Then the pressure started to ease. That last speck of Niall’s core was taken into a warm, careful cocoon. Niall started to feel the scattered fragments of his mind start to pull back together. As they reformed. it was as if nothing had happened to his consciousness. He, almost, was-not; then he was again. The respite did not mark the end. The pounding continued, more powerful now. Yet, they did not break through, it was as if a wall was being built in his head. The mental waves hammered against it, but it held strong.

“Pobble. Says. No.” On the last word the pressure disappeared entirely. Niall felt as if his mind had reached out to administer a slap.

L’Mor’s eyes narrowed and Niall was sure that L’Kye was trying not to laugh. However, with a sniff, L’Mor stepped back and broke eye contact.

Niall hid a smile of his own. If having Pobble in his head meant that the L’Fae could not destroy, or even spy on, his mind then the benefits were greater than he thought.

“Yes. It is time for you to leave. I cannot say that I wish to ever see you again Niall Vendra, but I will look forward to seeing what Pobble has learnt from their time with you in a century or so.”

With another blink the marshy island disappeared and Niall found himself again standing with L’Kye at the edge of the forest looking down at Devon’s cottage.

“So, young human, I have brought you back as promised. What did you think of your encounter with the L’Fae Sovereign?”

“To be honest, L’Mor was nothing like I was expecting”

“How so?”

“I was expecting throne rooms and guards and crowns, I guess.”

L’Kye laughed. “Sadly, young Niall, you are not important enough for the thrones and the crowns, nor are you powerful enough to warrant the presence of any guards. There is nothing that you could do that could threaten the Sovereign. But that was all superficial. It is not what I meant. What were your impressions of the Sovereign themself?”

Niall turned to L’Kye, “Honestly, they were the most impressive person that I have ever come across. Not that that says very much, I suppose. Once I felt their power, I felt as if they were a God and I was an ant. I could not believe that they had taken even a moment to look at me, never mind do what they did.”

L’Kye nodded. “But yet you challenged them and live. Few humans have ever received the privilege of meeting L’Mor in the thousands of years that they have led us. Still fewer challenged them. Of those, other than you, only two live.”

“But I don’t really understand. Why did they meet me? I’m no one. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely grateful, but there’s no reason for them to help me. In fact, there’s no reason for you to help me.”

“And, were it not for a promise that they made millennia ago, you would have no chance to ever come to their attention, never mind be blessed with their aid. But we live long and we do not pledge lightly, least of all our Sovereign. They will fulfil their promise until their bond is paid.”

“Promise?”

L’Kye turned away to look out onto the smallholding. “Ah, young human, that is something that is not my story to tell. If you ever meet L’Mor again you can ask them to relate the tale. If you enter into their presence once more you will have earned at least that right.”

L’Kye turned back to Niall. “Thank you, Niall and Pobble both. That was the most unexpected evening that I have had for many years. I had forgotten the pleasure of being surprised. I suspect that our paths will not cross again. But if you have dire need, as one who carries a Fae shard, you may come to any of our circles at the confluence of the moons. We Speakers monitor these and will answer, although if you abuse this gift then the circles and the L’Fae will be hidden from you. Fare you both well.”

Then, with a nod, L’Kye vanished.

Niall stood for a moment then sat on the ground resting his back against a tree. Despite the day that he had experienced he did not feel tired. His mind raced after everything that had happened. While this may still be a delusion, his memories assured him that he had been heading to work just a few hours earlier. Nothing about this made any sense. But, he was increasingly coming to the conclusion that, somehow, this was actually happening.

Pobble’s thoughts pushed forward. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it does.”

“Why? If Niall is in a dream, everything is irrelevant. If it is real then Niall needs to live his life and get home. Even if Niall is not real, Pobble is real and Pobble is excited to be with Niall on his journey.”

Niall gave Pobble a mental pat on the head. He received a wave of warmth in return before turning his attention back to the moonlit view before him. He looked up and realised that only one of the moons was left in the sky at that time. It meant that he could see the stars above him. He was no astronomer, but he could not see any constellations that looked familiar. In fact, nothing even vaguely resembled the Milky Way.

Until he felt tiredness catch up with him, he stayed looking out across the fields and the town. Eventually, with a yawn, he stood and brushed himself off before walking down the slope to Devon’s well-lit cottage. He did not know what was happening but, if it was a dream, then the quicker he went to bed the quicker he could wake up back at home.

***

Niall woke and stretched with his eyes still closed. He had just had the oddest dream about fairies and people with weird abilities. He smiled and opened his eyes. The smile faded from his face. Above him, instead of the electric light and cream paint of his bedroom were beams and limewashed ceiling. He was in Devon’s house. He slumped back into the pillows and shut his eyes. A sick feeling bubbled in the pit of his stomach. The dream, nightmare, or whatever it was had not finished.

Despite having just woken up, he felt deathly tired. The brief moment of believing that he was back to his ordinary life somehow made the reality of his situation worse – if indeed reality was what he was experiencing. He tried to formulate a plan for how he could exit this nightmare, or get back if that was what was needed. He soon ran out of ideas. All of this was too far beyond his realm of understanding. So, instead, he lay tracing the grain of wood in the beam above him with his eyes.

He lay there until he felt a presence nudging in his mind. He gave a start, somehow he had forgotten about Pobble. The Fae shard exuded impatience.

“What are you doing Niall?”

“Sleeping.”

“No, you are not. You are wallowing in pointless self-pity. If it is pointless, why does Niall do it?”

Niall felt a prick of irritation cut through his torpor. “Go away, Pobble.”

“How can Pobble go away? Pobble is Niall. Niall is Pobble. Niall makes no sense.”

Niall gave in and sat up in bed. “Fine. Good morning Pobble. If you’re going to be hanging out with me then you’re going to have to get used to me sleeping. I’m a human. That’s what we do.”

“Humans are wasteful of time then. Anyway, Pobble has questions for Niall.”

“Can I get some coffee first?”

“No. Questions first.”

“Fine. What do you want to know?”

“Why is Niall so weak and clueless?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Clueless and weak. Why?”

“Just putting the words in a different order doesn’t make it better. That’s just plain rude.”

“Not rude. Fact. Look. The only skills Niall have are the ones that Pobble earned for us last night”

Words appeared floating in front of Niall’s face. They were translucent, clearly readable without obscuring his vision.

TESTIMONY: Niall Vendra

ATTRIBUTES

Strength: 3

Endurance: 2

Agility: 3

Will: 0

Perception: 2

CLASSES

None

UNALLOCATED SKILLS

- Steelmind 12

- Telepathy 1

“See? Fact. Weak and clueless.” Niall could feel Pobble mentally gesturing at the words.

Niall scrambled out of bed and, whatever it was that floated in front of him moved with him. “Pobble, what is this?”

“What does Niall mean? This is Niall.”

“Pobble, slow down. Remember that I’m not from here. I have never seen anything like this before.”

“Sorry, Pobble forgot. Niall is weak, clueless and stupid.”

“Dude.”

“Alright, stupid Niall. The top part shows Niall’s attributes. The bottom half shows what Niall knows how to do.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Niall does not make any sense.”

Without alternative sartorial options, Niall pulled on the same clothes that he wore yesterday. As he went to the door of the bedroom the words still hovered in front of him. “How do I get rid of this Pobble?”

“Niall concentrates on it and then swipes it the right. If Niall wants it back, he should concentrate on it again and swipe left. It may be easier for Niall to gesture with his hand at first but when Niall is not so clueless he can just think and it will happen.” Niall could almost hear the eye rolling in Pobble’s voice.

He tried making his Testimony appear and disappear a few times and quickly got the hang of it. “Good. Thank you Pobble. Now, let’s go find Devon to see if he can actually talk some sense.”

Niall went down the stairs to find Alana in the kitchen kneading dough.

She said something, but Niall just smiled at her helplessly. “Devon?” he said.

Alana pointed out of the window toward the building off to one side with one flour-covered hand.

Niall smiled his thanks and was headed towards the door before her voice stopped him. He turned back to see Alana wiping her hands and gesturing towards a seat. “Pobble is not allowed to help Niall in most circumstances, but Pobble does not think that saving Niall from an overprotective mother counts. She is telling Niall that he needs to have some breakfast before he goes anywhere,” Pobble said.

Niall raised his hands and shook his head. “No, no I’m fine. I don’t really have breakfast.”

Alana just gestured to the chair again, this time more forcefully. Niall sheepishly sat down.

Within a few moments, a plate of sausage, eggs, mushrooms and beans was steaming in front of him. A canteen of coffee, with a jug of cream rested on the table by his elbow. Niall tucked in and after just one mouthful he exhaled in a groan of pleasure. The meaty herby flavour was nothing like the plastic sausages that he was used to. Alana gave him a smile of satisfaction and poured both of them cups of coffee.

She sat opposite him then, after a moment, she pointed at the egg and said a word. Niall looked at her before she repeated the word and gestured again. He realised what she was doing, and hesitantly tried to say it back to her. Alana nodded before pointing at his fork and saying another word.

By the time he had finished his breakfast he had learned the words for everything on the table as well as a few other phrases. He was particularly proud that he had managed this in the face of the mental smirks from Pobble that alerted him when he made particularly egregious errors.

He stood and, haltingly, used his newly learned vocabulary to thank Alana. She corrected his pronunciation with a smile before waving him off.

Niall stepped outside the front door and took a deep breath. He had not noticed it the previous day, but the air was clean and fresh in a way that he had never experienced before. In the city the air, even in the parks, never felt like this.

He walked towards the building where Alana had indicated that Devon could be found. The irregular clanging he remembered from yesterday was coming from inside. Coming round to the side, he saw an open door and stepped through it.

The first thing that that struck him was the heat. Waves of it came from the coals as well as the metal that Devon was striking. Sparks flew as Devon worked. The glowing piece of iron transformed with each blow. As Niall watched, Devon finished hammering a horseshoe and plunged it into the barrel next to him. He pulled it out and looked at it critically before placing it on the anvil with the tongs.

He looked over and saw Niall. “Good morning. Sorry, I didn’t see you. Sleep well? Things went well with L’Mor I take it?”

“Morning. Yes, all good. You’re a blacksmith?”

“Wow. Niall is very perceptive. And so brave. Clearly Niall does not care if people think that he is stupid.”

“I am that,” Devon said. “Had to find a way to make a living when I got here and Patrick paid for me to ‘prentice up with a smith in town. I was older than most but I picked it up fast enough.”

Niall shook his head recalling why he had come to find him. “I’m sorry to interrupt your work, but Pobble’s just shown me my stats. What’s that about?”

“Pobble?”

“The Fae shard.”

“You named it? Interesting.”

“They told me that that I’m weak”

“Weak and clueless. And stupid.”

Devon’s eyes narrowed. “It talks to you? What happened in Lonevar?

“How well does Niall know Devon? Does he trust him enough to share a secret like Pobble?”