THE LAST HOUR OF THE MOONLIT FOREST

THE LAST HOUR OF THE MOONLIT FOREST

I have always hated weddings.

Not because of love. Love is a beautiful thing. It makes mortals sing, dance, write terrible poetry, and occasionally wander into enchanted forests at midnight because someone told them their true love was waiting beneath an ancient oak.

No.

I hate weddings because they are terrible inconvenient.

Especially when the bride is my best friend.

Especially when the bride is human.

And especially when I am a fairy who has been assigned the impossible task of making sure the wedding happens before the moon reaches its highest point.

My name is Elowen.

I am a moon fairy, though I prefer the title keeper of moonlight, which sounds considerably more impressive.

I live beneath the roots of the oldest Oak tree in Silvermist Forest, where the mushrooms glow blue at night and the rivers whispers secrets to anyone willing to listen.

Mortals cannot usually see us.

Usually.

But Clara could.

That was how all of this trouble began.

One hour before midnight, I was hovering outside the little cottage at the edge of the forest holding a silver needle beneath my fingers.

The wedding gowan lay across Clara’s bed.

It was beautiful.

It was also on fire.

“Elowen!”

Clara’s voice echoed through the cottage.

I looked down at the smoking hem.

“Oh.”

I waved my hand.

The flames disappeared.

Clara burst into the room.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Elowen.”

“Something very small.”

“You set my wedding dress on fire.”

“I was testing it.”

“For what?”

“Fire resistance.”

She stared at me.

I smiled.

She sighed.

This why I love mortals. They are wonderfully dramatic.

Clara was twenty-three, with dark curls, green eyes and a habit of worrying about things that had not happened yet.

Tonight, she was supposed to marry Daniel beneath the ancient willow tree beside the moon river.

Daniel was human too.

And he was the reason I had broken one of the oldest rules in fairy history.

I had interfered in human love.

Fairies were not supposed to do that.

We could sprinkle dreams over sleeping children. We could mend broken wings. We could guide lost traveler’s home.

But love?

Never.

Love was too powerful.

Too unpredictable.

Too human.

And yet, two years earlier, I had watched Clara sitting alone beside the river, crying because Daniel had left for the northern kingdom to become a soldier.

She had whispered into the darkness, “I wish he know I was still waiting.”

I had answered.

Just once.

I had carried her words on the wind.

Daniel heard them three hundred miles away.

He returned.

And now they were getting married.

So naturally, the magical world had decided to punish me.

The punishment was simple.

If the wedding did not happen before midnight, Clara would forget she had ever seen magic.

She would forget me.

Forever.

I had fifty-eight minutes.

“Where’s Daniel?” I asked.

Clara looked toward the window.

“He should have arrived twenty minutes ago.”

My stomach sank.

“He hasn’t.

She shook her head.

“Maybe something happened.”

“Something always happens,” I muttered.

I flew through the window.

“Elowen!”

I ignored her.

I had a wedding to save.

The forest was already changing.

Moonlight spilled between the trees, turning every leaf silver. The wind smelled of rain.

Then I heard it.

A howl.

Not a wolf.

Something older.

Something magical.

I stopped.

“Pleased don’t be a dragon,” I whispered.

A shadow moved between the trees.

I raised my wand.

“Identify yourself!”

A pair of golden eyes appeared.

Then a massive black wolf stepped into the moonlight.

I groaned.

“Fen.”

The wolf grinned.

“Elowen.”

Fen was a moon wolf, one of the oldest creatures in Silvermist Forest.

He was also irritating.

“Have you seen Daniel?”

Fen tilted his head.

“Perhaps I have.”

“Where is he?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because if you don’t, Clara will lose her memory of magic.”

His grin vanished.

“Oh.”

“Yes, oh.”

Fen sniffed the air.

“He is near the river.”

“Then why are standing here?”

“Because I am waiting for you.”

“Why?”

Fen looked toward the dark trees.

“Something has awakened.”

The forest became silent.

Even the insects stopped singing.

“What?”

Fen’s voice dropped.

“The Hollow King.”

Every fairy knows the story.

The Hollow King was not truly a king.

He was a creature made from forgotten magic.

Long ago mortals had stopped believing in magic, dragons, spirits, and enchanted forests.

Their disbelief had created something.

Something hungry.

The Hollow King fed on forgotten things.

Names.

Memories.

Promises.

Love.

And tonight, he had come for Clara and Daniel.

I flew faster.

We reached the moon river with twenty-seven minutes remaining.

Daniel stood beneath the willow tree.

He was alone.

“Daniel!”

He looked up.

“Elowen?”

His eyes widened.

“You can see me?”

“Of course, I can.”

“No,”, he whispered. “I mean… I can barely remember your name.”

I froze.

The Hollow King had already touched him.

“Where is Clara?” he asked.

“Waiting for you.”

Daniel looked toward the cottage.

“I don’t remember her.”

My heart cracked.

That was the Hollow King’s power.

He did not kill.

He erased.

I flew toward Daniel and placed both hands against his forehead.

“Remember.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Remember Clara.”

His eyes filled with tears.

“I can’t.”

I closed my eyes.

There was only one thing left to do.

Fairy magic could not restore memories once they had been stolen.

But love could.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the silver needle.

The same needle I had use on Clara’s dress.

I held it up.

“Daniel, tell me the first thing you remember about Clara.”

He frowned.

“I don’t know.

“Try.”

He closed his eyes.

A tear slipped down his cheeks.

“She laughed.”

“Where?”

“In a garden.”

“What was she wearing?”

“A yellow dress.”

“What did she say?”

He smiled faintly.

“She said I looked ridiculous.”

I laughed.

“She probably wasn’t wrong.”

Daniel opened his eyes.

“Clara.”

The name echoed through the forest.

The trees shook.

The river rose.

A shadow appeared behind him.

The Hollow King.

He was tall and thin, wearing crowns made from broken branches.

His face had no features.

Only darkness.

“Give me the memory,” he whispered.

“No.”

His hand stretched toward Daniel.

I flew between them.

“You can’t have it.”

“You are a fairy.”

“Obviously.”

“You broke the ancient law.”

“I know.”

“You interfered with human love.”

“I know.”

“You will lose your immortality.”

I swallowed.

“I know.”

The Hollow King leaned closer.

“And you would give everything away for them?”

I looked at Daniel.

Then at Clara, who was running through the trees towards us.

“Yes.”

The Hollow King laughed.

“Then you are a fool.”

“Probably.”

Clara reached Daniel.

He stared at her.

For one terrifying second, neither of them moved.

Then he whispered.

“Yellow dress.”

Clara began to cry.

“You remembered.”

Daniel pulled her into his arms.

The forest exploded with light.

Moonlight poured from the sky.

The Hollow King screamed.

Every forgotten memory he had stolen flew from him like thousands of glowing fireflies.

The forest filled with them.

Names.

Faces.

Promises.

Songs.

Laughter.

Love.

The Hollow King vanished.

Silence returned.

Clara looked at me.

“Elowen?”

I floated lower.

“Yes?”

She smiled.

“Thank you.”

The moon reached its highest point.

Midnight.

My wings began to fade.

I looked down.

Silver dust drifted from them.

The ancient law had been broken.

My immortality was leaving me.

Clara’s smile disappeared.

“No.”

“It’s all right.”

I looked at my hands.

They were becoming human.

For the first time in my long life, I felt cold.

Daniel stepped forward.

“You saved us.”

I shrugged.

“I was bored.”

Clara laughed through tears.

Then she hugged me.

A human hugging a fairy.

That had never happened before.

Perhaps that was why the moon paused.

Just for a moment.

And perhaps that was why my wings stopped fading.

I looked upward.

The moonlight gathered around me.

A voice whispered through the trees.

Love does not always break the rules.

Sometimes it creates new ones.

My wings returned.

Brighter than before.

The ancient law had changed.

And I understood why.

Fairies had spent centuries believing mortals needed magic.

We were wrong.

Sometimes magic needed mortals.

Clara and Daniel married beneath the willow tree ten minutes later.

There were no disasters.

No dragons,

No curses.

No burning dresses.

Well…

There was one small incident involving a cake and a very enthusiastic squirrel.

But that is another story.

As for me, I sat in the high branches of the willow, watching the newlyweds dance beside the river.

I had spent centuries believing immortality was the greatest gift magic could give.

That night I learned better.

Sometimes the greatest magic is simply remembering someone.

Sometimes it is keeping a promise.

And sometimes, if you’re lucky, it is watching two people find their way back to each other beneath a moonlit sky.

My name is Elowen.

I am a moon fairy.

And I still hate weddings.

But I have to admit…

I rather like love.