"The curiosity that humans hold toward the mysteries of the world has always been one of the better qualities of your kind. But, young ones, do heed your teacher's warnings well, and don't wander too far."
The fae spoke in a way that seemed to lack the cadence of human speech, but it's warning was clear enough. With that chilling gaze directed at me, I felt certain that the fae's words were for me, despite the apparently generalized nature of its advice. Had it also recognized me somehow, like I knew it from the previous day's brief encounter? Had I managed to catch its attention in a bad way?
"Then, Nerna, could you tell us of this Court of Dusk?"
Our instructor spoke up after the small, but to me rather ominous, pause that had followed the fae's words. It ponderously turned to face her instead, and I felt like some pressure shifted away from me along with its gaze. As I became more aware of my surroundings again, I could see that instructor Mennes was frowning slightly, as the fae had yet to respond.
The sentiment that the fae had expressed had been far more cogent than I'd expected, based on everything that I'd heard of the fae, but despite my earlier certainty, that it'd been talking to me specifically, I was starting to feel like it could have referred to any number of things. Like, for instance, the students that had gotten lost in the Faewood, or the others that had entered the forest to look for them.
I wondered if our instructor was thinking of that as well. Since she was among the academy's foremost experts on the fae and the forest, surely she would have been consulted for any search operation. Since she wasn't mentioning anything about the lost students that had attended her own class, but had instead quickly moved onto another topic, maybe she was even trying to avoid the matter because the academy had decided to keep quiet about it.
"One basks in the Dawn when they know the many joys, and one seeks the Dusk when they have lost their mirth."
The fae answered slowly, like it had to consider its words. Maybe it needed the time to think about how to sound as cryptic as possible. I had to revise my earlier evaluation and conclude that the expectations set by our instructor were appropriate after all. Nerna's words did nothing to illuminate the mysterious Courts of the fae, by which many, though not all, fae introduced themselves in the tales.
It seemed like the same Court was barely ever mentioned twice, so it made one wonder if there weren't actually just dozens of them. Even from Nerna's answer one could only perhaps glean that there might have been a Court of Dawn as well, but didn't explain what exactly they were supposed to be. If I had to guess, I would have said that they represented some sort of political divisions among the fae, but in the first place I knew of nothing that suggested that the concept of politics even held any significance among the fae.
Instructor Mennes looked as disappointed in the answer as I was, but she soon moved on to begin her lecture, clearly having little expectations for the guest to participate fruitfully. Nerna in turn found a seat, where he continued to sit mostly quietly and unnerving everyone with his presence. It was hard to ignore the creature and focus on the lecture, especially when I had to wonder if it didn't have something to do with the disappearance of the students in the Faewood. Had those lost students ended up suffering some awful fate at the whims of the fae after all?
I wondered if the instructor Mennes took this lecture to introduce some of the more modern theories about ancient encounters with the fae, that had been developed after the opening of the Fae rift, in the hopes of using Nerna to confirm any of them. But a fae's knowledge would surely have been useful for any lecture in the course, and it also seemed to follow the more or less chronological approach she had taken to assessing the development of human knowledge of the fae.
But if our instructor had such hopes she was probably disappointed. Nerna would say something if prompted, and occasionally even spoke up out of its own accord, but by my assessment there was little to learn from its words, unless perhaps one was trying to uncover the alien way of thought of the fae. There was one sudden exception however, which took even our instructor by surprise, and caused quite a stir among the students.
"Tenirlina. I know of her, yes. The Free One, who defied the Lords of Faerie."
Hearing the name of mythological figure of humanity's age of myths seemingly echoed back by a fae, if in quite a different pronunciation, was certainly shocking to me as well. An enigmatic figure that stood apart from the divines in the legends, and yet spoke truths that humbled even one of humanity's wise guides. Ternila, as her name had been passed down among humans, stood apart, neither divine nor human, as one of the strangest figures from the age of myths. Somehow, she didn't seem out of place with the equally fantastical and enigmatic figures of the Lords that ruled in the Faerie.
I did not think that our instructor ever expected to have her own speculations, about a figure so shrouded in myth, so non-chalantly corroborated. Not only was it always amazing to uncover any piece of knowledge from those times, but for what had seemed like wild speculation to be confirmed so easily must have seemed too good to be true, seeing the anxious trepidation with which the instructor prompted Nerna to continue.
"Then, you are saying that it really was a fae that helped create human magic?"
As the foundational legend about the divines went, it was Okharan, the bravest and among the divines, that gave humanity the gift of fire, angering those that proclaimed to rule as masters of humanity. And his brother, mighty Enoran, had taught humans to use the fire to forge metals. As the two brothers led humans to rise up against their oppressors in battle, many other divines had joined and given humans their own gifts, some less tangible but all invaluable.
By comparison, Nefraos's role among his compatriots had then been to share the abstract knowledge of the world to humans. In those warlike and harsh times, his charges did not yet comprehend the importance of such teachings, and thus his words were disregarded in favor of the mighty warriors among the divines. But Nefraos wasn't satisfied with so little. No, he was in truth the most ambitious of all the divines, intending to give humans the grandest gift of all: Magic.
Yet Nefraos, most knowledgeable of the divines and undeniable master among mages, had been stumped in his pursuits, as he found that humanity did not have his prodigious ability to wield mana. So he left for a journey, humbling himself to ask for advice from those that were equally known to be wise and knowledgeable. But even in consulting the eldest dragons, he failed to find anyone that could offer him a solution, much less understand the nobility of his purpose.
So it was until Nefraos came upon Ternila. An enigmatic figure that appeared rarely in the myths, but always played an important role when she did. It was Ternila's advice that had allowed Nefraos to make a triumphant return, as she showed him the need to first understand his own powers, as she had, before he could begin to teach others. After he was taught by Ternila more about his own magic, so he had in turn taught humans to use magic as they could, and not like the divines.
"It's easy to imagine that being the case. I've heard that she was quite fond of this world."
To think that such a benevolent figure, one of the only ones, aside the divines, among the great entities of the age of myths, that could be perceived as an ally to humanity, was actually fae. Some had even speculated that she was something like a goddess to the divines themselves. The divines were not to be worshiped, but who knew what grand powers were behind them. Though it seemed that that theory would lose favor with this discovery.
Perhaps it was the explanation that most suited the mythical that was Ternila. She was described as not so different from humans, but far more ancient and powerful than any of our kind could be, and it did seem like her decision to teach Nefraos had been almost on a whim. So perhaps it was one of those rare cases where a fae's gift turned out well. Unless one agreed with those that held that it was the introduction of magic to humanity that gave the great kings the power to turn against the divines and tear humanity apart from their guides.
From an academic point of view, we should probably have doubted the fae more, but it was such an interesting proposition that many parts of the room filled with excited chatter despite the chilling effect of the fae present. Even if, as I speculated based on the way that Nerna had worded it, the fae was just relaying the mythology of its own kind, it was still rather amazing to have confirmation of the same figure being present in two mythologies that had been separated for millennia. It even seemed to confirm my own speculation that the fae had their own magic as well, though the idea that it was actually in some way the source of human magic was rather new.
There were no more such grand revelations for the rest of the lesson. Soon enough the students started to file out of the room, though the process was somewhat slowed by the presence of the fae that was seated near the door, watching them as they passed by. I wished that I could have been surprised that it chose to talk exactly when I was passing by.
"You are kin."
I stopped immediately as Nerna's quiet words drifted to my ears, and turned to face it, just as it was clearly staring at me. I doubted it was acting out of consideration, but it looked like it was talking quietly enough that others didn't hear what it'd just said, especially as they were now steering well clear of both of us. Though they were certainly staring, particularly that one prefect girl, who looked like she was making way too much of the situation.
Since I already had everyone's attention, I decided to step closer to the fae, so that we could keep the conversation quiet. I really wasn't looking forward to the rumors that would come from it, but the situation was far too tempting to ignore. As much as I was afraid of the fae, that was sitting completely relaxed despite how out of place it looked in the seat, what it said was very interesting.
With how much I had worried about my supposed connection to the fae, I couldn't pass on the chance to actually talk to one. Especially since it appeared to have the ability to tell me more, considering that apparently all it needed was a single glance to say such a thing. So I steeled myself, faced the odd creature straight on, and prompted it to continue.
"You must be referring to me being a Tannel."
In an oddly human quirk, the fae tilted its head, seeming like it was considering my words. In the long moment that it didn't answer, I had enough time to start driving myself mad with speculation. I started to wonder if it wasn't staring at me, but rather inside me, as its unreadable stare didn't waver. The idea that it could sense mana like me, or at least in a way that was equivalent for the fae, could certainly explain how it had picked me out so quickly.
Perhaps my ability to sense mana was in itself a part of what connected me to the fae. It surpassed other humans so far that it certainly seemed to be more comparable to the way in which the creatures of the Faerie seemed to be more attuned to mana. And was I just driving myself mad with speculation, or was its alien mana flow in some way similar to my own, overactive for a human, flow? Was that how channeling the Fae rift had affected me, making my mana flow more like the fae?
"I wonder if that's how it is?"
The fae's voice suddenly took on a surprisingly human quality, as it seemed genuinely ponderous, a level of expression that diverged from its previous flat statements. But what was it even saying? Did it also not know how I was related to the fae? Was it saying that it was in some way different to the other Tannels? Was the connection I was looking for further in my past, as Tannel, after all?
As it again fell quiet, seemingly having no interest in elaborating, another unnerving thought then hit me. Maybe this Nerna did actually know something about the Tannels, being that Mary and her family probably interacted with visitors from the Faerie more than any other humans. If so, was it actually able to see at a glance that I wasn't even the real Mela?
"If not that, then what are you talking about?"
I finally hissed out in frustration, as the whole encounter, was getting on my nerves. The fae seemed entirely satisfied with leaving me to struggle with my insecurities. What I actually wanted to do was to curse and scream at it to tell me just what I even was, if it knew anything. Truthfully, I feared what the answer would have been, but having no idea at all was still worse.
"I don't think I'll tell."
In its voice there was again a hint of genuine human emotion, this time of amusement. And I saw the fae smile again, but it wasn't the fake twisting of its mouth that it had done when introducing itself. No, it was a markedly human smile, a cruel one. The smile of someone that was thoroughly enjoying the doubt and frustration that I had shown it.
I could scarcely believe it when Nerna just stood up, or rather its body flowed into a standing position in that strange way it moved, and just turned to leave the classroom. I could have sworn I heard it snickering to itself, as it sauntered off with all the body language of someone extremely satisfied with themselves, leaving me unable to utter a single word in retort. Where had the enigmatic and otherworldly creature from moments ago gone? And what had that been earlier, about losing one's mirth?
Later, in a quiet corner of the library, as I was trying to calm myself down, I came across yet striking discovery. I'd grabbed more of Mela's notes, specifically what she had noted down about the magic that the divines apparently used to close off the old paths. Just as I was trying to square the disparate ideas of me using similar magic to the divines, being related to the fae somehow, and human magic actually coming from the fae to some extent, the name Ternila came up again.
I shouldn't have been surprised. It wasn't like I knew all of the myriad tales passed down from the age of myths. And even though Ternila, or Tenirlina more accurately, wasn't mentioned very often, she seemed to always show up when great magics were involved. But finding out that Nefraos was recorded to have again asked Tenirlina for help, when it was time for him to design the divines' greatest magical achievement, seemed to solve some of my questions all too cleanly.
I had come to think of the fae in connection to the rift that now led directly to the Faerie. But if it was actually some strand of fae magic, that was needed to control not only the Fae rift, but also other similar phenomena, then it seemed like my connection to the fae was actually not just another unbelievable coincidence stacked on top of everything else. Rather, it seemed like an explaining factor for behind my seemingly unique ability to control the rift.
It still left various questions of course. Like why Mary and her family wouldn't have found help from the fae to achieve what Mela thought I was needed for. Even if the fae weren't particularly cooperative, it didn't seem like a less reliable solution than calling back the soul of her ancient ancestor. But if it was the cooperation of two of the greatest mages of the age of myths, Tenirlina and Nefraos, that had created this magic that I'd in some part replicated, perhaps there was yet another piece that was missing. And I finally felt like I had a solid lead for where to look.
Still an avid reader, one of the first stories I pick up when I need to catch up on my reading
That's great to hear! I've been worried about my ability to keep it interesting, when I keep pushing the pace like this.