Jeskvida (Lay of Jes)

… until she met me.

I was born in a small village on Midgard, the last house before the big unnamed forest. I had two siblings, eventually, the twins. I would hold my little sister Elena, in my clawed hands, as her little face would look content as ever while sleeping. Her ears barely moved, she would sleep soundly, purring as she did. My brother though, he often screamed, could not stay still, and my mother, the pure-blood tabaxi she was, would often cast small spells to calm him down. She said, one day, I would learn spells from her too. Elena had the gift too, she said. Leon’s talents were faint, and not too magical. I wondered how she knew, even when we were kids. She told me, five years of age, that our father would help her learn magic, before I was born, and she’d been practicing.

As years passed, my siblings grew up, their cat-like faces and furry bodies got less cat-looking somewhat, just like mine did. I often wandered into the forest, despite the pleas of my sister, but sometimes encouragement from my brother, who loved trouble and seeing me pay for it. I wouldn’t actually get in trouble though, because I’d always get out exactly where I entered, and I’d always bring them gifts: small flowers, colored mushrooms, and sometimes, if they begged me, a squirrel or a mouse. Elena would keep them, hold them gently, while Leon would squeeze them, or throw them on the ground, no interest. I scolded him, for I valued nature and its life, and he’d so often run off crying to our mother, who would purr him to sleep.

Our father was a human, and he wasn’t home often. Mom said he often helped in the town near us, to bring home food and money. We didn’t need either, I’d argue, because I was growing to be a good hunter, and I manipulated arcana the way the forest would whisper to me. When we were teenagers, me a young adult, my sister a learning teen, she would ask father to teach her spells, and she would study the arcana the way he did, from books and teachers. I never wanted to join, I didn’t ask him when I was younger, and I didn’t want to insert myself between them later either. Besides, I already had something. Before anyone was up yet, I’d wake up, at the dawn of the day, watching the sun rise, and I would walk to the forest, my bare feet wet with mist and morning dew, and I’d walk in, my eyes closed. The trees, they led me forwards, deep into the forest, where dangerous animals lived, where the trees and their crowns were so thick you could barely see, where the branches moved to invite me in. They would form into doors, and gates, and I would enter.

My arcana was getting stronger, and I could feel nature flowing through me every time I cast a spell, the small branches and twigs growing around me, the animals moving with no fear when I was near, the sun kissing my skin as if I was its own. My mother would often watch me, and wonder why my hair would turn blonde, why my thin fur coat was getting lighter and harder to see. I meditated often, during our father’s lessons to my sister, and his very unprofessional, improvised lessons in combat and defense to my brother. I would climb on the roof of our house, easily enough from our shared bedroom’s window, and I’d bask in sunlight. I had a feeling it would help, for mother often sat in the sun, only feeling warm and relaxed when there was enough of it, but I felt... like nothing was changing.

One day, I waited until everyone was asleep, and I climbed on top, making no noise, and sat on the roof. The moon’s reflection felt as strong as sun on my skin, and I felt arcane energy flowing through me, filling my veins, putting wind in my hair and fur, enveloping my body. I felt small plants, tiny critters and creatures around me come to life, and within a few seconds, their life faded, and I felt strong as ever. I opened my eyes, and I saw through a bright blue tint, saw the darkness of the night fade. I could see, see the rooftops of other houses stretching towards the village, and I could actually see them, clear as day.

A few years passed, and almost every day, I was honed my skills at night, often sleeping through afternoons, joining mother in the sun. My siblings went to train into the village with their peers, and Elena once came home with a staff, an arcane focus they called it. She was getting strong, a bit of nature magic flowing through her, elements at her disposal. I looked on through dozy eyes as I lay on the grass, feeling the flowers bloom in my presence. The twins came from the village with news too, that many were sick, and that the townspeople were bringing a plague. I could feel this, the death and sickness in the distance. It would come to us soon, and I did not know whether we would survive.

One thing was certain. We would not all survive. The news of our grandparent’s passing came from the town, and our mother then decided we must leave. Father could not argue, fear of the plague within him too, his own weakness and sickness starting to show. She felt no love towards the town that slaved our father away, and no love towards the sickness that would reach us in time too. So, we started packing, and she started deciding where we’d go. Though I was the eldest daughter, she rarely confided in me, and, I rarely listened. I often wandered into the woods, at night too, to feel the magic of twilight go through me, as I walked through. The animals did not fear me, though they should have.

One time, I woke up at the edge of the forest, and I was holding a stick. Long and sharp at one edge, with dozens of branches enveloping a floating orb, looking almost like a moon. A staff, I realized. The forest gave me one of its own, and I thanked it before I walked home. Our parents were fussing, asking me where I was, that we needed to pack, because we’d be leaving as soon as we could, until mother saw the staff, and her eyes changed, her pupils dilated, and she went quiet. I did not think further about it, and I helped us pack. My siblings were turning twenty years old soon, and yet, they needed help packing. I knew I would not need much, I would survive in two sets of robes, and the rest I would gather and make, for nature liked me, and helped me when I needed.

We did not take much, in the end, for mother believed we’d be taken care of where we were going, and father could also help on the way with his own magic. The plague did not catch us on the way, but whatever birthed it might’ve. We met abominations, animals of unusual size, controlled and enthralled by magic I could not recognize, and got attacked. I protected our mother, and I stood against some of these, using magic my family had never seen before. Summoning animals to my aid, I also used the dead bodies of our enemies to cast spells, the blood of our foes turned against them. My brother, to my surprise, would fare well on his own, capable of defeating his own enemies, though, as I feared, my sister’s magic was not so developed, and not so strong. My father though, sick from the beginning, could not do what was expected of him. I could not protect them all, and after father fell, I - I tried. Our mother held him in her hands, and I tried to step in, after I got rid of everything attacking us, and I tried to heal him, to spare her from death, but mother would not have it. She did not like the magic I was using. She would not let me touch him. I stepped away. If this was the way, then let it be. I continued forward, in silence. Elena tried, failing the same. If they did not want my help, they would not get it.

They caught up to me, in the end, and on the way, I learned that our destination was her family, the family that disowned her when she married, the family that hadn’t written her a single letter since she had left. They lived in The City, which did not even need a name. The City was inside tall walls, as big as a small kingdom, and as rich as one too. They had no Queen, I’ve learned, their ruler was called a mayor, and they were not of royal blood nor heritage, they were chosen by the people, apparently. And this mayor, the most important person in this city, would not let refugees and beggars in.

On our way there, before we crossed the long fields of wheat and sunflowers, we saw a village. Mother and I decided we would go into a shop, or find someone that would give or sell us food for travel, or provide any help. We could not find a shop that was open, nor a house that would open their doors for us, until the very end of the village, where a woman was standing, alone. She waited for me and Mother to come closer, my siblings lagging behind us. She asked us where we were traveling, and demanded to join us. I would’ve been happy not telling her, and definitely not taking her with us, but Mother invited her in, that traveling with more people could prove helpful. She said she had lost her husband, and that there was no place for her anymore, so she decided to join anyone passing through. And that ended up being us.

We left the village, with the woman. Her name was Niva, and soon enough, only two days later when we found ourselves camping for the night, she noticed my gifts, my connection with nature, and more importantly, with the Moon. First night, she left me alone at night, as I insisted I would keep the watch, but the second night she stayed up with me.

“The Darkness flows through you, does it not? You need to extinguish it.” she said suddenly. I smiled, and quickly cast an easy cantrip to control the flames in the fire that kept us warm, to form a protective circle around me. Then the fire changed colors, to bright blue, like the moonlight, and I looked deep into her eyes.

“You’ll do well not telling me what I need to do.”

She became frightened, and she never stayed up with me after that. We only traveled for so long, after all, so she didn’t have to put up with me for much longer. Mother was annoyed at me, for scaring our new friend. I felt uneasy near Niva, as she was a mageslayer, and I did not understand how she did not.

It took us a week and half to reach the last field before the walled City, our soon to be new home. At the gates of the City, there was a guard whose sole job was to turn away the refugees, to direct them to be someone else’s problem, or to take care of troublemakers. We had few options. We were let inside the first wall, on account of mother swearing her family lives in the City. I could easily take care of the guard. I could easily perform a ritual to help us sneak in. I could even turn us all into animals to get in. But Mother insisted, so we waited for her brother to appear. It took him a day, a night of us sleeping on the floors of the city, another night of Niva looking at me suspiciously while she no doubt couldn’t rest. I smiled at her, again, as I manipulated the fire to keep us warm. I did not mind the cold, though.

My uncle was an exhausted-looking, ruffled and dirty cat who seemed no less homeless than us. The rich family, the big manor that’s been passed down generations, the social status, even the vast family Mother had promised us would be in the city, nowhere to be seen. He took us in either way, he had no other choice. Niva went her own merry way as soon as we got through the inner gates, and we came to the house, at the bottom of the poorest neighborhood. Barely any bedrooms, next to no beds, the house seemed to not be enough even for him alone.

My siblings followed me out of the house as I went for a walk, unable to show emotion to represent the disappointment and anger I felt. They kept further behind, talking to each other, as I walked by the trees, a kind of aura radiating from me, making the leaves closer to me fall behind me. At the end of the road, there was a port, and the ocean. And right in front of the port, was a dwarf, seemingly waiting for me.

“New in town?”

“Wish we weren’t.” I passed him as I slipped between the wooden fence keeping the steep drop of the walk into rocks getting splashed by sea, and landed on all fours. I heard the dwarf talking to my brother, then reluctantly, both of them landing near me as he jumped on the rocks to reach me, leaving both of my siblings behind.

“How bad?” he asks.

“Sorry, how is this your business?”

“I’m trying to help, that’s all.” he put up his arms up in show of mercy, smiling through it all. I studied him for a bit, seeing his rugged clothes, his weapons on him, a bright red bandanna over his neck, his long dark hair in a ponytail, his… sack of gold on his belt, visible for all. He looked as poor as us, barely kept clean, but he went out of his way to show that.

“How could you help?”

He told me his name, first of all, introducing himself as Gimrick of the House Runeheart, telling me about his brother, who planned journeys into the forest to gather materials not found anywhere else, but he needed protection. He said we looked capable, and with others he’d found, they would be almost ready to go on another one, and maybe they would succeed this time.

I didn’t feel good about the way he’d said it. As if they’d never succeeded before. He didn’t show any love towards his brother, regarding him simply as a business partner. I looked behind him, at my brother and sister, who were looking out into the sea, throwing rocks and talking together. They weren’t listening.

“I’ll come. Tell others they needn’t come.”

“They’d be great help…” he nervously scratched his head.

“I’ll suffice. Trust me. Only the best ones.”

He turned back, and saw my hand extended towards him, offering a handshake. He took it, reluctantly, smiling nervously. “So, you are?”

“Jes.”

“That the full name?”

“No.”

“Nice to meet you, Jes.”

Runeheart’s brother was a character, indecisive whether he wanted us to join, indecisive when the next expedition should’ve happened, and most importantly, indecisive whether he agreed with his brother’s claim of their family name. I trusted Gimrick, because he trusted me. His brother, Brarmand, babbled on about either disowning him from the family, or regretting accepting him in the first place, or outright denying they were family.

“Listen.” I said, standing tall, my sister mustering all her intimidation and straight face behind me, brother on other shoulder, not needing to pretend to appear scary, “Are you only mad because he told us about it without consulting you? Take us on a run, and you’ll decide after.” I put my hand on the table with maps of forest on it, shaking it, “And I know you will see the correct decision.”

The week after, the expedition was set. My brother swore he should stay, to look after Mother and our Uncle. He was acting strange, but I shrugged it off. If I needed to, I could force him to come, but me and Elena would be enough.

I ran ahead as a scout, in my wildshape as a wolf, howling pre-established signals to Elena, already fighting off wild animals that were annoyed for a reason I could not figure out, before the others moved on. There was unease in the woods, and the wet floor underneath my feet gave me a nausea, which had never happened before. It was concerning. I did not know what we were in the woods to collect, what rare material they could know about that I wouldn’t, until I felt it.

There was something wicked within the forest. Something cold, running electricity through trees, the moss buzzing below me. I followed. What else would I have done?

I followed the buzzing, the oncoming storm, the forest beginning to be laid with snow.

I walked, without fear, without any concern for anything around me, until I could finally see what I was chasing -

And then, I was stopped. A hand landed on my shoulder, and multiple hands took my legs, reaching only up to my waist. The dwarves, my sister, and another person who joined us for the expedition, all held me still. Except one… I brushed them off, Gimrick letting go slowly as he watched his brother.

“Brar, you know the procedure.” he called out to him, his hand reaching up to him, but afraid to close the distance.

“I do… I do.” he says, still mesmerized by the glowing light, “but what if it works this time?”

“Let the seid take care of it!” Gimrick called out louder. As he leaped after him, Brarmand reached out, and ate the mushroom, getting rid of all the snow, all the electricity, all the smell around us.

“Are you going to tell me what you get here then?”

“Faerie dust. They leave bait for others, usually a food or a promise, and if we can… not look at it, or avoid it somehow, we can collect the fey dust left behind. But..” he looked a his brother with worried eyes, “Well, you probably know not to let the fey invite you in.”

I had not considered not accepting faerie presence before, however I was never met with this kind of ploy. The forest near our house always acted good and friendly to me, and I had never even considered benefiting from it in any other way than knowledge.

“Have you angered it?”

“Have we- Listen, girl, help me get this out of his system or take us out of here!” he shook his head, and set out after his brother, who was kneeling on the moss, looking into the distance.

“Would that help?” I tried to remember my spells, but I could not think of one that would help. Not one I could cast. My sister however, she stepped forward.

“I don’t know.” Gimrick said.

Elena nodded, and she pushed her hands towards Brarmand, pushing green energy onto him, until his digestive system gave out. It looked like nothing happened. Until he slapped Gimrick off, and ran into the woods.

“Is that good?”

“Does it seem good?” Gimrick lashed out at me, before looking at the others. Some of his extended family of dwarves, a few other mercenaries like us, and a human who hadn’t spoken a word the entire time. He looked at each person, one by one.

The human man spoke, after putting his staff on his back through a belt. “Is there faerie dust left?”

We all looked beneath our feet, and though I had never seen it before, I could not sense any fey presence, whether it would be an object, nor creature. Gimrick shook his head.

“Let’s go then. Forget your brother.” he said, not a bit of care in his voice. I liked that.

On the way back, as Gimrick cursed and mumbled under his nose, and swore at everyone and everything, I got to talk with the man, Tero. He said he was a healer, or rather that’s the form of seid he preferred performing.

I was quite the opposite. His discomfort was visible, and I pressed him no further. I would need someone like that. I needed to control myself.

We reached the end of the forest again, and everyone passed into the city through the secret opening we had left through, except, I stopped, seeing someone in the distance. A man, fighting using a massive greatsword, plunging into enemies and leaving only corpses behind. I quickly gathered my strength, turned into a raven, and flew towards him. I watched him from a roof for a few moments, until there were only bodies next to him.

He leaned against his sword, and breathed out a heavy puff. The elven man, long black hair braided into one long whip, looked around himself. He saw, in a second, thorns pierce three men’s skulls, as they shrieked, their last breath leaving. He looked around, to see me on the roof, no longer in wildshape, clutching my staff.

“Thanks, but I got it.” he said, pulling his sword out of a body.

“Of course. I doubt they would have enough in them to attack you again, but wouldn’t want to risk it, right?” I jumped down, landed on all fours, and looked around. Standing up, I fixed my robes, and tapped my staff twice on the floor, vines and branches enveloping the dead attackers. He saw my staff, and immediately his attitude changed. He scoffed at me, then spat near me, and turned to leave.

“Your name?” I shouted, tapping the staff once again, and the bodies disappeared.

“None, for you.”

“Me?” I caught up to him easily, he was quite tired and his fast walking was nothing compared to mine.

“Völva.”

I laughed. “That’s the problem? You just murdered a dozen of people.”

“The Goddess applauds my actions.”

“I suppose.” I held out my staff, casting quick druidcraft to grow a few branches out of it, so they could tie themselves around my arm, and I didn’t have to hold it. He watched, not moving his face, just out of the corner of his eye. “And you think she doesn’t applaud mine?”

“She was a warrior, a fierce and brutal fighter who had enough strength to climb the mountain. My physical force is the only way I can prove myself worthy.”

“And what did she climb the mountain for?”

He glared at me, his eyes seething. “That’s a different story. We focus on the first part.”

“I see. Well, when my mother told me the story, and when I heard it in the shrine in the upper city, it sounded like her magical prowess was what allowed her to do what she did.”

“But she needed the strength to even start that!”

“Exactly. I’m not saying you’re wrong. We are both right,” I encourage him again, and this time he gives in.

“Arnulf.”

“Jes. Clan Bloodclaw.” I offered him my hand, he ignored it.

“Pleasure.” he said out of politeness, clearly gritting his teeth to not say anything else. I sensed he did not bother to be polite very often.

I walked with him for a while. If I were to guess, I’d say he expected me to leave soon after that, but walking around the City wall to reach the proper entrance after he saw my party pass through a different wall intrigued me, and so, after a while he spoke again.

“Do you need anything else from me?”

“In a way.”

“Spit it out then.”

“I need you to join us on the next expedition. I lead a small group of people deep into the forest, looking for… something valuable.”

“Anything, or something specific?”

“Specific. I wouldn’t want to tell you before I can count on you, you see…” I looked around, waiting to see whether that roused his interest, acting as innocent and subtle as I could.

“Why would you need me?”

“I noticed our party is, well, missing warriors. Like you said, physical strength can prove quite useful. The previous expeditions, they’ve been scarce and not very bountiful…” I elaborated, not knowing at all whether this was true, but I had a feeling I could make this work. The lies came off easily, and he did not seem to have a reason to not trust me.

“I’ll help you, if you help me first.”

“Oh, of course. I’d love to, Wolf.”

“Arnulf.”

“Quite a business pair, a cat and a dog.”

He sighed. He did not appreciate my humour nor any attempts to get closer to him through banter. “I need help acquiring something from an acquaintance’s… body.”

“Is this acquaintance a corpse already, or will they only be one when we’re done?”

He studied me for a bit, and we had reached the proper gates to the City at that point. The guards let us pass, knowing me as a memorable recent citizen, and him for a reasons I couldn’t quite catch. After we passed the gate, he finally answered. “He is about to be.”

“I’m in.”

We met a week later, on a spot he chose, on time we agreed. I brought my friend Gimrick, saying it would be good for him to do something, and my brother Leon, because he offered. Arnulf and Leon argued for a good moment, saying that we wouldn’t be able to sneak in with this many people, and counterarguing that we were very good at what we did – in the end we reached an understanding. The twilight shone over me, as my eyes shone in greyish light, and my staff landed on the ground, shaking both of them. I said we’d go in together, and they both agreed.

The house Arnulf wanted us to go through to reach this person he needed something from was old, and big. There were almost no people, and I would’ve gotten worried we were led into an abandoned house for no reason, if I didn’t sense a very strong artifact bleeding out arcane energy. I could not say where it was, and Gimrick felt uneasy as well. Reaching the room, and slaughtering every guard inside in quick succession was not a big problem for us – what was further inside, though, was. The man we were reaching had cracked the artifact before he died, and the arcane energy was beginning to turn into a cold, icy wave that froze the room around us, including our feet as we stood. I melted everyone off to move, but Arnulf found the artifact useless, broken.

He sat over it, clearly lost in what he wanted to do. This was the key element to the next step in his plan, and it failed.

“I could try…” I started off, not even knowing what I would try, but I felt like leaving him in his despair, in the freezing room was not a good way to end this. The others had walked out by then, only he knelt on the ice and looked at the object.

“Can you fix it? You’re a völva. Fix it.” he held it out, his hands weak and trembling. I could not fix it.

“I could try to figure out what it does. Or did.”

“It… it would help me find my home. Find out where I am from… I’m not from here, you know.”

“Uh, yeah, I figured. I can take a guess, Arnulf.”

“Yeah, I know, Alfheim. But it’s not that easy. It’s big, and the people who live there are not the friendliest. Even if I figured out how to get there, I’d have to figure out where my family is first…”

I crouched next to him, and took the artifact from him. “I’ll try my best then.”

“And I’ll help you, Jes. I’ll keep my word, even if this was not what it should’ve been.”

I smiled. It was all going according to the plan, and soon I could go back and enter the portal. The feywild called to me, and I’d answer it. I just needed competent people, and I’d get them.

I tried to talk Gimrick into getting his crew back, to go out again. I felt the need of the forest. I needed to go back. It was ripping through me, and the moonlight tugged at my fur, encouraging me to go out at night. He could not get anyone to join us, except the man I had talked to, Tero.

He wore his dark green robes, exposed to the coldness of the forest at night, insisting that it was for the best. Gimrick agreed to go as well, though I imagine he thought he’d have no other choice. My siblings both joined this time, our mother reluctantly agreeing to us spending the night out. Arnulf showed up, as he promised. This is the best I had got, so I had to try it.

We snuck out the same way, reaching the forest, and seeing… someone as if waiting for us. A woman stood there, in the darkness of the trees, shielded from the moon. I pulled out my staff, quite not excited about having to deal with anyone, and shone light on her.

“Trespassers!” she called out to us. “You enter our forest, and steal what you want. I was sent here to stop you.”

“Your forest?” I called out, my staff landing on the ground, making a loud dense sound as her legs got enveloped in vines. “Who would you be, to own it?”

“We do not own it, we take care of it, and we live in it.” she said, trying her best to ignore the situation she found herself in. “My clan, we are wood elves that come from there, and we thought last time would teach you the lesson, but you are back, and I must stop it.”

“Or you could help us.”

“Why would I help you?”

“Cause this will be the last time we’ll go there.”

Everyone looked at me, confusion drawn all over their faces.

“Can you promise that?” she said, hopeful. I had a feeling whatever I said, she’d believe me either way. I recalled the vines holding her, and nodded.

“I can guarantee it, love.” I walked forward, and past her, into the forest. She’d follow, I knew it. And so she did.

The intoxicating smell of pixie dust, or as they call it, faerie dust, was drawing me towards the place. Of course they’d need a mage for this, but I could not feel anything last time at all, until we reached it. Now, it pulled me in, dragged me over and would not let me breathe if I was not chasing it. When we were getting close, I looked behind me, a group of silent followers, not knowing what to expect. I did not know what to expect either. Would we have to fight for it? Is that why Brar needed more people? There was no one there last time. I felt safe enough with everyone, but there was no way we’d do the same thing again.

“Hey, Gimrick. Don’t try to stop me this time.” I said, one eye on him as we walked.

“It’s your funeral.” he answered in a monotone, raspy voice.

As we were approaching, close enough to see a ripe glowing flower with pink dust, and flying pixies around it, I cast Aura of Shade near it, and we all entered the area, rendering us invisible. I told them to stay, only to attack if something attacked me. I had a plan.

My staff landed on the floor next to me, the dirt and moss silencing the thud, and from the point it landed on, the earth started opening up. The dust was flowing down, turning into liquid as it met the immediate ground, and pixies rushed to save their treasure. I ran forward, with the creatures flying around me, and instead of reaching for the dust itself, instead of defending myself from them, I reached for the flower, and I closed my eyes and prayed. This had to work.

Four bug-like round eyes appeared in my mind. Then, I heard a voice, deep but soothing, saying, “No. Spare her. Show me.”

I was transported into a colorful room, colors I could not quite describe, I could not quite place. The smells I could not comprehend, sometimes spicy, sometimes… cold. I looked up, as I knelt there, and saw her. Sitting, but nothing under her, she was flying in one place, wings moving slow enough for me to see them, she rested her arm in the air, holding her face up with it as she looked at me.

I felt panic, and not many things scare me. This was not anything I’d ever been in presence of. I tried to run, to fly away, but my magic was… restricted, almost.

“That won’t work, kitten.” she said. “Nothing I don’t allow here will work.”

I spread my hand, and my claws came out. In an instant, I pierced the skin on my other arm, and the blood flowed around me, moon symbols on my clothes channeling the shine of the twilight around me, as the blood formed into wings.

“My magic’s special.” I said, as my wings flopped, and lifted me up. Soon enough, I turned into a wasp, small enough to escape, but I saw the Fairy Queen change shape herself, and fly faster than me, and she… caught me. The shock dulled me, as her touch burned my skin, icy crystals forming where she held me, and my wildshape faded. She was as big as my regular tabaxi body, as if I did not change my size when I transformed.

“Interesting one, you are, Jes.” She knew my name.

“What happened?” I finally asked, and she stopped holding me. For a second, I panic again, because I thought I would fall, but we were standing, and she did not need to hold me anymore. We were on the ground, safe.

“You attacked my portal. Bold move, I’d say. Anything else you were hiding?”

I tried to think, to figure out an answer she’d like. I felt like I needed to say something she’d like, and I could leave. That was the only thing I could think of.

“Is there the moon in here?”

She laughed. “If you want.” She traced her finger over the broach holding my cloak together, and soon it began to shine, and I could feel my power returning to me. “But you might not need it.”

She came closer, and pulled me in. A controlled, unmistakably devouring kiss overwhelmed me, and I desperately gave in. Her cold touch burned me, tearing through my fur.

I woke up wet, cold, and with a headache. The moss floor of the forest was a soft bed, but the constant nagging of my companions asking me whether I was okay were quite getting to me. I rubbed my head, and looked around me. I was really back, back in the forest. Tero was holding my staff, waiting for me to come to senses to get it back.

I waved them off, took my staff, and the smell of burning leaves became stronger. I inspected it, turning it around, until I found a mark, right under the moon. A rune. Berkana. Birch twig. Rebirth. I did not know how, but I knew what it meant.

And more thoughts passed through my head.

“We need to change things. I know how.” I said, looking back at the City. “And you lot will help me.”

Dethroning and executing the Lord of the City was just the first step. My own paw setting on the throne was another one. My trusted advisors growing in strength was another. My own powers overflowing with fey energies was the crux. I could do this. Easily.

Jes of the clan Bloodclaw, Queen of Midgard, they’d call me.

Jesco Hawke Bloodclaw

she/her/hers

Jes is a half-tabaxi druid of Twilight, a blood mage, a hierophant, Queen of Midgard, Hand of the Goddess and Warlock of the Archfey, Fairy Queen.

She was born near a forest where a phenomena later known as the Faerie Plague started, and she moved into the City, capital of the small land surrounded by ocean known as Midgard. She met her allies and future royal advisors there on quest to acquire pixie dust, substance known to incude hallucinations and dizziness, also used in spell components, and after her deal with the Archfey, currency used in the City instead of gold.

Her rule was cruel in accordance to what the Goddess required, though the people favoured her for the gifts and blessings she gave them. People believe her to not only be the highest authority of all churches, and blessed by the Goddess, but a Hierophant sent on Midgard to save them from stray paths in life. They believe she is a divine being, capable of most divine. It is also known the Queen does ritual sacrifices, not only to please the Goddess, but also to do her own bidding, and uses their blood for her own purposes. In the ten years since Jes of clan Bloodclaw has been blessed with the powers of Fairy Queen, she’s taken the title herself, while her Goddess lays in shadows yet again. She was defeated by party of Chosen Ones, fighting for the Cult, in January of 1010th year of Ragnarok.

During the fight, she opened a portal and revealed tortured Hero of Midgard whose mind she controlled to help her. She has also shown her ability to manipulate blood and blood magic.

the Queen’s runes: urus - strength/power, brekana – birth/birch, naudiz - need/necessity, lauguz - water/lake

Her Advisors.