Page 5 of Mushy Stuff
I gape at him. I can’t even comprehend not having anyone. When I was so lonely as a little girl, at least I had the house staff to talk to. To have no one to talk to is tragic. Maybe I can stay a day or so and become his friend. Although, I don’t even know what he is. Maybe I should figure that out first. “Are you the only one of your kind?”
He snorts. “No. There are others…but we each guard our own territories. I do not interact with them often.”
Oh. “What are your people called?”
He says, “We are Guardians.”
“What do you guard?”
He gestures around him with a huge hand that is tipped with lethal looking claws. “All of this. Our land. Ilsarius. The fae world.”
I’m so confused. I’ve never heard of Guardians or Ilsarius or a Fae Realm. I mean, I guess I’ve heard stories of the fae, but they are just fairy tales. Right?
As we’ve been talking, he’s shifted toward me and out of the shadows. I can get a better look at him now. He’s just astall as I thought he was, and he has black antlers that make him seem even taller. His hair is long and flowing…and moss-colored. Intermixed with his hair, there are strands of leafy vines. They seem to writhe and move of their own accord. His skin is a very dark mossy green. His fur is a lighter green and has a texture like moss, and he has patches of it on different parts of his body. There’s a big patch on his back that runs over the top of his shoulders. There are also patches of it on his legs and groin. I think he has tiny mushrooms growing in the fur on his shoulders. His hands are different than mine, he has three fingers and a thumb. Each finger is tipped in a deadly looking claw. His feet look like big wolf’s paws with huge claws.
I should be terrified of him. He is terrifying. I’m certain he could hurt me or kill me in the blink of an eye. For some reason, I’m just not afraid of him. I don’t know why. He didn’t hurt me while I was unconscious, and after talking to him, I just don’t think he means to hurt me.
I take a step toward him, then I look around and ask again, “So, where are we?”
He glances around and says, “This is my cave of mushrooms.”
I look at him confused. “Cave of mushrooms? Why do you call it that?”
He stares at me as if I’m crazy, then says, “Because it’s a cave of mushrooms.”
“But I don’t see—”
He turns and places his palm flat against the wall. Soft, glowing light blooms from where his hand is and spreads across the entire cave. I gasp. This cave is covered in bioluminescent mushrooms. They are everywhere; they grow on the walls and on the floor. He’s made a path through the room to not step on any of them.
I look around in wonder; it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “Oh, my gods! It’s beautiful! How did…how did you do that?”
He surveys the mushrooms, and I can see his face soften. He’s looking at them affectionately. “My magic. I nurture and grow these here.”
I walk over to the wall he is standing in front of. He startles a little as I come to stand beside him.
I study the mushrooms on the wall in front of me. I’ve never seen mushrooms like these before. “It’s amazing…Wold. You said your name is Wold, right?”
He nods.
“I’m Lydia. It’s nice to meet you, Wold.”
Chapter 5
Thislittlefemale…Ican’tfigure her out. She isn’t afraid of me, so she may be unwell.
She looks around the cave with genuine awe. I watch her as she studies each mushroom. She really seems to love them.
She pulls out her little light box. “Is it okay if I take a picture?”
I look at her light box warily.
She says, “It’s just my phone. I won’t use flash or anything.”
I decide that I can’t see how her light box could hurt anything, so I nod to let her know it’s okay. She’s so excited that I agreed that she squeals. The sound stings my ears, but it’s worth the look of happiness on her face. I watchher use thephoneto takepictures. Her face is bright with joy, and she looks very pretty this way.
Why am I thinking about how pretty a human is?
The longer she is in this small cave with me, the more her scent permeates the air. Hers is the only scent I can smell, and I feel like it has sunk into my core. Her scent is a part of me now.
