Embers in the Dust

Mr. Muffins looked over his spells, and was happy to have found his fabrication work. It wouldn’t be easy, but with a little bit of time, and the right inventory, he felt confident that he could magically build a boat that would get them back to Berkton. Nearby, Myla looked for berries, as she couldn’t find any animals on the island to eat. Coming back defeated, she laid a cloth down which held a handful of small fruit.

“This is all I can find that isn’t poisonous to eat. We might just have to be hungry tonight.”

“Maybe I can help?” Wulfgar’s voice came from Mr. Muffins’ right.

Turning, Leaf was sitting with Wulfgar on the shore, tossing small rocks into the water, where fish jumped to grab at, hoping for food.

“That would be helpful. What do you have in mind?”

“Do you have a net?”

“Oh! I have one.” Leaf jumped in, throwing his arm elbow-deep into his bag and producing a large net from it.

“Great!”

Wulfgar removed some of his clothing, placed a dagger between his teeth, then ran to the water, diving in at the last second. As he surfaced, Lyla, Rhokhishi, and Gisela walked over to see what the commotion was.

“We just met, and he’s already getting naked? I like him, Leaf!” Lyla joked.

He placed his hands out in front of him below the water. When his fingers touched, electricity shot out, shooting through the water. A moment later, they all watched as fish began surfacing, dead instantly. With the net, he swam next to his catch, then made it back to shore, where he laid it out between them.

“That’s… twenty or so fish? That should be good for all of us, right?”

“Plenty. Thank you, Wulfgar.” Mr. Muffins exclaimed happily.

Leaf created a small bonfire from brush and fallen branches, and within the hour they all sat around the fire, eating quietly. Breaking the silence, Mr. Muffins turned to Wulfgar.

“So, you came back from the dead? When did that happen exactly?”

“Umm… A couple months ago. It wasn’t winter yet, but it was still pretty cold. After finding Leaf’s mother, she mentioned that he left for Berkton soon after my death. Then, I met a woman in a dream. I can’t remember her name, though… Everything was still pretty foggy, but she guided me to the city. I overheard that Leaf was here, about to take his test, and I had to come see for myself.”

“When did you arrive on the island, though?” Lyla asked.

“There was this storm when I got here. I couldn’t get through on my own, but it disappeared once I was close, and then I saw you all fighting that dragon! That was intense. I swam as quickly as I could, but I didn’t make it until the end.”

“Wait, you swam here?” Rhokhishi questioned.

“Yeah. I transformed myself into a shark and swam here.”

“Wow! That’s pretty cool.” Lyla stated.

“I think you’re burying the lead here. You were guided by a woman in your dreams?” Mr. Muffins asked. “What did she look like?”

“Tall, like really tall. She gave me this too,” Wulfgar answered while pulling a wand from his pocket. “It turns into a dagger sometimes, which is pretty helpful.”

“That explains why you had a dagger in your mouth while in the water, but didn’t use it.” Myla thought aloud.

“Mhm. Anyways, I got here as quickly as I could. I didn’t really know what would happen once I got here,” He explained while turning to Leaf. “But I’m glad I came.”

Sensing that to be the end of that conversation for now, he turned to Gisela.

“And what about you? Last time I saw you, you were the size of my boot. What’s up with that?”

“It’s been a long time for me, so I’ll skip to just the important parts. Soon after seeing you all at the campground, I decided to go back to the Fae Realm. I ended up back home, and met a Primordial named Erebus.”

“Another Primordial?” Rhokhishi asked.

“It seems like a few of them are getting involved. We’ll explain later. Keep going.” Mr. Muffins pushed.

“Well, I was so angry… all the time. He saw me, and I guess felt sorry for me. He offered a solution and took away my ability to break things physically. I stayed at the Winter Court for years, then received Leaf’s letter six months ago.”

“Which I sent only recently.” Leaf added.

“The Realms don’t have the same timelines, moving faster or slower, causing us to age at different rates. The Fae Realm is faster. It shifts sometimes, but that one month was nine years for me. During that time, I learned new skills, gained new innate magic, then once I read Leaf’s letter, I spent months researching what I could about Avernus.”

“Why Avernus? Helena has the soul bag,” Leaf asked.

“She probably wouldn’t need the soul inside it, just the bag, right? If she released Bruna’s soul, she’d be in Avernus.”

“That makes sense,” Wulfgar added.

“Did you go to Avernus?” Leaf asked him.

“For a small bit of time. I traveled through quickly, though, ending up somewhere else.”

“So, Primordials, magic, transformations, and tests… It’s been a long day. Why don’t we skip ahead to how you got here?” Mr. Muffins directed the group.

“Right! So, I had just left the Winter Court and was traveling through the forest when I saw a clearing. There, a rift opened and a dragon came through, with Lyla on top! I was stunned, to say the least. On the other side, I could see you all, so I rushed over. I managed to take a shortcut, I guess,” Gisela explained, smiling at the luck she had.

“Well, that explains that.” Mr. Muffins replied.

He stood, then walked over to the materials that everyone had managed to find. Pulling out his journal again, he began casting his spell. A minute later, the items floated and found a place amongst his commands. The boat was small, but had enough room for all of them to cramp inside. One of the small trees split into four and formed oars, which they would need to paddle in the morning.

“That’s incredible,” Myla stated, her eyes wide in amazement.

“Thanks. Now, let’s all get some rest. We’ve got a busy day of rowing to do tomorrow.”