R – Rescue and Return

R – Rescue and Return

This continues the story Back to Selat, followed by D – Darkness, F – Fox, L – Lies, and O – Origins. If you haven’t already, you may want to read them first. This is the conclusion.

———-

Once I finally connected with Red’s Grandmother and discovered the truth about how the Wolf found Necroma’s book of spells and used it with the help of Fox to plunge the Kingdom of Selat into darkness, I continued my task to find Little Red and the whereabouts of Necroma’s book and hope that I was in time to reverse the spell. Not an easy task.

But then again, nothing had been easy so far. 

It was time to meet another friend of Red’s, Goldilocks. I thought about going to the three bear’s house but remembered that Goldilocks was persona non grata there. Then I decided to go to a little-known tavern where some girls from folktales (Red, Goldie, Clever Manka, Gretel, Briar Rose, to name a few) liked to hang out. It was called Aesop’s Tables. 

When I arrived, it was mid-afternoon, not that you would notice, as it was dark everywhere. There weren’t many customers. The tavern was dimly lit by candlelight. Luckily, I spotted Goldilocks at a corner table chatting with Gerda (for those who don’t recognize the name, she is the girl from Hans Christian Andersen’s story ‘The Snow Queen’). They were surprised to see me and invited me to sit with them. After explaining everything that had happened since my arrival in Selat, I asked them if they had any idea where I might find Red. 

Having had some bear experience, Goldie suggested we look for Red near where wolves hide things. Gerda was even more helpful. She knew exactly where that would be. Her friendship with a little robber girl gave her lots of knowledge about hidden things that had been stolen. 

It was a bit of a journey, but we made it to Wolf’s cache before the day was out. Knowing that both Wolf and Fox were elsewhere thanks to a cleverly hidden (in plain sight) message I had left for them to find, which told them where another of Necroma’s books could be found (Even I have to lie sometimes to get to what I want), the three of us entered a cave. My flashlight’s batteries, though low, still provided enough light for us to look around. 

Fox may have been clever, but Wolf certainly was not, and it wasn’t very hard to find Necroma’s book. The odd thing about the cave was that we could hear a voice calling out for help; we recognized the voice; it was Red’s, but she was nowhere to be seen. 

As my flashlight was about to go out, I used the book to see if I could reverse Wolf’s spell. I found the spell in time just before darkness overtook our position. I read these words carefully aloud.

Strength of voice through darkness calls

Create a path that breaks through walls

Within the dark, with all your might

Return to us what’s naturally right

Let night be night, and day be day

With this command, do as I say.

I had one more thing to say, but those words were to be thought about, not said aloud, which I did.

Immediately, the light grew stronger, both outside the cave and inside. My flashlight even found new strength and shined. We found Red tied up in a corner, and we freed her. Whatever the spell that had made her invisible to us seemed to have been broken, too.

Leaving the cave, all appeared to be back to how it should be. We could see the sun rise over the trees. Sounds of birds and other animals flooded the forest. And as we traveled back to the caretaker, the feeling of warmth and kindness exuded from all we passed.

The caretaker, the mystic, Jack, and Red’s grandmother were all waiting for us on our return. 

I asked about the wolf and fox and what would happen to them. I was told it was an internal matter and that both would be dealt with. I asked no more. Necroma’s book was given to the caretaker. I have no knowledge of what was done with it either. 

With much thanks and a fond farewell from the inhabitants of Selat, I was led back to the portal to my world. 

It’s been a few weeks since this occurred, and since I have not heard from Selat about their lives, I assume all is well.

I did notice, however, that it has become very difficult to find books or story collections with tales about foxes or wolves in our world. Is that a consequence of their actions on Selat? Truth be told, it just might be. 

And that’s my story. You believe me, don’t you? Would I lie to you?