‘The lands of the so called ‘Trooping Fae’, those who live within secluded communities, are ruled and divided between two classes of royal Elves. Namely the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. As most who have explored the Fae lands would agree, a more relevant classification would be the Good and Evil courts, respectively. As unsophisticated as this may seem, I have found the royal Elves in question happily agree with this observation on the essence of their interactions with mankind.’
‘On the Nature of contemporary Fae’ 1236 AD,
Merlin, Archwizard, Archdruid, and Bard
***
It turned out Marys was right.
Alex realised this as he walked down the street with Victor still trailing behind him. Whatever this Mist thing was, it definitely did it’s job. Sometimes people even stopped to pat the vicious looking beast.
He saw that as people bent down to reach for something they saw well below Victor’s real body, they seemed to pass through his muscled frame like it didn’t exist. At least that was one less thing for Alex to worry about.
The only issue was when a women asked what breed Victor was.
“Guess,” was all Alex could reply.
“He looks like my neighbour’s beagle. He’s definitely a cutie, that’s for sure.”
Alex could only nod with a serious face.
So much for a Rottweiler.
After last nights experience, Alex had packed his tent and headed straight home. Having foregone sleep, he stayed up all night googling various terms.
The first of which was naturally fairies. And as it turned out, he really had been unlucky. Although he could find nothing on those supposed Rites he was performing, Alex did find information on these fairy courts.
And that’s where he saw a familiar term. Unseelie. The same word he’d found funny in the Amatheia’s speech revealed the type of fairies he was dealing with. And it was the bad ones. Which he figured made sense considering the fact they wanted to eat him.
He’d also googled Victor’s species. Articles about the Barghest mainly told him things Alex already knew, that they were big and dangerous. More often than not sources also said they could shapeshift, and some said they were more of a ghost than a monster.
He guessed that was what Marys meant when he said Victor could hide from the ‘not so common man’, which Alex could only assume meant the magical variety.
He tried to test this ability but the beast just let out a strangely condescending growl after he asked it. This attested to Marys’ point on the beast’s intelligence, as apparently it could tell the situation didn’t need it to.
Since it was a Sunday and he didn’t have work, Alex decided that he might as well seek out this Helga. He had a deadline after all.
Which was why he was following the beast through the streets.
That had been a mistake. Alex realised this during his third hour of following the dog. By this point they had walked well out of the city limits. Luckily his budget apartment was near the outskirts anyway.
Eventually Victor leaped over a fence and towards the forest he had been camping at the night before.
‘Of course.’
It was another hour before they reached their apparent destination. By this point Alex should have been exhausted, yet he had barely broken a sweat from the summer sun. He could only think back to the gifts he had supposedly received from the first Rite.
Helga lived in a tree apparently. At least that’s what Victor seemed to think as the beast continued barking at the normal seeming trunk it sat in front of.
The only notable difference that made this tree unique amidst the forest was a childish carving of a house that was etched high up against the wood. Alex figured this was a fairly big difference considering his recent discovery of the supernatural.
It took a couple minutes of watching the dog yap before he finally deciding to examine the tree. Yet before he could place his hand against the deep carving, a loud shout caused Alex to stumble backwards.
“Hang on, hang on Radolf. Or is that you, Victor?”
The voice echoed ancient and raspy, like an elderly woman who spent the better part of her life smoking. It also appeared to come from the tree itself, despite Alex not seeing any obvious breach in its outer bark. He’d assumed this Helga was a fairy or something similar since the tree wasn’t that large.
Victor obviously knew the voice. Hoping up to attention the Barghest’s tail began to wag, which was a first for him to see.
Without warning, a glowing crack appeared beneath the carving. It stretched vertically downwards before ripping open sideways. It was then he realised the crack wasn’t in the bark but rather the air in front of the tree, as shown when the crack stretched well past the boundaries of the tree trunk.
The contents behind the open crack was masked by a murky veil of dark green. It almost look like the crack revealed the surface of a swamp, yet no water poured out.
Something else walked out instead.
With the bulging body of an obese person and the blue tinted skin of a drowned corpse, this two meter tall creature was easily the most intimidating supernatural he had witnessed. It even topped the Barghest with its terror inducing body.
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The face of this ‘woman’ was mainly human, save the bulging red eyes, hooked nose and abnormally long mouth that was held in a wide smile.
“Ah, little Victor has come to pay a visit to Ol’ Helga.” She spoke to the Barghest while throwing a raw meat chunk that had been retrieved from a makeshift leather satchel that sat against her stained cloth tunic.
“Oh, and you’ve even brought me a guest!” She grinned wildly at Alex before something caught her nose. After a dramatic sniff, her smile began to show off pointed shark-like teeth. He noticed they were stained with black splotches.
“Helga knows what the smell means. No wonder little Victor brings you here, manling. Suppose that lass Theia sent you here for a little help from Helga? Can’t imagine why the elf would want that, you look awfully tasty.” She licked her lips as if to prove she meant it. A purple tongue slapped against her bloated lips.
“Come then manling, Helga will see how she can help the Queen’s new toy,” saying so, the hulking woman turned back towards the murky veil and stepped back through. Victor bounded after her.
Alex couldn’t help but breath in deeply. He’d come this far, so it would be stupid to ignore his best chance at completing these Rites. He followed after Helga.
Stepping through the portal revealed an entirely different forest. The air felt much more humid, and tall but scarce trees had been replaced by an overgrowth of jungle.
Helga’s easily spotted form was walking towards a large wooden cabin that sat atop a wooden platform about a meter high. Alex quickly followed after as she and Victor climbed the wooden steps leading up to the cabin.
Upon climbing up to the platform, a quick head turn revealed the portal that took him here had vanished. Coming this far, he could only enter the cabin.
The interior of the hut was about what Alex expected for someone of Helga’s appearance. Basically, it was type of abode you’d expect from a witch.
The large room that made up the majority of the building was a chaotic mess of shelves, baskets, tables. The shelves and baskets were filled with yellowed scrolls and parchments, body parts, colourful powders and other unidentifiable curios, while the drying racks held a assortment of plants and stretched leathers. Against the walls were worktables holding a collection of primitive looking tools, some Alex couldn’t even guess the use of.
Right in the centre of the room lay a small soot-laden brickwork platform, marked with arcane runes that combined to form a circle. Atop the runes sat a large metal cauldron decorated with it’s own set of mystical symbols.
Helga stood in front of a shelf, grabbing the aged documents at random to scan through. She just as quickly threw them back on the shelf, a telling scowl showing that they were not what she was looking for. Victor had wandered to a corner that only contained a small pile of bones, sitting on top of it while happily picking a femur to gnaw.
Alex decided the best use of time was not to explore the cabin, but instead stay right where he was. It seemed like a better idea than peeking through things he didn’t understand and risk provoking the wrath of Helga.
Eventually she looked up with a dark scroll in hand. “This is the one. Let’s see what we can do with you, manling.” She paused to read the text she had found. As time passed, Alex noticed a grin appear on the witch’s face once again.
“Hah, so that’s why the lass sent the manling to me. Looks like the little Queen will owe old Helga a favour soon enough.” Her face snapped up to Alex with an unnerving speed.
“You, boy, tell me your name. Helga will need to know what to call her little apprentice.” Her smile didn’t look the slightest bit comforting, instead giving him the impression of a hungry predator viewing a piece of meat.
“Ah, it’s Alex. And why are you calling me your apprentice?”
Despite how terrifying Helga looked, Alex tried to not get caught up in her momentum. The thought of being this thing’s apprentice was hardly enticing after her comment on eating him.
“So the lass did not tell her toy? Curious. She gives manling Alex such aid yet keeps him in the dark? A tricky little fairy Queen to be sure.” Helga eyed him thoughtfully.
Her words also made Alex think. Why had Amatheia even helped him if she was supposedly a malevolent fae queen, one of the Unseelie. Then again, if Helga didn’t know the reason, he wasn’t likely to find out anytime soon anyway. Like she put it, he was in the dark for this situation.
Noticing his confusion, Helga spoke up.
“Ah, if manling Alex is to be Helga’s apprentice, Helga should teach the little manling these things, shouldn’t she? Very well, let Helga teach her apprentice. Although you used to be a normal manling, two boons were gained by the first Rite, were they not?”
If it was things he’d gained, Alex could only think of the changes he felt when he’d drunk that Ichor, the ‘blessing’ the Queen has given him, and Victor. He hardly owned Victor, so these boons should be the other two.
He nodded to her question.
“The little Queen sent you to Helga because of these boons. The first of which, the Ichor, opened a Source in you, manling Alex. This is very rare for your kind, and is why so many mages seek the Rites of an unwed fae ruler. The second boon was the little Queen’s blessing. This blessing grants you the talents of the royal fae, and thus the appreciation of their lesser ilk.”
The explanation hadn’t really helped Alex at all, which Helga quickly picked up on.
“A shame, manlings have so little knowledge since that Druid summoned his Mist. Not to worry, little Alex, for Helga is your teacher. She will explain so that a manling can understand.” She gave him a toothy smile, which did the opposite of reassuring him.
Still, it almost seemed that Helga was enjoying the idea of being a teacher to Alex.
Which was hardly a bad thing. Just an incredibly weird coincidence.
She continued her explanation while maintaining her predatory smile.
“For Helga to teach her apprentice, the talents of a normal manling, even a mage, would not be enough. You however have a Source within to draw from as fuel for magics. This, you share in common with all other magical beings, like Helga. Along with this, you have the talents of royal fae, which includes an affinity with the magics of nature. As a Bog Hag, Helga has a mastery of the same magics. Luckily for you, Helga is an ancient Bog Hag who has long become a witch, having great knowledge of her magics in the same sense that sourceless manling mages have. So Alex, do you understand why the little Queen sent you to old Helga for tutelage?”
“Yea, I think I get it. So your going to teach me magic right? How long will this take, because I have to complete this second Rite before the winter solstice? Plus I kind of have a job in the real world.”
As much as the prospect of learning magic excited Alex, he was on a pretty limited timeframe.
“Yes, the Rites would demand haste as part of the test, wouldn’t they? This will be a test of Helga’s ability to teach, and her apprentice’s ability to learn, certainly. As for your manling trade, although your knowledge and reputation over it will fade over time, you will gain much more worthwhile abilities to face the coming challenges. You would be foolish to put it above your preparation for Rites.
Although Alex could question her awareness of the modern job market, Helga did have a point. He couldn’t afford to keep his job with the Rites looming over him.
Knowing he had to was one thing, but Alex was couldn’t help but be hesitant on giving up the normal life he had spent 22 years building. It was his identity as a human.
Yet it would have to be another sacrifice he would make so wouldn’t end up dead and eaten.
“Your right, teacher. I’ll try my best to learn from you. But I’d still like a day to sort things out back home. It’ll be a problem if I just disappear without telling anyone.”
Although he was worried about making a request considering her weirdly amiable attitude, Alex noticed her smile lift when he called her teacher. And she replied just liked he hoped.
“Very well apprentice. Sort your manling matters by the morrow, so Helga can start her teachings. You have a lot to learn and very little time for it. Victor, go along with little Alex so he can find his way back.”