His uncle laughed when Nalfae said he would leave the village after the snow melt.
"Leave," Uncle repeated. "Who else would accept you?"
Uncle walked away. He still laughed.
The snow melt couldn't come too soon.
By the next day, everyone at Crossing knew he planned to leave. Uncle's reaction was not the worst. Most of the women sketched a warding sign in his direction, including Ardia, as if they hadn't laughed at a lost goose wandering through town the day before.
They treated him like an outsider.
They treated true outsiders much better. He even heard the old term, half-blood. It so annoyed him that he almost stopped wearing the cap that covered his oddly colored gold and brown hair.
Three days after his announcement, Nalfae was repairing a rough spot in the main road when a band of fae rode in. Fae didn't often visit human villages and the locals looked torn between gawking or running.
Nalfae moved aside and bowed his head as they went by. He saw an array of fine cloth in gorgeous colors and glimpses of fine horses. Unseen bells rang as they went past, and the sound called to him.
Nalfae looked up despite himself and met the startled look of a fae who seemed about his age. The fae smiled and bowed his head as though their meeting meant something.
"I found him!" the fae called out.
Mounts that had gone past stopped, and the riders looked back. He saw eyes focus on him, and looks of surprise spread through the group. That was not the sort of look someone who fixed potholes was used to seeing from anyone, let alone fae.
"We've been looking for most of the season for you," an older fae said as he swept off his horse, multicolored cape fluttering around him. "Will you ride with us back to the faelands?"
Nalfae stared at him for a long moment. "Excuse me, my Lord, but what is going on? Why do you want me?"
The fae stopped and looked embarrassed. Then he looked toward the hills.
"Wing? Do you mind explaining?"
"Not at all, Lord Del." The fae who had spotted him tossed the reins to another as he swept off his horse. "You are the last of the fae blood out here in this realm. Rock Trolls are using anyone with fae blood as a link back to the faelands, and it is not a pleasant procedure."
"What if I don't want to go?"
"Then some of us will remain with you until the Rock Troll problem is settled."
That was not the answer Nalfae had expected. He would have gone just then except for an ethical problem.
"I said I would stay until after the first snow melt."
"And you will not gainsay your promise. Excellent," Wing said and sounded serious. "And I assume that means you have already prepared yourself to leave this town."
Nalfae gave one quick nod. The idea that the fae arrived here for him began sinking in. "At the start of winter, I began to think this would be my last season here. The longer the winter stretched, the more certain I became that it was time to leave. I don't understand why you are here, though. I am only half fae."
"There is no such thing as half-fae," Lord Del said. "Either you have fae blood, or you are human."
The words stunned him.
Nalfae spent the next three days with the fae and barely noted how the weather was turning unseasonably better. Snow and ice melted without even minor flooding. The locals also noticed how well other things went with their visitors in town.
While the other fae wandered around, mingling with locals, Wing spent all his time with Nalfae. He mostly talked about fae lore and etiquette. Nalfae had always learned quickly and rarely needed anything repeated.
"We'll start work on your magic once we're back to the faelands," Wing announced on the way to a gathering meal.
"Magic!"
"I suspected that aspect of your new life hadn't occurred to you. Odd. That is usually the first thing the Lost ask about."
Nalfae shook his head as though to dismiss the thought entirely, but it would not go away. He tried a different approach.
"Lost?" Nalfae said. "Is that what I am?"
"Haven't you felt so? Isn't that why you decided to leave?"
"I felt as if I didn't belong ... but lost? I suppose so since I didn't know where I would go."
"It is time you start being yourself. The cap does not suit you, and it hides nothing since now everyone sees you with us."
Nalfae's hand went to the cap and paused. However, Wing was right. The cap hid nothing now. It never had, in fact. Everyone in Crossing knew him and what he was.
Half-blood. Half human, except in the eyes of the fae, he was already one of them.
Nalfae removed the cap and tossed it aside into the shadows where it belonged. His brown and gold hair fell across his shoulders and down his back. It was a little longer than Wing's golden hair.
They all looked pleased with the change when he gathered with the other fae for a noon meal. Lord Del stood and lifted his hands toward the sky.
"And so he comes to us, and we name him Pathfinder. He already sees the other ways, and when he learns more, he will point the way, and we will follow. Now eat. We leave soon."
"But that's insane. I know nothing!"
Wing looked at him, his head tilted. "The snow has melted. If we were not here, where would you go?"
He hardly thought about it. "Southwest."
Lord Del nodded. "I have a message from Lord Sky that we are all to gather near the Veil. Our closest path to it is to head Southwest."
Easy test, Pathfinder thought. No doubt life would get more challenging.
