☀ P R E Q U E L: Part 3

A cold wind blows through the dire scene.

CHIEF PERIMEDES is still as a statue, trapped and tangled inside KAMAL's Butterfly Net, a peculiar bundle, his horse legs sticking out akimbo between the netting, rendering his powerful muscled body looking awkward and jumbled.

At the top of the ledge, GRAHAM stands just as firm, feet planted on the precarious rocks. The parolees who had stopped in the middle of running across the rope bridge are similarly frozen, holding their breath at the scene.

And finally, the herd of enraged CENTAURS, gathered around GRAHAM in a menacing semi-circle, weapons at the ready, but unsure whether to fire.

"Are you just doing this for fun?" one of them challenges. "Or shall we put this to an end right now?"

GRAHAM narrows his eyes. "If you guys are so wise and dignified, maybe you should learn some patience." He glances over his shoulder at BERT, PAPRIKA, ODELLE, MARLEY, and KAMAL -- his friends, all of whom haven't achieved the safety of the other side, where the soft glow of AUGUST's joint is visible.

He's gotta buy himself some time.

"What do you think that end will be for your old pal PERIMEDES, huh?" he calls out. "Wanna find out?" He jostles his grip on the net again. "I’m not here to play games. You make your choice and I’ll make mine."

"If your choice is to drop our chief, then ours must necessarily be to kill you and all you came with. So it rather seems that the mall, as the mortals would say, is in your court."

Behind them, all of the parolees have now reached safety, leaving GRAHAM alone -- against their better judgment.

It's like a high-stakes scene straight out of Fast and Furious.

"Alright," GRAHAM says. "Up n’ attem, snob."

With all of his strength, he hauls PERIMEDES back onto the ledge, and books it.

Instantly, the CENTAUR HERD gallops after him, a rain of arrows showering toward GRAHAM's back. According to the plan, MARLEY begins to cut the ropes suspending the bridge --

And his tiny improvised pocketknife weapon works far better than he'd anticipated.

The old, withered ropes immediately begin to snap. The tension in the rope bridge decreases, dropping a sickening foot in midair. The CENTAURS gasp and skid to a halt, bumping into each other, and clumsily reverse their direction, sprinting back for the safety they just left.

And GRAHAM plummets, disappearing into the mist.

For a long minute there's only silence, as both the CENTAURS on one side of the chasm and the PAROLEES on the other stare into the gulf.

And then --

There are vines.

You hear GRAHAM's echoing voice against the side as the chasm as slithering vines begin to pull him back up from what would have been certain death. The vines barely can cross the chasm -- their home is on the other side, of course -- but still, they lift GRAHAM up, wrapping around his torso under his armpits, and gently nudge him to the top of the ledge, into the other PAROLEES' arms.

You've made it.

You've rescued CARRIE. You've rescued YSOLDA. You've made an enemy of the CENTAURS. You've discovered the truth of the world, and magic, and PINEFALLOW PARK.

You're safe.

And it's just the beginning.

Bloodied and bruised -- but alive -- you get the first chance to take a breather in the forest.

You're not entirely comfortable, remembering the possums -- imps -- and TOBY and KEN's tales of how you have no treaty protections outside the Yard. But the staff members all seem quite comfortable, looking to YSOLDA for direction, and you get the sense that perhaps most carnivorous creatures would not attempt to attack a fae.

As soon as she's away from the CENTAURS' eyes, YSOLDA sinks down against a tree and takes a shuddering breath. For a long moment, she holds her forehead against her knees.

But when she finally looks back up, her expression is strangely cheerful. Her eyes are bright and clear.

"Alright, then," she breathes. "We made it. Let's find my family."

She leads you through the forest, hobbling but refusing help, occasionally brushing her dainty hand against trucks and ivy and branches, following signs no one else can see. After a short way, she smiles and looks up. She trills in a language that sounds like windchimes.

Something shifts in the leaves, and suddenly, you can see the shape of two camouflaged fae.

One looks masculine; the other androgynous. Like YSOLDA, they are the two most beautiful people you have ever seen. It's distracting, staggering, unsettling. They embrace YSOLDA, and the three fae speak in a language you cannot understand, eventually waving CARRIE nearer, where they step aside and speak quietly in English.

YSOLDA peels away and approaches you.

"Thank you for helping me, brave mortals," she says softly. "All will be well now. These are scouts from my people; they will be taking me home."

"It's our pleasure, YSOLDA," says CHAMP, cheeks pink, beaming. "Anytime."

She gives a musical laugh behind her hand. "I hope not!"

Her attention turns to the crowd of PAROLEES. "I truly cannot thank you enough," she says. "But hopefully this will suffice."

YSOLDA steps forward.

She kisses GRAHAM on the cheek. "Thank you for protecting me."

She kisses PAPRIKA on the cheek. "Thank you for standing up for me."

She kisses BUTTERCUP on the cheek. "Thank you for encouraging me."

She kisses KODY on the cheek. "Thank you for carrying me."

She kisses ODELLE on the cheek. "Thank you for embracing me."

She kisses MARLEY on the cheek. "Thank you for your buddies of mud."

As she does, the two fae speaking with CARRIE stop their conversation immediately. Silently, they watch the line of kisses. They say nothing. Their expressions are inscrutable.

YSOLDA finishes and tosses a glance back their way. None of the three say anything, and CARRIE returns to the main group.

Bluntly, the Keeper says, "Tell me everything."

YSOLDA spins you the tale of her capture.

The day before CARRIE set out for a diplomacy meeting with the centaurs, YSOLDA was scouting in the forest. She spied a cloaked figure.

"It gave me such a terrible feeling," she says. "Many strange things walk these grounds, and yet something as simple as a figure in a cloak is never seen. I decided to follow."

YSOLDA witnessed the figure enter the CENTAURS' village, at which point she lost sight of it. She followed it the best she could into the village hall -- and the next thing that she knew, CENTAURS were racing in, levelling bows and shortswords at her, and accusing her of theft of the CENTAURS' sacred war horn.

"I didn't know anything about a horn," YSOLDA pleads, looking around the group, hoping you'll believe her. "Nothing. But they refused to believe me. They were incensed. They tied me to a post, and I thought I was done for -- until CARRIE arrived." She shoots a thankful glance. "I had never met the Keeper of Pinefallow Park before tonight, but I have heard tales of her wisdom, humor, cheerfulness, and tact."

CARRIE's expression stays grim as a tombstone.

"Unfortunately, the CENTAURS continued to hold onto the fact that they had caught me 'red-handed,' and, well... you witnessed the result."

There's silence.

CARRIE's expression hardens slightly. "A cloaked figure, you say. Someone you didn't recognize -- a stranger."

"That's not so weird!" KEN supplies. "It's a big park. It could've just been a prankster satyr or something." To the rest of the parolees, "Satyrs are jerks."

"Racist!" TOBY admonishes.

YSOLDA nods to CARRIE. "I am certain of it. And this was quite intentional. I saw them sneak into the CENTAURS' village clearly for one purpose. I know not what they would want with the sacred horn, but... whatever it may be, it is gone now. Into the aether."

"The CENTAURS have acted dishonorably," spits the androgynous fae.

KEN looks back and forth between the fae, fretful. "You're not going to like..." He draws a finger over his throat. "Right? There's not going to be more fighting?"

The two fae scouts look aside, expressions bitter.

"Perhaps in the past," YSOLDA says gently. "No longer. Fae were once one of the most populous, most powerful, and even most feared species to walk the earth. We fill the mortals' myths and dreams. But things... changed for us millennia ago."

"Sister," a fae admonished. "Our secrets are our own."

"They saved me," she replies simply, and turns back to you. "Long ago, in a mighty battle, the Fae King was destroyed by the Demon King. Many of our greatest warriors and armies were killed or taken. Without our King and our Crown, we have not thrived since. We live in relatively peaceful yet small enclaves, such as here at Pinefallow."

There is solemn silence. Then CARRIE takes YSOLDA's hand.

"I'm glad that I was able to help," she says. "I'm sorry that you went through this tonight. But we'll make this right."

TOBY blinks. "Make it right?"

CARRIE looks around at the group. "The treaty," she says. "By their actions over the past week, we have a good stance to argue that the CENTAURS have violated the peace. As punishment, we could alter the treaty to restrict the CENTAURS to their territory."

"Restrict?" asks TOBY.

"Right. Right now, they have access the land they've staked as their territory, but they can also roam the rest of the park. But we can lessen their access on grounds of their warlike actions. This way, they would only be able to roam within their own territory, and not the rest of the forest."

"An interesting proposition...," murmurs the masculine fae.

"Right," says TOBY flatly. "Interesting."

"I'd feel a lot safer," CHAMP confesses.

YSOLDA looks at the parolees. "Do they get a say?" she asks.

CARRIE blinks. It takes her a second to wrap her mind around the question. "A say?"

"They too are victims of the horsemen. But they are also rescuers. I believe they should be a part of this decision."

CARRIE is silent for a long time. She looks you over. And in that moment, in her eyes, you can see the truth.

You've saved her tonight. But she does not trust you. Not yet.

"Alright," she says slowly. "We'll put it to vote."

Unspoken: I'm interested to see how this turns out.

Dawn begins to blush above the trees, and the fae agree to escort you to the Yard for your own safety. It seems that dangerous magickal creatures roam the park no matter the time of day.

Much has happened. In one singular night, everything you knew about the world has been proved wrong. And so many wonderful and terrible new truths have been revealed.

You've never been so relieved to see the tranquil Yard and the beautiful, picturesque cabin. You climb over the bushes, back into safety. CARRIE hangs back for a split second to bid the fae farewell.

But after the fae have disappeared into the forest, you hear her murmur something under her breath.

"Cloaked intruders...

Could it be?"

Season One, Part One, will be posted on August 26.