Master Elk nodded. “Unfortunately the last prince was much like you. He wanted to be a warrior, to fight the darkness. One night he disappeared. The queen tried to use the amulet she gave him to call him back, but he was gone without a trace. The amulet went dark, and we knew he was no longer a part of this world.”
Fox placed a hand on Elk’s arm and supported him as he swayed on his feet. “The queen used all the magic she had to return to the Otherworld. That’s when she found Wynn. She immediately bonded with the baby, but your mother found the queen before she could bring Wynn here. The queen let your mother keep your sister, but the tie to her heart remained, and a strange magic formed between them linking the Otherworld and Between. Now the queen has lost everyone she has ever loved. Her heart will never be whole. Sidian, Oberon, Estaria, Osmund, and now Princess Wynn.”
“Osmund?” Elric repeated. They had met a man named Osmund on their journey to find the Silver Gate. He seemed to know things about the Between that were more than just legend. He had been kind to them, though he discouraged Elric from seeking the gate. “Was he this tall, shaggy brown hair?” Elric indicated Osmund’s height with his hand at mid-chest, and a hushed but frantic murmur swept around the room. Osmund’s uncommon stature made it difficult to mistake him for another of that name.
“This cannot be.” Raven looked at him, confused. “He disappeared twelve years ago. How could you possibly know of him? Did someone tell you about him?”
“He’s alive!” Elric said. “He is in the Otherworld. He lives in a hut near the fairy circle where Wynn healed my wounds after we met trouble in the village. He took us in. He knew the way to the Silver Gate.” Elric looked down at the enormous seal at his feet. “He didn’t think I would be able to make it through. He knew I didn’t really believe.” Elric swallowed the lump in his throat. “Wynn had to teach me how. She taught me how to hope. I’m holding on to that now.” Wynn never gave up, and neither would he. “There is always hope.”
Raven stepped forward. “Prove what you say is true.”
Elric thought for a moment, trying to remember every detail he could about the man. “Osmund wore a medallion around his neck. A medallion with this seal on it.” Elric pointed at the floor, surprised he had never made that connection before. He had only caught a glimpse of the medallion, but now that he’d made the connection, the memory of the brief second he saw it felt like it had burned into his mind. He knew he was not mistaken in this. “He’s alive, and Wynn could be too.”
“There is one way to tell if what you say is true.” Raven threw his cloak around himself and transformed into his bird form. He flew up through the tree and returned a minute later with a medallion in his beak. In a flash he became a man again. A gust of wind swirled over the seal, scattering the flurries off the great mark. Silver light from the crystal showered down on the seal and spread out like mist. He nodded to the fairies around him and they encircled the seal on the floor and held out their hands. A silver ring of light formed between them, then a narrow band of glowing light rose up from the edges of the seal.
Raven motioned to Elric. “Take the medallion and stand in the center of the seal.” Elric stepped over to him and gently took the medallion from Lord Raven’s hand. His stomach churned with nerves as he crossed over the edge of the seal and stood directly in the center.
The medallion glowed bright gold in his hand. Elric didn’t know what it meant, but he held it up for all the fairies to see. He heard their murmuring voices, but he didn’t turn from Raven.
“Bring Osmund back, and there may be a chance to save us all. We cannot hold the portal open for long, not with the queen so ill. You must return before the medallion stops glowing or you will not make it back.” Raven swept his hands up, his robes looking like enormous violet wings. “Good luck.”
Elric felt the floor drop out from under him. He shouted as his stomach rose up into his throat and he fell. He landed with a thud on soft mossy ground. Elric blinked and shook his head. A flock of birds took to wing from the branches of an ordinary tree. A creek bubbled nearby. Set around him in a perfect ring were several mossy stones.
He was back in the Otherworld, and he knew this place.
He had been terribly injured when Wynn had carried him to this clearing. She had started a fire all on her own, cleaned and dressed his wounds, and cared for him through the night. He repaid her care by lashing out at her in frustration over his pain. And still she had forgiven him and tried to make things right between them, when he was the one who should have gone to her and begged for her forgiveness.
Osmund helped him
