“Thifh ish awshome!” We were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner. To the surprise of… only Miva, really. Ivy was loudly praising the food. I couldn’t recall ever making a meal she disliked. The salmon was an old favorite of mine as well, and once I realized they were in one river running through the forest, I made fishing trips there when the season came in.

The fresh salmon was as tasty as could be, though much to my surprise. Fish wasn’t a valued food source. Perhaps because this wasn’t a coastal region, but neither Nekkal nor the fauns viewed fish as a potential food source. Well, I wasn’t complaining, more for me.

After dinner, I kept my word and didn’t continue the story, instead I entertained them all with various board games like chess and checkers. Soot was a marvelous opponent to face in a game of chess, while Winter was a monster at checkers. Though you wouldn’t believe it from how jovially she moved the pieces around with her beak.

Miva was learning the hard way though that if you gave Winter an opening, she would go from the kindest little snowball in the world, to an absolutely merciless conqueror of the checkers board at the drop of a game piece. “Wha, wha, wha, what just… HOW?” I glanced over, as winter calmly eliminated about half of Miva’s remaining pieces in one singular move. Poor kid never stood a chance.

Soot looked up from where he was pondering his next move. “Poor kid never stood a chance.” I looked over. “Winter’s really letting her have it alright. Not a shred of mercy at all.” Ivy and Midnight were watching as well, with a big grin on Ivy’s face. She was usually the one on the receiving end of Winter’s checkers related rampages.

I glanced at the board where Soot was pondering. He was trying to get himself out of the jam I spent the last half an hour maneuvering him into. I wondered if soot would go for the little trap I left for him with my Knight, or if he would cave and sacrifice his queen.

The sacrificial play arrived, buying Soot a few more turns as I removed the queen from the board to counter the check she put me in. Soot looked at the board some more, then tipped his king over. “It’s mate in 5 regardless, and judging by your expression, you knew as well. Well played, Mistress.” I began picking up the pieces. “Same with you, Soot. You’re improving drastically.”

Soot picked up the king and handed it to me so I could store it away. “Still can’t beat you though, Mistress.” I reached down and gave Soot a few friendly pats. “But you are getting better every game. One of these days, you will win.” Soot looked at me and clicked his beak to show he was skeptical.

I just shook my head and looked over to where Miva and Winter were cleaning up after themselves, too. Ivy was patting Miva’s head to cheer her up. “OK, guys, let’s continue things tomorrow, bedtime. Also, Ivy, you should probably head home to Nettledale, for a lil bit tomorrow. No doubt Nettle and Lily are worrying, since I doubt you told them you’d be staying for a while.” Ivy looked up at me from where she was sitting on Miva’s head. “But what about the story?”

I stretched. “Hmm, oh, I have to head into Nekkal for some purchases tomorrow, so that won’t be until the afternoon at the earliest anyhow. I figured that since there won’t be any story-time anyway, you could get the social obligations of home taken care of while I was away.

Ivy seemed to get what I meant and began nodding. “Sure can. Should I bring any items along as well?” I glanced over at Soot, who shook his head. “Afraid the mead ain’t done yet, so no. That stuff can’t be rushed if you want quality, after all.” Ivy slumped a bit at the news, but perked right back up. “Fair enough.” Ivy stretched and turned towards her guest bed. “I’ll see you all tomorrow then.” Likewise, I waved goodnight to her as the rest of us turned in for the night.

The next morning was a buzz of activity as Miva wanted to go with Ivy to Nettledale for the day. “Fine, since both of you want it I’ll allow it, however, no detours. And keep yourselves out of -. Hmm, actually, Winter, Midnight, why don’t you two join them and keep them out of trouble.”

Winter and Midnight Both seemed to mull it over for a few moments. “Very well, Meowstress, I don’t mind at all. I’ll do a better job this time, promise.” Winter seemed more reluctant. “Come now, Winter, you’re a big girl. You can’t always be by my side.” Winter gave a soft hoot. “Fine, I’ll help to make sure they stay out of trouble. Besides, it allows me some time to go hunting.”

The quartet waved goodbye and headed off into the swampy forest towards Nettledale. “Well then, Soot, shall we?” I hopped on my broom and lifted off into the air. With some luck, it would only be a quick trip there, get the bacon and get back.

Soot landed on my shoulder and I took off towards the city. The trip itself was uneventful, though I couldn’t shake the feeling of something being… off. Looking over at Soot, I could see him preening and ruffling his feathers over and over, something he only did when he was feeling out of sorts.

“You feel something’s off about all of this too, eh?” Soot stopped preening. “I KNOW we bought bacon. There is no way we ate all of it. And with your wards, there is no way someone stole it, unless another rodent suddenly mutated from magic exposure and decided to only eat the bacon. Then got away without being hunted down by Midnight. Which, given prior mutated rodents and Midnight’s joy at hunting said rodents, seem… unlikely.”

I couldn’t disagree with Soot’s logic here. Midnight was quite keen on keeping rodents out of the pantry at all cost since everything they ate was a meal she couldn’t, not to mention she found them tasty. Well, that was neither here nor there. We would find out when we got to the butcher.

As we entered the city, there was a tingling in the air, akin to static electricity. “Say Soot, you feel that?” Soot visibly shuddered. “The local mana is agitated. Are the local mages doing some large-scale ritual or something?” I shrugged. “No idea, but it’s making my skin crawl.”

As we entered the butcher shop, The proprietor looked up with a surprised expression. “Lady Morgana, back so soon?” I glanced at Soot, who glanced back. “Indeed, turns out all the bacon I bought last time up and disappeared before I could use it.” The Butcher, a middle-aged woman, named Fria, seemed flustered. “Who’d be crazy enough to do something like that?” She paused for a moment. “If you’ll pardon my question.” I shrugged. “I don’t know, but when I find out…”

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I could see her shudder, but ignored it. “Either way, I would like to buy some more.” That perked her up right away. “Ah, of course, Ma’am. Just a moment.” She disappeared into the back and a few seconds later she came back, now with a worried expression. “Ma’am… I found this in storage… I… believe it’s yours.” It was the same back of bacon I bought last time. With the date and stamp, since I ordered it ahead of time.

“Ma’am, I swear I…” I lifted my hands and cut her off. “I believe you didn’t take it, Fria. Because you wouldn’t get in without an invitation, not to mention you don’t know where I live.” She deflated a bit in relief as she handed the bacon back to me. “I do not know how it wound up back there. It wasn’t there ten minutes ago…”

I took the offered package. “It doesn’t matter. I doubt our prankster would reveal how that happened either way. I will see you later, Fria. Have a wonderful day.” I left the store and as I did the ambient magic turned to a boil. “What in the…” It got so bad that even non-magic users noticed and noticeably winced.

Then everything came to a crashing halt as the magic calmed down almost instantly. Well, with no explanation forthcoming about what happened, and with my package of bacon back, I should be getting home. I stuffed the package into my bag. As I made my way towards the gates when a commotion caught my eye. Several of the city’s guards were gathered around a trio of people, one of which was screaming hysterically atop her lungs.

The other of the pair was looking confused, scared, and more than a little lost. The commotion itself was directly in my path, too, so it wasn’t like I could avoid it. As I got closer, I could finally make out what was being said. “… -doing, you could kill people appearing out of thin air like that.” the hysterical woman was on a berating tirade, it seemed. While the other woman was looking up at her with a blank expression, as if she couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

As I approached, the guards took notice and stepped aside, motioning me to approach. “Think you could lend a hand? The one sitting on the floor appeared out of thin air and landed on top of Lady Eilan. She doesn’t seem to speak any language we know of. Not that Lady Eilan seems to care… nor notice. So if you could lend a hand?” The guard seemed quite frustrated.

Well, it wasn’t like I was getting past until this was dealt with. As Lady Eilan’s personal guards did not move an inch to let me past, despite recognizing me. Admirable loyalty, but not the smartest idea in the world. Luckily for them, I was intrigued by the situation.

“Fine, first things first, though. What languages have you even tried?” The guard paused for a moment. “Common, Faunic, the captain tried some Dwarwen, despite him barely speaking it, and the lady herself even know some terrible Elvish. The Dwarwen got some reaction out of her, by her reply was not in any language we recognize. The Lady herself tried some Elvish, I think she said it was…” His voice trailed off.

Lady Eilan speaking Elvish? There was no way any Fae would teach their language to someone like Lady Eilan. Most likely she picked up some words here and there from a traveling fae or fae dignitary, and butchered it royally. Someone with an attitude like hers wouldn’t survive five minutes in either Fae court, let alone long enough to actually learn anything.

Either way, that covered most, if not all, the local languages that a human would speak. What other languages could I try then? Centauri? Minori? Hmm, plenty of options, but all seemed unlikely. What was really puzzling was that she didn’t speak common, a language created specifically to allow conversation across species. It was to the point even the most savage species could speak it, if poorly.

As I mulled it over, however, it would seem Lady Eilan finally noticed my presence. “Oh, if it isn’t the Lady Morgana. Are my men in your way? If so, I apologize. This peasant crashed from the sky and on top of me, if you can believe it.” I lifted a finger, and she went quiet. “I do not believe she is a peasant, Lady Eilan. As Peasants don’t just appear out of thin air. It is more likely she is a magic user from a far off land whose spell went awry.” Lady Eilan flinched for a moment, then glanced around.

“Magic… Ah, I see, yes that makes sense, doesn’t it, umm… Say, Lady Morgana, you have far more experience with this sort of thing. Do you think you could do me this favor and handle the situation? I would be most grateful.” She made an expression I think she was attempting to make cute, but only made her seem more toadlike. “I’ll handle it. You may leave.”

Lady Eilan and the surrounding guards all seemed relieved at my words and dispersed. It wasn’t like they could handle anything I couldn’t, after all. They knew it, I knew it. I turned my attention to the woman sitting on the ground, who seemed mildly confused by all of this, but also more curious than anything. “So, what to do with you?” I looked down at her as I pondered that question. In response, she looked up at me. “Umm, Hello, you wouldn’t understand me, do you?”

I froze, and I am quite certain that if I were still carrying the package of bacon, I would have dropped it. There was no way, just no way. Soot gave my cheek a light peck. “Say, Mistress, I must be hearing things, but… isn’t that…” His voice trailed off as I nodded. Without a shadow of doubt. Snapping out of it, I looked down at her. “Yes, Miss, I can understand you, and I am quite certain I am one of very few who can.” I reached down a hand and offered to help her back to her feet.

She took it. “Finally, I have been trying to find someone, ANYONE, whom I could speak to in this strange place. Of course, my arrival was a tad… conspicuous.” I arched an eyebrow. “That would be an understatement, as you ‘fell from the sky’ onto one of the leading nobles of this city. That aside, Miss, I have some questions for you, and as such I will have to ask that you follow me.”

The woman hesitated. “Do I have a choice.” I was tempted to say no, but there was an easier way to go about it. “I won’t make you, but I can guarantee you, there’s a grand total of 2 other individuals with which you could hold a conversation with across this entire region aside from me and Soot here.” As I gestured to Soot, he gave her a polite nod. “Pleasure, Miss.” She blinked a few times in surprise.

I gave her a wry grin as I continued speaking. “And both live under the same roof as I. So no, I won’t force you, but that would leave you alone in a place where you can’t communicate with anyone. With no money, no food, and no shelter. The woman hesitated for a moment longer before shrugging. “You make a valid point, I suppose. Lead on.”

I resumed my walk towards the gates, and aside from a few curious glances from passers-by it was uneventful. As I pulled out my broom and gestured for her to take a seat, I got a reaction out of her, though. “You can’t be serious, right?” I let go of the broom, leaving it hovering in midair. “Oh, I am dead serious. Get on.” She approached the hovering broom with some trepidation, then stopped and glanced at me. “Side saddle.” was my answer to her unasked question.

She nodded and sat down on the broom. The moment she did, I grabbed the handle and cast a flight spell on myself. A few moments later, we were in the air and ascending rapidly. “Now then, seeing as we have about an hour in the air ahead of us, why don’t we have a little chat?” She looked at me with feigned ignorance. “Chat? About what?” I took a deep breath. “About how come you are speaking a language not of this world, for starters. I can assure you, English is a language known by only 5 individuals in this entire world, you and I included.” I was met with stunned silence.