Rhapsody’s hands, and a moment later Serenity hesitantly took her other hand. Rhapsody smiled down at the two of them, squeezing their hands reassuringly.

“This is the Lost Forest of Choill,” Rhapsody said softly as she led them through the pink floral forest. “They are the only breed of sentient trees, aside from Yggdrasil and the other world trees. They were being destroyed in Ireland a few centuries ago, so I brought them here. They are a gentle race, always striving to live in harmony with the other plant species around them.”

“Sentient?” Serenity asked slowly. “Like, they can think like humans think?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say like humans,” Rhapsody replied with a smile. “Humans are apex predators, having climbed the ladder of natural selection in a much more hostile environment. These trees evolved through a network of funguses that created a neural network among their root systems. They don’t think of themselves as individual trees. There are arrays within the root structure that separate their consciousness. So, these five trees here make up one mind, while those seven trees over there make up another mind. Due to their nature as rooted creatures, they have a very different view of life and the world around them. They enjoy seeing new things, such as you, walking among their branches. You’ll be the talk of the forest for weeks to come.”

Serenity and Aurora stared at the beautiful trees in fascination. Glowing petals occasionally fell from the branches around them, making the scene surreal in its beauty.

“Do they have any kind of tactile or visual senses?” Harmony asked in a hushed voice. She wasn’t sure why she was talking so quietly. The magical forest just instilled a sense of reverence.

“Mostly in their root structure,” Rhapsody answered at a normal volume. “They can feel pain when sharp things like axes penetrate their bark. They sense the environment around them via electromagnetic radiation disturbances, similar to echolocation.”

“I guess you really are going to starve, Harmony,” Harmony’s mother said lightly.

“What are you talking about?” Harmony asked distractedly.

“You’ve always said you are okay eating plants because you couldn’t hear them scream,” her mother reminded her in an amused tone. “Well, now you know some plants feel pain. What ever are you going to eat?”

Harmony scowled at her mom but didn’t reply. Rhapsody laughed at the look on her face, her eyes dancing with mirth.

“You could just subsist on a diet of Yuccas Fitter,” Rhapsody offered with a wink. “They have all of the nutrients you need to survive after all.”

“Seriously?” Harmony breathed in a dreamy voice. “I am so ready to change my diet to Yuccas Fitter.”

“Then there is the added benefit that they stop you from aging,” Rhapsody said in an offhand manner. “One Yuccas Fitter will rewind your biological clock by one week.”

Rhapsody looked back at where they had halted in stunned silence with a playful smile. “What?”

Harmony shared a look with Mystery and her mom.

“She just casually mentions that she has immortality juice,” Harmony groaned dramatically. “You’re seriously telling me that if I drank one of those every week I would never age and die?”

“Well, you would never age,” Rhapsody corrected her. “You might die from a freak accident or something.”

“Wait a minute,” Serentiy said with a calculating look in her dark eyes. “You said it rewinds the biological clock by a week. Does that mean if Aunt Harmony drank one every day, she would be a kid again?”

“Not quite,” Rhapsody giggled mischievously. “It only rewinds the clock back to your prime age, which is usually about ten years after puberty. But that would be pretty funny to rewind Harmony back to a teenager.”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Harmony’s mother disagreed fervently.

Rhapsody’s unrestrained laughter derailed Harmony’s attempt to look affronted. It was so infectious that Harmony found herself laughing as well. She noticed that the glowing leaves seemed to brighten at Rhapsody’s jubilant antics.

The forest abruptly ended as they arrived at the base of Yggdrasil. The enormous world tree didn’t have the same kind of bark that made up the trees Harmony was familiar with. Instead, it was a massive tangle of braided roots that formed the entire tree, intertwined in a web of complexity that was staggering. The base of the tree went on for miles in either direction. It was easily the size of a mountain.

As Harmony and the other visitors stared in awe at the immense tree in front of them, one of the strands of root about the size of a giant redwood folded aside to reveal an opening into the tree. A beautiful woman with dark hair and black eyes stood in the opening, a long divided dress revealing hooved legs and a very generous amount of cleavage. She had a seductive smile as she looked them up and down.

“So, these are your humans,” the woman purred, licking her lips sensuously. “They look absolutely delectable.”

“None of that, you goose,” Rhapsody chided the woman firmly. “You’ll scare them away.”

Aurora and Serenity had pushed in closer to Rhapsody when the woman appeared, looking apprehensive as their grips on Rhapsody’s hands tightened.

“Oh, sorry kiddos,” the woman apologized quickly, her seductive demeanor vanishing in an instant. “I just haven’t been able to use that line in so long that I was dying to use it again.”

“This is Taxti,” Rhapsody introduced her with a wry smile. “She’s a faun, but the Native Americans called her the Deer Lady.”

“Wow,” Mystery breathed, shaking her head slowly. “Just when I think it’s reached peak weirdness it gets weirder. Are there any fairy tales that aren’t true?”

“I’m pretty sure the gingerbread man was fiction,” Rhapsody mused, her lips pursed. “Oh yeah, Santa Clause was fiction too.” She finished with a sly look at Harmony.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“So, are you going to finish introducing us?” Taxti asked patiently.

“I’ll get there,” Rhapsody assured her. “This is Mystery. She just crashed her plane in the lake a little while ago.”

“Pretty crazy coincidence that she ended up here at this particular time, if you ask me,” Harmony noted quietly. “What are the odds?”

“This is Aurora and Serenity,” Rhapsody continued, ignoring Harmony’s observation. The two girls shyly waved at Taxti, who smiled a motherly smile at them.

“This is their grandmother, Joline,” Rhapsody gestured to Harmony’s surprised mother.

“How did you know my name?” she asked curiously. “I didn’t think we had ever mentioned it.”

“She plucked it from your thoughts,” Taxti explained, miming a hand plucking a thought from her head.

“Wait, what?” Harmony exclaimed, her face coloring a deep shade of red. “You can read minds?”

“Would you feel better if I said no?” Rhapsody asked Harmony with a wink.

Harmony’s brain went into overdrive as she tried to replay everything she had ever thought about Rhapsody. She was pretty sure there had been some thoughts that would be extremely awkward.

“And this is Harmony,” Rhapsody finished the introductions, watching Harmony fondly.

“Ah, so this is the one,” Taxti said, her eyes lighting up with eagerness. “She’s been talking about you so much that I feel like I already know you.”

Harmony blinked, looking at Rhapsody. The fairy laughed nervously at her through a blush.

“Hey, I talked about the others too,” Rhapsody said defensively.

“Of course you did,” Taxti agreed amiably, her full lips augmenting a smile that couldn’t help but look alluring. “I’ll say no more about how you described her to me.”

“Taxti,” Rhapsody facepalmed as her cheeks shamed a sunset. “I think you should just say no more at all.”

“So, what do you do here in the ring?” Mystery asked into the uncomfortable silence that followed.

“What do we do?” Taxti repeated blankly. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“I think you may have just answered it,” Mystery murmured, looking at Rhapsody. The fairy shrugged, causing her wings to bounce slightly.

“We exist,” Rhapsody explained simply. “We do whatever we feel like doing at a given time. Sometimes, that means decades of research to increase our knowledge. Or perhaps spending a couple dozen centuries engineering a plant to produce a fruit that can open mortal eyes to the magic realm. Sometimes we fight evil when the world becomes imbalanced. We don’t have a schedule, like humans, where we follow a routine day in and day out.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have been born a human,” Harmony complained enviously. “Why couldn’t I have been born a fairy or other magical creature?”

“We aren’t born though,” Rhapsody informed her with an assessing look.

“What, do you just poof into being?” Harmony asked playfully. She made a poofing gesture with her hand to demonstrate.

“Not exactly,” Rhapsody replied, her lips curving slightly. “Do you remember how I said nothing ever dies? That it just transitions into something else?”

Harmony stared at Rhapsody silently for a moment before her eyes widened slightly. “You’re a star, aren’t you?”

“Nope, I’m a fairy,” Rhapsody replied teasingly. “But I used to be a star.”

Harmony’s mother gasped at the revelation. Harmony felt her mouth hanging open and quickly shut it. Mystery was staring at her in confusion.

“So, you used to be a Hollywood star or something?” Mystery asked, uncomprehending.

The stunned silence was broken up when Rhapsody and Taxti suddenly started laughing. Harmony’s own lips twitched at the thought as she looked at the mirthful fairy. Harmony’s mother took pity on Mystery and explained.

“They mean an actual star, as in, from outer space,” Harmony’s mother explained patiently. “When a star goes supernova, it is actually transitioning into a new form of life, according to Rhapsody.”

“I’m sorry, Mystery,” Rhapsody apologized. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was just laughing at the thought of me reincarnating from a former movie star. Joline is correct; magical creatures are the result of transitioned stars.”

“How did you become a star in the first place?” Aurora asked curiously.

Rhapsody’s face grew solemn. “I’m afraid I’m not allowed to tell you the answer to that question, Aurora.”

“I’ve got so many questions,” Harmony’s mother stared at Rhapsody eagerly. “Is there a certain kind of star that transitions into fairies, and another that transitions into fauns or other magical creatures? Or is it just random?”

Taxti eyed Harmony’s mother greedily. “I really want this one, Rhapsody.”

Rhapsody sighed resignedly. “You’re doing it again, Taxti. They’re going to think I invited them here so that we could feast on their souls with that kind of behavior.”

“Well, I wasn’t thinking that before…” Harmony’s mother said dryly.

“It’s been a few centuries since Taxti has spoken to humans,” Rhapsody told them apologetically. “She’ll work on her manners, won’t you Taxti?”

Taxti was blushing with embarrassment. “Sorry, it just came out. Sometimes I get excited, and my mouth starts talking before my brain starts thinking.”

“Yes, we call that premature articulation,” Harmony smirked. “I suffer from the same problem.”

“Harmony!” her mother growled warningly.

“See, I just did it too,” Harmony told Taxti with an impudent grin.

“Premature articulation?” Serenity repeated with a puzzled frown.

“Just forget that your aunt said that, Serenity,” her mother said with a withering glare at Harmony. “That’s an order.”

“Did you start the party without the rest of us, Taxti?” a booming voice called from somewhere up above them. “You said you would come and get us when they arrived!”

“Oops,” Taxti muttered without much sincerity.

There was a loud whooshing sound followed by a huge gust of wind. Harmony looked up to see a dragon the size of Godzilla drop down from the higher reaches of the tree and hover nearby. It was too large to safely land without crushing part of the sentient forest. Her mind struggled to reconcile the size of the creature.

Aurora and Serenity’s grips on Rhapsody’s hands once again tightened as they stared up at the dragon of all dragons. Mystery was frozen in shock while Harmony’s mother stared up at it in awe.

“This is Nidhogg,” Rhapsody introduced the behemoth hovering above them. “He lives up in the higher branches.”

Harmony gulped as she looked up at Nidhogg, trying to get a grip on her instinctive terror. “Hello, Nidhogg,” she managed in a voice that only shook a little.

A head the size of her two-story house peered down at her. “You must be Harmony,” his voice boomed. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“See,” Taxti winked at Harmony. “I told you she talked about you a lot.”

Rhapsody glared at Taxti, but before she could say anything another voice spoke up.

“So, this is the girl you’ve been visiting outside of the circle,” an almost skeletal woman with glowing red eyes noted approvingly. “She has a great soul. I think she’ll be perfect.”

“This is Harnketi,” Rhapsody introduced the emaciated woman. “She’s a Baykok. She doesn’t really eat the liver of warriors. She focused more on hunting down warriors who delighted in cruelty.”

“Hey, don’t forget about me,” a voice full of self-confidence called out from inside the opening to the tree. A short figure, about three feet tall, walked out of the opening behind Taxti. He wore an outfit made primarily of green. He had the traditional belt buckle and hat to identify him as a leprechaun. He walked right up to Harmony’s mother and offered his hand.

“My goodness, what a lovely sight,” the short man said warmly as he shook her hand. “I’m Declan, the best looking man you’ll find in these parts.”

“You’re the only man in these parts,” Taxti noted with a snort. “And you’re only half a man.”

“At least I know which half I am, goat woman,” Declan retorted with a sneer. “Don’t you have a troll bridge to go patronize?”

“Not even five seconds and you two are at each other’s throats again,” Rhapsody sighed in resignation. “You couldn’t just put all that aside for one night, could you?”

“I really tried,” Taxti declared with a wince. “My mouth has a mind of its own though.”

“It’s the only part of you that has a mind,” Declan sniped maliciously.

“Come on, Declan,” Rhapsody begged winsomely. “Just try to get along for one night. Please? For me?”

Harmony’s breath caught at the display. Rhapsody looked so innocent and hopeful that she could have asked for the sun, and it would have been hers.

Declan seemed to think so too. His face softened and he harrumphed. “Alright, fine. I’ll do this for you, Rhapsody, because I respect you.”

Rhapsody impulsively hugged him, her small form only needing to bend down a little to do so. Declan’s face turned red as she pulled away and his eyes looked dazed.

“Are you taking them to the core now?” Nidhogg asked in his booming voice.

“Yes,” Rhapsody nodded. “Wish me luck!”

“I don’t think you’ll need it,” Harnketi said with a glance at Rhapsody and her mom. “They seem ready.”

“One way to find out,” Taxti said briskly.

“Okay, shall we go in?” Rhapsody asked them with a dazzling smile.