Chapter One I made a deal with a Faerie A Nixie to be exact That’s a water Faerie I should have known better My mother told me not to make deals with Faeries She said they never turn out well She was right I accidentally made a deal with a Nixie called Salix We’re sort of friends Salix says friendship with Faeries is always a bit tricky Now because of that deal I’m on my way back into Faerieland Faeries 1
call their lands woods Salix and I are heading to a place called the Crosswood It’s where you cross over from the human world to the Faerie world And it’s magic in case you were wondering A month ago I had no idea magic or Faeries even existed I thought I was just a normal kid with a pretty normal family Ha Wrong It turns out my younger brother and sister are adopted kind of Indigo and Violet are their names They’re nearly ten and they’re twins My mother Jules Jasper has raised them since they were babies I was about four years old when they came into our lives Now I’m fourteen Indigo and Violet’s real mother is Olea She used to be a Faerie queen I know Weird right A month ago Olea’s rival a Faerie king called Oren kidnapped Indigo and Violet Then because of magic I had to go rescue them 2
I had no choice It was the kind of magic that kills people I went into the Crosswood to look for them That’s where I met Salix I asked him for help finding the twins He tricked me into making a deal He said he would help me if I gave him something I thought he meant a juice box But he didn’t He was saving that something for later Turns out that something is my going on a quest with him It’s going to be dangerous And I will be missing school And my mom is going to be mad at me But that’s what happens when you make deals with Faeries You have to stick to them or else And by the way crossing from the human world to the Faerie world is very uncomfortable It feels a bit like how it must feel to be swallowed You get sucked down into the earth You slither around underground like a worm If you’re not careful you get mud in your mouth Then you pop out the other side For a 3
few seconds everything is upside down You feel like you’re walking on the ceiling But after a moment or two something clicks in your brain Then everything is right side up again That’s what just happened to me Salix and my other Faerie friend Finola brush dirt off me as I stand up Salix looks a bit like a frog His hair and eyes are bright green like grass His skin is slightly green too Maybe all Nixies look like him I don’t know He’s the only one I’ve met so far Finola looks a bit like a swan Actually she used to be a swan A witch cursed her I helped undo the curse Long story Her skin is very pale but her hair and eyes are shiny black She also has a crown made of white feathers a leftover from the witch’s enchantment Salix carries a small lantern Finola has a sword All I have are my backpack and some cupcakes Doesn’t seem like quite enough for a quest 4
