“So you
did
see me!” She exclaimed, he lips parting in a grin.
“That was
you
?” Phinnegan gasped. “You mean you can light up like that in the dark?” Her head bobbed with enthusiasm.
“Yes of course, all pixies can. It’s much easier for us to lead that way.”
“Lead,” Phinnegan said, a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Why, I led you here, of course.” She put her hands on her hips. “How do you think you found this cave so easily in the dark, much less a horrible storm?”
“I hadn’t thought about it, really. Everything was a bit hazy.” The pixie nodded quickly.
“Yes, yes. That was just the enchantment.”
“Enchantment,” Phinnegan mumbled to himself.
“Yes, doesn’t harm you of course.”
Now Phinnegan had heard many stories in his twelve years, and a few had been about what the elders in his town called “the little people.” More than once, he had heard a tale of some relative or another who had been led astray by a pixie into some bog or a briar patch. They called it being ‘pixy-led’ and said that the little people cast a spell on their quarry so that they would follow them, seemingly of their own accord.
Still others spoke of “the little people” as helpful, crediting them with a house that was magically cleaned while they slept or some other chore that was left undone the night before but miraculously finished in the morning.
There were also stories about a peculiar trait of the pixies. They were quite immodest and more often than not, went entirely naked, with exceptions being made for the odd scrap of ribbon or lace, or some other finery that had been given to them, as they were very keen on gifts. There were even reports of a pixie spotted wearing a shiny silver button as a hat. Unfortunately for all their fondness for pretty things, they possessed an uncanny lack of fashion sense.
Phinnegan was very grateful that this pixie had seen fit to lead him to safety instead of to trouble, and thought to give her a gift. But he had no ribbon nor lace, or anything so fine. But he did have a silken handkerchief. He plunged both hands into the pockets of his trousers, and after a moment was able to locate the handkerchief. He was confident that he had not had occasion to use it since his mother had last washed it.
“Umm…for you,” he said, pulling it from his pocket and presenting it to the little woman with a flourish. “Thanks for bringing me here.”
The little pixie’s eyes widened and she took the handkerchief, which was more like a blanket for her, from Phinnegan.
“For…me?” She asked, her voice a small whisper.
“Yes…it’s not much, but –“
“Why, it’s beautiful!”
“Well, I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it,” she said, her eyes fixed on her gift. “I love it!” She held the handkerchief at arm’s length and cocked her head to one side. “Now, how to wear it?” She stood for a moment, looking intently at the handkerchief, the tongue peeking from the corner of her mouth.
“Aha!” she exclaimed as she leapt from the ledge. She moved in a blur for more than a minute, and when she stopped the silken handkerchief was wrapped around her body much like a toga.
“Oh, it is so beautiful! And so soft! Thank you so very much,” she said, looking down to admire her new outfit. “Just wait until the others see this,” she muttered softly.
“You’re welcome…and what others? Do you mean other pixies?” Phinnegan peered around the cave, presumably looking for other small people flying about.
“Well, they’re not around here silly. We’re quite far away from our little vale.” She wrinkled her nose as she surveyed the barren rock walls of the cave. “This place has its charm, I suppose, but it is not a place a pixie would call home.” Suddenly, as if she had just remembered something, she flew to the edge of the cave and looked outside.
“Oh my! It is getting quite late. I have been gone for far too long. I must get home.” Without a glance back, she flew out of the cave.
“Wait!” Phinnegan managed to cry out as he pushed himself to his feet and raced to catch the pixie. He found her just outside the cage, hovering in line with his eyes.
“Yes?”
“M-may I come with you?”
“Come with me?!” she questioned shrilly. “Completely out of the question. No one is allowed in our vale!”
“But…I don’t have anywhere to go. I have no one.”
“Why don’t you go home?”
“I can’t…I don’t know the way. The Faë were supposed to help me but-“
“What?” she asked sharply, fluttering closer to his face. “You’re not Faë?” She hovered about him for a few moments, darting to check his ears, his hair and his eyes.
“No…I suppose you’re not. You are far too dull. No offense,” she added with a small smile. “So you’re a human then?”
“Yes. Does that mean you will take me with you?”
The pixie was silent for a moment, but at last shook her head.
“I’m sorry, I cannot help you.” She bowed quickly and then sped off.
“Mariella! Wait, please!” Phinnegan called out as he ran to follow her. But he did not get far before his foot caught on the root of a tree, and he was thrown forward. He fell flat on his face, inhaling a mouth full of crushed leaves.
When he lifted his head, sputtering the leaves from his mouth, the pixie had returned and hovered just above the ground in front of him.
“Where did you get that?” she asked quietly, her face ashen and her eyes transfixed on his chest.
“What?” Phinnegan managed, brushing the debris from his face. The pixie fluttered closer and landed lightly on the ground just beneath his head.
“That,” she said, pointing to something just beneath him. Phinnegan followed her finger and saw that she pointed at his pocket, or rather, to something small and shiny that had been coughed up by said pocket when he had fallen. He pushed himself to his knees and picked up the small object.
He held his hand out in front of him and peered at the object. It was a small coin, smaller than a penny, tarnished silver, and with a strange character imprinted on the visible side.
“This?” he asked. The pixie sprang up from the ground and landed lightly in his hand. She bent down and traced the character on the coin with her hand.
“How…” she began in a whisper, but stopped, and then looked up into Phinnegan’s eyes.
“You will need to be blinded, and you cannot ask any questions.”
“What?” Phinnegan said in alarm.
“I said you must agree to be blinded. It is the only way I can bring you with me.”
“But –“, he began, but she raised a hand to silence him.
“You have displayed the Mark. You must not speak another word.”
“I don’t under-“
“Please. Will you consent? It is an enchantment, nothing more. The blindness will not be permanent. If you will not, I cannot take you with me.”
Phinnegan sat on his knees, staring at this little pixie, who had returned her gaze to the silver coin in his palm.
Where did that come from?
After a minute or more in silence, he finally nodded.
“All right, I agree.” She fluttered up from his hand, hovering just in front of his face.
“Do not worry, I will lead you.”
Phinnegan gasped when she blinded him, but before he could come to grips with this new sensation, the same haze of the night before settled itself upon his mind and he felt himself stand and begin to walk.
An Ancient Token
They travelled for what seemed like hours, the sun warm upon his back, but it was hard for Phinnegan to guess time with his mind in such a fog. The daze he was in felt much stronger this time, perhaps it was because he was also blind. He could not keep his mind from replaying the events of the previous day. The castle, the stone, Howard. When he thought of Howard, he nearly fell, his feet stumbling over something in his path. But after that, the fog lifted slightly, and he felt much as he had the night before.
They stopped twice on their journey, for Phinnegan to rest and eat. The pixie guided him to some berries and nuts that grew from the surrounding bushes and to a cool stream for him to have a drink.
When he realized that the heat of the sun was no longer upon his back, he strained his ears for sounds of his surroundings. Mariella’s charm still blinding him, his hearing served to orient him. First he heard the sound of his feet, echoing about him. Then there was the constant sound of dripping water seemingly coming from all directions. He guessed they were inside another cave, or some other type of passage.
“Almost there,” Mariella muttered.
They walked awhile longer, together but each alone. Soon enough, he felt himself stop moving, and the haze began to lift from his mind.
“Wait here. I will ask permission to bring you in,” she said, and then fluttered away before Phinnegan was able to ask any questions. Still blind, he stumbled around but eventually found his way to the ground awkwardly and sat down.
He listened intently in the darkness. At first, he heard only the dripping of the water, but then he heard the quiet echo of tiny voices. One was Mariella’s, of that he was certain. The other was of similar pitch and smoothness, and he reasoned it must be another pixie.
He could not make out the words they spoke, for their voices were quiet and hushed, and they spoke quickly. But their voices became more rapid and their pitches rose until a sharp word from the second pixie brought silence to the cavern. A soft fluttering of wings announced Mariella’s return.
“He has gone to fetch the Mother,” she said, her voice quiet.
“Why?” Phinnegan ventured, but he was met with only silence. He felt quite vulnerable sitting there, with this small, fantastic creature in a cavern in an unknown world and with an enchantment upon him so that he could not see. Phinnegan shifted his position on the cavern’s floor, drawing himself into a smaller presence.
“Here she comes,” Mariella muttered. Within a moment or two, there could be heard quite the commotion coming from the same direction from which Mariella had just returned. Multiple voices chattered excitedly, with one louder and more discernable than the rest.
“The nerve of that girl! Bringing an outsider,
here
, to our home. Why, it borders on treason. A Faë would be bad enough. They are tricksters and crooks but they are magical and understand us…humans on the other hand, why…it
is
treason. I’ll have her flogged with the whiskers of a rat! I’ll…” the voice, which had been growing louder, stopped abruptly. There was a sudden chill in the air and the perspiration on Phinnegan’s brow turned cool as it trickled down his cheek.
“MARIELLA!” the Mother’s voice thundered.
“How DARE you bring an outsider to our home. And a human no less!” An angry flutter signaled the approach of the Mother, and then her voice came from just behind Phinnegan’s right ear.
“Humans are dirty,” her voice came in a hissing whisper. “They smell of smoke and fat, their greed floats around them like a pack of flies. Even now he plots to steal from us, to rob of us. Look! See how he fidgets so? A sign of treachery!”
“I don’t –“
“SILENCE!” the Mother’s voice screeched, cutting off Phinnegan as he tried to speak. “Do not speak to me! You will utter not a word unless I permit it, otherwise I will turn you into dust where you stand. Do you hear me?”