*
"You must be Jane McCarthy; how nice to meet you."
Jane froze, trying to get an idea of the stranger's intent by his posture. She had just recovered some degree of normal respiration from her harrowing flight through the woods. Her mind and emotions had been led astray by sentient glowing lights, seemingly intent on luring her to an unknown destination.
The alien landscape Jane had found herself in was melancholy and somehow malevolent, seeming to waver and shift in her peripheral vision. She had no sense of direction. And as soon as she had some degree of composure, a misty figure some forty yards distant spoke to her by name. Jane immediately felt that her fate, good or ill, depended on the stranger.
He spoke again as he casually, slowly made his way toward her through the tall grass. "Please, have no fear of me. I beg that you not see my approach as aggression. I only mean to see that you are well and safe." His manner of speech held hints of both nord iron and American.
As the stranger came closer, Jane was able to make out some features of the man. Taller than Jack, he had wide shoulders and slim hips. His long, thick black hair, resting loose down his chest, shone even in the gloom.
The man came within a few strides of her and stopped, leaning nonchalantly on what Jane previously thought of as a long staff; it was actually a rustic spear with a sharpened stone head. His odd clothing was nearly all black and fit him well. He wore a pull-over shirt with loose drawstrings; a wide, gray leather belt; a kilt in black, royal blue, and flat gray tartan; faded black fingerless gloves, and black, well-used bog boots.
Jane's eyes drifted back up the stranger's fine, athletic form and made a quick study of his face. He had a youthful appearance, no more than early twenties if she were to guess. His lightly tanned skin was smooth and shaven, with an angularly defined jawline and high cheekbones. Thick strands of straight black hair fell over his handsome face, but didn't hide his straight nose or gentle smile.
And then her gaze met his; kind and alert under arching black brows. Jane stared into his large, widely-set aqua blue eyes, unaware of her own slack-jawed gape. His pupils were mere pinpoints, surrounded by large irises in shades of light blue and green. The colors undulated and swirled, like the shallow waters of a tropical bay. Jane was transfixed by those exotic, unearthly eyes until he cocked his head to the side with a curious grin.
"Jane McCarthy?" he asked pleasantly with a soft tone in the still air, "Are you well?"
Gathering herself once again, Jane blinked once with a slight shake of her head. Her eyes darted about for a good escape route should his seemingly good intentions run foul. She saw no stick or rock to defend herself with, and so stood her ground... at least for the moment. Her dark green eyes squinted defensively when she said, "How do you know me? Who are you?"
His smile widened, showing strong, straight white teeth. "Forgive me, miss. I am known as Macklin, fae of the Fair." He bowed with a deep flourish, his long hair dipping into the grass, and then stood tall again. "I'm at your service."
Jane's anxiety was on the rise. "Why do you keep smiling at me?" The words came out harsh from her frayed nerves and heightened apprehension.
Macklin's grin drooped into concern. "My apologies, Jane McCarthy; I wasn't aware of my expression. In hopes of not appearing too forward, I find you quite pleasant to look upon. I hope my natural reaction did not greatly offend you."
"Well, em, cheers. Sorry, I just felt like a bug in a jar." She saw his frown at her comparison and decided to move on. "But you keep using my name - Jane. So how do you know me?"
Using his hand in a gesture of obvious explanation, Macklin replied, "I took the information from your outer thoughts, of course. I hope you don't mind."
Jane began to form a frown of her own, and then suddenly tensed. Her eyes grew wide and she let out a wild scream that ripped through the silent landscape.
Macklin flinched and tensed, surprised at her alarmingly loud and high-pitched shriek. He saw that her wild stare was fixed over his shoulder. He turned and immediately relaxed. He turned back to Jane and saw that she was about to bolt.
"Please, calm yourself, Jane McCarthy," Macklin said, putting out a hand to assure her. "This is Mix, my faithful pet and companion. He may appear quite fearsome, but unless you mean me harm, he is as gentle as a stuffed toy." Mix ambled next to his master and nuzzled his shaggy jaw against Macklin's shoulder affectionately with a low grunt. "I give you my oath that he will do you no harm, and will protect you as he would me while in my presence." He threw his left arm around the huge bear's neck and scratched under his ear. "Isn't that right, Mix?" The massive beast only turned his head into his master for continued attention.
From Jane's view, Macklin's 'pet' was easily twice the size she imagined a bear to be. While standing on its four paws - which were the size of platters with claws like hooked blades - the bear's dark eyes met evenly with hers. She could only guess that the long-haired bear weighed over a full ton and was twice as long as she was tall.
Despite the animal's size, Mix wore a tranquil countenance with his body in casual repose. He appeared to Jane to be simply an enormous, tame mountain of fur. As the animal stood complacently, its hair color shifted from dark gray to a medium brown.
"How did it do that?" Jane asked in a breathless hush.
Macklin's easy grin reappeared. "Mix is a fog bear. His kind can blend into earth tones or shades of neutral." While Mix took interest in something to sniff nearby, Macklin took a small step forward. "Again, rest easy; Mix doesn't mean to frighten you. There are other things to concern yourself with." Macklin's face turned calm and serious. "How did you come to be here, Jane McCarthy? Is this punishment by your liege, or were you simply placed here by foul intent?"
Jane's nerves were near their end, turning her fear into anger. "First off, stop saying my whole name! Just say Jane or Miss or whatever, like. And what the fuck is a liege?" She put her hands on her hips as her voice raised in intensity and volume. "Whatever you mean, I don't have one! And for your information, I made my own way here. Now you can answer my questions! Like where the fuck is 'here'! Where is my door! And where in this God-forsaken murk can I find a bush? I'm about to piss myself!"
In her nervous state, Jane failed to notice when Macklin's spear vanished. The Fair fae put his empty hands up in placation, trying to replace the alarm on his face with calm composure in hopes that she would relax in turn. "Miss Jane, you must lower your voice before you attract unwanted attention. This area is not safe." He glanced around them. "There is no shrubbery hereabouts for you to modestly evacuate your fluids. If your need is that great, step behind Mix; he is more than enough cover."
"Evacuate my fluids?" Jane hissed, taking heed of Macklin's warning, but still letting her fearful paranoia vent itself as rage. "And what would you suggest I use to clean up, ya gobshite! I don't think he'd take well to me wiping myself with his fur!"
Macklin nodded once and began ripping a strip from the hem of his shirt. Just as he was about to offer the cloth to her, Jane stomped over and snatched it from him. She continued her hurried pace around the far side of Mix, who took no notice.
There were over ten seconds of uncomfortable silence before Jane spoke again from behind Mix. "I'm sorry for barking at you," she said while hidden behind the hill of hair. "It's just that I've been legging it or on the verge of since I came here, and I'm feckin' scared out of my wits. There are so many things I don't understand, and I... I really need you to help me out, alright?"
Glad to hear Jane's voice was more controlled, Macklin sighed and replied, "Of course I will, but I am curious about a few things myself, if you'll indulge me."
Jane came from around Mix's bulk, pulling her sweatshirt snugly down while the huge bear curiously sniffed at her scent. "Fair enough, I suppose. I guess we both have stories to trade."
Macklin shook his head. "No, Miss Jane, I don't wish to enter into a bound pact for bartered facts. I would hope that we might freely share what
we know. Are you amenable to that?"
Frowning in confusion, Jane said, "I don't know what you're talking about. I mean, I tell you things, you tell me things… That's normally how it works, like. We can switch back and forth with questions if you're not going to find that too bogey."
"I find that arrangement agreeable; ladies first."
"Alright; first off," Jane began as she rubbed her arm, feeling the damp, cool air as her adrenaline wore off, "can you explain where the hell I am?"
Macklin nodded with a warm grin on his face once again. "This area of the vast neutral lands is called the Forlorn Mists. It is home to both good hunting prey and dangerous predators alike. My Lore holdings are not far off. Aisling-maith is not too far beyond that, although I usually just gate there. In other directions are either more neutral lands of various terrains, or other fae holdings."
"Fae holdings, is it then?" she asked dubiously.
"Yes, quite," he answered, naïve of skepticism. "And did you not say that you made your own way here? I wonder why you would wish to leave your own land and people to live in this one. Did something bad happen?"
Jane's eyes grew wide with alarm. "Live here? I don't want to live here! I just made another door out of curiosity and was lured out by some fuckin' talking lights!" She saw Macklin's brows lower, his lips pursed with concern. "What?" she asked. "Why do you think I came to this rotten place to live? Nothing bad happened to me." Jane saw his face still wore the same expression. "Tell me what's wrong!"
Macklin stepped closer and spoke solemnly. "Somehow, you made a fae-bridge, but have no idea how such things work. In the ether, which the bridge passes through, time as you know it does not follow any rules. It can expand or contract at its own whim. If you were to return home, it is possible that little or no time has passed. It is also a possibility that years or even decades have passed. That is why I assumed you came to the Lore; there may be no life that you knew waiting for you if you returned."
Jane's face paled and she began to tremble. Her words came out as mumbles. "But - but I have school tomorrow. I already have my homework ready. I'm going to uni in the fall. I can't be here. I - I have to go. Da will worry after me. I w - want Kate and Jack. I need to -"
Macklin stepped forward and gripped her upper arms firmly. He gave her one good shake and sternly said, "Jane, calm yourself. This cannot be undone. It could very well be that you return soon after you left, as if time passed normally. That is also a possibility of the ether. Losing your mental balance here is unadvised." Jane still looked at him with a vacant stare and trembling lower lip, so Macklin shook her once more and growled, "Jane McCarthy! You will accept what is! Even seers cannot guess time's passing through the ether if the bridge is long-standing. Your passage was a temporary one, so odds are you fret over nothing. Now reclaim your senses!"
After a few seconds, Jane's eyes refocused and her quick breaths evened out. She felt his tight grip on her arms release, but he rested a hand on her shoulder just after. His touch was reassuring and warm. She tried her faltering voice to explain. "But... I've had my play room since I was little. I'd call that long-standing. I didn't know it was whatever sort of bridge you called it. But time always worked normally when I was in it, so maybe it'll be alright?"
Looking into her eyes, Macklin quietly answered, "I do not know, Jane. Your circumstance is not one I've ever heard of before, so I can promise you nothing."
Jane nodded slowly. She turned her eyes away while gulping down some of her fear. After a deep breath, she asked, "So is this the place Gideon comes from? I mean the land of the Other Crowd; the fae place? It's nothing like what I imagined."
"It is called the Lore." Macklin felt a shallow stab of jealousy, an emotion he had rare dealings with, all from another who simply knew her better than he. He chided himself for such feelings but still wanted to know more. "Is this Gideon person of your race, or one of mine?"
Jane studied him a moment, making comparisons. "Not human, sure, although I forget what kind of fae he said he was." For some reason, she didn't want Macklin to think she was spoken for, so she explained further. "He's a quirky lad just over half my height, but I swear could eat his own weight in food. He's got, like, sheep or goat horns, like, and a wooly head of hair. He's got a fierce imagination, but he also told me things about... well, here, I guess. I thought he was just telling more tales for some reason, even though he seemed more serious about the, em, Lore. Although he's a shameless liar, Gideon has just been my friend from time to time, even if his appetite has my mam thinking I have a tapeworm."
Macklin saw Jane's smile for the first time as she spoke her last words, and forgot how he was going to reply. He saw the young woman as radiant; courageous, considering her situation, but equally innocent and adventurous with a healthy dose of beauty. He finally untied his tongue and said, "He sounds to be a morpher." Jane nodded her head in affirmation. "I'm glad he is good company; I envy his friendship with you."
Rose color filled Jane's soft cheeks and she smiled again. She was a bit flummoxed at having such a handsome young man take interest, but she didn't look away. "I suppose you and I are becoming friends as well. You look much more human than he does… apart from those wild, savage eyes, that is."
She'd found herself staring again, but luckily Mix brushed up behind her and lightly rubbed his ear on her right shoulder. It gave her cause to look away from Macklin's hypnotic eyes, lest she embarrass herself further. Denying her fear, Jane reached her hand up and tentatively rubbed the underside of the bear's shaggy neck. Mix reacted to her attention like a sleepy kitten.
'What a brave lass,' Macklin thought. 'Even my mater won't come near Mix, and here's this pretty human scratching him as if he were a pup.' He caught her eyes when he took a step back and held up one side of his mane of hair. The revealed ear was long and tapered, ending with a rounded point. "Not just the eyes are different, wouldn't you say, Jane?"
She smiled again. "No, those certainly are -"
Mix suddenly growled, deep and rough. His massive head was turned away from them, but he continued to stand in place. His coat turned near the same color as Jane's coppery brown hair. She quickly deduced that the bear was sheltering her from some sort of danger, changing his color to camouflage her. She turned back, but saw nothing behind Macklin. The threat came from the other side of his enormous pet.
Macklin took another step back and held out his hand. His spear immediately reappeared in his grip. "Jane," he whispered calmly as he stared beyond her and Mix, "I need you to keep your place, please. I will lose the element of surprise if you attempt to flee or make a loud noise." He took a pose to throw his weapon and waited.
Jane noticed that the stone head of the spear began to glow orange, as if it were a hot coal. She imagined she could feel the heat from it as wisps of smoke roiled off the tip.
Macklin abruptly heaved his spear with superhuman speed over Jane and Mix. She involuntarily flinched and ducked. There was a thunderous roar of pain and surprise not too far behind her. The booming howl was not the cry of any animal Jane knew of, but not quite human, either.
Too curious to stop herself, she spun and looked under Mix's thick neck to see what she was being protected from. When she saw what it was, she also couldn't stop herself from blurting out, "Fucking Christ!"