The Fairy Diary Day 610 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Dibla declined to accompany us to Dromadil. (Most likely he did not relish the thought of riding a dragon). But he did offer an ancient map dating back to the time of their excavations up there. Though not as good as those Rumble has, it should suffice. 

On the map the dwarf called my attention to the stream with a village in the crook of its elbow and I recognized it as the village of the Sprites. He cautioned us that there are more than likely many differences since then. Though he added that up in the area of Dromadil there should not be as many. And he took the time to note a couple passages that the pixies would have most likely sealed off. Gibley’s eyes lit up at this and he stated that he thinks he knows where one of them might be. 

So, as soon as Dunfallon said goodbye to Gabhe, his mountain goat, having just finished a friendly game of nine pins, we bid farewell to Gilgorgon, thanking him for his hospitality and willingness to help. 

We were back in Dromadil by the afternoon. And met Rumble at the inn where Conjil was welcomed back into its stable. 

Rumble had not been idle. While Noralei did wonders with the dungeon cells (so comfortable that she spent the nights there herself), he had familiarized himself with the area and its trouble spots. He eagerly accepted Dibla’s map and went off to study it. 

Dunfallon, Gibley and I discussed how to go about broaching to the Dromadil king the need to ask the Sprites for their help. Then Gibley went off to visit Noralei and to look into a possible entry point into the dwarfish excavation. 

When we were alone I took Dunfallon into the stable and there discussed with him what we could do to forestall the summoning of Conjil away from us. 

Advertisement

The Fairy Diary Day 608 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

There was no convincing Willie to change his mind despite any reason we could come up with. Even Gibley had a cogent argument that I imagined would have won any Wisp to its wisdom. But Willie wiggled his whiskers at him and said, “No.”

Just after his first refusal yesterday I jotted down a cry for help to Merlin. He finally got back today and agreed with my suggestion that we now ask the Sprites for their help. 

Then, he closed out with the news that two fairies had indeed set sail from Corbelin – and they had with them a rather large crate which he suspects to contain the Crack of Doom. And before I could formulate the idea – he added that no dragons were with them. 

So, I knew that the Caretaker was more than likely elsewhere with Cluyjil and Rayjil. But they can certainly be called at any time as long as the High Fairy and the Faerie Queen have the bell. And with a pang of realization so could Conjil. 

We bid farewell to Willie and set out to return to Dromadil. I shall try to convince their king to seek assistance from the Sprites. 

The Fairy Diary Day 603 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

A reply from Merlin to me was waiting on the scroll when I opened it this morning. He and Navril had made it to Laguayil. Nililitil confirmed that the High Fairy had not stopped by recently, but he did add that there were rumors out of Corbelin that his excellency and two other fairies had taken a ship from there out into the west. And that is where the wizard and Navril intend to go next. 

There was one other thing that Merlin added which I relayed to the others. He told me to stay in contact and be prepared to come to him. If he needed our aid he would send a rainbow. 

Conjil was a little reluctant to be hitched up this morning so Gibley took her up to spread her wings for awhile. Once she was back and harnessed, we were on our way again. The goblin told us that from their view above he estimates we will sight Dromadil tomorrow. 

The Fairy Diary Day 602 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We were all relieved this morning when Noralei reported that the wound on Conjil’s foreleg was completely healed over. 

I wrote to Merlin on my scroll (knowing he has the High Fairy’s scroll) to let him know this news and to promise that we were leaving for Dromadil right away. 

And we did. 

Noralei assigned everyone a place – Gibley with her on Conjil, Dunfallon on the first wagon (to be close to his ’army’) – and Rumble and I on the second. 

Our road paralleled the creek as we headed north but once we came to a fork in the road she and Gibley conferred with Rumble as to which route was better for travel to Dromadil. He had already been perusing his maps and directed them to take the east bound one. He explained that thereby we would be avoiding the longer way around through the troll territory. 

We all judged it to be better therefore on those two counts. 

There were no villages or farms along the way, nor did we pass any other travelers. Which was just as well for we would have been a most strange sight to most. Perhaps even scary. 

The Fairy Diary Day 601 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Since we completed our tasks, we have little to do until Merlin’s return. Dunfallon had his ’army’ back in their boxes and on the wagons. The wound on Conjil’s foreleg looked better but had yet to close. Noralei kept a poultice on it. There was a concern that she will not be ready come time to pull the wagons. 

Rumble and Navril recovered a good deal of our arrows and restocked our quivers. I helped a bit at the end. 

We did not see Gibley much around the camp. I believe he was off by himself to deal with his indigestion in private. 

I wanted to be alone too, so I wandered down to the edge of the abyss and sat there staring into its depth – hoping to catch sight of the wizard returning to us. Merlin caught sight of me first instead. He sat down beside me and handed me a scroll.  I recognized it as belonging to the High Fairy. Merlin told me he had found it in the area beneath the village of the Sprites. And besides a few broken mining tools that is all he found. 

He accompanied me back to our camp and there announced to us that he must find out what has happened to his excellency. We all wanted to go with him, but he would only accept Navril’s offer – as there was a possibility that the High Fairy was somewhere in the territory of the elves. 

As for the rest of us, he asked us to travel to Dromadil and inform the Sprites in exile there that it was now safe to return to their homes. 

Then after acceding to Noralei’s request to look at Conjil’s foreleg and treating and closing the wound, the wizard and the elf departed. 

The Fairy Diary Day 595 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We surveyed the area north of the village. Merlin took me to the creek to show me where its water dropped from view, abandoning its bed so that it no longer flowed by the village in its crook. 

Then, finding nothing of consequence we went into the village itself. Before we got there the wizard told me that the Sprites, for safety, had moved to Dromadil. We had our pick of residences in which to pass the night – in miniaturized form of course – (Merlin more so than me – in fact I was closer to his size for the first time).

We were shaken awake in the early morning and returned outside (and to our normal sizes). The ground continued its shuddering as he led us to the base of the rainbow. Our friends arrived just as we reached it, and as soon as they were safely down Merlin dismissed the rainbow. 

He instructed us to dig in here and set up camp. And wait. All indications were that whatever was coming – was coming from the north. 

The Fairy Diary Day 572 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

After a night of rest in the open we were again on the way to Dromadil. There were signs around us while on the ground of a great thaw ongoing in the area – with patches of snow and ice scattered here and there. I was thankful to have the warmth of a dragon available to us.  

There came a point in our flight when we could see that we were passing into an area over which the cold had not yet loosened its grip. And it was not in the mountains. Willie broke his silence to call our attention to a path far below. Dunfallon took us down for a closer look. 

There in the snow we could track the passage of a man wielding a staff. The tracks pointed in the general direction of Dromadil. So, we again took wing – but instead of flying direct to our destination we kept these tracks in view in hopes of discovering where and if the tracks had turned off – believing them to be our friend’s. 

We were eventually rewarded when Willie sighted signs of a great disturbance in the snow. Dunfallon again had Cluyjil take us down. The path there had been trampled much and what we supposed to be Merlin’s tracks went in but not did not come out. 

We agreed he must have been surrounded and then carried off. And no trail of the attackers led away from that spot either. 

With Dromadil clearly in view I decided that we press into the pixie city and make our inquiries there. 

The Fairy Diary Day 571 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We heard not a peep from within Willie’s cage as it floated along with us. A steady glow emanated from within, which hinted to me of a more contented disposition. But perhaps a better indication of a change in the Wisp was his effect on Cluyjil – that is, there was none – no uneasiness, no distrust, no aversion to this strange object tethered to his saddle and the stranger creature within. 

We made one stop on the way to Dromadil. I know that I originally turned down Dunfallon’s desire to enlist Gilgorgon and the dwarves in the cause for Noralei and her dragon – but now I thought better of it. 

Gilgorgon’s mountain was on the way and there were other good reasons to stop. 

Herblas ushered us into the presence of the king of the dwarves who received us gladly. Dunfallon stated Noralei’s case and successfully elicited his support on her behalf.

And I asked after Merlin and learned that the wizard had stopped by – probably when he was on the way to Laguayil. I then asked that if he should come through here before we caught up with him to please have him hurry back to Nonin-gal-dith. 

Then we asked to be excused to go on our way – (I know, such a hard thing to resist dwarfish hospitality). But we knew if we did not get off right away we would be held up for a day or two. 

Dunfallon’s only regret was not having the opportunity to have a few words with his mountain goat Gabhe. 

And I am happy to record that Willie  was civil, even cordial while there. I hope he can be the same with the pixies of Dromadil. 

The Fairy Diary Day 570 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Late last night (or early this morning) the seers stone found Merlin in the territory of the Dromadil pixies. In fact their city was in his line of sight. However, upon rising this morning and checking again – the wizard had dropped from its view. 

I was frantically searching the stone for any sign of him when Dunfallon came in. And before I could find the words for my distress, he declared to me that we must release Willie from his cage in the dungeon and take him with us. 

To say I was taken aback is putting it mildly. 

I said, “No,” without hesitation. 

But Dunfallon persisted. He agreed that the Wisp had been wholly untrustworthy in our late experience with him. But he sees a world of a difference in him now. And in questioning the owl, the change in Willie was noticed about the time he and Noralei and the others defeated the Dark One. So, he hypothesized that just like in Tinadell’s case – once the enemy was vanquished – all those in his thrall were freed. 

Only then did I tell Dunfallon that Merlin had disappeared from the view of the seers stone and that we must depart immediately for Dromadil to pick up his trail. 

All the more then did the pixie insist that we take Willie with us (even in the face of his former promise).

Seeing that he was unmovable on this, I relented – but only after exacting a condition that the Will’o’the Wisp remain in his cage. 

Dunfallon himself, tethered the floating cage to Cluyjil’s saddle and we were off to Dromadil. 

The Fairy Diary Day 569 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

We were off. However, there was some reluctance on the part of our dragon. Noralei had mentioned to us that he appeared to be pining away for Rayjil. And now as we were putting more distance between the two his sadness was growing. 

Finally, Dunfallon gave him a squeeze about the neck and whispered in his ear. His demeanor perked up immediately and his speed increased. 

And when Cluyjil caught sight of Merlin’s castle, his excitement grew. In a matter of a few wingbeats we were back on solid ground. The dragon deposited us in the courtyard and continued on to his very own pen – quite content. 

The owl, Merlin’s major domo, greeted us and ushered us into the wizard’s study. He knew already why we had come. At last report Merlin had just left Laguayil and was headed for Dromadil. He had left us permission to use the seers stone in his study to locate him more precisely. 

The owl did make a request before leaving us there. He told us that there had been a marked change in the Will’o’the Wisp and he asked if we could take a look at him. 

We agreed. While I stayed to consult the seers stone, the pixie went off to visit his old friend. And I did not see him the rest of the night.