Folk Lore (6 page)

Lifting her hands and summoning her dust, she directed it towards her confinements and it perished upon impact. Her magic would be of little use in her escape. This was a powerful imprisonment spell and she decided it wasn’t Cornelius’s work. Only Hasfer was capable of producing such magic.

“You are correct in your assumption,” a voice from the dark broke into her thoughts.

“Hasfer,” she gasped. She’d forgotten he could see ones thoughts. “What is it you want?”

“I merely do as my master commands, Nermina.” He stepped out from the dark and she was startled to see the handsome warlock.

His dark violet hair, and eyes to match, always mesmerised, and while he’d been a warlock of the circle, as Minato was, she’d always been intrigued by him.

“Who would your master be, Hasfer?”

“Mecaldorf the wizard.
He holds the key to a different life for the lost souls of the lands. I merely wish to return to my home. As you would know, I was banished by Elder Kalar.”

“Deservedly so, Hasfer.
You broke the law and you were banished for doing so.”

“My only crime was being in love with a hazer instead of a witch, as the law dictates.”

“Farina is a beautiful choice for a partner. How difficult would it have been to produce a chosen offspring? She is a witch and they do not have a life mate.”

“It still would not have entitled me to be with Georgia.” Hasfer paced in front of her prison. She noted he couldn’t meet her eyes.

“You were both banished. Are you not together now?”

“Yes, but not within the mystic lands, our home, where we belong.”

“This isn’t the way, Hasfer.”

“I disagree, Nermina. Mecaldorf offers us power and revenge over the circle, the elders, and the ones who push us aside.” His eyes came to hers now and they were full of disdain.

“Enough, Hasfer,” Mecaldorf’s voice bellowed through the darkness.

When he emerged, Nermina gasped for his appearance had changed dramatically from pictures of him in the book. His once greying hair and beard had returned to their original brilliant blue-black as seen on many warlocks. His once haggard looks were now restored to their former splendour and were youthful once more.

Rumours abounded as to the true age of the wizard, however most estimated him to be at least one hundred and fifty folk years. He was the descendant of a warlock father and pixie mother. He possessed powerful spell casting powers while also acquiring pixie acrobatic fighting abilities. Although many years had passed since being cast out of the mystic lands, his aging had most certainly reversed.

“You appear to be staring, Nermina. My youthful appearance seems to have you speechless,” Mecaldorf mocked.

“I was merely wondering how you did it. For years folk have been seeking the secret of reversing the aging process so as to keep it from the likes of someone like you. I see you have obtained this
information before the circle.” The lie slipped easily from her tongue. She knew perfectly well where the secret lay but she would never let on to Mecaldorf.

“Yes, and I haven’t decided whether I will share it with you yet either. I have always fancied the pixie folk. Perhaps I acquired this particular taste from my father. I have other plans for you first.”

“Would you care to enlighten me of these plans?”

“All in good time my dear. I rather like having you around and I am in no hurry to commence. Thanks to my rejuvenated youth I have plenty of time.”

“Nermo,” Sera tried unsuccessfully to remove herself from his strong grip upon her shoulders. “Please let me go.”

He obliged, albeit reluctantly. He continued to stare at her in the same intense way which was bewildering. She wished Keelor would look at her in the same way again.

“Nermo, are you not the least bit concerned about Nermina?”

“Of course.”
He frowned.

“Why then are you here with me?”

“There is nothing further I can do for her today. The circle meets in the morning and we will devise a plan then. Why I am here with you is something else altogether. I have only ever found pixies, and sometimes fairies, remotely attractive, however you have me smitten. I dreamt of you while in my trance sleep and thought I created you in my mind until I saw you were real. I am confused by my attraction because you are human and it is forbidden. As to why I would dream about you only compounds the problem. My dreams have always served me well in the past. I believe it was a sign we are meant to be together.”

“You know the law, Nermo. How is it possible?”

“Ah, so you are a little interested in me after all. This appeases my longing for you slightly.”

“I didn’t actually say that, Nermo. I simply meant your dream could not have been a vision or a sign as it is against the law.”

“Perhaps the law will change.”

9

The Book of the Folk

There was a light, rapid knock on Sera’s door as she was getting dressed the following morning. There had been some clothes provided for her from the elfin. The billowing dress in a deep blue colour she’d chosen to wear was far from her usual attire of jeans and a t-shirt. She felt elegant and whimsical as the dress cascaded in layers of sheer soft fabrics. It was long and finished just above her ankles. The white leather slipper-like sandals were comfortable and pretty.

They both fit her perfectly as though they’d been made for her and she wondered for a moment if they were. She pondered this as she answered the knock and thought it ridiculous, as no-one could have known she was coming and had sufficient time to prepare them for her.

“Seraphina,” Sam said when she answered the door. “I see you have found the clothes the elfin prepared for you. You look lovely and as you should, like a princess.”

“These clothes were made for me?”

“Of course, before we arrived yesterday. The elfin, who prepare all the official garments for the circle, were assigned to prepare your wardrobe for your arrival.”

“How did they know I was coming and my size?”

“You have forgotten you are a chosen one, Seraphina. You would have been required to come eventually. When Nermina was discovered missing, preparations began straight away. As for your size, well the elders used their visions.”

“Oh yes,” Sera felt a little foolish for a moment, “it’s all so strange for me and is taking a while to get used to, like my healing power for instance. What a trip that is!”

“So Keelor helped you to discover your power?”

“Yes and I must say it’s quite exhilarating.”

“Yes, it can be. You must be careful with it, Seraphina, as many are envious of the human power.” His serious expression, one she hadn’t seen on Sam before, almost caused her to giggle, as did his words. A smile tugged at her lips but she suppressed it. This was a serious situation regardless of how unreal it all felt.

“Thanks for the warning. By the way, why the sudden use of Seraphina all of a sudden? It’s too weird. All this of this is strange, Sam, that all these years you have been my protector. It is so surreal and wonderful to know I am part of this world. I never felt like I fit in before except with you.” 

“That is because you are special, Sera, and you are about to find out how special you are.”

He offered his hand and she took it in their familiar platonic way, as they always had. He walked half a pace behind her and Sera still couldn’t believe she’d never noticed it before.

“So ... because of the law, does this mean I can only have a relationship with you?”

“Pretty much.
You could with a mortal human, if you wished, but he wouldn’t be able to protect you the same way. It is complicated and then of course there is the aging process again.”

“I don’t see you that way, Sam. I love you but not like that.”

“I know. I feel the same as you do but there really isn’t much choice for human folk. All of the other folk, it is easier for them to choose any male they like because they all have similar abilities. Well mostly, sometimes a folk will choose a life partner who hasn’t been trained, when they do, they start training immediately. The elfin for instance have other trained protectors in case anything happened to Keelor or Keela happened to choose one of them. If she hadn’t they would have to train another. It seems, though, the chosen princess seem to pick protectors or trained folk. Granted some are better with their abilities than others, such as Nermo and Keelor, but they can be trained. You cannot train a human mortal to do as we do. No mortal human can heal. It leaves us little say in the matter really.”

“Are you saying then that Mum and Dad only got married because they had to?”

“No, they are the exception and truly did love each other. It’s probably what got him killed really.”

“How could he die if he can heal?”

“A vampire bit him.
A rogue one, not one of the chosen vampires.”

“Oh and it’s forbidden to change a human so he died instead?”

“It was too late to change him as the vampire drained his blood.”  Upon seeing Sera’s face, Sam realised he should have used a bit more tact. “Sorry, Sera, there was no other way to explain it.”

“It’s alright. This is part of my life now and it’s something I’ll have to get used to.”

“You want to stay here for a while then?”

“I would like to stay indefinitely.”

“It will mean I’ll have to as well.”

“Oh, Sam, I’m sorry, your family. I would be taking you away from them.”

“They will understand, being the parents of a chosen one.”  Sera noticed the path they walked along led into the forest and she knew they were getting close.

“So it isn’t a problem for you to stay here?”

“No, it would probably be for the better.” At least that was what he was trying to tell himself about the prospect of living in a separate world from Angel.

“We may have to stay here for a while anyway,” he added, “until we find out who has Nermina and why.” 

“Sam, I’m sorry about yesterday. I don’t quite know how to explain my attraction for Keelor.”

“It is alright, Sera. I understand.”

“You do?”

“Yes, it’s quite easy to become enthralled with the beautiful folk within the lands.”

“It isn’t a silly passing crush, Sam. I feel a connection with him.” 
Exactly how I feel with Angel
, he thought.

“Regardless of what it is, Sera, it’s forbidden and Keelor will always uphold the law before anything else, especially romantic feelings. He has always possessed the ability to control his emotions.”

“He didn’t control them today. He kissed me back.”

“I’m sure he did. He is male and you are beautiful.”

“So because I have a pretty face he wanted to kiss me, not because of me or a connection of some sort?”

“I doubt it with Keelor.”

“What do you mean?

“He’s had his fair share of elfin females who he has shared a special bond with.”

“Oh, well, it’s understandable, I suppose,” she mumbled feeling suddenly sad she wasn’t an elfin. “I guess we’ll just have to get married then.”

“What?” he asked, removing his hand from
hers.

“What choice do we have?”

“None but it would be weird, like marrying my sister or something.”

“I know.”  She sighed.

He took her hand again and led her silently towards the garden as they were both lost in their own thoughts of folk that were not their kind.

Keelor couldn’t concentrate, and as every princess and her protector made their way into the garden, he internally groaned in disappointment when it wasn’t her. What was happening to him? He was a guard, a warrior, not some whimsical creature all tied up in knots over a female, especially a human female. Up until this time Keelor mostly avoided any sort of relationship and dedicated his life to his honoured duty. Once he’d nearly fallen for the wrong girl but he came to his senses.

This girl with eyes that soothed his soul and hands which so tenderly healed him by the river now captivated him completely. He vowed, unless they were meeting in the garden, he would avoid her
at all costs. If they were about to go up against Mecaldorf and his cast out folk consisting of warlocks, vampires and hazers, he needed to focus on this task alone.

Threats over the years originated from many of these banished folk, however they were all considered to be empty until now. Mecaldorf’s reputation was legendary amongst the mystic lands and although he lived outside the shield and never proved to be any danger to the inhabitants, his power was speculated by the circle to be powerful. Having never seen Mecaldorf, as his banishment occurred many years before Keelor’s birth, pictures of the wizard could be found within the pages of the ‘Book of the Folk’.

The book not only contained the lessons and law of the lands, it also contained all the incantations and spells which were used by the chosen ones, along with the legends of the lands. If it were to fall into the hands of someone like Mecaldorf, it could prove disastrous as he would hold the key and the magic to control all folk.