Lucas Brennan believes in the fae, but he never expects his future will be bound to one. But the ancient power within the Goblin Forest has other ideas.
Kaitiaki is the guardian of the forest. He knows his future lies with a mortal, but neither man nor fae realize just how difficult it is to love when belonging to two different worlds.
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, can Lucas and Kaitiaki overcome the trials from both worlds to spend their lives together?
An eerie mist pressed close, swallowing the shapes of trees and muffling every sound. Huffing with exertion, eight-year-old Lucas forced his way through the tangled undergrowth, his heart now pounding in his chest.
The Goblin Forest, otherwise known as the Kamahi Walk, always looked like something from a fantasy movie. It was primarily filled with kamahi trees which began their lives perched on the trunks of other trees.
Their trunks and branches had long since grown through and around the existing trees, creating the distinctive gnarled, twisted forest. Hanging mosses, liverworts and ferns added to the strange effect. Despite all of which, it was Lucas’ regular haunt throughout the summer.
On this occasion, having become bored with simply sitting with his grandparents, he’d wandered off a little too far. In his world of make-believe, he’d created a quest with elves and hobbits.
Lost in his own world, he’d gone deeper than he intended, and become lost in the real word, too.
Lucas stilled and looked around. The forest seemed endless. Every gnarled trunk and twisted branch created shadows of nameless creatures, and every whisper of wind carried an unspoken threat.
Luke jumped at the sudden crack of a twig. He spun around, searching for the source, but the sudden fog remained too thick, and the world around him impossibly large. Tears pricked his eyes.
“Grandma? Poppa?” he called out in a shaky voice.
But there was no answer. Only the oppressive hush of the forest. Then, a figure emerged from the trees, half-seen, half-hidden. The stranger’s hair shone like copper leaves, and their eyes glinted an eerie green.
Something Luke imagined as wings, ghostly and iridescent, flickered behind them. He shrank away, clutching his make-believe sword. It was just part of a broken branch, but he held it tight.
The figure stilled, then kneeled, making themself small. Their voice held an accent, but it was soft and non-threatening.
“Are you lost, child?” they asked.
Lucas remembered all his parents’ and grandparents’ warnings. “I can’t speak to strange men,” he whispered, voice trembling.
A smile curled on the newcomer’s lips. There was something strange about them, but Lucas couldn’t work out what it was.
“But I’m not a man. I’m a patupaiarehe. One of the fae. I’m a very particular kind of fae. It’s my job to keep the forest safe, as well as innocent visitors, like you, within its boundaries. My name is Kaitiaki.”
Lucas stared, a heady mix of fear and wonder warring inside him. Around him everything was silent, as if the forest itself were holding its breath. As he continued to stare Kaitiaki slowly extended a hand. His fingers were long and slender, and his fingertips looked lightly moss stained.
“I watch over these woods. If you trust me, I’ll lead you back to your family.” Kaitiaki nodded.
For a few more seconds, Lucas hesitated, glancing at the swirling mist and the shadows that seemed to move. But there was something in Kaitiaki’s gaze, something ancient, gentle, yet wild.
Finally, he extended his own hand to take the fae’s. “Yes,” he whispered.
Together, they walked in silence. Kaitiaki seemed to glide through the trees beside Lucas as if he were part of the forest itself. Glancing around, Lucas couldn’t shake the feeling that eyes were watching from the darkness, and the air tasted of magic and secrets. Each step felt like a test to him, and every shadow held something he couldn’t quite see.
As the forest thinned, Lucas heard his grandparents calling for him. His grandmother was assuring his grandfather that the forest would never harm Lucas. He smiled with relief and turned to thank Kaitiaki, but the fae was already fading from his sight, blending into the trees and mist. Then his voice reached Lucas.
“We’ll meet again, Lucas. When the boundary between worlds grows thin, and the time is right.”
And as Lucas ran to his family, receiving a tight hug from his grandma, the Goblin Forest seemed to sigh. A secret to be kept, a promise still waiting, both hidden in the shadows of the forest.
