The Wizards Tower

Ellery was about as familiar with the Arcane Forest as anyone could be, but he’d never ventured this far into their depths before.

He had often entered the forest in his youth to play games with the other children, and recalled feeling as though he were in the middle of nowhere. Now he could obviously recognize that he’d barely made a dent in his explorations of the forest but such was the fancifulness of children. He had not bothered to think much of the world outside his village and yet the world had seemed vast all the same.

The forest he knew back then had been made from birch trees and poplars which stood at an arms length from each other, leaving enough space between them for plenty of foot trails even with the shrubbery. Sunlight had shone plentifully through the green canopy above. Their parents and guardians had only asked that they keep back from the river which swept ever more violently through the trees than it did through the town. This was as much to keep them from getting swept away as it was to keep them from crossing the bridge, for their parents feared that if they went any further, they’d get lost in the woods, attacked by some animal, or even lured away by the fairies.

Though Ellery had been told many horror stories all through his youth and even into his adult hood he’d yet to be told of a child drowning or vanishing into the woods in his lifetime. He figured that all the fearmongering must have made them smarter.

That wasn’t to say that Howling Tor didn’t have its problems. For all that the children of the village seemed safe Ellery often heard of grown men who he’d known vanishing into the Arcane Forest. In addition, there was the problem of the Great Wizard of Nightmares and Mirth, Odell Lachlan Melvoin, the one threat that not even the children seemed safe from.

Though the Wizard didn’t pray on children often there were occasions where he was suspected to have stolen them. Mostly the Wizard kidnapped young brides to be, often making clear that he was the one taking them, sometimes going so far as to grab her off the alter and vanish.

Ellery had seen him only once at a wedding he’d been attending. He was too slow to look up as the Wizard Odell came to block the bride in a flourish of fire and shadows as she walked down the aisle. It all happened so quickly that Ellery had failed to see more a flash of white hair and what he thought to be a long coat or cloak, and then the Wizard was gone.

Husbands and fathers were always traveling into the forest to try and get the women back but no one ever succeeded. They returned from the forest battered and stunned and unable or unwilling to recount what had happened. Occasionally they didn’t come back at all.

It didn’t seem to matter how large a horde of rescuers they managed to gather to go bring the brides back, no good ever came of it. They kept trying none the less, and Ellery was no different.

He’d long since crossed the bridge that had been forbidden to him as a child, but that was an adventure that had already lost its thrill. In his adulthood Ellery regularly crossed the bridge into the denser parts of the woods, where the only trails beyond the main road were those made by animals and the hunters who sought them.

Ellery didn’t find much joy in hunting though he’d done it a few times. He came to the Arcane Forest mostly to gather herbs and plants that wouldn’t grow in the garden. Things that only grew in the dark beneath the dense foliage or wrapped around the trunks of certain trees. Walking here was tricky once one left the path, for the shrubbery was thick and there was need for care around the wolf pits. Once in a while he caught the fairies spying on him between the trees, but he kept his eyes averted and tried not to engage.

Unfortunately, Ellery had left all those familiar dangers behind, now navigating solely by the use of his map. He suspected he’d now gone far beyond where even the bravest hunters normally travelled, only those seeking brides would come this far. As men on a rescue mission weren’t often inclined to study landmarks there were no maps made of the exact stretch of forest around the Wizards tower. As Ellery was anticipating getting to the edge of the map it seemed that what was ahead would certainly be unknown to him, aside from what he’d heard in vague stories he’d heard from the villagers. It didn’t give him a lot of faith as the ones most likely to know the most were also the ones who seemed inclined to speak of their journey the least.

Rolling up his map he tucked it away before glancing around uncertainly. The forest was strange here, packed tightly with unfamiliar trees that twisted into each other and blocked out the sky above. With all the interlocking branches it was difficult to tell what time of day it was, but he suspected night had begun to fall. He cursed himself that he hadn’t set out earlier in spite of having been up before the sun rose.

It seemed a wonder to him that anyone had found the Wizards tower in the first place.

Within three steps after putting the map away, Ellery reached his first unfamiliar obstacle as he went to step through the underbrush and his foot slipped into a hole hidden beneath it. Unprepared for such a deception so soon in his new landscape he found he could do little to keep himself from tumbling straight into the pit, taking the wretched foliage down with him.

As he found himself crumbled face down in the bottom of the pit with his legs propped up against the narrow walls of stone and dirt, he observed the broken branches and crumbled leaves beneath him, and thought desolately that at least the hole was more visible now. If not for his benefit than for the next traveler who came through here.

Slowly he curled his legs beneath himself before turning over his aching body to prop himself up on his elbows. As he looked up at where he’d fallen from Ellery startled to find Golden eyes staring back down at him.

He couldn’t see the rest of the person loitering above him for it was too dark to discern their features, but the golden eyes gave him plenty of warning for what he was dealing with. His heart beat quickly as he grew still.

The Fairy spoke in a sweet, musical voice. “What are you doing so deep in the woods?”

Swallowing hard he asked, “Did you make me fall?”

“It is just like a human to blame me for your own clumsy feet just because I happened to be nearby.” She chuckled dismissively, “Now answer my question. It feels like it’s been ages since I first saw you walking.”

“You’ve been following me?”

“Naturally.” She seemed impatient now. “I thought we’d have reached your destination a long time ago, though I can’t deny I hoped you’d be going somewhere far and mysterious.”

“I am going to confront the Great Wizard Odell for kidnapping my friend, Harriet Alcastor.”

“Oh! A rescue mission? It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen one of those pass through.” Her voice brimmed with excitement. “Do you need a hand getting out of there?”

The shadowed shape of her hand stretched down into the pit towards him. Ellery stared at it skeptically for a heartbeat as it hovered in the air above him.

“Will it cost me something?” he asked, his heart still beating quickly.

This seemed to give her pause. The Fairy blinked her golden eyes at him with surprise, her fingers curling as if she were about to withdraw her hand, and then at last she shook her head.

“No,” she answered reluctantly, her fingers stretching out to their full length again. “It would be silly to expect payment for common decency.”

“Indeed.”

“Then we’re agreed.” Her voice was tight and over pleasant. “Take my hand, I require only your thanks.”

Ellery looked at her outstretched fingers a moment longer before reluctantly reaching to accept her offered hand. With a bit of scrambling on his part she pulled him out of the pit. He came to rest on his knees between the Fairy and the pit with her hands resting on his shoulders.

He looked up into her face and felt as though he’d been punched by her beauty. She looked as though she’d been carved from ivory, her hair like spun gold woven with flowers as it toppled in waves around her shoulders. Though the shadows stull hung heavily around her she seemed to emit a light that made him wonder how he’d been unable to see her even from the bottom of the pit.

Her gold eyes watched him intently as she spoke again, “You seem a bit in over your head. Perhaps you could benefit from my assistance.”

Ellery wished she would release his shoulders, the way she held them made him feel like she might push him backwards into the hole again.

Swallowing hard he answered, “No, I think I will take my chances.”

“But surely you could use directions? Or even advice on the Wizards weaknesses?”

“Again, I wouldn’t want to owe you anything.” He told her tightly.

“Just like a man to refuse directions. What would be so terrible about accepting my help?”

“I might disappear.”

“The Seelie Court is a beautiful place, dear.” She answered sweetly, “you should love to see it.”

“I’ll pass.”

“Just as well.” She sighed and released his left shoulder to pull a single pink blossom from her own hair. “I’m not your enemy here, pet. I’m the Lady of the Arcane Forest, centuries ago this land belonged to me. It was given to my family by the Seelie Queen herself, but then he came and laid claim to it. I would love to see him destroyed so I may rule the forest as I once did.”

“I’m afraid I will not be the one to destroy him.” He told her anxiously, “I’m only going to get my friend down.”

“And how will you manage that without destroying him?” the Fairies gold eyes searched him beseechingly as she reached to tuck the flower behind his ear, making him grow tense. “Many have sought to get their brides back over the centuries and none have succeeded. What makes you think you can get yours without defeating him once and for all?”

Ellery hesitated, her question struck too close to home. Her doubts were the same ones he’d been avoiding since he packed his bags that morning.

“I guess I’m just going to hope for the best.” He answered weakly.

She smiled at him indulgently, as though he were a child, and he couldn’t really blame her for giving him such a look. “Then you will need all the help you can get. I insist you allow me to give you something.”

Ellery looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, his heart still drummed violently against his chest. there were so many things that could go wrong when dealing with Fairies, but while he’d hoped not to come face to face with one on his travels, he had prepared for it.

“Okay,” he began as he slowly reached into his bag. “I will make a deal with you, but this is the only thing I’ll offer. No more, no less.”

At last she withdrew her hands from him entirely as she watched him rummage in his bag with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. He withdrew a glass bottle filled with pearly white cream and presented it to her.

The Fairy grew still as her eyes brightened with interest. “Does it have honey in it?”

“Yes,”

She stared at the bottle for a breath longer before conceding, “Okay, I will show you the way and tell you his weakness. Normally I’d make you choose between the two, but I need little convincing when it comes to the Wizard.”

She reached out for the bottle and Ellery passed it to her. Cradling the bottle against her chest like a baby she rose to her feet.

“follow me.” she smiled sweetly and began walking without waiting for Ellery to get to his feet.

A dress of green silk with pink flowers blossoming out of the fabric swirled around the Fairies legs as she walked. Ellery walked a bit behind her keeping a careful eye on her feet, which were protected by silver shoes, so that he could step exactly where she stepped. Her gold mane bounced along her back with each step and the rest of the forest seem even darker by comparison.

As Ellery follower her into the thick of the woods she began to speak. “It would be remiss of me to talk of the Wizards weaknesses without mentioning the bloodstone. Have you heard of it?”

“It’s protective, isn’t it? It creates a sort of barrier that Wizard Magic can’t get through.”

Ellery knew Bloodstones to be rare, at least they were in rural towns far out in the hinterland between kingdoms. There were about three people in town who were lucky enough to acquire them, either they’d been rich enough to send a trader specifically to look for them or they’d it happened to be some family heirloom passed down for generations.

Harriette’s family had possessed one such heirloom and she’d been meant to wear it on her person until a few days after the wedding, but somehow, she’d failed to do so.

“Yes, it stunts such magic. It could render him helpless if wielded correctly.” She sighed as she ducked beneath a branch and Ellery mirrored the movement behind her. “Unfortunately, no magical creature can properly wield it against him due to an age-old pact, and humans have no magic to unlock its true potential.”

“Yes, well I don’t have a bloodstone on me in any case.”

“I have one.” The Fairy paused and turned towards him as she pulled on a cord around her neck. A jet-black pendant with deep scarlet flecks emerged from beneath her neckline. “But I can’t give it to you. The Seelie Queen sent it to me for my protection after the Wizard took over.”

“I understand.” He answered quietly, unable to humor the idea of making another deal with the her anyways.

Tucking the pendant away she turned forwards again. “Odell himself often stores his spells inside of inanimate objects. It is easier for him to release them from these objects than to produce new ones on the fly. The objects are small and he keeps them in the many pockets of his coat. I would suggest confronting him outside and trying to get him away from his coat.”

“Alright, I could try that.” But Ellery didn’t see how he was going to manage either of those things. If anything, this conversation only made him feel more hopeless.

“You could kiss him!” the Fairy announced suddenly and Ellery tripped over the underbrush and only barely managed not to fall. The Fairy turned around and grinned at him.

“I’m sorry?” he asked.

“Wizards are forever releasing their magic in sudden little bursts, infecting random things with magical properties. If you kiss him, particularly if you kiss him suddenly, you might startle him into accidentally giving you a little magic of your own. It’ll be weak magic and it might take a while to figure out how to use it, but it would level the playing field a little.”

“I’d rather not kiss him.”

Still grinning she shook her head as if disappointed, “Typical, you’d rather let this tyrant continue to abduct your women than kiss another man. It’s not as though it’d have to mean anything.”

“I don’t want to kiss someone who abducts people and does–” he hesitated for a moment as he fumbled for the end of his sentence. “whatever terrible thing he does to them.”

She put a hand to her chest as if offended, “So you wouldn’t want to kiss me, then?”

“No, I don’t want to kiss anybody.” Ellery answered tightly, “Can we move on now?”

“Just as well,” she sighed as she turned to lead him onwards. “It’s as likely he might have wound up cursing you.”

“I’m sure he’ll do that on purpose anyways.”

“Yes, that’s most probable.” She mused. “You could try to hold his familiar hostage, that would probably scare him. The tricky part would be capturing her since she’s also quite powerful. You wouldn’t want to mess it up or your punishment will increase tenfold.”

“No, I’d rather not anger him any more than I have to.” Ellery agreed a bit fretfully, “But the stories never mentioned a familiar, what form does she take?”

“A black cat, the usual.” The Fairy shrugged delicately as she stepped around a tree that appeared to be growing sideways.

Ellery supposed that a cat might be easy to miss, “I’m sure you’re doing your best but your definition of weaknesses leaves something to be desired.”

She glanced back at him with a smirk, “You thought I’d have some fix all? Wizards are very difficult creatures to kill, nearly impossible if you don’t do it before they learn to use their powers, that’s why they live for so many centuries. Why do you think no one’s been able to get rid of Odell before?”

“Yes, I know.” Ellery conceded. “You’ve told me everything then?”

“Everything I know, yes.”

The pair of them walked in silence for a while. The only sound was the creaking of the trees, the distant skittering of animals, and the sloshing of the cream in its jar every time the Fairy ducked beneath a tree or hopped over a root.

“Have you lead other travelers to the Wizards Tower?” Ellery asked her after some time had passed.

“A good few, yes.” She answered pleasantly.

“You aren’t mentioned in any of the stories. I mean you have stories of your own but no ones mentioned being guided by you.”

“I don’t believe they’d be too proud to admit they accepted my help.” She laughed with soft joy, “but I’m not offended. I don’t want to be associated with their failures, though they’ve suffered their own punishments for them.”

“What do you mean?”

“Surely your village has noticed that just because someone returns from the Wizards Tower doesn’t mean the Wizard will leave them be.”

Ellery understood, grooms and fathers did often go missing after attempting a rescue mission. Sometimes it was thought to be the Wizard but other times people suspected it was Fairies or that they’d gone somewhere private to end their suffering. He wondered if the Fairy was suggesting that all such occurrences were the Wizards doing or if she were merely confirming what he’d already known, that the Wizard was responsible for some of them. He supposed it didn’t matter either way.

“Here we are.” The Fairy told him and he looked up over her shoulder to where something in the distance glimmered silver through the trees.

The Fairy turned to Ellery with a smile and he tensed as she reached towards him again. Her long fingers grazed the side of his face and then withdrew, delicately pulling away the flower that had remained tucked behind his ear.

“Be a dear and don’t mention my assistance to the Wizard.” She implored as she tucked to blossom back into her own hair. “I don’t need him having a reason to seek me out.”

“I understand.”

She smiled at him sweetly as her golden eyes flickered over him. “It’s a shame you aren’t all that vulnerable to my charms.” She said as she floated past him.

Ellery followed the movement, turning slowly in order to maintain eye contact. “It’s not for a lack of beauty.” He told her.

“Clearly,” she smirked for a brief moment before her face broke into a wide grin. She reached out to place a hand on his shoulder and he grew still beneath her touch. “But feel free to call on me should you escape the Wizards clutches. Should he come after you, and he probably will, then you ought to know you’d be safe from him in the Seelie Court.”

Ellery swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” But he didn’t really think he would.

The Fairy gave him a last look of appraisal before slipping away into the trees. Ellery turned away from her and kept going towards the silver glow coming through the trees ahead.