I dreamed a sorceress held a pixie in captivity, on a wooden table behind her house. She kept the pixie in captivity by keeping her wounded, stabbing her in the shoulder with what looked like a sword and leaving it in her shoulder for stretches of time. She kept the pixie wrapped in what looked like a huge pink petal.
The first few chapters will be free to all subscribers.
In case you missed my description of Amaryllis & the Pixie:
CHARACTERS
Elestren—the pixie
Kerensa—the enchantress
Amaryllis—protagonist
Virginia—Amaryllis’s cat familiar (named after Virginia Woolf)
Pema—a Buddhist hermit
Jowen Makepeace III—Kerensa’s deceased husband
Tamsyn & Morwenna, Kerensa’s adult children
Nia—Elestren’s best friend & roommate (another pixie)
Assorted Fae folk:
Girls: Rhian, Sion, Gwenno, Lowri, Ffion, Erin, Ceridwen, Sion, Sioned, Marged, Heledd
Boys: Carwyn, Owen, Aled, Elis, Emyr (means King), Gethin, Gareth, Iwan, Osian, Rhodri, Rhys
Amaryllis & the Pixie, Chapter 1
Elestren’s green skin and dark green hair glow in the midday sunlight, as she flies carefree over a forest. She rises into the brilliant blue sky until she is almost under the clouds before diving back down and whooping with glee.
This is the life! Elestren, a pixie, loves the Land of Fae, but it isn’t a bad thing to be here in Cornwall. Curiosity led her here. She knew when she stepped into a circle of mushrooms and crossed through the veil. She felt a strange, convulsive shiver from head to toe. She jumped out of an almost identical circle of small, bright red spotted mushrooms with white stems. Scanning her surroundings, she found herself in the forest that now lies below her.
Now she swan-dives until she’s skimming inches above the treetops. She whoops again and begins flying in circles. She sees a flock of geese ahead and, giggling, follows them.
While Elestren flies alongside one goose, it squawks and stares at her in shock. It starts to slow down in its flight, notices that it’s falling behind, and catches up with the other geese. Elestren flies with the geese for a bit before she dives down lower—until a tall elm is straight in front of her.
Arms straight ahead, Elestren reaches them upward and makes a sharp turn, reaching for the clouds. She flies straight upward. Once she’s satisfied that she’s well above the trees, she glides along in the sky alone. The geese forgotten, she scans the sky for other birds.
She hears a whoosh! of air behind her, the flapping of a lone fowl. She glances back and sees a hawk. Her heartbeat escalates and she turns. Elestren charges forward, attempting to fly as fast as she can. She senses the hawk’s intention—that it’s after her and not because it wishes to make friends.
Elestren senses the hawk gaining speed on her. Her heart flutters. She dips sharply. Hopefully heading downward into the forest will give the hawk an element of surprise and—if she’s particularly lucky—the hawk will give up and find different prey. She’s gaining proximity to the trees, as she flies at an angle downward. She still hears the hawk’s wings whispering on the wind behind her. She senses its predatory energy. She must simply disappear amid the trees.
Down in the forest, Elestren sees a tree rapidly approaching straight ahead. Another one! Her heart speeds up. In danger of colliding with the evergreen, she nearly flies into the tree—but she turns sharply in time.
Elestren flies amid the trees, dodging them. She can’t hear the hawk anymore. Maybe she’s lost the hawk, but she shouldn’t assume. She must put as much distance as possible between her and the bird. She must get well away from where she dived into the forest, before she feels like she’s gone far enough, a safe distance from the hawk.
Heart hammering and limbs trembling in alarm, Elestren slows down. She sees a sturdy branch and leaps for it. She finds herself grasping onto the branch with her legs hanging. She swings her limbs up until they’re on the branch, and she manages to right herself and run down the branch, in the direction of the tree trunk. She hops from that branch to another that looks as sturdy, and she manages to land on it. Deep in the forest, she runs, hops, and flies amid tree branches.
Elestren runs and runs and occasionally flies a short distance before she must hop onto a tree branch or dive down to the ground, so she doesn’t collide with a tree. She’s on high alert and isn’t particular about how much noise she makes rustling through the undergrowth. All she cares about in the moment is escaping the hawk.
She turns her head to glance behind her and CRASH! She feels pain in her right wing. Her head is spinning, and she struggles to focus her eyesight. A tree trunk is straight in front of her. She hears a squirrel chastising her. A robin’s nest sits inches away to her left on a branch. She feels a nip on her wing. She’s still dizzy.
Elestren’s wing and shoulder hurt so much, and she’s falling and falling and falling to the forest floor.
Everything goes black.