Ten Years ago:

Kenton brought his little pouch of supplies. The golden key from his long days as a Mapper was safely on a chain around his neck, despite knowing he was no longer a mapper. Paranoia would be the last thing to leave him, he was very sure. He would never ever go anywhere in the Stable without his keys on his person.

He knew that the Stable had accepted a new Mapper, and Kenton had officially retired. But he felt confident he’d never relax his guard, even thirty years in the future.

He had earned a new position, one that should be enough to carry him over to the realm of midling.

Easy job. Just play nice with a young batch of Lordlings and take care of some saddles.

He pushed forward into the room, the Griffin Room of the Red Circle.

He paused. Because they looked like little children.

He knew the Lordlings would be young, but he forgot how young they started the future leaders of the Seelie Realm. None of them were older than fifteen. Were they even ten years old? What had he been doing when he was ten? Catching frogs? Swiping extra baked goods from windowsills?

These kiddos seemed to be similar to any other kid. Their minders were practically invisible against the wall, watching every move, but just as equally not available. The kids were goofing around. One little boy was playing with little soldiers, another was setting up dominoes. Another was making a mudpie. The others were chatting and talking.

If Kenton had not been briefed about who they were, he would have assumed they were like any other kid.

The little kid with deep blue hair with the edges green? That one was the great-grandson of the Sea King, heir apparent of the Sea Kingdom, or whatever it ended up becoming. That child had enough authority to be the mayor of Kenton’s hometown, and he was eight. He was talking to the tallest girl.

That little girl with the flame red hair, taking a soldier toy from the little boy? That was the grandniece of McKellan House, Senate.

That slightly pudgy boy, complaining that he has his toy soldier back? He was from the O’Tells House. Son of one of the ruling lords. A Family with Influence over powerful courts. Almost a faction unto itself.

That girl with black and white hair? Daughter of the Leader of the Moon Court, Grand-Daughter of the High Fae of Time. Court. She was the one making mudpies.

That girl who was tallest of all of them, daughter of the seasonal divide, half Seelie, half Unseelie. She was telling the other little girl not to take toys that don’t belong to her. Her father was Senate, her mother was Ambassador.

That dark-haired boy, the last Lordling and Heirling of the Famous Shadow Clan, carefully setting up dominoes. Red Sword faction.

And where was the last one? There were supposed to be seven lordlings in the Red Circle.

Kenton felt nervous. He was supposed to introduce himself to all the Young Lordlings at the same time, lest he appear to be showing favoritism and lose his authority. Those minders watching from the back would not miss such a detail.

He was to work their tack and saddles. He was supposed to barely interact with them. Just introduce himself and be done with it.

But the children turned to look at him from their playing, and the weight of their gazes implied they knew exactly how much power they had. They may still act like children, but they were more powerful than his regional lord.

These weren’t any lordlings, these were Lordlings of ruling classes and courts and senate.

“Where…is the seventh?” he asked, vaguely.

“Up!” answered the white and black-haired little girl, raising a pink-tipped finger upward to the second level, which was open to above.

“He needs to wait for the trainers.” Huffed the tallest girl.

“He learns by making mistakes.” Said the dark-haired boy.

And Kenton looked up to the second floor but didn’t see anyone.

He glanced back at the children, feeling awkward.

“Up. Up!” said the first girl.

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And Kenton looked up, then up. There, amongst the rafters, was a little boy. He had dusty blond hair and glowing mischievous eyes.

There, beneath him was a griffin. She was still small for a griffin, but she was easily the same size as the boy, and the right size to begin riding. They were to begin training for riding soon. Which was why they needed a dedicated leather worker for the saddles and tack.

(Because if the saddles broke and the Lordlings were injured, they needed someone to blame. But Kenton’s father had been a leatherworker, and Kenton was well trained…he wouldn’t fail, he wouldn’t. Surely this was safer than Mapper.)

“Matheus, are you going to let him do this?” Ask the redheaded girl, still clutching the stolen soldier toy.

One of the retainers shrugged, an elderly greying fae. “He is the Red Sword’s Heirling. It is good that he is not a coward. Whether he is wise or not is yet to be determined.”

“Hands up, catch me if I fall! Here I come!”

And the most important little Lordling, riding an untamed little cinnamon-colored griffin, kicked the griffin’s side “Let’s go find dead things!” He cried, raising his little fist.

And the griffin, which had looked small before, unfurled her wings, magnificent like a half sun.

And she leapt into the air.

She did not glide smoothly. She was too interested in appearing regal to remember to flap right away, swoosh, swoosh. So the pair tumbled down.

Kenton, stupidly, raised his arms to catch them…what could he have done, anyway?

But he needn’t have bothered. The little griffin got the hang of it, flosh, flosh, flap, and righted herself and the little Heirling. Laughter spilled from the little boy, giddy.

The griffin fluttered in place but was unable to maintain level flight, so it was really more of a postponement of falling than defying gravity.

But the little lordlings cheered as the griffin tumbled down to the ground, mostly safely, tripping over her own feet.

The little Lordling was bounced by this, and Kenton ended up catching the young fae in his arms anyway.

The little boy smiled at him, missing two front teeth. “You caught me. You must be Kenton. Matheus told me to be nice to the person who is going to maintain my saddles so I can fight in campaigns!”

And that was when Kenton met Elswith.

In the Stable, ten years later.

The Fear of Failure withered and thrashed. It tried to release him, drop him into the sprawling void beneath him. But upon his words, Kenton was filled with strength. He had thought the Fear of Failure would grow weaker, but in actuality, he got stronger.

He seized it with his left hand, grabbing it tightly. He squirreled forward, graceless desperation driving him up and over, gripping its shoulder with his right hand. It flowed away from the ledge, and finally, Kenton stumbled back onto the eleventh ledge.

He was safe!

But then he realized that the Fear was trying to run away, not dissipate.

Run away, into the Dungeon, not the Stable. Into the Dungeon, where Elswith was clearly still fighting against another Fear. Fear of Failure…if Elswith had a fear of Failure, then maybe it was hoping to stick around because of Elswith’s unresolved fear.

And Kenton admitted that he felt insulted that the Fear was trying to run away.

He beat it, somehow. But now it was trying to cheat?

Law of Fae didn’t like that either. And it was in the Stable now.

It was slipping off, away, to that sister space that was the Dungeon.

Kenton jumped on it, old joints popping under the suddenness of his movements.

The Fear, which only barely looked like Sarah Beth now, shuddered. “I’m here, in the Stable. And You’re going to stay with me!” Kenton yelled, feeling the support of the Law of Fae.

It thrashed. “We must save the Dungeon!” It shrieked, sounding like glass break. “We need more participants. The oaths must be observed. We cannot lose him!”

“Elswith doesn’t belong to anyone.” Not even the Game, he thought. But not too loud, because the Game was listening…

It shrieked, stumbling forward. Even though it was defeated, it was strong. How strong was Elswith’s fear of Failure…

And Kenton realized suddenly that he would be unable to get the key up to Elswith and deal with the Fear of Failure at the same time.

In fact, it was becoming stronger again…

With Elswith there, he couldn’t truly defeat it. Kenton felt the reassurance of the Stable, of the Law of Fae, and the Game.

Leap of Faith. Said the Game.

“Hey, Elswith! Hands up. Catch it!” He said and threw the key upward, golden metal gleaming through the air. It disappeared from the Stable, and through the glass wall, Kenton saw it gleam again.

He saw Elswith reach out his hand, fast like a memory. Kenton couldn’t see if the kid grabbed the key or not, because the Fear of Failure almost got away.

Boldness. Trust.

Stupidity.

A memory, twenty years ago when Sarah Beth was visiting and he was giving her a tour. He was still a mapper then, and the Stable had gone out of its way to show Sarah Beth only the safest, cutest, and fluffiest sections of the Stable. It almost annoyed him, but then again he was happy that Sarah Beth got to see the fluffy bunnies and not the exploding bunnies. Sarah Beth, smiling at him. “You know more about the Stable than even the StableMasters…”

“I’m just more foolish than those guys. Besides, Midlings are too self-involved to ever listen to the Stable.”

“The Stable sounds demanding…What is the craziest thing the Stable prompted you to do…” she had said.

He hadn’t been able to find any one crazy thing. But he knew now. He had defeated the Fear of Failure, but it was trying to flee to the Dungeon. He defeated it with words, but he was unlikely to defeat it in single combat or anything crazy. He just needed to give Elswith enough time.

And the Stable was prompting him to do something crazy.

“Hey, you Fear. You should know that the Stable likes me. A Lot.” He grabbed the Fear, planting his legs. It was strong, so strong that it was already almost breaking free from his grasp. “Let’s see if the Stable likes you.” And he pulled the Fear off the ledge, with himself.

Happy thoughts.

He was completely insane, wasn’t he?

It started to dissipate, and Kenton felt a rush of power and lightness. Something blue flashed before his own eyes,

Status: Player Level Up!