When the morning came the next day, Elysif and I woke up Scott’s lazy ass. We weren’t entirely healed, but we were good enough to go meet this Fae. Scott had decided without us that we could handle it, so he could be drunk the whole time. We didn’t have any reason to tell him no, so we just accepted it. On another note, I still hadn’t told them about my weird dream, but it felt like it was better to not tell them yet. It was far too crazy, even for me. I don’t even want to think how crazy it would be for them.

Though, the fact is that I also didn’t want to talk about it. The whole thing made me uncomfortable. Even if I wasn’t chosen for a specific reason, my life was being manipulated by another being, and that made me want to disappear. Though part of me took comfort in the fact that something was keeping tabs on me. All I could do for now to take my mind off my helplessness was to do my job.

Heading back into the forest, past Rubin’s place, and deeper into the woods, we made our way up a long path only used by the Willowisps. As we continued, the trail began to disappear, and a thick fog rolled in. Scott didn’t seem to mind, as he trailed in the back, while Elysif was content being between the two of us. I, however, was internally screaming. The place reminded me of a horror game, and I was starting to expect a half-naked pyramid-head person to appear.

We wandered south for a good few hours, and I kept getting the feeling we were lost. Elysif and Scott didn’t seem to care though. In fact, they seemed a bit too level-headed at the moment. “So what will this Fae look like?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It could look like a tree, an animal, a human, or all three,” Scott answered.

“Wait, then how will we know if we found it? We could have passed by it already,” Elysif stated.

“Don’t know, but this fog isn’t helping,” Scott replied.

“Do you even know where we are?” I asked.

“Nope,” Scott replied.

“"...”” Both Elysif and I were a bit surprised by this. However, we quickly realized that we should have expected this from Scott.

“What? You were in front, so I thought you knew where we were going,” Scott said with a shrug.

“He does have a point,” Elysif said in agreement with his statement. I couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of my nose in annoyance.

Elysif looked around for a bit, before speaking again. “That way is south,” she finally said, pointing to our right. I didn’t have anything else to go off of, so I began roaming in the direction she had pointed without complaint. In retrospect, we should have thought about bringing a compass.

Elysif hiked in the same direction as me, while Scott, who didn’t really care where we were going, followed as well. After another hour of hiking, we reached the southern edge of the forest, and there was nothing. Nothing but farmland for as far as the eye could see. Some sheep were scattered in some of the fields, while wheat grew in others, but it was calm. There was no Fae, though, and that was the whole purpose of the entire hike. We were tired, thirsty, and annoyed. Scott was nearly out of booze, and we were all nearly out of water.

Sitting down in the field, feeling defeated, I just pondered what we were even doing. Elysif sort of did the same, and Scott, well, he leaned up against a tree. “Nap time, eh?” Scott asked, as he got comfortable. From his bag, he pulled out a blanket from the inn and wrapped himself in it.

“I got nothing, Scott. We haven’t found this thing, and it’s not like it’s going to just appear out of nowhere,” I replied.

“Before you continue speaking, I would look over there,” Elysif said, gesturing to the west, before she laid down in the grass. I looked to where she had gestured, and not fifty meters away, was a gigantic creature with a long slender body like a spruce tree, leaning up against an oak tree. I stared in a bit of disbelief as if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but Elysif was right. Getting back up, I began ambling towards it. The closer I got, the more I realized that it looked like some part of a tree. Its head was like that of thicket branches, and its body almost blended into the tree line from this angle.

Just in case, I pulled out my pistol, and pulled the hammer back before placing it in my coat pocket to hide it. “Hello!” I yelled out to it once I was within a few meters of it. Shaking its head, it blinked a few times, before looking around for me. Upon finding me, the creature stared at me intensely. Its eyes shared the colour of the rest of its body, an oak-like brown. However, it seemed to be glossed over with what I assumed was sap.

“Aw, come on! I was just enjoying myself a nap. What do you want?” It asked in a strangely Welsh accent, while making a gesture with its arms that was similar to that of one in disbelief.

Scott, from his resting spot against a tree, raised his bottle in a toasting fashion. That asshole! In response to his toast, I raised my middle finger at him, to which he laughed. Elysif, on the other hand, was resting in the grass, and wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing at all. Looking back at the creature, who was rather annoyed by my presence, “I hate to bother you, but do you happen to know why the Willowisps in the area are turning evil and attacking at random?” I asked a bit too reluctantly.

“Well, you are a bother, and yes, I know why they are turning 'evil,' as you say. They keep attacking me while I’m napping, so I have to break the control seals on them. Then, they go to do what they are originally meant for,” The Fae replied haughtily.

“Well, could you not? They are there to protect the area from dangerous creatures, and you are napping right on the edge of their jurisdiction,” I replied with a bit of a timid but firm tone.

“Do you think I care? I am doing them justice. Those things aren’t meant to protect, so I allow them to do what is in their proper nature,” the Fae said in the same haughty manner as before.

“Would it be easier to convince you if I told you that their master is a personal friend of Oberon, king of the Fae?” I asked, figuring that this creature wouldn’t want to piss off the King of the Fae.

“...Well, that does change things. Look, I am only napping here because I want out of Oberon’s domain for a while. I could move to another forest if you would like that,” the Fae said, changing his voice to that of a more frightened one.

“That would be great,” I replied, thankful that it could be reasoned with. This was easier than I thought it would be.

“Like hell I would do that!” The creature yelled angrily, as it swung its bark-covered fist at me. I fell backwards to dodge it, but slammed my back against the fencing that lined the field. “We Fae are very protective of our space, and I have claimed this plot for myself. Even the sheep stay away from this area. Did you think I would just let you kick me off, just like that?”

“Fine, then, Plan B.” I pulled my pistol and fired at the creature's torso. Missing my mark, the bullet hit its arm, doing nothing but minorly burn a hole through it.

“Did you think some petty weapon like that would do anything to me? You must be an idiot, boy,” the creature exclaimed proudly as it got up. The dirt below it shifted as if it had rooted its legs into the earth below. Looking back over towards Scott and Elysif for backup, I couldn’t believe what I saw. It infuriated me! Scott just raised his bottle as if cheering me on again with a smile, and I think Elysif was asleep. No help from the peanut gallery, then.

Quickly firing another shot at the Fae, the bullet struck it near where its forehead should be, and to my surprise, it stepped back as if staggered. Firing again, I was able to hit the left eye by pure luck. It wailed in pain, gripping its eye and allowing me to run up close in hopes of shooting it again while it was distracted. Sadly, I was instead knocked back by the creature’s large fist.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Landing beyond the fencing on my side, I slowly got up with a fair bit of discomfort. My body began to feel heavy, and as I stood, a coughing fit overcame me. With my coughing, much to my surprise, was blood from a now bloody nose. My wounds had yet to fully heal internally, so I was aware that it could happen but it still came as a shock. As I tried to stand, my body ached all over, and I was more than scratched up. The muscles in my arms and legs shuddered as if a nerve was pinched. How many bones had I broken? Had I even broken any bones? Did I tear anything? I didn’t know. However, the pain had yet to impact me fully from the adrenalin, so I looked over to see the creature regain its composure before releasing a low groaning howl like nothing I had ever heard.

The roots around its feet writhed like snakes. Scott was still sitting against the tree, but he seemed entertained by my fight, rather than worried. I’m glad you have that much faith in me Scott, but I don’t think I can win this. Elysif was still lying in the field, probably asleep, and being just as much of a help as Scott at the moment. They were being absolutely useless. I swear, if I survive this, I am so going to chew them out later.

The roots burst through the dirt below it towards me. I didn’t know what else to do, so I drew my knife. Then, I had an idea. A stupid one, but it was still an idea. I stabbed the blade into the heel of my shoe so that the grip was sticking out the inside of my shoe. Standing on the hilt with my other foot and just as the roots got within a meter of me, I focused enough to get my knife to float. Rather than just floating, I flew upward before I altered the direction of the knife in order to launch me at the Fae. The creature swung its arm at me like I was a pesky fly, but I dodged midair and fell on its face. Holding on for dear life, I fired the last two bullets into its face at point blank range, and used the knife to propel myself behind the creature in a flipping motion.

I didn’t have enough control, though, so I fell in an awkward and incredibly painful position. Behind me, the Fae howled in pain momentarily, before keeling over and slowly fading into dust. I tried standing up, only to cough up more blood and collapse from exhaustion. From somewhere close, I heard footsteps coming toward me. Weakly looking to my right, I could see Scott’s lower half sauntering toward me. The only reason I could tell that it was Scott was because of the bottle he carried at his side, though. Upon reaching my tired, and very hurt, body, Scott stood next to my head and crouched down like someone in a boyband cover from the nineties. “You did good, kid. I thought you might die there for a second, but you beat it,” he said with an overtly proud tone.

“So much for you thinking I could win, you cunt. Now, are you gonna get Elysif over here to heal me or what?” I said, disgruntled.

“No, she’s sleeping, so I’ll wait till she wakes up. You’ll live for a while,” he replied nonchalantly.

“You really are a cunt. Now, wake her up and, if she has a problem with it, she can go fuck herself,” I replied, unbearably pissed off.

“You must be in a lot of pain for you to be speaking like that. I’ll tell her, though, and you can feel her rage,” he said in a half-jokingly.

“Please don’t. I’m just suffering from internal damage. I can barely lift a finger, and my entire body feels awful, so you can see why I would be angry,” I said, hoping for some remorse.

“Okay, I’ll wake her up, but first drink some of this to help with the pain,” Scott said, sticking the bottle against my mouth and forcing me to drink it. I couldn’t stand it, not because it was booze, but because it was some weird drink I couldn’t identify. The aftertaste was awful and it burned badly. I couldn’t even figure out what flavors it had.

Once I had drunk some of it, he pulled it away, and began heading over toward Elysif. After a few minutes, I heard the frantic footsteps of someone running over towards me. Looking in the same direction that Scott had come from, I saw Elysif's lower half running to me. She crouched in front of me in the same way Scott did. “That Fae did a number on you, didn’t it?” she said with an apathetic tone.

“How is it that within the five minutes it took for me to walk over, talk to it, and kill it, you fell asleep?” I asked with an annoyed and still somewhat angry voice. I knew that this sudden increase in sass was due to my ever-increasing pain, but I probably shouldn’t have said that. She just gave me a look that made me think even more so that she didn’t exactly appreciate the question.

“I have been walking all day, and unlike you, I haven’t been asleep for two days,” she stated, aggravated. I felt a little bad for asking, but I felt even worse because my internal organs weren’t being fixed.

“Sorry. Now can you stop me from dying a slow and painful death?” I asked, trying to sound as if I wasn’t in a bad mood anymore.

“Perhaps,” she said, reaching under my head and propping it up. She then grabbed a vial from her bag and after ripping the cork out with her teeth, she put the vial to my lips. It was an awkward feeling, but then she tipped the vial all the way up and basically forced the contents down my throat. It tasted like cat shit, and I wanted to spew it back up, but before I could, Elysif held my mouth closed whilst starting her chant.

Within a few moments, I felt lighter and more agile. When she finished the chant, she looked at me and sighed. “You should be able to get up now, but the damage to your bones from this fight, as well as from the past one with the Willowisps has to heal properly. That medicine can only stop the bleeding and heal some of your less serious wounds. I would give you something stronger like what I gave you and Scott the other day, but those are difficult to make. You don’t need it for these kinds of wounds. It will just take some time to recuperate,” she said, like any doctor would when talking to a patient.

“If I’m stable, then where are the horses,” I said with a light chuckle. For some reason, it felt like the funniest thing to say. To be honest, though, I think that my mind may be a little out there because of blood loss. Elysif looked at me like I was an idiot, before flicking me right in the gut where I assumed the internal damage was, causing me to wince in pain.

“Why would you do that?! I’m still very sore, even with your medicine. You just finished telling me that,” I asked with a confused look.

“I assumed that if you’re able to make a joke that bad, then you must be fine. If not, then my mistake,” she said, putting off the fact that she knew damn well that I was still in pain.

“Anyways, where did Scott go?” I asked. She looked around and realized the same thing as me: he had disappeared.

“Maybe he started heading back already? We should head back, and if he isn’t there when we get back, then he’ll show up eventually. That man seems to be able to avoid death better than most, so I know he’ll be fine,” Elysif said as she helped me to my feet. Once she had helped me up, I reached down and pulled the knife from the side of my shoe sole. The shoe would require some mending, but it was a small price to pay for not dying. As I put the knife back in its sheath, I realized that I should probably reload my gun just in case, so I did, as we trudged back.

***

“How long were you spying on us?” Scott asked as he stepped out from behind a tree behind Compton.

“A while, but I didn’t expect you to realize that I was even doing so. How did you figure out I was watching you?” Compton asked calmly, as he turned around to face Scott. He had been hiding behind in the woods near where the Fae was, watching Lou get healed by Elysif, when Scott had snuck around behind him.

“I knew your mission pertained to me when you didn’t tell me back at the Table, so I kept an eye out for you. Though, to be honest, I was half expecting you to blow your cover and help the kid. He barely won that fight, and would have died had he messed up. You knew that,” Scott said.

“I normally would, but this was an order by the Consuls and the directors. I couldn’t refuse, you understand that. Plus, you were the one gambling with his life. Do you really think that you would have been fast enough to save him at the last second?” Compton stated, trying to make it sound like he wasn’t also in the wrong.

“True, and I understand your reasoning, but that’s also why you talked to me in London, and why you made it so obvious that your secret mission pertained to me. You didn’t want to betray me, so you did what you could without betraying the Table. You were always the type to have a good moral compass, Compton, so I trust you,” Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So what are you going to do?” Compton asked.

“Nothing,” Scott replied casually.

“Really?” Compton asked with a confused look.

“Of course, but I do want to know why the Table wanted to have me tailed. It wasn’t dad being worried about me, was it?”

“No, nothing like that. They thought you might have some knowledge about Sir Micheal that you weren’t bringing to light. Now that I have been following you three for a few days, I have problems with Lou, I don’t trust him,” Compton stated.

“I understand, which is why we are sharing everything involving Lou Barret with the Table. We found out how Lou came to this time period, and we agreed to release that information,” Scott said earnestly.

“...”

“If you don’t trust him, then fine, but please trust me.”

“I do trust you, and I always have. If you say he is trustworthy, then I will accept it. However, you and I never made contact, I will tell the Table that I was never even noticed. Now, you cannot mention me at all, got it!” Compton said firmly.

“I was going to do that anyway. Less bullshit that I have to deal with that way,” Scott said with a chuckle.

“Okay, then. I’ll see you in a few days at the Table headquarters in Warwick.”

“See you then,” Scott said, before walking towards the village. “Oh, hey, if you see any Willowisps that are out of control, could you take them out as a favor?”

“I already have been,” Compton replied with an annoyed look, as Scott began to march back.

“Well, that’s very kind of you,” Scott replied with a wave of his hand.