Chapter One

i follow a dragonfly

Lillian walked through the dark forest. She had snuck out of the house again. Her mommy had tried telling her not to. But, she saw the faces in the woods again. They were so pretty, she had to find them again. She just had to.
    Lillian looked back through the leaves of the bushes into the kitchen window. Her mother was still talking on the phone. She could just see the top of her father's graying hair. He was obviously talking to her mother, but she was paying no attention.
    Turning back to face the dark wooded forest behind their house, Lillian inched forward. Twigs snapped beneath her feet, but she didn't feel any pain from the stones that she stepped over.
    Her first steps were careful. It was so dark, it was almost scary.
    "Hello?" she asked, her young voice high and scared.
    A sound to her left made her turn suddenly. Nothing there.
    She continued, taking a few steps further. When she heard nothing else, she continued on.
    The forest was dark, even in the middle of the day. No light filtered through the high canopy of thick leaves overhead. Lillian didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was a little scared. She didn't see any sign of the pretty faces that usually watched through the leaves at her.
    Then something brushed against her arm.
    Startled, she let out a small yelp and spun around. Just a dragonfly, that settled lightly on her shoulder. It was unlike any dragonfly she had ever seen. Its wings brushed lightly against her cheek, caressing her skin. It's body was a mottled mixture of reds blacks. It looked so pretty.
    Lillian tried to touch it, but before her hand could make contact with its fragile wings, something startled it. Moving fast, it whizzed away into the darkness.
    Curious, Lillian took off after it, trying to keep up. But, it quickly disappeared into the dusk between the trees.
    She no longer knew how far she was from her home. Already, the darkness had become cold, leaving her with a chill.
    Behind her, a low growl turned her insides to ice. Shaking with fear, she slowly turned toward the source of the sound.
    "Hello?" Her voice broke on the second syllable. she no longer trusted her voice. Slowly, she inched her feet back into the direction she had come from. she made it two steps before a second growl stopped her cold in her tracks.
    She could see them now. White eyes, with red irises glared at her through the gloom. It was only a couple inches taller than she was, four feet perhaps. Her throat constricted, choking her with fear. She could no longer move. Even if she could outrun it, she knew she wouldn't get far.
    Slowly, the creature stepped forward. It walked like an ape, on two feet, but with such long arms it loped slightly with them. Its eyes didn't leave her, as it began pacing around her. She couldn't make out many details, except for its dry, leathery grey skin, or the quiet grunts it made every time it moved.
    Lillian chanced a swallow, trying to wet her mouth. "Hi, I'm Lily." She tried to say. It barely came out as a hoarse gasp.
    But, it stopped the creature in its tracks. It grunted twice, a blast of cold air snorting out through flared nostrils. It was getting ready to attack, and Lillian could do nothing about it. She was a child. She couldn't protect herself. She was defenseless.
    The creature attacked her, launching itself into the air. In one bound, it cleared the short distance between them. As it got closer, more features became apparent. It had long ears, hanging down on each side of its face. A long snout was tapered with two tusks, jutting up from its bottom lip. Each was big enough to tear a considerable hole in her body.
    Quivering, Lillian ducked down, waiting for her end to come. But, nothing came.
    Peeking from beneath her arms, she saw a quick flash jump down from the trees. It was so quick, it was little more than a blur. But, it came to a halt in front of her. It had an odd weapon in its hand. whoever it was, they looked barely older than Lillian herself. They had just walked to their doom.
    "Back beast!" the boy shouted. His voice was deeper than Lillian would have expected. HE slashed the weapon through the air, and instantly what had looked like a stump of a twig grew into a long sword. He took another swing at the beast, and as it fell, it crossed his arc, losing one of its horns.
    With a deep, threatening hiss, it seemed to think about whether it wanted to risk attacking once more.
    When the boy was sure the beast wasn't coming back, he turned back to Lillian, a happy scowl on his face, like he had just gotten what he wanted for Christmas.
    "Now that, was fun!" He exclaimed, throwing his head back. the laughter that left his mouth could only be described as magical. "Fauster, did you see the way I took on that Golem?"
    The boy turned to the darkness, obviously seeing something that I didn't.
    Then a figure stepped out. Lillian almost gasped.

He was tall. Lean. His dark raven hair fell in long curtains, almost to his shoulders. He was barely a teenager it seemed, Lillian could somehow tell. He wore a tunic made of bark, that scraped slightly with every movement. No way it was comfortable.
    He walked forward. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground. His movements were so smooth it seemed he was almost gliding over the ground. Within a moment or two, he was in the Lillian's face, examining her. He seemed to realize something, stumbling back quickly, this time less graceful.
    "It's her, isn't it?" the boy asked, tugging at the man who he had called Fauster's sleeve.
    "It is." Fauster said, his voice quiet, the sound of the wind between the leaves of a tree.
    Looking at Fauster, the boy leaned got closer, and gave her a smile.
    "Hello again," He said. He didn't hold out a hand or any other normal greeting. Instead, he leaned in and kissed Lillian's cheek.
    She quickly felt her face light up with embarrassment.
    "Um, hi." Lillian felt self conscious now, around these boys.
    "Eat this." Fauster said, pulling a piece of bark out of his satchel. "It'll make you feel better."   
    Lillian took a bite of it, expecting to feel splinters poke into her cheek. But, the bark dissolved quickly, releasing a sweet nectar into her mouth, like candy.
    Instantly, her body relaxed. She could feel herself become sleepy. She stretched, opening her mouth wide in a yawn. Just before she laid down to fall asleep, she saw the dragonfly from earlier rest onto the shoulder of the boy. She couldn't help but smile.
    "What's your name," she asked, forcing her eyes to stay open just a moment longer.
    "Who, me?" The boy pointed at his chest, before his lips spread into that cocky, lopsided grin once more. "Why, I'm Kalen of course." His smile disappeared as Fauster entered Lillian's dimming field of view, hoisting her easily into his arms. The armor of bark didn't feel as rough as she thought it would, and cuddled into the arms of the older warrior.
    "Sleep well, little princess." he said, his voice still just as sweet. Unable to keep her eyes open anymore, she fell asleep.