“Your story is absurd and I really, really, REALLY don’t want to believe it. There’s just one problem I’m having, and it’s that I believe most of what you just said.” Spoke the Huntress. “Timeline wise, the fact you barely have any idea about what you are doing with your powers makes sense. And that fluctuation within the divine stream that you mentioned, I felt it too. At that point in time, I was in the middle of leading a hunt tracking this gray Feary down,” said as she pointed to the face of the wolf like creature that I noticed had at least two eyes on this side, not quite sure why I missed that originally. “This thing here had the nasty ability of perception disruption. It wasn’t overly strong, but it was incredibly difficult to actually locate it. The hunting party I was leading had all but cornered the bastard in a ravine, and then trying to spread my grace, what you call aura, out so I wouldn’t lose track of him again, and I suddenly sensed more than we thought. Thinking I had lead my people into a trap, I ordered a full scale retreat. A wounded and cornered animal is more vicious than one that is well fed and can escape, and not wanting to risk more losses, I made the call I thought best.”
“All of a sudden, I heard screaming and sounds of fighting. And I knew that I wouldn’t get another chance like that again. Taking full advantage of the fact that this Fenris was attacking my hunters from behind, I decided to circle around. It was a quick strike to end it all, but I couldn’t blink for fear of losing sight of it once more, and I was not willing to make another sacrifice like that again. After the fact, surrounded by the bodies of my fallen hunters and the corpse of their killer, waiting to be surrounded by any number that I saw when I sent out my Grace. But they never came. I waited and waited, and waited some more for the moment of impending doom, but it never showed up. I sent out my grace again and felt that there was nothing out there more than fleeing hunters. No other Fearies. Which was not what I saw just moments earlier. So the shifting in divinity definitely happened.”
“Past that, we haven’t had any problems much like what you described after the event. Though unlike you, I have not received any mission from my god about any of this.”
“That’s all right, I really wasn’t expecting much to begin with, not to sound rude to you, but my presence wasn’t even announced prior to my arrival, so the fact I wasn’t just killed on site is already better than what I thought would happen. I mean, I’ve both heard and read stories from the Era of the Great Crusades, and how it was not uncommon for enemy Saints to executed upon discovery for, you know, obvious reasons. And not that we’re in the middle of a crusade against each other or anything like that, but I’m what amounts to a walking power source for a god that doesn’t align with your religious beliefs. So I’m already doing better than I expected,” I responded.
Hearing a chuckle come from the Huntress as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “I can agree with the fact that it is surprising that you’re still alive, but for an entirely different reason. I know she wasn’t expecting it, but I figured her reaction would be violent to the first person who proposed to her!”
The shock of the statement that was just presented to me caused me to space out for a moment. Wiping tears from her eyes, the Huntress spoke again. “Are you ok boy? I couldn’t sense you there for a moment. If I couldn’t see you in front of me I would have thought that you just died on me.”
“Pro… proposal?” I managed to stammer out. “What do you mean proposal?”
“Oh deary me… I don’t know if your true ignorance makes this whole situation better or worse for you boy. Please, take a look at my daughter and tell me what you see.”
Taking several seconds to look at Captain Suamalie over, I say the first thing that came to my mind, and I knew better than to lie thanks to the presence of another Saint. “Well… I see an angry, piercing blue glare that has killed me successfully several times . Make that at least one more time now, I think I just saw her smile a bit. And her… ears and cheeks are red. That’s about it.”
The glare I was receiving Suamalie darkened even further. An almost heavy sigh from the Huntress pierced the silence as she spoke once more. “I don’t intend to force you to follow through with our customs, but for those of the Fairy race of Gaia, a proposal is made by presenting the other party with something that has a connection to the other person in some fashion, but gathered on your own, and then presented to the person you are proposing to. This is set up in such a way so as to show that you have paid attention to this person such that you know what is important in their lives. What you presented to my daughter was, in fact, some of the finest fletching an archer could ask for from one of the hardest to find birds of prey that Gaia has created. They are naturally blessed with the ability to manipulate wind, and any arrow fletched with their feathers is granted the ability to fly mostly unimpeded by the wind. So in your case, you accidentally gave her one of the best proposal gifts you could have imagined.”
“Ah…” was the only thing that came out of my mouth in response. “I uh… I don’t know if it makes any difference, but I guess those aren’t really real?” Seeing the confusion come across the face of both of my supposed interrogators, I knew that I needed to elaborate. “So, one of the things I left out in the story I told you earlier, I’ve met your daughter just before I left for my pilgrimage. A day or so prior, I had a dream. Within that dream I was walking, and somehow either I ended up in her dream or she ended up in mine. I still think she wandered into my dream, but that’s subjective. Regardless of who wandered into who’s dream, her greeting was one of range finding with arrows so large that they almost matched me in height and looked like it was as thick around as my thumb. She fired in my direction a few times, each arrow whistling as she tried to figure out where to shoot at me. Once she placed an arrow within about five feet from me, she took aim once more as I was hefting the arrow, head and all, out of whatever it was that we were standing on. She gave me a warning that she had me dialed in, and told me not to move. Arrow in hand, I froze. And then she said I wandered into her dream, when I retorted that she could have wandered into mine, she put her next arrow through my chest.” Turning my attention to Suamalie, I continued, “Which hurt a lot by the way.”
“Ok,” said the Huntress. “But how did you get these feathers? You haven’t explained that yet.”
“In all honesty, that’s where they came from. I’m not sure how, but after she took my breath away, I awoke and had the broken shaft with feathers in my hand. The only thing that I can think of is that Luna’s power aren’t limited to just aspects of the moon so much as she is multiple aspects of the night. And what do most people do at night but sleep? And when you sleep, you dream. At least, that’s the conclusion I came to. Luna never actually told me what powers I actually have, and I’m starting to think that she doesn’t know herself as I was a literal accident on a divine scale. How does one know the effects of a mistake on a godly level?”
“Wait, are you saying these feathers were never real prior to you touching them?” asked the Huntress with an intrigued voice.
“Maybe? I don’t know how that power works, I haven’t dreamed since then.”
“I see…” the Huntress hummed. “I can’t confirm or deny whether that invalidates your proposal or not, as that is much more of the ‘Master of Rituals’ realm of responsibilities. Among the questions I have left, I want to ask why Gaia first, but given where you come from and who you are a Saint for, we are the immediate choice so that answers that question. I also want to ask why travel with your chosen companions, but I’m assuming rather than traveling with them, they are traveling with you. I can’t remember the last time any form of pilgrim came from your religion, and given that you have a mission given not by one, but by two gods, you probably showed a lack of hesitation when you all first started off and the others saw this and promptly tagged along. As for the Faithless? Easy transportation across the desert and strength in numbers. So that explains to me your goal and current motivation. The only thing I want to know currently is, what your next steps are. What are you looking for while you are here? Is this simply a stop gap, or are you going to try and do something during your stay? Where do you plan to go after here? And something tells me that you don’t know the answers to those questions yourself. So, I don’t see a real reason to keep you here much longer.”
Leaning back in her chair, the Huntress touched the back wall and another hole began to appear in the wall, shifting and writhing like how it did when they first entered. A broad and skinny oval looking view port opened up within the wall, showing a bright and warm townscape beneath an open star filled sky. Luna was in full view, almost as if she was expecting this to be the spot where she would see me. “I see now that Luna cares for you a lot, that’s not her normal path through the sky at this time of year. She cares for her accidents just as much as she cares for those she deals with on purpose, if not more so it would seem.”
The tree that surrounded my arms and legs that confined me to the chair began to remove themselves from their roles as my restraints. Once they were fully removed, I looked at the two women across from me, not wanting to risk any sudden movements. For as non-threatening as this whole conversation was, the underlying intent that exuded from both did not once escape my knowledge. It was similar to the time when I practiced with my father. During basic training, I learned that even if the person giving me training was kind on the surface, they were constantly looking for something that I did wrong or without permission. Once they spotted it, they would lash out faster than I thought possible and strike where I messed up. Like a hunter waiting for its prey to get complacent. That’s the situation I felt myself in now, from both women. Suamalie was hiding her intent much less than the Huntress, but her mother showed the same signs regardless.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
A few moments later, the Huntress reacted. “Oh right! I never actually said that you could get up. Feel free. I think that we’re mostly done here, unless you happen to any questions for us while you have us both here.” Suamalie finally started to lessen her quick obvious disdain for me, not that I blame her at this point, I mean, I’d be pissed as well if I got proposed to in a crowded area and then the person proposing had no idea what they were doing and shrugged off the whole event like it didn’t happen.
Standing up from my seat, I walk around the table to the opening that the Huntress had created. “Personally, I don’t have as many questions as you had for me, easily answerable or otherwise. So far only two come to mind. The first being did you happen to catch where my companions went? I wasn’t told anything. Or, well, if I was informed, I was knocked out shortly after and have no recollection of ever being told.”
Suamalie spoke up this time. “Don’t worry about that, this actually took a bit longer than expected, mainly because we weren’t expecting such a… fantastical… story to be the reason for why you are here to begin with. But as soon as your companions left, I put a Tracker on them. We know where they are, and will be willing to guide you back to them. Now that we know you are a Grace Felt, you will constantly have a Tracker on you as well until you leave our forests.”
“Thank for the heads up.” I said in response. “My only request there is please don’t have them try to hide from me. Most of you Guardian types have traces of Aura floating around you, some more brightly than others, and have about as much control over it as I do. In other words, it was very easy for me to spot all of you back when you were circling me prior to the gate. So do me a favor and put someone who has no problem walking alongside the person they are tracking. The last thing I need is to see a green aura following me from a distance and constantly distracting me. That or pick someone who hasn’t been, as you call it, Grace Felt. I’m sure the Huntress can help with that. I leave the final decision up to you, I’m good either way really.”
“Fair enough. And in response to a fellow Saint, I’ll do my best to meet your requirements.” Said the Huntress. “Thanks for not making it to difficult on these old bones of mine,” she continued, a gleam appearing in her green eyes that pierced the night in my direction, hinting at the fact that she already had someone in mind to fulfil my request. “Now, about this second question of yours. What happens to be its contents?”
“Ah, that, yeah. I was just curious about something. The Church of Sol in this region is small, so only one Saint is chosen as there isn’t a need for more than that currently. But you mentioned some called the ‘Master of Rituals’, and considering the little that I know about the Gaian churches as a whole, that sounds a lot like another Saint to me. And now that at least one Saint of Gaia knows that I am here, I am expecting the others to find out sooner rather than later that I am currently here. So my question is this, not necessarily who are the Saints and their positions, but how many Saints are there within the Gaian church? I figured the number of saints would be a bit easier to give me rather than who they are and what they do.”
“While you are correct that that information is easier to give you, it is also information held closely to our chest,” said the Huntress. “However, information that I CAN give you pertains to this particular region of the Gaian Faith. We have any number of adepts at a time, what you call… almost Saints?”
“Ah. The Saint of the Sol religion told me that he called those people Candidates.”
“A fine term indeed. Back to what I was saying, we have any number of Candidates at a given moment given the doctrines that we follow here; those rules being the rules of nature, better known as survival of the fittest. Meaning that at any point in time, the Saints here could change if one of the next generation is strong enough to usurp the current Saints from their positions. It hasn’t happened recently, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t happen at all. Our religion keeps us from having true peace time, but it also keeps us battle ready. In terms of the actual Saints themselves, this region has a total of three Saints. With myself being one, holding the position of Mistress of the Hunt, often referred to simply as Huntress, I am the most combat centric of the Saints here.”
“The second among us three saints is, as you guessed earlier, the Master of Rituals. The Master of Rituals, while not as strong as myself, is not one to be trifled with. He rarely comes out save for great celebrations or other times of great gatherings, but he holds the knowledge of anything pertaining from first hunt rights to marriage ceremonies and everything in between. Hence why I mentioned him earlier.”
“And finally, there is the Colony Leader. Most automatically assume that because I am the most combat orientated of the three that I am the leader here, but that’s not the case. More than muscles are required to run this place successfully. To look at it another way, the master of rituals is a book full of history and laws. I am a weapon of some sort, a spear, a sword, a bow and arrow, I am whatever is needed to remove a threat from the Colony. And lastly is the Colony Leader, how can be summarized as a shepherds staff, a tool used for defending and guiding herds of animals. Put roughly, that’s what we three are to this place. For more information, I can give you a recommendation to meet with the Master of Rituals.”
“I thank you for the offer, and I’ll take you up on it if I can.”
“With that out of the way, I think it’s about time we call this discussion here. It’s been far longer than I initially wanted this to be, but on the same note it was far more enlightening than I would have ever imagined it to be.” Removing her hand from the wall causing it to shift and writhe once more as the hole closed and returned to its solid form once again, the Huntress turned here attention between both myself and Suamalie. “While I look for a more suitable candidate to fulfil the requirements set by the visiting Saint, you are hereby relieved of your duties Captain Suamalie, and are henceforth tasked with the tracking of the visiting Saint. Your duties are to guide and guard the Saint as necessary, and report back via any means necessary as long as it does not take you away from the side of the Saint within reason.” A wry smile crept over her lips as she continued speaking. “And while you’re at it, you might as well try and get to know him a little better.”
With a legitimate expression of shock, Suamalie responded in a voice much louder than what she probably thought she would retort with. “MOTHER! What do you mean ‘and get to know him better’? I barley want to be in the same room as this man, let alone get to know him!”
“Now now, consider this an order if it helps you cope with the situation more. But you are a hundred and twenty one years of age this year young lady, and this is the first time in all of the years that I have raised you that someone has even come this close to proposing, even IF it was on accident. I am not wasting the chance at potential grand children just because you feel the need to be on guard. I’m getting old child, I’m already considered old for a Fairy at almost four hundred years of age. I don’t know how much time I have left, and before I leave this plane of existence for whatever reason for the next one, I want to have seen at least one grandchild bouncing on my lap in that time. That way I can greet your father with a smile and say that we did a good job in raising you when I meet him next.”
Now it was my turn to be shocked in response. “I thought you said you wouldn’t push the issue?”
“Boy… no, Adamas,” she said in a somber tone. “I said that I wouldn’t force you to follow within our customs. I never once said that I wouldn’t make my daughter do the same. Now stay out of this conversation that possibly involves your future, while I negotiate my future grandchildren with my daughter, ok?”
“I… uh… ok…” I said. This person was old enough to have just barley missed the back end of the Era of the Great Crusades. What do you say to someone like that? So I simply took my seat once more, not like I could go anywhere until they opened the door anyway, might as well try to make myself as comfortable as possible in the awkwardness.
“Grandchildren? GRAND CHILDREN!!! Are you kidding me mother? You had me late in life, why can’t I wait as well?”
“I had intended to have you much earlier in life, and it almost cost me the chance to have children at all on multiple occasions. Firstly, I don’t want you to push off having children and regret it later. Secondly, you haven’t had much interaction with anyone of the opposite sex for any reason outside of work, and even if this doesn’t work out with Adamas, think of this as training for when you do plan on taking a real first step down this path. Thirdly, I’m one of the oldest members of our Fairy race, very few have lived as long as I, and even fewer still have lived this long in the profession I perform. I want a grandchild, simple as that, and I am willing to give you my blessing to just about anyone you choose, and I see no reason why not to choose Adamas.”
“By Gaia mother! I can’t believe that you’re serious about this! AND IN AN INTEROGATION ROOM, TOO!! Don’t you know anything about timing?!?!?!”
“I’m old child, unless it’s lethal, timing and placement mean little to me. When I want something, I set things in motion to try and get them. Now once again, your ORDERS are to track the visiting Saint. Your duties when performing this are to guide and guard the Saint as necessary, and report back via any means necessary as long as it does not take you away from the side of the Saint within reason, try and get to know him a little better. At that I am putting my foot down, and as your higher up, I further enforce these orders.”
“You…” Saumalie started before she deflated. With a voice admitting defeat, she continued. “You’re not going to actually find anyone to replace me, are you?”
“I can’t promise any results Captain,” the huntress responded, sounding much more chipper knowing that she had won their argument. “I mean, if he wasn’t a Saint it would be easier to find someone who I would trust with this, but with him being such an important guest, I plan to offer him the best guide and guard I possibly can.”
“… Understood Huntress…” came the now dejected voice of Suamalie. Walking with no hurry to me around the table, she grabbed my shoulder and yanked me out of the chair with surprising ease. “Follow me, oh valuable guest… I’ll lead you to where your group is staying. Just… don’t talk to me until we get there…”
Getting up, I caught a glimpse of her eyes before she turned and all but shuffled her way to the wall where they entered from. She had a look that wasn’t focused on anything, almost like she was staring at something that was an impossible distance away. The hole opened up and we walked through together. As we went, the Huntress shouted from the room. “Make way and don’t bother interfering with Captain Suamalie! She has been given a task, one I deem that requires her presence, and from henceforth anything that she was involved with now comes to my desk until her task is complete.”
And good luck to you, potential future son-in-law.
Oh boy… this was going to be a long walk back, no matter how close it actually was…