Faytes of the Otherworld: Fayted

Liam had come up behind Dani as she sat on one of the sofas in the front foyer of the library, “You need to get some sleep.”

“I think I almost have it.” Dani was holding a book on Hermetic magick. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a shortage of them.

“You will have a few hours tomorrow before we have to leave too. There’s still some time.” Liam circled the sofa and sat down next to her.

“I just—I know I couldn’t physically promise him, but I promised him silently. It isn’t fair that he has to stay down there while all of this goes on. What he did was wrong, but not punishable by isolation for the rest of his life. Besides, he could be of some use to us. A real knowledgeable fae of both sides.” Dani suggested, setting down her fifth book in three minutes.

“You’re right. But try to get to sleep before sunrise.” Liam reached out and momentarily laid his hand on her knee.

“I will.” She nodded and reached for another book as Liam exited the room to find a quiet place to sleep.

(*)

Dani had nodded off for a minute and woke with a jolt. She had been trying to figure out how a simple spell could have kept a fae as old as Tam Lyn locked away for so long. She found nothing in any of the books; so she thought of a different route.

Maybe it wasn’t a spell, but an entrapment circle; something that would keep him inside because it was inscribed somewhere in the room.

Dani’s abrupt awakening was due to a dream, or maybe it was her intuition reaching out. Something from the day’s activities had resurfaced in her sleep and stuck in her mind. She remembered where Tam Lyn couldn’t move forward anymore; that was the beginning of the barrier. When they entered the dungeon like room, Liam had hit his head on a protrusion in the ceiling beams and Dani noticed that it ran the length of the ceiling to the last step of the ladder—right above where Tam Lyn’s toes met the invisible wall.

“Something has to be inscribed on that beam. It must be what is holding the barrier together.” Dani hopped up off the sofa and took a kerosene lamp with her as she made a beeline for the stairs to the lower level.

The hatch popped open much easier now and she nimbly climbed down the stairs.

“Who’s there?” Tam Lyn’s voice was hoarse as he called out from the darkness; he must have been asleep.

“It’s me; go back to sleep.” Dani hushed him as she stood on her tip-toes and tried to get to the beam. Sadly, it was directly above the bottom stair and ran vertically to the fifth step from the top, making it over a quarter meter above her head.

She held the kerosene lamp high above her to see if there was any sort of inscription on the beam. There was nothing, but it had clearly been painted over with more than a dozen coats of black paint.

“Dani, I have no idea what time it is, but I have a feeling it is bloody early. What on the Gods’ green Earth are you doing down here at this hour?” Tam Lyn appeared in the pool of light directly in front of the ladder.

“Trying to set you free.” Dani moved her arm out across the beam; there was still nothing but black paint.

“You came back and you didn’t even promise.” His sleepy smirk was kind of cute and Dani noticed that he was wearing nothing but his leggings.

“Don’t get sappy on me now. I just think it’s unfair for you to have to continue living down here when your captors are long gone. It’s not right to leave you for dead.” Dani set the lamp on one of the steps and fished in her pocket for Liam’s knife that she had forgotten to give back.

“Of course they’ve been dead for years, but their protégés may live on. They passed down my captivity for generations.” Tam Lyn had now sat cross-legged on the floor and was watching Dani fiddle with the knife.

“I’m sure they were some of the first to go. The Unseelie would probably want you to suffer. You slept with human women after all.” Dani had now positioned the lamp in such a way that it lit the beam enough for her to see.

“I do love me some Mortal women. Maybe that is why I find you so attractive; you have some Mortal in you.” Tam Lyn cocked his head to get a better look at Dani’s backside.

“Stop staring at my arse.” She admonished him as she began to scratch away at the paint on the beam.

“What are you doing exactly?” Tam Lyn scooted as far forward as he could before stopping.

“I think that this is more than just a spell. There is a magickal barrier that is keeping you down here and I think the knot to undo it is this beam. I noticed earlier that you couldn’t go any further than the bottom of the ladder and then remembered that Liam had hit his head on the ceiling. I figured it has to be in here somewhere.” Dani spoke as she barely grazed the wood with the tip of her knife. She was anything but tall.

“Wish I could help, love.” Tam Lyn shrugged.

She stopped her scratching for a moment and thought. She could go wake Liam and have him help, but she still wasn’t sure what she was looking for. If something was somehow hexed, she’d rather take the blow than him.

Dani leaned out to analyze the beam further. It wasn’t flush against the ceiling like she had thought; there was a gap between it and the wooden rafters above.

It had been attached with iron brackets.

“Well, that explains part of the problem.” Dani screwed her face up in thought.

“What?” Tam Lyn craned his head to see what she was looking at.

“This beam is bolted into the ceiling with iron brackets. They must be reinforcing the entrapment spell. Maybe I can just loosen them and tear the whole thing down somehow.” Dani was thinking out loud.

“Good luck with that.” Tam Lyn replied sarcastically.

“Iron doesn’t affect me and I am rather strong for my size.” She jumped up and gripped the beam before lifting up the rest of her body to wrap her legs around it.

“Dear Gods, I’m in heaven.” Dani heard Tam Lyn croon.

“Oh, quiet.” She hissed, bear hugging the beam. She craned her neck to view the topside of the wood. It too was painted black, but the varnish had worn down due to corrosion around the bolts. Dani could see what she thought were sigils burned onto the surface.

“They inscribed the wood and then painted over it to hide the sigils. They had to have installed this after you were already in here.” Dani loosened the grip with her legs and carefully lowered herself back down onto the stairs.

“Considering that I was knocked out when the exchange was made between the Unseelie and the scholars, I would say there is a good chance I wasn’t aware of it.” Tam Lyn was now pacing around.

“This has got to come down. Back up; I’m going to try something.” Dani shooed the handsome fae back from the stairs. She raised her hands towards the beams and blasted them with a bolt of smoldering orange fire. The ceiling shook and the iron fasteners groaned.

“Gods, woman! You’re going to bring the whole library down!” Tam Lyn ducked under the table.

“It’s fine.” Dani jumped up and latched onto the beam again, heaving as she did, in hopes of bringing it down.

“Please, do be careful. I wouldn’t want to see someone as lovely as yourself ruined.” Tam Lyn warned.

“Thank you for your kind words, good sir,” Dani grunted, tugging down on the beam. It was loose, but not loose enough.

Dani grunted again as she tugged. She was beginning to tire out and it didn’t look as if she would be able to take the beam down alone.

Just as she thought she was going to have to let go, she had a sudden burst of energy and while she gripped the sides of the wood with one hand, she shot out the other and blasted the far bolt with another beam of fire. The metal let out a subsequent groan and finally gave way; the farthest side crashed into the bottom stair of the ladder and the wood splintered. Tam Lyn scrambled in9i8to the darkness as dust was kicked up, clouding the whole room.

“Almost done!” Dani called out before giving the beam one final tug as the other side came down less harshly and she jumped out of the way before it slid down the ladder.

“Stay back, Tam. I still have to figure out how to destroy this.” Dani came gliding down the stairs and drug the beam out into the room so it was laying level on the floor.

She knelt down and placed her hand on the painted wood, feeling the heat radiate beneath her palm. Soon the wood was scorched and Dani lifted her hand to reveal the sigils under where the paint had been, burned deeply into the beam. She went over a few before announcing, “The knot is loose, but now we have to undo it. It was created by fire, so I will destroy it by fire.”

Dani backed up a ways from the beam before lighting her hands ablaze and focusing the flame at the wooden seal in front of her. As the fire became more intense, she moved closer to her target and in no time, the beam was ablaze. It was a controlled flame and soon the wood was nothing but charred ash in a shapely pile on the packed dirt floor.

A strange wind wove through the room before whooshing out the hatch and dispersing in the library, carrying the burnt corpse of the beam with it.

“You did it.” Tam Lyn felt as if a weight had been lifted off of him, “You fecking did it!” He cursed with joy.

“So I did.” Dani heaved a heavy sigh and wiped the sweat from her brow. Before she had time to gather her strength, Tam Lyn had already run to her and lifted her from her feet in an embrace.

“You beautiful, sexy, delectable—” Dani cut off Tam Lyn’s compliments.

“Down boy.” She politely pulled herself from his hold and gathered herself.

“I can leave now; I can finally leave.” Tam Lyn advanced on the ladder and was at last able to put his toes past the invisible barrier that no longer held him back. He climbed a few steps before turning around to reach for Dani.

“Come on, love. Let’s get some rest, shall we?”

Dani slowly took his hand and let him lead her back into the library.

(*)

“Well, I was not expecting to see this.” Liam’s voice sounded a little surly as it met Dani’s ears. Her eyes fluttered open and for a moment she wasn’t sure where she was. When her vision readjusted, she realized that she was on the sofa at Whitmore L

ibrary. Liam was standing in front of her with a disgruntled look on his face, and Tam Lyn was draped across her lap, still fast asleep.

“I figured out how to free him.” Dani sat up groggily and gently pushed Tam Lyn over on the sofa so he was no longer holding her down.

“You couldn’t have waited for me to get up or at least come and gotten me when you figured it all out? We haven’t even talked to Bastion about this.” Liam hissed, coming closer to her.

“You didn’t talk to him last night? You were supposed to do that last night!” Dani felt a little panicked.

“I was going to, but he was otherwise occupied with a lady friend so I didn’t have a chance,” Liam explained.

“Well, he’s out. There’s no putting him back now.” Dani was blunt.

“Bastion’s never going to let me come back, you know. He’s going to ban me forever.” Liam seemed disappointed, but there was a hint of apathy.

“Maybe we won’t have to. We have the book on the Sith and we will just have to figure the rest out. I didn’t really find anything else of import.” Dani defended herself by trying to put Liam’s mind at ease.

“I better go talk to him before Don Juan here wakes up.” Liam tried not to sound so frustrated with the situation, but Dani could tell he wasn’t happy with her split-second decision.

Dani took a moment to fully rouse herself and sat with her face in her hands as she stared at the table in front of her.

“Mmm, morning sunshine.” Tam Lyn had woken up and was now nuzzling her waist.

“Oi, morning,” Dani responded, pushing Tam Lyn away from her.

“What’s got your goat?” Tam Lyn sat up and began unplaiting his hair.

“Nothing. Liam failed to let Bastion know about you; I guess I jumped the gun when I released you from the basement.” Dani sighed, rubbing her face.

“Was there supposed to be an appeal or something to see if I deserve parole?” Tam Lyn was now cleaning under his fingernails with a handkerchief.

“No. I mean, maybe we should have checked with the people who actually live here, but they aren’t responsible for you. You’re your own responsibility.” Dani mumbled, not wanting to deal with the anxiety that was building up over the situation.

“Breathe, love. If you think you did the right thing, then you did the right thing. I wasn’t a violent criminal; I never hurt anyone. I was guilty, however, for gambling away Leprechaun gold and bedding ridiculously attractive women. But should that really be a crime?” Tam Lyn was seriously asking, but Dani was now thinking about something else.

She had suggested taking Tam Lyn with them back to the Hedgerow, but how would they explain his odd appearance, both in dress and physical features? Tam Lyn may have been humanoid, but he stood out like a sore thumb anyway.

“Alright,” Liam had returned and Dani held her breath as she waited for his response, “I talked to Bastion and explained everything. He is a bit irritated but hardly mad. Said he didn’t want one of them living under their library anyway and to take him.” Liam shrugged as he gestured to Tam Lyn.

“I’m free.” Tam Lyn exhaled as the weight of the situation finally hit him.

“Yes, you are.” Dani felt a little flicker of light ignite inside her, white hot with positive energy.

She had done the right thing.

“So, do we take him with us? Or let him go where he pleases?” Liam turned to Dani for an answer while Tam Lyn held his breath.

“It’s his life and he can do what he wants, but he won’t be safe out there alone. Eventually, they will realize that he isn’t holed up at Whitmore anymore and they will hunt him down. There is no messing with the Unseelie, it seems.” Dani explained, finally being able to put a name to the fae that she had been fighting with for so long.

“What will it be then? You going to travel with us and live at the Hedgerow, or are you going to strike out on your own?” Liam was serious in his questioning.

“I don’t want to be alone anymore. I’ve spent too many years in isolation and I need some sort of social interaction in my life.” Tam Lyn lamented.

“If you come with us, you can’t go around dicking everything. You have to learn to be a gentleman and not stir up drama. For the most part, everyone lives fairly peacefully and I don’t want to disrupt that in my town.” Liam’s tone was stern as he talked down to Tam Lyn.

“Of course, of course; I wouldn’t want to do anything that could get me in trouble again. I’m a new Elf!” Tam Lyn’s sharp grin was broad.

“Good. For future reference, the Hedgerow is surrounded by a huge iron and stone wall. Don’t try to escape, because you won’t be able to. If you’re in, you’re in; if you’re out, you’re out. Understood?” Liam was coming to the end of his conditions.

“Yes, sir.” Tam Lyn nodded.

“Well, let’s get going then. You two slept rather late, as did I. Bastion is going to get us some food for the trip back and the rest of the men are preparing the cart and horses. We don’t want to get caught out after nightfall.” Liam left the room after his warning and went to ready himself to head back to the Hedgerow.

“You get everything you wanted from down there?” Dani asked as Tam Lyn came up from the basement.

“Thanks to this lovely rucksack I was able to gather the extra clothes I had, my writings, a few books, and one of the lanterns as a memento.” Tam Lyn held up a bag that clanged noisily.

“Good. Let’s get going before Liam comes and carries us out. He has checked on me twice since you went down into the basement.” Dani shouldered her own rucksack and headed for the front door when it burst open and one of the men that Bastion had been sipping whiskey with the day before came bursting in.

“They’re—they’re inside the walls. We thought they were just travelers looking for refuge.” The man panted.

“What’s going on?” Dani rushed to his side and helped him stand up straight to catch his breath.

“One of them was severely wounded; they said they needed a doctor or she’d die. She was so young too, maybe ten?” The man droned on, babbling.

“What happened? Tell me what happened?” Dani could now hear screaming from outside.

“We let them in without testing them; we couldn’t let the little girl die. Once they were through the gates, we realized what they were…they aren’t human at all.” The man began to collapse as Dani led him to a chair.

“Stay put.” She instructed him, “Changelings. They let Changelings in.” Dani whispered to Tam Lyn as she dropped her rucksack on the floor next to who she soon discovered was Eric.

“Oh, are we about to fight? I haven’t been in a brawl in ages.” Tam Lyn began to roll up his sleeves.

Dani sprinted off towards the front door with Tam Lyn in tow and wrenched it open to total chaos.

Women and children were being corralled to the back of the library while the men were holed up behind carts and overturned crates with guns at the ready.

The Changelings were walking slowly towards them, that hollow look in their eyes. They may have appeared human, but they were hardly that; just husks with faery energy.

The few men that had stood by the gates lay splayed across the lawn, but from what Dani could tell, they were still alive.

“We come for the raven-haired woman. The one who trespassed on Spriggan grounds.” One of the Changeling’s mouths had opened and a voice sounded from deep in its throat like a gramophone under water.

“Raven haired woman?” Dani heard Bastion whisper as he turned to Liam who was crouched beside him.

Liam turned to see Dani as if he knew she was standing there.

“They want me.” She spoke, not taking her eyes off of at least a dozen Changelings that slowly loped up the hill.

Without skipping a beat, she walked out into the lawn, past the armed men waiting to fire and out into the crisp grass.

“I’m here. No need to harm anyone else.” Dani hollered, holding her arms high above her head. The Changelings stopped in their tracks, all lined up several meters in front of her.

“What the fuck is she doing?” Liam hissed to Tam Lyn as he crouched down and duck walked over to where they hid behind the cart.

“Saving us all.” Tam Lyn took cover and waited to see what would happen…

“You’re the one that tread on Spriggan grounds?” The Changeling asked again, coming a few steps closer to where Dani stood.

“Yes, yes I did.” She was shaking inside, but she knew she had to stay strong. She had a plan.

“Syris wants you alive.” It spoke again, a sound like a snake’s rattle began to hum through all the husks in front of her.

“Syris? Would he happen to be that giant fallen tree trunk that tried to kill me and my friends?” Dani’s voice never wavered as she asked her question.

“Syris is the King of Spriggan!” The Changeling croaked angrily.

“And what does the King want with me?” Dani was slowly becoming more comfortable, almost a little cocky.

“He didn’t say. But he said you smelled delicious.” It snarled at her and before she could respond it leapt at her like some wild animal.

Dani was knocked to the ground and struggled for a second before overturning the Changeling and throwing him from her body.

She could feel Liam and Tam Lyn tensing behind her, wanting so desperately to jump in the fight and come to her rescue. She commanded them to stay put as another Changeling hurtled for her, tackling her into a barrel of vegetables.

“Dani!” Liam called out; struggling with the command she had given him.

But she didn’t need his help. She shot the Changeling in the face with a beam of concentrated fire and the crowd watched as it slowly disintegrated and blew away in the wind.

Changeling after Changeling started charging Dani and she effortlessly blasted them back, not letting them get close enough to the library to even get inside.

“Enough!” Dani belted after the ninth Changeling had been dispersed back in to the ether.

The other three stopped dead and just stared at her.

“I can destroy you where you stand, or you can tell your master what happened and possibly live to see another day.” Blood dripped from a cut on Dani’s forehead and down the bridge of her nose.

The three left standing, including the herald for Syris, deliberated with each other, going back and forth silently on what they should do. They were weighing their options: die at the hands of Dani, or live and possibly not be killed by Syris.

Dani stood her ground, her chest heaving up and down, adrenaline still coursing through her body. Or was it something else entirely?

“Consider this a warning. Syris won’t let you go this easily.” The one spoke to her again before gathering the other two and fleeing the library walls.

“Dani.” Tam Lyn was the first to make it out to her and caught her just as her resilience crumbled.

“We need to get out of here before the Spriggan find us again,” Liam spoke in hushed tones as he lifted Dani from the ground and hoisted her to the cart.

“Bastion, make sure those gates are secured. We are going to depart now. I’m sorry about this.” Liam apologized as he lifted Dani to Tam Lyn in the back of the cart.

“We’ll make sure you have a safe passage out of here,” Bastion began, coming over to whisper more quietly to Liam as he handed over Dani’s rucksack, “But don’t bring her back here. She may have saved us, but they came here for her in the first place.”

Liam just solemnly nodded and called out for Wesley and Wren to lead the way down the road as he climbed in the back of the cart and they hastily made their retreat. He wasn’t going to argue with him over this; he knew he was right.