Episode 16: Part 1
The sounds of chirping birds followed Stephen Gentum-Smith as he made his way through the small garden arboretum of the college. A warm spring breeze touched his cheek while a few freshly blooming patches of flowers swayed gently. Stephen stopped a moment to survey the area and admire the relative peace and tranquility of the place that was set aside for the Botany and Agriculture students. He had to admit, after he and his fellow knights helped the veteran Vanguard Rangers fight off a demon threat and undertake a dangerous rescue mission several weeks ago, the quiet gardens were a nice respite. Unlike the dead and dreary grays of the frightening Hinterlands, the soft warm greens of the grass and the colorful flowers was a welcome sight.
The Silver Knight continued on until he reached a small rocky grotto built into the garden landscape. As he reached the edge of the quiet grotto, he set down the parcel that he was carrying and laid out a container of small baked cakes and packets of fresh honey. After doing so, he sat quietly amid the light of the early evening and let his mind drift a little bit, wondering if this plan would actually work.
Since joining the other Hibernian Knights, Stephen had not had a lot of time to consider his apparent fey heritage. Assuming the words of the Fey Dukes in the Court of Stars was true, it bothered Stephen to know that his biological father might be somewhere out there, either roaming the natural world, or perhaps even the Faerie Realm. As much as he hated to admit it, he kinda understood how Connor had been feeling in regards to his lost friend. He understood the anxiety about having some of those nagging questions and uncertainty about fey connections still hanging over one's head. That was why he was hoping to commune with any Elves or faeries in the area in order to gain more information. In the past, the knights' Druid mentor Kristen Bloom had off-handedly mentioned some ways to attract faeries in her lessons to them and he hoped making some offerings in a place of natural beauty would do the trick.
As he sat and waited silently for several long minutes, he finally sat up with a discouraged sigh before heading home. Dinner would be served soon at the dormitory and he wasn't quite looking forward to it. Noelle had mentioned that Beef Stroganoff was on the cafeteria menu and for a moment, he debated whether or not he should just eat the honey and cupcakes he brought to the grotto instead. Then again, he was a broke college student and beggars couldn't be choosers.
In the fading light of the day, Stephen didn't notice as a pale feminine figure materialized out of the dusk and approached the grotto while his back was turned. The woman's skin was as fair as moonlight and a long deep purple robe hung off her, flowing in the breeze as she approached the grotto. As she bent down to examine the offering, she brushed aside a long strand of her flowing raven black hair and smiled. It was a good offering from the mortal and she had been fortunate enough to be passing through and notice the act. Perhaps she would stay and stir up some mischief here in Somerset Valley. Perhaps if she did, she might extract another offering… perhaps one of appeasement.
The next day, Stephen sat in the packed lecture hall of his Business Calculus course and idly tapped his pencil on his notebook, trying to ward off the overwhelming feeling of boredom that had fallen over the students. Granted, there really wasn't any way to make calculating slopes and curves of economic trend lines thrilling, but Professor Ahmad had always had a unique talent at making it even more dull. While the older Middle Eastern teacher continued to drone on, Stephen glanced around and saw some of his fellow classmates nearby beginning to nod off.
He couldn't blame them. If it were up to him, he'd rather be outside releasing some of his restless pent-up energy. Before he could turn back to his notes, he stopped as he noticed something peculiar begin to happen in the large auditorium. Professor Ahmad's speech began to grow softer and more drawn out while he slurred his words. After stopping to give a big yawn, Stephen's teacher shuffled over to his podium and put his head down gently, as if he were taking a nap.
The Silver Knight frowned and sat up, suddenly becoming more alert. To his shock, he looked around the room and saw all his fellow classmates close their eyes and fall asleep in their own seats. What the heck was going on here? It was late morning so there was no possible way everyone could be this tired.
Stephen stood up and looked about the room, finding that he was the only one awake before he spotted a fluttering dress float by overhead and land on the auditorium stage in front of him. She was a graceful young woman with a lithe form and beautiful features. As she levitated down, her purple robes and black hair wavered in the air before she turned to give an amused smile toward him, "Ah… this is interesting. A human that is immune to sleeping enchantments. Are you a faerie too?"
Stephen blinked in astonishment before shaking his head, "I'm Stephen, the Knight of the Court of Stars. Who are you? What have you done?"
The faerie woman smiled and pranced lightly around the stage, "Me? Why I'm Aisling… a lady of the twilight and member of the Gloaming Fey."
"Gloaming Fey? I've never heard of them," Stephen replied as he wrinkled his nose.
Aisling laughed, "Faeries of Twilight. We are part of the Wylde Fey… beings who are free... unaligned with the petty squabbling and politics of the Four Courts. Surely a knight as accomplished as yourself should know, yes?"
The Silver Knight grimaced, "Whatever… why are you here and what have you done to my class?"
Aisling gave a bored look and gently pushed the snoring professor over. Despite falling to the floor, the professor remained in his deep sleep, "Oh don't worry. I just put everyone to sleep. I thought I'd have a little fun around here."
"Why?"
The faerie smirked again, "You should know… after all, you enticed me to come. I took your offering at the grotto yesterday night. It was a good gift and I thought it was delicious!"
Stephen halted and looked about in uncertainty before taking a breath, "I wanted to try and commune with you faeries. Please, I just want to talk because I have some important questions. I also want to ask that you not do this to the innocent people on campus."
The faerie tapped her finger to her lip and gave a sly smirk, "Hmm… I think not Sir Knight. Perhaps we'll make sport of it first? I think I'll speak with you… but only if you can catch me."
Before he could react, Aisling darted from the stage and phased through the wall. As she disappeared from the auditorium, she left Stephen all alone among his sleeping colleagues. The Silver Knight took a moment to try and process the shocking events of what just happened before he tried to shake awake some of his sleeping classmates beside him. Unfortunately, the effort was to no avail and all of the victims remained stuck in their deep slumber. As he pondered what to do next, he whirled around when he heard the auditorium room doors fly open and reveal the faces of his other four comrades.
Laura was the first to rush in and look around, "Stephen… we've got trouble! A possible Fomorian has been going around putting students and townspeople into a magic sleep. Some woman in purple robes?"
"I just saw her but she's not a Fomorian," Stephen exclaimed while gesturing to the comatose lecture hall.
Connor eyed the room for a moment before giving a mild snigger of amusement, "Geez… and I thought my professors were boring."
Noelle elbowed him in the side and shook her head at the wise-crack before Stephen waved his comrades out the door to follow him, "Come on everyone! She couldn't have gotten far!"
Upon rushing out of the room and down the front stairs of the auditorium building, the five knights skidded to a halt when they caught sight of several fellow students fainting on the main quad and falling asleep. An ephemeral twinkling dust floated through the air causing anyone it came into contact with to grow drowsy. Standing in the middle of the university parkway was the twilight faerie maiden waving what looked to be a little crystal wand which produced the dust.
The knights carefully approached and watched as Aisling turned around with an amused smile and looked to Stephen, "Wonderful! You brought some more friends to play. Common mortals I take it?"
"We're not just any mortals," Connor replied prompting the others to ready their rings and gauntlet, "We're the ones who keep the peace around here by the authority of the Four Courts!"
"The Four Courts? Oh bother. They are such a bore," Aisling replied with an unimpressed yawn as the five young people summoned their weapons and armor in a flash of colorful light and fey magic. As they readied for battle, Laura leveled her rapier.
"This is your last chance. Give up and lift your sleeping spell on campus town... or we'll have to insist."
Aisling laughed and levitated in the air, sweeping back and forth, "Oh my... such a daring boast from such a regal girl. I'm afraid my answer is still no."
"What is her problem?' Noelle frowned in confusion while she readied her own curved sword, "Doesn't she answer to any of the Courts?"
Stephen shook his head and drew back a silver arrow from his bow, "No. She's a Wylde Fey... they're unaligned. She thinks this is all just a big game."
"So what's the game plan then?" Quinton asked hesitantly.
The Silver Knight concentrated on keeping Aisling in his sights, "If what she said is right, we've got to tag her with our weapons or maybe trap her?"
Connor nodded in understanding before waving the team to regroup, "Okay then. Here's the play. Laura and Quinton with me on a three man rush. Noelle and Stephen, get ready to split out wide."
The Winter Knight raised a perplexed eyebrow and scratched her head, "What on earth are you talking about Walsh?"
"It's American football lingo. Just roll with us," Quinton sighed as he and Connor rushed forward to attack.
Aisling giggled in amusement and swiftly dodged several quick arrow shots by Stephen along with the thrown sword of Noelle carried by a gust of her Autumn Wind powers. As the ephemeral faerie woman danced in midair, she swooped down with sudden speed and surprised the other three advancing knights who had their melee weapons drawn. No sooner had they reached her, the faerie dissipated in a burst of glittering dust.
Having been at the forefront of the attack, Connor caught the dust head on and sputtered for a moment before dropping his sword and slowly stumbling sideways. To everyone's shock, the Summer Knight collapsed onto the grass and his armor dispelled, leaving Connor sleeping peacefully on the ground.
"What... what the heck just happened? Where did she go?" Laura exclaimed as everyone looked around in mind panic.
As if she was answering the question, the lady of twilight appeared again swooping in circles around the remaining knights laughing, "You can't catch what you can't see. Is this real or is it all just a dream?"
As the faerie moved about swiftly, her image blurred in the light leaving doubles and after-images to confuse and disorient the knights. Stephen fired a few more arrows hitting some of the illusory doubles and causing them to fade while Noelle and Laura took a few cuts at the others. As they fended off the mirror images, Quinton bent down to check on the sleeping Connor to make sure he was safe before turning in surprise to see the real Aisling standing right behind him.
"Sweet dreams Sir Knight!" the faerie called as she tapped the startled Spring Knight on the head with her wand covering him in another cloud of sleeping dust. As Laura spun around in alarm to see Quinton suffer the same fate, she charged her sword full of Winter Ice and swept it out in a wide swath.
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous! I've had enough of these games!"
The icy wave of debilitating wintry energy swept across the battlefield momentarily while slowing down the movements of all the combatants present. Despite the heavy feelings in his arm muscles, Stephen scanned the field with his sharp eyes and spotted the real form Aisling phase in to reality and recover her bearings. The Silver Knight struggled to raise his bow and fire a hasty shot but the effects of the wintry magic hindered his own aim.
Stephen's next shot sailed slightly off target and grazed the leg of the twilight faerie. Aisling sucked in a breath and frowned slightly, now that her game was ruined, "Well... that wasn't very nice. We'll just play again later!"
With that, she swept her robe around and disappeared in a cloud of faerie dust that swept back across the field and rushed over the Silver Knight. As Aisling made her escape, Stephen shook off the dust and pounded his fist in irritation, "Damn! I almost got her! I can't believe I missed!"
Laura simply lowered her sword and shook her head in wonder, "Stephen... are you feeling all right? You just got sprayed by a cloud of that sleeping dust."
Stephen looked around and shrugged. Now that he stopped and thought about it, it was a bit odd why he hadn't been affected by the faerie's enchantments, "Well... yeah. I think so. I don't feel any different."
Noelle strode past him and bent down in concern to examine the sleeping forms of her other two male friends. "We can let Kristen figure that out later. For now, let's get Connor and Quinton to the shop to see if she can do anything for them. Laura? Stephen? Can I get a hand?"
Using the ceremonial hunting horn given to her by the Erlking, the Autumn Knight summoned some of their faerie riding horses in hopes they could help carry their enchanted companions. As Stephen stepped forward to try and help the others, he cast one more long glance out over the quad where several more cursed students lay sleeping and he felt a pang of guilt. Part of him couldn't help but think that this was partially his fault. If he hadn't been selfish and reckless in trying to call upon the faeries, this curse wouldn't be spreading around Somerset Valley. For now, the Silver Knight could only wonder if the situation would get any worse and if he should even tell his friends what he had done. For now, Stephen Gentum-Smith had to figure out how to make this right, not only for himself but for everyone around him too.
Meanwhile, in the gloomy depths of the Underworld, the sorceress and field commander of the Fomorian Host made her way into the Great Hall of her warlord master. Upon entering the dimply lit cavern, Leanansidhe spotted the intimidating form of Lord Balor sitting at his table alone and drinking a great goblet of mead. As she approached hesitantly, the warlord turned his baleful eyes toward her: one of which was a magic glowing one burning with malevolent hellish energy. The sorceress stopped and cleared her throat, "Lord Balor... I bring you news from your scouts in Somerset Valley."
The warlord kept his eyes fixed on her while wearing an inscrutable look. He waited patiently for her to continue, then took a great swig of his drink. Leanansidhe nodded and sighed, "It would appear that one of the Gloaming Fey, and a powerful one at that has stopped into the valley. It would seem that she's wreaking a bit of havoc and causing scores of people to fall into enchanted sleep. I have it on good word that at least two of the knights have fallen victim to the spell.
Upon hearing that, a thin smile slowly formed on Balor's lips. He leaned back in his big oaken seat and wiped his mouth, "Very good Leanansidhe. We shall use this to our advantage. While the valley's defenders are in disarray and its people are falling asleep, we'll march our troops in and take the town without a fight. Gather a force together and see to it."
Leanansidhe bowed her head and made her way from the hall, "As you wish Lord Balor."
It was unusual for such a fortunate break to arise for Balor's forces. While she wasn't quite sure what to expect with a Wylde Fey running loose in the valley, Leanansidhe decided she would take advantage of this opportunity and make the most of it.
A/N:
Aisling: the Irish word for "Dream"