Page 4 of Mushy Stuff (Guardian Mates #1)

Oh gods, my whole body hurts. I crack my eyes open expecting bright sunlight, but wherever I am it is dark and shadowy.

Where am I?

What happened?

I remember the monster from the woods, and I jolt awake.

I sit up and try to figure out where I am and where the monster is.

I look around at my surroundings, and I’m in some kind of cave.

I can hear water running somewhere nearby.

I don’t see the monster anywhere, but it’s dark enough that I can’t be sure. I slowly start to stand up.

From the dark corner of the cave, I hear a rough, gravely voice that says, “Female…are you…well?” His voice is almost more growl than words .

I stare wide-eyed at the dark corner. He’s staying mostly in the shadows, but I can see the outline of his body. And his glowing yellow eyes. I say, “Y-yes. W-who are you? Where am I?”

He takes a deep breath and growls on his exhale. “I am Wold. This...is…Ilsarius...the Fae Realm.” He speaks very slowly and laboriously, as if it’s hard for him to speak.

“The Fae Realm?”

“Yes...you crossed over…to our realm. Are you well? I did not…mean to scare you.”

“Yes, I think I’m okay. Just a little sore.” I pause, and then decide that it’s best to be direct and ask any questions that I have. “Are you going to hurt me?”

“No.”

“How do I know if I can trust you?” I ask.

He is quiet for a moment, then says, “You do not.”

He’s had me here unconscious for only the gods know how long. If he had wanted to hurt me, he would have by now. Right?

“What are you going to do with me?”

He stares at me as if he hadn’t thought about that yet, and eventually responds, “I do not know.”

This makes me nervous. What does he mean he doesn’t know? “Am I a prisoner? ”

He quickly says, “No. You may leave…whenever you want. We will…need to make a thin place…for you to cross back over to your world though.”

“A thin place?”

“Yes, a thin spot…in the magical wall…between our realms.”

His speech seems to be getting a little more natural, a little less forced. His voice is still gravely and almost a growl, but the words seem to be coming to him a little easier. I watch him for a minute longer, then ask, “Why is it hard for you to talk?”

He takes another deep breath and growls on this exhale too. “I have not…spoken to…anyone in a long time.”

Oh…well that makes me sad. “How long?”

He looks at me and growls, “Decades.”

I stare at him in shock. “Decades?! You haven’t spoken in that long?”

He continues to look at me and says, “No.”

I feel so sorry for him. This poor guy has been alone for decades. It makes me want to give him a huge hug, but then I remind myself that he’s a monster, and we don’t hug monsters.

“There aren’t other…um…people…like you that you can hang out with? ”

He tilts his head to the side. “Hang out? Hang what out?”

Right, I guess he wouldn’t know slang. “It means to spend time with friends. You don’t have anyone you can spend time with?”

“No.”

I gape at him. I can’t even comprehend not having anyone.

When I was so lonely as a little girl, at least I had the house staff to talk to.

To have no one to talk to is tragic. Maybe I can stay a day or so and become his friend.

Although, I don’t even know what he is. Maybe I should figure that out first. “Are you the only one of your kind?”

He snorts. “No. There are others…but we each guard our own territories. I do not interact with them often.”

Oh. “What are your people called?”

He says, “We are Guardians.”

“What do you guard?”

He gestures around him with a huge hand that is tipped with lethal looking claws. “All of this. Our land. Ilsarius. The fae world.”

I’m so confused. I’ve never heard of Guardians or Ilsarius or a Fae Realm. I mean, I guess I’ve heard stories of the fae, but they are just fairy tales. Right?

As we’ve been talking, he’s shifted toward me and out of the shadows.

I can get a better look at him now. He’s just as tall as I thought he was, and he has black antlers that make him seem even taller.

His hair is long and flowing…and moss-colored.

Intermixed with his hair, there are strands of leafy vines.

They seem to writhe and move of their own accord.

His skin is a very dark mossy green. His fur is a lighter green and has a texture like moss, and he has patches of it on different parts of his body.

There’s a big patch on his back that runs over the top of his shoulders.

There are also patches of it on his legs and groin.

I think he has tiny mushrooms growing in the fur on his shoulders.

His hands are different than mine, he has three fingers and a thumb.

Each finger is tipped in a deadly looking claw.

His feet look like big wolf’s paws with huge claws.

I should be terrified of him. He is terrifying. I’m certain he could hurt me or kill me in the blink of an eye. For some reason, I’m just not afraid of him. I don’t know why. He didn’t hurt me while I was unconscious, and after talking to him, I just don’t think he means to hurt me.

I take a step toward him, then I look around and ask again, “So, where are we?”

He glances around and says, “This is my cave of mushrooms.”

I look at him confused. “Cave of mushrooms? Why do you call it that? ”

He stares at me as if I’m crazy, then says, “Because it’s a cave of mushrooms.”

“But I don’t see—”

He turns and places his palm flat against the wall.

Soft, glowing light blooms from where his hand is and spreads across the entire cave.

I gasp. This cave is covered in bioluminescent mushrooms. They are everywhere; they grow on the walls and on the floor.

He’s made a path through the room to not step on any of them.

I look around in wonder; it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. “Oh, my gods! It’s beautiful! How did…how did you do that?”

He surveys the mushrooms, and I can see his face soften. He’s looking at them affectionately. “My magic. I nurture and grow these here.”

I walk over to the wall he is standing in front of. He startles a little as I come to stand beside him.

I study the mushrooms on the wall in front of me. I’ve never seen mushrooms like these before. “It’s amazing…Wold. You said your name is Wold, right?”

He nods.

“I’m Lydia. It’s nice to meet you, Wold.”