By: Mionikoi

Briggit was not sure how she was going to avoid the wolves. Moss dominated the forest floor making it impossible for her to run quickly. However, she could smell a change in the air.

Rain was approaching, and it was an opportunity she couldn’t miss. It would mess with one’s sense of smell, lower visibility, and would make traversing miserable. She, too, was absolutely going to be miserable. Luckily, she had wax.

Unfortunately, the wax was filled with debris and would need to be strained. Only once that was done would she be able to use it to waterproof her mantle. She didn’t have much to spare, but this had been one of her two main projects..

The second one, was a reff.Hers was an ugly backpack, of sorts, made out of wood and had a little shelf for holding objects. It was sturdy enough to hold her weight and, if the straps held, would prove to be very useful. With only twine handy to make them it would be uncomfortable, but it would work.

Waxing her mantle was another matter, Briggit could heat the wax with her hands if she concentrated enough. Not to mention, she also had flat stones she could use to iron the wax. Sheep wool was a natural rain repellent, to a point, but eventually it would become saturated. The wax would help augment its natural properties and keep her nice and dry.

She was fretting about the stone knife that she had been working on. Flintknapping was entirely outside her expertise, but with just enough fire, she could soften the stone and mold it into the desired shape. The problem was, she had to do it quietly and avoid the smith at the same time…

Briggit wished she had more wax, but it would take time to find another empty wax-hornet nest. Maybe in the afternoon she could look for one, but the rising sun told her it was time to meet the aerie for her morning lesson. Her hope of making a tarp for the reff would have to wait.

She carefully opened the door, making sure the coast was clear. Only the guards were awake and they were up in the guard tower. Despite the Keep taking forever to calm down the other day, she was happy the guards had left the trap door open to the guard tower. Up the ladder, across the flat of the tower, up onto the crenelations, and a hop down to the ground below. The normal stop after being pushed forward into a sprint before she came to a slow walk.

Today’s lesson was most unusual. The aerie had brought an owl friend, they were exchanging chirps and hoots she couldn’t follow. The aerie frowned. “Today, you’ll need to follow the human and learn with him. We have business elsewhere. Your lessons will continue as usual tomorrow.”

Briggit nodded, but paused as she got up. “ Ma’am. A small request?” The vixen asked brushing her skirt off.

The aerie raised an eyebrow. “Maybe.”

“I found a hive made of wax. It looked like an abandoned hornets nest. Are they common? Are there others?” The girl asked.

The aerie considered her, but it was the owl who answered instead. A raspy male voice, like an elderly man.

“They aren’t common on the forest fringe. You likely won’t find another along your usual routes.” The owl answered. “They are common in the inner forest, on the fringe of the unicorn’s favorite haunt.”

“Oh.” Briggit said, knowing this meant she likely wouldn’t have a chance to happen upon another. She’d been quite lucky to find one at all. “ What do you want in return, sir?”

“For what?” The owl asked.

“For saving me the trouble.” The vixen answered.

“Nothing. You amuse us aeries enough with your antics that telling you simple things like that shouldn’t cost you a thing.” The owl said.

“Thank you.” Briggit said, giving the owl a curtsy before making her way up the keep wall to find the human.

“Things have gotten a lot less boring with her around.” Chirped the cardinal.

“Quite. Not a small ripple either. She’s preparing for rain.” The owl hooted.

“What for? She’s a half starved spindly little thing, but I am sure she has enough food stores for a day or two… No, don’t tell me she… No.” The cardinal began but trailed off after realizing it.

“She’s going to try to traverse the forest while it rains.” The owl said. “Ohh, she’s going to be a pain in that horse’s side. Ha!”

“She’s going to die.” She chirped with concern.

“I’ll wager she might make it to winter.” The owl said.

“I’d rather wager with you.” The cardinal said. “Come on you old fool, we have a meeting to attend.”

>–<

There were a number of dragonnettes that were not happy with the decision that had been made, primarily from the huntresses. However the majority of those present in the armory had given their agreement. Murmurs floated about the armory.

“That is all concerning Tom. We need to address our… Other guest.” Nunuk said.All eyes were on the lady as she sighed. “What do we know about her?”

“It still comes and goes as it pleases. No footprints, no traces to follow. Recently, there haven’t been any sightings. It stopped sweeping the floors, and no new objects have been left at people’s doors anymore, mum.” Rachuck reported.

“Other than the full grown male jackalope and bouquet of flowers left at mine.” Nunuk corrected.

“Yes mum.” Rachuk agreed.

“What was that about anyways? It was the weirdest thing just finding a big rabbit running in our keep.” Sapphire said.

“Luckily I killed it before it gored anyone.” Jackolope said with a proud smirk.

“An apology. Though, I suspect she didn’t foresee the thing still being alive.” Nunuk said, rubbing her temples.

“An apology, for what?” Fengi asked. She was aware of the strange going ons. Things got moved around, the hallways were cleaner, and poor Apuma found his library rearranged. But nothing really seemed malicious. Heck, the library looked neater.

“Scaring the captain half to death that one night. Oh, come on Rachuk! I saw the way you looked that night! It was like you saw a demon.” Balethon said.

“I did see a demon. Though, admittedly it is not a night demon. Not anymore.” Rachuk said.

“What else do we know?” Nanuk asked again, carefully observing them.

“It stopped using my forge not long ago. It still comes by to tidy-up. Found more tools I thought I had thrown out.” Shiva said.

“It apparently eats our mice.” Fengi said.

“Unless it has magic to replace what it takes, It doesn’t eat our food. Which is a blessing, given how low our stores are.” Dakota said.

“It should go without saying we wouldn’t have tolerated it at all if it was.” Nunuk said. She looked to the others before giving a long sigh.

“I am not sure what she is. But more than likely she is trying to apologize for the chaos she is causing. And in doing so, is only stirring up more. I do not want us to let our guard down around something I don’t remember being there until well after it has time to get away.” The Lady said.

“Pardon, ma’am. But what? It almost sounds like…”

“I have seen it. She stands about the height of a child. Roughly the same shape as Tom, so human like I suppose. She wears a white top, leather apron, and a dark red skirt. Reddish orange skin, gold hair and tail. You probably have seen her walking past you or standing out of the way. It took me time to realize, but she is not invisible. Whatever magic she uses just makes you ignore her or forget about seeing her.” Nunuk declared.

There was silence in the room. Shiva coughed.

“So you have seen her. When?” The smith asked, scratching her chin.

“The first day we had the translation ritual done for Tom. It was for the briefest of moments, but she was gone from my mind before I could do anything. If I concentrate long enough I can remember more than I thought was there. She might have been there for the entire ritual. It is a clever trick she has. Every time I remember seeing her though, she’s looking directly at my eyes.” The lady smiled smugly before shaking her head and returning to looking annoyed.

“That sounds like she is initiating the contact, maybe by accident.” Esmerelda suggested.

“Every time she looks like a startled rabbit. You might be right.” Nunuk said. “I want her captured. Alive if she puts up no resistance. I have a lot of questions to ask her, and I do not like that she can come and go as she pleases.”

“I would be all for her capture, and possibly her removal. But how, ma’am?” Rachuck asked. “We don’t even know what she is or how to find her.”

“I am open to suggestions. Unfortunately if we want her alive, anything we do will have to be done without the use of iron.” Nunuk answered with a grimace.

Many eyes stared at the lady of the keep who simply sighed. “She’s a fairy, isn’t she?” Dakota asked.

“Probably. Which doesn’t bode well. I haven’t heard of any rumors, tales, or much beyond campfire stories. They’re the things your parents tell you about to scare you from leaving your bed at night. We live in a frontier keep, so I don’t know why I am surprised we have one causing us trouble. Perhaps I thought they just didn’t exist.” Nunuk said irritated.

“But what is this about iron?” Shiva asked.

“It kills them. Just from contact alone.” Nunuk said. “ I remember Apuma mentioning it earlier after he started researching it. If we have to fight and kill it, we have the means to do so. I want it alive, however. I find it odd that a creature from a nightmarish dream is prowling our halls just to sweep our floors and eat our mice. I want to know why, and what it gets out of it.”

“Or why it scares our guards senseless.” Dakota jested, looking at her brother amused.

“Or has our children banging pans in hope that it will drive them away. If it is at all benevolent, it has more patience than I have with whoever came up with that particular idea.” Esmerelda said, looking at Kokashi miffed.

“Or she’s too frightened to do anything about it.” Fengi inserted.

“Oh great. We are haunted by a cowardly demon.” Rachuk grumbled.

“Who sweeps our floors, eats our pests, and occasionally leaves us gifts. If she starts sewing patches in our clothes, maybe we should just go ahead and hire her.” Balethon joked.

“Actually, why don’t we see if she would.” Sapphire suggested.

“What? You want to hire a demon?” Balethon asked in disbelief.

“No, but if she does nothing but chores around the keep… Then why not see what else she will do? Leave a pile of ripped clothes in the great hall. Maybe we could use that to keep track of her movements and see what she will do. Maybe make plans around that.” Sapphire suggested.

“And what, maybe feed her if she does a good job?” Balethon scoffed.

“Would that be okay?” Sapphire asked, turning to Nunuk who was listening intently.

“At this point, I don’t see why not. But if you do leave food out, don’t tamper with it.” Nunuk said.

“Of course. But why ma’am?” Balethon asked.

“I have a feeling she won’t eat anything we offer her until we have a word with her. She doesn’t appear to bother with our food stores… So we might end up poisoning ourselves.” The lady said, trailing off contemplatively. “It feels like the days we use to bait rabbits out of their holes. Balethon, I assume you have not smelled anything out of the ordinary.”

“No ma’am. Nothing. I thought about trying to track it down, but… The scent just ends. It smelled like soot and ash mixed with the flowers she left behind.” The guard said. “ I didn’t think it was important to mention until now. But it doesn’t smell like… Anything.”

“What do you mean, it doesn’t smell like anything?” Rachuck asked.

“Soot and ash. I didn’t think anything of it because we have plenty of things burning for the sake of light and cooking. But I thought it was out of place when I tried to trace it.” Balethon said. “It smells like soot and ash. A few other things too. But it all blends in with the keep.”

“I tried tracing it from the sounds of it sweeping. It stops whenever I get close, and it doesn’t make any noise when it walks. I thought I heard footstep, heartbeats even. But…” Kokashi added but trailed off. “It might be using magic so it can’t be heard.”

“Whatever trick it is using to not be seen, it might apply to everything else about it.” Rachuck murmured.

“So until we discover a means of capturing it, or expelling it we will have to learn what it is and what it wants. I don’t like it but I don’t believe we need to take more drastic actions, just yet.” Nunuk said, looking at her son. “ I want answers first. If it proves malicious, we will do what we must. “

“Does anyone not find it odd that strange things started to happen the moment Tom showed up?” Balethon asked.

“It might be connected, but I have tried to ask him about it. I don’t think he knows much. In fact, I think he finds it as odd and unsettling as we do. He looks over his shoulder more often since it was mentioned.” Sapphire answered.

Nunuk rested her chin in her hand contemplating. “The two are likely connected. What of the black chest that went missing?”

“There wasn’t one there when we met him. It didn’t look like he was hiding it anywhere, and I don’t think Tom was even aware of it until we mentioned it to him.” Dakota said. “Besides, the containers he brought were not made of wood.”

The other huntresses agreed. They weren’t even aware that there had been a black chest until days later, and by then It was nowhere to be found. It was there suddenly, and then it was gone.

Nunuk stood silently pondering the matter. “As I have said, the two are likely connected. Though, with what we know and have observed we can probably assume he doesn’t know anything about her. The opposite is probably not true. We know nothing about her motives. Unless anyone has anything to suggest on the matter, this meeting is adjourned.” She said looking to all who were present.

The keep dwellers looked to one another. It seemed unanimous on what they needed to do. “I have some breeches that need mending anyways.”

“I have a torn blanket.”

“I have a rip in my vest.”

And so on. It was after the majority of the gathering had left and Nunuk busied herself with examining the equipment they had that Rachuck made himself known.

“Are you serious about leaving it alive, mum? It has to be extremely dangerous!” Rachuck said.

“More than we could possibly know. But, if she continues to behave herself, yes. If she brings harm to anyone, put an arrow into her heart.” Nunuk said, before looking at her son. “Despite being some kind of demon, fairy or other, I have found her little more than an annoyance that needs rectifying. And I am adamant about giving the girl a peace of my mind. So, I want her alive.”

Rachuck stiffened his back and nodded before leaving.

“I think I’ll stop getting in the way of the scholar now.” The cardinal said to the owl with a wince.

“No, I think just a little longer. And then maybe steer him in the right direction.” The owl said, shaking his head in exasperation.