REALM'S END (BOOK OF FEY 1)

by Jules Hancock

  “Aye, we are. You are pregnant, and unless James is a God this could not be so, for even your love darling sister isn’t strong enough to change the laws concerning such things, and if he is a God, then we have to ask, why isn’t he behaving like a God?”

  Meredith stared unbelievingly at her sisters, and then put her hands across her belly and quieted her mind. She lowered her body into the empty chair at the table and began breathing deeply. Slowing her breath, calm washed over her, as she sent her mind to search through the auric field of her body. Meredith pushed herself deeper into the trance searching. Finally she came across a narrow trail of blue light flowing off into the distance. She traveled along, following the cord of light down through her energy; the trail continued on deeper, and deeper into her unconscious. The trail of light wound through the caverns of her deepest mind, weaving its way around boulders, and cutting straight through stone walls. This made travel difficult for Meredith. Several times, she lost the trail and had to double back to locate the blue ribbon of light. Meredith continued to follow the trail down into her psyche, until it suddenly came to an abrupt end. She found herself standing before her an ornately carved door. She admired the bass relief carving of a leaf and tree that glowed in the body of the heavy wooden door. Finally, she reached out her hand, and not feeling any repulsing magic she grasped the latch to open the door. The latch was stuck fast and the door seemed wedged tightly in its frame, it wouldn’t budge. Meredith redoubled her effort, and pulled using her magic. The sealed door held against even her strongest magic for what felt like a long time, but then it slowly began to give way. The door opened a bit and then a bit more. As it opened, a fiery light began to seep out through the widening crack. Meredith gave one last pull, heavy with her magic and at last the door stood completely open. Meredith could see and infant, wrapped in a golden leaf, and surrounded by intricate branch work. The growing child and its magical cradle threw off such light; it was hard for even her energetic body to look directly upon the baby. Stepping outside, Meredith pushed the door shut, closed it firmly, and came up out of her trance.

  “Meredith, James would have to be a God, to co-create such a being as that. Never have I seen such light coming off anyone,” Reval stood and moved around the table to Meredith. “Here sister, I think you had better have a draught of father’s concoction,” she said pulling a tiny bottle out of the air.

  Meredith sat down and stared at the table top. She was pregnant. The thing she had hoped for most since she understood she really loved James had happened.

  “A very strong God from the looks of that fetus,” Hectain said, snapping her fingers which caused all the dishes to be washed and put away in their places in a second. “There that’s better. Now we have room to work. We need to know what God we are dealing with and why is the child hiding so deeply. That can’t be a coincidence. Meredith, are you even listening? Why haven’t you drank the potion yet? Give it to her Reval, quit dilly dallying you two.”

  Reval tried to hand the small engraved flask to Meredith. “Sister, take it. Father sent it along in case you were distraught, and you do seem to be distraught. Of course seeing what we saw, I can’t blame you one bit.”

  “I’m not distraught sister, I’m happy,” Meredith said, smiling up at her sisters. “I’m pregnant, and James and I are going to have a baby, and Gwenth is going to have a sibling. I don’t care how it happened,” Meredith giggled like a school girl. “Well I know how it happened but…oh well you both know what I mean. I need to knit some things for the baby, she said rising up.”

  Hectain pushed her chair backward across the worn floorboards, as she rose. “Wait just a minute; you are not going off willy-nilly right now! You have months and months, till the child will be born, plenty of time to do all the knitting you want to do, but right now we must try to understand who James really is. Don’t you see, Meredith? It could be that you are being fooled by James. Clearly he is a powerful God. We need to know which God Meredith, for your safety, for the child’s safety and the tribe’s safety. You well know, not all the Gods are friendly with the Corvine. Now sit down this instance,” Hectain bellowed.

  Reval and Meredith stared at their sister, who was beginning to resemble more of a giant crow with each word than a human.

  “Sister your feathers are showing.” Reval pointed at Hectain’s arm, which had already begun to turn back into feathered wing.

  “Oh well, yes then,” Hectain said, looking down at her arm. She shook herself and the feathers were once again smooth skin covered in a long shawl. “Sorry, I slip sometimes when I get riled up.”

  Meredith took that moment to reach up and grab the bottled potion from where it hung mid-air, and threw it into the fire, where both the glass and the spell shattered. “I’m not going to drink any potion, so forget about it. Father has never in his life, not meddled,” she said, pointing at the spell dissipating in the flames. “See, there’s my point.”

  Reval and Hectain watched as the flames consumed the unused spell, releasing the magic back to its owner.

  “He won’t like that.” Reval said, her double chins jiggling as she shook her head.

  Meredith turned to her sisters. “No I know he won’t like it, but no one will bring any harm to my child, so if you are determined to please him over me, you had better go home now,” she said, staring at her two half-sisters.

  The sisters stared back at Meredith. “We had considered you would do that, and we’ve decided already that while we will not go against him at this point, we also shall not allow him to bring any harm to you or the child, if you chose to go forward with this.” Hectain said. “Now then, that being said, I do think we should still find out who James is, for he is clearly not human.”

  Meredith breathed easier, as she listened to Hectain’s remarks. She quickly scanned her sisters’ energy patterns, they were not lying. They would stand by her, at least for now. “Alright there must be much more here than meets the eye. The question that I keep mulling over is: if James is a God why wouldn’t he watch over his own daughter better? Why act as only a human would, and not like a God? We are missing important information sisters. Let’s start there.”

  “I will go consult the akashic records, maybe there will be something relevant in this world’s timeline,” Reval said, and with a snap of her fingers she disappeared.

  Hectain made a rye face as she looked over at her youngest sister, “I’ll see what the Corvine will divulge, if they are willing to share anything. While I’m there I will try and preen father’s feathers a bit, so that perhaps he will not look too hard at what we do. Be careful sister.” Hectain reached out and pulling Meredith close.

  Meredith let herself be hugged. “Thank you sister,” she whispered, into Hectain’s raven-colored locks. “You will need to be careful around father, he will be very angry that I didn’t drink that potion.”

  Hectain sighed, “Of course you’re right sister. I wonder, did he really think we would acquiesce to his magic so easily? I mean, my God you could smell the spell on that potion a mile away. Do you think perhaps he is getting old?”

  Meredith laughed. “I see you are as sharp as ever, and you will need to keep your wits close when you arrive home. Be careful Hectain; remember brains did not save our mothers.”

  Hectain hugged Meredith close again. “Take your own advice sister. Don’t underestimate what is going on here, there are Gods a foot, and those of us who are halflings often get crushed between them when they fight,” she said, looking deeply into Meredith’s dark eyes.

  Meredith looked at Hectain. She often forgot that both her sisters were halflings. Obviously Hectain forgot that Meredith was not a halfling, but was a full blooded Goddess in her own right. She stood for a moment after Hectain left, resting her hand on her belly, feeling the life that was growing within her.

  Nextl

  When Briok arrived home, he could hear shouts coming from below in the study. Each time the shouting would ramp up, he felt his own anx
iety growing. Briok wondered just how safe it was for a council member to argue like that with the elders. He couldn’t imagine how his father could be brave enough. Elders were strong-willed, and their magical skills far outstripped the average Fey. They willing took on the responsibility for the well-being of the entire Realm, and that gave them a lot of power. Elders could scare the wits out of him with just a look. Briok flitted back and forth in the main room, too nervous to even think of eating with all the shouting going on. The night drew on; the sky grew darker and darker, so that finally the natural light of the tree glowed ever brighter gently lighting the open rooms within.

  “Briok, stop this right now! You need to eat. Your father trusts you will keep your health for whatever is to come.”

  Briok flew to the table. His mother had laid out his favorite fruits and nuts. He sat down at the table which the tree had magically created from its inner bark, so that Briok and his family would have a place to eat. He looked up, and saw his mother watched him anxiously. His throat was nearly closed with the fear that he felt welling up inside. Briok choked down the meal and graciously thanked his mother.

  “I know your worried son. I know too that there is a heavy weight on your heart, but we must trust your father. In all our years together I have never known him to choose wrong,” Lisl said, as she brushed the dark curl out of her son’s eyes.

  Briok looked up at his mother. She had always been quiet and unobtrusive in her care of him and his father, but as she was a scholar too, that part of her life often took precedence. He understood her work with time was important, and that she was being groomed as a possible candidate for the next sage, but as Lisl was so often caught up in her work to the exclusion of most others things in life, he had come to not expect too much. It wasn’t that she didn’t care for him, because the truth was, he knew she cared deeply, but she also held great responsibility outside their personal life. Yet, here was his mother standing beside him, her eyes burning with a bright calm telling him to have courage. Briok swallowed hard, “I’m afraid the council might arrest father,” he said, shamefully hanging his head.

  “Of course, it is only natural to have that fear,” she said. Lisl pulled up a chair woven of thin strands of roots their tree had created for their comfort, and sat down. “We’ve all feared that since Lillith was taken. The elders broke a great trust that day, one that should never have been broken. Now, we all fear our leaders. We’re afraid that we too may be taken and interred without a trial or hope. Before the day Lillith was taken, that fear was unknown in our world. Losing that sense of safety is a great loss to the Realm, and it has created a deep wound that even now is not healed. I am afraid the fear may fester and destroy us all.”

  Briok felt his growing discomfort, and decided to change the topic. He looked thoughtfully at her, as he sipped the water from his cup. “Mother what do you know of the Nextl bird story?”

  “Ah so that’s it,” she said, as she sighed softly. “Tell me son, did you see the Nextl flying today? Everyone at the college was talking about it.”

  Briok face broke into a smile. “Mother, it was better than that! I was there when the bird reincarnated.”

  Lisl’s hand flew to her mouth, “Such a blessing! Never has an un-awakened Fey been present at a birth of a Nextl. It’s considered a great joy just to be given the gift of seeing one fly!” Lisl scooted her chair closer to Briok and rested her hand over his. “Son, to be allowed to witness such an event is a very strong gift indeed. The ancient ones told in the old stories, that the Nextl bird blessings came to all who were invited to witness its incarnation. It is also said a Nextl saved this world from destruction once, a very long time ago.” Lisl reached up and stroked her son’s cheek. “It is a great honor of the Nextl’s acceptance of you. Now you must tell your father when the elders have left. You are blessed among us. I want to go to the college and share the news with the sisters,” she said. Without another word, Lisl rose to her feet and flew out the door.

  Briok was use to his mother’s odd ways. Scholars often lived in their heads so much of the time. It wasn’t unusual to see her forget normal activities, whenever there was exciting news that crossed over into her work. He was tired; it had been a long day and he just wanted to rest. Briok pushed the bowl across the table top and lay his head down on his crossed arms. The tree trying to assist in Briok’s comfort, instantly bent the table top to conform better to his need. Briok knew he dare not interrupt his father, besides he didn’t want to tell him of the Nextl bird in front of the elders, for he knew that would only bring more unwanted scrutiny on his family.

  Time Keepers

  In the distance Lisl could see the trees’ shadows, looming up against the dark horizon. Lisl flew onward. All of the Realm’s knowledge and much more were held within the Rowan and the sacred groves. However the time keepers and the college had taken on a different responsibility. Their goal was to gain understanding. To learn from history and try to gauge the path the future would take, then when necessary women of the college were able to move through the timelines to troubled spots, via the cavern and repair where time had gone awry. To this end three massive Cedar trees were lashed together and held in place with the oldest magic and the college called these trees home. The story was that the tower of knowing came about to keep secret the workings of time, or rather to keep secret the fixing of time. Trees had been the original time workers in the Realm, but as the three Cedar trees grew old, none of their clan had wanted to continue the work. So they brought some of the young Fey girls in and introduced them to the ancient magic of repairing time. They were trained and ready to take over when the trees were ready to pass on into spirit. When the trees realized they were at last dying, they guided the Fey to use an ancient form of magic to hold them upright in place, forever. Then with their dying breath, the trees created one last act of magic; they bent their roots and energy into a variety of work spaces and living quarters so the young Fey would have rooms for studying, working, and living.

  Now the Fey worked in sacred relationship with the Great Rowan. All young female Fey came to study, but few were invited to stay past the allotted time it took to teach the Fey’s basic role in time keeping. Of course, the only reason so many were granted access was to quietly review the students for potential candidates, to seek out those Fey women with some extraordinary ability that the time keepers felt would be a good fit. Then if the dreaming was good the young woman would be invited to join. Sometimes it worked out, and sometimes it didn’t. If a Fey stayed, they were eventually trained in deeper magic, the kind of magic that could hold worlds together, or pull them apart. With the exception of the first introductory lessons, all of the real work of the college was surrounded in deep secrecy. Lisl flew straight into the main hall. The sisterhood would be waiting for any hint of the coming changes. It never ceased to amaze her that the work she did, went against the very core values the elders of the realm espoused. The elders believed, with all their hearts that they were protecting time, by simply policing and stopping change from occurring. They believed it was the lack of change that kept the Realm safe and by extension all the time lines as well.

  The women who worked within the tower knew otherwise. They had learned that life had always changed, and to stop change was to bring down upon the Realm disaster of a cataclysmic nature. Their understanding was rooted in the arcane history of time, their study which had penetrated the breadth and length of time showed exactly the opposite of what the elders held as absolute truth. So the college secretly and subtly shifted energy within the timelines to allow change to occur naturally, rather than be stilted by the elders.

  “Sisters wake up I have news,” Lisl said flying directly into the sleeping chamber.

  The lights came up and the sisters sat up in their hammocks. Lisl noticed most seemed to be in a state of grogginess.

  “Where is Sephoria,” Lisl asked?

  “She is in the seeing rooms, Lisl. Go ahead and go to her first, and we will b
ring tea to the study chamber, and meet you there, after you are done talking with her.”

  Lisl flew off down the long hall. The sisters would gather in a moment. Everyone knew if Lisl, who did not live within the hall of knowledge came in the night; the news must indeed be serious.

  Lisl came to a stop outside the door to the seeing chamber and knocked on its unadorned wooden frame. The tower doors were considered a marvel throughout the college. No one knew any longer how to fashion doors like these. It was part of the Cedars’ parting gift, some lost form of magic where stone and wood had actually grown into one another, filling in the doorways. She laid her ear against the door; but nothing could penetrate those thick panels of stone and wood. Lisl stepped back and smiled, after all these years she still tried to listen at the door.

  Momentarily the door opened and there stood the sage. A Fey so old her age could not be guessed at, she was like no other Fey because she no longer flew, her wings had been sacrificed eons before when she had taken the vow to become one with the Rowan, and on the day her vow was given her body had begun to reflect the changes. First her wings shriveled and then she began to grow roots, sprouts, branches even. Her eyes also changed they became opaque but though she could no longer see as other Fey did, she could see with effort into the past and even some ways into the future and the symbiotic relationship with the tree benefited all the Realm and so she also became a living sage.

  “Sephoria, I have great news,” Lisl said, bowing low before the old woman.

  “Yes, I know child. Come in a moment please. I have seen something that I must make you aware of too,” she said, opening the door to let Lisl pass by.

  Lisl flitted into the cozy room with its great timbered ceiling. Lisl was familiar with the workings of a seeing room. This one was the sage’s favorite. The hearth lay before the two seats and was filled with a constellation, a great swirling mist of star caught in a moment of time.