The Hunt of the Grimalkin (Erresuma Book 1) by Dani Swanson (read aloud books txt) 📕

and swayed in the air. She shut her eyes tight and held her breath until the current stop running through her finger. One after another she held the fairies until they were all up flying around the circle.

When the last fairy was brought over to the girl, she could see that the little fairy wasn’t breathing. The girl laid the fairy in her hand as she had done for all the rest of them and rubbed the little fairy’s tummy just as before. Nothing happened. “I’m sorry, I think she is gone,” the girl said in a weak voice to Willow. “It’s not working,” the girl continued to try for what felt like forever before Willow told her to stop.

The girl felt exhausted and then saw something dark move in the long grass. A little elf was stirring on the ground who had been left behind. He was disorientated and bleeding. The girl reached over to the long grass and grab the little elf. “I’ve got you,” she whispered to him.

“What do you think you are doing?!” a little blue fairy yelled at the girl.

“They attacked us!” Willow hissed at the girl.

She looked at the fairies and said “I can’t let him die,” in a stern voice. As she had done to the fairies, she did the same to the elf. The current ran through her body and out her finger to his body. This time she left her eyes open and watched as the cut on the little elf’s head slowly started to reverse itself until the head was completely healed. Just as it started, the current stopped. The elf lifted his head and opened his eyes wide with fright. He looked around the circle and saw the human holding him. He drew his dagger and dug it deep into the girl’s hand, before running off into the trees.

“See?” the blue fairy yelled at the girl. “They’re evil!”

The girl pulled the dagger out of her palm which had to be no bigger than a splinter. She slowly started to rise from her spot. “I feel strange…” she said as she tried to stand. The girl’s eyes rolled back into her head before she made it all the way to her feet, and she fell over into a slump. The fairies flew around her in a flutter. Their voices merged into a sound of static. Fairy dust was flying wildly through the air. Fig ran over to the girl and licked her hand and nudged her. The girl did not move but sighed in her sleep.

“She’s moving!” a small voice yelled.

The girl opened her eyes to see hundreds of small faces watching her from the shadows. She looked around and saw they had brought her into a leaf covered space under a huge shrub, where they had hollowed out the inside to cover her from the elements. The blanket that the fairies had made her was tucked in around her and Fig was licking her face. “What happened?” the girl asked as she rubbed her head and sat up as much as she could under the branches.

“You’ve been asleep for four days,” Willow said to her.

The girl sat up and coughed up black bile onto the dirt floor. She gingerly climbed out of the shrub, dragging the blanket with her. After some food and water, she was able to get up to her feet. She stumbled a little with her first few steps but then was able to move around. “Willow, I think it’s time I go and find a real bed to sleep in,” the girl announced.

“We made you something!” a small male voice came from behind her. The little green fairy that she had originally saved was watching her with large eyes.

“Well, give it to her, Pix,” Willow said. Pix showed the girl her cloak that she had worn, only now it was sparkling with a silver glitter and a symbol of a sparrow on the back of it. She smiled at the little fairies and thanked them for the gift. “Be careful,” Willow said to the girl. “Stay away from those elves; we told you they were evil.”

She looked down at her hand, at the little scratch she still had from where the elf had stabbed her. She wondered if the elf really did poison her, or if her reaction was to her own magic.

As she packed her things, Willow came up and stood on the girl’s shoulder. “Are you sure you want to leave?” she asked the girl.

“I’m too big here. I can’t just sit in one spot all the time. Besides, I still don’t know who I am, or how I got here. I need to find someone who knows,” the girl responded. Willow sat down on the girl’s shoulder.

“I know who you are,” Willow said in her ear.

“Who?!” the girl yelled. Willow covered her ears and balled up in pain; almost falling off the girls shoulder. The girl picked Willow up by her shoulder and held her in her palm. She held Willow near her face and spoke softly and slowly to the little fairy. “If you know who I am, you need to tell me.” Willow cautiously took her hands away from her ears and looked up at the girl with big eyes.

“Well, I meant, I know who you are now. We named you.”

The girl looked down in shock feeling both flattered and disgusted that they named her. “You named me….like a pet?” she accused.

“No!” the fairy insisted. “Everyone needs to be called something. We can’t just call you girl or human. We started to call you Cannenta. It means woman with the power to heal,” Willow said to her sheepishly.

She smiled, appeased. “Thank you Willow, that’s very sweet.”

The fairies filled her bag full of meat, cheese and other foods. They folded up their quilted blanket and tied it in