Marigold couldn’t help but think that maybe her mother was right, especially as the tall, craggy trees of the Dark Forest seemed to be growing more and more ominous the closer she got to her destination. Don’t go into the Dark Forest, she’d always said, even all the way back when Mari was a little girl. It’s full of monsters and magic that’ll turn you to stone in seconds if you step wrong. It’s a place only the dying ones or the dark ones went. According to her mother -- and, admittedly, almost everyone else in the kingdom -- it was perhaps the worst place in the entire world and certainly no place for a princess, even one with skill in fighting. Yet it was also the place where the only person who could save her kingdom resided.
Sure, she had enough guards with her to be relatively well protected, but what good were swords against magic? But there was no time to be afraid. The wicked king’s army was marching on her home and if she didn’t hurry, she would lose a lot more than she could bear. So she moved onward, walking for what seemed like forever before finally finding the small cottage described in the stories. It seemed a glittering gem in a sea of darkness, emanating warmth and seemingly so inviting it was nearly impossible to resist. That, she supposed, was the very intention of the creature that lived inside.
Slowly, she went up to the door, glancing back at her guards for a moment to make sure they were ready before she gently knocked. There was silence for so long that she was beginning to think maybe the wix wasn’t home, but finally, with a creak so loud she was tempted to cover her ears, the door was pushed open and she was met with the view of someone who looked far too pleasant to be the same creature that the stories spoke of. Even as the thing invited her and her guards inside, Mari felt no reason to be afraid.
After informing the wix of her situation, it told her that it could definitely save her kingdom, but her joy was short lived as the creature promptly reminded her that all magic comes with a price. Her offers of gold, of jewels, and of a position of high status in the kingdom were all shot down. It had no need for anything that normal people might have craved. Instead it desired a favor. It needed an amulet to be taken somewhere, which seemed simple enough. She could just have one of her messengers take a horse and perhaps an armed guard could accompany them, but it seemed that would not satisfy the wix.
The creature in all it’s undecipherable weirdness insisted that it had to be the princess that delivered the amulet and that the place it was meant to be delivered to was not somewhere that could be traveled to by simple horse. As explained by the wix, it was another world, a place reached only by a great amount of magic. The real weight of the trade -- the real cost of the safety of her kingdom -- was only clear to her once the creature explained that it would not be able to bring her back; she would be trapped in another world forever, or at least until she found a way to get home herself. She was no witch and thus doubted she would ever find a way back, but she was still ready to make the trade. She would make the sacrifice for the good of her people because that was what a good ruler did, even if she wasn’t quite a ruler yet.
So, after writing out a letter to be delivered to her parents to explain how much she loved them and how much she hoped they were prosper without the threat of war on their doorstep and after saying goodbye to those who had guarded her for so long, she followed the creature down into the cellar of the cottage. There was little she understood about the ritual, but a glowing door appeared in the middle of the room, somehow both inviting but terrifying. Tucking the amulet into the pocket of her cloak and clarifying her instructions with the wix, she took a deep breath and stepped through.
For a moment, everything went bright and she felt as though she was falling. As she came to her senses again, she blinked slowly, taking in the sight of things that she had certainly never seen before. She was terrified and perhaps more confused than she had ever been before, but she had no choice but she stand tall and try to figure things out. Slowly, she approached the first person she saw, someone dressed unlike anything she’d ever seen.
“Excuse me? Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you, but I’m afraid that I need help. You see, I’ve just made a deal with the wix in the Dark Forest and it sent me here to fulfill my part of the bargain but I...oh, I am afraid I have no idea where here is. I'm terribly confused and I was wondering if perhaps you could tell me how to get to the Forest of Dean? If you cannot, then perhaps you could direct me to the nearest witch or wizard that might know of the things of which the wix spoke?”