Wilcroft Chronicles: The Waterfall Warrior

By Owen B Lewis

Hannah is a hotel worker, who struggles with depression after a trauma in her childhood and a toxic ex-boyfriend.

Callum is a student, questioning his own sanity since a strange young man appeared on the other side of his mirror.

When Hannah disappears, her brother Callum determines to find her. His journey leads him to Epping Forest and a mysterious waterfall. But Hannah has fallen through a portal to another world. Together with a Warrior called Fay, she must unveil the secret of the ancient prophecy before Therrhain is destroyed...

The Waterfall Warrior is a YA fantasy novel that also tackles normal day-to-day themes, such as discrimination and mental health. The central plot is that Hannah falls into another world which is both similar and very different to our own, and we experience this strange new place with her. At the same time, we also see the repercussions as Callum and the rest of her family do their best to cope with her disappearance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Sep 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9781800466296

Owen B Lewis

Owen B. Lewis lives in Bristol. Before going to University, Owen worked as a support worker. He has personal and professional experience of mental health and has combined this knowledge with his love of fantasy in creating this novel.

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Copyright © 2021 Owen B. Lewis

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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ISBN 9781800466296

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Cover artwork designed by Yu-Hsuan Tseng

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To George, Mum and Dad

Contents

Cross Paths

Train Thoughts

Cobbles End

Café Conversations

Wilcroft

Broken Glass

Christmas

Osrell

Epping Forest

The Bridge

The Prophecy

The Bookshop

Carol’s Conflict

Aquatic Falls

Mirrors

The Wrong Warrior

Rescue

Home

i

Cross Paths

Hannah

Walking through the forest brought back so many memories. It seemed smaller than it had when I was a child. I remembered the time I had fallen over a branch, the one that was still sticking out menacingly between the trees. It had made me fall and cut my knee. I had cried for hours.

I used to play there with Chloe, Laura and Callum. They were my only friends back then. It was a time in my life before I realised you could have friends that were not part of your family. We used to use sticks as swords and playfight with each other. We even made dens with blankets.

There was a house there that looked as though it was about to collapse. It used to belong to my grandparents, Grumbles and Numbles I called them for some strange reason. Back then I used to think this forest was their garden.

When I passed this area, I could almost smell the cooked dinner that my grandmother used to make. It had always tasted as good as it smelt. My mouth was watering. The memory cheered me up but not for long.

I was now further into the forest. I wasn’t very familiar with this part. We were told to never cross this point when we were kids, or we would be in very serious trouble. It was hard to believe it now, as this part of the woods felt very innocent and peaceful compared with the rest. The ground was flatter, there were no stones to graze your knees if you fell, and no hills to climb and fall down.

I came across the stump of a tree. It was right in the middle, all by itself. Lines of trees standing tall on either side of it, squashed together like sardines.

I went and sat down on the stump. Without even a thought I broke down and cried for about ten minutes. I didn’t understand why I suddenly felt so upset. I was feeling low, but I didn’t think I was as bad as all that. Then something startled me. The strangest, but most beautiful sound. Someone was singing.

I looked up and tried to get a sense of where it was coming from. I wiped my eyes and jumped up. I then walked in what I believed to be the right direction. The voice was getting louder and louder as I delved even deeper into the forest.

Eventually I came to the top of a small cliff, which was odd because I thought I was on low ground. Perhaps this was the area our grandparents never wanted us to reach. All the times I had come back to roam this forest as an adult, whenever I was feeling down, I’d never come across this part. I’d never known it existed. I was still in the forest, but there were fewer trees about. I looked down and saw a waterfall. The sun gleaming down made the water sparkle. It looked magical but something didn’t seem right. I didn’t think there were waterfalls like this in England. I stared at it, mesmerised, but then I heard it again and looked down. The woman was sitting at the bottom of the waterfall. The singing seemed to be coming from her.

I made my way down the slope and walked quietly as close as I could get to hear her singing more clearly. When I was near her, I hid behind a bush and watched her as she sat gracefully in the pool of water. I could now see her more clearly. Her eyes were bluer than the water next to her. They were more like sapphires. Her face looked soft, but her body was strongly built.

When she sang, it sounded unlike any language I had ever heard before. The melody was more appealing than anything I would hear on my car radio. Time stood still and for the first time in my life, my mind was not focussing on the past or the future. I was just enjoying what was happening to me right now.

I decided to give her a name. I called her the Waterfall Warrior. She was dressed in a leather top, trousers and boots, with armour protecting her chest. Her arms covered with gauntlets. Still and dignified.

She suddenly stopped singing and stood up. There was a sword hanging from her belt. I crouched even further behind the bush, scared she might see me. From what I could make out, her eyes were gazing at the forest.

Eventually she stopped and turned around. She walked towards the waterfall, stepped through, and vanished.

I waited for a few minutes to see if she would appear again. She didn’t, so I got up, brushed the dirt from my knees, took a leaf from my hair and scurried towards the waterfall.

I stepped into the pool that she’d been standing in just a few moments ago. The water felt comforting. I wasn’t expecting that sort of reaction. I slowly walked closer to the waterfall. I reached out my hand and placed the tips of my fingers under the falling water. It felt cool and tranquil. Next minute I placed my whole hand inside. I felt there was something luring me in.

Once I got inside, the water behind me was trickling down like drizzly rain. This side of the waterfall felt very different. More gravel and no trees. It was dark and looked like the inside of a cave. I crouched and wrapped my arms around myself. I wanted to head back but was intrigued by who the Waterfall Warrior was. I wanted to know her real name and where she came from.

Ahead of me there was a round pool of water. It was bubbling out of a bricked surface and looked like the shape of a small jacuzzi from a mediaeval setting.

As I got closer, I could see whirls of purple colours circling in the blue water, like nothing I had ever seen before. I wanted to reach out my hand. Suddenly, I could feel my face moving closer and closer and my chin getting wet. Next minute my whole face and body was sucked in and under the water.

I felt as though I was descending on a slide, but the speed of it made it feel more as though I was on a rollercoaster. All I could see were lights and dashing colours. I didn’t know what was happening to me. I screamed and closed my eyes.

*

‘Are you all right?’ said a voice.

My eyes opened; my vision was slightly blurry. In front of me I could see an outline of someone. I rubbed my eyes a few times. I could see more clearly now. Staring down at me was a face. It was her. The Waterfall Warrior. I crawled backwards.

‘It’s okay,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to hurt you.’

I didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure whether to trust her or not. She had a sword, at the end of the day.

‘Are you lost?’ she asked.

I didn’t respond straight away, even though I wanted to.

‘Well?’ she prompted.

‘I’m not sure,’ I said. ‘I was in a forest, and I came across a waterfall and you were there.’

I pointed straight at her and she looked puzzled. I told her everything that had just happened in the cave.

The Waterfall Warrior stared intently at me.

‘I don’t like it when people lie to me,’ she said.

‘I’m not lying!’ I exclaimed. I pulled out my shirt to show I was wet but then I held back, as I realised I was dry as a desert.

I closed my eyes ready for her to slice me in half.

‘I’ve got to go,’ she said.

I opened my eyes and took a quick glance around the cave. I realised it was much smaller than the one I had been in. No further holes or corners to investigate, just a gap for an entrance. No sign of a pool to transport me back to where I came from. The part we were in was literally the whole cave.

‘What do I do? I don’t know how to get back,’ I panicked.

‘Come with me,’ she said.

She held out her hand and without even thinking I clutched on to it for comfort.

We ran together out of the small cave and into a forest. It still had lots of trees and grass scattered everywhere, but the colours were different. The leaves were purple, and the grass was blue. It had been the middle of the day, but now the sky was getting dark, so I assumed it must be early evening.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked.

She didn’t say anything. She just continued running. I struggled to keep up with her.

When she eventually stopped, we were next to an enormous tree. It was probably the largest tree in this forest, though I wasn’t certain. All that running had made the trees blur into one.

The Waterfall Warrior looked at me and frowned, then turned her head and stared at the tree. I think my heavy breathing was annoying her.

She had her eyes closed and was saying words that I couldn’t understand. Suddenly a passage appeared in the trunk of the tree and she walked through it. I just stared in amazement. Then she popped her head out.

‘Come on!’ she said. ‘Get in, quickly!’

I cautiously followed her inside the tree. I found myself standing at the top of a spiral staircase that led down from the trunk.

‘Follow me,’ she said.

It was bigger than it looked from the outside. There were orange glows from candle lamps hanging from the walls, but it was still dark.

‘I’m Hannah,’ I said. ‘What’s your name?’

She didn’t turn around to talk to me, but she did reply.

‘My name is Fay Redhorn. I am one of the Warriors left after the Lorek War, but don’t be alarmed. I mean no harm.’ She said this as if I should know what the Lorek War was.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked her.

‘I’m taking you to see Peter Shackle. He may be able to help you.’

None of this made any sense but I had no choice but to follow her.

We reached the bottom of the stairs. A door stood in front of us. Fay Redhorn opened it and we both stepped inside.

It felt as though we’d entered the hallway to someone’s house. Perhaps we had.

‘Hello!’ came a voice from behind an archway that led to another room.

Fay walked through, and so I followed.

I gasped at what I saw. An owl the size of an average human was sitting comfortably on an armchair. He was wearing glasses and was dressed in an elegant velvet dressing gown. Cushions were poking out behind his back; his feathers were somehow holding a book, the likes of which covered the shelves behind him. It looked more like a library than a living room.

‘Who’s this, Fay?’ asked the owl as he stared at me with curiosity.

The owl could speak. I thought I was going mad.

Fay told him who I was and what I had told her – about how I had fallen through a pool of water and just appeared here without any knowledge of how it had happened.

‘Take a seat, both of you,’ he said.

Fay went to sit opposite the owl, and I followed. My hands were shaking.

As soon as I’d sat down, the owl introduced himself as Peter Shackle. ‘What is your name?’ he asked kindly.

‘Hannah,’ I said. ‘Hannah Barrington.’

‘Hannah?’ he asked with interest, taking off his spectacles and staring at me intently. ‘Could you spell that for me, please?’

‘H-A-N-N-A-H,’ I said, and he copied it down in a notebook.

He then asked me to describe what I had felt and seen when I’d fallen through the pool. I looked down at my knees when I spoke. I told the same story that I had told Fay. Once I’d stopped talking, I looked up at the owl. I took in his face more clearly. His posture was graceful, and his eyebrows were narrowed over his orange eyes.

‘It sounds to me like you have passed through a portal, my dear.’

I just looked at him and didn’t say anything. I must have looked scared, as his expression turned from daunting to hospitable.

‘If my assumption is true, then you have travelled here from another dimension. Tell me what the name of your world is?’

‘Earth,’ I said, without a moment of hesitation.

Peter Shackle just stared at me. Then his beak gave a little twitch.

‘How do I get back to where I came from?’ I asked.

‘You will have to go and see a great friend of mine. She works at the University of Wilcroft, in Crystal City. She should be able to help you.’

‘Is it far? How do I get there?’

‘It’s quite a journey. You can go there with Fay, tomorrow. She’s heading there herself.’

Getting home wasn’t going to be quick and easy. My heart sank. I felt sick and scared. This whole experience was making my head spin. Part of me wanted to just get up and leave, but I couldn’t. I had no other choice. This was my only hope, to listen to a talking owl.

‘You can sleep in Fay’s room,’ he said. ‘There’s plenty of cushions and blankets lying about.’

‘Thank you,’ I said. I felt tearful. I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t. I started to cry. Like I had earlier in the forest in my own world, but this time I felt even more sad.

‘There, there, my dear,’ said Peter. ‘Fay, go and make Hannah a conker melt.’

‘What’s a conker melt?’ I asked, my crying starting to settle.

‘The finest drink this forest has to offer,’ he hooted. His eyes grew even bigger, showing a slight glint of madness.

Fay got up and left the room.

‘Don’t worry,’ said Peter. ‘My good friend Carol Wells will look after you. She’s a dimensionologist and a lecturer. She teaches Other Lands of Worldography at Wilcroft University. Her knowledge is far greater than mine on this kind of subject. She should be able to figure out what’s happened to you, and how to get you back home safe. I’ll write a letter, which you can take with you to hand over to Carol, which will explain everything.’

I just nodded and forced a smile.

‘Fay’s going there to learn Zephyr euphony, a course on all the instruments and sounds from this universe. I had a word with the university and managed to get her in. I have done that university many favours in the past, so it was about time they did one for me. She’s a Warrior, but even Warriors deserve a chance to experience something other than war.’

Fay walked in and handed me a cup. Inside were swirls of chocolate and conkers. That’s what it looked like anyway. I just stared at it for a while.

‘Go on, drink it up,’ Peter encouraged me.

I brought the cup to my mouth and took a sip. It tasted incredible – like chestnuts mixed with salted caramel. I gulped down the rest and then gave my lips a wipe.

‘You enjoyed that, didn’t you?’ Peter chuckled.

‘Yes,’ I said. Fay gave me a smile.

‘I’m going to continue reading if you both don’t mind. Then I’ll make a start on that letter. Fay, why don’t you show Hannah upstairs? Take some bread and jam up with you if you are feeling peckish.’

Fay stood up.

‘Come on, Hannah, let’s go.’

I got up and smiled at Peter.

‘Thank you,’ I said, and then followed Fay out of the room.

Fay didn’t go to the kitchen to get the bread and jam. She went straight for the stairs, and we climbed. Once we reached the top, she took me into her bedroom. The room was an oval shape. It was small and cosy. There was a bed, a cupboard, a desk and some cushions on the floor.

Fay went and sat down on the bed. I stayed standing, feeling anxious.

‘You can sit down as well if you like,’ said Fay.

‘Okay, thanks.’

I sat down next to her and for the third time that day I cried.

‘Crying is good,’ she said. ‘It shows you care about something.’

Eventually I calmed down. I looked straight into Fay’s sapphire eyes.

‘I don’t know how, but I saw you in my world before I got sucked into yours.’ She just continued looking back at me. ‘You were singing a beautiful song.’

‘That’s right, I was,’ she said. ‘But I was never in your world. Maybe my spirit crossed paths.’

I just shrugged. I didn’t know how to respond.

Fay got up and opened her cupboard door. She took out some blankets and placed them down near her bed, next to where her cushions were resting.

‘There you go,’ she said. ‘Your bed for the evening.’ I just looked at her and sighed. ‘Well, at least try to look grateful, even if you’re not feeling it.’

‘Sorry, I am grateful,’ I said. ‘It’s just a bit overwhelming. So much has happened that I wasn’t expecting.’

‘I know, I’m sorry,’ said Fay. She sat back down next to me on the bed. ‘I should be more sensitive. I just don’t really understand all this stuff. Portals and other worlds. I never go through them myself.’

I didn’t say it, but I was thinking that I didn’t tend to travel through portals on a daily basis either. This was a brand-new experience for me as well. I thought she would have understood that.

‘You’re supposed to have qualifications and passports before travelling through them, so I have heard. But it sounds like you just went through one by accident.’

‘That’s right,’ I said. I started to get teary again.

‘Hey, come on, I thought you were starting to feel better,’ said Fay.

‘Sorry, it’s just the realisation kicking in that I might never see my mum or my dad again, or my brother and sisters.’

Fay just gave me a sympathetic smile.

‘I lost my parents in the war, and my brother.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said.

‘It’s fine. I have learnt to overcome such things. As Warriors we are brought up to accept it’s normal to fight but when I saw them die, I just wanted to run away, to escape. Peter rescued me. He took me in and looked after me. He gave me a new home, a better home, and now tomorrow he’s giving me another chance to start a new life. Peter Shackle is a good man.’

He’s a bloody eccentric owl, I thought to myself, but he did seem a nice person.

I was also confused how she spoke of being a warrior as if that was her species. ‘What were you doing in the cave?’ I asked her.

‘I go there to sing and remember the loved ones I have lost. I like to have a place that I can go to, to have time to myself.’

I told Fay what Peter had told me about joining her on her journey to Wilcroft tomorrow, and how he thought a woman called Carol Wells could help me get home.

Fay smiled at me, her pleasure reaching right to her eyes. ‘See, I told you Peter is a good man. I’m sure there’s a way to get you back. This Carol person must know what to do. If Peter trusts her, you should too.’

I smiled at Fay.

‘Right, well, it’s getting late,’ she said. ‘Don’t know about you, but I need to rest for the journey tomorrow.’

I nodded in agreement. I got off the bed, bent down and lay on the floor, placing my head on the cushions and the blanket over my body.

‘Night,’ said Fay.

‘Goodnight,’ I replied.

Fay turned out the candles in her room. I closed my eyes. At first, I couldn’t nod off. My mind was replaying all the peculiar things that had happened that evening for what seemed like hours – but eventually I must have fallen into a deep sleep.

*

The sun was peering through the gap in Fay’s curtains. I slowly opened my eyes, trying to shield them from the light. Fay was already up.

‘Morning,’ she said.

‘Morning,’ I replied.

‘Come on, let’s get going. We have a big day ahead of us.’

The sword in the corner of the room didn’t scare me anymore. I felt Fay was growing to trust me. She reminded me of my sister Chloe in some ways. She was sweet, but quite bossy. Thinking about it, so was Peter Shackle.

I observed Fay closely. She looked about my age, but I think she was closer to Callum’s. She had a young face but seemed very mature and grounded. I couldn’t imagine how I would cope in a war, but then I wasn’t a warrior. Fay talked as if it were in her blood to fight, like she was born to do it. I thought I might question her more about it when we set off on our journey to Crystal City. After all, it could help pass the time.

‘Fay! Hannah! Are you up?’ cried Peter from downstairs.

Fay shouted that we would be down soon. She then showed me where I could shower and get dressed and let me wear one of her T-shirts and jeans. She dressed in a similar fashion, making her look even more like my sister.