When I came too I found that it was now the dead of night. There were no sounds to be heard and the only light I saw was that of the stars and moon as reflected on the water. Their light filled the clearing with a soft white glow that was absent of the colorful pinpricks of light that showed the activities of the pixies that thrived here. It was as if I was the only thing left in the all the world, and it filled me with as strange peace.
A breeze soon picked up at my feet and soon shaped itself into the form of a beautiful lady. It was the woman from my dreams, her hair still tied back by the blue scarf and her arms still bound in what I could now see were almost crystalline chains. I tried to get up to bow to her but the pain from my injury howled like an angry beast so I stayed where I lay and just inclined my head.
“Milady,” I began but she waved me into silence.
“I did not mean for this, my knight. I will aid thee this one time, but anything else will be beyond my power, for the chains that bind me are still strong.” She then placed her hand on my wound and I felt her power surge into it. My world went white once again.
When I awoke once again, it was morning and the forest was alive with sound. I could hear Sen munching on something he'd found and I felt a small weight on my chest. I looked up and found Blue there curled up into a tight little ball. She was snoring. I smiled at her and began to get up before I remembered my injury from before. I lay back down again only to realize that the pain had vanished. I reached down and found that not only was the wound was gone, but that there was not a speck of blood there either.
With care, I scooped up Blue and deposited her beside me so that I could get myself ready for the day. I hadn't eaten since I'd started out yesterday so I was starving. I also had a pounding headache. I gathered my water skins and went over to fill them. I tried to approach the with as much caution as I could muster despite the fact that if the nixies decided to take me again then I couldn't do much about it, but nothing happened. After I filled them I went back and unbridled Sen, as he'd been in tack all night and was quite upset about it.
I rubbed him down and then set him loose to eat again, got dressed in some dry clothes and then began to search for my own breakfast. I decided to forage today instead of falling back on the food the Fomor had given me. It would have done the trick, but I didn't want any more trouble than it had already given me considering how deep into faerie territory I was.
I thought that it would take me half the morning to gather up enough food to make a decent breakfast but I found that whatever I searched for, I found. I was able to catch a couple of rabbits in addition to the cornucopia of fruits, nuts and mushrooms that I'd set out to gather. When I got back to camp I found that there was a small pile of wood there as well. It was strange, but I shrugged as there was no sense in questioning the moods and favors of the faeries. I built a fire and set to cooking up some food.
Blue was still curled up in a ball when I finished preparing breakfast. I took the pot off the fire and tried to make something ready for Blue. Most of the time I would have just gotten out a knife and spoon then gone to town, but on the other hand most of the time it would have just been me, so I took the pot off the fire and set it down on the grass.
“Blue? Breakfast.”
She stirred and moaned, then sat up. Her glow was greatly diminished and she seemed sluggish. “G'morning,” she said, still not awake just yet. She fluttered on over to the pot I'd cooked breakfast in and plopped down beside it. “Smells good,” she said as she landed. “Much better than before. You smell better too.”
“Thanks, I suppose.” I dug around in my supplies and pulled out a pewter bowl. I scooped it into the pot and set it out in front of Blue. “Enjoy.”
