Nan Caenach led them into the forest. He took no obvious trail, but he beckoned they follow and strode confidently ahead.

Flynn gave Elvie a stern look before following. ‘When we get back, you know, we’re going to have a long talk.’ He eyed the staff in her hands. ‘You have more secrets than anyone I’ve ever met.’

Elvie smiled, but she was too worried for it to be convincing. She set off after Nan Caenach.

His unknown path meandered through the wide-based trees, but it was easy enough to follow. There didn’t appear to be much deadfall at all, instead just a thick carpet of lush green grass progressing as far as the eye. How did it thrive so well, considering the canopy thinned the purple light? How was it so well maintained, as if her father had come through on his weekly lawn-mowing crusade? No, this place reeked of magic and the unnatural, even if Nan Caenach denied knowing anything about it.

‘Is it all like this?’ Elvie called to Nan-Caenach up ahead.

Tilting his head to the side, Nan considered. ‘No, the Fey is made up of various places. Forests, rivers, mountains, foothills…’

‘But no cities.’

‘Of course cities,’ Nan frowned. ‘Where are we t’be living otherwise?’

Then it wasn’t just a natural world – that was interesting. ‘How many people live in these cities.’

Nan smiled, his eyes alight as he drew them from his memories. ‘Marvellous cities are in the Fey. Beautiful white stones of the Seelie court, or the white and grey Alibaster of Edeldariss. I’ve heard, although Nan himself has never travelled that far, that the city of Terthe sits high in the canopy above. To see that would be a wondrous sight! But that is only one of the many beautiful cities in the Fey.’

‘But how many people live in these cities?’ Flynn pressed.

‘Many, many, there are filled to the very brim. Why, in Edeldariss alone, one hundred people must make their home.’

Flynn shook his head at Nan’s response. One hundred people was a city? That must mean that people – if Nan Caenach could be called a person – were few and far between in the Fey. Did that leave violent creatures occupying the rest?

They walked on in silence for some time. Now and then, the faint rustle of grass or branches announced a creature in the distance, and on one occasion, bright yellow eyes flashed before scuttling away. Nan Caenach was unperturbed. If anything, these creatures were afraid of him, disappearing the moment they caught a glimpse of his blonde-haired form.

‘Many creatures in the Fey – some like the Gollogs you saw earlier, some like Nan – others who’d want to cuddle in your lap.’ He shrugged. ‘Much changes lately. Many creatures unsettled and move around.’ Elvie noted that he didn’t explain why he was nearby, or why creatures were scared of him. For the moment, he appeared to be helping them, but he could just as easily be leading them to a darker place.

Nan led them farther into the forest, and as the darkness increased, so did Elvie’s worry. Was it a trap where they followed like lambs to the slaughter? Was Nan Caenach hostile? She couldn’t know, but she still had her staff in hand and could clout someone if needed. Her grip tightened until her knuckles were white.

Nan sensed their worry. ‘Don’t be afraid. It’s natural for the Hollow t’be hidden in the depths of the forest. Just through here. Just through here…’

He pushed scrubby branches away to reveal light ahead. Bright shafts burst through the canopy to illuminate a clearing, creating a feeling of peace and protection.

A woman of mystical quality stood in the centre, almost perfectly positioned to be the glade's focal point. She floated, for starters, which set the hairs on Elvie’s neck on end, and the fact she was transparent certainly helped.

Her features were kindly, if impassive.

‘Nan Caenach,’ the ghost said. ‘Your visit displaces the animals who keep my presence.’

‘It has been a long time, Mendolyn.’

‘I hope your friend isn’t around again?’

Nan Caenach winced. ‘I do not keep track of him.’ He looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself.

‘I’m Elvie,’ she introduced herself. ‘And this is Flynn.’

The ghost’s attention flicked to her, and for a brief moment, Elvie could have sworn they widened in surprise. For her part, Elvie marvelled at the spirit’s form. She appeared to be a woman, turned white. She had delicate features with a snub nose and small chin. Shoulder-length hair fell across her face in places, hiding crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes. Her appearance suggested maturity, but the leached colour made it difficult to tell.

‘I am named Mendolyn,’ the spirit replied to her greeting. ‘You speak with an unusual accent.’

‘It’s Australian.’ Elvie replied, somewhat used to the comment by now. ‘I don’t mean to be rude, but are you a ghost?’ She floated after all…

‘In the Fey, we are called Hollow. My body no longer remains, and should you seek to strike upon me, your hand would pass straight through. Hollows are spirits stuck between life and death, though, in all my time here, I have not come to see how this can be called life.’

‘Come now,’ Nan Caenach chastened Elvie, ‘it’s not nice t’be asking a spirit about death. Distasteful even.’ He smiled to take the sting from his words.

‘It matters not to me,’ Mendolyn replied. ‘I am what I am – nothing more, nothing less. Though, I have become less over the centuries. As a new spirit, desires filled me, but now nothing. Even wants fade to ash eventually, and it becomes harder to inflame my passions.’

Mendonlyn looked to Nan Caenach with a deadpan expression. ‘Yes, yes. The time is getting late, and Nan has performed the task by which he committed himself. I feel… the call of food and rest upon my body. It was nice t’be meeting you Elvie, and you Flynn of foreign human lands. We will meet again in the grand scheme of time. Or not.’ He left the clearing without a glance back.

‘Thank you!’ Elvie yelled to his back, but he departed as swiftly as he arrived.

‘That was odd… He certainly didn’t waste any time leaving,’ Flynn said suspiciously.

‘Time means little for some,’ Mendolyn shrugged impassively.’But he knows to leave. While his presence may protect you from some creatures of the Fey, it will draw others. Nan Caenach’s departure is for the best.’

Flynn put Nan Caenach from his mind: ‘He brought us here because you might know a spell to let us leave the Fey. Is that true?’

Mendolyn nodded, her eyes shifting to the staff Elvie held. Was that recognition in her face? Again, her statue features made it hard to tell. ‘I do. It is unusual someone would come to the Fey, without knowing the way home. And the paths were locked, although I can see how they opened with the Staff of Williander in hand. Will you give me your truth?’

Elvie momentarily considered before providing Mendolyn with a summary of finding the spell in their room, casting it, and being transported to the Fey.

For the first time since they had entered the clearing, the spirit’s face took on an expression – curiosity. ‘Bonded with the Elder tree and carrying the Staff of Williander. Is that to be unexpected or considered fated? How else do you explain the scroll, the staff, the fortune of this Nan Caenach finding you… how else?’

Flynn nodded. It had been his very thought earlier.

‘So, young Elvie, why do you not know the spell to take you home? You have the staff, which should help you to find the way.’

‘I didn’t even know what the staff is, or really anything about Elder House,’ Elvie replied with a hint of bitterness. ‘Nobody knows much of anything. I guess it’s lucky I can cast strongly from Oak and Ash Houses as well.’

The ghost took on a quizzical expression. ‘You speak of the trees as spells. Why?’

Flynn replied: ‘They’re the Great Houses from which magicians draw. Everyone has their primary type of magic, and two secondary sources.’

‘It is… unusual that you do not cast all types of magic.’ The s

‘My teachers say it doesn’t work that way.’ Elvie said. ‘You access one of the Great Houses to your full strength, and the two others to a lesser degree.’ Although I did recently cast a Birch spell, Elvie considered.

A puzzled expression spread across Mendoyln’s face. ‘Passing time must have changed much in the Prime Plain.’ She shook her head wistfully. ‘For centuries, no human feet stepped upon this land, and now you come again.’

Elvie held the staff up for Mendolyn to see clearly. Do you know what this is? It has some, ah, unusual abilities that I’m hoping will send us back home.’

‘Like appearing from nowhere,’ Flynn muttered.

‘In your hands, you hold the Staff of Williander, or so the symbols declare this truth. A powerful weapon.’

‘What sort of weapon.’

Mendolyn’s eyes roamed the staff as Elvie turned it slowly.

‘I cannot say with clarity.’

Elvie lowered the staff. Just one more mystery to add to the endlessly growing collection.

‘I believe that you will need it, however. Keep it close to you like a treasure never lost. Now, you should not be in the Fey, indeed it should not be possible for you to be here. Oh! These mysteries kindle in my desires I have not felt in a long time, desires to know and feel the world. Such is the price I must pay.’

‘We’re sorry,’ Elvie replied. ‘We just want to get home.’

‘It is not your fault. The Fey stirs even as we speak, like it awakens from a long slumber. The glimpses of magic that reach through the shroud are tinged with change, hints of powers on the move. They will sense your presence. After all, power declares its truth to others with power. I wonder…’ Mendolyn’s face shifted off into the darkness. ‘Oh! Yes, they are coming. Nan Caenach was right to flee. Can you not feel them yourself?’

Elvie’s heart beat faster as she shook her head.

‘You are not trained? No, so I will help you with this. But do not come back until you have mastered your magic, until you have gained complete control. Only then can you traverse the Fey safely.’

Elvie nodded, a hint of apprehension entering her voice. ‘Please, we just want to return to our world. Help us?’

‘Yes. Yes. Quickly now. They are within a league and travelling faster than expected.’ For the first time, a hint of urgency entered her voice.

‘What about you?’ Flynn asked,

‘I am but a spirit. They cannot harm me, or they would have long ago. Quickly, this is the spell you seek.’ She demonstrated the correct motions and words.

Elvie tried to match her words and gestures as best she could. She watched her with growing confusion. ‘What are you doing? Use the staff! Where is your spirit? Quickly! Quickly! Time grows short.’

‘What spirit?’

‘What’s coming?’ Flynn asked, voice rising in pitch.

Mendonlyn’s eyes widened in panicked confusion. ‘But that is not right…You do not know your spirit? No, that cannot be right.’ Her expression gave way to extreme focus.

She raised her ghostly hand and pressed it into Elvie’s sternum. ‘Cuddio!’

Elvie grunted as power assailed her like a physical blow. Mendolyn’s magic resonated in her chest – Elder House! And it was strong, exceptionally strong.

‘I sense much danger around you – but know the truth of your importance. I see it in the tides of time. I see… You must remember this – when you are in great peril: three swift circles, intersect left to right, and Gwys Elosgi.’

‘What does that – ’

Mendolyn cut Elvie off: ‘Gadrael ir drws indodin yagafin. Agoram Gorchym!’ She slashed her hand diagonally, flicking three fingers clockwise as if opening a lock.

Light flared, coalescing into a solid doorway that was very different from Elvie’s effort.

Elvie gasped, body tingling and shaking as she felt her made draw away. But whatever price she paid, the toll on Mendolyn was greater. Her translucency increased drastically as the edges of her body frayed like they burned from an invisible fire.

‘Quickly. Go now!’

Behind Mendolyn, an upright shadow emerged from the forest. It was dark and blurry, but in the bright light of the doorway, Elvie could have sworn its face was familiar; the face of Nan Caenach.

Flynn grabbed Elvie and yanked. Together they fell into the portal as it snapped closed.