Little Fire and Fog by Richard Parks

Author:Richard Parks [Parks, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Canemill Publishing
Published: 2019-11-03T04:00:00+00:00

“What now, Lord Nudd?” Aednat asked sweetly.

We were almost out of the old coal mine, and I knew the question was coming. I had an answer, but I didn’t like it. I would have stalled for time if I thought there was any point.

“It makes sense, you know,” Mera said finally.

“You mean Merlin’s analysis?” Aednat asked. “I’m not convinced.”

“Think about it—if the fae are indeed neutral angels, not fallen, not exalted, simply allowed to exist on earth until Armageddon, then it all fits. Weren’t Jehovah’s angels ordered to be subservient to Man, his creation?” Mera asked.

Aednat scoffed. “Subservient? Is a Redcap being subservient when he eats a hiker? Is a bog merrow doing the same when it drowns a human child? Doesn’t sound very subservient to me.”

“What does a Redcap eat if there are no humans? Or a bog-merrow drown? Maybe subservient isn’t the right word, but dependent certainly fits.”

“Or for that matter, who does a banshee mourn, or a pooka trick, if not a human? We’re back where we started,” I said.

“No, we’re worse off,” Aednat said. “If Merlin is right. Not saying he is, but ‘if.’”

“If Merlin is right, then we have to hope Mera is wrong,” I said. “Otherwise there’s nothing at all we can do, as that particular mythos is sealed off from the fae. We can’t change anything nor prove anything. The Queen will not be happy.”

Mera sighed deeply. “If the Queen ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. Us especially. But it does make one wonder. Why is it that the fae have no contact with that particular mythos? Because we’re denied Heaven?”

“Or because, other than the wild stories of our origins, we do not and never have had a relationship with it,” I said. “Which rather argues that it has nothing to do with us. However, there’s more than one mythos that does. There are versions of the fae almost everywhere, even in the places that don’t call us that.”

“So what’s your point?” Aednat asked.

“My point is that we need to narrow our search, and as much as I hate to say it, we might have to go back to the norns.”

Mera shook her head. “You’re kidding, right? Haven’t we been avoiding them ever since we met with the Queen?”

“Mostly to keep everything on the down low, to the extent that was possible. You think we can go looking for a god and keep things that way?”

Aednat shook her head. “Yet let’s not ignore the fact that they’re royally pissed at you right now. Mera and I get along with them…most of the time. Why do you think they’ll help you?”

“For a chance to direct my actions and keep the chaos to a minimum? They might come around.”

“Mutual interest? I hope you’re right,” Mera said.

Not as much as I did.

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