Song: Eyes of the Forest

I have never walked the land because my wings were always there for me and if for some reason they were not Rowan was always by my side. I know the path is steep and treacherous with all the twist and turns of the mountain and that will make it more difficult for us on foot. And it's not just the journey but the things that we might encounter along the way. The forest can get really scary in a matter of seconds.

The good thing is...is that most of the creatures here in the woods sleep during the night. Only a few of the animals might be out roaming the land but other than that besides the fairies of course everyone is sleeping. Thankfully the moon is super bright and is helping us along the wretched path way. I still have my night vision so that's a plus and ever since Silver transformed into a wolf his eyes have also changed. I never thought the water would have changed him the way it did but it did.

We walk for hours before coming to a stop. I'm extremely exhausted and gasping for air; I could also use something to drink. "I think we should find a place to rest for a while?" I tell him.

He keeps walking until he ties pulling me along and I don't move. He turns to look at me. "Azurite...we need to keep going. The longer we keep going the faster we can get out of here."

"I know but the sun will be up shortly and we need to find somewhere to rest," I let out a yawn.

"I know...but in daylight we can see better; come on just a little longer."

I shake my head at him a little disappointed that he refuses to rest even if for a few minutes. "More things will be up and moving by then but if you insist on going fine." I end up moving my sore legs anyway.

We walk roughly another good hour. The moon goes down, while the sun slowly comes up in the distance. It's not that bad at the moment but in a few hours it will be extremely humid and sweltering. We are making our way back down the mountain before going around just to go right back up. As we are making our way around next to a river we both stop to the sound of noises; someone is talking and it takes me a minute to understand what they are saying.

"We should turn back and go a different way," I tell Silver.

He looks at me like I got to be kidding. "Azurite if we turn a different direction it will take even longer. We need to keep going this direction."

"Yeah...I get that but..." We are suddenly interrupted.

There are over a dozen of the greenish looking goblins starting to surround us in every direction. They are just a tad shorter than I am and more rounded out. Unlike the fairies they are always up to no good. I can only imagine what they will want from us.

"Wheke fal kahl think kahl'iy going? (Where do you think you're going?) He jabs his finger at my chest forcing me to step backwards.

I brush his hand away for me. "We are on our way to Onyx Quarters within the cave...we are sorry to intrude."

"What makes you think we will let you pass through here?" he says rudely.

"Please...we don't have time we really need to be going." I try to be nice as possible.

"And we need payment if you want to get by." He gloats with a huge smile on his face. I look at Silver and back towards him and grit my teeth.

"We don't have anything to offer you." I feel bad about not having anything to offer but we had to leave at the spur of the moment. The goblins love getting their hands on fine gems.

The trees start to sway and make this whispering sound. It actually feels quite nice as the weather is getting quite sticky. They are telling the Goblins who I am. I watch as his eyes glare at me, trying to figure me out. He walks completely around me, checking me out. When he comes back around he gets right in my face. "You were a fairy? Is it true he took your wings?"

I look down to the ground, feeling ashamed of the fact they are in fact gone. I nod yes very slowly.

"I never liked him. He thinks he can own every being in the land...well he doesn't own us does he Rens."

They all start cackling. Some fall over and roll on the ground, others double over and chuckle. They all find it quite amusing.  

"How does he know you are a fairy?" Silver whispers to her.

"Because the trees just told them not to help us or they will be punished." I roll my eyes up to the trees.

He looks up toward the trees and gets this confused look on his face. "You got to be kidding me."

"Well I'm not. I told you everything talks around here; they are all watching us...every little step we take...the trees are watching us."

The main goblin claps his hands together and everyone gets quite again. "So...you are Azurite. I am Blang; I am the leader here. You should join us we are just getting ready to eat."

"I thought you couldn't help us," I tell him.

He laughs again. No sooner that he starts laughing they all start laughing again. "Dear fairy we have never followed the orders by Malachite...he doesn't own us...so please stay and eat."

I look over at Silver and I have a feeling he is going to argue about what they want but it's the least we could do. "They want us to stay and eat. I think we should you know...it shows respect."

Silver reaches over to grab my hand. "Azurite I'm not sure this is a great idea."

"It doesn't matter what you think Silver; we are staying." I walk over to the seating area and sit down. Blang walks over behind me and sits down as well. Silver shakes his head like I have got to be kidding.

All the goblins sit down and start passing around this hand sized leaf with liquid in it. Silver glances in and shakes his head no. I nudge him. "It's disrespectful to not take a sip...just do it."

"Yeah...right the last time I did that I passed out."

"That was because of the flower it was in. I promise there is nothing in this you will be fine." I watch as he holds the leaf up to his mouth and he takes a small sip before passing it on to the next goblin. They all take turns taking a drink and then they pass around another leaf with berries in it.

 Afterwards they all chat and Silver walks over to me with a worried look on his face. "I don't understand a thing they are saying. What if they are planning on trapping us here?"

I giggle, "Why would they do that?"

"I don't know...because maybe it's a plan or something from Malachite."

"I seriously doubt that. They hate him. Blang told you he doesn't listen to him." We are interrupted again.

"Excuse me...would you two like to rest for a while. You can stay in the cave here." He points over to an opening in the mountain side.

"No we really should be going but we thank you for letting us join you." Silver holds out his hand but of course the goblin doesn't take it.

He turns to talk to me, ignoring Silver all together. "Miss...fairy...you should rest the sun will be completely out over our heads in a few and it will be a scorcher."

"Silver we really should stay...look at least let me get a few hours of sleep. He is right...I will never make it in this heat anyway."

Silver runs his hand through his hair and looks at me. I know he wants to keep going but the sun is just too much right now and I need to get out of it. "Fine...but once the sun starts going down we are out of here alright."

"Alright." I want to smile for getting my way but I don't.

We follow the one goblin into the cave and he shows us an area where we can rest. He leaves the two of us there alone and I sit down on the cool slate rock. Silver comes over and sits down beside me. He leans his back up again the cave wall. He taps his leg and I lean over and place my head on his lap.I let him play with my hair and he gently rubs my back. His hand goes between the two stubs where my wings use to be and I flinch. It's been really hard not thinking about them.

All day I wanted to just get up and fly and then to my dismay there's no point, they are gone. My eyes start to tear up and slowly they escape. One lands on the edge of my nose and I don't bother wiping it away as it drips to his leg. I waited for him to say something but he stays quite as he continues to gently message me. I tried staying awake but the calmness and his soft touch puts me to sleep.

 I wake a few hours later to the goblins entering the cave. Blang walks over and nudges me. "The sun is starting to go down if you want to be on your way."

I slowly sit up and Silver is already awake. Makes me wonder if he even fell asleep at all. Silver stands up first, holding his hand out for me to grab. Once my hand is in his he slowly pulls me up next to him. His arm comes around my waist. We follow hand in hand out the cave.

The goblins give their farewell to us. "We hope you find your way out of here safely...we will be wishing you all the luck." He holds out his hand and I shake his hand and then when I let go Silver shakes his hand.

We start heading one direction while the goblins go the opposite. At least maybe now with the rest that we had, we can go continue to go on for a little longer.