Jim leaned forward in his chair as Dictatious recounted the tale.
"Thousands of years ago, before humans colonized most of the world, Nari lived alone in the Wild Wood near what would one day become Camelot. Though this was before the wood had a name, mind you. The indigenous tribes considered it a place of magic, but not everyone looked kindly upon the wood.
"Nari ignored the humans until, a young man, about your age, Trollhunter, chanced into the forest. He came unarmed, and every day he would sit in the midst of the wood and observe the animals and birds, even sketching some of them in the dirt with a stick.
"As he spent more time in the wood, his drawings became more lifelike. One day, a drawing of a squirrel got up out of the dirt and scampered off.
"The young man was amazed. As was Nari, who had been watching her visitor.
"Nari came to like the young man, and one day, she approached him with a handful of magic berries.
"He did not know what to do when first he saw her, mistaking her for a fawn from a distance, but when she drew near, he realized his mistake and cowered, thinking her a spirit of mischief who had come to scold him for disturbing the wood.
"Nari offered him the berries again. Seeing her smile and the interest in her keen eyes, he took the gift.
"From that day on, he came to the wood and consumed a fistful of the fruit every day. Under Nari's careful watch, the young man's innate magical abilities grew, and he learned much from her.
"Years passed, and the young man's visits became infrequent until, one day, he stopped coming to the wood altogether.
"Nari was sad to have lost such an interesting subject, but she did not mourn as humans do. Instead, she spent her time within the wood much as she had before the young man's arrival.
"More years passed, and one day, the young man returned, but now he was not young anymore, and he wore a wizard's cowl and bore an onyx staff. His eyes had blackened, and shadows pulsed in his veins. Every step he took made the wood shiver in fear.
"Nari came to see what had distressed her beloved forest, and she met the man in the same place he had once loved to sit and watch the animals. She did not know why he returned. If he was not interested in learning more from her, why come back to the wood?
"The man leveled his staff at Nari and growled, 'Foul spirit. It is you who set me on this path, and so you are the one who will suffer for it.'
"Nari's interaction with humans was limited, so she did not realize what he intended until it was too late.
"The man rammed his wizard's staff through her, and as she lay dying on the forest floor, he left the Wild Wood, never to return.
"After a time, Nari's heart was all that remained of her. It settled into a divot in the earth and remained there some decades until Skrael and Bellroc came to find their sister. They had felt her death, but as is the way of immortal things, time means little to them, so they did not seek her out right away.
"When they came to the Wild Wood, it had withered, and they found Nari's heart, but they did not disturb it. Instead, they left it in the bed it had chosen. Around it, they packed soil taken from the heart of the great ocean, and over it they poured water from an ancient fount through which the tales say Life itself flows.
"Skrael and Bellroc did not have to wait long. That night, beneath a new moon, a white lily bloomed. From it spread a carpet of flowers and grass that covered the withering forest, and when dawn came, the familiar form of Nari rose from beneath the blanket of lilies.
"Nari sat up and smelled the flowers. 'Humans are such strange creatures,' she said.
"Bellroc and Skrael left the Wild Wood to return to their own haunts. Skrael to the frozen Arctic, and Bellroc to Mauna Loa, Hawaii."
Dictatious sat on his stool in the corner and set to weaving twine.
"Wait, you're saying Nari can be resurrected?" said Jim.
"Isn't that what I just told you?" Dictatious pulled out a troublesome weave and began the row again. "And that is but the first tale of many recounting Nari's deaths. All that is needed is Nari's heart, a new moon, and some dirt, and water—specific dirt and water, mind you, but nonetheless, it is a short list."
"Tonight is a new moon." Douxie withdrew the little box containing Nari's heart piece. "Will a portion of her heart do?"
"Why are you asking me? You're the wizard. Didn't Merlin tell you any of this?" Dictatious said.
"He never mentioned it," said Douxie.
"Hm. Ah well. I'm sure he had his reasons."
"You said dirt and water—as in living earth and water from the fountain of youth?" Jim said.
Dictatious nodded as he smoothed the wrinkles in his woven twine. "Sounds right. Don't know where you might get them though."
"But I do." Jim held up Newberry's voice recorder. "And I'm guessing they'll be delivered before the end of the night."
Blinky fetched water and downed half a pitcher. Barbara, Claire, and Douxie drank the other half.
"We've got to get that box away from Newberry when she gets back in town. Until then, we need to figure out the rest of our visions. Blink, what do you know about birthstones?" Jim said.
"About what every troll does. A birthstone is created from a piece of both mother's and father's Heartstone. After thirty years, the stone hatches a youngling. There was once a nursery here in Trollmarket—before Gunmar destroyed it." Blinky's ears drooped. "There were thirty-three birthstones in the nursery. Some were nearly ready to hatch before Gunmar smashed them. They were the greatest treasure lost in Gunmar's occupation."
"You think we could… see it?" Jim said.
Blinky looked horrified. "Oh, no, Master Jim, it's too terrible a sight—the mass grave of our children."
Barbara reached across the table and took Blinky's hand. "You don't have to come with us, but I think Jim's right. We need to see that nursery."
Blinky grasped her one hand with all four of his. His six eyes were sad. "All right. I… will take you there. For the sake of those we have lost, in the hope that some of our grief might be remedied."