~The Journey Begins~

The beginning of any quest starts with a charge.I'm sure you're familiar with the type.

"Go forth into the unknown and retrieve the lost sword of our legendary king."

"Spread the word of our good deeds throughout the land."

"Prove yourself and return with the honor of adulthood."

Quests are fairly standard in their requirements and have long been used by nobility or other highly ranked peoples to achieve some desired goal. My quest, however, was a bit different. It springs from the needs of a people long lost to myth and was the only hope of survival. You see, I am one of the Faerie Folk, the Little People, a sylph.

Do not confuse me with our Celtic brethren. The Tuatha De Daanan are our high and mighty cousins. We've long since severed almost all contact. The Fae are the spirits who stand guard over the earth. We nurture, heal, and protect the mother of all, and her children. Her most powerful child, Man, has become the most numerous. Unfortunately, along their road to technology they have forgotten their roots. Their lost knowledge is our death for the memory of the Fae must be carried on through time or else we shall perish too. Think of us as an endangered species, if you will. Only awareness will save us; awareness I have been charged to bring you.

That is how my quest differs from the others. We don't seek more power. Our deeds don't need to be told to the far corners of the globe. We certainly don't need to prove ourselves. What we want is to live, and that is the heart of my quest.

I suppose you wonder what a sylph is. It is somewhat hard to explain. Unlike my kin, I watch over no part of your beautiful land. I, instead, protect the Fae themselves. I am the culmination of all the faeries and only a few of my kind have ever existed. I wasn't always a sylph though. I was a normal little sprite so long ago that guarded over a small glade of lilac bushes in a huge forest.

One day Men entered the forest and began to kill the trees, the fairies, and the animals. They were children of the earth and we had no protection. As they butchered my lovely bushes I flew to my faerie ring and attempted to get back the Faerie Veil. There I wouldn't die with my lilacs. But they were too quick and I was unable to complete the ritual that would have brought me back. As I lay dying in the ring I felt a new power fill me and I gathered it. Using it I killed the men who had murdered so much of the forest. I then died, avenged.

Or, at least I thought I had died. When I woke up I was in the Seelie court of the Tuatha De Daanan. They had brought me over and taken me to their land before the Fae ever knew what had happened. The reason they did this was because I had used Blood Magic to kill those Men. Now, you have to understand that killing any of the earth's creatures is a crime punishable by death to the Fae. The very idea of my having magic that could kill, and that I had already done so was blasphemy of the highest order. I was terrified that I would be put to death by these frightening cousins of ours and wished that I had died in the mortal realm.

Their Majesties had other plans though. King Oberon and Queen Titania were their names. I had only heard of them in passing before. It somehow never seemed real that they could ever exist. The stories of their great deeds and extraordinary powers were told throughout the Faerie Veil by all its creatures, and I stood face to face with them. Well, almost. I was only about five inches tall as a sprite and hovered before their face.

"Now little Lilac Sprite, why did you kill the Men?" Oberon asked sternly.

I feared for my life. The most powerful of Faerie had me and knew I had committed the gravest of crimes. But to not answer would have been even worse. "They were threatening the Fae in the mortal realm and I thought that if I stopped them only a few would be lost rather then all in the fores, your majesty."

I watched the surprise register on their perfect, ageless faces and wondered why. No matter the reason, killing had been wrong. It was the price all Fae payed if they couldn't get enough earthly protectors to stop the Men from killing us off. I had known that I might die in that forest and had accepted it when I was assigned the lilacs by Maeve, our own queen. The most honorable of intentions didn't make it any less of a crime. Or at least that was how I saw it.

"Do you hate Men, sprite?" Titania asked this time, only her voice was a little friendlier.

I answered before I even had time to ask, "Of course not, your majesties! They are children of the earth and glorious ones too. I would have never have killed any but my sense of duty to them was gone in my anger at their killing. I am sorry," I finished in a whisper.

They were silent a moment and I got the idea that they were speaking silently to each other. As they continued to be silent I wondered about that thought. As you can see, even though I faced death I still couldn't keep my mind on the matter at hand. I was always drifting off into thought.

"Do you have a name, sprite? I do so hate calling any by their race," Titania asked with a laugh.

"No. I don't, your majesty. I have always been just a sprite and so was called by my assigned guardianship. Lilac."

A few more moments of silence and they both turned back to me. "Little sprite, before we even begin, we would give you a name. Let only Faerie know it until such time as you love the Dark and assume your ladyship. Let you now be known as Lady Afridelle of the Seelie Court ~ The Sylvan Huntress and Servant of the Fae." Titania smiled as she finished.

I could not breathe. A lady of the Seelie Court!?! That meant that they made just made me Tuatha as well. After today I would no longer be just of the Fae. I would be of the highest and most powerful class of Faerie! I couldn't even think about the rest of my title or what it would come to mean.

"Oh thank you, your majesties! I never in all of my life thought that I would be accepted into the ruling class. How can I ever repay your generosity? And I thought that I was die for my blasphemous killing of the Men," I cried out in joy and fluttering excitably before the two.

Oberon took the conversation now. "Afridelle, you must first understand why you were not killed for the murder because the Fae will most likely shun you now for it. You have called on the Blood Rage, a magic few have ever possessed that even Titania and myself cannot use. It is an ancient magic that is used to identify the new Sylph. Sylph's are like Fae because they have a guardianship as well, but their's is to guard the Fae and all Faeries. If you had killed those Men any other way but with the Blood magic, you would now be dead for your crimes.

We need a new Sylph. Our people will be in danger of dying out if the Men continue on their present path. But that is for later. We must prepare you to be the Sylph and that begins with a transformation. Do you accept?"

A Sylph?! I had heard tales of their exploits in other realms and while they were the epitome of all Faerie, they died often and were very difficult to replace. A Sylph revealed themselves and were taken into the Tuatha if they weren't already of the them. A Fae Sylph was unheard of. But I was to undergo a transformation. I would no longer be a sprite. I would now be a Sylph and work hard and risk death often for my people. But hadn't I already done that as a Fae. I had lived in the shadow of death on Earth and had given my life for the other Fae in that forest that day. The fact that I had not died only proved that I had more to do before I ever left this plane.

"I accept, your majesty. I wish to protect my people and will do anything I need to achieve that end."

As I fluttered their before them I saw no visible spell casting. I only felt myself grow faint and then it was all blackness.

When I woke again I was a in a bedroom. The only reason I knew what it was, was because I had been inside a Man's house once with a young child who wanted to show me her toy. I had always slept with my lilacs before or in flowers when I visited the Faerie Veil for some reason. I lay in a bed that could have fit six or seven of me in it with no problem. The walls were of deep auburn wood that carried the firelight in veins of liquid red across the unbroken walls. Furniture was artfully arranged before a large fireplace on the left side of the large room and bookshelves lined the right wall broken up only by two doors. On the far wall was another door. Behind me was a set of large glass doors that opened onto a balcony. More windows lined the wall behind me letting in the sunlight of a gorgeous morning.

I got out of bed and walked over to the glass doors, but before I opened then I saw a reflection of myself in them. Hazy as it was and indistinct, I could definitely see that I was no longer the sprite I had been. I was now tall as the king and queen and slim. My wings were nowhere to be seen and I now had long pale blonde hair that fell to the floor in shining waves. I looked at my arms and hands and saw that they were longer and slim as well. I felt tall and as wispy as a butterfly.

I went out onto the balcony getting used to the feel of being bigger. Without even thinking I sprang from the balcony and found that I didn't fall. I glanced behind and saw that my wings were indeed gone but I could fly because a light outline of them appeared once I was in the air. They were wings but not as I was used to. They seemed composed of air and held all of my new weight with ease. I swooped and dove, fluttered and sped through the cool crisp air of the morning. Below, different faeries went about on whatever errands they had. A few watched me and pointed excitedly as I flew about. It was then that I realized that everyone below wore clothing even though it wasn't a festival. I myself was as bare as I always was.

I flew hurriedly back to my room to find Titania there. She smiled as I landed on the balcony and ran into the room. I tried to cover my nakedness from her as I stood, mortified, before her.

"As I think you have noticed, Afridelle, things are a bit different now. As a Fae it was perfectly acceptable to be bare in most cases. However, you are now a sylph and of the Tuatha and must conduct yourself in a manner which is appropriate. I have made it so that you are as a daughter to myself and Oberon as far as the court is concerned. As an adopted princess, you must learn what manner you must conduct in whatever circumstances might arise, both in and out of court. As the sylph, you will be given some leeway as to how you act, but you still have much to learn," Titania explained as she brought out a gown from one of the two rooms adjoining mine.

From then on I was trained in the social graces. Dancing, polite conversation, history and hierarchy, manners, fashion, and so much more. While I was learning the world of polite society I was also trained in the use of elemental magic, forest skills, healing, glamours, spell songs, and the rituals of Faerie Magic. I also learned the skills of the assassin, the warrior, and the thief. I was to be the best trained I could so I could act on any situation and threat.

I was taught about Sylph, the spirit of the Veil from who I called my power. She was like your own God only she was more. She was our mother, our friend, our power, and our enemy. It wa to Sylph I would have answered if I had not become a sylph. The connection between sylphs and Sylph made it so that a sylph was the most powerful faerie in creation. They were the closest to our guiding force and were also the ones with the highest responsibility. I was her agent in Faerie and salvation on Earth.

I began to understand what the title The Sylvan Huntress meant. I was to be the greatest hunter ever produced of the faerie realm . I was quick, stealthy, strong, and smart. I had to be able to deal with every contingency and succeed or many would die. I was the sole ambassador of my race to the mortal realm as well as the their only protection against a rising menace. Over the millennia of training and tests I learned what it was I supposed to do. Man had reached a very highly technological age where they had forgotten their history and their magic. If they were all allowed to forget then the Faerie race would die out. Even if only I remembered and resided in the mortal realm then there was hope left.

I began to realize that my work would make me a permanent resident of the mortal realm. If I ever came back into the Faerie Veil I ran the risk of killing off my people. It wasn't until much later that I realized that I could visit the Faerie Veil if I brought Man with me. Earth had long since been abandoned by all the other faeries because it only killed them without them ever making much difference. So I would be alone in a world filled with mortals, living forever and watching them spring up and go out like so many candles. You see, I found that now that I was a sylph, I was near immortal. The Tuatha never die because their lives were tied to the Faerie Veil itself, not to some portion of the other realms. The Faerie Veil was protected by powerful magic that made it so that nothing of it ever died. That was why if I had made it in when I was a sprite I would have lived. Only the other realms killed faerie and that was only if their portion of it died and they couldn't make it back to the Veil.

I was given a large section of the Faerie Veil to call my own. In it I was the Lady of the Forest and lived like I wanted. If I wanted a castle, I called forth a castle. If it was a field, then a field came. I found that I liked a glade much like the one I had, had as a sprite. I created my glade and this became the known spot for the Sylvan Huntress.

When I came to the mortal realm of Earth I had no idea of how to work toward my charge. I only knew that I had to succeed. So it was a surprise when I stumbled upon the idea of the Wild Hunt while in cyberspace. This is only the beginning and even it is not complete. For how could I ever reach an ending or even a midpoint when time doesn't stop. It continues onward and I follow it beginning new things and learning more and more about Men.

Let the Hunt begin. . .
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Other Parts of the Forest
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To 'The Start of the Hunt. . .'

Back to the Journeys. . .

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