“There’s a reason adventure begins in taverns. They simply have the best gossip”~Unknown
Bernin would never speak of the next two weeks. Even to her most private confidants, those two weeks were simply spent eating and waiting. No one believed her, but most supposed she must have a pretty good reason to hide something. No one knew, except a small village in the middle of a giant forest. This village centred around a large tree knew the truth and spoke it freely. It was a truly legendary tale to them.
An outsider, who months ago was unknown to all, had resolved feud after feud in those two weeks. She went around and solved age old mysteries such as the missing apple bunch and found toy after toy that children had lost over the last decade. Once she got started, there was truly no stopping her, some people even spoke of her leaving baskets in front of houses, filled with missing items.
Those two weeks the town was the focus of a single woman. Once she got started she couldn’t stop. Her instincts drove her to repay the people around town. Normally a ritual would be used to drain the magic and return her to balance. But it turned out that once she resolved the first problem, it counted as debt repayment. The chain reaction that followed was a mystery even to her. She was pretty sure she went without food, drink and even sleep. For two weeks she moved, flew, found and resolved petty disputes and drama years behind most. Some grievances were even forgotten by the victims.
Two weeks passed in a flash for Bernin. The citizens might be happy to have their problems solved, but for her it was a state of delirium. She was barely conscious as she moved faster and faster, moving from home to home. Even in her delirious state she remembered the start. She asked the question and then…. Nothing. It was instant, her instincts driving her forward, she didn’t even remember the solution for the whole situation. She remembered finding a decade old toy between roots. How she got there, she couldn’t tell. Suddenly she was trapped in a prison of silver. Something she could normally easily break with some heat but her reserves were bone dry. She felt the fae magic drain from the cage quickly and fell down hard onto the floor. There was some more shouting after that, but Bernin was long out for that.
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She woke up in bed. She was dehydrated and weak, there was some shouting and then she felt some water in her mouth. She was able to swallow it down, barely. The next few days were a different haze. While the last two weeks were fast, moving and always active. Now she laid and later sat in a bed recovering. She slept deeply and long, maybe longer than she even had before. Gregarious had come by long ago and offered his apologies. While she had done her due diligence, he had not. Apparently there were signs he should have been able to see and pick up on, but he just didn’t. He had no real excuse, but he tried.
A week later Bernin felt a lot better. Her magic had recharged and that had sped her recovery up by miles. There was some residual soreness, but that was expected. She grabbed her suitcase and equipment. It had been the worst assignment in a long while. Luckily all things ended, she would have to take some time off and process this. She had plenty of days saved up, maybe a month of relaxation would be good for her. It also would be a good idea to do some work on her fae side. This incident had shown her that she still had far to go before reaching mastery.