Work In Progress

Trapped in Faerie

Obsession

The human was going about their own business. I watched as she tended a beautifully well-groomed garden. Her deft movements neatly removed dying leaves and weeds. Well, nothing in this garden was truly a weed. Just in the wrong place at times. In one corner there was a plant bed full of dandelions and daisies, while in another corner, roses grew tall and vibrant.

A vegetable patch took up a strip of land at the back of the garden and was surrounded in a thin layer of mint plants, all neatly groomed and set about. It is a wonder how you can deter insects and animals just by placing the right plants in the right places.

I learnt a lot watching this human female and because increasingly curious about this magic she seemed to use. She’d be one end of the garden tilling dirt or pruning a plant when the bird would glide silently down to another patch to pick at the seeds. Without fail the female would turn and shoo the beast away as if having seen it land.

I watched this human for days at first, but those days turned to weeks which eventually turned to months and years. My fascination with her grew ever stronger, which in turn started cogs spinning in my mind. If she was like this here, in the mundane world of humans, what could she do in my home world, what could she do in Faerie? I just had to know.

Day 1

One day, once the human had fallen asleep, I decided to weave a spell, one so simple that no one would know. The spell has one job, to move her to my homeland without waking her. And that it did.

I watched as she woke, at first slow and peaceful and then rapid and panicked as she couldn’t find her room. She woke in a glen, surrounded by crystal grass and trees on varying hues. She was not in the human world anymore and there was no denying it.

I watched for hours as she went about trying to convince herself this was all a dream. And then the light that shone from her eyes when realisation struck. She wasn’t dreaming, she wasn’t going insane. She truly was in a magic realm of her wildest dreams. She cheered in utter exuberance, a cheer so devout I knew she felt freed at last from the humdrum lifestyle of a human.

It was around mid-day when she started gathering supplies to survive the wilds. A place that typically drove humans nuts. I was right, she was different, she was still sane, or so I hope.

I watched as the human continued to amaze me, she built a small leaf roofed tent for the night, gathered firewood and even sharpened a stout stick to a point for use as a spear. The last human brought here didn’t think of that one, just kept a stick blunt and swung it like a club. Yet here was my muse, armed with a spear and with tent and fire being set up.

“Now just to see what she’ll do for food.” I spoke to myself from where I waited in watch.

It is here that her endless ability to surprise me struck again. I watched as she tested the plant life for anything edible then moved to the small pond and stream and stood in patient waiting until she saw what she was looking for. Then like a viper, she struck. Her spear tip entered the water without a splash and came out with a large silver fish. Carp of some kind if I had to guess.

“I’m sorry for taking your life.” She spoke. “But in doing so I prolong my own.” And with that she brought it back to her fire.

I watched as the night grew late and the stars started to shine through the endless sky. The human picked up and rock and struck it against another several times until one broke apart.

“Yes!” She exclaimed as she picked one shard up. It was rough but sharp.

Interesting, she clearly knows the basics of survival. But it gets cold in the wilds this time of year. Will she be able to start a fire to survive? If she were a native, she’d just click her fingers or wave a hand, and the flames would form and spread. But as a human being, she didn’t have such luxuries.

My worries for her survival only grew as the night air became icy. And grows started to form along the ground and trees. A gorgeous tinkling sound sprang up from the water in the glen as ice was forming, breaking, then striking against each other. Then to my shock, I saw a spark. She was striking two objects together. But even with my enhanced eyesight I could not see what. After a few more strikes, a bit of wood dust caught a flame, she blew on it while slowly adding wood, and before long she had a roaring campfire. I almost cheered aloud for her success. I briefly wondered if this is how humans felt when watching their sports.

The night however is where things were going to get interesting, because it is at night when things typically go bump. It wasn’t long past sundown, while my muse sat by the flames when the first creatures decided to come out and play.

It wasn’t the mightiest of our kind, but a threat it still was. For what stumbled into her camp was a lonely goblin. A small beast with unfortunate ears and a pale complexion, the sort of beast your human stories contain. There is one difference however, when humans think goblin, they picture hideous green skinned beasts with sharp teeth and covered in warts. No, this was a gorgeous being of fair pale skin, and large dark eyes. It stood only around three feet tall and dressed in naught but a loin cloth. In its right hand it held a small hand axed made of crude wood and stone, while on its right arm was a shield of leaf wood. A lightweight wood, of green hue and often cut into the shape of a leaf by artisans, its sturdiness is that of steel or iron, though to find such materials here would be impressive.

The beast moved with what I would call a natural grace, but to mortals like her, an unnatural and eerie one. It leapt across the camp in a single bound, swinging its axe down in an arch toward her unprotected back. Yet again, her ability to sense the silent behind her astounded me as she rolled suddenly left and lashed out with her spear. The class of spear against shield was concussive. The goblin staggering back in shock from both her reaction and the blow itself. To my joy, she held nothing back. This human did not plan to merely survive here, no, she planned to thrive.

She went instantly on the attack, making full use of her size and better reach. The goblin though faster and graceful, was on the defence, back peddling fast. How was it that a mere human gardener was able to fight so well with a spear? Let alone, against a Fae.

“Oh, I chose well with this one.” I grinned.

The goblin leapt then, attacking with a flurry of strikes of verging degrees of strength and precision. A combat style that was rare even among the trained soldiers of the Fae courts. The ability to alter and change your fighting style to match your foe. This goblin may have been more of a threat than I, or the human, had thought.

“Ah, fuck, you little shit!” The human cursed as the axe cut down her right leg, from thigh to mid calf.

The wound was large and jagged, a savage wound that would have ended the fight there, if not for the goblin's own hubris. It lunged them, extending just a little to far. Only a fraction of an inch, but that was all it took. The human fell backwards, got her good leg under the goblin and heaved. The goblin launched high into the air, only to come down fast onto the tip of the now extended spear. The goblin cried out, took one last shuddering breath and then was still. She had won. She had survived.

For the remainder of the knight the human female worked with the shield and slowly pried free a splinter, then with another splinter she worked through one end causing a hole to be formed, then she struck a rock with the axe the goblin had brought, and made a makeshift bow, she filled it with water and set it on the fire, she put the first splinter inside it with thread from her own trousers of which she had torn until they resembled shorts.

Watching her had me confused and wondering what she had planned. Then to my surprise she threaded the makeshift needled, for that is what the splinter was, and she started to sow. No not clothing but her leg. Stitch after stitch. No pain killers or numbing agent. Just pure will power driving her forward. It took her until the hour before dawn to finish, and by the end she was panting and sweating. But she was not bleeding anymore.

Using her spear as a walking cane. She moved her tent into the brush and disguised it with more foliage before going in and sleeping. Her first day was a success. She had survived, hunted, and defended herself. She had administered first aid, built a shelter and fire. Few humans make it this far in the far wilds. Few survive an hour before losing their minds and ending their own misery. Yet here she was, thriving in a world that would see her dead.

Day 2

The icy wind froze the very air over night, and level of cold few of the human world can survive. This was a fact I was well aware of, and due to it, worried about as I waited to see if my human would awake or not.

I studied the surrounding land as dawn stained the sky above a gorgeous pink and purple, and clouds ran across the face of the sky. Somewhere to the east, I could hear the roar of wild horse, for here they did not whiney but roar. The beast was clearly on the hunt, and I felt pity for the poor soul it had sighted.

To the north was the first city of Faerie that my human was likely to come across and even from her glen, if she so chose, she could see its gleaming walls. At this distance however, they looked not unlike clouds low on the horizon. The city was a small one, filled with beings of all kinds, none of which a human would normally have the displeasure of meeting. Since the majority of Fae would not hesitate to eat a human, I was greatly looking forward to how should would tackle this roadblock in her survival.

All of this, of course, may be idle and useless thought, if she never awoke. Wounded and half frozen, I would not be surprised if she did not. And as the morning dragged on, I worried I was right. That was until I heard untrained foot fall on the far side of the glen.

There she was, limping through the bushes, berries and fruit in a makeshift sling made of her own jacket, slung over her shoulders. She had, at some point, left through the back of her tent and gone scavenging, leaving me none the wiser.

“Did she know I was here? Did she know I was watching? Surely not, my magic is infallible.”

My fears of being discovered where put to rest however when she walked right past where I sat upon a boulder watching, and watching her face, I saw no sign of notice. No minute movement of muscle or pupil to state she saw but tried to not react. These little movements were involuntary and near impossible to hide. This knowledge of course, helped relax me.

She sat down with her haul of fruit and veg then drew up a stick and started to talk to herself as she drew into the ground with her knew writing implement.

“Right, Food, fire and shelter are all sorted Luna, you have a spear and axe. As well as this weird wooden shield. I think its time I start venturing out. I can’t survive off fruit forever.” She was saying as she worked on her writing. It was then I realised she was carving a to do list into the ground.

I smiled, beyond impressed, and now I knew her name. This human being was called Luna. Fitting since she is the first in many generations to survive her first night here. Now, what will do actually do next. She said she wanted to venture out and explore. But how? If she went too far, she wouldn’t make it back to her fire and shelter for nightfall.

So, wanting to know the answer, I sat and watched, waiting. Once she had eaten her fill. She shocked me by dismantling her tent and fire. She wrapped the sticks she used for the tent, in the leaves she used as a roof. Then she went off and gather more sticks as well as vines from the surrounding forest. I wasn’t quite sure what she had planned until she started to weave.

“She’s making rope! Is she going to make her first bow? Or perhaps a makeshift bag to carry her things?” I said to no one.

She gathered more leaves and sticks and started to weave them and the ropes all together. She did this twice. I was so happy with my choice. She was going to shock everyone. She slung her first craft over one shoulder and inside she places a few large, folded leaves, stones and charcoal. Then using the shield like a flooring, she created a rucksack out of the remaining rope and leaves, in this she put the spare food, and her tent supplies. She had effectively halved the height of her tent in order to make it portable. It would I noted, also make it easier to hide.

She spent the better part of the morning doing this before she grabbed up her spear, nodded once to herself and spoke thus. “Well, no time like the present, I got a new world to experience.” She said it all with a smile.

With that she set out. I followed at a distance as was my want and watched her as she went. Soon the forest faded to field of purple grass and vibrant sky-blue trees with apples that looked like crystals but had the taste and texture of meats. Dotted here and there where goblin tribes and other wild animals that walked the land. Luna played her hand well though and would use the land to her advantage. She would dart behind trees or drop to the ground in an instant to avoid being seen. When that wouldn’t work, she wouldn’t run. She knew it would be pointless since the creatures here are faster than her. No, instead she would appear to flee, only to turn last second and surprise her attackers with a full-frontal attack.

Her cunning seems endless, and I had no idea where this wonderful being would lead me. I watched the horizon and only now realised she was headed away from the city. She was heading toward hostile land. I wonder what she has planned. I hoped she had a plan. Though I often forget that she does not know this land or where she is. She is a mortal after all, and to make matters worse, just a gardener.

She walked the land in an almost straight line for over three hours before she came across her first sentient creature. A small grey folk stepped from a bush blocking her path. The grey folk were one of the first fae to walk the land and few still existed. To come across one this far from a city was out of the ordinary. But then, so was coming across a human who was still alive and had their wits in order.

The Grey Folk did not act the way I had expected. Typically, when one of the fair folk see a human. One of two things happens. Either they kill and eat it, or they bind and breed it. Neither of these things happened, however. It just stood calmly, awaiting Luna’s approach. When she reached it, it stepped out and spoke.

“You are a long way from home miss.” He said, watching her. “Are you in need of aid?”

I watched her frown, stood in a guarded stance, spear ready and shield up. I could tell she herself was not sure what to think of of this strange grey man.

(This is a work in progress, not actually titled or refined, though I’d let you all read it.)