 
The Encounter

### Travels to Eilean Saga, Volume 1

Idaean **Halley**

Copyright 2014 Idaean Halley
The Encounter

Author: Idaean Halley

Translator: Georgia L. Snelgrove

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdaeanHalley2

Twitter: @Idaean_Halley

Copyright of this edition: © 2014 Idaean Halley

No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express written permission of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTE

This book you are going to begin is the first part of The Travels to Eilean Saga. You'll find all the information about it in the last pages of this ebook.
DEDICATED TO LUANA FROM YOUR AUNT,

### FOR YOU TO ALWAYS BELIEVE IN MAGIC.

### The Way to Eilean

Table of Content

Prologue: Agnes

I. The Encounter:

1. The trip

2. The first day

3. Revelations

4. Dream of another world

5. The promise

**PROLOGUE**

Agnes

Laigin (Ireland)

Year 514 A.D.

The sound of people running in the lush forest made Agnes raise her head, looking for somewhere to hide. She picked up the basket that she had been filling with mushrooms and hid behind some bushes.

A short while afterwards, she recognized the voices of her unexpected companions in the forest. They belonged to three boys from the village, Eremon, Niall and Finegas. For a brief moment, she thought about leaving her hiding place and continue to look for mushrooms, but she decided that it was better to wait until the voices vanished in the distance. Eremon scared her. The robust blacksmith's son was not a nice person. He had tripped her over many times in the past when she had walked by him or he had hit her when he thought that nobody was looking. The other two lads weren't that bad, but they followed Eremon like sheep with their shepherd and they followed his every whim. And they also laughed at her every time they saw her. It would be best not to go looking for trouble.

She remained sitting on the floor for a long time, picking petals off of flowers, until she felt it safe to leave her hideout. She decided that it would be better to go deeper into the forest. She knew the area very well and the lads would most probably not dare to walk travel so far in. The old ladies of the town told stories of the Village of Shide, deep in the heart of the forest. There were hundreds of tales about fairies, goblins and elves, but Agnes was not afraid. She did not believe that the magical beings could be any more cruel to her than the people in her village and, deep down, she wished she would find them, for them to take pity on her and that they could change her sad life. And why not? It was said that they could change time. Maybe they could make her go back to the day when the cabin set on fire and help her father to get her out of there before that wooden beam crashed down on her crib, leaving her body burnt and deformed for the rest of her days.

She gripped her basket and walked away from her hiding place. As she walked deeper into the forest she felt safer, happier. There was nobody laughing at her there, nobody to turn their face away with disgust or pity. There was only her and the ancient trees, the sound of running water, the breeze above her head... Plus, the dark and damp forest seemed to welcome her with gifts in plentiful, as the mushrooms were much bigger and more abundant in that area. She smiled, imaging the look of delight on her mother's face when she handed her such a full basket.

All of a sudden she heard a strange noise. It seemed like whining, like a small child crying. She edged closer without making a sound. She separated the branches and smiled at the sight she saw. Two small fox cubs had left their den and they were whimpering nervously, most probably calling for their mother. Agnes approached them without fear. She had always got on well with animals. The two cubs clumsily walked towards her and, when she sat on the floor, they began to sniff her out of curiosity. She spent some time playing with them until the sound of dry twigs breaking and hushed whispers made caused her to stand up and hide again.

She recognized the voices at once. It was the lads from the village again and they seemed to be heading directly to where she was hiding. Had they followed her? She bent down even further and waited, begging for them to leave there. The voices got louder until the lads walked into her sight.

— I don't know what we're doing here— Niall said to his buddies—. We'll just end up getting lost.

— Niall's right—Finegas agreed.

— Shut up both of you—Eremon ordered—. I know exactly where we are. You're a pair of cowards.

All at the same time, the three lads fell quiet. Agnes peaked out of her hideout and, to her horror, saw that they had discovered the foxes den, where the two cubs were still sitting outside waiting for their mother. Eremon crouched down, picked up a stone and threw it at the cubs. The baby foxes got scared and run a few feet away but they didn't dare to run any further.

— Come on, help me kill them— Eremon shouted.

— But they are only babies— answered Niall.

— Tell that to your mother when they grow up and eat your chickens— said Finegas, picking up a handful of stones—. They're just vermin.

The three boys continued throwing stones, knocking out the two cubs. They continued with their attack for what seemed like an eternity to Agnes. With tears in her eyes, she watched how the blood flowed from the small and defenseless bodies, how stones kept hitting them even though they had been motionless for some time. She felt tempted to leave her hiding place to defend the animals, but she was too scared of the boys. Their faces were twisted with hate; their eyes seemed to glisten with an evil gleam. They looked like monsters, terrible demons, and Agnes was sure that she would become their next victim if she showed herself to them. After all, she knew that she was also vermin in their eyes.

Eremon stopped throwing stones and walked towards the cubs. He grabbed one of them by the tail and shook it, showing his friends that it was dead. The three boys broke into wild cheers of joy. Eremon threw the little bleeding body and walked back over to his friends, who slapped him on the back, as if he were a hero returning from some glorious battle. The three of them turned to leave the forest, shouting and running as they went.

Agnes waited until she could not hear them any longer and left her hiding place, sobbing. A noise in some nearby bushes startled her. A larger fox appeared from the thicket and ran over to the cubs. It sniffed them for a while, nudging them with its snout, unable to assimilate the fact that they were dead. Agnes walked towards them slowly, with her palms outstretched to show that she did not mean any harm. The vixen bared her teeth, growling menacingly. Without really knowing what she was doing, Agnes continued to approach them. She sat down between the two small bodies and extended a hand over each one of them.

The vixen stepped back scared, staring at the white light that emerged from Agnes's hands. Agnes was not afraid. Although nobody knew, she had already done this on other occasions, like when her only cow fell ill and died and she didn't want her mother to be sad. She concentrated on the two bodies on the floor, on making the light which came from her hands become stronger and purer. The wounds began to heal and the fur which had been torn out by the stones began to grow. One of the cubs started moving and began to whine once again, waking up from its cold slumber. Seconds later, the other cub also began to move. Both cubs got up and headed towards their mother, who instantly started to lick them affectionately.

All of a sudden the three animals ran away terrified and disappeared in the forest. Agnes stared at them, wondering what could have scared them. A stone hit her on the head before she even had the chance to see what was happening.

— Witch! She's a witch! — shouted Eremon's voice behind her.

She crawled away, trying to turn herself towards them whilst the onslaught of stones kept hitting her. The three boys were standing at the edge of the clearing, looking at her with a mix of hate and fear whilst they stoned her. Agnes held up her arm, trying to beg for mercy but this only increased the ferocity of their attacks.

— Quick or she'll cast a spell on us. We have to kill her— shouted Finegas, terrified.

Eremon looked around him and found a large rock. He picked it up with some effort and aimed it at Agnes, directly at her head.

— Please, no...— Agnes managed to stutter.

— Kill her, kill her...— shouted his two friends hysterically.

Agnes locked her eyes on Eremon's face, searching for a glimpse of compassion, but all she could see was the boy's cruel and savage smile.

When she opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of that tunnel of white light, she felt scared and alone. She tried to remember what had happened and shuddered when Eremon's smile returned to her memory. What had happened? Where was she?

She stood up awkwardly and tried to look at her wounds, but there was nothing to see. She couldn't see her body or even feel it. She felt pure terror invade her. What did all of this mean? How was she supposed to get out of that tunnel if she didn't have any legs? Was there any way out of that place or was that the place what awaited them after life?

She found that she could move through the tunnel just by thinking about it. She decided to get moving, trying to find somebody who could help her, explain to her what was going on... She would have given anything for a hug from her mother.

The light seemed to change at the end of the tunnel. As she got closer, she could see a bright blue sky, a green meadow and huge trees like those which surrounded her village... She left the tunnel and looked at herself again, searching for her body, but she found nothing.

Spheres glowing with a powerful white light appeared amongst the trees. Agnes stared at them, feeling paralyzed as they approached. They seemed to be made up of the same light which formed the walls of the tunnel. As they got closer to her, she realized that within each one of the spheres there was a tiny figure. Their bodies were translucent, very thin and with elongated limbs, their hair looked like bolts of lightning that stood on end, filling the sphere. Within that whiteness their very large and silvery eyes shone. Agnes spun around, trying to make her way back to the tunnel.

— It is closed, dear one— the crystal clear voices rang inside her mind. They appeared to be sweet and kind, like a motherly voice. She could not tell how many voices spoke to her at the same time, they sounded as a well-tuned chorus would, as if they had spent years training to convey that message without losing tune—. You have nothing to fear from us or from Eilean.

— Eilean? What is that? — Agnes asked.

— It is the new world that we have created for your kind. You are to be the first inhabitant. We welcome you— the chorus of voices replied.

— Are you fairies? — she asked them, amazed.

— Well, you have called us by this name in the past— they answered between giggles—. We hope you enjoy this new world.

— Wait, don't leave— begged Agnes—. Am I going to be here alone?

— Alas, we feel that shortly you will have much more company. You only have to await their arrival.

— And aren't I going to have a body? — she asked puzzled.

— Yes, if you wish... We had not foreseen the idea that humans would not feel happy about being without body. As we are in this state most of the time...— the voices seemed to be confused—. What appearance do you desire?

Agnes took her time in replying to this. She had suffered her entire life due to being trapped within a body that everyone else considered to be horrible. How was she to pick one for those who were going to arrive? What if they didn't like the body she chose?

— I think everybody should be how they wish, how they imagine themselves in their greatest fantasies— she finally answered.

— And this shall be. What about you however? — the voices asked her—. We cannot see an image of yourself in your mind. There are no memories of the body you possessed on Earth.

Agnes nodded in agreement as she continued to think. It was true, throughout her entire life she had shunned away from any type of reflection that would show her body or face. She had never thought about how she would have looked if she had not been trapped in that fire. It was too painful... And now she was faced with the possibility that she had always dreamt about, the chance to be as beautiful as she wanted and she couldn't find an answer. Maybe she should ask for Tea's body, the most beautiful girl in her village. But she did not feel comfortable with that choice. She wouldn't feel like herself, just some copy-cat within a stolen body. She would never feel comfortable within a human body, she thought bitterly to herself, and then she came up with an idea.

— Can I be however I want? It doesn't matter?

— Of course. The only thing you must do is concentrate on the image.

Agnes thought about the power, the greatness, and the magnificence of her desired body while she felt a hot white light surround her. When it was over, she opened her new eyes and spread her wings to see them glisten silver in the sunlight.

I. The encounter
**1. The Trip**

Her parent's silhouettes started getting smaller and blurrier, until they became little patches of color faded against the Atocha Station. Luna leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears that she had managed to hold back during the long goodbye. It was stupid to cry, she would see them at the end of summer, in three month's time. The time would surely fly by, but she had never been away from them for so long. The image of her mother holding her hand up to the window, in a last attempt of some form of contact while the train pulled away from the station formed in her mind. She had really seemed worried, almost in despair, and her father's hand wrapped around her shoulder had seemed more like another attempt of holding her back, so that her mother wouldn't run after her to get her off of the train, that a supporting gesture. For a few seconds she had felt the impulse of leaving the train and running to her mother to calm her down. But it wouldn't have been just that. For a fleeting moment she thought that her parents knew something that she didn't and that going on that trip was a very bad idea.

She opened her eyes and stared out across the landscape that was speeding past her on the other side of the window. She took a deep breath and a wide smile spread across her face. There was nothing to be worried about; everything was going to be fine. She was finally getting away from Madrid, to discover new places, to reunite with her aunt after so many years of dreaming about it... She was leaving behind the school year, the fights with her mother, the smoky grey Madrid sky, the angry and busy people in the streets... It was kind of like going to a complete different world and, despite the nerves that were eating her alive, she couldn't remember the last time she had felt so excited.

The memory of her mother's worried face made her feel guilty for a second, but she pushed the thought from her mind. Nothing was going to happen to her. Her parents wouldn't have let her go anywhere if it was going to put her in danger. She wasn't going to join a sect, nor travel to a country in war to volunteer. She was just going to spend the summer holidays in a small village in Navarre with her aunt Emma. They were most probably worried because her aunt wasn't going to control her as much as they did and that she would end up arriving home in the middle of the night, drunk, after having fallen hopelessly in love with one of the boys from the village with whom she would try to run away with in September to not have to split up with him. She smiled at the thought and felt her nerves loosen up the butterflies that were fluttering around her stomach.

As the train left the last towns in the outskirts of Madrid, she sat back comfortably in her chair and picked up her MP3 player, searching for a random radio station to distract her. The trip was almost four hours long and she had already seen the film that they were showing. She looked around the carriage, observing the few passengers that had left Madrid at the same time as her. A young couple sitting a few aisles ahead, holding hands as they watched the film, a woman with three small children who kept fighting over where they wanted to sit, a grey haired man reading a book, a young business woman tapping away on her laptop...

She kept herself distracted for a while observing the passengers, trying to imagine what their lives were like, why they were taking the trip, what they were thinking... They were most probably passengers just like herself, heading North to have a few days on holiday, but imagining other stories was more entertaining: the business woman was making the journey to meet up with a new love she had met over the internet and to who she was writing an email telling him how nervous she felt; the old man was going back to his home town to reunite with his childhood friends; the young couple had ran away from home because her father had forbidden them from seeing each other and they want to stowaway on a boat that would take them to a far away and unknown port where they would start a new life together... And the woman with the three children... That was the most complicated one. Seeing the stressed look on the woman's face, Luna thought that maybe she was thinking about putting the children on the same boat as the young couple and getting them out of her sight forever. The woman seemed to notice that Luna was staring at her, so she held back a smile and turned to look back out the window.

The tall buildings had been replaced by yellow fields that stretched out to the horizon. From time to time, a small village would appear surrounded by crops of golden wheat or sunflowers already bowing their heads towards the late evening sun. She thought about the place where she was heading and how it would be. She had never been to her aunt Emma's house. In fact, she didn't even know if she lived in a house in the heart of a village like the ones she could see through the window or if she lived in an apartment in a small city or even a modern loft. All she knew was that she lived close to Estella and, despite having looked on the internet, there were so little details that she couldn't fathom how the place would be. She had thought about bringing the subject up days before, during dinner, but she knew that her mother didn't like her aunt Emma. Her parents had argued a lot about whether or not she should spend the holidays with her, so, due to the fear of the arguments returning and them ending up in not letting her go, she had decided to smother her curiosity and hold back all of the questions that she wanted to ask.

She tried to remember things about her aunt Emma. When she was younger, Emma would come to see them, but then one day, many years ago, the visits stopped. She would only call them from time to time and, even though Emma always asked about her, Luna knew that her mother usually said that she wasn't at home. It hardly ever worked, her aunt would insist on talking to her, as if she was certain that her mother was lying.

She had a sweet and quiet, almost whispering voice. When they spoke, Luna would completely forget that she was talking to somebody that was almost a stranger to her, somebody whose face she couldn't even remember and she would tell her about her dreams, her deepest worries, her fears... She could have spent hours talking to her on the phone, beset by the ever present pity she felt of not knowing when she would be able to contact her again, when she would be able to hear the voice that calmed her and made all of her worries disappear. Especially because Luna didn't have a say when it came to contacting her aunt. It was impossible to call aunt Emma. She didn't have a phone, landline or mobile. Unless that was another one of her mother's lies, one that her aunt didn't contradict her on.

Apart from the sound of her voice, she couldn't remember much more about her. Her memory was blurred by time and she hadn't been able to find even a photograph of her aunt at home. She remembered pale skin, long brown hair, long black sheer dresses and the glitter of silver on all of her fingers. She was almost like a dark fairy godmother in her memory, a mysterious and distant woman whose features had gotten lost in the mist. She sighed, knowing that in reality she would not be like the woman she remembered and that the idyllic image of woman of shadows would break as soon as she was standing in front of a woman of flesh and bone, of about forty something years of age, who probably dressed in jeans or a suit and whose features, outlined by a few wrinkles, would be extremely similar to those of her father.

She opened her backpack and looked at her mobile. It seemed weird not seeing missed calls from her mother telling her how to behave or asking her to come back home. It seemed that, after a moment of weakness at the station, her father had managed to calm her down and convince her that nothing bad was going to happen. She thought about ringing Cristina to tell her how nervous she was, but they had already spoke about the trip for hours over the past few days and right now, nothing new had happened that she could talk to her about. She would have liked for Cristina to have been with her for the summer, but she didn't know her aunt Emma well enough to ask her to invite a friend along as well. Maybe later on, when they knew each other better, she could ask her if Cristina could visit them for a while.

She imagined what Cristina would be doing at that moment. She was most probably sat in front of the computer, busy with one of the strange online games she was obsessed with, with the blind in her room almost fully closed to keep out the heat from the street. Luna smiled as she remembered the arguments they had when she was trying to convince Cristina to go to the swimming pool, so they could get a bit of a suntan, and the horrified expression on her face as she imagined herself surrounded by bimbos with dyed blonde hair and muscled show-offs who would look at her to see how she looked in a swim suit. It was almost impossible to get Cristina to leave her house and even more so in summer. Her pale skin and her black clothes stood out too much. Her mother had been right when she had said that she had chosen the strangest girl in school to be her friend, but there was no one like Cristina when it came to listening to people or always being there when she needed her. She wished that she could be with her now. The idea of the trip was exciting, but she would have liked to have shared those times with her instead of feeling alone and nervous sitting in that hot and stifling wagon that made her clothes stick to her skin. She tried not to think about it and get comfortable, letting her eyes wander over the landscape once more.

A few hours later, the view of the landscape on the other side of the window had changed completely. It had got dark and the golden fields had been replaced with tall mountains that spread out, covering the horizon. Huge dark meadows could be seen on both sides of the track and, from time to time, they would pass small villages with stone houses. The train headed towards the mountains, going through long tunnels and not exiting until several minutes after. Luna felt her nerves getting bigger. She was now in the North, so she couldn't be that far now. The towns began to appear more frequently. A robotic female voice announced through the speakers that they would reach their destination in five minutes. Luna took her baggage down from the rails and stood in the aisle.

When the train pulled into the station, she pressed her face against the glass, trying to find her aunt's silhouette in the crowd of people on the platform. Unknown faces passed by her on the other side of the window, but she couldn't see her aunt. Surely, as she had feared, the woman waiting for her didn't look anything like the woman she remembered and so she couldn't find her. The train pulled to a stop and the doors opened. Luna got off of the train with a heavy suitcase in each hand and her backpack on her back. She stood in the middle of the platform, looking at people hugging their friends and family, their smiles, kisses, cries of joy... She tried to find a woman standing on her own and looking for someone like she was doing. It was possible that her aunt didn't recognize her either and that was the reason why nobody had walked over to her.

The people began to walk towards the station's exit. Fewer and fewer people remained on the platform. Luna put her suitcases on the floor and looked around once more, asking herself what was going on. Maybe her aunt was just running a bit late. All she had to do was calm down and wait a while. A terrifying thought flashed through her mind. What if her aunt had gotten the day mixed up and she had no way of contacting her. What would she do? Call her parents and say that she was going home?

She picked up her suitcases again, that seemed to weigh more each time and walked over to a bench to sit down and wait. The station was emptying fast. They would most probably want to close it soon, so she was also left without the possibility of waiting there for much longer. She looked up at the timetable. The next train to Madrid didn't leave until seven the following morning. The idea of having to spend the night alone walking through an unknown city sent shivers down her spine. It was impossible that her aunt had forgotten about her, she had seemed as excited as Luna at the idea of spending the summer together.

She looked around the station again. There was nobody left, except for two guards talking to each other and who were most probably going to ask her to leave in a few minutes time. Just then she heard rushed footsteps entering the station. She stood up and looked towards where the noise was coming from, but sat down again seconds later feeling disappointed. The person running into the station was an old man, with a red t-shirt that was pulled too tight over his large stomach. The man reached the beginning of the platforms and looked around as if he were looking for someone. When he saw Luna, he began to run towards her. He stopped in front of the bench and tried to talk, but he was so exhausted that he signaled with his hand, asking her to wait for him to catch his breath. She looked at him, trying to decide whether to get up and leave or laugh at the sight of the man. His fat cheeks perfectly matched the color of his t-shirt and large drops of sweat could be seen running down his bald head.

Half a minute later, the man seemed to finally catch his breath and, with a still panting voice spoke to her:

— You're Luna, right?

She looked at him feeling puzzled, asking herself who the man was. Maybe he was aunt Emma's husband, although she had never heard that her aunt had gotten married. She finally nodded at the man, without knowing what else to say. The man smiled, picked up the two suitcases with a bit of effort and turned towards the exit. Luna didn't know what to do for a second and started to hurriedly walk behind the man, with the aim of finding out what was going on, or at least get her suitcases back.

— Excuse me— she said once she was beside him—. Can you tell me who you are?

— Juan Marquez— he answered without losing pace—. I'm a taxi driver. Your aunt asked me to come and pick you up.

— Is she waiting in the taxi?— Luna asked hopefully.

— No, I have to take you to her house— the man walked out of the station and headed towards a double parked taxi. He put the suitcases in the trunk and sat behind the wheel—. Come on, it's getting late.

Luna stood still in the middle of the sidewalk, not really knowing what to do. She didn't like the idea of getting into a car with that stranger and she felt very disappointed by the way in which her aunt was acting. Why hadn't she come to pick her up? Did she care so little about her that she couldn't come to meet her at the station after having not seen her for over ten years? And, if she did care so little about her, why had she invited Luna to spend the summer with her? She opened the car door and sat in the back seat. She didn't have any other choice. All of her money was in one of the suitcases that the driver had just put in the trunk.

— I'm sorry I'm late— the man said as he started the car—. The trip I had to do before this one took me longer than expected. I got here as soon as I could.

— Don't worry— she replied—. It doesn't matter.

— We still have quite a way before we reach Estella— the driver continued—. Let's see if we can get there quick, it's almost midnight.

Luna just nodded her head while she looked out the window. The man understood that she didn't want to talk and put the radio on as he sped through the city. As the buildings flashed past before her eyes she felt the same doubts over and over again. She felt insecure, lost, scared... And also angry. It wasn't fair how her aunt was treating her, making her believe that she had been looking forward to her visit and then behaving as she was.

The taxi left the city behind and began to travel down a road surrounded by low mountains and deep dark forests. Luna tried to forget her bad mood by focusing on the landscape but, despite there being a beautiful full moon shining in the sky, its light and that of the streetlights lining the road were not enough for her to see anything at all. Plus, her excitement with regards to the trip and getting to see that new land had completely disappeared. The road appeared to be surrounded by threatening shadows, with the cars headlights seeming to intrude into the depths of the forest, letting her see fleeting hidden figures... She closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to open them again to find that everything had been all a strange dream. She would have liked to have woken up in the tranquility of her bedroom in Madrid, instead of heading to an unknown place where a woman, who now seemed distant and threatening, was waiting for her.

They approached a group of low hills and, as they passed through them, bright lights of a small city appeared out of nowhere. Luna leaned forward to speak to the driver:

— What city is that?— she asked him, pointing.

— That's Estella, we're nearly there now— he answered, trying to raise his voice over the volume of the music.

— It seemed like it wasn't there a second ago— Luna said, feeling puzzled.

— Yeah, it's as the saying goes...— the taxi driver turned around to smile at her as he spoke—. "Estella cannot be seen, until the hills you pass between". Your aunt lives on the outskirts, we will be there in five minutes.

Luna sat back in her seat, contemplating the place where she was going to spend the next three months. The city was calm, almost dormant. Despite there being tall buildings, like in every city, the facades of old houses could be seen on every corner, the golden light of streetlights reflected in the water of an old fountain, a small bridge of white stone shining in the background... It was so different from Madrid, so quiet and timeless...

The driver left the city behind them and, a few minutes later, crossed a small bridge. The road became dark once more. All that could be seen were the dark and elongated contours of the pine trees surrounding them and, in the distance, the silhouette of a building in ruins, probably an old church. When they passed this, the driver turned into a narrow path. Holding on to the passenger seat to avoid being rattled about, Luna leaned towards the driver:

— Is there still far to go?

— No, we're almost there— he replied, shaking his head—. Your aunt lives just a bit further up, just past the Park of the Restless Souls.

— And what's that?— she asked.

— It's a type of outdoor exhibition. With giant sculptures of skeletons and skulls— he explained—. You should go to visit it, but during the daytime.

Luna sat back in her seat again, asking if the man was trying to pull her leg and really hoping that was the case. What kind of people lived in that village? She couldn't imagine a worse place to live, surrounded by that gloomy forest and with a skull exhibition right next to them.

A bit further on, Luna spotted a wide open high wrought-iron gate. The taxi drove through it, entering a gravel road surrounded by high trees. A house was visible at the end of the road. There were no streetlights along the road, so she could not make at many details, just the silhouette of the house outlined against a vast forest. The house seemed too tall for its width, giving it an odd look of a fairy tale tower. There appeared to be a lot of windows, like eyes looking out into the darkness, but no light could be seen in any of them.

The taxi pulled to a stop and the driver got out and took the luggage from the trunk, placing it on the entrance stairs. Luna climbed out of the car slowly, taking a look around her, while she asked herself why her aunt hadn't come to welcome her upon hearing the car pull up.

— Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll be on my way— the driver said to her.

—Don't you have to wait for my aunt to come out?— she asked him, not really wanting to be left alone.

— No, she paid me upfront for this job. But it does seem strange that she hasn't come out to welcome you— the man picked the suitcases back up and took them up to the front door.

Luna followed him, standing next to him to see what he would do next. The man raised the wrought iron knocker in the middle of the door and knocked a few times. The noise sounded deafening in the silence of the forest, scaring a flock of birds that emerged from the nearby trees. The door opened when he knocked. The driver, followed by Luna, walked into the house. An empty hall stretched out in front of them, where they could see a staircase that led to the upper floors of the house. Two doors loomed at the end of the entrance hall and they could see a weak light coming from the bottom of one of the doors.

— Emma? — the taxi driver called out. He didn't get a reply, only the echo's that could be heard in the old house—. Well, it looks like she's not here. She must have had gone to work.

— Work? At this time of night?— Luna asked.

— Yeah, maybe someone fell ill and she had to do a home visit.

— I didn't know my aunt was a doctor— Luna confessed. Seeing the drivers puzzled face, she explained—. It's the first time that I have come to visit her. I haven't seen her for years.

— Well, she's not exactly a doctor, but she will explain all of that to you. She most probably won't be long so, if you don't mind, it's time that I get going unless I want my wife to make me sleep on the street tonight. You'll be ok, right?

Luna nodded despite the fact that she really did not like the idea of being left alone in that strange and dark house. Thankfully, the driver seemed to read her mind as he looked for a light switch to turn on the lights. The soft light from the lamp making the shadows disappear from the corners, helping her to feel a little bit calmer.

The man left the house and got back into the car. Luna followed him to say goodbye and she stood still by the car window. The driver rode down the window and handed her a business card.

— Here, here's my phone number, in case you need me to take you anywhere— he said while he looked at her with a worried expression on his face, as if he felt pity at leaving her there.

The car drove away and Luna remained still in the driveway, holding onto the card as if it were a lifeline. The man put his hand out of the window before the car crossed the iron gate and waved a goodbye. Luna didn't answer. She remained still asking herself if she should pick up her phone and call him immediately to come and take her away from that place.

When the noise of the engine disappeared, the environment became even more overwhelming. She couldn't hear any cars, or voices of nearby people, nor the muffled sounds of televisions. Those were the noises in her city, the noises to which she had become accustomed to since she was a child, but that seemed to have been banished from that place in the middle of a forest where the only thing that could be heard was the whistle of the wind through the trees, the clattering of branches...

She went back inside the house and opened her backpack to get her mobile. She would feel better if she had it with her and, if everything kept feeling so odd, she would call the taxi driver, who couldn't be that far away and she would ask him to come back and pick her up. When she looked at the phone's screen, she felt her entire world crash down to her feet. She couldn't not have any signal, it was impossible. Right then she understood why she had never been able to call her aunt on the phone. There was no phone signal in such an inhospitable place and it was also very likely that the phone line didn't reach the house.

She pulled the door ajar again, shutting out the darkness and silence of the forest. She decided to leave her suitcases where they were and slowly walked towards the room where the soft light was coming from. It appeared to be a small living room which was also empty. On the far wall, a fireplace softly lit up the room, revealing bookshelves full of books, two outdated and overstuffed chairs and a small table and chair in a corner. She felt along the wall until she found the light switch and walked towards the table. Somebody had left dinner there for one: salad, milk, a plate of biscuits... And on the corner of the table she found a letter folded in two. She picked it up, hoping to find some kind of explanation of what was happening. Small and spiky handwriting, which she recognized from the birthday cards which her aunt usually sent her, filled the paper:

I am so sorry not having been there to welcome you, Luna. I didn't realize that I was busy tonight until you had already left Madrid. I have left you something for dinner, I hope you like it.

Your bedroom is on the first floor, the second door to the left. You don't have to wait up for me. Tomorrow I will show you around the house and compensate you for all of this. I hope you can forgive me. With love,

Emma

She sat down at the table still feeling alone and scared. She ate a few biscuits and drank the glass of milk, leaving the rest of the food on the plate. She had lost her appetite due to the nerves in her stomach. If she ate anything else, she would vomit. Plus, she hated salads...

She walked out of the living room, returning to the entrance hall and picked up her suitcases. Upon seeing the door still ajar, she asked herself whether she should close it. Maybe her aunt had left the house without any keys and she wouldn't be able to get in the house. Using the heel of her foot, she kicked the door slightly to close it fully. Her aunt could knock if she didn't have her key. That way she would learn not to leave her alone in a strange house without any type of explanation of what to do. Also, she felt a lot better leaving the forest and its shadows on the other side of the heavy door.

She decided not to go upstairs to find her room in the dark. It would be better to wait in the living room, sitting on one of the chairs by the fireplace for her aunt to come back. Emma probably wouldn't take long to return and plus, she was so nervous from everything that was going on, that she surely wouldn't be able to sleep.

She opened one of her suitcases, took out a big wool jumper and sat by the fireplace covering herself with it. On the wall in front of her, a huge window gave her a view of the forest behind the house. The full moon shone bright and white in the night's sky. She sat and waited, looking back and forth through the large window, the flickering flames of the fire and her mobile's screen, which still had no signal whatsoever.

She must have fallen asleep just gone two in the morning, tired of waiting. A while later she awoke feeling disconcerted. For the first few seconds she couldn't remember where she was. She looked around the room trying to find her bearings, bit by bit she started to remember. She strained her ears, trying to find some type of noise which indicated that her aunt had returned. She couldn't hear anything, just the usual creaking of an old wooden house. But yet something had woken her, some type of strange noise, she was sure of it. Maybe it hadn't been inside the house, it could have been an animal in the forest. She stood up and walked over to the window.

The moon was higher in the sky and its clarity was a lot weaker. The forest appeared impenetrable, full of shadows. Standing in the lit up window she felt exposed to anything watching her between the thick trees. Despite feeling scared again, she turned off the light and walked back to the window. Bit by bit, her eyes began to distinguish more clearly the outline of the trees, the faded silhouette of a hill in the distance...

She seemed to sense a flash of light in the depths of the forest. She stared more intensely, but the light had disappeared. She must have imagined it or maybe it had been the headlights of a car on a road. She kept looking and after a few seconds the light reappeared. It moved, but not with the speed of a car. It wound about, appearing and disappearing, like someone walking through the forest was carrying it. Luna felt her heart race again. Who could be in the forest at that time of night and with what intentions?

She kept on looking, hypnotized by the light's movements. She could see it clearer and clearer, as if it were heading directly for her. It had a red hue, so it couldn't have been a flashlight or a lantern. It seemed to be the light of a torch, but that didn't make any sense at all.

A few minutes later a figure emerged from the forest, carrying a torch in its right hand. Luna felt the need to rub her eyes or pinch herself to convince herself that what she was seeing was real. A hooded figure was walking towards the house. Its entire body was covered by a long black cape which reached the floor. It was walking slowly, looking straight ahead, although the capes shadow did not let Luna see the figure face. She thought of running out through the front of the house before the figure could reach there, but the idea of running through a dark forest being chased by that being paralyzed her to the spot. She hid behind one of the chairs and continued to stare fascinated at the being getting closer and closer, until it was in front of the window. At that moment, the figure lifted its head and Luna could see its pale face and bright red eyes staring directly at her.

She froze, unable to move a muscle to get away from the creature, wondering if it had seen her in the light of the fire. Her only chance was that the figure walked away, thinking that there was nobody in the house. She remembered that the hall lamp was turned on and, trying to make as little noise as possible, she walked over and turned off the light. She then went back into the living room and, hiding behind a column, dared to look back out the window. There was nobody there, maybe the thing had left.

She held her breath, listening for any noise outside the house. She thought she heard stealthy footsteps outside, the sound of dead branches breaking. And then, nothing... She remained silent, waiting, watching the window and the front door from where she was hiding. It seemed to her that she could hear the creatures' footsteps everywhere, even inside the house. Her entire body was shook with fear. She tried to convince herself that it was only the wood creaking, the sound of the wind outside... Even that the being she had seen was only a figure of her imagination, maybe part of a dream. And then she clearly heard the sound of footsteps on the entrance stairs. Something was walking towards the door and it was so clear that she couldn't even try to convince herself that she was imagining it. The creature knew she was inside and it was coming for her. She prayed for the door to hold, but the lock gave without any resistance and the door opened wide, allowing her to see a tall and dark image surrounded by the night sky.
**2. The First Day**

Luna couldn't avoid screaming, a high pitched and strong scream that seemed never ending. To her surprise, her scream was mixed with the frightened shout of the creature at the door, who stepped back a few steps. Luna became still and silent, waiting to see what the creature's next move would be.

— Luna?— surprising her again, the creature called her by her name, using a voice that sounded familiar.

Not knowing what to do or say, she didn't answer. She was not at all prepared for all of that madness which made no sense whatsoever. The dark figure began to walk forward, entering the living room and turning on the light, blinding Luna for a couple of seconds.

When her eyes adjusted to the light, she saw a tall woman standing in front of her, with long dark hair, wearing a pair of jeans and a black jumper. The woman had a worried look on her face, but she didn't look as if she wanted to harm Luna and, what was more important, she appeared to be human.

— Did I scare you my dear?— the woman asked, taking a few steps closer—. I thought you would be asleep.

— Aunt Emma?— asked Luna, still feeling confused.

— Of course— she answered, smiling—. Who else would it be?

— Was it you who was walking through the forest with a torch?— the woman shook her head, a confused look on her face—. I was scared to death, being here alone in this strange house...

The woman walked over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

— You don't know how sorry I am, honestly— she said sadly—. I had to do something very important tonight and I didn't realize that it coincided with your arrival until you had already left Madrid. I didn't think that the house might scare you.

— Don't worry about it— with the lights on and her aunt speaking softly to her, what had happened a few minutes ago didn't seem real, something silly, even though she could still feel all of the hairs on her body standing on end—. And what did you have to do that was so important?

— Do you mind if we leave the explanations till tomorrow morning?— her aunt asked her—. I don't feel very well, I think I am a bit lightheaded.

Luna looked at her aunt wondering if she had left her on her own to go out and have a few drinks. But when she looked at her face, she became worried. The woman looked very tired, with deep rings under her eyes, and she was very pale.

— Of course not—Luna answered—. Do you want me to call a doctor?

— No, I just need to rest. Get your things, I'll show you your bedroom.

Luna followed her up the stairs with her suitcases, worried at the possibility of her aunt falling over. For a split second it looked as if she was going to trip, but the woman held on to the staircase before Luna could mutter a sound and continued to climb the stairs. Emma reached the upper floor and walked down a narrow hallway with a window at the end, through which a weak light could be seen. She reached a door and opened it, signally Luna to go inside.

— Tomorrow we can talk for as long as you want, but now we must rest— her aunt said before Luna could protest—. I hope you will feel at home here.

— Are you going to be okay?— Luna insisted—. Don't you want me to make you some dinner or a hot drink?

— Don't worry, my dear— the woman smiled faintly and stroked her cheek with the back of her hand—. I just need to sleep. I am so sorry to have welcomed you like this. This was not what I had had in mind for our first night together. I will try to make it up to you as from tomorrow— Emma smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek—. I am very happy you are here.

When her aunt left the bedroom, Luna looked around. There was a wardrobe, a small bed and a bedside table with a little lamp on top of it. The furniture was made of a light wood and looked new, almost as if her aunt had bought it all for her visit. She stood up and opened the wardrobe door. The inside smelled of new wood and there were no clothes hangers, just as she had imagined. The bed was made and looked soft and comfy, covered by a white quilt and colored pillows. She thought that she would not be able to sleep, so she spent the next half an hour putting her clothes in the wardrobe. She felt tired when she had finished. She lay on the bed without changing her clothes. Now that her aunt was home, she felt much more relaxed and the house felt much more welcoming. After a few minutes, she fell into a deep sleep.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee woke her up. She opened her eyes and looked out through the window at the clear and brilliant blue sky. She sat up in her bed, remembering the events of the previous night. She got up and looked outside. The forest, which had seemed so scary the night before, looked completely different in daylight. It almost looked as if it were inviting her to walk downs its paths, to enjoy the shadows of the hundreds of trees...

From downstairs, she heard the sound of a woman signing. It must have been her aunt. She quickly changed her clothes and walked down the stairs.

Once she was downstairs, she tried to find out where the noise was coming from. From the room she had not investigated the night before, she could hear the sound of plates clattering and a woman's voice humming. She walked over to the door and looked inside, staring fixedly at her aunt now that she was calmer. The woman was wearing a pair of jeans and a long and very loose green shirt made of thin material. Her hair was just as Luna remembered it as a child, very long and dark brown, with red hues that seemed to shimmer like copper in the rays of the sun shining through the window. Her aunt must have heard her, because she turned around and looked at her with a wide smile on her face. Luna tried to look for family features on her face but, despite seeing a little resemblance, in truth it was hard to believe that the woman standing in front of her was her father's elder sister. Her skin was very white and perfect and her green eyes seemed to glisten. Her entire face appeared to shine with radiance and youth with no signs of the worry or stress that she could normally see in her father's face. And, most important of all: it looked like the woman was overjoyed with happiness of having Luna there with her.

— Come in, sweetheart— she sighed a deep sigh when she looked at her and shook her head while still smiling—. I was so tired last night that I couldn't tell you, but I can't believe it's you. You are so beautiful!

— Thank you very much, aunt Emma— she replied, blushing at what her aunt had said.

— Don't call me "aunt Emma"— the woman said, laying trays on the kitchen table—. Just Emma, please.

— Okay— Luna sat down in the chair that her aunt pointed at, happy to know that the lack of interest her aunt seemed to feel towards her was just a figment of her imagination—. Do you feel better?

Before answering, Emma finished pouring the coffee into two cups and placed them on the table text to a tray full of freshly cooked buns and toast.

— Yes, much better. Like I said last night, all I needed was a bit of rest.

— I slept really well too. I thought I wasn't going to be able to after what I thought I saw in the forest...

— Yes, you mentioned that last night. What did you see exactly?— her aunt asked her, handing her a dark jar.

— I'm not really sure, it's hard to describe...

When she thought about telling her about what she had seen, it seemed ridiculous: a hooded figure carrying a torch and with flaming eyes. It was very possible that it had just been a dream or her imagination running away with her due to the emotions of the trip that had made her see paranormal phenomena where there were only shadows of a forest. If she told her aunt, then she might think that the environment wasn't right for Luna and send her back to Madrid with a letter recommending her parents to take her to a good psychiatrist. However, she was still paying attention to Luna, smiling calmly.

— I thought I saw someone walking alone in the forest at about two or three in the morning— she began, while she struggled with the lid of the jar her aunt had given her to not look directly at her aunt—. A dark figure carrying a light.

— Really?— she asked, intrigued—. And could you see their face?

— No, it was very dark. But it looked like it was coming to the house and I got scared.

— Well, it's possible that what you saw were shadows in the forest, or maybe a camper who had gotten lost— Emma explained—. People usually camp about two kilometers away from here and they sometimes play nocturnal orientation games and spend the night walking around. I am sorry you got scared and even sorrier that I had to leave you alone.

— What happened exactly?— Luna asked. She thought that maybe they didn't know each other well enough to ask that question, but she believed she had the right to an explanation after what had happened the night before.

— Let's say I had a business meeting— she replied after a few seconds of silence—. You know, sometimes we have to speak to the bosses to comment on how things are going...

— Yeah, a business dinner. My dad has a lot of those— Luna commented—. And what do you do?

— Well, I don't really know how to explain it... Kind of like alternative medicine, herb healing.... Those type of things...

— Oh, yeah I understand. Sounds interesting— Luna decided to change the subject. Those questions seemed to make her aunt uncomfortable. She would ask her again when they got to know each other better—. What's this that I'm eating? It's delicious.

— Blackcurrant jam. I made it myself— her smile became relaxed and natural once more.

— You're going to have to make some more, I think I could eat the whole jar— she said while she picked up some more toast.

— Don't worry about that. I think I have about fifty of them— Emma said, laughing—. But I warn you that the harvest season isn't until September, so try not to eat them all in a week.

— You harvest them as well?

— Of course. And I grow most of my food in an allotment I have next to the house. But you didn't seem to like them, you didn't touch your salad.

— Sorry. I hate vegetables—Luna apologized.

— Well, we are going to have a big problem, because I'm a vegetarian— a look of worry flashed over her face—. In fact, just thinking about cooking the remains of dead animals makes my stomach turn.

— Well, I can always walk onto Estella to find a hamburger every time I feel I'm going to die of starvation— Luna joked.

— I have to go to do some things— her aunt said suddenly—. Have you finished? Do you want to come with me?

Luna shot a quick glance at the jar of jam, but thought that three slices of toast was enough for a normal breakfast, so she nodded and began to clear the table. They left the house a few minutes later. Her aunt carried a backpack on her shoulder and was wearing sports shoes. Despite them not looking out of place with her young appearance, Luna thought they were not the right clothes for her. She didn't know what was wrong exactly, because she couldn't imagine her with a suit either. The truth was that she thought the only clothes that would look right on her aunt were the wispy dresses that she had remembered or imagined since she was a child.

Her aunt entered the forest walking quickly. Luna followed her, enjoying the smell of the damp earth, the pines of the pine trees, the fresh air... She liked the feeling of walking on that soft and bumpy forest floor, so different from the hard and smooth sidewalks in Madrid. She felt full of life, her lungs exploding with the freshness of the air around her. Emma walked a couple of steps ahead and, from time to time, stopped to bend over and pick up flowers or plants which she carefully placed in jars that she had in her backpack. Luna walked over to her and watched, feeling curious.

— What are you doing?— she asked, picking up the backpack so that her aunt could use both her hands.

— I'm collecting herbs that I need for my work— she replied.

— I thought that the herbs sold in herbalist's all came from greenhouses. I never thought people would pick them themselves.

— Well, I don't have an herbalist, so I don't know how they do it— Emma commented, shrugging her shoulders—. My job is a little bit more traditional.

— And what's that you're picking?

— You ask so many questions!— her aunt said, laughing—. No, no, don't blush. You should never be ashamed of wanting to learn. Look, this is dandelion— she explained, showing her the yellow flowers she had just picked—. The root and stem help with stomach problems and the flower, when cooked with sugar, can make a good cough medicine. And these others that I have are mallow. They help to heal ulcers or skin irritations.

— Wow, and there are people who spend loads in pharmacies— Luna muttered, bending over to look at the flowers closer—. And what's that other one you picked?

— That's wild pansy. It improves the appetite and is diuretic, among other things. But it is highly toxic in large doses, so don't try to make a tea with anything in the house without asking me first— she said, handing Luna the jar to look at—. If you open it, don't breathe. It irritates the eyes.

Luna put the jar back into the backpack staring at the tiny plants as if they were venomous snakes that could escape and attack her. She thought that, until up to a few minutes ago, for her the forest was only an ideal place which she could walk through, while her aunt saw and knew thousands of things that she had no idea about. She liked the idea of learning things with her, of having the whole summer ahead of her. They continued to walk for a while. At times, Emma would walk away from the path to get to the roots of a tree or to look at a bush and then she would call Luna and explain the uses of the plant and how to distinguish them from similar ones.

Half an hour later the forest came to an end and they reached a group of houses lined up on both sides of a back road which seemed empty and dusty under the midday sun. Emma walked up to the second house and rang on the bell. A woman of about thirty years of age, wearing a pair of jean shorts and a white shirt answered the door seconds later.

— Hi, I was expecting you— she said, inviting them inside with a wave of her hand—. Well, I see you have a new helper.

— Yes, she is my niece. She has come to spend the summer with me— Emma walked inside, placed her backpack on the dining room table and began to look through the jars—. How is the little one today?

— Better. He has finally managed to sleep through the night without that terrible cough— the woman said, a wide smile on her face—. And to think that I spent months not believing this could work...

— It's not about believing or not— Emma explained—. Plants have been used in healing for centuries. In fact, most of them can be found in modern conventional medicines. If we have found what he needs, he will get better.

The woman led them to a room at the end of the hall. They entered a bedroom painted blue with yellow stars, where stuffed animals filled the shelves. In a small bed under the window a boy of about three years of age was sleeping. Emma knelt down beside him and touched his forehead. Then she placed a hand on his chest, trying to feel his breathing rhythm.

— Yes, he is much better. And just as I suspected, there is no infection as he doesn't have a fever— she stood up and left the bedroom, asking them to follow her—. Okay, he needs to rest. He must continue with the treatment that I recommended: eucalyptus vapor, rub-downs with rosemary alcohol and milk with honey. He will be completely recovered in a few months.

When they were back in the living room, Emma handed her the jars she had picked out. The woman picked them up, took them to the kitchen and came back with her purse in her hand. Before she opened it, she remained still and thoughtful for a second, as if she were wondering whether to talk or not.

— I heard in town that you read the future— she dared at last—. I was wondering if you could...

— No, I don't read the future of children so young. And any way, the cards would tell you what I have already said: he will get better soon— she calmed the woman with a smile.

The woman nodded, opened her purse and handed Emma a couple of notes. Emma put them in her jeans pocket, closing her backpack and slinging it on her shoulder. She then walked to the front door, with Luna following her.

— If at any point you have any type of problem, you know where I live. Come and find me whatever the hour— Emma said, waving goodbye.

— Wait a moment— the woman said, turning around and running back to the kitchen, coming back seconds later with a basket full of red apples—. My husband picked them, I have kilos and kilos. Please take some as a thank you for your help with my son.

Emma accepted them with a smile and they left the house. Luna carried the heavy basket but she still smiled. She had liked the visit a lot, to see the boy sleeping calmly, the mothers relieve, the care and love she felt in the way her aunt worked... She thought that it was a job that she would like to do in the future, although it would be better to tell her parents that she wanted to be a doctor. If she went home saying that she wanted to be a healer, her parents would have a heart attack. She began to understand why her mother, so classic and perfectionist, did not approve of her aunts way of life.

— You're so pensive!— her aunts voice interrupted her thoughts—. Didn't you like the visit?

— Yeah, of course I liked it. I was actually thinking that I would like to learn to do those things, cure people and all that...

— It's not always that nice, this was an easy case. There are times that I have to tell them to go to a doctor because my skills are not enough to heal their pain...— she sighed, staring at the trees—. And there are times that there is nothing left to do and, when you tell them, you can see that it's not the first time they have heard it, that you are their last hope because modern medicine has already left them hopeless...

— But it's still worth it, right?

— Yes, of course it's worth it— Emma sat down under a tree and signaled to Luna to do the same—. Hand me one of those apples, I've had my eye on them since we left the house.

— Can I ask you a question?— Luna sat down and placed the basket between them, picking out an apple for herself.

— Yes, I can also make apple jam. But I don't think it would be very healthy for you to only have a fruit and sugar diet.

— No, it's not that— Luna said, laughing—. It's about what the woman said, about you being able to tell the future. Is that true?

— Let's just say that I'm lucky and sometime get the right answer— seeing Luna confused face, she continued explaining—. Most of the time people's future is so clear that anybody could see it. How many times have you heard people say "Things aren't going to end well if something doesn't change"? People don't say it as if it were a prophecy and they are right most of the time. If you know a person, who they think, feel and act, you can foresee what they are going to do and the effects of this without the need of special talents.

— And that's it?— Luna asked, disappointed.

— Most of the time, yes. I'll explain the rest to you another day— Emma stood up and started to walk again—. It's getting late and we still have to get back to the house and find something for you to eat. I have some important things to do this afternoon. What will you do?

— I don't know— Luna replied, shrugging her shoulders—. I might walk into Estella to see the city. That way I can pick up a hamburger for dinner.

Luna finished her food and looked around her while she drank her coca-cola. The hamburger joint was full of groups of friends chatting and joking about. She felt lonely, sitting at the end of the restaurant without anyone to talk to and share her thoughts. She wasn't complaining about her holiday, her aunt was very nice and interesting, but she would have liked to have had somebody of her age to spend time with. And also, if her aunt was going to leave her on her own a lot because she had private matters to deal with, she was going to get very bored. Maybe she should bring up the possibility of having Cristina spend a few days with them. Cris would love the mysterious and hazy atmosphere that surrounded the house, the dark forests, and the idea that her aunt was a healer who also read the future... She remembered her friends' shelves, full of books about the occult and parapsychology. Yeah, it would all be quite an adventure for her friend. Now all that was left was for her aunt to say yes.

She looked at her mobile before putting it away. She thought about calling her mother considering she had signal in the city and telling her that she was okay, but her mom would most probably bombard her with questions and she didn't feel up to arguing. She began to feel like everyone was looking at her, sitting alone with nothing to do, so she stood up and left the restaurant.

She walked around Estella for a while, through the narrow streets full of old houses. She liked how different the city felt. There were less people on the street at that hour, and the shops began to close. Despite the fact that it didn't get dark until later on, she decided to walk home. It was possible that she would find it difficult to find the way back and, plus, she would prefer it to still be daytime if she had to walk close to the forest.

The walk back wasn't as long as she expected. As soon as she left the city behind her, the traffic seemed to disappear and the sounds of voices, steps and music vanished... She didn't feel scared however. The sensation, unknown until that moment, of having the world just for her, was nice. She walked up the old road leading North, while the sun began its slow descent towards the mountain range on her left, making the haze shine with a golden hue.

Half an hour later she left the main road and started to walk along the dirt and stone road that led to her aunt's house. The bushes rose up on either side of her, giving the impression that she was walking down a corridor with changing green walls. She could hear the buzzing of the insects and, a little ahead of her, she fleeting saw the blue shimmer of the body of a dragonfly. She stopped in the middle of the road, enjoying the feeling of life that seemed to vibrate from within, filling her with energy. At first she had thought the place where her aunt lived was strange, so far away and solitary, but now she understood perfectly how someone could fall in love with that land.

She saw a small metallic half opened gate on one side of the road she walked over. That must have been the place the taxi driver had told her about called "The Park of the Restless Souls". She thought about entering, even though it was already getting dark. There didn't seem to be anybody there who could stop her from going in and, even though the idea of visiting an exhibition of skulls in the dim light of the evening made her feel slightly uncomfortable, she thought that what she could imagine would be much worse than what was really inside.

She pushed the gate open the rest of the way and walked inside. She couldn't see any type of building which could house the exhibition. All she could see were huge bulges that she couldn't identify spread around the park. She walked towards one of them and, when she was closer, she couldn't help letting out a strangled cry. The bulge in front of her was a representation of an enormous skull about two meters high. It looked like it was coming out of the ground itself, with only the top half visible, like the body of a giant that had been badly buried. Its eyes were two huge empty cavities staring blankly up at the orange sky. Getting over her initial fear, Luna slowly walked over and looked closer. The structure appeared to have been made out of the branches of a bush, held together with a metal mesh, with the whole thing covered in white paint. However, the time that it had been exposed to the weather and vegetation surrounding it, gave the skull a very real look, as if it really was a skull that had been abandoned there many years ago.

She continued to walk through the park. Every couple of meters she found similar sculptures: a skeleton with its arms crossed over its chest, huge skull on pedestals, recreations of car accidents... It was a museum of death and, with a shiver running down her spine, Luna felt that Death itself could be walking in that park, that Death could enjoy that which humans rejected at being faced with a reality that scared them.

She left the park walking quickly, without looking behind her. The light was a lot weaker and the road seemed dark and threatening. She knew that she had nothing to be afraid of, but she would feel better when she had gotten away from that place and was sitting in her aunts' kitchen, drinking a cup of hot chocolate and telling her aunt about everything she had seen that afternoon.

The gate to her aunt's house rose up a few meters ahead. She felt safer as soon as she entered the garden. She walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. She waited for a few seconds but there was no answer. Maybe her aunt wasn't home yet. Taking the key that her aunt had given her before she had left from her jeans pocket, she opened the door.

Once she was inside she called her aunt again to no avail. The house was dark and silent. She turned on the living room light and decided to go into the kitchen and prepare the cup of hot chocolate she had been thinking about earlier. She could wait for her aunt reading a book, sitting on the sofa in the living room while she drank her chocolate. It was a shame she didn't know how to light the fire, it would have been perfect.

Walking towards the kitchen, she discovered a small door on the adjacent wall. She hadn't noticed it that morning, but now the door was ajar. She walked over and opened it fully, thinking that it was most probably a pantry or broom closet. But it wasn't anything like that. Old wooden stairs stretched out in front of her in the darkness. Why hadn't her aunt told her about that place when she had shown her around the house after lunch?

She looked for a light switch around the door but couldn't find one. She couldn't walk down the stairs in the pitch black. She decided that next time she went into the city she would buy a flashlight so these things wouldn't happen again. She walked into the kitchen and started opening drawers until she found a box of matches and some candles. They would help to have a quick look around. Lighting one of the candles, she put the box of matches in her pocket and walked back to the stairs.

For a second she thought if it would be best to wait till her aunt got home and ask her what she kept down there. It was very possible that she had just forgotten to show her that part of the house or that the room was just a basement where she kept old furniture and thought there was nothing interesting for her to see. But, what if she kept something important down there, something secret that she didn't want to show Luna? She raised the candle to light the stairway and walked down the stairs.

**3. Revelations**

Emma sat down on a rock and looked around her, feeling tired and beaten. She swore that she had seen hundreds of rosemary bushes around her while she had walked through the forest in the past. It was impossible for all of them to have disappeared. It almost seemed like somebody had been pulling them out so that she would not be able to find them, but that was a ridiculous idea.

The forest was getting darker by the minute; it would soon be night. She wasn't afraid of the dark, she had walked through that forest so many times at night that she could almost walk through it blindfolded and as sure as she would in her own home. But she had walked very far that day and felt exhausted. She wanted to be back in her kitchen, talking to Luna, although she must have walked several miles away from the house looking for those damn bushes.

She stood up, ready to turn back and leave her search for the next day. Feeling desperate, she looked around her surroundings once more. She really needed the plants. She could still feel that presence pushing, even harder than before, trying to penetrate her mind, and with each passing day she found herself with less strength to fight against it. She had to perform a ritual to protect herself from the negative force because she was not sure if she could continue to fight against it alone. She also didn't want to feel tired or in a bad mood during the days that she finally had Luna with her. She wanted to show and teach her so many things... Why did those feelings have to start that precise summer?

She tried to calm down, the idea of somebody trying to see her thoughts was unpleasant, but she had nothing to hide. She had no dark secrets from the past that could be used to hurt by somebody who was trying to read her mind. But it was precisely this that made the whole situation even more confusing. What interest could that stranger have in her to spend weeks trying to break through the mental barriers that she had put in place, taking into account the amount of psychic energy that the person had to use to achieve this? And what kind of being was strong enough to spend weeks tirelessly insisting on that siege?

If she could only convince herself that it was her own imagination, that she was getting obsessed over nothing... But, since the night before, she was convinced that that was not the case. She had used the help of the Blue Moon to try and identify the person attacking her, to find out who it was or at least scare them, but everything had been in vain. Despite having used her strongest clairvoyance spells, she hadn't been able to lift the fog separating her from the being. She had not been able to see her attacker but she had been able to feel their resistance and power. And whoever it was attacking her, it seemed that they had felt her attempts to uncover their identity, because since then they had been attacking with more force than before. For this reason she had to try that old protection spell she had found in some of her grandmother's old notes. The problem was she needed rosemary for that and all of it had seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.

She stood up, closed her eyes to breathe in the aroma of the forest and, after greeting the guardians of the elements, she muttered a request:

I plead here your generosity.

Give to me your focus and clarity.

Guide me to that which I cannot seek.

Restore my calmness and peace.

She was sure she felt how the breeze that caressed her skin changed slightly. She forced herself not to open her eyes while the aroma of the forest kept changing. The smell of the damp earth, the pine needles and the fresh grass began to disappear, being replaced with a new fragrance that she recognized immediately. Rosemary. She smiled and, without opening her eyes, began to follow the aroma. A few meters ahead, she opened her eyes and looked upon the green bush with blue flowers. She gave thanks mentally to the guardians and bent down to pick some of the stems. Now she could go home.

Luna rested her hand against the wall, feeling unsure. The stairs creaked with each step, causing echoes. Under the shimmering light of the candle, the centre of the stairs seemed to glow, as if the wear of hundreds of footsteps over the years had polished and smoothed the wood. She held the candle high and looked down. She couldn't make out anything from where she was, just a large table in the middle of the room.

There was a strange aroma floating in the air, of herb and spices. Maybe that was where her aunt prepared her medicines. If it was her work place, then maybe she shouldn't go down there, she could break something. She lowered the candle again to light up the next step and continued walking down. She wouldn't touch anything, just have a quick look around and then go back upstairs.

Once she was standing in front of the table she felt quite perplexed, trying to find a logical explanation for the collection of objects on it. Some of them could be used to prepare medicines or creams, like a small silver knife, a chalice or an iron cauldron, but she found no other relation for the rest of the stuff. On the table there were loads of candles and stones of all shapes and sizes. She was under the impression that they were not laid out at random, but that they placed following a specific design, with the centre hosting rough stone figures representing a man and a woman. Luna moved closer to the small figures but she didn't dare to stretch her arm out to touch them. She had never seen figures like those ones. On the figurine of the man, a large deer's horn sprouted from his head and he was holding a wooden cane. On the woman's head sat a half moon. Both of them were sitting in thrones and the figures had an air of authority about them. They must have been gods but, of what religion? Luna looked at the wood they were resting on. It was a five pointed star inside a circle. That was the sign of the Devil; she had seen it on a television program.

She felt very nervous and afraid; she didn't like any of that at all. Her aunt was very nice and all that but she was mixed up in things that Luna wanted nothing to do with. Maybe her mother had always suspected she was a witch and that was why she had never let Luna visit her. She thought about leaving the room at once, but a black book in the centre of the altar caught her eye. She would have a quick look at it and then leave, she would act as if nothing had happened and the next day she would tell her aunt that she wanted to go home because she missed her family.

She opened the book carefully, scared that she was going to break it. The cover was rough and heavy, made out of some sort of old skin. The pages were yellowed and seemed really fragile, not so much due to the years passed but by use. Luna softly touched the first page. It was handwritten, with black ink. The side was full of drawings that represented the different moon phases. In the middle, written in large letters, she could read "The Book of Shadows". She glanced at the following pages. It was her aunts' handwriting; she had no doubt about that. But, what did it all mean?

She began to read the second page. It seemed to be a poem or a chant. Luna concentrated, trying to understand its meaning:

Hear the word of the witches

Our secret hidden in the night

When the path is going out of sight

We'll reveal it in this moon if you listen

With the water flowing and the flames,

By the earth and blowing breeze

And the quintessence of the spirit

In a timeless circle we celebrate.

For the Candlemas and the harvest

In the May Fair and the Saint's

When both day and night are the same

When the sun is born or highest.

Passing down through the years

From man to woman and to their kind

Throughout the years and the time

Since the first souls began to exist

Sat upon two mystic stones

Night shadows follow daylight

Forever and eternity on opposite sides

The God and Goddess are shown.

Horned God, Lord of the shades,

Rider of the wind he is in the night

King of the forest in the morning light

Inside the valleys and the deepest caves.

At whim Old maid or young child

In her cloudy boat she's always riding

Spherical lady silvery brighting

Pale matron of the darkest night.

Lord and Lady of ancient Art

In the depths of the spirit they live

With will to enslave or set you free

reborn and immortal from the start.

Drink the wine of Goddess and God

In their honor, love and dance

Until the day to meet them comes

In the peace at the end of your path.

Do as you wish, cause no harm

That's the challenge you have to face

The only rule you should embrace

for God and Goddess in this land.

Luna flicked through the pages of the book, not believing what she was reading. What was all of that? Witches? Horned Gods? The pentacle on the table kept catching her eye, forcing her to look at it continuously as if it were calling her. She grew more and more nervous, but didn't want to leave without finding something that brought sense to everything. However, each page she looked at made her nerves grow even more: protection rituals, invocations, astral projection, clairvoyance... And to think that she had believed that her aunt was an adorable healer, a woman who was maybe a tad eccentric but who helped others. What she had in front of her proved that she practiced witchcraft, black magic...

Just then, the creaking of one of the stairs floorboards made her jump. Without even thinking about it, she grabbed the silver knife that was on the altar and she turned around. Her aunt was looking down at her from a few steps above. She looked huge, powerful and terrific.

— Put that down before you hurt yourself— her voice sounded angry and showed an authority that Luna had not heard until that moment—. And come upstairs. It's dangerous to play with things you do not understand.

Luna bowed her head and, not saying a word, left the knife on the table, closed the book and headed towards the door. Her aunt remained still on the stairs watching her walk up. When she passed next to her, Luna couldn't help feeling her legs shake. What was going to happen? She didn't believe in witchcraft, so she didn't think that her aunt could put a horrible curse on her but, what if she really was as crazy as she seemed? What if she decided to get rid of Luna so she couldn't tell anyone anything?

Her aunt followed her closely, closing the door behind them. Luna thought about running away from there but, where would she go at night, with no money or phone...? Scenes from horror films that she had seen in the past began to flash through her mind. That was stupid; it was her aunt she was thinking about. She might be angry but she wasn't going to harm her.

She felt her aunts' hand on her back, softly pushing her towards the kitchen. Luna let herself be led, while thinking about what to do. Her aunt pointed at one of the benches, signaling her to sit down and walked over to the stove.

— Would you like a hot chocolate? — she asked, putting milk on the stove to heat.

Luna wasn't sure how to answer. What did that question mean? Was her aunt just pretending that the scene a few minutes ago never happened, that she didn't have all types of objects to practice black magic hidden in her basement? Or was she going to try to poison her with a cup of hot chocolate?

— No, thank you— Luna whispered, with her head still bowed—. I don't feel like it.

— You're shaking. It will make you feel better— Emma said while she continued to heat the milk—. And you don't have to worry. I have no intention of poisoning you.

Luna shuddered. Could she read her mind? In that case nothing she thought of would work to be able to escape from there. She remained silent while Emma finished making the chocolate. Then, her aunt placed the cups on the table and sat in front of her.

— I guess you have a lot of questions to ask me— she said after taking a sip from her cup—. Start wherever you want.

— I don't know what to say... I don't understand— Luna murmured, lifting her head slightly.

— You could start by saying sorry for going into a private place— her aunt's expression was still stern, but she didn't look like a vengeful witch preparing to turn someone into a toad—. It is going to take me days to fix the mess you have caused down there.

— But I didn't break anything. I hardly even touched anything down there...— Luna defended herself.

— I didn't say you broke anything. But you have been handling things you don't understand, contaminating them with your fear and negative thoughts— the woman rubbed her temples and sighed deeply, as if trying to calm down—. I am not angry with you, Luna. It's really my fault for having forgotten to close the door. Well, the damage has been done now.

— I'm sorry, I didn't know...

She sat looking at her aunt, not quite believing that there weren't going to be any consequences and not really knowing what to think. Her aunt didn't seem dangerous. Once again, the woman sitting in front of her looked like a normal person. She stared at her for a long time. Her aunt seemed tired again and she had a look of worry in her eyes. She dared to ask, after all her aunt had said that she could.

— But, what was all of that down there? Are you a... a...

— Yes, I'm a witch. My job is in healing and fortune telling, as I already told you this morning. I also carry out other types of rituals and I would have told you about them when you were ready to understand. You must be thinking so many odd things about me right now...— she explained with a bitter-sweet smile— For your peace of mind, I don't do deal with the devil, I don't practice necromancy, nor do I curse people.

— But then, what were those satanic symbols I saw downstairs? — Luna asked, not very convinced.

— Satanic symbols? — Emma laughed openly while she shook her head—. Dear God, Hollywood is giving us worse publicity in twenty years than what the Catholic Church has given us throughout its entire history. The pentacle you saw downstairs is not a satanic symbol. In fact, it's an ancient amulet used to protect against evil.

— And the statues? The man with the horns...

— The statues are the God and Goddess that I worship, the source and reason on everything that exists. They are present in everything around us and are the reason the Earth moves, of the circle of life and of death... But they are not demons, they do not represent any type of evil force— Emma's expression grew soft, as if she liked telling Luna about those things—. In truth, we don't believe that demons exist, that there is an evil that counteracts good. Good and evil are within each and every one of us, it makes us who we are and one cannot exist without the other. But I must be boring you...

— No, not at all— Luna told her, interested—. You said "we don't believe". Are there a lot like you? Do you belong to a cult?

— Cult? What a horrible word to undervalue those who don't follow popular beliefs of the majority of people— her aunt laughed again—. This religion is as old as the world itself. Since the beginning of time man has believed in gods represented by the sun and the moon, they have worshiped their cycles and their changes and have seen divinity in each and every one of earth's creatures. The Christian religion has fought for centuries to silence us, to disguise our traditions and festivities with Catholic rituals when faced with the impossibility of burying them forever, they have chased us for centuries trying to eliminate us...

— Don't get angry— Luna interrupted—. I didn't know how to ask. I wanted to know if there are a lot of you, if you get together in groups to do rituals...

— Like the covens of the ancient witches? No, at least I don't. I know they are organized in other areas, used to teach our knowledge to young apprentices, they carry out ceremonies together... I have never had contact with groups like that. Everything I know, I learnt from my mother, who learnt from her mother.

— Nana was a witch? — Luna asked, her eyes wide open with surprise.

— Yes, and a very good one in fact— Emma smiled at the memories—. She knew all of the herb types and could see into the heart of others without the need of clairvoyance rituals. In fact, you're called Luna because she insisted, in honor of our Goddess.

— Did my dad know?

— Of course, but he always thought they were village superstitions and didn't think much of it. Your mother has always been the problem. I think she believes that I fly around on a broomstick and that I can destroy harvests or kill flocks just by looking at them. That's why it has taken me so long for them to let you visit me.

— And what can you do? Can you get money or make someone fall in love? Can you know what someone is doing far away from you?

— It's very late to talk about this now, Luna— seeing her look of disappointment, she stroked her hand and smiled at her—. I'm sorry. I have to fix the basement because it is very important that I carry out a ritual tonight. But I promise that tomorrow I will begin to explain everything you want to know.

Disillusioned, Luna stood up and headed towards the stairs. She would have loved to have spent the night talking about those things with her, but she didn't want to test her aunt's patience by asking her if she could be present during the ritual. When she reached the door, she turned around and leaned on the frame.

— Just one more question and I promise I will go to bed and leave you alone— she waited for her aunt to nod her head—. What type of ritual is it? What do you want to get out of it?

— Oh, Luna...— her aunt sighed and once more Luna could she fatigue and worry in her eyes—. It's a protection ritual.

— Protection? Against what?

— Not even I know for sure, it's hard to explain. But I promise that I will try and explain tomorrow— her aunt's smile seemed even more forced than before—. Go on, go up to bed and rest.

Luna nodded and walked up to her bedroom, but she was unable to sleep. She lay down on her bed looking at the full moon and dark forest, feeling how the landscape connected with her and filled her with strength. She spent a lot of time thinking about what her aunt had told her, excited at the possibility of learning more. She felt that all of that wasn't really that strange to her, as if something deep down inside her had been dormant and was now slowing awakening.

Luna sighed, concentrated harder and, while light the yellow candle, spoke out loud:

— Guardians of the East, Powers of Air, I call upon and invite your presence to witness this rite and protect this circle— she glanced out of the corner of her eye, waiting for her aunt to nod and continued—. Guardians of the South, Powers of Water...

— No, no... The Guardians of the South are the Powers of Fire. And plus, you should have turned to face South— her aunt reprimanded.

— But how am I supposed to know where the South is? — Luna complained, walking away from the altar to sit down frustrated at the other side of the room.

— It's very easy. If you remember that the Guardians of the South are the Powers of Fire and think that fire is red, all you have to do is turn towards the red candle, which was the next one you had to light— Emma explained—. And haven't I told you a hundred times that if you leave the circle everything gets messed up and you have to start again?

— I'm fed up. We've been doing this for three days straight— Luna protested, resting her chin in her hands with a look of boredom—. Can't you show me something else?

— No, I have already told you that the protection circle is essential. It will help you to channel your energy and to avoid any negative forces from affecting you. Until you know how to cast the circle perfectly and you feel good inside it, I can't teach you anything else.

— And couldn't I at least look at your book? Just to learn some theory...— she insisted—. I promise not to try anything I see in the book.

— No, I can't trust you, you are too curious. Until you learn to close the circle, I will not show you anything else— Emma smiled at the look of desperation on Luna's face—. Maybe I am asking too much of you. You should go out, find people of your own age...

— No, it's not that. I love everything you show me. But I'm just so clumsy...— Luna explained—. Sometimes I think I'm not cut out for this.

— Of course you're cut out for this— her aunt got up, walked over to her and held her softly by the chin, making Luna look into her eyes—. If you work hard, you can do it. But the road to wisdom is a long one and you have to walk it bit by bit, enjoying every detail, and all you're trying to do is run.

Luna looked at the deep circles under her aunt's eyes, every day they were darker. Over the past couple of days she had noticed her more pale and tired than before. She asked herself if the extra work of teaching her was too much for her aunt to handle.

— Is something worrying you? — her aunt asked her.

— Yes... well, I'm worried about you. You seem tired and I don't know if it's my fault.

— No, my dear, not at all. It doesn't have anything to do with you— Emma smiled and shrugged her shoulders, acting as if it were not important.

— Then, why is it? — Luna insisted—. Didn't the protection ritual work?

— Wow, you're very sharp— her aunt commented—. No, it didn't work as I expected, so I'm looking for something more effective.

— But what are you trying to protect yourself from? — Luna asked.

— I don't know exactly... It's a continuous feeling inside my head, as if someone were trying to get in to read my thoughts. Sometimes it attacks with force, other times so subtle I nearly forget it's there, but it's been there for weeks, as if it were waiting for a moment of weakness— Emma seemed to regret everything she had said and smiled, trying to take importance away from the subject—. Right, now's when you recommend me that I should see a good psychiatrist.

— No, I believe you— Luna said seriously—. If I can help you in any type of ritual to make this stop, tell me. I'll try not to be so clumsy.

— Thank you very much for the offer, but I have told you that there will be no rituals of any kind until you know how to close the circle— her aunt joked—. This conversation reminds me that I need certain herbs for the new ritual that I am preparing. Do you want to come to the forest with me to find them? I think the fresh air will do us both the world of good.

Luna nodded and stood up. She would have liked for her aunt to tell her more things and to be able to help her to not feel so anguished, but she also didn't want to insist and make her remember everything. She forced herself to smile casually while her aunt wrapped her arm around her shoulder.

— Come on, my dear. Don't worry about me— her aunt said as they walked—. They are probably just mad ideas of a crazy old woman.

— You're neither old nor crazy— Luna laughed.

— Thanks, you're a darling. And in exchange of that smile, I'll tell you a secret. Do you remember the horrible monster that welcomed you on your first night here? The one with the cape and torch? — she waited for Luna to nod, then opened a wardrobe in the corner and took out a long black cape and a white wool tunic—. Look, these are the clothes we wear to carry out the rituals. I will have some for you in one or two weeks.

— So the ghost I saw was you? — Luna asked, astonished. Her aunt began to answer, but was interrupted by laughing.

— Yes, when I saw you in the window, I entered through the back door, changed my clothes and then went back to the front door. I know the welcome I gave you was mad but, if I could do it again, I would love for it to be exactly the same, just to see your face again— her aunt broke into even more laughter.

— Well, I don't find it funny— Luna said angrily—. You scared me half to death.

— Okay, I'm sorry. I will compensate you tomorrow by showing you how to make infusions and teas with the herbs we are going to collect, instead of torturing you with the protection circle— Emma waited for Luna to nod in agreement—. And don't worry about me, seriously. I will be perfectly fine.
**4. Dream of another world**

Emma lay down on her bed absolutely knackered. It was very tiring teaching Luna... She didn't remember it being so hard for her to learn things as basic as opening or closing a circle or reciting the words of a ritual without forgetting what to say. It was true that she had spent her entire childhood watching how her mother carried out those rituals. For her, the gestures and words had been as natural as breathing. It was all totally new for Luna, so different from her way of life. It had nothing to do with the rushing of the city, with daily chores and aims. Magic should be like a walk in the countryside: to enjoy, think over, drench oneself in every detail... And Luna had never done anything like that before, but she showed an enthusiasm and willingness to learn that Emma had not seen in anybody. All she needed was time.

She covered herself with the sheet and tried to relax. The attacks on her mind had seemed weaker during the past week. It was possible that her protection spells were finally taking effect or that the person who was trying to gain access had given up. She muttered a prayer of thankfulness to the Goddess and, a few seconds later, felt how sleep finally took over.

She appeared to be walking down a tunnel full of white light. At the very end, a sweet woman's voice was calling her. She tried to identify it, wondering who the woman who wanted to appear in her dream was, but she had never heard that voice before. At the end of the tunnel of light she saw the image of a forest on a spring morning.

She left the tunnel behind her and began to walk down a path in the forest. She was under the impression that, despite the radiant sun shining through the trees, it had just stopped raining. The ground was moist and the leaves glistened, reflecting light around her. The breeze carried the smell of wet earth, of honeysuckles in bloom and a very subtle smell of salt air from a sea not far away. Emma walked slowly, letting herself be seduced by such a vibrant landscape which seemed to breathe, filled with a power that she had never felt before. She stopped under a large oak tree and stroked its bark. She could feel its life running through the trunk; it almost seemed as if the tree wished to communicate with her, to let her know that it was happy for her visit. She realized that the thing that ran through the landscape like an invisible electric current was in fact magic. It smothered everything, making life bloom around her, filling it with happiness and power. She felt capable of doing anything she wished.

The voice called her again. Emma followed the sound until she reached an opening in the trees. The light that shone between the branches seemed to join together in the centre, making a figure shine. The figure was that of a woman, young, blonde and dressed in white. The lights that shone upon her blurred her features. Emma stopped at the edge of the opening, looking on and feeling astonished at how the breeze blew her golden hair and made her ethereal clothes dance and swirl, wondering what type of apparition that was and what it wanted to say to her.

— Welcome to Eilean, Emma— the woman greeted her.

— Eilean?— Emma asked—. Is that where we are?

— Eilean is my world. This is only a representation in your dream— the woman's voice grew sad—. Many years ago, it was full of the magic and splendor I am showing to you.

— And it's not like this now?— Emma walked a little bit closer to the figure, even though the light around her hurt her eyes.

— No, now it is perishing— Emma thought she heard the young woman's voice break into a sob—. For this reason I have called to you, for you to help us save it.

— Me? How could I help?— a part of her mind sent a warning alarm to her. Despite knowing that she was only dreaming, she was under the impression that everything was very real indeed and that she had to learn more about that woman before promising to help her—. Who are you? And why do you think I can save you?

— I do not have much time. Eilean is on a different plain, completely apart from Earth, and communicating with you takes a lot of strength. I can only say that it has taken us years to find you, that our best telepath has been trying for weeks to ensure that you are the right person to help us to avoid the magic leaving our world completely, resulting in its full destruction. And that, if you do not help us, there will be nobody who will be able to.

— And how can I help you?— Emma asked.

— You would have to pass over to our plain to take part in a rite that will renew the magic of our land— the woman explained.

— But I can't leave now. I know it seems like a ridiculous excuse, but I can't leave my niece alone.

— You have no need to worry— the white figure interrupted—. We shall carry out the ritual this very night. You will return by dawn. Everything will remain the same except for the pride you will feel of knowing you have helped to save a world and that the Gods will compensate you for it.

Emma stood still thinking for a few seconds. She didn't know what to do. On one side, everything was very strange and confusing. It was very hard for her to imagine herself as a savior of worlds and she didn't like the idea of letting herself be guided by a being in her dream that she knew nothing of. But, on the other side, the woman had been honest with her, she had confessed that it had been them who had tried to enter her mind... She couldn't sense any lies in her words and it would be so very sad for so much beauty to be lost just for not helping them... Plus, if at any point she saw something strange in what the woman asked of her, she could always stop.

— In the case that I wanted to help you, what would I have to do?

— Thank you, thank you...— the woman's voice filled with happiness. Even the light from the sun shone brighter and the birds sang with more strength than before—. It is very simple. We have perceived a place of power close to where you live, a place in which the pass over to another plain will be easier. Somebody has filled it with strange white sculptures.

— The Park of the Restless Souls. I know where it is— Emma intervened.

— That is correct. All you have to do is head there and carry out a ritual to pass over to our plain.

— But I only know how to carry out pass over's between plains when I am sleeping. I don't know if I will be able to do it awake.

— You need not worry, it will not be a normal pass over. You will pass to our world in body and spirit without suffering any harm— the woman calmed her—. That place of power will make it easier. And we will support you from here to aid you. As soon as you pass, we will have the rite prepared and then we will help you return to your own world.

— I hope it's as easy as you say it is.

— It will be. We have been preparing for this moment for years. We are waiting for you.

Emma woke up and sat up straight in her bed, looking around the room as if she could not believe that she was back. The landscape in the dream had been so strong... It had felt so real that, next to it, the bedroom seemed blurred and inconsistent. She rubbed her temples with her fingers, trying to organize her thoughts. She was certain that it had not all been just a dream, that that woman had really called her, that she needed her. But it was all so strange...

She got up and put on a pair of jeans, a jumper and trainers. She would go to the place the woman had told her and try to carry out the ritual. If it had all been a dream, nothing would happen. And if at any point she felt unsure, she would interrupt the ritual and return to bed. But she knew that, if she didn't try to do it, she would spend the rest of her life wondering what would have happened to that place and if it had disappeared because of her.

She left the room quietly and looked down the hallway. Luna's bedroom door was shut, she must have been sound asleep. She walked down the stairs slowly, trying to avoid the floorboards from creaking, and left the house. The forest was calm and silent, almost inviting her to take a night stroll. She followed the path that led to the Park of the Restless Souls, contemplating the bright stars in the sky, but not even their beauty managed to get rid of the nervous feeling that invaded her entire body.

Luna turned over in her bed again, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness of the room. She hadn't been able to sleep going over the ritual to close the circle over and over again in her mind, to be able to prove to her aunt that she could do it. But she couldn't remember is she had to do the exorcism of the water first or the blessing of the salt.

Upon hearing the sound of a door close and muffled footsteps in the hall way, she sat up in her bed. Maybe her aunt couldn't sleep either. They could drink a cup of hot milk together until they felt sleepy and, while they chatted, Luna could ask her about the doubts she had concerning the ritual. She got out of bed and opened the door. She saw her aunt, fully dressed, walking silently down the stairs. She watched her for a couple of seconds. Where was she going at that time of night? For a moment she was tempted to close her bedroom door and go back to bed, thinking to herself that she should not get involved with her aunt's private business. But something deep down inside her, a warning bell, seemed to shout to her to follow her, that it was very important to do so.

She put on a pair of trainers and a jumper over her pajamas and rushed down the stairs. She had heard the front door when it closed and if she didn't hurry, her aunt would enter the forest and she would lose her for sure. As soon as she walked on to the porch, she bent down as to not be discovered and looked around her. Emma was walking down the path that led to Estella. Maybe she was going to meet somebody in the city but, why hadn't she told her about it? Was she going to meet a secret lover? No, it couldn't be that. Her aunt would have told her about it and plus, there was something about the way she was walking, alert and sneaky, that made Luna think that it was something much more important. Her instinct, with the strength of a premonition, insisted that she would not walk the other way. Luna waited for her aunt to walk a bit further and then she began to follow her, hiding behind the tree trunks on each side of the path.

Emma jumped over the fence and entered the park. The pale light of the moon reflected on the white sculptures, highlighting the dark and empty eye sockets. She tried to keep her eyes staring at the ground as she walked to not get any more nervous than she already was. That place had always unnerved her. Years before, she had felt the power radiating from its ground, but she had resisted using the place to carry out her rituals. It felt like, in a way, the power there had been corrupted, there was something dark and wrong about the place. However, she understood why the woman had chosen that place to carry out the ritual to pass over plains, she had to gather all the power she could manage in order to carry out such a complicated spell.

When she found a clearing she thought was adequate, she dedicated a few seconds in concentrating and expulsing all of the negative energy from her. If she were willing to try to help them, she had to leave both fear and doubts behind her. Any thought tying her to her own plain would prevent her from making the leap. When she felt ready, she drew a protection circle around herself, murmuring the words. She looked up at the moon, held her arms out in a cross and, feeling how the wind blew through her hair and giving her strength, she raised her voice to pronounce the rite:

Invisible goddess travelling through the mist

In the darkest times I call for the sacred power.

Hear on this night the word of the witch.

The great work of magic is needed in this hour.

Listen to these words, listen to them rhyme

To you I send this fiery sign

For our brothers I seek to find

In another place and another time.

That both mind and body soar

Until we discover a whole new land.

To places never reached before,

Let the limits stretch and expand

Spirits of air, earth, water and fire.

I offer to the wind this rhyme:

Chains time and space let me undo.

Allow this mortal to cross with this plea.

Know my desire is pure and true

May my portal be opened by thee.

A small white light appeared in front of her, floating in front of her face. Emma was surprised, the rite seemed to be working. She knew that she was not strong enough to carry out such a complex and powerful spell. This could only mean that the story the woman told her in her dream was true, that there was somebody on the other side helping her with the ritual. She forced herself to keep concentrated, while she watched how the light grew, taking the shape of a door made of light. When the portal was big enough, she lifted her face towards the sky and shouted the name that the woman had given her in her dream:

— Eilean!

She felt the strength of a bolt hitting her and knocking her to the ground. Her mind became blurred for a few seconds. With great effort, she stood up and crossed through the door.

Luna knelt down on the floor, unable to remain in the squatting position she was in any longer behind the bush. She had no idea of the aim of the ritual her aunt was carrying out, she had not understood anything that she had shouted into the wind. Nor did she know what the bright light was that had appeared in front of Emma and that grew by the second. It seemed like the spell was working how her aunt wanted because she had not seen at any point that Emma felt scared or lost her concentration, but Luna felt deep down that something was going wrong. She felt her stomach grip and the nerves throughout her body completely on edge, as if they were pushing her to run up to her aunt and stop her. But she didn't dare move. Emma would be angry if she knew she had followed her, so she remained alert, prepared to jump if things got complicated.

Her aunt shouted a strange word and fell to the ground motionless, as if something very powerful had hit her. She lay still on the ground, as lifeless as a broken rag-doll, with her eyes staring up at the sky and one of her arms under her body in an unnatural position. Luna jumped out from her hiding place and ran over to her, feeling tears stinging her eyes while she prayed that her aunt was okay.

She reached her aunt's body. She continued in the same position, completely still. A soft and thin column of grey smoke seemed to rise up from her body and passed through that circle of light which was growing smaller and smaller. Luna knelt down at her side and shook her, trying to reanimate her, but she received no answer. She continued to call her, hug her, look for her pulse and breathing for what seemed like forever, even after the strange light had disappeared, leaving them alone in the dark field. Luna fell to the ground, sitting there staring at her aunt, unable to accept what had happened.

She squeezed her hand one last time before running away. She hated the idea of leaving her there alone but she had to reach the town to look for help. Maybe it wasn't too late. It couldn't be too late.

She ran from the park, looking for somebody to help her. She ran down the path without stopping to take a breath, feeling desperate, until finally, she saw the lights of Estella. Knackered, she continued to jog, murmuring a prayer, wishing that it had all just been a nightmare.

**5. The promise**

She wasn't even capable of calculating how much time she had been sitting on the stairs in front of her aunt's house crying. She did remember how the first rays of sun had appeared from behind the mountains, lighting up the ambulance that drove her body away. Now the sun was high in the sky, it must have been almost noon, but she didn't know what she had done during all those hours, as if the time didn't pass as it would normally do.

She dried her eyes on the sleeve of her t-shirt, although new and fresh tears began to run down her cheeks minutes later. She felt so confused and lost, so reluctant to believe that what she was going through was real... She tried to organize her mind, to remember the events and her thoughts of the past hours, but she wasn't able to. All she could do was think over and over again that none of what happened was possible or fair.

She remembered the ambulance and the police car and the man standing next to her asking her questions. But she didn't know what he had asked, or the replies she had given him. All she remembered was that he had asked her if she wanted to go to the police station while she waited for her parents to arrive and that she has shook her head while sobbing. The man had told her that her parents would arrive shortly before he got into his car with a sad look on his face.

Luna stood up and started walking around the garden, pacing back and forth like a caged beast. She had to try to calm down, so she forced herself to think only about the steps she was taking, putting one foot in front of the other and looking at the floor, trying to stop the memories from rushing back. A tiny plant caught her attention; she bent down and picked it up, holding it tightly in her hand. She could almost hear her aunts' voice telling her that plantain could be used to prepare cough syrup or teas to help with headaches. She closed her eyes and could see her standing next to her with the plants in her hands with her smile that lit up her entire face.

The sound of a car engine made her open her eyes. Seeing her father's car driving up the path, she stood up straight and walked over to it. The car stopped and, even before the engine was cut off, the rear door opened and Cristina appeared, running towards her to embrace her. Luna jumped to her friends' arms, sobbing harder than before while Cristina whispered soothing words and stroked her hair.

She felt a hand on her back and turned around. Her father was standing behind her, his eyes shining from fighting away tears. Luna hugged him and felt how he stifled a sob. She had never seen her father cry before and, all of a sudden, as if she hadn't been aware of it until that very moment, she realized that Emma had been his sister. If she, who had only been with her aunt for a few weeks, missed her so much, it must have been terrible for her father. He must have been torturing himself with past memories and, above all, for the years that had passed without seeing her and all the things that he would have liked to have said to her and now didn't have the chance to.

— You have to hurry up and pack your things Luna— her mother's voice brought her back to reality like a slap in the face—. We have to go to the funeral home to sort everything out.

Just the mere thought of the funeral home made her stomach turn. She didn't want to see her aunt in a coffin, she would have liked to have remembered her laughing, walking through the forest while talking to her. Unfortunately, the last image that she had of her, her body lying motionless in the middle of that field, wouldn't leave her mind, as well as the feeling that she should have done something, that she knew something bad was going to happen and she had done nothing to prevent it.

She nodded at her mother and pulled away from Cristina. Her friend followed a few steps behind her without saying a word. Luna turned around, reluctant to leave the light behind her and walk into the house which now seemed so empty and lifeless.

— Do you need me to help you pack?— her mother asked, taking a step towards the house.

— No thanks. Me and Cristina can pack in no time.

They walked into the house, while hearing her mother murmur how the house gave her goose bumps. Luna felt furious. That house had been her father's home as a child, it was the home of the sister he had just lost. Didn't she realize that what her father needed was a hug and not harsh and harmful words? How could she be so insensitive?

She rushed up the stairs quickly, followed by Cristina. She didn't want to face her mother just then, she might say things that she would later regret. They entered her bedroom and Luna took out the suitcases she had brought with her and handed them to her friend.

— I need you to do me a favor— she said, whispering even though nobody could hear them—. You have to pack all of my things in here while I go and pick up some of my aunts things before my parents decide to come in the house.

— Are you going to steal your aunts things?— Cristina asked, shocked.

— No, I'm not going to steal anything— she explained—. Firstly, because I'm sure my aunt would have left those things to me and secondly, because she was mixed up in certain things that people won't understand and I don't want them to find out and talk badly about her.

— What kind of things?— Cristina seemed less convinced with every word Luna said.

— Nothing illegal, don't worry— Luna took her backpack down from the shelf and walked towards the door—. I'll explain later, hurry up.

She ran down the stairs to the ground floor. The front door was open and she could hear her mother's high-pitched voice from where she was standing:

— I don't know how Emma could have lived here. It's such a dreary place... I wouldn't be at all surprised if there were ghosts here. Although she would have probably liked that, she was so weird...

Luna stopped, waiting for her father to say something that would put her mother in her place but, as always, he didn't say anything. She thought about going outside and saying something herself. She would have liked to have defended her memory, especially now that Emma couldn't do it herself, but she knew that nothing she could say would make her mother change her mind. The only thing she could do for her aunt was what she was already doing: hide the things that people like her mother wouldn't understand and that would only produce more unjustified opinions about her aunt. She tried not to make a sound as she opened the small door that led to the basement. She left the door ajar behind her and walked down the stairs on tip-toe, trying to avoid the old boards from creaking under her weight.

The room was dimly lit by the flames of the candles. She walked over to the table without taking her eyes off of it, with revered respect. That had been her aunts last spell, maybe her last desperate attempt to lift the barrier against the being that had tried to invade her thoughts and who must have been responsible of her strange death. The doctors could think what they liked, could think that it had been a heart attack that had killed her, but Luna knew that was not what had happened. The spell hadn't worked and that demonic being that had been harassing her for weeks must have tricked her into carrying out the ritual that had killed her. She promised herself that she would find that being and avenge her death. She didn't know how she was going to do it, nor the effort or time it would take to fulfill her promise, but she would do it.

She stood in front of the table and began to ritual to open the protection circle. The candle lights seemed to split up into thousand of golden reflections through the tears welled up in her eyes. Not knowing exactly how it happened, all of the words and gestures her aunt had tried to show her for days with no avail were now clear in her mind. She clearly remembered that the blue candle that was lit was to ask for serenity, that the black one pushed away negativity, that the red candle placed on the south of the circle was a call to the Guardian of Fire to ask for protection. With a second of hesitation, she placed herself in front of the silver candle placed in front of the statue of the Goddess and began the ritual:

— Lady, I thank thee for your presence in my circle and sharing this ritual with me— she snuffed the candle and turned towards the statue of the God—. Lord, I thank thee for your presence in my circle and sharing this ritual with me.

She then began to snuff the candles corresponding to the Guardians, reciting the words of the ritual without doubting, as if they had been burnt into her mind since the beginning of time:

— Watchers of the North, Guardians of Earth, I thank thee for your presence and protection, may thee go in peace.

Watchers of the West, Guardians of Water, I thank thee for your presence and protection, may thee go in peace.

Watchers of the South, Guardians of Fire, I thank thee for your presence and protection, may thee go in peace.

Watchers of the East, Guardians of Air, I thank thee for your presence and protection, may thee go in peace.

The circle is open, never broken. Happy journey and until we meet again. So it be.

Deep down she felt a firm conviction that she had carried out the right steps and thought to herself, smiling bitterly, that her aunt would have felt proud if she had been able to have seen her. She opened her backpack and began to put all of the things that she didn't want people like her mother to see inside: the ritual knife, the chalice, the wand, the board with the pentacle carved on it... She carefully wrapped the statues of the God and Goddess and put them on top of everything else. Lastly, she stood in front of her aunts' book, still open on the altar and read the last entry:

It seems like the results of my prayers are beginning to show. For a couple of days now I feel a lot safer. After weeks of feeling how my mind and privacy are being attacked nonstop day and night, I am now under the impression that the being has finally backed down.

I pray to the Goddess that the being did not achieve that which it seeked, whatever that may be. Never before have I felt so much power, so much skill to resist my visions, nor so much anger when faced with my defenses. I believe that, despite not having felt the attacks over the past couple of days, the feeling of nervousness will never go away. I believe that it can return at any time and that I must be prepared for that moment. Because of this, I will keep the candles of the last ritual I carried out and which kept this being away from me, lit.

There were moments where I thought that I would not be able to resist any longer and if, as I fear, this being has only backed down temporarily, it is possible that the next attack will be so strong I will not be able to stop it. So I must keep preparing myself, studying on how I can defend myself, how to unmask it. It is possible that my days of tranquility have disappeared forever, that I will spend the rest of my life in fear that it can return.

I wonder if, in a way I do not know, it was I who called this being onto me. Is it possible that during one of my travels to other plains, a being from another world has followed me back here? Or maybe I carried out a spell wrong and left the circle open? I don't know and I don't understand it. I have worked hard my entire life to only do good to those around me and, according to the power of return, I do not deserve this evil, as I have never wished wrong of anybody. Why did it have to happen now, right when Luna has entered my life and has filled it with light and new projects? It's not fair.

I trust in the Gods and I know they will help me, I have to believe that or I will go crazy. May the Goddess protect me and give me the power and strength to not give up.

Luna laid her hand on the book, touching the letters with her fingertips, in a vain attempt to feel the person who had written them once more. She swallowed back a sob and breathed deeply, trying to silence the voice in her head telling her that she should have done more for her aunt, that she should have insisted that she tell her what was really going on, that, if she had interrupted the ritual, she would still be alive. She looked for a feather on the table and wrote a few lines under her aunts' last words:

I will avenge your death. I don't know yet who it was nor how to beat them but I swear I will find them and make them pay for what they have done to you. I give you my word.

She looked at what she had written for a few seconds, burning it into her memory. Then she closed the book, putting it in her backpack with the rest of the things and walked up the stairs to meet Cristina. When she reached the top of the stairs she turned around and took one last glance at the altar, at the shelves full of herbs and books and whispered goodbye to a part of her life that had been taken from her even before it had begun.
**AUTHORS NOTE**

This is the first part of the book The way to Eilean from The Travels to Eilean Saga. You can find the whole book in this link: The way to Eilean

If you have any questions or comments, you can contact me through any one of the following means:

Twitter: @Idaean_Halley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IdaeanHalley2

I hope you enjoy reading my book even half as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of sharing my stories with you. With love,

Idaean Halley
TRAVELS TO EILEAN II: ARCANA

Luna, her aunt Emma and their new companions decide to travel to Poscait, capital of Tirean and home to the Council of Wise men, to find a way to return to Earth. Once there, they find out about an ancient and enigmatic prophecy that seems to say that Luna is the chosen one to reunite the kingdoms and return to Eilean the magic that is disappearing. To fulfill this prophecy and open the door that will return them to their world, Luna needs to find five people to help her and who are symbolized by the arcana with no faces on the tarot given to Emma by the dealbhans.

Luna, Emma and Deneb set out on a journey to find these five arcana which will take them to all of the corners of Eilean: from the dangerous and dark roads of Longan to the palace halls of the kingdom of Deochan, from the enchanted forests of Coille and Dealbha, to the dry deserts of Griannoc, even reaching the sea of fog, within the reach of Aradia and her allies...

Can Luna find the five arcana that she needs to fulfill the prophecy and open the door to take her back to Earth and restore the magic to Eilean?

AVAILABLE SOON
