Chapter 1

                                 Queen Lydia

Unwelcome and motive-driven, humans force their way into my kingdom and my home and capture my darling husband, King Pyrus. He is a hydrokinetic sprite, a creature among many, with the ability to manipulate water.

Crouching down on an imperial rug on the ground, in a designated safe room behind a false wall, I quietly hide with our violet-eyed, eight-month-old-daughter, Princess Maia. This room is connected to an underground tunnel that leads me away from the castle.

Looking up in the direction of the moon and the stars, I know my husband’s life will not end well. In spite of this, I pray to the Moon Goddess that no harm should come to him, and I shed tears for him, our marriage and beautiful life together as I quietly flee through the hidden passage toward the forest border. I run as fast as possible, using all my energy while holding Maia.

Leaves and branches whip my face and tear my dress as I hastily rush past them.

Panic rises in my chest because I can hear running and shouting, they’re not far behind me, and they’re gradually getting closer. After all the horror stories about what these humans have done to other sprites, I'm desperate to avoid captivity.

‘Queen Lydia!’ Someone shouts, from behind a tree, not too far from me. I stop in my tracks. Witches I do not know wave at me, motioning for me to go to them.

‘Queen Lydia. Over here! Quickly!’ One yells, her face and body camouflaged by the giant tree she hides behind. I hide behind the tree next to them, and they give me an empathetic smile.

‘I’m Lou. This is my sister Prunella. We’re relieved we have found you, Queen Lydia. I fear we’re the only witches left. The humans have burned everyone we know on stakes in the most horrific, barbaric fashion. We only just escaped, and there are not enough of us left to open the portal and escape to the human world. I fear it's only a matter of time until we’re captured. The werewolves haven’t had as many casualties as the humans. They’re putting up a good fight against them. They may even be strong enough to defeat them,’ Lou says, hopeful in her voice.

Maia coos from inside her swaddle and sucks her thumb.

‘My dear baby Maia. My princess. They will kill her if they find her,’ I say, falling onto my knees and crying into Maia’s blanket.

Lou and Prunella look at each other with sympathetic glances, and Lou places her hand on my shoulder.

‘We can save Princess Maia, but we have to be quick. The humans are getting closer, and our power is depleting,’ Lou says.

‘How can you save her? Please tell me,’ I beg her. They share a quick, knowing glance before looking back at me.

‘We have enough power to save only her.’ Lou explains.

Accepting Lou’s offer means I will never see Maia again after this, but if it saves her life and allows her a chance to live, then I have no other choice. I kiss her forehead and tell her how much I love her before handing her to Lou.

‘Okay, if it saves her life, we must do it,’ I sob.

Lou and Prunella kneel in front of a big, beautiful oak tree and place Maia in her swaddle, inside an opening in

the tree’s hollow trunk. They hold each other’s bejewelled hands and chant:

Goddess of the moon,

Place this sweet child to

sleep and make the year's leap.

When the moon shines bright,

in her time to retake and find her love,

open her eyes and allow her to wake.

The tree’s bark begins to move as it swirls magically around Princess Maia in kaleidoscopic strands, encasing her inside it. When it’s finished homing her, the tree trunk sutures over, forming a knot in itself, sealing my daughter inside.

‘What will happen to her?’ I ask, mesmerised by what I have just witnessed.

‘She will grow very slowly inside the tree, and when the time comes, long after we have gone, the Moon Goddess will know when it's time for the forest to release her. The forest will raise her, and it will be her home. The animals will befriend her, and she will awake with a good grasp of our language and basic life skills. She will know her name. She will have the chance

to have a fulfilling life when all of this is but a fairytale. We have placed many species of babies in the trees over the last few days in hopes that they may one day live free of war and in harmony.’ Lou explains.

Nodding, I smile at the thought that my daughter and many other innocent children have the chance to have a happy life filled with harmony, peace and acceptance.

‘I see them! Over there!’ A man shouts. We soon realise we are surrounded. Being pyrokinetic, I can create and manipulate fire. My gifts are a blessing, they’ve never let me down before, and they certainly won’t desert me now. A man is about to hurl his axe in my direction, but I’m quick to use my powers, and I cast a flame beam and hurl it at him, engulfing him in flames. He screams and writhes around on the ground in pain, burning.

Two sword-wielding men run toward me from my left. I jump into the air just in time, as the one who crouches down, steels himself, to swing his sword at me.

His counterpart swings his sword toward my neck, which I narrowly miss too, as I lean backward and quickly raise my leg to kick him firmly in the chest. Balls of flames materialise in the palms of my hands, and I throw them at both men, successfully hitting one and missing the other.

I’m suddenly gasping for breath as an iron chain whips itself around my throat, choking me. Struggling to stand, I resort to kneeling and fight the man behind me.

The man who evaded my flame ball stomps toward me

and yanks my head up by my hair.

I feel the deep sting of a sharp knife impaling my heart and the warmth of my blood trickling from my chest and down the fabric of my dress. I collapse to the ground, knowing I’m dying. I lay there, unable to move, becoming progressively weaker.

Lou and Prunella, who have been caught and tied to stakes, await their impending deaths as one of the men approaches them with a torch and sets them ablaze. I cannot look, so I cover my ears and shut my eyes to muffle their screams. The men smile as they walk away from the burning corpses of Lou and Prunella.

Loud growls pierce the quiet night air when hefty silhouettes bolt toward the men and quickly devour them, ripping their heads off. The wolves shift into human form and run toward me.

‘We’re too late,’ one of the men says.

I use what strength I have left to gaze at the tree my precious baby sleeps in.

‘Live well, my child.’ I whisper before the darkness consumes me.