4. Patrick

Chapter four

Patrick

A s the last of the bodies sank into the ground, Kaos appeared.

"What? Already? No way, it's far too soon." I asked as the raven bounced and fluttered around, indicating that my guest had awoken.

Caw . She continued to flap about.

"Okay, okay. I'm almost done here." I said to Kaos, trying to appease her.

Studying the scene before me to ensure nothing had been left behind, I was confident the remnants from the boys' misadventure had been eradicated. I clutched a garbage bag filled with camping odds and ends.

Caw .

Kaos wasn't exactly a pet, and no, she wasn't my familiar either. Magical folk tend to attract animals and beasts. Kaos had shown up over a decade ago. She came and went as she pleased, but come the winter season, she usually holed up inside my house.

I had gone out of my way to welcome her into my home and even created her a natural perch near the hearth. She often took up residence there at night and preened while I read.

I guess we all liked to be warm, cozy, and safe.

It had taken years of treats, quiet afternoons together, and regular routine to build trust between each other. Learning to understand her various vocalizations required paying attention to her subtle body movements and the tone of her voice. Ravens made an astonishing number of noises, from croaks, to gurgles, to shrill whistles. It took many more years before I could confidently understand the drift of what she tried to tell me.

And she could be a real gossipy gal.

She definitely assumed the role of spy for me. Few people arrived at the cottage without Kaos giving me the heads-up long before there was a knock at my door. However, I wasn't always the best at picking up her cues.

Still, if I didn't know any better, I would have said she adored my company. Shiny gifts were left on my pillow or near the coffee pot on a regular basis. She frequently came for cuddles.

Argus's story was similar. A stray pup that wandered into my yard. I had put out flyers all over the campsites and town with his picture, but no one came to claim him.

Thinking about it now, he showed up much like the boy I had rescued. Wet, cold, and filthy.

I couldn't stand to see animals in distress. Nature could be cruel and uncaring, but all living creatures deserved to be treated with kindness. That, however, didn't always extend to humans.

People were…well, people. They were horrible. And for that reason, I tended to keep to myself, and I lived a quiet, hermetic life, out in the country where only surprise visits from our local sheriff occurred.

I even had my groceries delivered.

Caw! She made several clicks and then craned her neck sideways and bobbed her head at me.

"Okay, yes." According to my raven, it was time to go home.

The forest settled into absolute silence.

No wind, no rustling of leaves, no chirp of birds, or the scampering feet of squirrels. Just an unearthly hush.

The bushes rustled.

"Oh, shit. Here we go." I mumbled to myself.

The foliage parted as humanoid figures slid out from between the trees.

Their skin colour shifted with the environment they were in. With the paper birch trees proliferating the interior of the island, the skin of the local Fae held a grey cast, while their joints concentrated into an ombre of black. Pointed ears twitched, and large eyes, glassy in appearance, stared at me.

"Our treaty has been broken. This land has been sullied."

"Sheq'wa-nay. It's been a long time."

"Patrick, we are very unhappy."

"And you have every right to be, but you know what people are like."

"Reparations must be made."

I sighed. Most folks never get to see the Fae, which is probably for the best. They were less than tactful and generally difficult to deal with.

"I understand. And I agree, what happened here was…well, horrific."

"You pushed their tainted bodies into our earth!"

"Where else would I have put them?"

"In your own death soil." Language translations being what they were, Sheq'wa-nay was referring to a human cemetery.

"I would have done that, but there was no ID on the bodies, and I couldn't very well transport three cadavers into the local cemetery and just bury them. Our people have laws and customs too. At least this way, they are concealed, and nature will take its due course as the flesh decomposes."

"Blasphemy." The finely boned creature stood tall. Around seven feet in height, with extended thin limbs. They looked alien, to be honest. I often wondered if humans who had inadvertently stumbled across them mistook them for space creatures.

"How can we make this right?" I asked. Each infraction was dealt with differently. The Fae were fickle and demanded the most bizarre things when incidents happened—and they happened all the time—but the needs of their community always took precedence. So, whatever was going on in their world at the time of the infraction would dictate the ask. You could fault them for being many different things, all negative, but they did look after their own.

As I had no idea what happened in their own realm—I'd never been there, and frankly had no desire to go—I found their wants always bizarre. I didn't need or require to know the reasoning behind their requests.

"The wayward witch who did this. We want him."

"Ah, say again?"

"He will come with us."

"I don't—"

"That is our need. That is the only thing that will make this right."

"Okay. Okay, but I want you to know that he's a fledgling. The raw power that erupted here last night was his awakening. Admittedly, a poor place for it to have happened, and I'm not sure why three people died in the wake of his arising, but if I hand him over to you now, you're going to have an out-of- control witch on your hands. I'm pretty sure you don't want that. You'll likely end up with a similar scene in the Fae lands."

Sheq'wa-nay squinted as he contemplated my words. He then sighed and, with a pursed mouth, nodded once.

"You do not lie."

"No. I do not."

"His magic is needed in our world. But unrefined abilities will cause much destruction. I give you one month to train him, and then you must give him to us."

"Ah, one month is not going to be—"

"One month, Patrick. If we do not get him on the twenty-eighth day of your sun cycles we will congregate on this island, amass our kind, and then invade your shoreline." He pointed across the lake.

Now, throughout the course of human history there are stories steeped in lore of civilizations that have disappeared. Take Roanoke, as an example, or the Angikuni of Northern Canada, if the Fae were unhappy, people generally disappeared. And once a human goes to the Fae realm, they rarely, if ever, come back. And if they do return, they are forever altered.

Nice way of saying "not right in the head."

"Sheq'wa-nay, I will honor your request, but training to be a witch takes a lot longer than one month. And you're asking me to give you a potential Magician. That boy's energy is unlike anything I've seen in a very long time. And may I remind you, people with that much power are exceedingly rare and also needed here."

Witches are witches. We all fall into that category if we can wield any kind of magic. Some folks can only do small little tricks or have an affinity for mixing up potions. The magic our newfound witch had displayed put him into a unique category. Same one I held. He would one day be a Magician, able to control all four elements, and assigned to an area that would be his responsibility to watch over and protect.

"One month. That is all the time you have. You will give him to us for one year…or else."

Well, at least they promised to return him.

I nodded. What else could I do without putting an entire town into jeopardy?

I glanced over my shoulder toward said town. There weren't a lot of people who were permanent residents, but fifteen thousand individuals suddenly disappearing would certainly create a ripple worldwide. That would be one magical containment nightmare.

"One year in the Fae realm for a barely trained witch. Very well. I don't think you know what you ask, but I will comply."

Sheq'way-nay nodded again, once, and then in a heartbeat, a blink of an eye, all of them melded back into the island's forest. The world stood still momentarily. Then birds began to chirp again, squirrels reappeared and continued their mad scampering. Even the wind rustled the leaves again, and it was like the Fae had never been here at all.

"Well, shit." I slumped forward. This visit from the Fae needed to go before the council. They would have to be informed.

Caw!

"All right, all right. I'm coming."