Exploring NeverLand!

Neverland, a land that thrives on the imagination of humankind specially kids is weakening as technology is taking place in the dreams rather than breathtaking imaginary stories and Metal is a deadly poison to NeverLand. The growing demand of technology is Metal-lashing the NeverLand. A land in alternate dimension that used to stand strong between human world and the Downworlder.

Downworlder are nightwalkers, blood suckers, demons, werewolves, and all the evil that can destroy humanity. Albeit NeverLand is a part Downworld but part human as well. Nightwalkers wants to rule the world, bite each human either to kill them or convert them into one of them, since NeverLand is standing between their dreams, they are attacking NeverLand with all their might when NeverLand is already weakening. It is Nephilim’s, (who are part human and part Angel) duty to save humans from Downworlder but because the Clave* signed an accord** which restrict them to kill a Downworlder unless they are attacking a human or seen near the vicinity of a human.

Nightwalker is attacking Faeries of NeverLand and if they succeed in taking over NeverLand then they will unleash demons and all the evil on humankind and there won’t be any saving for us so it is the high time that a human enters NeverLand and save it to save Humankind and I am chosen for the job. I didn’t know all my training of my twenty-two something years was for this precise moment. I am one of the only few people who have ‘the sight’, who can see clearly in NeverLand, distinguish between reality and figment of imagination, and I am chosen because of my strong will because NeverLand is ambiguous, constantly changing with one’s imagination and will power. My father, the India’s representative in Interpol along with each Interpol General Secretariat believes that I am their last hope; they can send only one person through the portal to NeverLand which takes a lot of energy to open hence can be open once in four years so yes I have no army at my disposal only one other Nephilim who was sent to NeverLand 4 years ago. And you heard me right, Interpol does believe in this gibberish, I would have waved it off and walk out of the door if I wasn’t already excited to explore a different enchanting dimension.

Times slow down to almost constant in NeverLand hence it’s impossible to age and deduce the time period. NeverLand is addictive; it calls to you and once you enter you’d never want to leave. It grows on your thoughts which consume your human essence and you become a NeverLand creature day by day, slowly gradually. NeverLand is mainly a realm of Summer and Winter Faeries, their queens rule it and are hostile to each other mostly. It is a dwelling places of several magical creatures I have no clue about because one has to explore it themselves to know the truth.

When it was time to leave, my dad handed me the keys of his new TATA SAFARI STORME explorer edition, “this will ensure your safety.” He told me in full faith. I looked at him dubiously, it was his SUV and I loved it but I am afraid I might ruin it in the fight that is calling to me but he told me not to worry it is equipped with all the safety equipments I would need. Metal is a poison to Neverland so I don’t understand the logic of storming around in Safari Storm there! Well I just need to keep my faith on elders and my new SUV. Here I come NeverLand. You won’t believe what is the portal to NeverLand, it is my Garage door, yes I ran my Safari Storm right into it but didn’t hit anything but passed right through it.

My eyes popped out as soon as I entered NeverLand, it is a lot more then I can ever imagine, like I landed into some high budget magical fairy tale, I could hear the twittering of musical birds, land was covered with lush green grass and there were trees, so green that it looks like that it’s ready to drip the green syrup. I saw a purple beautiful roots entangles with pink flowers and drove towards them realizing a bit too late that they were deadly vines; I hit the brake just in time and quickly reserves the Safari, front ventilated brakes just saved me. Then I was startled by the voice at the driver’s window.

“You have a death wish or something human?” A boy not very older than me in raven black coat and pants with gray tee shirt peeking out, there were two silver blades at his back secured in crisscross, he shouted at me then smirked at my ride “New Safari? Sweet. How I miss the world outside” I started at him, was he crazy. All he could see was my SUV. Hello, I am here.

“Hello, you mind? Staring is rude.” I countered after sliding down the window glass.
That’s when he noticed me again “Oh right. I am Aviral and you must be Ankita. I was told you would come after four years with necessary equipments as you know Nephilims can’t bring tools other than our silver blades with us into NeverLand. So, you bought everything to win this fight?”

I merely shrugged and eyed my SUV and he narrowed his eye to it “Metal, not bad, will keep us out of trouble from bad faeries which are on Downworlder side.” He went at the back to inspect the bicycle secured in cycle carrier and continued, “Are you aware that there are Faeries that are supporting the nightwalkers, they have let them drink their blood now nightwalkers can navigate through NeverLand easily moreover the killer mermaids and acid birds are not harming them since they can’t perceive them as threat with faerie blood running in their veins.” And these little deadly Vines are useless as long as they stay out of its way and Nightwalker’s are smart so you need to glamour*** yourself as faerie with pointy hears.” He said it all so casually like we were discussing the weather and to think of it, it feels refreshing here, air is so clean that I just can’t get enough of breathing it in. It’s light and fragrant.

“Don’t overdo it, you will get addicted. Rule no. 1 to survive in NeverLand. Don’t let it see your true feelings. NeverLand can read your actions and when it does, you will never be able to leave. It will suck your soul.” He stated offhandedly. What’s up with this guy, everything is casual to him then his words sunk deep in when I understood its true meaning.

“We don’t have much time; I have been able to ward off many Nightwalkers by riling them in attacking me so that I can kill them without breaking the accord. But I can’t rile all of them at once or I am toast. We have much work to do and we start with summer court.” He told me signalling me to give him the steering wheel and we drove away. I was happy to oblige as I wanted to take in the enchanting Neverland. I saw the waterfall so clear that the purest diamond will shy away from it and then there was a rainbow, so clear that it felt like a dream. Flowers of so many different kinds were covering the lush land, sunlight was peeking through clouds making the water fall sparkle like a huge diamond fall and suddenly it went dark. Flowers were withered, leaved went dry.

“What is happening?” I exclaimed in alarm. Aviral cursed under him breath, we are under attack. Then I saw blurred figures of at least 20 nightwalkers running towards us, they were so fast and horrible. My breath caught “Are we gonna fight?” I whispered.

“No we gonna storm away at 156 Kmph.” He smirked and that we did. As we were surrounded by metal so none of the NeverLand creatures dared to approach us and the SUV speed picked faster than the nightwalkers. Just so you know, they are fast, almost as fast as light. They are also known as vampires in my world. Aviral told me that they can only come out in night and with Faeries blood in then they can manipulate the time here. NeverLand had no fixed time of day and night; it depends on the will of the surrounding inhibiting creatures and wildlife. As we approached the Summur court the dark started to clear out and the bright sunlight gleamed the summer Castle which was made of emeralds and breathtaking. Aviral said I can be real inside my Safari as it checked NeverLand to get inside my mind but we cannot approach the court in it for it might cause serious damage to the castle so we parked the SUV and took the bicycle which is specially made to survive on this mythical mysterious land. Aviral doesn’t need any bicycle; he is fast already, almost as fast as Nightwakers.

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In summer court I saw Faeries for the first time, they had pointed ears and enchanting smile that draws you in but if you have the sight then you can also see their razor sharp teeth concealed with glamour. Their eyes were evil; a shiver ran down my spine. Summer court is the nice friendly court and if the creatures here are so terrifying then I do shudder by the name of winter court. It was rather hot in here and I was sweating.

A mesmerizing tinker bell look-alike approached me with a drink “Are you parched young lady?” she giggled in high pitch. As soon as I approached towards the drink Aviral stopped me “If you drink or eat anything here without putting a condition first then you will never leave this castle. Same goes for winter castle.” UGH! So many rules, but I like it here, we were escorted to the best rooms I can ever imagine, far better than Beverly hills Lounges. And after putting up many conditions we had a lavish meal afterwards the Summer Queen met us. The court was even more beautiful and no one could look at the queen directly, her enigma was very bright almost hurting eyes. I was given a Summer shield, specially made by the queen which had the same enigmatic powers as her. She promised that it will help me in fetching the sunlight to destroy the Nightwakers,but it will take a lot of focus. It is impossible to deduce time here so I cannot tell how long we stayed here but Aviral said it was long enough to not get addicted. I do not get his obsession with the word addiction, I rather like it here and wouldn’t mind spending my whole life here. That’s when he pointed out that ‘this’ was addiction and I realized how it was gaining on me. Se we camped outside the castle near to our SUV. Aviral opened the canopy attached to the roof of the SUV for the shade and we took rest. It was a long day and I already felt tired. After sleeping for sometime Aviral said it’s time to head towards the winter court.

And the route to winter Castle wasn’t as pleasing as Summer castle. I think we drove for days, it certainly felt like it. The robust navigation system of the SUV helped us to head towards the right direction, yes I know no technology works in Neverland, not even the watch but this one was surrounded by the metal body of SUV hence the NeverLand couldn’t touch it, now I know why I am given my dad’s favorite ride, but the clock has stopped at time here is constant. As soon as we reached the dividing point of summer and winter I saw the difference. The temperature was probably -10 degree Celsius outside. After running the heater on it was pleasing inside the SUV and the rich leather linings helped in creating relaxing space. Where the summer side of NeverLand was lush green and blossoming, winter land was frozen and grey-white, there was either snow or dry trees with snow crystals hanging then suddenly several neon bulbs switched on, Aviral said they are special fire flies that lit up the land, they were is so many different colours that the drab vista turned into a mesmerizing dream. The snow crystals were reflecting off the lights, making it a disco balls. We drove for another day probably.

“How big is NeverLand?” I asked Aviral
“The NeverLand is vast, much, much larger than the mortal world. Perhaps infinite.” He told me. “One can get lost here very easily. Because right now we are in metal we are not confromted by the evil creatures of NeverLand otherwise it is very difficult to walk even a mile without getting involved in dozens of fights first.”
“How did you survive this horrid place?” I asked in wonder.
“I was trained to fight such wars all my life. I can take care of myself.” He said in utter confidence, I can see that he can take care of himself but isn’t that unfair that we humans enjoy and such young souls have to sacrifice so much for our safety, we have no time from partying where boys like him never even had a good night sleep. I saw his eyes and saw that they were alert, they were always alert, he was always vigilant, ready to jump on him enemies. My heart goes to him but have to keep my emotions in check, I don’t want to give my weakness away and for some strange reason this stranger became my weakness, only weakness.

Winter castle was made of ice and was huge, looked never ending and no one inside was wearing fur, I have put on the fur coat I brought here from the mortal world. Aviral doesn’t need anything; he said he can live in this temperature. By the gate we greeted by winter faeries and my sweet lord they were more horrid than one can ever imagine they didn’t even bother to conceal their true identities by glamour. As we walked down the court, each faerie was giving us a hungry look and eyeing Aviral as if he were their only saving grace or only last meal on planet. And their queen, the great Winter queen who was known for her temper sent chills down my spine. She was as pale as snow, her eyes were so big that one could fall in them but if you look longer then it will give you shock you can’t bear so I averted my gaze in time. Her nails were so large and pointy and she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She gave me a sword of ice which when compiled with summer shield will help me in accessing the powers of Neverland. Summer and Winter court are enemies but this is the problem they have to fight off together to survive hence they were less hostile towards us. We refused to eat here as we had enough food in our SUV provided by summer court, food of winter is known to make one sick. We took our leave as soon as I got the sword.

On the way to Winter Court, dark and spooky route

Winter Castle

Winter Queen

Never River

Water Faerie I found at Never River

Wretched Mermaid who gave me the Eternal Pearl

Our next stop is the Never river, there I have to seek out a mermaid that looks like an angel but speaks like a demon.
“How are we going to get down there?” I looked down the cliff, the Never river is the lowest part of NeverLand and there is only one way to it, this cliff.
“We are going to climb down.” Aviral said as he took out the rope from back of the SUV and secured it via hook on the roof rail of the SUV and pulled it many times to check it’s strength.
“Are you out of your mind!” I shouted at him but he simple said, “You are supposed to have faith in it” he pointed at the SUV “and in yourself.” He pointed at me. I took a deep breath.
“Don’t worry, I am going down first, you can proceed after me. I will be right behind you if something goes wrong.” He reassured me so we climbed down the cliff for that wretched mermaid.

“This was epic!” I exclaimed of huffed with exertion but this was an ultimate experience, so exhilarating. I saw above be but can’t see the top, yes this mountain is that high and I am on high adrenaline. We move towards the river, each droplet on the lotus leave was like music, even the leaves were wrestling in tune. Butterfly in pink and blue were covering trees like a velvet couch. The water was so blue with specks of sea green into it. I ran right into it, it was so soft and refreshing.
“I would get out of it if I were you.” Aviral mused
“Oh, but it’s quite nice in here.” I said spashing some of the water at him, he back few steps.
“It’s because of the river Faeries, they are small but their teeth are quite sharp.” He said just as I screamed ‘OWW’ and he laughed and little river faeries emerge whistling and biting me. I ran out of it as fast as I could. We explored the river back for long when we finally found the mermaid we were seeking, she was as beautiful as an angel but when she opened her mouth, her serpent tongue rolled out. She gave me an Eternal pearl hanging around her neck; it was so rare that the next one like this will be formed after approx. three centuries. I took the pearl secured it my chain around my neck, it is supposed to keep me safe as Nightwalkers dread pearl and this one has power to ward of hundreds of nightwalkers. Then we climbed back up and rode in our SUV for the war.

“It’s show time. Buckle up.” Aviral told me as he switched on the hard rock music of the SUV, I looked at him dubiously but he just nodded towards the far end. There I could see many Nighwalkers drifting towards us and we were zooming away for the Blessed meadow, a meadow we have chosen to fight our war. It is a place where the rules of all the dimensions meet; it is the most secured and enchanted placed with many protections. Aviral said hard rock attracts evil then he winked and I smiled. It’s show time baby.

By the time we reached the meadow we had almost every Nightwalker present on the NeverLand on our tail.
“Listen Ankita, I cannot kill them unless they attack you and they won’t attack you because of the pearl you are wearing. But I will guard you with my life and if something goes wrong, god forbid then promise me you will drive away. Keep driving in north and play the flute music, soon Peter pan will appear and will take you out of NeverLand, you have to promise, and when I ask you to run you run.” His eyes were so intense that they were almost burning. I looked at his face and know that I won’t run, my planet need me, I am not a coward. When I came here I knew there is only one option and that is winning and I will win or die in the process. But I won’t run. Reading my expressions he said “You are our only hope, if you run then you can come again, more prepared.” But I opened the door and stepped out. We walked to the front of the SUV by keeping our backs secure by it as its metal and Nightwalkers have Faerie blood in then and they will burn if they touch metal.

Nightwalker’s Army

Nightwalkers, Downworlders.

What happened next is beyond explanation, they all came running towards me but froze few feet away by the glow my pearl necklace was eliminating, I needed to do something so approached then in full speed and slashed each one of them with my Ice sword. Aviral was at my tail slashing the Nighlwalkers who were getting unfrozen and about to attack me. After slashing around hundreds of them I started to get tired but they were not reducing. Suddenly I found myself trapped all around by them, Aviral saw no way out so asked me to run while he try to avert their attention but didn’t budge and closed my eyes and focused on the summer shield, no matter how hard I try the sunlight won’t come, it was dark and Nightwalkers were gaining on us then I focused on all the happiest memories I have, the face of my mother, our daily meals together, I remembered the eyes of my father and proud and faith brimming in it. I saw myself smiling and at last I saw Aviral’s face smiling down at me and then I felt the warmth and open my eyes. Sun was up and bright and each Nightwalker around me was burning, air was stinking but I was happy. Finally we did save the NeverLand.

When we both came back to our mortal world, I was beyond happy. Not only I succeeded in our mission but also explored the NeverLand without getting a single scratch on my dad’s beloved Safari Storme explorer edition.

♠♠♠♠♠

*The Clave : A group of leaders of each dimension, of Mortal world, of NeverLAnd, of Downlworld, of Nephilims and of space.
**Accord Signed : It was signed to main the peace and harmony between each dimension. Under that No one can harm each other unless one is attacking humans or the other dimension.
***Glamour : To disguise oneself with will and concentration, and that stays on you and only someone more stronger willed person can see through it.
PS– NeverLand is the extended part of Downworld but falls under the same dimension.

This Fantasy-Fiction is inspired by  ‘I am Explorer’ contest sponsored by Tata Safari Storme on Indiblogger.
For more info, on the TATA SAFARI STORME EDITION please visit : www.tatasafari.com/

©Ankita Singhal 2013