By Elizabeth Jane Shelton

I sucked in air as the trail wound uphill, sweat pouring down my face and sticking my ponytail to my neck. To my profound irritation, my fae companion did not appear to be suffering nearly as much, even though he hid his wings in case we ran into another hiker. Not a single drop of sweat beaded on his perfect skin.

But then he asked, “How much longer is this infernal trail, Carolina?” and I wondered if he was just better at hiding signs of exertion.

I checked my phone. “Only… another quarter mile,” I managed between wheezes.

A flutter of invisible wings created a blessedly cool breeze. Ilyen must have decided it was worth the risk to fly up the steeper rocks. “And will we continue to ascend at the same rate?”

I rolled my eyes at his tone. “It may, in fact, be steeper.” My calves and thighs burned, but I refused to slow down. If I stopped, I might feel my aching heart instead of my aching feet.

Finally, the incline leveled off, and a few minutes later, we arrived.

The Channels.

Massive sandstone walls, eroded through years of wind and water, created canyon-like tunnels and trails atop a mountain tucked away in southwestern Virginia. Plant life grew on top of the stone, and wind whistled through the crevices.

I’d always thought this place was magical. And that was before last month, when I’d stumbled on the portal and accidentally bound myself to a runaway fae.

By unspoken agreement, we both paused at the trail’s end and surveyed a crack in the closest cliff face. “Lead the way,” I invited.

“I can manage from here.”

“Yes, because that went so well last time.”

Ilyen growled, his favorite expression of discontent, familiar from when I insisted he listen to bluegrass music, we were forced to wait for coffee, or the bakery sold out of his favorite pastry. For all his complaining about the mortal realm, he’d become rather addicted to cappuccinos and cinnamon rolls.

“I can’t wait to have my magic again,” he muttered.

“What will you do when you get back?”

“I will return the royal pendant of the Unseelie Court to my queen, but after that, I want no further part in her feud with the Seelie. Then I will go home. This forest is… adequate, but nothing compares to riding kelpies on the Wildlake.”

“Surely you’ll miss something about the mortal realm.”

“The coffee. Perhaps.” His haughty expression softened. “And the company.”

The knife twisted deeper. “I’ll miss you, too. Who else will put up with my music?”

“Surely some humans can tolerate all that screeching. And to be honest, I quite enjoyed the musical stylings of Lord Mumford and his offspring. Now, let’s get going.” Ilyen’s indigo wings shimmered into the visible spectrum as he slipped into the crevice. I followed close behind.

We followed the twisting path deeper into the canyon. “What’s your plan to deal with the cat-sìth this time?” he eventually asked.

“You mean the wampus cat?” Saving Ilyen from the portal’s guardian had bound him to me for a moon cycle. He’d only ducked through to escape some Seelie guards, but unfortunately for him, fae are magically bound by pesky things like life debts.

“Yes, yes, your… wampus.” He scrunched his face as if he’d drunk sour milk.

It wasn’t my fault Appalachians and fae didn’t use the same words for our magical creatures. “Easy. You’ll run for the portal while I use myself as bait. Then I’ll pepper spray it like last time.”

Ilyen stopped so abruptly I ran into him. “No,” he said flatly.

“Oh, come—”

“No, Carolina. You won’t last five minutes against the cat-sìth!”

“I was raised in these mountains. If anything, the wampus cat should be afraid of me.”

His wings fluttered in irritation. “This is foolhardy.”

“I’m a pretty hardy fool.”

Suddenly, a high-pitched caterwauling blasted through the Channels. Goosebumps shivered down my arms, and Ilyen’s wings froze.

Something crashed down the path behind us.

“Run!” I shoved Ilyen.

He took off. I kept pace until a larger boulder blocked the narrow path. Ilyen doubled back, then grabbed my hands and used both his strength and his wings to haul me over the obstruction. As soon as my feet hit the ground, we raced forward.

“We’re close!” Ilyen said. “I can feel it!”

“Why would it chase us toward the portal?”

We rounded a corner. A seven-foot-high braided circle of roots grew in the middle of a clearing, its center glowing bright blue.

In front of it stood a massive black cat with a white patch on its chest and glowing yellow eyes.

A second wampus?

“Still think your plan is a good idea?” Ilyen growled.

I pulled my pepper spray from my belt loop. “One way to find out.” I charged ahead, unloading it into its face.

The wampus howled, staggering away from the portal. “Ilyen, now’s your chance!”

I turned around just in time for Ilyen to tackle me backward, the claws of the first wampus only inches from his wings.

For a moment, my whole body felt fizzy, and I tasted a sweetness on my tongue, as if I were swimming in Sprite. Then I landed on something soft.

I gasped. We were still in a forest, but the colors were more vibrant, like someone had turned up the saturation, and the leaves were golden—not the green we’d left behind.

Ilyen grimaced. “Welcome to the fae realm. Sorry.”

“You saved my life.” Something dawned on me. “Wait. Am I bound to you for a full moon now?”

“I doubt those rules apply to humans.” Did he look… disappointed?

“Why risk it?” I shrugged. “The Wildlake sounds nice. And I wouldn’t mind trying some fae pastries.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

Ilyen grinned. “All right, then. But first, the Unseelie Court.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty of pepper spray left.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Elizabeth Jane Shelton has loved stories of every kind since she was young, although fantasy is her favorite. She strives to write stories that are both entertaining and meaningful, and she hopes to impact others and honor her Creator with her writing. If she’s not working on a story, it’s probably because she’s writing code at her job as a software engineer.

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