The Fairy Diary Day 165 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

My rest was disturbed last night. I thought I saw lights floating in and around the trees. Come the morning light I was still not sure whether I had been awake at all or just dreaming. No one else mentioned seeing anything out of the ordinary. 

Perhaps it was only a portent for our day. 

We crossed the ridge of the hill at noon and got our first view of the lovely little valley where the trolls dwell. Geog veered off of the shortcut track saying the pixie burrow was over among a stand of pines. 

Before the trolls took two steps we were met by an unwelcoming committee. They recognized our troll brothers, but forbid them (and us) to come forward until they got a closer look at them. 

When Geog and Grimace passed their inspection, our trolls introduced us to their leader – a wizened old pixie (they consider him a sage) named Rumbletog. (I know, I’ll have to call him something else to avoid confusion). 

He gathered us in a special place where they meet with their oversized neighbors. 

A short explanation made all clear. The troll brothers’ family had believed that they had become renegades by leaving the valley. 

It was the first indication that all may not be well below. 

But all is not well up here either, for they turned to us for help. They have been haunted by glowing sprites in their pines every night. 

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The Fairy Diary Day 164 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

This may be a short cut that Geog has put us on, but once we reached the hills certain sections have been anything but short. When Rumble and I choose to fly over some obstacles, we arrive well in advance of the others, resulting in a long wait while the troll brothers catch up. So our progress has been stop and go. 

And at times longer pauses were required while Grimace recovered from a tumble down the hill. 

I preferred that Dunfallon would take to the air too. But he sticks close to the trolls as they tell him that some pixie bands have their burrows above on the hill crest and he does not want to risk overshooting the mark and missing his chance to meet them. He knows that when we stop in at the trolls I will not want to backtrack to see these pixies. 

I feel I must give Dunfallon the lead in this matter. It is one of the main reasons that brought us out here and besides they just might have some information crucial to our mission.

The Fairy Diary Day 163 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Rather than pressing onwards along the main road in the effort to discover where the refugees departed it, we followed the troll brothers on a shortcut to that part of the second chain of hills that guards the valley of their homeland. 

It was a most pleasant walk through a picturesque landscape. Although there was one section near a swamp that conjured up unpleasant memories of the Will’o’the Wisp. I asked Geog if he had ever encountered such beings. He told me no, not in this swamp, but he added that often he has spotted flickering lights floating in the woods around his family’s place. He’d never gotten close to any and for sure, no one ever went missing on account of them.

This piqued Dunfallon’s interest but before he could act on it, Rumble took him aside to remind him what we have come here for.

The Fairy Diary Day 158 #TFDbyRWOz2

Meribabell writes:

Overnight there has been a marked difference in the fields we have passed through. Rumble thinks it imperative for the refugee farmers to return soon, as their crops will need to be harvested. 

We didn’t know but we soon had a more pressing problem. The troll brothers found a cache of iron weapons abandoned in a field and innocently brought them into us. Dunfallon stopped them well in advance of any danger, and had the two fling the rusty swords away. Then, he explained the harm such metal things could have to fairies. (I begin to wonder if we should have asked Noralei to take the enchanted cloth barrier with us).

Both Geog and Grimace were so contrite afterwards, to the point that I had to reassure them that we – Rumble and I, held no ill will towards them.

Dunfallon piped up saying in effect that he would beat them both silly if they ever did it again. Then he laughed uproariously at their blank expressions. 

The troll brothers were quick to react to his boastful banter with trollish mirth. And in the hollow we found ourselves they sounded like an army laughing.