Rac's Great Trick. The tricky competent child.

Portion of Chapter 3?

This is a portion of what was supposed to be the third chapter of the book. Now it will probably be the 4th or 5th. The story has expanded and change as I got to know Bride/Huntress/Twister, the demon temptress daughter of the Evil One, sent to temp Son the son of the creator sent to redeem humanity. Twister of Souls failed in her mission and was converted instead, saved and married the son, and because of the powers of her blood became the protector of humanity from the monsters produced by their imaginations. She was supposed to be a minor character. Then I got to really meet her. Twister, Twist to her friends, skin as black and shinny as polished obsidian, 5 foot tall, with a body designed to temp, which it was by her and her father before she went to temp the Five Chieftains of Vig.  As the different tales and back stories developed Twist has become probably the central character of the story. My little dream entering, monster hunting, demon goddess of love.

Back to the chapter.

Things to know.
12 year old Christina, the tricky competent child, is on a Hero's Quest to see Huntress at her fortress on the volcano in the spirit lands to ask for her help against Balor the Slavers god. This is a Pact matter so even if Twister knows Christina personally, which she does, Christina is wearing Twist best set of spider silk armor, all of the conditions must be met before Huntress can act.

Christina is being accompanied on the Quest by Harf her maternal grandfather and her dead parents souls.

Harf is a Storyteller of Rac, who knows the tricks of how to walk the spirit lands.

Both Christina and Harf are powerful Full Blood Witches more so because they are quit tricky.
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A weapon with Huntress's blood on it is deadly. It will suck the life/power out of you in an instant and if your soul is corrupt enough devour you blacken soul.

The Fae or Faeries are soulless creatures of belief , the imagined, they exist because of the stories told about them, not only are their physical beings but their personalities are molded by these stories. The Fae are not safe, even the good ones are mischievous and prone to tricks, 1 day with them and 100 years have passed.
So Christina and Harf have enter the spirit lands met her parents and now have been accosted by faeries and invited to stay the night.

There are two stories presented here the main narrative and the Rac Tale about his great trick. Pay attention to the tale, you might learn some physics, white dwarf anyone, he doesn't quite make it to neutron star.

So enough blathering, please read and enjoy  and when you are done you should know more about this world where belief is a dangerous thing, as it is in ours, but that is another story.

And yes, as Raven loves to say about her and a certain little demon goddess, Christina is a,"Wicked, wicked child."

➽Start story.

Christina, her parents' spirits and Racacita drew even closer to Harf and they followed the faeries through the dark doorway down a long blank corridor made of the same dark stone without a single side opening and after a right turn entered through an arch into a great hall set up as a banquet room. The room was large semicircular space with the black, smooth, back wall rising up to form a partial dome cut off by the wall that held the archway they had entered from. It appeared to Christina to take up a third of the faerie castle. The wall that they had enter from was pierced by a number of other doors that led to the rest of the castle. The broad room was filled with many tables laid out for a feast. There was a raised platform nestled into the curved back wall opposite the entry. The Queen and King led the party through the great hall and onto the platform and seated them at the table beside them where they could look out over the crowed hall. The group set down to the right of the queen not wanting to be separated from one another. The queen nodded in understanding and the king motioned for other of the faerie nobles to take the empty seats to his side. As they took their seats the nobles took covetous glances at Christina. This made Christina nervous so she avoided their glances and looked out over the great hall. The hall was filled with nearly 200 of the faerie folk in their many diverse shapes and sizes. Light for the hall was provide by flickering will-of-the-wisps, who floated high in the domed ceiling. The brightest two floated directly over the Queen and King.

After all were seated and before the feast began Harf nodded to the Queen and King and said “your Majesties may I say something to the hall. The royal pair nodded yes and Harf stood and pulled back his chair and stepped up on it. He took off his painted cloak turned to face the audience and spread the cloak so the fairies could see the panted figures, Rac, Marius, The Witch and Huntress seemed to come alive and smile out of the painted cloth.

Harf took a deep breath and a wave of calm seemed to radiate from him and the queen's wisp drifted over to bath him in light. Then he began to speak.

“Your majesties, genital beings of the spirit and normal lands as you can see by my cloak I am a Storyteller of Rac, for here you know the truth, I bear his blessing and partake of his power, and like him I pay my debts. And how does a Storyteller pay his debts, he tells a story and if he is a good storyteller he tells a story appropriate for the occasional. So tonight in payment for the coming feast and the safe bed to follow I will tell this Tale of Rac and one of his greatest tricks and may we all learn something from it and be made wise.”
Every eye in the hall was on him and no other sound could be heard. The queen gave him a look as if to ask what he was up to then looking out over her entranced subjects shrugged her shoulders and waved her hand at him to begin
.
Harf look out over the crowd of faeries smiled down at Christina and began.

This is a true tale of Rac the great Coon in which you will learn of one of his greatest tricks. For your entertainment and edification I will tell it to you as I would the children I entertain and teach.

Once not to long ago in the lives of the gods, there live a troop of Seelie Court faeries less than a days walk from the Mountain Gate.

Now these faeries were visited by a god, some say Balor, and he taught them things, some of which it may not have been good for them to know.
 

He taught them the secret of the spirit gate and how they could pass into the normal land using much less power.

He taught them the dark secret of the stone magnetite how it could be set and ordered with magic, the crystals set to prevent even the most powerful of gods from teleporting through it.
 

But the worst thing he taught them was the idea of the mortal child. The idea that if a troop of faeries took and raised a human child. They could go through the spirit gate and using the child belief and power as an anchor, be able to stay and not fade away as is the normal fate of the fae who stay to long in the mortal lands. Now, this was an appealing thought to those immortal beings, who after the long years found it boring to live among the half formed dreams and nightmares of humans.

He stop for a moment and looked over his faerie audience, many of which were staring hungrily at Cristina. He cleared his his voice and continued.

Now no one told them that with time even reality can be even more dull and boring than imagination buts that's another thing.

As the fairies listened to the god and learned what he taught they turned from the Seelie Court to the unseelie court from benign to malicious. Now we all know the fate of creatures of the imagination who turn against and harm humans.  Huntress calls for a Great Hunt and on the night of the new moon, when the darkness that is the demon inside her fills her being, she and hers friends among lessor gods ride out and kill the creatures of nightmare as she calls them.

The troop could feel themselves turning and were afraid but the god still visited and whispered secrets in their ears.

Why none of the troop made the trip to Huntress's Mountain and told her or her more forgiving husband what the god was doing I do not know and only the survivors can say.

Anyway the god kept coming and the faeries listened and then the “Great Plan” was made.

First because they were afraid of the wraith of the gods they demolished their airy towers of glass and crystal and built themselves a castle of magnetite in the very mine from which they dug the ore. The pit of which lays on the path from the gate to the mountain. The castle was made in the shape of a overturned bowel without windows and only one door. The floor was magnetite as was the bowel and even the panels of the door which closed with barely a seam. Now, they could hide safe from the gods, in their fortress where no one could teleport in.

Then they waited, I don't know if it was a month or years and neither do they because what is time to creatures who can slow their time so that years pass in one of their days. I also wounder if they can make time pass the other way.

Now at last, the thing they waited for happened. Some foolish teller of stories, a Storyteller would know better, told a story of an unseelie troop who took a faerie changeling and traded it for a human child. Now when the foolish story was told , the faeries who were thinking to do such a deed felt the power flow into them and a changeling baby appeared in the crib they had built for it in their hall.

Now that children is why you must be careful of the stories you tell, if you speak of monsters then The Huntress or Rac must be there to make them fall because as you know thought and belief can make it so.

So on the next full moon, that night when Huntress is more likely to be The Bride all silver and with out stain and stays in with her husband the Son, the troop went down to the gate and when the moon was right stepped through to the other side. Softly, they crept down the valley to the village that then stood on the other side of the road. There the King and Queen crept into the home of a woman who had just had a baby. Slinking to the crib they cast a spell of deep sleep on the baby. They then placed a glamor on the changeling and placed it in the crib and took the baby and crept out of the house. Then the troop ran back to the gate and were through it and back into their castle with the door hard shut before the sun rose or the roster crowed.

The next morning the mother awoke to find her child sickly and pale. She grabbed it up and rushed outside to take it to the healer. When the sun hit the sickly child, it burst into smoke and crumbled and died and the poor mother found herself on the path to healers with a blanket wrapped willow stick figure in her hands. She screamed and the other villagers ran out to see what was wrong. The healer, who was a woman of great age and learning, took one look at the mess in the mothers arms and said. “Evil faeries have taken your baby, we need help beyond what we can receive from man.” She fell to her knees and began to pray, the rest of the village following soon after. The women and men prayed to The Witch in her aspect as She Who Loves and the children prayed to Rac, he who protects. The gods heard this scream for help and rode the stream of belief and desperation to its source expending the power to come through vale and appear to the village in person. Aetha took the mother in her arms and held her tight as she cried. Rac smiled at the children and reassured them that everything would be fine.

Now children it is time to look deep into your heart and know that She Who Loves and Rac love you and will come to your aid when you are in trouble. All they ask is your love and belief in return. Can you do this?

As he said this, the faeries watched in wonder as a golden mist streamed from the man and girl and disappeared southeast in the direction of Balor. Harf watched go and wondered why living belief would go that direction when The Huntress mountain was to the North East, “what are they doing out that way ?” He asked himself. Christina just watched it flow away from her in amazement, she had always been told that belief and love were tangible things but until she saw it flow in the spirit land, it was never quite real to her. But seeing its presence made light she realized something and digging deeper into the never ending well spring of love and belief in her soul, turned to the flickering spirits of her parents beside her and forced down her sorrow and concentrated on the joy and love she had at being able to see then again. As she concentrated on them anther golden stream burst from her and flowed into her parents, who soon stop flickering and seemed to become more solid, even more solid than the faeries.

Seeing this Christina decided to try one more experiment, she had always been taught to be careful, that to believe something was to make it real. As she thought about this she wondered, if she could bring about something good through her belief. She turned her gaze on the Queen, quieted the distrust and worry she had in her heart for the Queen and focused on who she thought the faerie should be. For this, she felt, she needed more so she turned to her powers of truth tell and follow me and turned those on the queen also. Then she turned to queen and said, “I believe in a beautiful Faerie Queen, who is kind, helpful and dedicated to fighting evil.”

The queen stared back at her and shook her head and laughed.

Christina just concentrated harder on the queen and said it again. “I believe in a beautiful Faerie Queen, who is kind, helpful and dedicated to fighting evil.” The golden mist flowed from Christina down the table to the queen where it formed a shell of golden mist around her. The queen stared back at the girl a look of concern on her face.

Christina stared right back and said it for a third time,“I believe in a beautiful Faerie Queen, who is kind, helpful and dedicated to fighting evil.” There was a jolt in the reality of the hall. The shell around the Queen collapsed. The golden mist flowed into her and she changed. She was the same but she wasn't her smile was no longer a masked sneer, but a sign of warmth and love so even though her features hadn't changed she was more beautiful to look upon and much more attractive. In the low light of the room, she seemed to glow a warm golden light that filled the room around her.

Harf, who had been watching the events intently, shook himself and said, “Girl, now you're giving me anther tale to tell.”

The King looked at the Queen and began to sputter, “It is not right, you mortals can't do this”

The Queen laid her long golden tinged fingers on his arm and said, “Hush dear. It's all right, now let's hear the rest of the story.” and such was her power and presence. The king stopped sputtering and waved at Harf to continue.

Harf turned away from the scene beside him. Took a deep breath and continued his story, wondering what other surprises awaited them this night

The healer quickly told the two gods what she believed had happened. Rac dropped to all four feet and began to sniff around the mothers house. He quickly found the scent and said “faeries all right and they are headed to the gate.”
 

With that news Aetha handed off the mother to the healer and said, “Take care of her, we will be back with the baby as soon as we can.” With that her and Rac stepped back through the vale and in a flash were at the spirit land's side of the gate.

When they arrived at the gate, Rac told her, “ You better call Marius and Huntress”

“Already have.” The Witch replied.

Marius appeared beside her caring his bow and her armor and a heavy spider silk cloak.

He quickly explained that they would have to take care of the problem themselves because Huntress was in the northwest on the coast with Raven and Orca battling sea dragons sent by Zakkree.

Rac started to bend over to sniff out the trail, then cocked his head as if to listen to something and said,”I know where the child is.” taking their hands he teleported the the three of them toward where he sensed the child, only to come up short against the hard black wall of the castle. Jarred and shaken, they slid down the curved wall and being nimble landed on their feet.

Marius reached out and touched the wall and shook his head, “Magnetite set and ordered, the magnetic field is very strong.” In fact it was so strong that the three could feel its tug on there weapons.”There is no way to port through that. I'm surprised that these Fae are still around to make trouble, I think even belief would have trouble getting through that.”

“Oh it would get trough, but in what form and how twisted it would be I don't know, but it will cause strange things to happen to those inside,” said the Witch who knows these things. With that they walked around the dome until they came to the door.

The door was ten feet foot tall and six feet wide. It was closed by two slabs of stone blacker than night. The slabs meet in the middle of the doorway and the seam where they met was so tight, that not even a needle could be forced between them. Only at the bottom of the seam, where the corner of the right slab had been chipped was a small opening only big enough for an ant.

Marius looked at the door and gave it a push, it was locked solid and did not give even the breadth of a hair. “Well I guess we could break it down using Hearths Bane with the three of use accelerating the arrows but even that will take a long time and make a lot of noise.”

“That's not good,” said The Witch, “I don't trust what these faeries would do to the child if we tried to break in.”

Rac looked down at the tiny crack in at the bottom of the join between the panels and had an idea. Then he turned to his friends and said,”I have an idea, Marius give me that cloak and then you and Aetha go to the trench path over there and set up an ambush and if what I plan works I will lead the troop to you and we can deal with this.”

Marius gave Rac the extra spider-silk cloak he had brought and he and Aetha retreated down the path and deep into the trench that leads to the valley. Once deep inside the shadowed valley, they readied their ambush Marius with his bow Hearts Bane and Aetha with a two quivers of arrows so she could hand them to her husband as he needed them.

Once they had disappeared into the shadow of the narrow pass, Rac turned and moved close to the door so his nose touched the crack between the door and then performed one of the greatest tricks he had ever performed in his life as a god. Rac in his study of tricks and magic has learned things. He has probably in his long tricky life learn more things than any one accept Heavenly Father. One of the things he knows is that everything is made up of tiny particles, which he calls atoms. Even more important to this trick is that these atoms are made up of three types of even smaller particles. Two types of these particles congregate together in the center, how many of each determines what kind of matter the atom is, but that part of another story. The important thing is the the third type of particle hurtles around the center of the atom in a cloud, round on the outside but with each of the many moving particles taking strange paths. But what is important to Rac's great trick is that there is space, thousands of times more space than solid in an atom. Everything you see, even the heaviest gold has more space than solid particles. There is space between the atoms and inside the atoms. This was Rac's great trick, he took that space between and inside the atoms and squeezed. He shrunk that space, compressed it tighter and tighter. As he did this he vibrated and glowed as the energy of the whirling particles blazed off him. This was the hardest trick he had ever attempted, he burned through the power of months of stories, so much so that he was afraid he would run out before he was done. But at last he manged to shrink him self down to the size of an ant. Wading through the stone of the door step because even though he was the size of ant he still weighed his full 150 pounds, 150 pounds concentrated on something no bigger than the point of an awl, he was lucky the step was stone and not wood, he crawled through the crack between the the doors. All the time he was doing this, he was expending power at a tremendous rate to keep himself small. At last he waded out of the crack and into the corridor beyond. There he found a greater bogeyman guarding the door. Now normally Rac only hunts greater bogeymen with the help of  Huntress, with him finding them and she killing them. 
 

But Rac was alone, so he performed his other great trick of the day. He teleported himself to the ceiling of the hall and dove head first, gantlet covered hands before him, through the top of the bogeyman's head and all the way through its body to drill a hole a foot into the floor.

After he climbed back out of the hole he had blasted in the stone floor, he released his power and popped back to his normal size. As he expanded he sucked the heat from the hall freezing the bogeyman and forming ice on the walls.

He lay for a long time on the frozen floor, weaker than he had ever been in his existence, his power almost complete drained by his two great tricks. At last he recovered enough to stand and unbar the door. He pushed open the right side and staggered out through the opening.

Then he started to stumble toward where Marius and Aetha were waiting, when from the south in the direction of the mothers village came the golden mist of belief and as it approached other sources bloomed to the south east from the other villages along the road. The village healer, who was also a far talker,  called out to the far talker in the next village, who called out the next far talker and so on. So all of the inhabitants in the villages on the road to Valmar were doing what they could do to help and praying for Rac and The Witch to save the baby.

Rac watched it come with joy and gratitude, and when it arrived he stood tall, paws spread wide and bathed in the mist, drawing it in. Finally, when he finally felt strong enough to do what he needed to do he turned and reentered the dome.

Now children it is time for you to understand that if you asked something from the gods you owe them something in return. They are expending their power to help you, so it is only right you send power to them pray, sing one of their songs, tell a story, dedicate a dance anything that brings them to mind put your whole heart into it give your fervent love and belief to them. Please help Rac perform more of his great tricks. 
 

Raising the hood of the spider-silk cloak and drawing it tight about him, its reflective cloth making him blended into the black stone of the corridor. Radiating not seen, he crept down the edge of the corridor then around the bend and into the great hall. Staying in the shadows, he crept pass the celebrating faeries and into a side room where he found the child. He picked up the child, who started crying. Rac teleported himself to the entrance of the hall and as the baby bawled turned and screeched at the faeries. Then he wrapped the cloak about him and the baby, and ran down the corridor. The troop boiled from the room and chased him down the long corridor.

Rac bolted from the door and ran zig-zaging across the meadow and into the narrow cut of the path. The enraged faeries following close behind. Once he got in sight of Marius and Aetha and most of the fae were in the trench, Rac teleported the baby and himself past Marius and Aetha. He placed the baby behind a large boulder and joined Marius and Aetha behind another large boulder that partially blocked the path.

The enraged troop came charging down the path. “Crack!!” Marius fired Hearts Bane back down the path. The arrow accelerated by the three gods leaped from the bow flashed down the path and blasted through the king and the Queen and carried on to kill two more. “Crack, crack, crack”, more arrows flashed from the bow. The faeries trapped in the trench by the high cliffs and the press of bodies died as the arrows struck them. The arrows were a gift to Marius from Huntress, dipped in her blood their silver and black heads were instant death for any of the lessor imagined, the slightest nick could kill as the arrow sucked the power out of the wounded and fed her hungry demon soul. Crack, crack, crack more faeries died as the arrows pierced through them four to five at a time. Finally, the faeries at the back of the pack realized what was happening and stopped pressing forward and the remaining fae turned and fled back down the path toward the castle. Marius and Rac followed quickly after them. While they pursued the faeries, Aetha picked up the baby and teleported back to the village.

Marius and Rac chased the faeries from the trench and out into the meadow, Marius firing as they ran. The faeries fled into the dome and tried to close the doors which opened out ward. Arrows flashed across the field striking down those trying to close the door. The remain faeries fled deeper into the dome. Marius and Rac approached the door from an angle and began arranging their equipment for an assault.

Before they could continue the assault, a small solitary fairy came back down the corridor carrying a white flag. When it reached the gods it squeaked, “We want to surrender. We'll swear never to interfere with humans ever again.”

“What oath will bind an unseely fae?” asked Marius while Rac nodded in agreement.

“We'll sear by The Son may his wife Huntress take us if we break the oath.” squeaked the little faerie.

Rac growled then said, “That she will, if you break such a oath.”

With a flash two other gods appeared beside them. A tall handsome but scared youth with a friendly smile and a short slender girl with skin the color of the bright full moon. The youth looked deeply at the little faerie measuring the depths of its very being and said, “Redemption is available to all who truly repent, but my wife is not so forgiving of the malicious imagined. I'll provided mercy once but fall back to your evil ways and you're hers and her friends next sport.”

The Bride looked at the fairy and asked,”I have only one question, why would you do this? You know what The Hunts reaction would be. So why risk this?”

“A god short and slender dressed in bronze, came to us and taught use many things.” admitted the shaking faerie.

“Balor, what is he doing here and why would he cause such trouble?” mused The Bride.

“You know what I think.” said Marius, “it's time to call a great hunt on him. He's probably one of your brothers.”

The Son shook his head at this exchange and turned his attention back to the fae emissary, “I will except your oath but everyone of you will come out and swear the oath to me directly were I can read the true intent of your hearth.”

“I will get them,”said the fairy and he turned and ran back down the tunnel.

While they were waiting for the faerie to return  Huntress turned to Marius and said,”Thank you for that extra power today it came in handy with the sea dragons. I'll get you some new arrows on the next dark moon.”

“I think I can recover most of them but more would be helpful.” said Marius with a smile.

Soon the faeries came fearfully out of the dome and shaking with fright swore their oaths one by one to Son who forgave them and blessed them. When it was done, Son looked over them and said,”Know this you have been forgiven but harm another human especially a child and my wife, on the night of some black moon will feed.”

And that dear children is how Rac performed one of his greatest tricks and how the fair folk of the dome were forgiven. Know if you truly repent The Son will show mercy.

So this concludes my Tale of Rac, everything thing I have told you is true as true as those have told it to me remember it. Since it is true, it would best to take the lessons taught by this tale to heart and learn from it.

With that Harf stepped down from the chair and folded his cloak and set down at the table next to the queen.

“Well that was quite a tale for this hall and quit a pointed reminder.” said the queen with a quizzical smile.

The king at her side just glowered at Harf while still stealing covetous glances at Christina.

The queen, who could feel that the tension was again rising clapped her hands sharply twice and in a bright voice said, “ Its time for the feast let the revelry begin.”

The brownies and pixies seated at the far back table jumped up and ran to a door on the right side of the hall and soon they trooped back carrying platters and plates filled with food and goblets of wine and flagons of water.

When the food and drink was set before Christina, she turned to Harf and in a soft whisper asked,”Is it safe to eat”

Harf considered for a moment then passed his hand over her food. A thin white mist steamed up from the food and drink and at his direction into her goblet of wine. Seeing this he, proceed to do the same for himself, Christina’s parents, Racicata's plate on the floor and for good measure the Queens food with same result, with all of the mist flowing into Christina's goblet. “ Now it is,” said Harf, who picked her goblet and placed it in front of the king and stated , “Your majesty, the girl is young and on her first hero's quest, a such she should not drink wine, may I present it to you.” with that Harf drew his dagger from his belt and began cutting his already thinly sliced meat with its black and sliver flowing patterned blade.

The King just sat there staring at the goblet as if someone had just placed a cobra on the table in front of him.

Looking at Harf cut his meat with one of the Huntress's gifts, Christina came to a realization. After the incident with the Queen, she had done something that she would normal consider rude, she had brought her truth tell and mind hear abilities to the front of her mind and had actively read the fairies. She could not understand their thoughts, overall they were strange and twisted and just altogether to fae, but she could read their emotions. She could fell the Queens happiness that she could help and her concern over the king. The king and most of his nobles made her uneasy with their combination of malice toward Harf and their lust for her, not a sexual lust but a lust for possession. But more telling was the faeries reaction to the story, the Queen and King and most of the nobles found it interesting and maybe a little annoying. Most of the other faeries felt shame, fear, horror and relief as they relived the most horrifying and stressful day of their existence, but most interesting of all was the small faerie who sat at the far end of the kings table, the lowest of places but still a noble. He had felt pride when Harf told of the brave little faerie, the only one brave enough to come ask the angry gods for mercy. That was when she had put it together, in all of the faerie tales she had ever there was only one faerie who was small, brave and a noble, and that faerie was the tricky and clever Puck and with that realization she knew who the king and queen were for being faeries, no names had been given.

Christina turned and looked hard at the knife in Harf hand and said loudly, “I just realized why Huntress thanked Marius for the power that day.”

Harf lifted Huntress's gift before him so all could see the dagger. “And why is that?” he asked going along but wondering what she was up to.

“It was because he not only killed a king and queen of the faeries he killed The King and Queen of the all faeries, he fed her as much power as he would have killing a small god.” she explained. Turning to the small faerie at the end of the table she asked. “Puck, how long after The Day did Titania and Oberon reappear?”

A complete hush fell over the hall at the mention of the three names. Puck looked back at the mortal girl and smiled, filled with admiration in his tricksters heart and answered. “It took less than a turning of the moon for that same fool teller of stories to tell their story and bring them back. They have been growing in power ever since.”

The king and his nobles stared at the girl in shock over the uses of the names. The queen and most of the faeries turned to look at Puck. Harf placed the dagger in front of the girl. Then he stood and placed himself behind her, hand on his sword.

Christina smiled back at Puck and asked, “and how long was it before they let Balor though the door despite The Son's warning?”

Puck grimaced and replied, “Just anther turning after that.”

“Oh, now I see why you still live in the black poisonous hole instead of heeding The Witch's warning.” said the girl in disgust. Puck and most of the survivors looked down in shame. The king started to rise from his chair. The dagger sprang from the table and slammed down in front of him, point turned toward him. “Sit”, ordered the girl. Then she continued her conversation with Puck. “Puck, do you and the rest of the oath takers want to die? You are the real leader of this group. The only one brave enough to face the angry gods. Why do you put up with this? Him coming in bossing you around, putting you in the lowest place, endangering all of you. I know why you put up with her, you have always loved her, all of the stories say so, but why him? All the stories say he is selfish, self serving bully, who only cares for himself. I know the stories say he rules, but why still? Even faeries have free will once they come into being, all you have to do is exercise it. So why don't you put him in a deep cell somewhere and live without fear?”

With this she stood and turned to face him directly and exclaimed, “Puck, I believe you are the bravest, cleverest faerie trickster there ever was and you are the true leader of the faeries, please believe and receive my gift to you.”

Puck stood to face her and opened his arms wide and smiled a puckish grin. The golden mist of belief sprang from the girl and flowed into him. The entire hall watched in shock, then when the flow slowed the hall burst into excitement. Harf started to draw his sword, but Christina placed a restraining hand on his arm, at the same time the dagger on the table started vibrating, the guard rattling on the table sounded like a rattle snake. The King sat staring at it like someone had thrown another snake on the table. The outraged nobles tried to leap to their feet. The Brownie and Pixie servants that had stood behind them forced them down into their chairs. All of the oath bounded faeries rushed the platform intent on restraining or worst the king and nobles. Quickly, the nobles and the king were swamped and thrown to the floor. Knifes and other sharp objects began to appear in the hands of the survivors of The Day.

“No don't kill them!” yelled Puck as he walked over to the King, and looked down at him. “We have to keep them alive or they will just reappear again.”

The King looked up from the floor and whinnied, “Puck, I am your king, you can't do this.”

Puck looked down at him with disgust, “You lost all right to rule when you broke guest right, if you would of succeeded Huntress would of killed us all.” Puck then turned to the crowd and said, “Take them and put them in the deepest darkest cell we have and let them rot.”

With a roar of approval the fae took them and carried them off, laughing and singing as they carried the struggling prisoners deeper into the castle.

Puck boldly took the Kings seat by Titania and waved at Harf and Christina to return to their seats. The queen turned to look at him and tentatively smiled at him. Puck chuckled and with a tinkle in his eye took the queens hand and kissed it. The queen smiled broadly and with a laugh settle comfortably back in her seat and sat there looking at the little fairy with adoring eyes.

After Harf and Christina had regained their seats and Racacita had crawled up into the girls lap, Puck turned to her and said, “Human girl you are a wonder and I have to thank you for what you've done. I don't know if you are the smartest and bravest girl I'll every meet or just a foolish child.”

Christina chuckled and said, “After the king broke guest right and tried to drug us, I knew there was only one way to get out without a fight and my little friend it depended on you and my read on you.”

'But you still took a risk.” probed Puck.

“Less risk than if I did nothing. Even with Harf's pointed reminder and hinted threats, the king still broke guest rights, and we would not have made it through the night without a fight. Now the king didn't know what I knew after Harf told his story. I was quite rude today, I read you all, from that I knew that the majority of you, the survivors would not act to harm a human, especially me a child. So it would be between Harf and I and the King and the Nobles.”

Harf looked at her and shock his head, “Girl what a story I will have to tell when this is over, I'm glad you were following so closely.

“What about magic?” Asked Puck, “Weren't you afraid of their magic?”

Christina laughed, “Afraid of their magic, Harf and I, and my parents are full blood witches, all the king and his lackeys have are glamors, mind magic and as I know you know, little trickster, all of our defenses are up. The only magic dangerous to us would have come from you and yours. We all know if he wanted any physical magic done the King had to come to you.”

“So the girl knows her stories.” Said Puck with a grin.

“Almost every two months while I was growing up the best storyteller in the world would stop by our village and stay a few days with us.” she explained as she looked at Harf with pride. “Always told me that at least the Tales he told were true and if you listened with an open mind you would learn important things.”

“As all good storytellers remind their listeners when the Tale is done.” said Harf looking at Christina with pride. “But it seems you learned more from them that most.”

“At least just enough, I only realized the reasoning going on in the back of my mind when I tried to explain it to Puck. Mostly I acted when I figured out who he was. He may by tricky but he is honorable.” admitted the girl.

“Wise, brave and just a little foolish.” said Puck with a laugh. The others joined in as the last of the tension went out of the hall.

After the laughter died down. Christina said one last thing, "Puck,you know, you are lucky that you accepted my belief and acted because by doing so you saved yourselves. Do you know who else came into this hall when you invited us in? Who we carried through the door? Who's gifts we both carry? Harf's cloak, staff, armor, the pendent at his throat, his weapons bow, arrows, sword and the dagger he showed as a reminder and me with my armor." She showed them the black pattern that flowed around every hem." My pendent and these." She dropped a black pattern sling stone onto the table before her. Then she she laughed as looked around the hall as what she was saying truly sunk in and eyes once more widened as the faeries realized just how close they had come.

Harf looked at his his granddaughter and smiled as he said, as Raven of says to Twister, "Wicked, Wicked Child."

To that she grinned and replied, "Yes I am." Then she continued because she was making a point, teaching a lesson. She pointed at Harf and then at herself. "He is a Storyteller of Rac, and there is a reason he can walk from one side of The Plow to the other and still be safe even where Rac's power does not extend and I am a child on a Hero's Quest and am safe for the same reason." Then she again showed the pendent she wore at her throat on a chain next to the greater bogyman tooth. "and we are Caesars and wear these. We might as well be blazing signs for those that know how to see. Signs that scream don't touch, leave alone, harm them and die. We are both twice protected three times if you count your oath and you know by whom. Grandfather laid her on the table for you all to see. Not just as a threat but as a reminder of who also was present in the hall with us because how does it go  that saying that even the fae know, where her blood is so is she. Once we came through that door caring her gifts, your dome would no longer protect you, she is already inside. She looked around the hall at the faeries now filled with dread and finally said the name that filled them with fear. "Huntress that's who would of come, if you tried to harm use and she would of devoured you all. That's why Harf and I tired our tricky best. We did not fear for ourselves but for you, Harf and I are safe, except in battle or  if we take foolish risk, but you were all in danger of destruction since the King accosted us before the door." And then she sat down and started eating her food.

Puck looked at her a long time deep in thought and finally said, "Thank you for saving us you, wicked, wicked child."

She looked back at him and grinned and replied, "Your welcome and yes I am." Then she looked around at all the worry faced faeries and relented and said. "Don't worry you more than passed the test, Huntress won't come to destroy you that time has passed.

With that the fae visibly relaxed and went back to their meal.
 
 Harf reached into his pack and pull out a large chunk of chocolate and placed it in front of Christina, “With all the magic you've done you better start with some real food” he said as he got out a chunk of his own. “I especially like the tricks with the dagger, the rattle most of all.”

“I got to remember that one myself.” said Puck.

Christina picked up the chunk and bit off a large piece and started chewing, as she looked down the hall and noticed something. Floating, pressed in a glowing golden film against the southeast side of the dome was the belief in Rac that she and Harf had released during the story. Noticing this she also became aware that another thin mist was seeping through the dome. This mist was no longer the bright gold of true belief, it seemed tarnished changed in someway. “Well look at that.”, She said pointing at the trapped cloud of mist. “I guess the Witch was right about this dome after all.”

Puck shook his head as he stared at the mist and considered the implications then said. “Now that is probably a bad thing.”

“Could we cut out a window by vaporizing the stone the way the tunnel diggers and minors do?” she asked Harf.

“I don't know why not, but it would take much less power to just vaporize a thin cut around the window and let the center fall out.” explained to Harf.

“I wonder why Rac and the others didn't just go around the dome to where Rac felt the baby and cut their way in?” She asked with a puzzled look.

“They tried but the outside of dome is enchanted against it.” said Puck with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

“There is no such thing as enchantment, you can't place a spell on something and have it remain active.” said the girl with certainty.

“No such thing as enchantment, what about that magic dagger of Harf's?” Asked Puck with and amused smile.

“Its not enchanted,” stated the Girl, “Its physical properties have been change, it has Huntress's demon blood bonded to the blade binding it back to her. So what is the real trick how did you make the dome resistant to vaporization?”

Hearing this Puck appeared to be a little crestfallen, then brightened and laughed, “Mortal child, you got me, it is a trick the outer wall is covered with a thin layer of diamond.

“That explains it, the bond between the carbon atoms is much harder to break than other materials.” said Harf with understanding.

“Yes it can be done but it takes time and energy.” explained Puck, “That's why me and my friends here .” Puck motion to the twelve small faeries that somehow filtered in to take the seats to his left at the table. “vaporized the carbon out of some coal and and coated the dome in a layer of diamond crystal. “

“Can we still cut window from this side?” asked the girl in a worried tone.

“It shouldn't be a problem the diamond isn't that thick and breaks easily without the dome behind it. In fact me and my friends should do it right now. Said Puck as he stood and had the faeries clear away the tables beneath where the golden mist had pooled. After everyone had moved a safe distance back from where the cut out window would land, Puck and his coven vaporized a thin cut around the window. Just as they finished the cut there came a loud crack and the center of the window fell from the dome and landed with large crash on the floor. The golden mist rushed out the hole, while other gold mist flowed in and into the gathered fairies. Also in through the window poured a beam of moon light which formed a pool of sliver light on the floor in front of the high table. A number of the faeries were frightened by this especially when a god appeared in the circle of light. She was a short slender woman, who's face this night was not as it should be half bright silver and the other side blacker than night as was the moon that shown through the new window, but entirely black, the color of the new moon, Huntress in her most dangers aspect
.

Seeing her enter, the faeries cowered back in fear, with only Puck standing boldly to meet her.

Twister smiled her most loving smile and said, “Do not fear I have come to celebrate your completion of your oaths tonight.” Such was the love that radiated from her, that all of the faeries relaxed with her word. Although some still glanced a Twister anxiously thinking she was Huntress at he worst.

Twister levitated a chair to the platform and seated herself facing Titania and Puck across the table. She looked at Puck and asked, “What took you so long?”

Puck replied, “I don't know, I think it took this Human Girl Child make me realized I even had a choice.

Stories have weight in Fae you know.” Puck said and laughed sadly. “I didn't think it was possible.”

Twister looked at Christina and said, “I see Rac chose wisely.”

Christina see this as her chance said,” Twist, Speaking of Rac, He wants me to..
”.

Twister smiled and put her figure to her mouth and stated. “Don't call me that here and Father's rules say we can not talk of the other thing here and now. You are on an Hero's Quest and I will not talk about that until you come through the gate of my fortress. We will speak of many things to night but not of that.”

Christina looked back at Huntress and nodded her head in understanding.

So they drank and they feasted long into the night. Puck and Twister told her many things about the world, spirit land and magic, teaching her many of their secrete tricks. During the night Haef was called upon to tell more tales, he and Puck took special delight when he told the tale of how Rac stole fire from The Son.

Finally the moon set and Huntress indicated that it was time to go. Before Twister left she pulled Puck aside and gave him some things. Before she she left she also gifted Christina with a moon bladed knife and indicated more gifts to come once the hero's quest was done. She kissed Christina on the forehead and then she was gone.

After Huntress  departed, Titania took one look at Christina who was trying to stifle a yawn and said,” It has been a long and exciting day but mortals need their sleep so we should call it a night.”

Harf and Christina nodded in agreement, so Puck and the Queen followed by his coven and a will-of-the-wisp lead them to a small room one wall of which was the part of the dome proper. Before bidding them good night Puck and the coven cut them a small window. Puck saying before he left, “I know mortals need fresh air.” Then he smiled broadly and closed the door behind . When the faeries left so did the will-of-the-wisp so the closing door plunged the room into the darkness. Harf rummaged in his pack, pulled out a glowing sun stone, one of Twisters many gifts to him. Its light revealed a small room with two beds.

The two mortals quickly crawled into bed and just before he blew out the light, Harf said, “Good job tonight, it worked, but do you really safe to put a trickster like Puck on the throne?”

Christina laughed softly and answered, “The trick is on the trickster, Puck accepted my belief and my words. He accepted me calling him a Trickster. In that he bound himself my definition of Trickster mischievous but never malicious, like Rac.”

Harf laughed and his eyes beamed in pride of the girl,”You are a subtle and tricky child a good disciple of  Rac, but be careful for our luck may may turn.”

“Yes Grandfather I will be careful, but as all the tales tell I will still be bold when it's needed.” she promised.