“The older they get...”

- A memory of the Old Ones.

***Carinthia***

***Magnus***

Hatlix is sitting on the living room's couch with his arm around Cecilia. Sely's mother seems to be very satisfied. At least she is smiling and hugging Hatlix from the side.

“I am so happy!” Hatlix scratches his crotch, ignoring the fact that women are present. To my surprise, I understand him perfectly well. He is drawing out the consonants, but that's fine. It sounds like he has an odd accent. “By my balls, Grandson! It feels good to be out of that box and alive.”

I am also happy when I get to screw Sely. I clear my throat, surprised at how fluent his speech is. “You can talk normally? You learned fast.”

“Of course I can talk normally! Though I admit that Cecilia and Annia's learning program helped a lot to speed things up. Oh, I have to thank your wonderful wife! Thanks, Sely. That arrowhead was starting to itch.” Then he sighs and a sad expression appears on his face. “I still can't believe that we lost so many of our family to that stupid asshole! I should have put my foot down and stopped Fiacre from marrying him. It gave the idiot too much influence within the clan and he was always power hungry.”

Fiacre looks at the floor. “It was my fault. I didn't see his plans until it was too late. I also wasn't able to stop my children from going down the same path. I failed as a wife and as a mother.”

Hatlix raises his hand to stop Fiacre. “Don't blame yourself. You've a big heart and were blinded by love and your instincts. The blame lies with all of those who realized that bastard's true nature. Let's not mention his name. At least I should have tried to open your eyes, but even I wasn't prepared for the scale of deceit which struck our family.”

I nod. I don't want to be reminded of that day, so I try to change the subject. “Yes, but there is also the problem with the fae. Maybe we can find a solution. There are still some things about the orb which I don't understand. I have questions, Hatlix. I was asking myself if we are able to use the orb to destroy Fairy? It seems to be a normal reality marble. At least that was the impression I got when I was inside it. The fae just use strange doorways.”

Hatlix purses his lips. “I don't think that would be wise. When the fae created their reality marble, they shifted a sizeable part of northern Europe into another dimension. If we destabilize their reality marble, that huge landmass would return all at once. Imagine what would happen if our reality marble collapses. We shifted a huge part of this valley into our marble. The same part which now forms the lake next to the city. When the marble collapses, all that mass has to go somewhere.”

I bite my lower lip, dreading the thought. When we created the reality marble, we removed a part of the land, leaving behind a large hole in the ground. Over the centuries, that hole filled with water and created the lake. If I had to put a location to the reality marble, then I would say that it is beneath the lake, because the anchor point to reality is located there. “It would push aside all the water which is now forming the lake. The entire area would be flooded.”

Hatlix nods. “And now imagine a huge landmass between Norway and Britain, pushing aside the ocean. The resulting tsunami wouldn't be just huge, it would be gigantic!”

He shifts in his seat. “No, I am afraid that we have to find a way to wipe out the fae while keeping Fairy intact. We can slowly shrink it once we've taken control of it. I devised the orb to use it's power in order to change the weather pattern. The plan was to freeze the fae to death without having to fight them. They avoided their fate by using tribal magic to create Fairy. Little buggers. Afterwards, we didn't have the means to attack them without risking massive damage to the planet. Nobody knows what might happen if the taken land returns.”

“Tribal magic?” Sely asks.

“You are aware that the fae aren't using magic the same way we do. Unlike the elementals, their magic is based on belief. They are able to influence reality by using illusions. It's weak and strong at the same time. Convince yourself that the fireball which they throw at you isn't there and poof, it isn't.”

He raises a hand. “No, don't. I know what you are going to ask next. You are going to ask if we can simply cancel all their magic by not believing in it. That's the troublesome part and the reason why they can copy our magic. If there are enough observers to their magic, it becomes real. Every person who believes what he sees turns the spell more real. That's why I call it a tribal magic. The magic is affected by the amount of people who cast or witness the spell.”

I nod slowly. “One last question. In Winter's throne room was a large picture of the battle between fae and other supernaturals. I noticed that those who I assumed to be Old Ones weren't depicted as combatants. They stood back and watched the battle.”

Hatlix tilts his head and presses his lips together. “The picture probably showed the early days of the war.”

“The early days?” Sely asks.

Hatlix shrugs. “I assume that you know the generally known story? But how do you think the fae got so numerous when they were just a small breeding experiment in the beginning? The ones who conducted the experiments allowed their creations to roam the earth freely after the experiments were deemed a failure.

“The fae had several centuries to grow in numbers. The other supernatural races started fighting them when they connected the abductions to the fae. The fae thought that our neutrality meant that we don't care what they do to the other supernaturals. We only joined the battle when it became clear that the fae are a menace which can't be left unchecked. The fae had largely wiped out the Neanderthals by that point, so we decided that they are threatening the world’s ecosystem.”

“Now that's a disturbing piece of information,” Sely mumbles.

Hatlix claps his hands together. “But that's not important! We have to find a way to end the fae. I heard that the humans advanced quite a lot while I was boxed. Maybe we can use some of their ideas to solve the fae problem. We need something like this marvellous bug-spray.”

“Bug-spray?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes! Best invention ever! No more mosquitoes. No more fleas. And soon… no more fae!”

Okay… maybe his brain did suffer just a tiny bit.

Tina raises her hand. “Before you disappear inside the laboratory, we need you at the gathering. I heard that you know many of the elders personally. Your voice would be a great help in influencing the decision.”

My grandfather squints his eyes at Tina. “Isn't the video enough? Did those old farts get so complacent that they still prefer neutrality?”

Tina shakes her head. “I think the video is enough to sway their opinion. They already demanded of everyone to search for a way to attack Fairy. What I am concerned about, is that they won't act unless there is an elegant solution. We have to attack the fae in every way we can. Now. We have to use the humans, the supernaturals, everything. You just told us how huge Fairy is. Now imagine how many fae there must be when you think about the farm.”

Cecilia runs a hand over her hair, making sure that it's straight. “There must be countless fae. Maybe as many as there are humans.” She turns to Hatlix. “I am sure that a little visit to stir the flames of war won't cost much time.”

“One last question,” I interrupt. “Hatlix, do you know of any Bathomeus who were taken by the fae? We might-”

Hatlix shakes his head. “I am sorry. There aren't any Bathomeus who were taken. But I know others who got caught over the centuries. That's why seeing your record affected me. I seriously hope that they are dead. Being caught inside a tree can't be a pleasant experience.”