The Mage's Heart

st alone, or being lost with this dark-haired mage. I did not ar

s for the night," I mu

portant

t I was about, so h

say, my needs are more

rse. It is awfully dismissive of you to assume your needs ar

erence uncomfortably round, too similar to a fairy circle for me to step without unease within it, although I could see that it was not marked

," he continued. If someone were dying, you would ride at speed. Therefore, my guess is that yo

My mother is convinced that m

stop. "Your mother will get over it." He sl

ot know what other spells he had that he might use against me if I tried to do so, an

This spot is very circular. Perhap

y concerns. "I would sense

fallen tree and drew from a bag he wore under his cloak, a small book, bound in

cover or binding, but I could see something had been embossed into the leather. Perhaps the embossing wa

I suggested. "If you wish me to us

es and raised my eyebrows back. He returned the book to his bag. "Very well,

with Coryfe whilst I hunted. I mig

a trust issue,

. There was some Fae or Elven heritage in his lineage, I realised. It would explain the wild beauty of his featur

es who held a strain from somewhere in their past as a result. More recently, at least according to tale, the Fae were more likel

. But, according to the stories, they were usually identifiable only by their unusual beauty, a ce

se we surmount th

and I trust you enough to leave yo

to a great deal of effort to get this book

ely to ride off on my ho

bag. "It's magic." I put the book into my bag. He watched the

cky things. In the wrong hands,

eyes with his. I di

ori

molars were the same length as his canines, and both were sharply pointed. He was definitely not all mankind, I noted war

ally acquainted, how about y

ng Rivyn would not make off with Coryfe despite the book in my bag. I reached inside in order to feel it's bindi

, sending them scurrying away in a wild rustling of leaves, and further along, what looked to be the floating o

I noticed something glinting, suspended bet

o tightly, with only its little feet and part of its face visible. Its struggles had attract

o treat someone who's trying to help." I used my dagger to slice it free of the web, sendin

I heard the mage call m

e whole forest to our location." I worked the last of the w

you doing?

iry man, with a cap of golden hair, his trousers and tunic sewn from leaves. He had stopped fighting me and seemed content to sit whi

ing it to the little man. He accepted it, and ate ravenously, his sharp little t

ns, and possessing a pearlescent sheen. The tip of this fairy man's wing had become folded in the spider's tangle and

ssion on his face. "You'd have been better off leaving him to

do you think?

iry healer?" He arch

but it continued to sag. He inspected the damage trying to straighten it between his hands. He made a squeaking sound that might have contained words but was pitch

g the cover of the book beneath his fingers covetously. "He should... ah, see." The little fairy man stepped onto my hand a

t," I reclaimed i

looked pleased.