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The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.
The Dark Fae
Chapter 2
Crossing the Boundaries
From Chapter 1
She returned to her woodland throne and held up her hand. One of her court still standing on top helped her climb the rock face back to her seat. She leaned back on her elbows and continued to let her eyes roam.
"What is your name, Hunter?" She addressed the second arrival.
"I am Volundr." The tall one replied.
Tiring of her game the Queen waved her hand. "Good. Ólafr and Volundr; good solid Elvish names. You are both to go the East door and enter the Human world. Go and find my wayward Goblin and return him to me."
Chapter 2
Ólafr and Volundr remounted their Dragons and with courteous bows to the Queen the two Hunters turned and galloped away. They both knew that when given the chance it was best to flee the presence of the Unseelie Queen as quickly as possible. No one wanted to be around her when she got bored. The Fae in the fairy ring would have to entertain her for now. The Hunters had their orders and were getting out of range.
They kept going until they could cross running water. Their mounts splashed through the small fast flowing stream even though it stung their hocks. Running water was a defense against a number of supernatural entities like ghosts, witches and even the Fae themselves.
All of the land of Elfhame was bounded by the River Neith which kept the Fae within their land and provided a defense against the outer worlds. There were only certain crossings that allowed travelers to move from one world to the next. Each portal was well guarded and only the Queens of the Light and the Dark Fae could give permission to cross.
The two Dark Fae Riders found themselves standing on a small spit of land, no more than a sandbar in the midst of the stream. They glanced at each other and silently agreed to camp for the night. It would be a full day's ride to the closest crossing to the Earth realm. They were going to rest.
Ólafr dismounted and stooped to gather as many rocks as he could find to build a fire pit. Volundr followed the shorter Hunter's lead and strolled around their tiny island gathering drift wood. The Dragon mounts were stripped of their bridles and allowed to roam looking for whatever fodder they could find.
"I am Ólafr" the blonde said as he got the fire going. "I am a member of Honig's troop. I dropped out of a bear hunt and fell behind when my mount developed a limp. That is how the Queen's summon caught me."
The taller Hunter threw himself down on the soft sand and fed small sticks into the fire. "I am Volundr. I am of the Tuatha Dé Danann Elves of the North. I was here as an emissary to the Queen when her summons called me to her court and my mission was changed against my will."
Ólafr squatted before the fire. "I was born of Fae and Elf but far back my family was once related to the Picts who were driven from their homes by Rome's Legions. I bear no love for the humans and I say let the Queen's pet eat them all. I only go because I am ordered to go."
Volundr laughed. "I can tell your lineage in your attitude. Your people are known for their tenacious memories and short tempers."
"You may laugh now, long Elf, but you will need me soon enough and perhaps will come to value my attitude. A Goblin is not a one man hunt and to hunt in the Human Realm we will need each other desperately." Ólafr grumbled. "Your kind has a reputation for cleverness. I think we will soon be in need of both of our talents."
Ólafr fetched his saddlebag and blanket roll. Searching through the bag's pockets he came up with a wrapped loaf of herder's bread which he broke into two pieces. He offered one to Volundr. The tall elf took the peace offering politely then rose to his feet. "Since you have provided the bread I'll just go over to the water and magic us some fish. Would you like some fish with your bread, Ólafr?"
Ólafr grinned. "See, clever and you know how to use it too. I think we'll be able to work together, Elf."
Volundr strode off into the dark. The sun had fully set while they were building their fire and the temperature was beginning to drop. Neither Hunter wore much more than the fluttering strips of cloth traditional to their work so Ólafr unrolled blankets for himself and his new friend. Behind him he heard the Fae Dragons drawing near. The Hunters usually slept with their heads resting on the Dragon's bellies, keeping both themselves and their mounts warm.
He could hear Volundr nearby singing to the fish and he smiled. Leave it to a Northern Elf to come up with a song to lure fish out of the water. Ólafr busied himself looking for sturdier sticks to use to roast their fish.
After a better than expected dinner both of them wrapped up in their blankets and called the Dragons to lie down beside the fire. Soon all was silent and the two Riders lay watching the stars circle the North Star as they thought of the next day's adventure. Neither of them had ever set foot in the Human realm before. Both young Elves were alternately excited and nervous about their future.
Early the next morning they bathed in the icy stream alternately laughing and shivering in the mountain water. Ólafr got a nice look at the taller elf. Volundr fled the water first, rushing to gain the warmer sandy shore and wrap back up in his blanket. Ólafr lasted longer fruitlessly trying to catch a fish or two for breakfast. The silvery fish easily evaded his hands but they could not evade Volundr's song so they ended up with fish for breakfast anyway.
Soon they were saddled up and riding for the Black Woods crossing. It took all day to ride the hills stopping frequently to let their Dragons take a break and hunt for fodder. The Dragons ate the grass but also liked quartz, coal and the burnt bark of lightening blasted trees. The Dragons did not know or care about the superstitious dread of wood blasted by lightening. They simply knew they needed fuel for their fires.
As they closed on the crossing the howls of wolves in the woods were warnings from the guardian of the portal. They had the Queen's permission to cross and the guardian could not afford to annoy the Unseelie Queen. The old crooked man tottered out of his shallow cave by the bridge, leaning on his staff. He was completely hidden in a robe of smoke gray cloth and two wolves followed at his heels. Above his head ravens cawed and flapped on the edge of the cave overhang.
The guardian held his staff across the bridge and asked their names. When they replied Ólafr and Volundr he nodded and the wolves stopped circling the Dragon riders. Controlling their now annoyed Dragons the riders moved forward slowly into the mist covering the bridge. Below them the river guardians yawned and sniffed at their missed meal. The Riders were sure that their bodies would have never been found if the Queen had not sent their names ahead by raven. The guardian was so much more than he looked.
Ólafr could not leave a good thing alone, of course. It was not in his nature. As his mount set foot upon the bridge her turned in the saddle and ask "Guardian, how did the Queen's pet escape? Do you know how he evaded the guards and the beasts in the water?"
Volundr leaned over to pull at Ólafr's arm. "Do not annoy him, foolish one. Let us pass over safely first. Ask your question at the end of our passage."
Ólafr only then noticed that the Guardian and his wolves were following them over the planks. He faced forward and cucked to his mount to move faster. The mist was still thick and they could not see the other side. Anything could happen in the mist. He decided to follow Volundr as closely as he could.
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Jake and Robert Garnet were old time hunters who had come to the Black Hills of South Dakota in pursuit of a creature that had taken to stealing people away in the night. There had been a lot of discussion in various Hunter bars about what this new threat could be. Most had gone for the Wendigo idea even though the pattern didn't really seem to fit. This creature was entering into areas crowded with people, like camp grounds.
People were disappearing out of their tents and some were even disappearing in the day light. No one heard the roaring usually associated with a Wendigo and the descriptions that the survivors gave didn't sound like the traditional monster either.
Almost all of the people the Hunters talked to spoke of the size of the creature's head. For that many shocked people to all come up with the same weird description of a head too big for the monster's spindly body was very unlikely. Usually when you talked to fifteen different witnesses you came up with fifteen different descriptions. There had to be something truly startling about the monster's head for them all to agree.
Jake and Bob had been hunting together for a pretty long time. They knew that something wasn't right. It was dangerous to chase after a monster that you couldn't identify. Who knows what you might have to use to kill the thing? If a Hunter went in without the proper information they were asking to die. These two men had stayed alive and in the game for a very long time because they were careful.
They had found several people who claimed they had seen the creature passing through a part of the hills that was full of old mines. Something of that size could hide for decades down inside the earth and there were any number of monsters that hibernated for very long cycles of time, including the Wendigo.
The Hunters decided they were going to stake out the entrance to a valley that seemed to be in the center of the sightings. They would build a hide on the side of the hill and just observe until they knew what they were hunting. Of course, if the monster showed up with a victim they would have to take action bur they were hoping to identify the thing first before having to confront it.
On the third night they saw it. Below them on the floor of the valley something was shambling along. Just as had been described to them the creature seemed to have an unusually large and round head. The rest of the body was something like a spider with long spindly arms and legs. It didn't walk like a man. It skittered over the ground, for lack of a better description.
Bob and Jake passed the glasses back and forth but the creature just never seemed to stop moving long enough for them to get a good look. It was moving with pretty good speed, definitely headed for a specific objective when it suddenly froze and stood up straight. It seemed to be sniffing the air, like a dog or a bear or some other wild animal. Something was coming, the creature could smell it and whatever was coming made the monster afraid. It dropped to all fours and doubled its previous speed.
The Hunters were distracted by a sudden burst of bright blue light on the face of a escarpment of solid rock. A darkness appeared on the rock and the light burst out as if there suddenly was a tunnel created and a train was barreling down the track. The light got brighter and brighter and just like that two riders appeared in the valley. The horses appeared to be just slightly wrong and so did the riders. Somehow, even from 500 yards away Bob and Jake knew that these riders weren't human. The riders were in pursuit of the creature.
Bob stood up to see if he could see where the creature had gone and one of the riders came to a quick halt, looking directly at him. Jake pulled his partner down. "You idiot why didn't you just send up a flare? They know we're up here now."
Daring to peek over the lip of their hide Jake was surprised to find that the riders had completely disappeared. The evening wind blew through the canyon and the only thing moving was a coyote standing on the rim of the escapement.
"Where the hell did they go?'" Bob whispered. "I have no idea." Jake whispered back. "And I don't know what they were any more than I know what kind of a monster we're hunting. I think we need help."
"Where are we going to get help with this?"
"Let's get back to the truck first." Jake responded. "When we get back to the motel and settle down a bit; we need to compare notes on what we think we saw and then I vote for calling Bobby Singer. Bobby will figure it out and let us know what to do."
Bob agreed. "Let's get out of here before we get ridden down." He matched speed to his words as he swung out of the hide and took off for their truck.