We step through the door and onto the brow of a hill that falls down into a sweeping valley below. Above our heads there is an impossibly high ceiling covered with millions of fireflies all twirling and moving about one another. They illuminate the space so brightly it is as though we are standing in the mid-day sun. I close my eyes, and something close to hope expands in my chest. Just beneath the surface of Ever Vale is a whole new world just waiting to be discovered. No wonder the fae didn’t take kindly to trespassers. If this was my home I would want to keep it a secret too. In the distance I can see another large forest, and within it lights dotted amongst the trees.

“What’s that over there?” I say, pointing in the direction I am looking.

Ezra shades his eyes from the light. “There appear to be buildings amongst the trees. Maybe that is where the fae reside, a city perhaps. I am too far away; my eyesight isn’t as sharp as it was before…”

I snap my head around. “Before you gave me your blood? It’s okay, Ezra, you can say it. Believe me, I am very much aware of the precarious situation you are in. There is a solution, a very simple one.” I hold up my wrist to him.

“No,” he says, quietly. “No, Accacia.”

I almost stamp my foot in frustration, but I don’t. “Fine,” I say, trying hard not to show my emotions. “We are here to save our friends, nothing more, you’ve made that abundantly clear. Should we head in the direction of the city or take another path?”

“The stone brought us this far. I think we let it decide which path we take,” Ezra says.

“Okay.” I pull the stone free from my pocket once more, the tiny light still flickering within it. It vibrates gently in my hand. I look over my shoulder one last time, expecting to see the door we had entered through but find that it has disappeared, replaced instead with an expanse of endless green meadow. I don’t need to feel the magic of the place to know that it is there, the disappearance of the door is testament to that.

“Which way?” Ezra asks. A light breeze tousles his hair as he looks about him.

Although he still appears tired, there is something different about him. It is hard to put my finger on, but he seems lighter somehow. Is he feeling the immediate effects of this place as much as I am? I have only been forced to live in darkness for twenty-seven years, the people of Clan Lux have suffered for so much longer than that. Even though this isn’t real sunlight, the illusion is hard to ignore. Forced to live in darkness, this is an illusion that we could easily accept as reality. I imagine what it would be like to live here in this place with … Stop, Accacia, I tell myself.

“Accacia, which way?” Ezra repeats.

“Hold on,” I say, shaking my head free of these dangerous thoughts. This isn’t our reality, this is fae magic. Holding out the stone in front of me, I wait for it to vibrate.

“This way,” I say, pointing to a copse of trees situated in the opposite direction to the fae city.

We walk together down the hill. A rabbit hops across the grass in front of us, its fur sleek and shiny, oblivious to our presence. I stop, watching it move across the meadow. It turns to look at me. It has startling green eyes, just like Clover’s.

“Accacia, look,” Ezra says, tapping me on the arm, his attention drawn elsewhere. He points to a blaze of orange that dashes across the meadow.

“Was that a fox?” I say, as it disappears into a thicket filled with bright pink flowers beyond which a stream glistens with purple hued water. I don’t know what I am more fascinated by, the fox or the stream and its strange coloured water.

Ezra shakes his head. “I believe it was,” he laughs. The sound of his laughter is as foreign to my ears as this place is to my eyes.

As we reach the bottom of the hill and walk in the direction of the small wood, the pulsing of the stone becomes more urgent, the vibrations becoming an almost steady thrum. Just as we are about to enter, a small deer, no bigger than a dog, walks directly across our path. It looks up at me, tipping its head to the side, then trots off, not afraid in the slightest. “How is any of this possible?” I ask. “The animals, the meadow, the forest. This huge, cavernous place?”

“I do not know,” Ezra says, stepping up beside me. If I didn’t know him better, I could have sworn tears were swimming in his eyes.

“This place, it reminds me of the Ever Vale I once knew before the curse. Before all our lives were shattered by Queen Adrielle. Logic tells me that this must be some kind of illusion, a place conjured from the memories of Clan Terra and kept in place by some kind of ancient magic. But I would gladly trade my immortal life above ground to live a few days in the light down here. The pain would be worth it.”

“Then it is just as well you found us first, my friend, because if the fae king knows you are here then you’ll end up in the same predicament as your brothers. Believe me, you will be wishing that you never set foot inside the Forbidden forest if the king gets hold of you.”

We both turn towards the voice. Out of the trees walks a man with tan skin, a mop of curly brown hair tipped at the ends with gold, and the same striking green eyes that Clover had in my dream last night. He is bare chested and wearing a pair of long silken trousers. He is extremely attractive in an earthy kind of way.

“You’ve got five seconds to tell me who you are and where my brothers have been taken,” Ezra snaps, stepping in front of me.

The man chuckles. “You nightwalkers are all the same. Such bad-tempered creatures.”

Nightwalkers? I guess that was what the vampires were known as here.

“Your name, Lights damn it,” Ezra growls.

“I am Avery, and your brothers are being held prisoner in the fae city, awaiting trial for trespassing. If they are found guilty they will be imprisoned for all eternity within the earth and roots beneath our feet.”

“You mean they will be buried alive?” I grab hold of Ezra’s arm to steady myself, a rising tide of sickness washing over me. Ezra places an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.

“I am afraid so.”

“When is their trial due to take place?” I ask, trying to hold my voice steady.

“Two days from now. Jael is representing your brothers. There could still be a chance that he can persuade the king to see sense.”

“Who is Jael?” Ezra asks.

“He is a friend, someone you can trust. He holds some sway with the fae king.”

“I don’t give a damn. I am going to get my brothers out of there now.”

“It would be unwise to rush in without thinking this through. It is still possible that your brothers will be freed without any harm coming to anyone.”

“Possible, but not certain?”

“Not certain, no. The fae king is a… complicated man.”

“And why should we believe a word you say? Why should we trust you?” Ezra says, narrowing his eyes at Avery.

“Because one, I have not used my magic on you, even though it would be much easier if I did and two, I am one of the three. One of Clover’s three. She wears our ring.” Avery’s gaze falls on me, lowering to my hand and the ring that sits on my middle finger.

“You know of the prophecy?” Ezra questions him.

“I know a lot of things, my friend, but we must go now before they find you. It is not safe for you to be wandering out in the open like this. It is a miracle you have not yet been spotted. Although I suspect Clover has had something to do with that.”

“Clover? She’s unharmed?” I ask, relief flooding through me.

“Of course she is unharmed. Did you not hear what I said? She wears our ring.”

“Where is she? I need to speak with her.”

Avery steps aside. “Then you should come with me. She has been waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me? But she tried to warn me to leave. To run. Why has she changed her mind?” I ask, uncertain whether to trust this man.

“That was before.”

“Before what?” I press.

“Before she realised that you would risk everything just to know she’s okay and that you wouldn’t believe she’s okay until you spoke to her yourself. She said you were determined. Clover talks about you often. She has missed you greatly.”

“How do I know you are not going to lead us to the fae King? That this isn’t all just a ruse.”

“She thought you might say something like that too, so she gave me a message to repeat to you. She said it would persuade you once and for all that you could trust me.”

“Okay then, what’s the message?”

Avery starts to sing the first verse of Could it be Magic by Take That. I watch him, my eyes widening in surprise. This has been our favourite song since we were teenagers. Clover and I would sing it over and over again until our voices were hoarse. We spent hours imagining what it would be like to be married to Mark Owen or Robbie Williams. It’s beyond surreal watching Avery, a fae, sing it now.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough, I believe you.” Despite myself, a smile pulls at my lips. Only Clover would ask a fae man to sing the words to a Take That song. But it had worked, there is no denying that he knows her. Avery takes a bow, his green eyes alight with mirth. “She thought you might enjoy that. She suggested you could teach it to one of your nightwalkers. That we could maybe sing it to you together?”

I look at Ezra who is scowling. “Erm, I’m not sure that would be a good idea at all.”

Avery glances at Ezra and grins. “No, perhaps not.”

With that, Avery spins on his feet and enters the small wood. Ezra and I follow close behind.