As I returned to the living room, I sat down the various bowls and took a deep breath. “I will be honest. I… don’t really remember clearly exactly what happened next.” Soot glided onto my shoulder. “I’m not surprised about that. The moment they got inside, both of them slammed you with several charms in rapid succession to figure out how much you knew about S. You’re resistant to magic Mistress, but not resistant enough to shrug off the full might from two Fae Nobles working in tandem. At least, not back then. These days, who can say.”
I reached up and patted him gently. “Mind taking over the tale, then, since I can’t really recount things until they leave.” Soot ruffled his feathers in delight at my pats. “Sure, it’s not that long anyhow.”
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The two stepped inside with supernatural grace and, after a brief hesitation, made themselves at home on the couch. Mistress sat down in her chair, and Midnight hopped into her lap, where she eyed the two warily. “So, mind telling me why you are here?” Mistress seemed rather curt still, not surprising given everything. I flew over to my roost where I would have a clear view of the room.
The two glanced at one another. “It has come to our attention that a member of my beloved Erydhe’s court has gotten two of her pet Wargs killed by an ‘upstart mortal’ I believe the word was, for no reason. Simultaneously, we got a complaint from Lady Nettle of Nettledale where the selfsame Fae apparently also tortured the bestie of one of her fellow pixies, the familiar of said mortal. Given the conflicting claims, we felt compelled to investigate personally. As to avoid a biased ruling.” Given Erydhe’s expression, it was clear she would rather rule in favor of the Fae rather than investigate. However, given Nettles unique position and high rank in the court, it would seem she didn’t have a choice.
Mistress leaned back in her chair, and I could see Midnight tense up even as Mistress gave her a reassuring pat. “And so you came out here to get some clarity from the affected party, namely said ‘upstart mortal’ as you said.” Ilmahir gave her a polite nod in response. “Indeed. And so we would like to use a memory crystal to see your memory of the proceedings, if you wouldn’t mind.” Mistress glanced up at me and I gave her a slight nod. A memory crystal would do nicely.
Mistress took a deep breath. “Fair enough. Use your crystal, then.” Ilmahir pulled out the memory crystal and carefully touched Mistress’ forehead. The crystal went from milky white to slowly showing the events of our first encounter with the Wargs. “Self defense, the Wargs attacked her.” Erydhe gave a low growl of annoyance. “She did goad them, though.”
Ilmahir shook his head, causing petals to scatter across the floor. “The Wargs also attacked a mortal child. If Milnair tries to claim protection for their Wargs here, they will be in breach of the Treaty.” So the Fae’s name was revealed at last. Milnair. It would be a good idea to remember that for later.
Erydhe’s expression was unreadable. “That does not prove the claims of torture, however.” That spurred me into action as I flew down to the table. “Both Midnight and I were on the receiving end of Milnair’s ‘tender’ ministrations. I volunteer my memories for that.” Ilmahir took out another crystal and pressed it to my forehead, causing a sudden sense of disorientation as the memory was copied into the crystal.
When the two saw the content, they visibly flinched. Ilmahir’s smile faded away and the flowers that grew from Erydhe’s hair changed into thorny barbs, while her face remained stoic. Erydhe stood up and left the cottage without a word. I almost pitied Milnair, almost. No doubt, Erydhe was furious about being lied to, and thus making her lose face to a mortal of all things. And if there was one thing I learned from my Master, it was that slighting a Fae noble’s pride was a quick way to be in for a world of hurt. It was how the authorities found out about his many crimes, after all.
Ilmahir, however, looked more vindicated than anything. “It would seem Lady Nettle spoke the truth, as expected. Milnair has been skirting the edge of acceptable behavior for centuries, but to directly threaten to break the Treaty…” He shook his head. “I offer my most profound apologies for all of this, Ms. Morgana. I will not darken your home with my presence any further. Though, I do hope, we can meet again under more… amicable circumstances.” He offered a friendly smile as he too stood up and left.
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I looked up at Soot. “That doesn’t explain why my memory of the entire thing is all foggy.” Soot tilted his head. “I would assume the memory crystal is why. I can’t ever recall my first usage of one, either, so I suspect it’s a side effect. The Fae might be geniuses with magic and magical items. However, even they can’t avoid all side effects with something as sensitive as mind magic.”
It was as good an explanation as any. Meleri opened her mouth, then closed it again. I could already guess what she just stopped herself from asking. “Since you are undoubtedly wondering, dear sister. The Treaty is an ancient well, treaty, the Fae made long ago after a war with the humans. It’s an old thing long before my arrival, but it’s binding to this day and breaking it would have severe consequences for either side. And by consequences, I mean it would spell the doom for whatever Fae court or city the breaker currently inhabits. Which is why Erydhe was none too pleased about it all, on top of the blatant lie. Milnair was a member of her court, after all.”
Meleri seemed to get the gist of it. Miva looked up at me from where she was hugging Midnight. “But… you said Midnight died.” Midnight growled, displeased at the reminder. I glanced at her. “Seeing as neither Midnight nor Soot are keen on me giving a long-winded explanation, I will give the short rundown of what happened so we can move on to more pleasant topics. It was…”
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About two weeks later, we were sitting on the porch, enjoying the evening. The sun just set and the sound of grasshoppers chirping among the reeds and the hustle and bustle of the birds settling in for the night was all around us. I got no clarity about what happened with Milnair.
As we were sitting there, the entire porch was suddenly plunged into pitch darkness. There was no warning, not even a hit of movement in the local mana. In the darkness, something smashed into me, pushing me to the ground under its sheer weight. I could hear a scuffle further away as well and a pained scream from Midnight, followed by a sickening, crushing noise.Stolen novel; please report.
The darkness cleared and Milnair was standing on the landing pad, chuckling with their high-pitched voice. I looked around. Soot was up in the rafters, looking somewhat banged up, but otherwise no worse for wear. Before I could look around for Midnight, Milnair walked towards me and I could feel whatever was on top of me shift around. It was the massive Warg from our last encounter, I realized.
“This… this is all your fault, wretched human. Because of you, everything that has gone wrong is because of you.” Milnair made a hissing noise akin to a chuckle. “Well, at least I have gotten a modicum of revenge.” Milnair held up something, something drenched in blood and missing its… A red haze descended over my eyes, and in the next moment I was back on my feet. Milnair’s giant warg was lying near the wall. The wall above it cracked from the impact after I flung the thing into it.
Milnair took a step back, but before they could use the darkness to flee again, I let out an incoherent scream of rage and blasted them with a curse brought on by sheer rage and unbridled hate. What exactly it did I couldn’t tell, but when it hit, Milnair let out a horrific scream and fled, taking their Warg with them.
Midnight’s remains fell to the ground with a wet thud. I hurried over to them and cradled them in my arms. Midnight did not deserve this. “Soot, fetch my book. I am positive there must be something about reviving Familiars inside.” My voice was barely above a whisper. Soot disappeared inside using a small pet door I installed up in the rafters. A similar one was on the main door itself, for Midnight. Not that she was keen on leaving the house after the incident.
Soot returned about a minute later. “The tome’s at the door.” I got to my feet, my robes covered in Midnight’s blood. If I got my hands on that wretched Fae I… no, this wasn’t the time for something like that. The familiar revival ritual was my highest priority.
I made a mess out of the tome as I leafed through it, but I didn’t care. A quick perusal of the ritual calmed my nerves. I already possessed all the ingredients, and as for a year of my life span? Bah, a small price to pay. I hurried inside and gathered the required materials. The ritual was under a strict time limit. One that was even shorter since Midnight’s head was missing.
We made our way to the ritual altar. The night was dark because of the new moon, but I didn’t care. I could have conjured a light, but there wasn’t time. As we neared the altar, I could see movement on top of it. There was something lying on top of it. As we got closer, that something looked up and looked at us. “Meowstress? What happened, where are we?” The shock of hearing Midnight’s voice was so total, Soot flew face-first into the Linden behind the altar itself without even trying to slow down. He was lucky, however, as he wasn’t flying that fast. So he was only stunned by the crash and subsequent fall. “Midnight? How?” My voice trailed off into shocked silence…
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“To say we were surprised would be an understatement. I was seriously contemplating whether it was a trick caused by Milnair for the few moments it took me to get a light spell going.” Miva buried her head in Midnight’s neck. “That can’t have been fun.” Midnight, for her part, seemed uncomfortable, but didn’t protest to the tight hug. “Is this Milnair insane or something?” I glanced over at Meleri, then just gave a helpless shrug. “Who knows. Their behavior is quite atypical to those of their kinsfolk. But maybe the others just hide it better. I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
Miva, for her part, loosened her grip on Midnight. “So whatever happened to Milnair anyhow?” Midnight gave a pleased purr for the first time all night. “Erydhe killed most of their Wargs for endangering the Treaty by not monitoring them properly. Followed by banishment from the Court for lying to her. It’s why they acted the way they did. Don’t underestimate the rancor of a Fae with nothing left to lose.”
Just then, the clock struck nine. Tobin glanced up at it. “That late eh, well kids, I should be heading back home. It’s been fun, and all that.” As he got to his feet, I lifted him up and gave him a hug. “See you later, Tobin. Take care now, you old bean.” He gave a mirthful chuckle and hugged me back.
“Likewise, kiddo, take care now.” Miva also rushed up and hugged him as I put him down, burying her face in the Brownie’s bushy beard. “See you later, Tobin. Take care.” He gave Miva a loving pat on the head as she extracted herself from his bushy beard. “See ya around kid, take care now.” with that he left and made his way back to Nettledale, while pulling out the grooming kit to fix this disheveled beard.
As Tobin left, Midnight hopped into Meleri’s lap. “So, I heard about you from Meowstress, but…” her voice trailed off. Meleri reached down and scratched Midnight behind her ears, earning delighted purrs from the cat. “It’s a bit of a story, and a part of me has a hard time believing it, even though it happened to me personally.” Midnight didn’t answer. She was too busy enjoying Meleri’s attentive fingers.
I glanced over at Miva who suppressed a yawn. "Well, I don’t see why you can’t tell her all about it. After all, it’s bedtime for mischievous little Changelings, and I won’t continue my story before tomorrow." Miva mumbled something, but another yawn interrupted it. Then she slowly nodded. “Bed sounds good. I’m still sleepy from this morning.” I gave her a goodnight hug. “See you tomorrow, Miva.” She gave me a tired smile and walked off after giving Midnight, Soot and Winter a goodnight hug each.
Once Miva was in bed, we told Midnight, Winter and Ivy about how she got here. Ivy knew enough about my origins anyhow, since she would have badgered the start of the story out of Soot, Midnight or Winter by now, and seeing how utterly unsurprised she looked. My suspicion turned out correct.
Ivy flew up and hovered in front of Meleri’s face, idly scratching one of her antennae. “That sounds rough, but at least you found your sister again. That’s what matter, right? Either way, I’m Ivy. Nice to meet you, Meleri.” She stretched out a small hand for a handshake. Meleri glanced my way, and I stuck out my pinky.
After a brief hesitation, she stuck it out and Ivy grabbed it and began shaking without hesitation. “Nice to meet you too, Ivy. My sister is awkward with people, so I’m glad she has made a good friend like you.” Ivy''s glow became pink. “Aw shucks. No worries, it’s what friends are for. Besides, she makes so delicious food, not being her friend would be a crime!” As she spoke, her light slowly became viridian again.
Meleri broke into a wide smile. “In that case, I can assure you the two of us will be fast friends too, as I am a rather excellent chef myself.” Ivy made a trill of happiness. “Then I vote for Meleri making breakfast tomorrow so I can taste her cooking!” Hmm… “Say, sis, your cooking has improved since back then, right?” I was speaking English, mostly to not alert Ivy about the fact that Meleri’s cooking skills back in the day were… not that great.
Meleri looked at me confused for a moment, then began laughing. “I guess I never told you my job, huh? Head chef in a Michelin 3-star restaurant. So I dare say my skills with a spatula are beyond reproach now.” I blinked. “3-star Michelin? Well then, I look forward to a breakfast worthy of that tomorrow.”
Ivy gave an annoyed trill. “No fair, I can’t understand a word you’re saying!” I leaned back. “Nothing serious, just discussing tomorrow’s breakfast. We want to surprise you with it, you see.” Ivy turned around and gave Meleri a hug. “That sounds wonderful.” She brushed some pixie dust from her cheek as Ivy pulled back. “No worries.”
I glanced up at the clock. “Speaking of, if we hope to get some proper rest, we should probably call it a night as well.” Meleri seemed surprised, since it was not that late. “We wake at dawn here. That’s around six in the morning, this time a year.” She nodded in understanding. “Fair enough.” With that, we began preparations for bed.