For the fuck of it.
Glossary
This glossary serves to offer insight into the origin of the creatures and entities in Mountains Made of Glass.
Crone/Witch: In fairytales, a crone or a witch is often an old woman. She can have evil intentions, but I find she can take on a more ambiguous role. She sometimes curses or gives tasks to the hero, who then must overcome the obstacle by demonstrating their morality. She is usually the catalyst to the hero’s change, which makes her a very powerful creature in stories.
Red Caps: A type of goblin. In MMOG, these goblins are called red caps because they soak their hats in the blood of their victims. However, in other fairy tales, they are called red caps only because their hats are red. There are variations of redcaps depending on the origin of the fairytale and not all are malevolent.
Sprite: A type of fairy. Sprites are very tiny and are usually attracted to water. They are temperamental and can inflict madness upon a person.
Pixie: A type of fairy. Pixies can be household fairies and are sometimes described as mischievous. They often like to play tricks.
Brownie: Brownies are described as spirits, often those of a dead relative. They are sometimes classified as fairies or hobgoblins, which is why I used them in this retelling. They are usually male, but there are a few females, and they are said to keep house.
Magic Mirror: A reference to the story of Snow White. In particular, it is said that the tale was based on a real person, Maria Sophia Margaretha Catharina von Erthal, who resided near a glass-making region. It was said that the mirrors they made were of such “extraordinary quality, with the glass being of such excellence that people said the mirrors ‘always spoke the truth.’”
Elves: A type of fae. I used two types of elves in this story: basically “human-like” elves and “fairy-like” elves, meaning small ones. Both seem to exist within folklore depending on origin. I identified the creatures in the wardrobe as elves as a reference to “The Elves,” which is a fairytale about a shoemaker who is very poor and helped by little elves who make shoes.
Selkie: The Selkie comes from Irish myths and legends. Their true form is that of a seal, but on land they can shed their skin and become human. If they do not have their seal skin, they cannot return to sea.
Faun: A half-human, half-goat creature. They are more like nature spirits, especially in reference to Greek mythology. In this retelling, I considered them a type of fae.
Fairyland: Reference to Irish fairy tales by W.B. Yeats in which he refers to the land of the fairies as Fairyland. In Mountains Made of Glass, all land inhabited by fae is considered Fairyland.
The Glass Mountains: The Glass Mountains take on various roles in fairytales across the world. They sprout trees with golden apples, offer refuge, or serve as an obstacle to the hero who must overcome them to obtain a princess (usually). Within Grimm fairytales, they appear in “The Iron Stove,” “The Seven Ravens,” “The Raven,” “The Drummer,” and “Old Rinkrank.”
The Enchanted Forest: In fairytales, the Enchanted Forest is a symbol of change and transformation.
The Seven Brothers & Their Seven Kingdoms
Casamir: The Kingdom of Thorn
Lore: The Kingdom of Nightshade
Silas: The Kingdom of Havelock
Eero: The Kingdom of Foxglove
Talon: The Kingdom of Hellebore
Cardic: The Kingdom of Larkspur
Sephtis: The Kingdom of Willowin
Chapter One
The Toad in the Well
The goose hung suspended by its feet from a low limb, bleeding into a bucket. Each wet plop of blood made me flinch, the sound inescapable even as I chopped wood to feed my hearth for the coming storm. The air had grown colder in the few minutes I had been outside, and yet perspiration beaded across my forehead and dampened all the parts of my body.
I was hot and the blood was dripping, and the strike of my ax sounded like lightning in the hollow where I lived before the Enchanted Forest. I could feel her gaze, a dark and evil thing, but it was familiar. I had been raised beneath her eyes. She had witnessed my birth, the death of my mother and father, and the murder of my sister.
Father used to say the forest was magic, but I believed otherwise. In fact, I did not think the forest was enchanted at all. She was alive, just as real and sentient as the fae who lived within. It was the fae who were magic, and they were as evil as she was.
My muscles grew more rigid, my jaw more tense, my mind spiraling with flashes of memories bathed in red as the blood continued to drip.
Plink.
A flash of white skin spattered with blood.
Plink.
Hair like spun gold turned red.
Plink.
An arrow lodged in a woman’s breast.
But not just a woman—my sister.
Winter.
My chest ached, hollow from each loss.
My mother was the first to go on the heels of my birth. My sister was next, and my father followed shortly after, sick with grief. I had not been enough to save him, to keep him here on this earth, and while the forest had not taken them all by her hand, I blamed her for it.
I blamed her for my pain.
A deep groan shook the ground at my feet, and I paused, lowering my ax, searching the darkened wood for the source of the sound. The forest seemed to creep closer, the grove in which my house was nestled growing smaller and smaller day by day. Soon, her evil would consume us all.
I snatched the bucket from beneath the goose and slung the contents into the forest, a line of crimson now darkening the leaf-covered ground.
“Have you not had enough blood?” I seethed, my insides shaking with rage, but the forest remained quiet in the aftermath of my sacrifice, and I was left feeling drained.
“Gesela?”
I stiffened at the sound of Elsie’s soft voice and waited until the pressure in my eyes subsided to face her, swallowing the hard lump in my throat. I would have called her a friend, but that was before my sister was taken by the forest, because once she was gone, everyone abandoned me. There was a part of me that could not blame Elsie. I knew she had been pressured to distance herself, first by her parents and then by the villagers who met monthly. They believed I was cursed to lose everyone I loved, and I was not so certain they were wrong.
Elsie was pale except for her cheeks which were rosy red. Her coloring made her eyes look darker, almost stormy. Her hair had come loose from her bun and made a wispy halo around her head.
“What is it, Elsie?”
Her eyes were wide, much like my sister’s had been at death. Something had frightened her. Perhaps it had been me.