The other said nothing, including the Dragon. Peralin, though, put a hand on my shoulder. Being fae meant I could feel his emotions. That surprised me since he was a Godling. Of course, I wasn't just a normal Fae, but I wasn't anywhere on his level.
The golden leaves made bell-like sounds in the breeze. I heard birds call out in various areas and then Rose landed on my shoulder.
"This is the myth of the one tree, home to all the pixies before we split into Clans. How could you do such a thing to bring something so beautiful into the world just with a wave of your hand?"
"Yes," Peralin agreed. "I could not have done it."
"I am ancient," I admitted, something that was not obvious by sight, being an eternal fae. I had also done my best not to let my attitude betray me. "For thousands of years, I have lived in a mountain temple, forgotten by everyone but me. When I knew that there would be no others, I memorized everything they had written. And then I went looking for their hidden and sacred treasures."
"The Temple was older than you," Rose realized. It took most people a lot longer to put that part together.
"Much older than me. Older than all the rest of us. And you know what I found?"
"Seeds," Peralin replied. "You didn't just send out a wave of magic, you also put a seed into this world."
"The roots of that tree will soon spread magic throughout the world," I told the dragon. He had a hard time looking from the tree to me. "This world will be better for it. You and this fine young priest will have to deal with those who want to destroy the tree, though. Nor can you allow anyone to be killed within sight of the tree. In a few years, others may come to take your place once the people have accepted the return of magic in this world."
The priest gave several nods of nervous agreement. Neither the Wolf nor the Pixie made any comment about my setting this up without discussing it with them. Of course, they might come back and settle things of their own accord later. But for someone who had not dealt with any other creatures except those in the wild for longer than this world existed, well, I thought I was doing better than expected.
"Stejan felt a portal open on this world where there was no magic," Rose said with a quick nod. "Then he found your two companions, and they were frantic to get you back. So, he sent us in, but you were the one who made the first portal, right?"
"They were fae from the nearest village, which was still days away from where I had been living. Once they understood I was the eldest among the eldest, and they wanted nothing more than to serve me. I soon realized that I would need others with me because I lost contact with the real world. Besides, what I had sensed in this strange realm was a trouble that might take more than even me to fix. And that brings us to the question of the Commission."
We turned to the priest, who now at least looked steady, although he was keeping his distance from the Dragon. I didn't blame him, even though the creature had shown nothing but calm and understanding.
"We woke up one morning to find an odd altar sitting in a village square. From it came a voice saying that these were gifts to help us fight against the magic that was coming for us. On the altar were several pieces of glass shaped into perfect balls."
He reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out something wrapped in cloth. The cloth unfolded and showed a glass ball that fit nicely in his palm. It glittered from within in swirls of color moves through the glass. Rose was the one who came closest to it and hovered over this gift that none of the rest of us trusted.
"No," Rose said with a shake of her head. "That's not something you want loose on this world. Silver, I'm going to go get Prince Stajan. I think we've found a key to what has been happening n other places."
Silver nodded. He took one step closer to see the ball, but he did not want to touch it.
Rose had called up the smallest portal I had ever seen, and she darted in through it.
"Maybe I should put this down," the priest said and began to kneel.
I saw disaster in that move, so I leapt forward and grabbed the ball as it started the fall out of his hand. I startled and worried everyone with that move and I feared Silver was going to turn into a wolf on me and I didn't know what I would do to reason with him.
"If that glass had hit the ground, we would have been hunting it down for the rest of our very long lives. I can hold on to it for a while longer before I start feeling any of the effects. I really don't know how these humans have managed not to succumb to all whispers from it. You heard them, right Fellet?"
That I knew his name startled the man, who gave a quick nod. "Before any of us could pick up the glass, our priest devised tests to make sure we would not fall under its influence. I could hear the voice telling me fate had destined me for greater things. It was the wrong approach. My father was an area governor, and they assassinated him when I was ten. They killed my grandfather before that, and they took away my mother and my sisters. I only escaped because I was already in the temple. Should I want more?"
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