The battle was over.
Black, oily smoke rose, drawn into long, dark ribbons against the leaden sky. In the west the sun hung low on the horizon, staining the blanket of clouds a bloody red. The wind swirled around the hilltop, whipping cyclones of snow around the silent figures who surveyed the battlefield.^ 9
The war was at an end, with great loss to both sides. The Alliance of Free Humans and Fair Folk had defeated the Dark Ones and their army of Human slaves. Now the victors stood on the hill, waiting to decide the terms of peace. Their faces, still begrimed with blood and soot, were grim. Many Humans had been killed and many Fair Folk sent on the final voyage to the Far Lands.^ 10
They stood in the centre of a ring of ancient stones, their black surfaces etched with intricate symbols. Each stone stood higher than a tall man’s head, and together formed a rough crown for the hilltop. In the centre stood a single stone, twice as tall as the others but of the same dark rock. Around this solitary stone, the victors were gathered. Pennants attached to long spears snapped in the breeze.
“A woeful day, my Lords,” said Merddyn, the most senior of the Faeries and leader of the Fair Folk. He appeared to the Humans as an elderly man, though still tall and sound of limb and bright of eye. A long white beard, matted with mud and filth from the battle, hung down the front of his simple black armour. His sinewy arms were bare and patterned with tattoos. “Much is lost, but we have gained an important victory. Our rebellious brothers and sisters have been brought to heel. Now perhaps there will finally be peace between our peoples.”
“Aye, peace,” said the Human King, scowling through his thick beard, black and streaked with grey. His face was smudged with soot and blood, a patch covering the scarred socket where his left eye had once been. “Peace. But for how long? What’s to keep your folk from rising against us once more in times to come?”
“You have no right to insult us in this manner,” one of Merddyn’s commanders said disdainfully. “We have fought by your side to bring the rebels down. We have even slain brothers and sisters! Such a sacrifice, turning against our own… ”
Merddyn laid a hand on the Faerie’s shoulder.
“Forgive Ariel.” Merddyn smiled sadly. “The war has been hard on him, especially raising arms against his own brother. To question his sincerity is unkind.”
“I spoke rashly and thoughtlessly. I apologize, Lord Ariel.” The Human King bowed his head slightly. Ariel grudgingly returned the gesture. The King continued. “You have been true to your word, but the fact remains…Your folk live long. I will pass away, and so will my children and their children. How can we ensure that in the future Humans will be safe?”
“The generations of the People of Metal^ 11 may pass quickly compared to ours, but remember this: though your time upon this Earth is shorter, you are also more fertile. You will soon greatly outnumber us. That, in essence, is what sparked the conflict between our peoples.
“The time has come for us to go our separate ways. We separate until Faeries and Humans learn to live together in peace, without jealousy and fear. While we wait for that day, we will come to an agreement. We will mark out the boundaries of our future.”
The Human King nodded grimly. “So be it. We shall have a Pact.”
“First, some unfinished business. We must deal with the prisoners.” Merddyn raised a pale hand and beckoned to a knot of people waiting at the bottom of the hill. The Human and Faerie warriors moved forward, forcing a group of shackled figures ahead of them. The Humans carried heavy swords forged of dull black iron, their armour a hodgepodge of leather and metal plates. They were heavily bearded and scarred, and they were all male. The Faerie warriors also wore armour, crafted of thin pieces of glimmering crystal. In their hands they carried weapons made of the same ghostly material, fancifully carved and decorated but deadly nonetheless.^ 12 The Faerie troops were made up of both male and female warriors, long-limbed, lean, and dangerous. Some bore tattoos that wound in intricate patterns of leaves, stylized animals, and flames over their entire bodies. Shimmering colours tinted their skin and hair.
Marching together, the warriors of the two races prodded their shackled prisoners up the path until they arrived before the Human King and Merddyn.
The prisoners were weighed down by iron collars that hung from their necks, bound by lengths of chain to fetters on their hands and feet. As they came to a halt, they fell to their knees under the weight of the iron that was already burning painful welts on their skin. All save one.
The leader of the vanquished Faeries strained to remain upright despite his pain. He clenched his teeth as he raised his face to look at his captors. The Humans, including their battle-hardened King, took an involuntary step backwards as they saw the naked rage and hatred that twisted the otherwise handsome face. Merddyn didn’t flinch. He met the fierce gaze with a stony glare of his own.
“Tain Mab Dubh.” Merddyn’s voice cut easily through the howl of the cold wind. “Tain, Son of Darkness: this is the name you chose for yourself. You defied the will of our rightful Council and took up arms against family and friends. You declared yourself above and outside our Law.” Merddyn’s voice commanded the attention of all. “You are finished. You and your followers have lost the battle and the war.”
Tain laughed. “Wise Old Merddyn. Selfless Merddyn.” The Dark Faerie Lord sneered and spat at Merddyn’s feet. “Merddyn the Fool. With you by my side we could have crushed the People of Metal. Now you would have us living as outcasts on the edges of the world, left to haunt the dark and lonely places. Ghosts! Worse than ghosts, for are we not flesh and blood?”
“Tain, you are wrong.” Merddyn shook his head sadly. “To fight the Humans is futile. One might as well take up arms against the tides of the seas or the winds or the air. They will outnumber us ere long. An honourable peace is what we must have to ensure that we survive.”
“Pah! Peace? Slavery! The People of the Moon were born to rule. You have doomed them with your cowardice. You are all cowards!”
Ariel lunged forward, too quick to be restrained, and struck the prisoner across the face with the back of his mailed hand. The crack of the contact echoed on the hillside. Tain staggered and fell onto his face.
“Keep your idle taunts to yourself, dog! Merddyn fears no one, least of all you!”
Tain forced himself up onto his knees. He grinned, bright blood drooling from his split lip. “All slights will be remembered, Brother Ariel! Lapdog Ariel! Your treachery will be remembered and avenged,” the Dark Faerie hissed. He lunged against his chains but succeeded only in pitching himself forward onto his knees.
A Faerie in exquisite armour inlaid with pearls reached out and restrained Ariel. “We all have reason to be bitter,” the Faerie said, his grey eyes full of pain. “We must learn to forgive.”
“Never.” Ariel’s voice broke. “He killed my sister. Let me go, Greenleaf.” Ariel was weeping now. “Let me go.”
“Enough!” cried Merddyn. “The time has come for judgment.” Merddyn raised his hands above his head. Silence reigned on the hilltop. Even the wind seemed to pause. “Tain Mab Dubh, you have broken our Law. Now that Law will judge you. You shall be bound and imprisoned by our strongest Ward. The term of your confinement shall be the term of this world’s existence. Your prison shall be within the Bone of the Earth itself.” Merddyn drew back his arm to indicate the standing stone that occupied the centre of the circle. A ring of Faeries stood around the stone. As Merddyn nodded, they began to chant an eerie melody that made the hackles on the necks of the Humans rise.
Slowly more Faeries joined in. The chant grew stronger, filling the very air with a shiver of power like the resounding of an invisible bell. The stones in the outer circle shimmered, steaming gently as the water on their surfaces evaporated, boiled off by a mystical inner heat.
“What is this? What Ward is this?” A tremor in Tain’s voice betrayed his growing fear.
“A Ward devised especially to contain you and your fellows,” Merddyn replied. He raised his arms with a shout. The voices of the Faeries rose to an ear-shattering shriek.
The stone at the centre of the circle erupted into white hot flames blazing with tightly leashed energy. The Faeries, too, radiated power, their hair standing out, crackling with blue sparks.
“No! NO!” Tain struggled against his chains. His enemies watched with horror as their leader was dragged by unseen forces toward the glowing stone. Tain clawed the turf, desperate to stop his progress.
“You cannot hold me!” the Dark Faerie Lord shrieked. He was almost at the foot of the stone. “You have not defeated me!”
Tain was drawn into the blazing stone, sinking into the shining surface like a rock into a pool of glowing oil. A clap of thunder rolled out across the battlefield. The light died, leaving the rock standing still, cold and black.
Merddyn turned to the other prisoners. “You have seen what will happen to those who continue to rebel. If you agree to accept the Pact with the People of Metal and live by its articles, you shall be freed. But… ” Merddyn’s eyes hardened. “Should you break the Pact, you will face the same dire punishment. What say you?”
The Dark Faeries were silent. The lesser among them turned to those who’d been the lieutenants of Lord Tain. There were three of them: a brother and sister, Orcadia and Briach Mac Morn. They were pale of skin, beautiful to behold even in defeat. They sneered defiance. The third was tall, with dark brown skin. His long chestnut hair hung in curls around his face. His mouth curled in a crooked smile, his honey-brown eyes crinkling with humour.
“Well, now! Very generous terms, I should think.” He chuckled. “One would be a fool not to accept.”
“I’m glad you see it that way, Pukh,” Merddyn replied. “I would not wish to continue this conflict. We have all suffered enough.”
“I agree.” Pukh grinned, showing bright, even teeth. “Besides, there is plenty of world for all of us to share.
I don’t expect I’ll ever be completely at ease around Humans, not the way you are, but I will find a little patch for myself and those who wish to come with me.”
Merddyn didn’t respond. He turned to the Human King. “Strike off their chains.”
“And then?” the King growled.
“Then we have a Pact to strike.”
“There are still fugitives,” the King said. “Not all surrendered and not all lie dead below.”
“They shall be hunted down and given the same option,” Merddyn said.
“And if they refuse?”
“There are many more stones like those in this circle,” the Ancient Faerie said with great weariness. “Come, there is much to discuss.”
Greenleaf went to a Faerie who knelt in the mud, her armour spattered with blood and grime. Her golden hair hung in muddy tangles. As he approached she looked up and smiled.
“Brother,” she said. “I have missed you.”
“And I you, Deirdre,” Greenleaf replied with a sad smile. He reached out an elegant hand and helped her to her feet. “Let us go home.”
Later, in the darkness, Merddyn made his way back to the circle of stones. The talks had gone late into the night, but the Pact was in place. After long negotiations, the Humans and Faeries had agreed on three basic rules. First, Faeries could continue to live among Humans as long as they submitted to Human rule. Second, Faeries were forbidden to interfere in Human affairs. Third, any of the Fair Folk who refused to accept the Pact were to be exiled to the Other Side.^13 Or, they could choose to live in one of a few Sanctuaries established by the more powerful Fair Folk. These Sanctuaries were forbidden to Humans and would be hidden from the world by powerful glamours. Pukh was already gathering supporters to join him in a kingdom he planned to call “Tir na nOg,” or “the Everlasting Lands.”
Merddyn simply wanted peace. The Pact was difficult to accept, even for him. Essentially, it made Fair Folk dependent on the goodwill of Humans for their continued survival. He imagined a future in which Faeries would fade from Human memory, existing only in legend, as tales to frighten children around hearth fires.
Merddyn had one more task before he could rest. He wearily entered the circle of stones, lit up by the moon’s silver light. The stones now contained imprisoned Faeries, those who’d refused to accept the terms of the Pact. With the Faerie glamours, no one would recognize the rocks as the prisons they were.
Merddyn closed his eyes and let the energy gather in him. He reached out with his mind, raising his arms, palms upward. Beads of sweat instantly popped out on his forehead.
With a grinding sound, the stones rose from the ground, trailing clods of black earth. The massive rocks hovered for a moment, then began to circle Merddyn. Faster and faster they sped. The roar as they passed through the air was like the scream of a hurricane.
Suddenly Merddyn dropped his arms. The stones shot off in all directions, catapulting high into the atmosphere. The speed of their passage ignited the air. Like shooting stars in reverse, they flew higher and higher. The central stone lanced upwards like a rocket and disappeared into the dark sky.
Merddyn fell to his knees, exhausted. His limbs quivered as he gasped for breath.
“That was a pretty piece of work, Merddyn.”
He looked up to see Pukh standing across from him on the now-empty hilltop. Behind him stood two Faeries, a tall man with silver hair and a dour face, and a tiny woman with wide grey eyes and a vague, dreamy smile.
Merddyn rose shakily to his feet. “The stones are hidden now by glamours and distance. Not even I know where they will fall. They will never be found.”
“Never is a long time, Merddyn.” Pukh chuckled. His pale brown eyes twinkled. “A long time.”
With that, Pukh turned and melted into the shadows, his two companions close behind. ^ 9 The location of this battlefi eld is the topic of some debate among Faerie scholars. Some place it in western Europe. Some insist that the battle took place in the steppe country of what is now called Russia. Still others suggest that it took place on the site of a shopping mall in New Jersey. We may never know for sure.
^ 10 The Far Lands are the Fair Folk’s equivalent of heaven.
^ 11 The People of Metal is the Faerie term for Humans. They call us this because of our propensity to mine for ore and craft things from it and because of their physical aversion to iron, which causes a bad reaction on contact with Faerie skin, ranging from rashes to toxic shock and death.
^ 12 This crystal material is somehow spiritually linked to its owner. When the owner dies, the armour melts away, returning to the Earth. This is the main reason Faerie artifacts are rarely found. They’re biodegradable. Always thinking, those Faeries.