Into oblivion

We were walking down an old hunter's trail; which judging by how the plants had overtaken most of it, hadn't been used in years. I looked at Brian, curious about just what he wanted to show me.

Evie, Kaite and Hector were back at the clearing, where we had decided to have a picnic. If I remember correctly, Evie had been planning this since the beginning of the new year. It was weird, having my sister try to keep this a secret from me. I mean, how do you expect to keep a surprise party a secret from a mind reader? A pretty good one too, if my teacher was to be believed. Speaking of my teacher...

“Brian, just where are we going?” I asked with my mind, smiling as he glanced at me.

“I told you that you're just going to have to wait and see.” He smiled and shook his head, before bringing our conversation back to spoken words. “But I will tell you this, there is an amazing view.”

I frowned at my teacher, but stopped asking questions as we walked down the trail. About five minutes later, he stopped and smiled.

“What?” I asked him, curious.

“Why don't you go ahead and see?” He motioned with a hand for me to continue.

Giving him a curious look, I began walking again, pushing through the thick growth. Suddenly the area ahead of me was free of obscuring growth; allowing me see that Brian had led me to a cliff. Slowly walking towards the edge, I looked around.

“They call this area Melody's Snare. According to legend, long ago, the daughter of a commander and an illusionist gained a strange mixture of both her parents gifts, causing those near her to be caught in an illusion that coincided with her desires. Unsettled by how their daughter's emotions seemed to affect those around her and fearing what the village elders might decide to do to his daughter, the girl's father commanded her to go to the mountains above their village and remain there until she learned to control her gift. Unable to disobey his command, the girl left the village with enough supplies to last for months. The girl never learned how to completely control what most people called a curse.

“Bitter at her father for making her unable to leave the mountains, the girl began to ensnare unsuspecting travelers who happened upon her; causing them to become bound to her will. Using those under her influence, the girl made all of the mountains above her former home her territory, and punished any stupid enough to intrude into her domain.”

I turned to look at Brian as he walked over and stood beside me; just a foot from the cliff edge. He stared out at the amazing view of mountains and the river below that you could see whenever there was a break in the trees that surrounded it.

“That's a terrible story. How could anyone's father be so cruel?”

“There's more.” Brian replied, looking away from the spectacular view at me.

“What else could this legend have, a happy ending?” I asked, really hoping that there was a happy ending.

“You know, not all stories have happy endings, Lilly.” Book's voice whispered in my mind. I mentally frowned at him. I knew that not all stories had happy endings. In fact, some of my favorite books ended on a sad note. But still, this girl deserved a happy ending. Yes, she snared unwitting people into serving her for who knows how long, but she didn't have complete control over her powers.

“Actually, yes. You see, a few years after the girl claimed the mountains as her territory, a foolish young mind reader traveled through the mountains. The mind reader felt multiple minds in a particular area of the mountains. Curious, he walked to that area, to this cliff.” Brian motioned around us with a hand.

“The girl was startled when this stranger just walked past the people she had bewitched and stood in front of her without falling victim to her gift. The young mind reader read her mind, and the realization of why her gift was ineffective on him hit like a boulder. The mind reader took out a piece of paper and wrote his realization down and showed it to the girl. The girl read what he wrote, and the way to control what she thought was her curse brought tears to her eyes. After a few days, those under her spell were freed. And then both the mind reader and girl left the area, never to return.”

I lifted an eyebrow giving my teacher a look. “So how come the mind reader wasn't affected by her gift, and how did the people regain their freewill?”

Brian shook his head, and smiled. “The mind reader was deaf, and the way the girl's gift affected people was by her voice.” He winked.

I laughed. “So all she had to do was stop talking for a few days and get away from anyone who could hear so her gift wouldn't trap them.”

My friend nodded, the wind playing with his hair. We took in the view for a while. I was amazed by how beautiful it was here, without cars and planes and all those things we had in the Earth Realm. A memory of camping with Emma and my sisters played through my mind, and I smiled as I remembered how silly and carefree we had been that week.

“Lilly.” Brian's voice brought me out of my memories, and I turned to look at him. “Happy Birthday.”

He pulled out a small package wrapped in brown paper out of his pocket and held it out to me.

“You didn't have to get me a gift.” I told him with a slight frown as I took the package.

“I'm your friend, and I wanted to get you something for your birthday.” Then Brian smiled impishly. “Besides, Evie told me I couldn't come unless I got you something nice that wasn't a book.”

I laughed, thinking of how Evie had probably gone all princess on him about what was acceptable as a gift.

“Go on, open it.” He motioned at the present.

I looked down at the present, and began unwrapping it. When I uncovered the gift, I gasped. It was a beautiful silver necklace on a silver chain. The necklace itself was two vines entangled around a shiny black stone that I recognized as an onyx.

“It's beautiful...” I breathed, looking away from the necklace after a moment.

“Would you help me?” I handed the necklace to Brian and turned so that my back was to him. He put it around my neck, and I lifted my hair so he could do the clasp. With my necklace safely around my neck, I turned around to face my teacher and friend.

“Beautiful...” Brain breathed, and I agreed.

The necklace was more beautiful then any other I had seen. It was simple, but that simplicity gave it a certain charm. I loved it, and was glad that Evie was such a stern person when it came to what was a good gift. Not that I would tell her that, because normally her inability to compromise about gifts left me frustrated. Just this once, she had been in the right mind.

“Should we get back to the others?” I asked after a moment, a smile appearing as I thought of how Evie and Kaite would react when they saw the necklace.

“Before we head back, I need to tell you somethi-” Brian cut off as the ground beneath us rumbled. Before either of us could think to move, there was a sound like a building collapsing. Then the ground disappeared from under me.

“Lilly!!!” Brian's voice screamed. I looked up to see him at the edge of the cliff, reaching down to me as I fell further away into oblivion.