Luna flitted through the undergrowth, gathering berries and leaves for her bower. She lived in a small cave behind the veil of a waterfall, where wayfarers had to knock twice on a
particular stone before entering. Day after day she would sit in the crow’s nest overlooking the forest, keeping the Unseelie at bay. Birds ate honeyed bread from her hand and the nature spirits gathered nearby, lured by the spell of her panpipes.
If a passer by caught a whisper of the sweet music they would imagine it to be on the wind.
It was a Tuesday when the unknown presence stepped into the forest. The morning after the lunar eclipse, and the forest was alive with voices. The earth faerie had cloaked herself in a glamour, so the human eye would not glimpse a pale haired girl with iridescent wings settled against the trunk of a tree, bathed in winter sunlight.
The blackbirds and choughs watched Luna curiously, as she summoned the stranger with her music.
Her eyes drifted open and that is when she saw him standing by the beech tree. He shouldn’t have been able to see her, yet his gaze was riveted on the place where she sat. Luna’s pulse danced under her skin, for wasn’t this the very Knight that she had met in her dreaming place.
*
I happened upon this short story from a few years past. It is a little unpolished, but it seemed fitting.
~
The lightning struck the dark, cloudless sky overhead as the Knight galloped faster on his mare Lemuria. Cold rain struck him hard on the face and he frowned with discontent.
Ahead was a forest, with good enough shelter to rest for the long, dreary night ahead. The Knight didn’t care too much for the dark, but he was too weary to continue his journey. After untying his horse’s reigns to let her graze for a little while, he found a patch of dry grass under a canopy of leaves. He lay awake listening to the whisperings of the trees and the cacophony of nocturnal birds hunting for their prey.
When he next stirred it was dawn, and the sky was pale with gentle hues of apricot and peach. He recalled the most intriguing dream; a fairy had followed him through the woodland, and she flew from tree to tree, weaving her magic. As he slept she watched over him and wished that she could find love with such a human, but her kin would never allow such a thing...
Merry Yuletide and Winter Blessings x