She appeared right beside us. Her feet were lightly on the ground, yet she was levitating. Some might describe her as lithesome. She had grace if a stern demeanour could be called grace. And she carried it well. She wore a pleasant smile and warm gaze. The fabric of her clothing was impossible to infer. It fluttered and seemed to change shape with the wind. Even the colour of her clothing seemed transient. The mild translucent fabric seemed to alternate from striking melon pink to a complementing lapis-blue, to a vibrant viridian. Her dress, neither a ball gown nor a tunic, still managed to preserve modesty in its highest form in spite of its ephemeral nature.

“I offer my humble greetings Matriarch of.....” I decided to stop her halfway through her statement.

“Please,” I interrupted, “No honorifics. I am shorned. No more titles.”

“Then I offer my humble greetings Magistra Rylonvirah.” She uttered.

Before I could interject, she continued, “You are a woman of letters, Magistra. Even without your former glory, You are still a litterateur. I have read your treatise and have taught a few of them at the academy. As such no one can deny your wisdom. If not anything, you are a learned woman and you will be addressed befitting your status, Magistra Rylonvirah.”

Her tone had a finality to it.

“If I may take the liberty to introduce myself, Magistra Rylonvirah,” her request more a subject of a formality than asking for actual permission, “I am known as Vitalia of the Vernal Equinox Academy.”

Vernal Equinox academy? The name does not ring a bell. The name could very well be the actual name of any of the hidden fae colleges. As for that matter, everything about the fae is hidden.

Seeing my bewildered expression Vitalia offered an explanation.

“That is our official name, though, most often we are colloquially referred to as the College of Legends.”

Ah yes. The college where the fae meddles in affairs of other races by indoctrinating promising candidates. So the good thing is she is not from the court and the bad thing, this is worse than the interloping fae court.

“Magistra Rylonvirah, may I suggest that we retire to a more suitable location to resolve our differences? I would be glad to explain my presence then.” Her tone was neither a request nor a suggestion. Her words carried irrevocability.

I looked at Taltil, who clearly was not enthusiastic about Vitalia’s company. She needs nudging.

“Let us go Taltil.”

After hearing my words, Arlene decided to leave but she was stopped by Vitalia’s words.

“Valiant One, It involves you. You should come with us.“ She explained.

Arlene still wore the defiant look. She avoided gazing into Vitalia’s face and scowled a bit.

“Don’t decide for me. I lead my own path. I go where I please.” She made her final stance with those statements.

“Child, do not presume for a moment that I will not box your ears. I will drag you by your ears if I have to.”

I was surprised to hear a fae suggest physical violence, but that just proved that Vitalia can be unconventional should the need arise.

The fae continued further without a pause.

“You are valourous but possessing valour does not make one free from stupidity. And you have oafishness written all over you. You will come with us now for your own good.”

I sighed hearing her words. At last, Vitalia is seeking Arlene and not me. That is a relief. Arlene’s assistance would be invaluable in the upcoming ordeal but a fae could change the whole tide of events. I needed both their aid.

“Arlene, You could always listen to what eh...” Searching for the proper term to address Vitalia and finally giving myself up, I decided on Professor. “Professor Vitalia has to say. Then you can decide on your own. You lose nothing by spending some time and listening to her.”

“Actually, even though I am indeed a teacher at the academy, I am on what you would term as a sabbatical Magistra Rylonvirah. Since I am out in the field, there is no need for such formal titles.” She declared.

Apparently, Vitalia is the type to have the final say in everything.

“But if you must insist, as with all the teachers in the academy, we all have our court bestowed title, Provost Vitalia will be sufficient.”

I did not bother asking which court bestowed the title, since the fae always had a long tradition of playing mentors to many monarchs. Any one of them could have bestowed the title.

Vitalia addressed Arlene again, “Child, you have picked many skills and habits during your vagrants days. You have learned more than what an average child of your age would have learned. But now it is time to nurture those habits and tune you into a proper upstanding lady.”

Having completed the statement, Vitalia fluttered in the direction of our temporary camp. She, obviously, has been following our every movement.

*****

A campfire burned in the midst, while Arlene sat at leisure, feeling at ease with the environment. For my part, I opted for a side-saddle position. Previously, I have instructed my merry band of goblin followers to provide us with some measure of seclusion. From the corner of my eyes, I could still spot Taltil and Maapu watching over our conclave attentively. Vitalia, in a manner befitting of her fae nature, hovered over the ground.

“My apologies Magistra. It has never been my intention to intrude on your privacy. Our paths merely intertwined coincidentally. Though I can understand your reservations. If it eases you, I declare it in my honour as an esteemed member of Vernal Equinox Academy. I was merely following a quest of my own.” She declared.

So she is the presence that I felt when I last parted with Arlene. And she is also my mysterious benefactor in breaking out of Meranvale. She has been following our progress for a while and even if she claims to be a member of a prestigious academy, I cannot let my guard down.

As if sensing my reservations, Vitalia started, “We at the academy have a long-standing tradition of nurturing young savants from other shorter-lived races. We offer our guidance and mentorship to promising candidates. To make them better leaders. We have helped raise civilisations from dust and prevented the collapse of imperium.”

She paused deliberately as if to let her message sink in.

She continued further, “Unfortunately Magistra Rylonvirah, Please do not get me wrong but I cannot extend my guidance to you. Our experience tells us that our guidance works well on young minds. You, on the contrary, have developed into your own impressionable person and have your own perception in regards to world views. So I apologise Magistra Rylonvirah. I am here for this Valiant Ranger.”

Meaning, I am too old to be indoctrinated or manipulated.

Vitalia levitated slowly upwards and moved her hands in a grandiose manner. A breeze picked up and soon she was surrounded by a small torrent. It could have served as an impressive parlour trick at a royal household, but Arlene was all the more impressed and she sat spellbound.

“It is a mere coincidence that our paths crossed, but still a welcome one. For I was on a quest of my own. I, offer my guidance, to you, Arlene. You should feel exalted. We, at the academy, offer our mentorship to only exceptional individuals. You could be a part of something bigger and glorious.”

At the utterance of the words, “quest” and “glorious”, Arlene’s cheeks glowed. Her head tilted upwards in the direction of Vitalia and a look of fascination was painted on her face.

I squinted my eyes to glare at the floating Vitalia.

“So what was your original quest again?” I pressed for information.

“Magistra Rylonvirah, as you might be aware, the academy encourages the mentoring of future leaders. It is one of our primary reason for establishing such an august institution. Where multiple intellectuals meet, a multitude of ideas and a maelstrom of opinions are bound to happen. The academy is not an exception. A few of my colleagues have their own idealogy on the effective means to impart values to our mentees. We tried to reach a coherent conclusion. Inevitably, such a conclusion requires more substantiation. Thus, the academy has granted me an intermittent break from my academic responsibilities to formally attest my postulation.” Vitalia finally confessed.

“Not surprisingly, you put forth your own mentoring methodology to which the academy did not agree. So you kept pestering them so much that they forced you go on a sabbatical? Provost Vitalia, did I grasp the situation accurately?” I countermanded, ignoring all tact and guile.

“Magistra, I am certain, multiple perceptions of reality is not an alien concept to you. So let us not argue on the interpretation of the event. On the contrary, may I strongly suggest that we focus on the forthcoming ordeal?” snapped Vitalia.

Diversionary tactic. The fae knows to cover her weak spots.

In the intervening period of time, Arlene decided to ignore our conversation and started to draw figures in the ground with twigs. Surprisingly, Theko joined Arlene and the two of them were busy playing with pebbles and twigs. The figures engraved on the ground serving as some sort of tactical war and the pebbles as miniature military units.

Not that it would surprise me, since her glorious quest amounts to being a random sample for an experiment.

“What do you propose to do about your current predicament, Magistra Rylonvira?” enquired Vitalia.

I suppressed my irritation at repeatedly being called Magistra and responded to Vitalia’s question.

“Honestly, I do not see many paths before me. All I know is, staying hidden in this forest is not a wise move. Furthermore, I now have followers. I have nothing to my name and the goblins look up to me for filling their belly. And even if I had some means of providing, with Merrick hunting me, ...” I did not bother completing my statement. The implied meaning is straightforward.

“How about you separate the issues into individual ones, Magistra Rylonvirah?” suggested Vitalia.

“You mean?”

“Hypothetically, if Merrick is not hunting you, what would be your plan for the goblins? and if you do not have to take care of the goblins, how would you approach the situation with your pursuers? ”