Chapter 12

As the first rays of morning sunlight streamed through the forest, Raine started feeling extremely tired. So, this is what it is like to be human, she thought to herself, surprised at her sudden fatigue. As a fairy, her wings would tire, but she had never felt such fatigue throughout the rest of her body. Raine wondered where she could find Bryce, but exhaustion began to overtake her with each step. She realized how stupid she had been. What if she couldn't find Bryce? Instantly, she knew where she must go ... to their meadow. Bryce will come for me, she thought to herself. Yes. I must go to the meadow.

Raine was becoming more and more weary with each step. Relief washed over her when she finally stepped into the familiar surroundings of the meadow as ferns and tall trees lined the edges. She looked around and saw a bed of soft grass near the log where Bryce had sat when she first met him. I will rest for just a minute, Raine thought. Bryce will come for me. So, she lied down on the soft grass and her eyes slowly began to close. She just hoped that Bryce found her before her father did.

***

"Colin, I'm going to practice," Bryce said to Colin, already starting out the door.

"It may help if you take your sword," Colin said, smiling in disbelief. Colin was the only father that Bryce had known since he had left his home to become a knight at the age of ten.

Bryce rolled his eyes, grabbed the sword without a word, and walked out the door, closing it behind him. He didn't want to bring the sword into the meadow with him. Since he found out that iron could kill Raine, he hadn't brought his sword with him to the meadow. When he was a safe distance away from the cottage, he stashed his sword within a hollow log-the same place where he had been hiding his sword for days. Then, he hurried into the forest, hoping that he would see Raine. He didn't know why he was so enamored with the fairy. After all, they weren't even the same species, but there was something about her that he liked, that he couldn't explain.

Oftentimes, he had a hard time relating to people, but Raine was the exception. He could talk to her with ease, and always felt comfortable around her. He hadn't told anyone about her, for fear that they would think he had lost his mind. He shook his head and pressed onward, walking through the ancient moss that hung from the canopy of trees high above. For some reason, he couldn't seem to get there quick enough. And each day, he became more eager to see her.

Bryce shook his head. What am I doing? Although he knew it could only end in heartbreak, he couldn't help himself. He had to see her. He had to see his Raine.

But when he stepped into the clearing, he held his breath. A beautiful girl with long blonde hair that stretched down her back was sleeping on the soft green grass near a log. He jumped back, startled, but something about her beauty and her peaceful sleeping form looked so familiar. Not wanting to disturb her, he sat on a nearby log and watched her sleep, while keeping a watchful eye out for Raine. But as he watched her sleep, something about the girl drew him in. He wasn't sure if it was the way her blonde hair stretched over her shoulders and down her back, or the way that the silk gown she wore clung to her body in all the right places. He waited and watched for Raine, surprised that she hadn't come. Then, his attention turned back to the sleeping girl. How long had she been there? Why was she sleeping in that part of the Magical Forest unprotected? A ruffian could have come along and done unspeakable things to her, after all. Bryce was suddenly glad that he had found her and not someone else.

Then the girl turned over in her sleep. When he saw her face, it was Raine.

"It cannot be!" Bryce said in disbelief.

But how? How could she have become human? His eyes trailed over her body, appraising her. She appeared to be fully human ... but where were her wings? Surely, she hadn't traded them to become human. A fierce protectiveness washed over him as he stood guard over her while she slept.