Hello, Everyone!

Last time, after defeating Nurvureem and briefing the rulers of Pamagos and Zerakas tol about it, our heroes had some bathtub-bonding time (it's not as dirty as it sounds, I promise!) 😅 Mary was worried that she was only useful in the fight because Aurum had turned her into a Giant ape but Agatha gave her a few words of wisdom and that seemed to alleviate her doubts.

[IMAGE: https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mellindor/23uFphBrCAkwzMwTMXUvUYy7dVqHvxYArdMDCQcTj8f9bPJVpARDutz8ZJ2LydVzdLuPK.png]

Mary was finally going to sleep in a real bed, in a place she didn’t feel any threats. It had been a long time since she’d had that. She lied down, opening the ‘Draconomicon’ on the chapters on Silver dragons, when she felt a familiar tingle in the back of her head.

“Gillean!” she whispered and dove towards her Book of Shadows.

There was a message waiting for her.

“Hello, Dragon Slayer!”

A smile sneaked its way to Mary’s lips.

“It wasn’t exactly me who killed her,”
she wrote.

“Well, yes, you all did it together.”

“Agatha nearly died.”

“Nearly?”

“Yes, Bruno brought her back. I don’t remember it
clearly, I wasn’t myself during that part.”

“Mary, Agatha was dead dead. Bruno is a wonder,
don’t forget to tell him so. I’m really glad
you have friends like these.”

Mary sighed. She didn’t feel like a very good friend right now.

“So, what comes next?”
Gillean asked.

“We have a few months to do something against Tesaya
and the rest of the Cult. There are three dragons that
we know of, two of which directly endanger Erathos.
And armies. They’re gathering armies,
Gillean! How do we stand against armies?!”

Mary buried her head in her hands. They were all so over their heads!

“Erathos has armies, too,” Gillean wrote.
“This won’t be their first fight against a powerful enemy.
And I don’t think that the four of you, of all people,
are going to have to stand against the armies.”

“I’ve never imagined such a thing happening
in my lifetime,” Mary wrote.

“For a long time I’ve been assuming that this was
the life you were going to lead.”

”But I am afraid.”

“It is normal to be afraid. Fear is an important feeling.
Being brave is not the absence of fear.
It’s acting despite it.”

“So is stupidity.”

“Come now. The stupid do not fear anything.”

Mary looked at the window. The clouds of the night sky were hanging over the city like a curse.

A new message appeared on the page.

“I like Edmund.”

She smiled. “Me too! Did you see him?
Isn’t he magnificent?!”

“I didn’t see anything magnificent,” Gillean wrote,
”but I’m beginning to gather the pieces of the puzzle.
Especially after he mastered Nurvureem’s sword.”

Mary felt a flutter in her chest.

“Gillean!” she wrote with a smile that she couldn’t
stop widening. “Edmund is a Silver dragon! He showed himself
to us back when we talked to him and Francesca
Findabair. It was pure magic!”

“This is good news.”

Mary wished she could see her Patron’s face. It had been so long since they'd talked face-to-face.

“I want to let a bit more time pass before
I summon you here,” Gillean wrote, as if guessing
her thoughts, “just to be sure that the new place
is safe and that your visit won’t be a problem for
any of us. You know, I'm a deserter in Oberon’s
eyes. He tried to thrust upon me some
‘family obligations’ and I bolted.”

“You’re part of Oberon’s family?!”
she asked, utterly bemused.

“It’s not much of an accomplishment,”
Gillean wrote and Mary felt bitterness pour out from the page.

She thought that he was talking too vaguely. Was it a secret, his connection to Oberon? Didn’t he trust her?

“I trust you implicitly, Mary!” he said.
“But I want to protect you from all of that. Fey magic
is so far from your understanding that I can hardly see myself
explaining it to you. Each detail you know can put you
in danger. The Fey folk might try and hurt you
in an attempt to get to me.”

Mary wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

“Isn’t it easier for someone to get to me and deceive me
if I don’t know what to be wary of?” she wrote stubbornly.
“You know that I’d give anything to see new magic and
pretty things created by it! How easy would it be
for someone to lure me with the promise of
a miracle, if I don’t know it is dangerous?”

“My hopes are that you’d stay completely out of all that.
We’re not talking about pixies that are going to gull you
with a pretty flower or fair words. We’re talking about
creatures that will kill you before you knew it,
just to show me your body afterwards and
weaken me by doing so!”

Mary suppressed a shiver. She was afraid, again, and now she could see that this fear could, indeed, protect her in some regard. But she still wished to be able to put a face to this fear.

“Let us talk about something else,”
Gillean wrote before she could insist
any further. “Please.”

Mary’s heart cracked. Gillean had never pleaded with her before! She thought of something else to talk about.

“You know,” she wrote, ”I think I’ve become better
at surviving in a fight. At least I try to protect myself
better than before. I wouldn’t want to be a burden
to my friends. I don’t want them to make
any more sacrifices to save me.”

“I’m sure you’re the only one
who thinks that you're a burden, Mary!”

The half-forgotten face of a gnomish woman with a shawl around her hair re-surfaced into Mary’s mind, uninvited. She pursed her lips.

“When I was little, we had this neighbour,
Auntie Larissa. She was good friends with Lilly
and we went to see her constantly. One day, when I was
playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with her little girl, I went and
hid myself on the terrace and accidentally
eavesdropped on the adults’ conversation.”

Mary sighed.

“Auntie Larissa called me a burden. She called
Lilly a saint for taking care of such difficult child. She praised
her for the sacrifices both she and Bramble were
making, just to raise me.”

“You call that a good friend?!”
Gillean wrote, his handwriting suddenly scribbly with anger.
“This ‘auntie Larissa’ sounds like a pitiful creature!”

“Well, we gradually stopped visiting her place,”
Mary wrote. “But I began seeing the same admiration
towards Lilly in other people’s eyes. I heard them saying things.
How Bramble had to work so much more to feed his
growing family. How Lilly had to quit her dreams
to become a mother and housewife.”

Gillean didn’t write anything, so Mary continued.

“I asked Lilly about it one time. She said that there is
no such thing, that they love me and are grateful to have me…
But of course she’d say that. People who care about you
will never say that you’re a burden to them.”

“I think you should go see them,” Gillean wrote.

“When I get to Zerakas tol, I will. As much as I
miss them, there are many other things we need
to take care of before that.”

“Find the time,” Gillean wrote.
“It is important to take care of
yourself and of your loved ones.”

[IMAGE: https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/mellindor/23uFsHfFYPqtwdxq5vtVj9QEoNBgX299goybFKvfjcJN4AFuUPBbRLUimaL5YW6tX4yiQ.jpg]

With these words of wisdom from our favourite Archfey, we finish this Interlude and are ready to start the next part of our heroes’ adventure.

In the meantime – what do you think of Auntie Larissa? Mary remembers her with bitterness but I think she must have thought she was doing good, congratulating Lilly for raising her giant human child. It's all a bit complicated…

Take care and be well!

Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday and Thursday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)

An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.