“I just keep thinking, if Trixie had been there today, how would things have turned out? I mean, you said it yourself - she’s dangerous. She probably could have taken out those bounty hunters or whoever they were, no problem. And then Valir wouldn’t…I never would’ve had to..” He found he couldn’t complete the sentence. Embarrassingly enough, he was too close to tears to go on. Kel had been rehashing the subject over and over, clearly intent on wishing away what had happened and always coming back to the fact that it had, indeed, occurred.

“I know you think it’s bad, but she will get over it - they both will”. Jasper put on a good natured smile as he limped along. It was clear that though his time with the wise-woman had helped, she had not provided a miracle cure for his wound. It would need time to heal. Kel felt a little guilty about that too, but then again, he hadn’t asked Jasper to come with him.

They were walking through a grove of peach trees, staying off the main roads per Kel’s request. The entire walk so far, Jasper had been trying to offer little reassurances while Kel grieved. While he appreciated the sentiment, it also irritated Kel, who was determined to suffer as much as possible for his indiscretion.

“I raised a demon and it attacked her sister,” He gritted his teeth, “I think it may be a while before she does.”

“Well, it could have been worse. It’s not like you killed her.” Jasper tried to smile but his face fell at the withering look Kel gave him. “Okay, yeah - that was in poor taste. Sorry.” There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, though it felt like minutes.

“How did you do that anyway? I knew you were a wizard of some sort, but I didn’t realize you could do that.” He plucked a peach from a low-hanging branch as they passed and took a bite. A black crow, perched atop the branch, cawed petulantly at the theft.

“There isn’t much to it. I used a book and performed a ritual. It was stupid.” He saw the room, again, painted with blood. Leanna curled up into a ball, sobbing. Viscera and darkness and death splashed across Poe’s grinning face.

“Right then,” Jasper took another bite of peach to give himself a nice long pause. “So look, I don’t know what you’re planning, but we can’t stay out in the woods the whole time. I myself have slept under the stars countless times, but I don’t really consider myself that much of an outdoorsman and…well, a minstrel has to eat.”

Kel shrugged. “I understand. We’ll go into town - we just need to keep our heads low.”

“Exactly - no reason to be afraid. It’s not like those mercenaries can tell the others you were there now…” The bard fell back into an embarrassed silence as they reached the end of the peach grove and delved into a thick line of pine trees. He wisely remained silent as they marched through the pine barrens, down and out of ravines, through thickets of briers denser than bushes. Finally, they hit a river, a real one. It wasn’t raging rapids and a waterfalls, but there was a steady stream of water flowing through the ravine. An old rickety bridge,no doubt built by people who long-ago moved to a more hospitable environment, seemed to be the only way to cross. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like anyone was around.

"So you’re Fae-touched as well.” Kel said, taking a tentative step on the bridge. It creaked, but the wooden slats were solid.

“I am.” Jasper followed up behind him, gingerly trying the same boards as Kel and trying to put as much weight as possible on the ropes to the side.

"What happened."

"Well, back when the fair folk were still on these shores I got myself caught."

“How’d you manage to do that?”

“Walking a fairy road, on a dare. My sister told me to do it and so I did. So stupid.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I was singing to keep myself company - that’s what I did when I was young if I was afraid. Apparently they liked it. Like chum for the sharks. Next thing I know, I’m a slave of the Seelie court, singing for a lord in what I came to know as the Hall of Echoes. I was there for years. And years. And then, one day, a window appeared out of nowhere in my cell. Just like that. It opened to show blue sky and a field of daisies. So I took my chance and leapt through, with only the clothes on my back and a lute.”

“Did you get back to your family?”

“Aye. I crossed half the damn country to do it, but I did.” His face grew long. A year or so had passed here and…more than that had passed in the faerie realm.”

“So you grew up?”

“I was as old as my mother when I returned. My older sister, who had cared for me, was an immature child to me then. And my ways were now wild from the days spent with the Faerie. So after getting thrown out of the house for the third time I packed my bag and made a life for myself on my terms, by my strum and my voice.” He strode on for a while before pausing. “You know, my master called me the best in all worlds. That what they said, this being that has experienced the highest pleasures available to a mortal. The best in all worlds.” There was a tinge of both admiration and disgust in this statement.

“Is that why it bothers you, that business with Rafferton?”

The bard shrugged. “Probably. I was the best; Maybe I still am. But if I’m not, that means there was no reason for any of that to happen. It would make my suffering meaningless.

“Then why don’t you try to be more famous? Why didn’t you move to the capital, try and play for the court?”

“Oh, fame isn’t everything. One doesn’t have to be famous to be the best.” To Kel, that didn’t quite make sense. Wasn’t fame the only way to tell someone was the best? He knew he probably shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “So you know faerie music?”

The bard gave him a long look. “Aye, but I won’t play it.”

“Why not?”

“You know how music makes you feel things?”

Kel nodded. “Like a sad song makes you a bit maudlin, or a song about a battle makes you want to fight.”

“Well, imagine that magnified a thousand times. Faeries are capricious, insane things compared to us. They are old and yet seem young and silly. They’ll play out dramatic events, backstabbing and grandstanding, just for some fun added to their endless days. Their music is only meant for their ears. When a human listens to the tones of a faerie jig, it will drive them mad. I’ve seen folks go manic, murderous, catatonic and delusional - all from the music of the fair folk.”

“So why didn’t you go mad?”

“Dunno. All I do know is I’ll never play that rot again, long as I live.”

As much as he hated the Fae, Kel felt a sense of disappointment. He would never hear faerie music, a form of magic that a true wizard would probably jump at the chance for. His thoughts drifted - the only other magician he knew was Caaron. He probably would have had some stern warning about not listening to faerie music.

“I hope he’s okay,” Kel muttered absent-mindedly.

“Who’s that?”

“My teacher, Caaron. From before I left home. I think he may have gotten caught trying to help me.”

“Oh. Well, I hope for his sake he’s okay. Maybe when you visit this magician extraordinaire, you can have him check in on the fellow, make sure he’s alright.”

Just then, they heard a growling in the underbrush. Three wolves sprung from the dark, their fur standing on end as they growled.

“I think perhaps we should worry about ourselves for the moment.”

“Agreed.” Kel jerked back as the first of the wolves sprang for them. “Run!”

The way was not as clear cut as it had been on the faerie road. Brambles and vines blocked their path as they fled, snarling jaws close behind them. A few times, Kel thought he had been bitten before realizing that he had been scratched by massive thorns. Jasper cried out suddenly and there was a ripping noise - his fine cloak had been torn to shreds, though by teeth or thorns neither stopped to see. “Ohshitoshitoshit,” he huffed, clutching his side. Adrenaline alone was the only thing allowing the bard to run as fast as he was.

They reached a clearing and sped across, hoping to find some form of shelter - a hut or some apple trees they could climb. Kel groaned with dismay - there was nothing there but shrubs and grass. Jasper was gasping for breath, a hand clutching the spot where his stab wound was still healing.

A wolf leapt from the brush at the far end of the clearing. They were trapped! The two companions stood back to back; Jasper brandished his lute like a club. Kel steeled himself, unconsciously muttering the beginnings of the hardening spell as the pack closed in on them from all sides.

Amid the snarling and snapping, Kel stopped muttering and tried a different tactic. Hello, he said. Mammalian was definitely the animal language he had the closest grasp on, so it was worth a shot. The pack all tilted their heads, staring. Have I done something to offend you? Kel tried to toe the line between formality and assertive, which for canines was somewhat tricky.

The leader, a young male wolf, yipped and barked a response. The man told us to find you. Told us to chase you.

Man? What man?

Forest man. He is a man of wolves.

Kel was puzzled. Why would anyone command wolves to chase him. Unless…

Does the man wear a green cloak?

The wolves tilted their heads and said nothing. Kel nearly smacked himself - the concept of the color green was not something that would translate.

So you were to chase us and then...?

Hurt you. Send a messenger. Howl until he came.

Are you getting this?” Kel looked at Jasper.

The bard was staring with his mouth agape. “How did you pick up mammalian so quickly?”

"I had time." Kel turned back to the wolves. Look, could we make peace instead? I have food. I’ll share with you.

The wolves yipped and barked among themselves. It seemed like a matter of great debate. Several of the wolves seemed to want to continue with the current plan, but others seemed to smell what they had in their bags and were already salivating. Finally, the young leader barked and all were silent.

We agree, furless one, it said. But only for food. And only for now.

“Good enough for me." Kel tossed them a generous helping of his rations from the tree - smoked sausages, salted pork, jerky - a pile of meat that would have been tempting for any carnivore. “Not the sausages,” he heard Jasper moan. The wolves took the bribes into their mouths and carried them into the shadows of the forest without so much as a bark, leaving Kel and Jasper alone in eerie silence.

“Do you think it’s safe to climb down?” Jasper whispered.

“If it isn’t, we’ll find out soon.” Kel’s heart was still thumping. With a heave, he dropped so that he was hanging from the thick branch that had borne him though the encounter and then let go. Jasper rolled awkwardly as he landed with a grunt of pain. That couldn’t have been good for his injury. With both feet back on the ground, the travelers attempted to get their bearings. How far had they strayed from their initial path?

Before either could get comfortable in the new silence, there was a rustle in the underbrush. For a moment, Kel thought the wolves had returned. His terror was not relieved, however, when a large black beast emerged. It was the size of a great wolf but black as pitch with shining yellow eyes. It huffed at them pointedly and tapped a paw on the ground. Then it turned, looking over its shoulder at them before it began to stalk into the dark of the forest, away from the direction the wolves had gone.

“I think it wants us to follow it." Kel felt his terror melt into something more like cautious curiosity.

“I’m not following that thing,” Jasper stammered, still clutching his side.

“If we don’t, there’s no guarantee it won’t come for us. If it wanted to, I think it would have already.”

“I am tired of wolves and whatever that is,” Jasper complained. “I just want to get to an inn and have a pint.” The beast looked back over its shoulder again and gave them a long look before it huffed and continued on. Kel and Jasper exchanged a wary look before they reluctantly trudged after the shadowy creature. They followed as it padded along through brush and bramble, until it came to a near-impenetrable net of vines and bristles.

A murder of black crows fluttered and chattered quietly in the surrounding trees, blackening the sky. Kel held in his breath. It felt odd here. Heavy. The beast stopped and turned, watching silently as the crows began to stir. Jasper, feeling much the same discontent as Kel, backed up a step and tread on a stick underfoot, drawing the attention of the birds.

All at once, the crows descended like an umbral tornado, mingling as if they were one collective entity of dark feathers and caws. They began to meld, from the ground, like watching a stalagmite grow in a matter of seconds. Instead of a stalagmite, though, a human profile formed. It was a woman, dark skinned and draped in fanciful purple robes of the finest silk. Atop her neatly cropped hair was set a silver diadem, with three jewels of exceeding beauty that shone in the unnatural twilight.

The strangers stared at each other for a moment. Jasper, his mouth gaping in awe, had completely forgotten about his throbbing injury. Kel realized that he had been and was still muttering a protection spell, unsure of the intentions of this magnificent newcomer. The woman seemed to size them up with almond-shaped eyes, taking her time to observe all she could. After a beat, she spoke:

“Kel Fellow, you seek Maximilian Magus, the arbiter of light and dark?”

Kel hadn’t heard that part of the title before, but he tentatively nodded all the same. The woman practically glowed with such radiant power that he didn’t dare speak. He felt like would be obliterated if he even deigned to open his mouth. The woman stepped forward and the heavy aura around them lessened slightly, like the sun passing through a cloud.

“Great,” she said with a shrug, “You’ve found her.”