Stuck with a Monster

CHAPTER 2. RIDDLE

“Tired of this training,” I screamed, venting out my frustrations about him. “I am tired of this life! I hate you Gaby for being my mentor. I hate you!” I am currently in the forest and he can not hear me. He was so sweet to me before that but then he became a different person during training. He was like a brother to me. His parents were my acting adoptive parents. Gaby is twenty six moons older than me. He became the general guard when he was my age because he was good at fighting and had the skills. He can defeat his enemies in every competition here in the western kingdom. We also held a contest wherein, the southern kingdom, our ally, went here to challenge Gaby and Gaby won the contest. The southern kingdom is still our ally after that and the relationship of the two kingdoms did not change.

I walked deeper and deeper into the forest to vent out my frustrations. I was just walking silently, kicking some leaves on my path, when I accidentally walked on a pitfall. Who’s dumb to even put a trap here? I was thinking about how I was going to climb up when I heard leaves moving at my back. I turned around and saw nothing. A minute has passed and nothing happened. I thought that maybe it was just a bird trying to get a leaf to build its nest. I turned around and looked for possible remedies for me to climb up when suddenly I felt someone throwing leaves at me. I turned around again to look for the one who did that to me but unfortunately, I just saw nothing. I then acted like turning around to observe but I saw a small hand, like a hand of a young girl, get some leaves to throw at me. I felt scared when I first saw a small hand there. What is a child doing there?!

“Hello?” I asked, hesitantly. “Umm, are you okay there? Do you need help or anything? I do not look like food, do I? Please do not eat me,” I questioned, wanting to know if it was also trapped there. I suddenly heard a giggle. It does sound like a baby.

An evil voice suddenly whispered in my ears, “Are you lost, little lamb? My kiss grants you immortality or death.” I shivered with fear and my eyes went wide open as I realized that this is dangerous and I need to get out of here. I am still young and I have to go and follow where my mother went. I was about to cry when I heard a small giggle for the second time.

“Do you want to dance?” asked the small voice, slightly giggling. I was so confused to the point that I agreed to dance. I suddenly felt my body moving harmoniously without music. A realization struck me that I am being controlled. I can not stop my body.

I earned every bit of courage and ask the creature, “Who are you?”

The creature answered, “I have been away for too long and forgotten who I was.” My eyebrows curled up in confusion.

“What does that mean? It does not know who it was. How am I going to know that?” I thought to myself.

“Can you guess my name? If you can, I will be your friend and do every favor you will ask me. But if you can’t, you will face death,” the creature added. I trembled with fear.

“How can I guess your name?” I asked her. “I don’t even know you, even your appearance. You sounded like a child and at the same time an evil woman. I saw your hand earlier and it was small. What are you?” The creature laughed and uncovered itself. It’s a she. It really looked like a young girl with a shadow of a woman bigger than me. It has green eyes and is dressed in black with its visible and transparent wings.

She smiled at me evilly and said, “I am a fae and your fate is tied with me. Answer this riddle in three days ‘I am always hungry and will die if not fed, but whatever I touch soon turns red. What am I?’ If you can answer this riddle, you have guessed my name.” A white light glowed in her hands. “Come back here within three days in the same spot or you will die,” the creature added and lightning struck at me.

I open up my eyes, feeling dizzy and weak, and found myself lying in the grass just beside the castle. I noticed that the sun was rising and guards were roaming around, somewhat looking for someone who was lost.

“How did I get in here?” I got up and almost fell on my knees. It was like all of my energy was drained out of me. I suddenly remembered what happened. Memories came flashing back in my mind and I instantly knew that I needed to guess the name of the creature or else I would be dead. I still need to see my mother. I don’t want her to arrive and see my burial and my dead body.

Gaby flooded me with questions as soon as he saw me. “Arabella, what are you doing there? Where have you been? We all came to look for you.” He then noticed that I looked pale. He asked what happened to me but I just ignored his question.

Wanting the riddle to be answered within three days that the creature gave me, I asked him, “Gaby, I am always hungry and will die if not fed, but whatever I touch soon turns red. What am I?”

“Whaat? What kind of question is that Arabella?” he asked, bewildered and raised his eyebrows at me.

“Ooh, it is nothing,” I responded, thinking quickly about what my excuse would be. “Uhh it is just a riddle that appeared in my mind and I want it to be answered.” I quickly left and did not mind him as he called me so many times. I soon shouted at him that I will take a rest for three days and ran towards the castle and went to my room. I took a bath and the two royal maids helped me clean my body. They asked me where I had been and told me that I was missing last night. I just laughed at them as I can not answer their question because I also do not know how I ended up lying there just beside the castle. I wondered if it was the fae who brought me there.

“Do you believe in faes?” I asked the maids. The other one shook her head expressing that she does not know anything about it.

But the other one answered, “Yes, I believe in faes. My grandmother told me that she had seen a fae during her youth.”

“I want to see your grandmother,” I excitedly ordered her.

The maid nodded. I finished taking a bath and put a dress on. Today I am going out to see the maid’s grandmother. I was about to leave the castle when I felt weak and starving. So, I went to the eating place and saw King Lucas just having breakfast.

I bowed my head and greeted him, “Good morning King Lucas.” The royal cook quickly served me a bowl of cereal, a cup of tea, and some biscuits.

“Good morning, sweetheart. I heard you were missing last night. Where have you been?” he asked me. I looked at him as if I was going to tell him a secret. He got the message so he ordered the royal cook and the maids to leave the eating room.

I responded, “I was in the forest yesterday afternoon.” He glanced at me as I started to talk and stopped eating his food. He looked serious and just looking at him is making me nervous and the feeling was like forcing me to confess or else I would be grounded.

“Umm, I just went to the forest to vent out my frustrations about Gaby. Suddenly, I fell down on a pitfall.”

He then uttered something that only the two of us could hear.