“Hurry up Fire King” grumbled the old woman, sitting in a small dinghy tied off to an overhanging tree branch.
The river was bitterly cold and ran dark and slowly down to the sea. The old woman startled at a sound, there had been Warg near here recently, and then she saw August the Fire King and two of his guard looking down at her from the river bank
“High One” said the old woman quietly. “I have the Infants here”
August scrambled down the bank and drew the dinghy to shore
“Thank you Llewen.” said August. “Stay in the middle of the river as you go downstream. The Warg here are defeated, but a few may remain. Take care, my friend”
And giving August his infant children, Elenor and Lillian, the old woman cast off, waved, and was swiftly gone.
A small figure came and stood beside August “They are safe, Ixt” said August relieved
“And safest on Serendipity” said the little man.
Then He, August and his guards vanished silently.
A howl broke out on the other side of the river, and was answered further away by another Warg
Elle and Lill walked down the hill together, talking.
Sir Artu and his small son, Len, walked behind them
“Let’s make a fairy castle, Lill” said Elle “And a forest garden” said Lill in return
The twin sisters were six years old, and inseperable. One was blonde, called Lillian,
and the other, dark haired, was called Elenor.Their father, who was the Fire King, was called August.
“Oh Lill” said Elle, “Look at this, it’s got tiny blue flowers” and Lillian came to her and they crouched down together
looking at the delicate little plant.
“What is this one, Harry?” said Lill
“It is a miniature succulent, High One” said Harry the Ranger
“Of the Cactii family” he added.
Elle picked two flowers and put them in Lill’s hand.
“I give you tiny flowers which are gifts from the rain and sunshine to make silver of the dewdrops of your pain”
said little Elenor.
“That is beautiful, dear heart” said Lill to her other half.
Just ahead of them, a flock of red browed firetails were pecking on the dirt road that wound down gently to Moonlight Bay. Harry the ranger was seventeen, and came from centuries of Wilderness family.
All had been rangers, except for his great great grandmother Gwenievere, who had been Earth Mother.
“Harry, can we take the dinghy to Serendipity’s Head?” said Elle.
“Yes, High One” said Harry “I will row for you”.
“Thank you, Harry” said Elle smiling.
Harry smiled in return. “It is my great honor, High One” he said
Elle held out her hand and a little red browed firetail flew up to her outstretched palm and ate the seeds she offered.
“Hello, beautiful little” said Elle. Lill giggled and watched the red browed firetail eat.
Lillian was a painter, and they both sang, and made up songs together,
Harry happened to play lute and he helped them write the songs down.
When they got to the bottom of the hill, Harry untied the dinghy and the girls climbed in and sat together at the bow.
Harry pushed off and took up the oars and they set off round Serendipity island to it’s headland.
They followed the shoreline until they came to an outcrop of rock with a metal ring set there to tie up to.
Harry caught the ring and tied a rope to it so they could float there. Elle and Lill stood up in the dinghy holding hands. “Serendipity” they both said together.
“Hello, my Littles” said the magical island.
“We both had the same dream” said Lill to Serendipity.
“Did you” said Serendipity.
“Yes,” said Elle “Lill is going to be Queen of Moon Kingdom and I’m going to be an Earth Mother”.
“Yes, Littles” said Serendipity, “But not for a while yet.”
A dolphin surfaced beside the dinghy and the girls sat stroking his head.
Harry sat and watched, smiling at the marvellous children of the Fire King
On Elenor’s 18th birthday, ten Seers and a Ranger called Tom, had been given access to Serendipity Isle by August the Moon King, to tell Elenor and her sister Lillian, that they had long ago seen Elenor, the Earth Mother of the Wilderness.
They pleaded with Elenor, until at last, she relented and allowed herself to be taken from her sister to the Wilderness.
The Wilderness folk bowed and called her Earth Mother, and she cried for her sister and her family far away.
The womenfolk gathered around Elenor and her unborn child, and made her their sister, as well as Earth Mother.
And so Elenor wove herself through all their lives, and her son, Gaia, a happy and healthy baby,
who was very aware of all the creatures, became their Mother’s Son.
The homes of the folk that lived in the Wilderness were built with rock, or rammed earth.
Some were made of timber and were built in the tree’s.
Some of the folk were nomadic, like Elenor and her son, Gaia, who roamed the endless Wilderness, moving between communities
The Wilderness had it’s trades of Master’s and Mistresses like the Moon Kingdom did, and in the Arts in particular.
There were old links with the hidden realms of the Fairie, and to outsiders, the Wilderness seemed an errie place, with rumours of gates into the Fairy Kingdom, and forest tracks that seemed to dissapear.
In the time of Beorn the Bear’s reign, the Warg lands were vast, and the Wolf Kingdom numbered in millions.
There was no safety in any land, and the surrounding Kingdom’s each fought the Warg’s alone.
Beorn’s Kingdom was the largest, and he had sent his son, August, to be taught Mastery of Fire, the one thing that the Warg feared. August returned to find Beorn and his army slain, only hours before he arrived, and in a great rage, August hunted the Wolf King, and found him entering the Misty Glade with two hundred of his fellow Warg.
The Misty Glade is a perilous place with hidden quick sand, slimy ponds and tracks that lead to confusion. And soon the Leader of the Warg, Rool, and his Warg army were completely lost.
As August crossed the spell stream that bordered the Misty Glade, an exquisite Fairy woman appeared, and spoke to the fifteen year old King. “August, I am Night’s Mistress, the Warg King and his army have crossed over onto my lands, they will never leave the Misty Glade”.
“I will give one of my folk to you, to guide you to the Warg King, Rool. The law of Wolf says whoever kills the Leader, then beomes the Leader, you must destroy Rool. August, it is your destiny” she said as she bowed to the young King.
She stood and extended her soft supple hand and a tiny Fairy appeared. “This is Quirian, August Moon, she is my littlest, and my cleverest, she will guide you through the Misty Glade.
Quirian flew from Night’s Mistresses hand to young King August’s shoulder.
“Now, young King” said Quirian, “We must go quickly” and off she flew.
August bowed, quickly saying “Thank you, Mistress” then he sped away after the swift little ball of light.
Quirian led the young King up a shallow stream with ancient trees growing on either side of it, and soon they came to the marshes of the Misty Glade. Thin tendrils of fog obscured the trees and bushes, the ground underfoot grew slippery and wet, and following Quirian was not easy for the young King. He struggled on until they came to a vast lake, where Quirian stopped and hovered, waiting for August to catch up.
Quirian pointed to the center of the lake.
“Young King” she said. “There is an island out there, and on the island is the Leader of the Warg.”
“Ah” said Quirian. “It seems your task is taken from you, Rool is alone there, and dying.
He sought to make a pact with the Goblins to help his army, but Evernor forbade it, and the Goblins turned on Rool, then left to return to Goblindom. The Misty Glade has already taken his Warg.”
“I cannot swim” said August as the Fairy Quirian flew to August and sat on his shoulder
“It does not matter, young Fire King” said Quirian “I will fly you there.”
August smiled at Quirian. “But you are so small” said the young King. “How could you..”
And found himself floating two feet above the ground. “Appearances can be deceptive, young Fire King” said the Fairy.
“Shall we go?”.
“Um, yes please” said August.
Quirian and August flew low over the water, heading for the island
“Ah” said Quirian, “He is gone, his evil soul departs.”
“Stop” said August to the Fairy, and she did, hovering above the water.
“This war must go no further” said August in despair.
The honking of swans was heard as Night’s Mistress flew to them.
“Come with me, Fire King” said the Mistress.
And she swept the young King and her Fairy on to her silver seat, and they sailed away.
The four swan flew higher into the night sky.
Above them, the full moon shone down and shimmered on the surface of the Misty Glade.
August wept for his father and all his people who were gone
“If I could make a Kingdom up on the Moon to keep my people safe, I would” said August to Night’s Mistress
“Be careful what you wish for in Evernor, young Fire King” said Night’s Mistress gazing at the Moon
