The Third Wish

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Dartimen’s eyes opened. He stared blankly at a canopy of tree tops, and just beyond that a warm blue sky. As far as he could tell he was alive. He lay on the mossy forest floor silently weighing the case for and against his unexpected stay among the living and his doubt was making him suspicious. Maybe he was dead and this was what the afterlife was like. He was an elf afterall, maybe elves went to a forest in the end. Dartimen lifted his hand and wiggled his fingers in front of his face. Everything seemed to work well enough. Birds sang to each other nearby, a sweet spring song that he liked very much. His eyes closed and he smiled, humming along with the sweet melody of the woods. Then his stomach growled and he sat up. It hadn’t ever occurred to him that dead people ate. Looking around, he didn’t notice any food as he remembered it and decided to look around for something to eat. Maybe dead people eat special food, he wondered.   The forest itself was every bit as beautiful as his ancient homeland of Qualossi – maybe more so. Tiny flowers of yellow and purple dusted the forest floor. Birds fluttered from branch to branch in trees he couldn’t name; twisted and craggy with thick, gnarled roots and all manner of places for woodland creatures to hide. Maybe this was some sort of enchanted forest. He’d read about those. They were ancient and powerful places guarded by magic and sometimes the fae. Did fae go someplace when they died? He thought for a moment but didn’t know. What if there had been some mix up? Maybe he died at the same moment a fairy did. Maybe the goddess of death accidently sent him here and some unsuspecting dead fairy to whatever truly awaited him. Dartimen hoped he had been good in life.   Eventually he came upon a suny clearing where part of a stream slid out of the woods a bit to sparkle in the sunshine. Thick, soft grasses grew in patches between rock outcroppings and mounds of dark, rich earth – cool and damp. Dartimen climbed to the top of a boulder and sat watching the light dance on the tiny crests of the babbling brook. Despite his growing hunger, he decided that being dead wasn’t all bad. The weather was nice and the landscape was filled with pretty and interesting things.   At that moment, while he sat there enjoying death, the breeze began to die down and Dartimen heard a tiny, sad voice crying somewhere nearby. At first he couldn’t see where it was coming from and thought he had imagined it. But it came again, anguished sobs that tugged at his heart. This was much too nice a place for such sadness. He climbed off the boulder and tried to follow the tears. At first he couldn't find anything and the tears still came, and his very soul ached. The little half-elf fell to his knees in desperation and felt his own eyes begin to sting him. Maybe this is what happens when you’re dead too long, he thought. You remember what home was like and you want to go back but you can’t. Dartimen sniffled. He wanted to go home. Just then something caught his eye. A flicker of movement on a small rock in front of him. Kneeling on all fours he crept towards what at first he thought was a flower. Sitting on a rock was a tiny woman wearing a simple dress of blue and red flower petals. She had tucked her knees to her chin and was sobbing into her hands.   A fairy! Dartimen was too stunned to seek and he dared not move. He had read about such encounters and of how rare they were but the book never did say what to do when you were dead in the woods and found a dead fairy crying all alone. If he was rude now she may turn him into some animal and keep him as a pet. Could they do that? Dartimen decided not to risk it.   “Please don’t cry.” He said with an empathic frown.   The tiny woman picked her head up and stared back at him unafraid, shaking from sadness. Her eyes, the color of honey, still glistened with tears and she nervously twirled and fussed with her strawberry colored hair around a tiny finger.   He smiled. “That’s better. It’s ok, being dead is nice so far.”   She looked at him curiously, the sadness momentarily leaving her face. “Dead?” she repeated. “We’re not dead.”   Dartimen looked relieved, but noticed the fairy was still upset. “Then I guess I’m just lost.” He shrugged. “But that’s not important now. What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he saw her tiny lips tremble.   “I was out in the woods with my brothers and sisters. We were out looking for gold root for the witches. I went off alone and everything started to look different and I tried to find my way back but I got lost.” She tried to hold back more tears to no avail.   “Why don’t you come with me? My name’s Dartimen and like I said I’m lost too. Probably if we’re lost together we can find our way back together.”   The tiny woman beamed and wiped her eyes. “Really?”   Dartimen nodded, happy to have some company and happier still to learn he wasn’t dead. He stood and the fairy fluttered to his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek.   “I am called Rain by the speakers of your tongue.” And she bowed formally.   He smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you rain.”   It was hard to figure out which way he had come from. As Rain had said everything had begun to look the same so Dartimen decided to follow the stream since it seemed as good a direction as any, and he seemed to remember reading somewhere that people liked to live near water. Maybe someone lived out here and knew how to reach a part of Qualossi forest he recognized.   Not long after, there was a tug at his head and Rain peered at him over the brim of his hat.   “Yes? Is there something wrong?” he paused for a moment and looked around him.   Rain shook her tiny head and disappeared over the brim. He was confused but kept walking, best not to question the actions of a fairy. A few minutes later rain again dipped over the brim of his hat.   “Your hat is magic.” She announced matter-of-factly.   Dartimen’s eyes crossed as he tried to focus on her. Her hand covered her mouth as she giggled at his face. “Magic? No it’s not. Hats can’t be magic.”   “Why not?” her tiny brow furrowed trying to understand his peculiar answer.   “Because what good would a magic hat be?   “Depends on what kind of magic is inside it.”   “Well what kind of magic is in mine?”   Rain smirked and fluttered off his head and bobbed in the air before him, displaying her iridescent dragonfly wings. “Imagine someone.” She commanded.   Dartimen stared at her dumbfounded. “Who?”   The fairy entertained herself by doing somersaults in the air. “Anyone, it doesn’t matter. Just picture someone you know and concentrate on them. Clear your head and imagine only that person.”   Anyone? The request was simple enough though it sounded ridiculous. He shut his eyes and tried to empty his mind as best he knew how and a picture of his brother appeared. When he opened his eyes again, Rain flitted around him clapping her tiny hands in approval. A few wisps of arcane smoke dissipated into the air but as far as Dartimen could tell – nothing had happened.   “There! You see? You did it!” Rain again hung in the air a few inches from his nose, smiling with pride.   “Did what?” he looked at his hands hoping that a sword had appeared – but there was nothing. Glancing around they were still alone in the strange forest. “Nothing happened.”   Rain laughed and tugged on his sleeve, guiding him to the edge of the stream. She pointed to the surface of the water and Dartimen gasped. An elf boy with bright green eyes and spiky brown hair stared back at him. His older brother Valen – he looked exactly like him!   “Wow…” Dartimen’s words trailed off in awe, but as he watched his lips move it was his own voice he heard. He touched his face, poking himself, testing the illusion.   Rain joined him on his shoulder. “Not bad. You still sound the same though so I guess it’s not a total disguise, but it’s still very good.”   “How do I change back?”   “Just think of someone else, or imagine you or…” she thought for a moment. “…or maybe just take the hat off.”   Dartimen lifted the hat from his head. In an instant the image of his brother vanished and he was there again.   “Now you see.” Rain smiled. “A useful trick. Where did you get it?”   Dartimen sighed and Rain knew she may have touched on something difficult. He stood and stared along the trail they blazed along the creek. “It was a gift.”   Rain felt his tension and decided not to press him further.   They walked in silence along the course of the steam. Climbing over roots, around rocks, up hills and down small valleys. Eventually the blue sky turned gold then red. Dartimen stopped, waking Rain who had fallen asleep atop his hat.   “Where are we?” she flitted around him taking in their surroundings.   “I’m not sure but it’ll be dark soon. We should camp here tonight.” He slipped the rucksack off his shoulder and sat down on a patch of thick emerald moss nestled between two large roots. His stomach growled. There had been no food along the way. Despite its raw beauty the forest had offered little to eat.   “I wish we had something to eat.” He muttered.   “You’re hungry?” Rain floated over to him sounding prepared to serve a great supper at that very moment.   Dartimen chuckled, amused by her sudden helpful disposition. “Very, but there hasn’t been anything in the forest and I don’t have any travel rations left.”   Rain sat down on a bit of exposed roots. “What would you like to eat?”