Somewhere...
The world moved so fast. Cities rose and fell, whole civilisations were lost and then new ones built atop the ashes of the old. People who were once figures of legends became forgotten or made a part of a patchwork quilt like story where the tellers butchered five separate lives and made it all the feats of one person. Deep in the fae wilds, the passage of time was an easy thing to forget. Their lives there were slower and their touches with the rest of the world so few that it was easy to forget it existed at all. It all seemed so insignificant in comparison. Yet sometimes... sometimes even the fae wondered if such thoughts were what kept their race held back.
Once, there used to be a castle here.
The memory surprised the Erlking and he looked once more at the low stonewall that had sparked it. It was barely worth a look to most and only came three bricks up off the floor. The new town that now stood here had incorporated it into a newer, larger wall, that was a part of some shops back garden. Once, Midir remembered, it had been a part of a wall that had fortified a castle. A wall that had seen blood spilt and men smashed against its face.
He wondered if the stones preferred their more humble life. It was a shame there was not a Speaker around to ask.
Brushing the thoughts of the past from his mind he forced himself to focus on the present. The small town he had found himself in was a buzz of activity as people got ready for the big Spring Festival it hosted every year, apparently. The few people he had spoken to reckoned it was a tradition that went back to the very founding of the town, but Midir knew it went back further. Nearly every population who had resided here had had some form of celebration for the Spring. With such rich, fertile fields and orchards full of fruit, this time of year was a reason to celebrate.
Midir was almost sad he had chosen this place for the Reaping.
One life would not affect him. It would be but another on a list too long for Chroniclers to bother with. But to someone here, or elsewhere in the world, that life would amount to their whole world.
Yes, he was almost sad. The knowledge that if he didn't do it it would plunge the world into a darkness it might not recover from kept guilt from eating at him. The fact he enjoyed it was another boon, of course.
