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“Righty-o, dear, dinner will be along shortly.”
Nayome started to salivate at the smells coming out of the big pot Flay was stirring. The small woman was standing on a stool to be able to reach high enough to lean over the stove, and the wooden spoon looked like a giant’s utensil in her small hands.
“Flay, do you think you could point me in the direction of the library?” Nayome asked hesitantly, remembering what Gabe had said before he left.
“Of course, dear! It will be the second door on your left if you continue on down the hall the way you were coming. Would you like your dinner served there?”
“Oh, yes that would be excellent. Thank you Flay.” Nayome felt awkward being served like this, but she couldn’t pretend like she wasn’t grateful as her stomach growled in anticipation. Whatever was in that pot smelt like heaven.
She might as well go with the flow and try to enjoy the luxury while it was available.
* * *
Nayome spent the next few hours pouring over books.
Well, the ones she could read, anyway. A lot of the older volumes looked like hand written Latin. The dates and short passages indicated they were historical records, logs of some kind. She almost whipped out her phone to try google translate, but it’s black unresponsive screen reminded her that she was supposed to stay off the grid. No tech allowed. Maybe she could convince Bal to let her borrow his cell later. For now, there were plenty of volumes shecouldread to keep her occupied.
Some were hand written accounts, almost journals, except they were more focused on the history, or documentation, rather than someone’s personal experience. Some of the volumes were published and bound, appearing to be actual history, or school textbooks. The subject matter though…well, most of them felt like she was reading fanciful tales stemming from ancient mythology.Druids, fae of the earth.And there were books on the other types of fae—of the water, of the wind and of fire. They were called different things in different tombs, mythological names changing over the years, but they all belonged to the category offae,divided by their element. The segregation of the factions appeared to have been contentious over the centuries, Nayome had seen mention of various wars as she flipped through, eagerly absorbing as much information as she could.
“This one might interest you.”
Nayome was startled out of her musing at the sound of Bal’s deep voice. She had been so engrossed in what she was reading and hadn’t heard him enter the library. She eyed him hesitantly as he set a large, forest green volume in front of her. She ran a hand down the pattern etched into the front cover. It looked like a yew tree, and the book was otherwise unmarked.
“What’s this one about?” Nayome asked, curiosity peaked as she traced the pattern of the tree.
“In ancient times, our bloodline was less diluted. Individuals would be able to tap into many different facets of the earth’s magic, even if they had a main affinity for only one or two. This book maps out most of the different types of magic we have discovered from the earth. A lot of it has changed, weakened, and some aspects have disappeared over time, but you may find information about traveling here. I had not thought to ever meet a traveler again, so who knows. Maybe some of what we thought was lost is just dormant.”
Nayome flipped the volume open, being gentle with the thin pages despite her eagerness. “Thank you, this is just what I was looking for.” Hoping for a table of contents, she was not surprised when she didn’t find one. None of these old books had any real structure to them. At least this one wasn’t in Latin.
“This is one of many similar volumes” Bal pointed at the shelf behind him, where Nayome could see a row of books that were all bound in a similar fashion.
Huffing out a breath, Nayome wished she could read faster. “I’m never going to be able to get through all these.”
Bal chuckled. “Were you planning on trying to read everything tonight?”
“I’m putting in my best effort. You guys should think about modernizing this, putting together a searchable database.”
“The elders of our kind are slow to adopt, and untrusting of new human technology.”
“New technology?” Nayome asked slowly. Something clicking into place like a key in a lock in her head. Gabe had made an odd comment that had been nagging at the back of her mind as well. “Are you…how old exactly is Gabe? For that matter, how old areyou?”
Bal took a moment to settle into one of the chairs across the table where Nayome had laid out her expansive stack of books. “Are you sure you want to know?” He asked, and she caught a strange light in his eyes as he watched her.
“I’ve come this far, no point holding anything back now,” Nayome challenged.
Bal looked at her for a moment, seeming to size her up. He must have decided she had the fortitude to handle it, because he continued without another warning. “We are not immortal.”
“Oh, right. Because that was something I had thought might be possible,” Nayome laughed weakly.
Smiling, he continued “I am considered young at seventy years to the earth.”
“You don’t look a day over thirty five,” Nayome breathed, not able to keep the wonder from her voice.Is he pulling my leg?
Some heat tinted Bal’s cheeks, and Nayome realized she was staring at him, taking in his features, smooth skin, lack of gray hair. She felt a moment of unease as she realized she had been intimate with someone old enough to be her grandfather, but the discomfort wouldn’t stick. He was full of life, vibrant, and she couldn’t attach the typical human age metric to her perception of him for more than a moment. It just didn’t fit. “And Gabe?” She asked hesitantly. Gabe had some antiquated mannerisms that told her she was probably about to get a shock.
“Gabe has been our leader for two centuries,” Bal started, hesitantly. “He is not an elder, but likely approaching that time in the next half century or so. We cannot predict any longer, but the average person with blood of the ancient earth fae will live to about four hundred years. Some more, some less. It is said that in ancient times, it was much longer.”
“So you’re…you’re like a teenager?” Nayome was dumb struck, struggling to peice this new reality together.
