Aaron wandered through the perimeter of the dreary countryside woodland following his senses keenly. The slightest tingling of magic was floating weightlessly in the air, barely detectable to even himself. But he was certain it was there! As he brushed aside the overgrowth and stepped across the forest threshold, he wondered how peculiar a sight he must be to the local people observing him through the cold windows of their farmsteads. Tall dark figures such as he were bound to rouse suspicion, especially when seen meandering through the trees in search of something nobody else could see. He quickly swept the thought away. No matter how much they gawked, Aaron knew from experience that people were more likely to gossip than intervene. Still… he kept a small portion of his awareness open to their presence, and crept onward through the mushrooms and into the thickening trees.
His mentor Winifred had taught him well, and so Aaron could sense the magic in the air faintly leading him on. She had lead their family of investigators for many decades, and now the time for him to take her place was swiftly approaching. To prepare himself, Aaron was being sent on more and more low risk adventures such as this, seeking out secret places that still held touches of magic.
His extraordinary gift allowed him to feel the presence of magic that lingered from long ago. Most of the humans of “Twom” (The World of Men) had no knowledge of the magic that once existed in their realm. Most that did know of such things believed it was gone for good. But even after all these many centuries since magic had left the realm, tiny remnants still remained. It was the duty of Aaron and his family to watch over these remnants, to seek it out, protect it, or cleanse it of Rotten possession…
Aaron had little experience dealing with the magical corrupting plague, but he knew he would have to prepare himself to fight the tendrils of its reach that managed to cross into their realm. But… that wouldn’t be today. Today, he was excited to investigate rumors of something far less dangerous. Locals had spoken of catching glimpses of faeries in the woods, and Aaron was eager to meet them.
The young lanky teen easily maneuvered in and out of the trees, swerving around and though them like a slinking fox focused on the hunt. As rain began to softly fall his jet black hair stuck to his pasty forehead. He wiped the sopping strands away from his dark tired eyes, then peered through the mist as he began to feel the magic swelling in power around him.
Before him he saw the path break way into two different directions. Both trails felt ripe with the promise of magic… but in very different ways.
To the left…
He felt a chill through the air as the wind carried a slight sense of irresistible foreboding. The familiar smell of smoke greeted him, and he felt drawn to the mystery of what he sensed. Dancing across the winds was a memory… a faint vision of times past that only a perceiver such as he could behold. He saw floating dandelion seeds drift just past his face, and among them a faceless fae. The magic was not strong enough to reveal all that she once was to him, and so he only caught a glimpse of her dark featureless face, dangling twigs for arms, and a skirt of green dandelion fluff beneath her. The fae turned her shadowed face to meet his eyes for but a moment before she evaporated into the air… making a chilling hissing sound before she left him.
The path to the right…
Rained heavily, but somehow felt more welcoming than the left. Despite the precipitation the sun shone through the trees as if the rain was about to stop… though Aaron knew it would not. The sound of the rain peacefully drumming across the leaves and the mud set his mind at ease, and his heart swelled with contentment. Down in the puddles he saw another memory emerge, and knelt down for a closer look. A raindrop momentarily lifted itself from the pool below, as if time was in reverse. The raindrop slowed and became a tiny amalgamation of waves as it spun round ever so slowly. For a moment he saw another blank face, this one radiating with light and peace. Suddenly, just as swiftly as the vision had appeared it vanished into the rain, leaving only a beckoning call that echoed in Aaron’s mind.
The young “gatekeeper of the realms”, Aaron, felt torn betwixt the two paths that lay before him in the muggy woods. The path leading to his left looked darker and more dangerous. Yet the wind carried a thrill into his very bones, promising excitement if only he were to follow the dandelion fae into the chilly overgrowth.
To his right the rain was beginning to fall harder, but the path still echoed the gentle familiarity of the water fae that had appeared there before. The young man stood hesitantly and pondered his choices at the crossroads of the two paths. Breathing deeply in through his nose, he slowly closed his chestnut eyes, summoning his sense of intuition to lead him on. He held the breath for a moment and straightened his back, becoming as motionless as the young maple trees that surrounded him. After remaining in this quiescent state for a short while, he quietly freed the held breath through barely open teeth and lips, releasing a puff of fog into the air that sparkled with magic. The fog was swept up by the rain, and vanished into the right leading path. With a confident half grin, Aaron followed onward under the sprinkling trees… into the path of the water fae.
He followed the path deep into the countryside forest until he happened upon a small clearing. Surrounded by trees the circle of dewy grass lay welcoming and undisturbed while dancing fireflies beckoning he enter. As soon as he saw the fireflies he knew, this was the spot to meet his guide. Aaron trudged into the center of the damp clearing to carefully lay down in the grass face up, letting the rain sprinkle his face. Normally he would not take so kindly to soiling his clothes with the dirt and rain water of the earth. Truth be told, it was the part of the job that gave him the most petty feeling of nagging inconvenience. However, the opportunity to follow such magic was enough to overrule his mind of such worries. He decided he’d better get used to being dirty in this line of work, especially since his training was only going to intensify from here on out. Instead of fussing, he merely grimaced to himself as he lay, and felt the first chill of sopping wet mud penetrate the cuff of his white muslin sleeve. He quickly pushed the moist sleeves under the arms of his thick black coat. Satisfied that the sleeves were (mostly) saved, he closed his eyes and waited… listening to the rain as he drifted far far away.
Aaron opened his eyes to a still foggy sky and what sounded at first like rain… only… he didn’t feel the water anymore. As his senses honed in on the sound, he realized it was not rain that he was hearing … but a piano softly playing nearby. Slowly he rose to his feet and released his damp sleeves from under his coat, all the while keeping his dark gaze fixed suspiciously on his new environment.
This was indeed the same clearing he had only just laid down in, but now he felt he was in a whole other space and time. It was darker, filled with mist, and the smell of rain was long gone. Although this place looked familiar, the feeling was completely alien to him.
He realized he was by himself and quickly looked round for his guide. The “kitsune” fox creature known as “Adarim” was always waiting close by when he awoke in such dream travels. From a young age the creature had came to him in dreams, and lead him throughout the realm to explore and learn of Terratoff. It was the coming of this creature that assured his grandmother, Winifred, that he would someday take her place as their family’s leader. Thus the duty of ” gatekeepers of the realms” would one day be primarily his burden to bear…Yet as he turned round and round to greet his familiar friend, he found he was alone… save for the sound of the piano.
“A test…?” he wondered out loud as he straightened his ascot. But his thoughts were interrupted when a single firefly flew past his face. It lured Aaron on deeper into the misty woods, and so he followed growing ever closer to the mysterious piano player…
