- Ellen - Three days later, two a.m. found me tracking a rattling noise in the wall, like branches against a window, but somehow conveying a clattering sense of otherness. It moved, like the others, creeping in through the spaces between the walls, the bulkheads over the stairwells, soffits under the roof, and any other dead space or unopened doorway. This was the only characteristics that any of the ‘visitors’ seemed to share. We'd had about five or six of them so far. The h

Interlude Bregon stumbles out of his tent. Staggering, yelling. He rushes to the gate, even though it is midday on the far side, and the way is closed. His lieutenants rush forward, then hesitate. His power is upon him and wild. Some of the minor fey are flung to one side as his power lashes about, seeking... something. I have never seen him like this. This is truly the legend the stories speak of. His voice echoes raw Sidhe power. He glares at his lieutenants. "Fools, can yo

- David - I sat in my kitchen, eating leftover soup and making notes on what I could do to become a lucid dreamer. Sunset came, and with it, moonrise. I’d been avoiding the fence since I’d come home from the farm. But Louise’s jibe about finding another way pricked at me, so I decided to see if anything had changed. I received a substantial shock. When I looked through the portal, an elaborate garden party, centred upon a grand pavilion, had supplanted the rough campsite I’d

- David - I’m at the crossroads again. Takara emerges from the mist, looking behind her, her steps staccato and frantic, as though chased, but unsure as from where. Her form changes. A fox twines about my ankles, limping, almost tripping me, trying to hide there. "Takara, darling, what’s wrong?" "He’s here," and then she is standing beside me walking backwards, blood sluggishly trickling from a wound in her side. "Why didn’t you stop him?" The mist swallows her. I’m about to

Interlude Master. Bregon. He is transformed. Consumed by his conviction. Still, it takes days until the rumours of the source of these reaches we vassals. It is another gate. A great opening, not just to one world, but too many. I hover about his councils. Though I hear nothing, I am drawn and unable to stop myself. Brokk speaks to me, calls me a fool. Ever since his wounds he has watched me and thus, everything. But he is Bregon's body and soul. More so now that Master’s… No

- David - We had a beer after dinner, but pretty soon I was yawning. "C’mon, let’s get you to bed. You two have had a busy couple of days," said Kristen. "Yes, it’s been a couple of long days, and I figure I really only have one more shot with Ellen." I shook my head, and Takara gave me a look. "I’ve got you both in the spare room. There’s a foldout couch in there as well, if you’d like me to set that up. Or if the one bed is fine?" I wasn't sure how to respond to this. I mea

Interlude The first of his lieutenants return. I am ensorcelled before her beauty once again. I remember her now. Beside her, the Caprinae seem bestial. Crude. Even the Eldest. Her approach is languid, and he is amused, but she has ever pleased him in such a way. There are many rumours about them, but never any indication that any were true.    I Only Did One Donut - David - I watched John and Takara approaching the house through the kitchen window while Kristen and I preppe

-Ellen- After they left, Takara adopted a marginally more conciliatory tone. "Honestly Ellen, diplomacy is not my strong suit. I’ll even concede that my motives are entirely selfish. I neither want to face my grandmother’s temper nor do I wish to be shot as an abomination, though perhaps they’d send me to some vivisectionist’s lab. And you know, I think Babe might have some sympathy for my position on that. Just a thought. Either way, not ideal. And you know, I’d be happy to

Interlude The Caprinae return. The Eldest as well as a Scout. She is young, this one, but has potential. Even I can see it. Bregon sees me watching. Looks at me and I cower. Guilty, but I am not sure of what. "Show her," he says. She saunters towards me, the power of her growing sexuality coming off of her in waves. There is little subtlety about it. I... remember others. Who could weave desire, even my desire, into theirs? But her form is not pleasing to me, and she lacks th

-David- Twenty minutes later, I turned up the gravel road to my brother’s place, surprised to see a ‘Fresh Pies and Berries sold here’ sign. John had always hated those things, thinking they reeked of desperation, of pandering to tourists. Thinking about all of John’s opinions, and our inevitable arguments, made my stomach lurch. "Jesus," said Takara, "is your brother some sort of monster? Your aura is all…" she waved her hands, "blechy."  I turned to her. "You see auras?" Sh

-Ellen- Shigeto and I were sitting up in bed, "He seemed in pretty great spirits today." I sighed "Yeah, still." "He needed this," said Shigeto. "I don’t have to like it." "It would be best if you learned to." I turned to look at him. "Why?" It was his turn to sigh. "He’s not a child, Ellen. Never was — not in any traditional sense. He woke to full awareness and curiosity. He wants to learn about our world, be in it, not just watch it go by. He trusts us, and looks to us as h

-Ellen- "Ah," interjected Babe, "the interesting part of the story." "It was at the Royal Winter Fair, just after Babe had changed, though we didn’t know it yet." "Wow," David said, then paused. "So, he," he paused again, and looked directly at Babe instead, "So you couldn’t always talk?" "Oh no," said Babe, "I was the product of pride’s folly, hubris unconstrained." "Oh, for heaven’s sake, will you stop reading those renaissance morality plays?" I asked. Babe laughed. It was

-Ellen- I sighed, rubbed my face with my hands, bewildered. Everything that David told me made a certain sense, but still, so much of it didn’t. "I don’t see how it could have been my spell," I argued, "I mean, you’re right, Babe was different that night. Nevertheless, a gate to another world? That’s beyond any power I possess." Takara shifted on the folding chair we’d set out. David had abandoned his pacing as he’d told his story, agitated as he struggled to come to grips wi

Interlude Every night now, when the moon shines, we pass through. I draw my aura into my fur and pass through the gate. It makes me feel safer. I do not wish to be near those edges that cut between worlds. The Court still comes looking for their "trifles," but there is a certain discomfort. The land here has changed. Rippled as the gate bends, the lands it touches. The Sidhe ruler in this Season of Faerie, one of the Hidden, has, in her outrage, revealed herself to Bregon, fi

-Interlude- Every night now, when the moon shines, we pass through. I draw my aura into my fur and pass through the gate. It makes me feel safer. I do not wish to be near those edges that cut between worlds. The Court still comes looking for their "trifles," but there is a certain discomfort. The land here has changed. Rippled as the gate bends, the lands it touches. The Sidhe ruler in this Season of Faerie, one of the Hidden, has, in her outrage, revealed herself to Bregon,

- David - She woke as we turned off the highway, but didn't say much. I could still see that she was upset about her conversation with her grandmother. Finally, we were driving down the road to Napier Farm, when she suddenly swore. "Fuck." "What?" I asked. "The ward." "What ward." She frowned, looked at my finger, clutching the steering wheel, and it was then that I noticed it was twitching. "Pull over," she said. "What?" "Turn around. Stop the car." I did as she directed and

-David- My mind was spinning as I left the store. Not really knowing what else to do, I just went home. Trying to travel to the farm seemed ridiculous, but really, I needed to know what was going on. I was worried that Ellen would either get me thrown off the farm by calling the authorities, or, well, other methods. And honestly, I’d had enough interactions with magic for the moment. Lost in thought, I walked down my street and was startled to find Takara on my porch. She was

-David- When I woke again next, the sun was streaming in through the windows and the phone was ringing. I staggered towards my coat, where it was inconveniently buried in one of the inside pockets, and dug it out. "Hello?" It was my editor. The conversation was not pleasant. I tried explaining that finding people willing to talk was proving tougher as the articles got more traffic, but they weren’t having any of it. By the time the line went dead, my stomach’s roiling had bec

-David- I woke in the middle of the night, the bed beside me still warm. There was the sound of a door opening. Not the bathroom then. I threw on pants and shirt, not trusting to my dressing gown this time, and headed downstairs. As soon as I saw the glow through the kitchen window, I knew it was more than simple moonlight. I felt panic sweep through me. If Takara had heard the same music that I had, then who knew what perils she might face? Without pausing to consider what w

-David- I returned to the shop after getting more groceries, a new jacket, and a few other odds and ends. After a relaxing afternoon shopping, I was less on edge and was more observant as Takara and her grandmother bustled around with their customers. Their shop was a maze of countertops, each piled high with bundles of dried herbs, roots, seeds in bins and baskets of strange dried fruit, though again, nothing I recognized. The back wall was entirely filled with a massive pie