When they arrived at their destination it was twilight, that time between day and night. Their port was empty and quiet. Almost as soon as the boat was anchored and they hit the land, AJ felt the connection in his very bones. He felt the faeries who waited for him as he always had, and he sent ahead the weave of spirit that would let them know it was him, and he had arrived.
He could barely wait for the others. It had been so long since he’d been to Wales, and to the Faerie Hill. He wondered if his house still stood, or if someone had come along and destroyed it or tried to claim it. But, no, they wouldn’t let anyone stay there. Not with the Hill directly underneath it.
Brian stepped onto land next to AJ, all smiles. Apparently the talk that AJ had asked Isleen to have with him had been a good idea. Brian looked more at peace with himself. He leaned in to AJ, kissing him briefly and whispering “thank you”. Those two words were all that needed to be said.
Impatiently AJ looked around at the others. His feet itched to get moving. It must have been noticeable, because Howie laughed and waved at him as he stepped onto dry land. “I’ll bring the others to the house. Go, go! Just don’t forget to let them know we’re behind you!”
Laughter bubbled up in AJ’s chest and he tugged on Brian’s hand before setting off over the hills. They ran together, AJ lightly, Brian slightly heavier. But as they continued to run, Brian started to emulate the way that AJ moved, and soon they were almost flying across the grass with barely a sound being made. That made AJ laugh all the more. Brian was such a fast learner! That, and the Elf in him was coming out, which gave them both speed more than humans, and a connection to where they ran.
They only paused once, AJ stopping them at the top of a hill. He squatted down and took hold of Brian’s foot. “What’re you doing?” Brian laughed at him. AJ just yanked first one shoe and sock, and then the other, throwing them aside. “You’ll be steadier, trust me.” He said to him, looking at his own bare feet. All AJ was wearing was his sea pants. Then they were off and running again, their laughter mingling in the light of the setting sun.
In no time AJ saw the hill ahead of them, and the house he had built. It still stood exactly where he had left it. For some reason that made him laugh for joy again. He heard Brian’s laughter echoing beside him. As they got close the air seemed to fill with the lights of hundreds of fireflies. Only by looking closer could you tell that they were faeries.
They swarmed around them, brushing against their skin as they ran, calling happily to them both. The night was alive with faeries, some of which AJ recognized by their glow, some he didn’t. None of it mattered. Their joy at seeing him was infectious, as it is with all faeries. It added on to the joy he and Brian were already feeling.
Little voices cried into the evening air. “Alyck!” His name echoed around him, over and over. When he and Brian stopped at the front step to the house, they were surrounded by a cloud of glowing lights. AJ held his arms out, keeping Brian’s hand in his, and let them land as they would on him. Their touch was like kisses against his skin. He heard Brian laugh beside him, saw him hold his arms out as well as he was touched and loved.
“To see you gladdens mine heart.” AJ spoke to them. Greetings among the regular faeries were much less than the greetings required with the Priestesses or with the Queen and her Consort. “Your lights brighten mine eyes as they have not for far too long. To be in the home of the faeries makes my magic sing!”
One faerie flew in front of him, touching his hands to AJ’s nose. A smile of joy burst on AJ’s face when he recognized him. “Gwylym, my old friend. My heart grows gladder to see you alive and well!” he greeted the Queen’s eldest son.
“As mine does for you, Tad arth. Long has it been since our home has felt your presence.”
A note of sadness arrowed inside AJ, but was overshadowed by the joy he felt being there. “So shall my reasons be made known before all as mine actions are explained to Fy Frenhines.” My Queen.
Gwylym fluttered back, his face wide with a smile. “Let us not delay and take you before mine mother, so that we may dispense with business and enjoy your homecoming. Duw o Ddaear a Dŵr has returned to us and brought Duw Tân ac Awyr to our home! This is a time of celebration!”
“My friends are coming to us, Gwylym.” AJ was quick to say amidst the sounds of happiness and mirth that surrounded them. “Five of them, two of which are females, all of them are immortal as we are. One is Howi, who has been here with me before.”
“That many cannot be brought below until Fy Frenhines meets with Tad arth and all is made right between the two. We shall leave some here to keep them company in the home you have built upon our hill.” Gwylym clapped his hands and soon a group of faeries were off into the forest to go and greet his friends. “There. Tarry not, my friend! The night is young and there is much to be done!”
AJ pulled Brian with him, walking around the hill to the backside. He kept his lover close when they stood at the back of the hill. A touch of spirit in just the right place and AJ watched the light shine as a glowing door appeared. He heard Brian gasp beside him, and remembered the first time he’d come here. “Come see what mortal eyes will never know.” He whispered to Brian, drawing him to the door for guests. “Come see the beauty of the land of the faeries under the hill. Laugh, and be merry, for not many get to see this, and it is a sight to behold.”
With that said, AJ opened the door and drew Brian into the beauty. With their hands touching, their connection was stronger, and grew stronger still as they descended into a world of magic. Because of that, he felt what Brian felt, and not only had his own joy at being here again, but the joy of Brian’s first visit. It gave him new eyes with which to see the place and appreciate all over again it’s beauty.
The walls of the staircase were a gleaming white marble, with veins of gold running through it. They walked down with their friends, the lights of the faeries almost blurring against the walls themselves. But when the staircase ended, and they stepped into the wide room, AJ and Brian both had to stop and look around. Brian in awe, AJ in love.
The room was large, and shaped exactly as if the hill had been built over it, though when AJ had first come, he had thought the size too massive to be able to fit under the little hill. The floors were marbled in all different colors, so that it seemed they were walking on a hard rainbow. Yet there were patches of grass here and there, and fountains that seemed to be made of stone.
In the walls were little coves where AJ knew the faeries went to sleep. There were no separate rooms. All lived together in this giant, gleaming room. There were no lights, for the lights of the faeries themselves lit the room, and yet it seemed almost as if the sun shone down from directly overhead when the day was full, and moonlight seemed to stream now as day faded to night.
Trees were here and there, all of them a good six to ten feet tall, and on their branches were perched hundreds of faeries. At the center of the room stood the tallest tree of them all, and the most beautiful. AJ drew them forward, stepping lightly across marble, then grass. He knew what he was to do first and foremost upon entering the hill. It was his duty, and his obligation.
He knelt inches from the Great Tree and bowed down. One knee touched the ground while the other he rested his hands on. His head hung low as he said the prayer of greeting and let his magic touch that of the tree. Always before he had felt joy fill him upon doing this, and a welcoming response from the tree itself. This time it was the same, but the voice of the tree was a paler imitation of what it had once been. AJ lifted his head and looked to the tree in sorrow. Indeed, the Great Tree was dying. He felt tears fill his eyes and was unashamed as they poured down his cheeks. Beside him he felt Brian kneel, mimicking the posture if not the words. That his lover understood gave him strength and filled him with love.
“Much has passed since you last left us, young Alyck.” A matronly voice said, the sound like the tingling of bells. “Our protector has long left us, yet still comes at the call of great need. It is good to see that this has not been totally forgotten.”
AJ watched as a pale blue light came down to rest on a low hanging branch of the Great Tree. It was only the Queen and her Consort that would perch on that branch, on this tree, for it was their honor to be the tenders of the tree. Without the Great Tree, there was no Queen ,and without the Queen there were no faeries. The cycle was as old as times. Nuthali, the Fy Frenhines of this hill, looked at him with sharp eyes, and they were not happy with him.
He bowed his head down again in a sign of respect and prayed that he would remember all the necessary forms for speaking with her. It had been a long time. He stole a glance at Brian and wordlessly let him know to keep his head down until permission was given by the Queen to rise.
“Fy Frenhines, how my heart sings in your presence, and my spirit gladdens to enter our home. Always I serve, always I protect, bound to the Great Tree, and bound to the lives of those that dwell within. You have but to ask and mine magic is yours.” He spoke gently, keeping his head bowed. For a moment she stayed silent, and he wondered if she would refuse him greeting, which would mean that he would have to leave.
Finally she spoke. “Pretty words, Duw o Ddaear a Dŵr.” She said scornfully, yet she gave him his title. By doing that she was letting him know her displeasure, yet showing that he was still respected inside the hill. “What reason have you for leaving your people for so long? Many suns and moons we searched for you, until Aishee felt your call, weak as it was.”
“There is no excuse, Fy Frenhines, that justifies leaving mine people. All that I may say for myself is that the one known as Rothalo sought to separate me from mine people all over the Earth, and the man lands of the Fey in his efforts to rid the world of the light and bring to it only darkness. I was broken free of the spell he placed in mine heart, and I have returned as quickly as the winds would carry me.”
Again there was silence. He knew this time that it wasn’t anger that kept her quiet, but thought. When she spoke, her voice had warmed slightly. “This one you speak, his magic is dark, yes?”
“Yes, Fy Frenhines. The darkest that I have witnessed.”
“Will you destroy him?”
“Yes, Fy Frenhines.”
“Then I decree that you are serving our people, and your transgressions be pardoned. Be seated, Duw o Ddaear a Dŵr. Be seated, Duw Tân ac Awyr. Let us speak of business so that we might be merry and rejoice properly in your homecoming.”
AJ moved to sit cross legged on the ground, Brian doing the same beside him. They lifted their eyes to look on the Queen. She looked the same to AJ as she had the last time he’d seen her. Long, flowing blond hair, with her limbs glowing in the blue light of her aura. Unlike humans, faeries wore their auras out for the world to see. That was what caused them to glow. Her eyes were green and piercing, but were filled with warmth as she looked upon him.
“Dispense with formalities, Alyck, for the time is short I fear. I am growing weaker by the day, and I need not waste time with titles and pleasantries when the lives of those I love and protect are in danger.”
“In this I agree, Nuthali. I traveled quickly, and with others, so that I might see what can be done to help the Great Tree. I brought my ffrind, Brian, with me so that he might help as well, and meet the people who are ours.” AJ put his hand on Brian’s, lacing their fingers together. Only mortals in the world looked on same sex pairing as unnatural. Among the fey, among anything else magical and pure, love was looked at as love, no matter the gender between the two. Love was not to be scorned or thrown away. If you found it, it was to be treasured.
“Aishee said he was unsworn, but the healing you two did to her has sworn him as strongly as if it had been done here. This is good.” Nuthali said. AJ had already guessed this, and had warned Brian when they’d crawled into their beds that night. Nuthali continued. “Yes, we give much welcome to you Brian, frrind to Alyck. Another time we would have thrown a party in your honor, and welcomed you with all the joy that is with our people, for to have another Duw in our home is a heady thing. To have one who is love to Alyck is stronger.”
“To sit before the Great Tree is all the welcome that I need, my Queen. I come only to serve you as I can, and honor mine people.” Brian said to her softly, bowing his head in respect. It was another sign of the Elf in him coming out. The silver tongue that seemed to know just what to say. AJ felt pride in his lover. That had been just the right thing to say. Nuthali glowed happily in response.
“My Queen.” AJ spoke up. “Might we first look at the Great Tree to see what needs be done? I mean not to show haste in our speech, but there is much to be done for me to serve our people. If this fails, I have friends above who will share magic with us. If this cannot be accomplished alone, we will see it done together.”
“Prentisiaid? Eich offeiriaid a offeiriadesau?” she asked him curiously.
“Not apprentices, my Queen. Priests and Priestess would be more accurate. They are not as strong as I in all weaves, nor as strong as Brian. Howi has been with me before, and you have seen his strength. But the others are strong in little ways, and close to me that I might draw strength to do what needs done.”
“Please.”
That was all the permission that was needed. AJ squeezed Brian’s hand and used their link to speak. ‘We’ll need to link our magic, baby. I know you don’t know what to look for, but I do. I need to use you as an anchor to hold me here, so that the magic of the tree doesn’t take me into it. I also may need your strength if it’s something that I can fix. I have a bad feeling about this, though.’
Brian’s eyes were dark and deep. ‘I do too, Alex. This screams Roth to me. It’s something he’d do, don’t you think? Destroy everything around him that might fight against him in the new world he wants to make? Take what you need from me. You know I’m here for you.’ He opened himself up, allowing AJ to slide in and link their centers together. It made AJ’s fear grow to know that he wasn’t the only one that thought of Roth with this.
But there was no time to think of that now. He focused his attention, gathered his magic to him, centered in Brian, and reached to the Great Tree. He had touched it’s magic once before, and it had been a strong experience. That gave AJ caution now as he wove spirit and extended it toward the core of the tree. No longer did he see or hear the room around him, nor did Brian. They saw the essence of the tree. The flame of life that burned at the center of it, and all the small flames that were connected to it. The faeries.
As he looked, AJ made sure that Brian could ‘see’ with him. This would be a lesson at the same time. Things were better learned through seeing and doing than being told. Brian would learn plenty tonight.
AJ looked closer, sifting through all the external magic, letting his weave of spirit slip through them all. The Tree allowed him to, almost seeming to sigh as he came to its. There, AJ saw what he was looking for. There was no missing it. Against the whites and greens and blues and reds of the Tree’s spirit, its essence, there was a spot of black. It was blacker than the darkest night, and was like a cancer on the Tree’s core.
A cry slid past his lips, though he didn’t know. Oh so gently, gentler than he had propped at the web that Roth had put on him, AJ probed this cancer that ate at the Great Tree. As soon as he touched it, there was no doubt in his mind that it was caused by Roth. But it was vaster than he had thought. Clearly he could see how it had grown since Roth had put this darkness there. It had spread out little tentacles, latching on to other parts, leeching the life from it.
He sought a way to remove it. As delicately as he could he pulled energy from Brian, and combined their magic together for him to direct. Then he touched a needle fine thread of spirit to one of the dark tentacles. He sought to move it away, to separate it from the Tree. Slowly it moved, fighting against him, but he managed to pull it up. Yet once he let go, it went right back to where it had been. Still, for that moment he’d felt its weakness.
With all that power riding in him, AJ sent multiple flows of spirit, latching on to the tentacles that he could, only about half of them, and he gently pulled those up as well. There was no mistaking it. This time it was much weaker. But, he couldn’t pull it completely off, and he couldn’t risk trying to destroy it in the Tree’s center. When he let them go, they too snapped back into place.
He’d been right in fearing he would need his friends. AJ could see what needed to be done. Each tentacle needed to be pulled up simultaneously and used as strings with which to pull off the biggest part of things. But to do that he was going to need more strength. This meant using the others. If he had been here when Roth had first done it, he would have been able to pull it off on his own. But he squashed that thought before it could be completed. There was no time to dwell in the past, and no good would come of it.
As cautiously as he could be pulled back to himself. It took almost as much time as his search had, because he had to come back to his own self, and then separate from Brian. Finally, when they were back as they should be, he opened his eyes and looked at the Queen. He didn’t realize that tears were streaming down his face, or that his eyes were glowing.
“My heart breaks, Fy Frenhines, to see something so great darkened by magic so terrible. My greatest fears are true. The one known as Rothalo has infected your tree.”
Cries of pain and sadness filled the dome, making AJ’s tears come faster. He looked to Brian and saw that his lover was crying as well. The Queen sighed, pulling AJ’s eyes back to her. She looked devastated. “It is as we feared ourselves. A man came to see us, claiming friendship with you. He knew your name to us, and much information, and said that there was a message for me. Well known is it among us that I do not leave from the Great Tree, so he was brought to me. He knelt and offered his prayers, but we felt darkness in him, and we chased him away. Yet I fear the damage had been done. Can you fix this for us?”
“I will need mine friends, Fy Frenhines. I need their strength to do what must be done.”
“Where are they, Duw o Ddaear a Dŵr?”
“Above us, in mine own house, awaiting the permission of Fy Frenhines to enter our home. Have we your leave to bring them forward. They are uneducated in the ways of our people, and will seek no offense, but they know not how to speak in the proper forms.”
Nuthali waved that away. “If they are what you need, then they must be brought right away. I will send others to escort them down. Proper greetings and words are nothing beside our Great Tree. That is a task that holds great importance over all else. Now, take time to tell me about Rothalo.”
That was obviously a command, and as he waited for his friends to arrive, AJ did just that.