Chapter Three-Hundred Twenty-Six

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Gerlfi

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The goblin summoner nervously watches as Kelpie and Titania square off.  With Kelpie, Gerlfi is well aware of what she’s capable of.  She’s fast, strong, and devious, and only the promise of new and interesting foes was able to convince her to deal with him.

Titania, however… he doesn’t have much to go on.  He’s pretty sure she’s life affinity, but he has no idea how she might wield it, or if she has any other affinities besides fate to worry about.  It seems Kelpie is determined to figure all that out and more.

The watery horse growls, sounding more like a wolf, and earns herself a glare from the small bark pixie atop the bee.  It looks like Kelpie is trying to force Titania to surrender, which the smaller fey isn’t going to entertain.  Kelpie won’t take such an insult lying down.

She leaps into the air in a flash, determined to swallow the diminutive scion.  She lands and starts stomping in rage, and it takes Gerlfi a few seconds to understand why.  Not only does it look like Titania and the bee easily dodged the attack, but the pixie has produced a small sword that looks like it may have been plucked from a bramble and dipped in armory honey.  And the tip is green with Kelpie’s blood.

Shocked, he focuses back on his summon, and sees a thin line along her cheek.  “...we should give them some room,” he cautions not only his friends, but the other pixies and nearby bees, too.  He and his friends take several steps back, moving to the edge of the clearing as Kelpie turns her rage upon the scion that would dare injure her like that.

Water gushes from the ground, roaring like a stormy sea as Kelpie directs a white-capped wave to crash upon the pixie.  In response, she points her tiny sword like a baton, and the gathered pixies and bees spring into action.  Each bark pixie takes a large leaf as a shield, and in a staggering display of coordination, overlap and work together to stymie the rogue wave.  Titania locks eyes with Kelpie as she wave crashes against her loyal denizens, daring the Kelpie to do better.

Enraged, the summon charges forward, only to skid to a halt.  It seems Titania is done playing and has embraced a title that Gerlfi didn’t even know existed.  The Fey Queen glares down her nose at the upstart that is only just now beginning to understand her place.  Kelpie snarls and shapes the water into needles, but balks as Titania continues to glare at her, the other pixies forming a defensive perimeter around her.  The scion and the summon keep eye contact for several long seconds before Kelpie finally looks away, letting the watery needles splash to the ground.

Titania is magnanimous in victory, and shoos her away with a wave of her hand.  Kelpie doesn’t look happy about it, but she lays by a tree, where the other bark pixies swarm her.  Some tend to her wound, but most are simply curious about the rare water fey.

“She stared down Kelpie?” asks Vieds in awe, and Gerlfi is right there with him.  Kelpies love fighting things, especially stronger things.  For her to yield like that…

“Good luck forming a pact,” rumbles Wold, and the goblin has to glare at his large friend.

“Yeah, thanks.”  Much as it’s cathartic to give his friend the stink eye, he probably shouldn’t keep Titania waiting.  She seems to be more relaxed and has let her title fade for now, but the commanding presence of that title is difficult to forget.  He takes a few moments to gather himself, before turning and giving her a deep bow.

“Queen Titania.  I had been hoping to ask an audience?”

The scion urges her bee forward, looking amused at the turn of events, and motions for him to continue.

“As you may have surmised, I am a summoner, and I specialize in fey.  I offer them pacts, and when I call on them through my crystals, I can bring forth a portion of them to work on my behalf.  And of course, work implies payment.  Other bark pixies, I might offer bread, milk, and honey to do something.  Kelpie, for example, wanted new and interesting foes… and a bottle of brandy.”

Tinkling chimes fill the air as Titania laughs at the mundane bribe for such a powerful fey, even as her cohorts lick their lips at the idea of rich food and strong drink.  Her eyes shine with amusement as she motions for him to continue, so far so good.

“I would like to pact with you as well… though I admit I don’t know what you would ask in return.  I’m an adventurer, so most of your summons would involve combat or dealing with traps, whichever you prefer, or even both if you so wish.  If you are not interested in either, I thank you for listening.”

Titania taps her chin as she considers.  Gerlfi would expect she is not opposed to fighting.  That bramble thorn at her hip shows her willingness, and the way she was able to draw first blood against Kelpie shows her ability with it as well.  But what would she want in return?

No Queen would be satisfied with merely milk and honey.  Even a bottle of brandy was laughable to her.  Maybe there isn’t even anything she wants?  That might be the most disappointing conclusion to trying to form a pact that he can imagine.  Before he gets a change to try to imagine worse, he feels his affinity sing with a pact offer.

Communication affinity is surprisingly common, just not among adventurers.  It takes a vast network of them to quickly and efficiently carry messages across the kingdom and beyond, while others often find themselves writing laws, writing news… writing almost anything, really.  The ability to clearly and concisely convey ideas is a much more useful thing than many first consider.

The incoming pact offer is unusual.  He’s never heard a pact demand a tithe of any other pact payments.  If her time summoned overlaps with the summon of any other fey, she demands her Queenly right to a portion.  A tenth isn’t much, but the symbolic fealty of the other fey will not go unnoticed.  Still… if Kelpie is willing to let the bark pixies start braiding her mane and tail, such a demand will probably not be a deal breaker.

The other price is one he needs to carefully consider.  She wants time for time.  An hour of her time will be an hour of Gerlfi’s, doing as she directs just as she would do what he directed.  She looks pretty satisfied with herself for the offer, and Gerlfi finds himself very tempted.

To have not only a scion, but a titled one would be no small increase in his power, especially since he gets the feeling her title significantly enhances friendly fey in her presence.  Numerous as the pixies may have been, they should not have been able to stop that wave from Kelpie.

“A tithe from other summoned fey and an equal payment of time from me, correct?” he asks to confirm, and she nods, the binding powers of the crystals starting to flow between the two.

“A tithe from other fey and equal payment of time is the deal,” he repeats, Titania’s confirmation strengthening the enchantment from the crystals.

“Then a tithe and time is the bargain struck and the pact forged,” he finalizes and she nods, the crystal’s magic taking firm root in them both as the pact is agreed in triplicate and understood by all.  Gerlfi can’t help but pull out the crystal that now holds their pact, and Titania flies her mount closer for both to inspect it.

Neither takes too long, and soon Titania hovers back a few feet to give Gerlfi room to bow to her once more.  “Thank you for the pact, Titania.  May it prove fruitful for the both of us.”

Her tinkling laughter sounds once more before she motions for the other pixies to leave Kelpie alone, though the damage is done.  Her mane and tail are both freshly brushed and braided with ribbons woven through.  They’ve even painted a heart formed from two crashing waves on what he would call the upper thighs of her, though he doesn’t remember offhand what it’s called on a horse.  Kelpie herself, despite her makeover, looks absolutely miserable, and doesn’t even nip at Gerlfi as he pats her withers.

“Let’s get out of here and get you that brandy, hmm?  Looks like you need it.”

“And something for us, too,” insists Vieds as they make their way out of the forest.  “We need to toast your success!  I’m pretty sure there aren’t a lot of summoners who can claim a scion in their arsenal!”

“And hopefully you haven’t bitten off more than you can chew,” warns Wold, earning a sideways look from Gerlfi.

“You think I can’t keep my end of the pact?”

Wold smirks at him before replying.  “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t doubt you.  But you’ve agreed to give your time to a scion of Thedeim.  What kind of crazy things will she ask you to do?”

Gerlfi’s eyes widen at that as Vieds laughs.  “Good luck with that!”

Kelpie nuzzles the top of Gerlfi’s head as they continue to make their exit, commiserating with him and his mistake.  Maybe he’ll need a bottle of brandy, too.