“Before giants stomped,
Before Death called himself King,
The dragons had only just slept,
Three tribes in the east were battling.”
Blakast laughed to himself, crouching down and bouncing on his heels. Damselfly could only make out odd words though she heard one in particular repeated.
“What is The Never?” she asked.
Blakast froze in place as though surprised this young girl had read his thoughts. Having been alone for so long the usurper did not realise he spoke aloud.
“Are we in The Never? Is that what you call the Evergarden?” the princess guessed.
Blakast shook his head negatively.
“Where is The Never?” Damselfly posed.
Blakast slowly raised a crooked finger to point at his head.
The Never
I had a different name long ago,
Though recalling it is challenging,
Whenever I try to know,
It is like pulling on a rope that is attached to nothing.
You will not believe this wasted vassal,
Though I once stood tall as a giant,
I burned through magic like fuel,
Ran faster than a wolf on the hunt.
The wind whispers sweet secrets,
In one ear then out the other,
No matter how hard one tries to collect,
It all disappears into The Never.
Being me is so frustrating,
Not knowing today from tomorrow,
This could be my end or only a beginning,
Like falling down a well with no bottom.
I see a light at the end of this tunnel,
One lone star that shines down on my madness,
To reach it is impossible,
Everyone abandons me, even the Mistress.
A voice in my head whispers I am strong,
Another voice screams I am clever,
A third hisses that everyone else is wrong,
But all this noise is really just The Never.
Who can diagnose if they are sane?
Like looking into a mirror of broken glass,
Does everyone think like my brain?
Or is this world just a comedic farce?
Where does this struggle end?
When my enemy lives within my cranium,
Should I call him friend,
Or evil phantom?
I am never alone, even in exile,
This unwanted passenger,
Whispers poison in my ear all the while,
He says you cannot escape from me, because I am The Never.
“That is terrifying,” Damselfly commented.
Blakast dressed in a black shawl that covered him like a raven’s feathers bobbed and weaved like he could not remain still. Damselfly had another question for her strange companion.
“Who is the mistress?”
Blakast tried to remember the woman that had changed everything and taken over his life. Each time he caught a brief outline of her face, a blinding light erased everything. “Mistress,” the usurper muttered. “She is the mistress.”
Damselfly understood that he could not or would not answer, so she focused on her own challenges: how to find the Fairy King in this strange and hostile land.
Then she had an idea.
“Blakast, I am looking for the Fairy King. Do you know where he is?”
The princess felt hope surge through her body as Blakast instantly reacted to the legendary sorcerer’s name in a way that revealed he knew much.
“The Fairy King has great magic, Blakast has little.”
“Do you know where he is?” Damselfly asked.
Though Blakast may have been classed as crazy, he was not dumb. He remembered enough from the fragments of his past to realise that any hope of escaping the Evergarden depended on magic. Blakast did not have enough power over magic to create the desired effect; however, the Fairy King was a great magician and perhaps he could. The usurper had wanted to use the girl to ingratiate himself with the Fairy King and now it seemed like she was willing to be sacrificed.
Blakast was suspicious.
His mania created a creeping level of paranoia that never truly abated. The Never was always watching and waiting to trick him.
“Why do you want to see the Fairy King?” Blakast questioned.
Damselfly was surprised by the direct enquiry. More so because she did not have a ready answer other than the truth, which seemed ridiculous.
“I wish to meet a great sorcerer,” the princess replied.
Blakast was extremely pleased with himself, because he saw in the girl’s hesitation a lie; she was trying to trick him and now he knew it.
“I might know the place.” Blakast grinned malevolently.
“Oh, good,” Damselfly exclaimed.
Blakast, disappointed at the girl’s pleasure at his response, was quick to back track.
“He may not still be there and it is very dangerous,” the usurper warned.
“I cannot turn back now even if I wanted to,” Damselfly responded.
Blakast had felt the same when trying to escape The Never. For a second he started to feel a kinship with the girl and wondered if it was wrong to lead her straight to the Fairy King. Clearly this was another trap laid by The Never. Blakast ignored his conscience and continued with his plot.
“I will go check. You stay here,” Blakast ordered. “Can’t I come with you?” Damselfly pleaded.
“No, it is too dangerous.”
With that, Blakast sprang into a hobbled run that soon took him out of sight, leaving Damselfly alone once again in the dark.
Blakast soon discovered the Sprite camp. He clung to the shadows watching everything before revealing his presence. Sprites have an excellent sense of smell to alert them of any intruders. Fortunately, Blakast had managed to remain undetected. A strong baritone voice was singing a familiar Sprite song as the usurper observed from his position.
What is a Sprite?
What is a Sprite?
Nothing but delight.
They are a branch of the fairy family,
With no magic but plenty of ingenuity.
A Sprite is built for survival,
We ride our Baywolves
