Episode 16: Part 2
Later that afternoon, the remaining knights made their way into town and regrouped in the shop of their Druid mentor. After setting down Connor and Quinton on a nearby couch, the others recounted their run in with the wild fey woman named Lady Aisling. After finishing their tale, Kristen turned toward Stephen and pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, "I still can't believe it Stephen. What were you thinking? That was reckless, and dangerous…"
"And stupid," Laura chimed in earning a reproving frown from Kristen, "What? Connor and Quinton are still out cold."
The older Druid sighed and crossed her arms, "Be that as it may, we're going to have to find a way to deal with this lady of the Gloaming Fey… and we'll need to do it quickly. With more townsfolk being put to sleep by the hour and two knights already out of commission, we're going to be very vulnerable if the Fomorians decide to launch another attack."
Laura's features hardened before she grimaced slightly, "If that happens, Noelle and I can stand and hold the line. If this Aisling character is playing with Stephen, then he's probably the best person to take her on."
"That's probably a good idea," Noelle agreed as she watched over the sleeping forms of Connor and Quinton, "Stephen didn't seem to be affected by the magic dust or the enchantments that Lady Aisling was using. Why that is, I'm still not too sure."
Kristen paced about the room and scratched her chin, "I suppose that makes some sense. Stephen is half-fey remember? Theoretically, his unique heritage should make him a little more resistant or immune to such powers. It just so happens that sleeping spells and illusions are specialties of the Gloaming Fey so we're in luck."
While Kristen continued to pace, the little gargoyle Scratch clambered up the side of the couch and curiously pulled upon Quinton's eyelids seeing if he could get a reaction. On the other side of the couch, the shop's other pet gargoyle Yum-Yum sat upon Connor's chest and gently poked at the Summer Knight's face trying to wake him up.
Stephen watched as Noelle shook her head and grabbed both of the little creatures to prevent them from causing any more mischief before he turned back to Kristen, "If I'm going to have to pick a fight with Lady Aisling again, I'm going to have to figure out where she is. For all we know, she could be anywhere right now."
Kristen nodded sagely before reaching behind her counter and digging for some helpful magic items she had stowed away. After a minute of digging, she finally produced a small decorated hoop with finely crafted carvings along the edge. Inside the hoop were fine mesh strings that interwove with each other forming the pattern of the budding flower.
"Wow, it's so pretty. What is that thing?" Laura asked as she studied the object.
Kristen smiled and held the object over the two sleeping knights and began waving it around gently, "This is a Pixie Dreamcatcher. It's made from a special silk with magic properties. I'm hoping that Connor and Quinton here might be able to shed some light on the situation."
The other three exchanged puzzled looks before Noelle piped up, "How are they supposed to do that?"
The Druid smiled and headed back to her store counter. "Once I get some water boiling, I'll show you."
Soon enough, she had boiled some water in the kitchen and returned to her young charges that waited expectantly. They gathered around curiously while Kristen snipped a few pieces of the Dreamcatcher's silk string with scissors and dropped it in the water. As she began to stir the water, the silk dissolved and evaporated into large rippling clouds of steam.
They continued to watch as the steam cloud coalesced and began to show some slightly fuzzy moving images. As the vision grew clearer, they could make out the form of Quinton flying down the streets of the university campus on his skateboard until he reached the arboretum. He veered down one of the unpaved walking paths that sloped downhill to keep up his momentum and all the while he wore a big grin and laughed. After coasting fearlessly down the hill, he used his momentum to zoom toward the natural grotto that Steven had been at. With one more joyful laugh, Quinton zoomed up some flat stones acting as a miniature ramp which caused him to fly though the air.
"What is all this?" Laura asked in wonder. "Is this one of Quinton's memories or something?"
"One of his idle dreams actually," Kristen said while stirring the bowl again, "The magic silks catch the dreams of people and allow you to glimpse some of the things they think about. In this case, Quinton must be wondering how fun it must be to board down that path and attempt the jump."
"What does it have to do with finding Aisling?" Stephen asked.
"Because she's casting a universal sleeping enchantment over the people of the valley, there might be some common threads between all the victims. Hopefully the locations of the dream will be common to where she presently is."
Moments later a new dream image materialized and the familiar stones and flowers of the same grotto appeared. This time, Connor could be seen walking along one of the arboretum's gravel paths holding two ice cream cones. He approached a wooden bench where Noelle sat waiting with a smile. As he sat down and joined her on the bench, he handed her one of the cones and they began chatting and laughing, simply enjoying the peace and quiet of the warm sunny day.
As she watched the dream, Noelle felt her cheeks grow a little warm and she glanced over to see her two fellow knights watching in amusement until Kristen shook the bowl and swept away the visuals. Noelle gave a disappointed sigh before Kristen cleared her throat authoritatively, "Well… I think it's safe to say that the common thread running through these dreams is back at the grotto. Steven, if you're going to find Aisling, that's probably the best place to start. Laura and Noelle, in the meantime you'll probably want to…."
She was interrupted as her shop phone rang. Kristen checked the caller ID and immediately picked it up, "Crap… I knew this was going to happen!"
She put down the phone and looked to the two girls, "You two will probably want to halt the newest Fomorian attack. Mr. O'Doyle just said the monsters have been sighted approaching from the east edge of the town."
Laura nodded and prepared to rush out the door, "We're on top of it. Stephen… are you sure you're going to be okay by yourself?"
The Silver Knight looked thoughtfully toward the discarded Dreamcatcher on the table before giving a small nod. "Yeah… now that I thought about it, Kristen's Dreamcatcher just gave me a great idea of how to stop Aisling. Do you have a small iron chain I can use? I'll need you to enchant it for me too."
The Druid gave a puzzled frown before she nodded and rummaged around for the item in her shop. She finally pulled out a small metal chain that she used to lock chests and whispered a few old Celtic words upon it before handing the link to Stephen.
As the three students charged out the door to confront the numerous invaders wreaking calamity on the town, Kristen looked to the other two knights still sleeping on the couch. She could only hope whatever Stephen's plan was, that it would be enough to undo the situation before it was too late.
A while later, Stephen made his way down the familiar gravel walking path of the arboretum until he reached the flower covered edge of the little grotto. He had already passed several students and faculty members who had been enchanted along the way and lay sleeping on the ground. Fortunately it had been a warm Spring day and being left on the grassy sidewalks in such a state wasn't too hazardous to the victims.
Stephen stopped before the cove and pulled his archer's bracer using it to transform into the Silver Knight before he stood and waited quietly with his bow in hand. After a few long minutes of silence punctuated only by the occasional chirping of birds, Stephen turned as he heard the familiar voice of Lady Aisling from behind.
"You're back Sir Stephen! Come to make another offering? Or perhaps you want to play again?"
Stephen narrowed his eyes and gripped his bow, "I've come to stop you… and to reverse all the trouble you've caused to the town."
The twilight fey woman shook her head with a smile, "Now… now… you remember the rules of our little game. If you can stop me, I'll answer your questions and set things straight."
"I was hoping you'd say that," Stephen retorted as he swiftly raised his bow and fired a shot at the faerie.
Ailsing quickly evaded the arrow and darted about with a taunting laugh as Stephen fired a few more shots which streaked by harmlessly. "You'll have to do better than that mortal!"
Stephen juked and dodged as the faerie called upon mirror images of herself and encircled him. Despite his immunity to the magic dust, the circle of Aislings all tossed a cloud of the sleeping powder upon him to stun and disorient him further. Instead, the Silver Knight made an unexpected evasive maneuver. He threw himself sideways out of the circle in a rolling somersault.
As Stephen rolled sideways, he drew back another shot and charged some extra power into his bow. Upon tumbling back to one knee, the Silver Knight caught his foe off guard and aimed his bow toward her and her clones. Aisling halted in surprise at seeing the brilliantly glowing arrowhead that formed from the weapon while Stephen fastened the enchanted chain to the tail end of his arrow. Stephen fired and the arrow surged forward whistling through the air before it burst apart in its signature scattershot pattern except this time the tails of the arrows all remained connected in what looked to be a chain linked net.
Aisling gasped as the cloud of arrows whizzed by her, only for her to be snared in the resulting magic net trailing behind it. Stephen smirked triumphantly as the faerie woman fell over on the ground, tangled in the iron chains which neutralized her powers. She struggled for a few moments before letting up and giving a grumble. "No! What have you done?"
"I made a little Dreamcatcher of my own," the knight retorted as he loomed over her and drew his short sword, forcing her to yield. "And it seems I've finally caught you. Now about that bargain?"
Aisling stopped struggling and gave a pout before she quietly nodded her head. "I did give my word, didn't I Sir Stephen? I suppose it's only right that I keep it, especially considering I am at your mercy."
Stephen used his sword to carefully cut the bonds and free the faerie from the chain net. As she rose, she dusted herself off and gave a placating gesture, "Once we are done here, I will lift the sleeping spell on the people of the valley. Now… you said you had some questions?"
Stephen bit his lip thinking about how Laura and Noelle were most likely fighting a desperate battle against the invading Fomorians right now so he didn't have a lot of time to chat. He took a few steadying breaths and nodded, "The Court of Stars has begun forming to stop the threat of Balor. Before they made me a knight, they said I had some fey heritage on my father's side. I know I was adopted when I was a baby, but I wanted to know if anyone had information about him."
Aisling regarded him thoughtfully before giving him a nod and reaching to touch his face, "May I? I will not harm you."
Stephen nodded and let the faerie remove his helmet then touch his check. She studied his face for a long moment as if she were getting some magical sense of him before she let go. "He was a Winter fey… a proud and powerful one. I can sense it in your bearing. Beyond that, I'm afraid I can't tell much else."
Stephen nodded, "Do you know any other knights or nobles of the Winter Court? Someone else I can talk to about this?"
Aisling shook her head, "I do not personally associate with any Winter nobility… though it may be unwise to go seeking out the fey as you have done."
Stephen nodded and gave a discouraged sigh before Aisling put a gentle hand on his shoulder, "I don't know if this will be of any interest to you, but I did know of a prominent hero of the Winter Court by the name of Sir Tanrys who was banished into exile many years ago for some unknown charge. Perhaps he might be willing to help... if you can even find him.
A moment passed before the faerie woman drew back, "I am sorry I can't be of more help to you Sir Knight."
Stephen nodded thoughtfully before giving Aisling a sly smile, "Well… that might not be exactly true. Maybe there is one more little way that you can help."
Meanwhile, a fierce battle raged on the east edge of the town. Panic swept the residential area as a large number of spriggan troops swarmed the area. Many civilians fled back into the homes in terror as the Fomorian foot soldiers smashed windows and looted some of the homeowners' yards. In the middle of the wide street, Laura and Noelle rode their faerie horses through the thick of the fight, desperately swinging their blades to strike down enemy soldiers who got in their way. Despite the best efforts of the two armored female knights, they were surrounded on all sides and knee deep in enemy forces.
"This is getting a little hairy Laura. I think we'll need help soon," Noelle shouted as she punched aside an enemy and swept the rest away with an orange wind gust. The Winter Knight lanced an enemy with her rapier before wheeling her mount around and trampling a few more spriggans.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I think you might be right!"
Just then, the horde of spriggans backed off but maintained their formation to encircle the two girls. From their ranks, Leanansidhe made her way forward with her sword drawn. The Fomorian commander ambled forward and gave a relaxed smile at the scene. "Well... this is a bit disappointing. I was hoping we would get more of a fight today."
"Don't be so sure," Noelle growled as she gripped her blade and rose to the challenge, "We'll give you plenty of it."
"No doubt," Leanansidhe sighed, "Actually, I was hoping I'd see my old friend again... so that we could finish our business here on the battlefield."
The Fomorian was silenced as a silver arrow whistled onto the scene and landed at her feet to halt her. That was when she heard another male voice, "Sorry Leanansidhe, you're going to have to take a rain check on that."
The sorceress looked up to see Stephen standing on the roof of a nearby house. The Silver Knight stood confidently and drew back another shot with his bow in warning.
"Stephen! Perfect timing!" Laura cheered as she gave a happy wave with her sword.
The Fomorian sorceress sneered toward Stephen, "You do realize the problem you still have here Sir Knight. There are only three of you and you've still got to fight your way through all my troops here."
The Silver Knight shook his head, "No. I don't have to fight your troops to defeat you. I just need to keep them from fighting. Lady Aisling?"
As Stephen snapped his fingers, the familiar sight of the Gloaming Fey woman winked onto the scene and quickly began to swoop through the spriggan ranks enchanting them with a new sleeping spell tailored to affect faerie folk. In a flash, Leanansidhe watched in shock as rows of her foot soldiers wavered and collapsed to the pavement in scores. Weapons and shields clattered to the ground as the spriggans fainted and began snoring loudly.
From where they sat mounted on their horses, Noelle and Laura laughed aloud as they watched their enemies scramble in confusion. Those who weren't falling asleep began to turn and flee in disorder despite the threats from their own commander.
"No! What are you doing! Stay and fight you useless cowards!" Leanasidhe fumed as she was jostled about by her own fleeing troops. Stephen smiled and shook his head before he began firing several shots to pick off fleeing spriggans. In a rage, Leanansidhe took on her smokey green form and swept about the battlefield, scooping up the sleeping Fomorians in her wake before retreating from the field.
As Lady Aisling circled back around in midair, she saw the streets were now completely empty of the enemy before she turned to Stephen. The Silver Knight gave her a thumbs up and the faerie woman nodded before winking out of the area and releasing a great burst of golden dust that filled the air.
"What... what is going on?" Laura asked in confusion as Stephen got down off his perch and joined them.
He shrugged, "I imagine Lady Aisling is undoing her sleeping enchantment in the valley before going on her way."
"Uh... what happened exactly?" Noelle asked in wonder, "How did you get her to work with you just now?"
Stephen smiled and turned back toward town, "It's a long story. Let's head back to the shop to check on the others. I'll tell you along the way."
Later that evening, the knights returned to Kristen's shop and to their relief found that Connor and Quinton had fully recovered from their affliction. Not surprisingly, the two where a little disoriented and confused while Stephen sat and recounted the events of the day for them. As Laura helped Quinton rise slowly to his feet, the Spring Knight sighed, "Wow... I can't believe we've been out all day. I've been sleeping for hours and I'm still exhausted."
"Quite. It seems you two were sleeping on the job and making the rest of us save the day... again," Laura chuckled while giving him a gentle poke in the ribs.
As Kristen smiled and closed up her shop, she looked to Stephen and shrugged, "You know... it's too bad that you didn't get all the answers that you were looking for Stephen. Still... I'm sure it's nice to know that you might have come from a strong noble line of Winter."
"Yeah," Stephen nodded quietly, "It is good to know a little more, but it still doesn't excuse the fact that I did something really stupid. I took a big risk and almost caused a disaster here in town for everyone, including you guys. I am sorry about that."
Kristen nodded slowly and patted his shoulder encouragingly, "Well... no lasting harm done and the important thing is you made it right. Stephen, you should know that you don't have to go about looking for answers by yourself. We're all here to help you too."
She was right. Although Stephen had always been kind of a loner by nature and not used to actually having friends, there was no arguing that he could trust his fellow teammates. It was a strange, yet reassuring feeling. He smiled and gave a quiet contrite nod, "Thanks Kristen."
The Druid gave a tired yawn herself and sat down in her own favorite armchair, "Now... if that's all settled, why don't you kids head out and get something to eat. It's almost dinner and I could use a little nap myself. It's been a long day."
"Sounds good," Noelle replied before turning to the Summer Knight, "You guys wouldn't want to head over to the pub for a meal tonight, do you?"
"I guess that's fine," Connor yawned tiredly, "Is there something in particular you were wanting to eat there?"
The Autumn Knight gave a sheepish smile and shrugged, "Well... to be honest, I kinda had a taste for some ice cream later."
"Huh... that's odd. I could actually go for some too," Connor said absently while he rubbed his eyes and headed out the door.
Quinton shot the others a confused look while Noelle grabbed him and quickly pushed him out the door after Connor. As she watched the scene, Laura sighed and shook her head with an amused smirk before she stopped halfway to the door. She turned and gave an expectant look to the Silver Knight. "Stephen? Are you coming to the pub with us?"
Stephen hesitated for a moment before giving a small smile to himself, "I wouldn't dream of being anywhere else."