I know what I am (Entry 109)

by Hayley Thomas

Dear diary,

Sometimes I wonder if I am a bad person. I like to tell myself that I can be very persuasive, but maybe manipulative is a better word for it. Luke certainly thinks I have a knack for making things go my way. That and being secretive. He has a point though. I do have a way of making things happen the way I want them to, and I do often keep secrets.

What I wanted to say is that I convinced the others of stealing the box from the hags. And that without actually telling them what the ritual is for. Being vague is sometimes enough. The ritual is a failsafe against Ulther, for when things really go south. That is not a lie, if anything, I do not lie. Usually under circumstances like there I expect Alistan to be more sceptical, to ask questions I would rather not answer. But he didn’t. Not even Gael protested. I guess that taking power away from the hags is enticing enough in and of itself.

Instead of asking critical questions, we devised a plan. Go there, and while I talk to the hags, Dadroz and Gael sneak up and steal the ritual. Some honest trespassing and burglary. What could go wrong?

We sent a message to Lady Rootskewer to meet at Rune Hill and then headed there. It took two days of travelling through the Lorewood from Tarn, but it is easy enough to find. Just like when I had scouted the place before, all four hags were present. When we approached the menhirs surrounding the hill, she stopped us. By this time Gael and Dadroz had been making their way around to the other side. Rootskewer seemed a bit surprised that not all of us had come, but I assured her by saying this was a friendly chat and not everyone needed to be present for that. She agreed it would have been more suspicious had we all come, armed to the teeth, and then granted us access into the circle.

That would be the first obstacle I had not thought of. The circle was warded. Of course it was. Hopefully nothing more than an alarm spell, instead of something more potent to keep people out. Either way, that will be a problem for Gael and Dadroz to solve. I set out to do my part, and that was to distract Rootskewer and possibly get some information.

So I talked to her about the plans of king Ulther, to transfer Keralon to the feywild, and my worries on how it would affect Sister Willow and Brother Stalker. Rootskewer shrugged and said she was more worried about the two who were still in the feywild. And then she dropped a piece of information that made so much sense in hindsight. Lumeria, the obnoxious little fey my brother had been so infatuated with, was connected to one of those two! So that is where she gets her power from.

At this point Gael and Dadroz set off the alarm when they entered the circle, drawing Rootskewer’s attention. But between their ability to remain unseen and Liliana’s uncanny way of being disarming, she dismissed it as a false alarm.

I asked her if she could tell us more about the two spirits that were still on the feywild, but she didn’t have much more information. They used to represent fear and want, but that could have changed over time. She did say that it would be bad if they came to the material plane, as they would undoubtedly try and free the other two. This strengthened my conviction to make sure Sister Willow and Brother Stalker found their way back to the feywild. It would just take some planning and good timing to free them and send them back. Another secret I would have to keep seeing as I don’t think the others would agree much.

Dadroz gave the telepathic signal that he had managed to grab the scroll from Rootskewers’ box, and that they were back to safety. I said my goodbyes to Rootskewer but before I left the circle, I turned around and asked if there was anything I could do to help them. She shrugged and laughed and said that unless we could bring them babies to turn into more hags, there was little we could do. Seeing as that was not up for discussion, we said goodbye and left, heading back to Tarn.

To make sure the ritual was safe while I studied it, as well as making sure Liliana and I were safe as much as possible, I decided to cast a forbiddance spell over my house, disallowing fey from entering the area, unless they wanted to deal with the pain. I thought this was a simple and reasonable thing to do seeing as the hags might find out the scroll was gone and put two and two together. And somehow this massively upset Ileas, who took it as a personal affront.

I understand he likes visiting Liliana from time to time, but making the little inconvenience this causes him into a more important issue than protecting Liliana and myself? Either way, I didn’t feel like arguing about it too much, and luckily the spell allows for some flexibility. So I made an exception for Ileas, Gael and Dynia, giving them a passkey to enter. With the warning that if they gave it to anyone else, I would remove the privilege again, with no exceptions.

Maybe I am a bad person sometimes, but I’d rather see myself as pragmatic.

24th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Continue reading...

Entry one: The trials

Entry two: The bramble

Entry 3: Rosebloom

Entry 4: Hearts and Dreams

Entry 5: of ghosts and wolves

Entry 6: Hillfield and Deals with Fae

Entry 7: mysteries and pastries

Entry 8: The scarecrow ruse
6th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Entry 9: A betrayal of satyrs
7th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 10: The fate of twins
8th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 11: Cursed twins
10th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 12: Loss and despair
11th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Hayley's rules to being a Witch

Entry 13: the price of safety
12th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 14: A golden cage and fiery tower
13th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 15: A trial by fire
14th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Entry 16: Keralon
15th of Lug, 121 year of the Tree

Letter to Luke 1

Letter to Luke 2

Letter to Luke 3

Letter to Luke 4

Letter to Luke 5

Letter to Luke 6

Entry 17: I shall wear midnight
1st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 18: peace in our time
2nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 19: Caern Fussil falls
3rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 20: I see fire
4th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 21: Cultists twarted
10th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 22: Ravensfield
14th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 23: The Hollow Hill Horror
15th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 24: Burn your village
16th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 25: Ravensfield burns
17th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 26: There will be blood!
21st of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 27: A happy reunion
22nd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 28: The embassy ball
23rd of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 29: The fate of Robert Talespinner
24th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 30: A royal summons
28th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 31: of Dogville and Geese
29th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 32: A boggle named Pim
30th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 33: A deal broken
1st of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 34: The cost of doing what is right
2nd of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 35: A dish best served cold
9th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

entry 36: Cornu returns?
10th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 37: A letter from Amarra
11th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 38: The case of the (not) missing villagers
14th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 39: A curse broken
15th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 40: Into the Lorewood
18th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 41: Cabin in the Woods
19th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 42: Myrdin and Anaya
20th of Aran, 126 Era of the Tree

Entry 43: Into the Immerglade
21st of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 44: A tale as old as time
22nd of Aran, 127 Era of the Tree

Entry 45: The truth
23rd of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 46: Luke's Ordeal
24th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 47: The festival
26th of Aran, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 48: Trouble at the Cathedral
2nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 49: Quinn's court
4th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 50: onwards to Latebra Velora
5th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 51: Where is my cow?
6th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 52: Here be dragons
7th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 53: Dragon hoard with a side of scarabs
8th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 54: Leave the basilisks alone
9th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 55: Return to Ravensfield
10th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 56: The needs of the many...
11th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 57: Dreams of Sister Willow
12th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 58: wetlands be wet
13th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 59: Baron Perenolde
14th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 60: Talebra Velora and the lady Morenthene
15th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 61: Cypria
16th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 62: Dragon takes Knight
17th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 63: Return to Talebra Velora
18th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 64: Your presence is “requested”
19th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 65: I stand alone
20th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 66: A day of normalcy
21th of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 67: Into the Neverhold
22nd of Brigan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 68: The Warg King

Entry 69: Chased by birds

Entry 70: Whitewail

Entry 71: Nimmerhold

Entry 72: The menagerie
29th of Gobu, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 73: To the library!
30th of Gobu, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 74: The people's tournament
First of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 75: Nimmerhold party
First of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 76, The return home
Second of Mannan, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 77: A week of peace
10th of Mannan

Entry 78: The tomb of the First King
11th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 79: I had a dream
12th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 80: The ritual for Sister Willow
14th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 81: Trouble at the Briar Ring
15th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Entry 82: My day as a crocodile
21st of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

The return of the twins (Entry 83)
22nd of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Earth and Sky (Entry 84)
26th of Mannon, 128 Era of the Tree

Wolf's Rest betrayed (entry 85)
30th of Mannon

The end of a chapter (entry 86)
first of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

On the road (Entry 87)
second of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

The Red Knight (Entry 88)
7th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Dear uncle… (Entry 89)
8th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Cut the bridge (Entry 90)
10th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Home (Entry 91)
13th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

A tale of two shadows (Entry 92)
16th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Eileen Inkheart and the cursed village (Entry 93)
17th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Nidhog at the end of the world (Entry 94)
18th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Into Hillfield (Entry 95)
24th of Edon, 128 Era of the Tree

Did it have to be spiders? (Entry 96)
12th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

The burning tree (Entry 97)
13th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Deep down the city (Entry 98)
14th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Heavy is the crown (Entry 99)
21st of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Genie in a bottle (Entry 100)
24th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Bad blood (Entry 101)
27th of Duna, 128 Era of the Tree

Think about it (Entry 102)
2nd of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Arca Valon (Entry 103)
6th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Myrddin's grand plan (Entry 104)
10th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Nearly lost you (Entry 105)
11th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Who let the dogs out? (Entry 106)
18th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Land of confusion (Entry 107)
19th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Running up that hill (Entry 108)
20th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

I know what I am (Entry 109)
24th of Hagan, 128 Era of the Tree

Welcome to paradise (Entry 110)
1st of solstice, 129 Era of the Tree

Come out and play (Entry 111)
1sh of Solstice, 129 Era of the Tree

This is war (Entry 112)
2nd of Solstice, 129 Era of the Tree

Good things go (Entry 113)
3rd of Solstice, 127 Era of the Tree

I know what I am (Entry 109)

Continue reading...

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