Over the course of two or three weeks, he wasn't entirely sure, time was a strange concept while living by the fae. He was nursed back to health. And when he was deemed alive again by the fae, they dropped him of by the hill Greystone was situated behind.

He would never forget the way he traveled with the fae. Riding on magical wolves, they soared over the plains and through the woods. Apparently he had wandered of in the completely wrong direction. And now they had to travel several hundred miles.

Riding on a wolf, especially a magic one, was a complete new experience. Something he would love to experience once again. Though when they had arrived and he had slipped of his mount, he knew he would never be allowed the same experience again.

This was just like a miracle, ordinary people would only experience it once if they were extremely lucky. And honestly, though miracles were one of the most beautiful things to experience in the world. The road to them was often too hard to overcome.

He had turned to the leader of the fae. A beautiful creature with purple eyes and translucent green wings, who had softly spoken a command to their underlings. And before he could properly thank them again, they were already gone. The tails of the wolves they rode on, could barely be distinguished in the evening light.

He watched them disappear from his life, till nothing could be seen of them anymore, than the vague footprints the wolves had left in the earth.

At that moment he turned his back on that part of his past and walked to his new future.

This new future consisted of a sleeping village. Laying in a crook of the earth made by a restless ocean. Several farms were still laying between him and the village. They were the main providers for the food source here, together with the fishermen that lived near the sea. Because of the hill he was standing behind, the only real part he could see of the village. Was the windmill that was located near the outskirts.

He wanted to see. Hear. Smell and feel, the village he would live in till he had to leave again. So he started walking uphill, till he couldn't wait anymore. With a short sprint, his feet devoured the last meters till the top.

Finally he could see it.

The village.

The windmill next to it.

The smoke out of some of the bigger houses.

And at last the sea.

The rocks, that protected the lagune from the ocean and the horrors that lived in it, could barely be seen by the light of the stars and moon.

He understood now more than ever that a lighthouse was a necessity at this place. Without it no one could safely travel these waters to the bigger cities.

He was needed here. It wasn't a foreign feeling for him to be needed. But during the years he had lived in the ocean, he had almost forgotten how it felt. To be really, truly needed.

Almost without a sound he entered the village. Only the soft sound of death leaves that were being stand on could be heard. Till the silence was shredded to pieces by the cries of a small, probably, human child.

Fortunately no one in the village seemed to be woken up by it. So he quickly searched for the source of the wails, that were increasing in volume with every passing minute. After walking through the entire village, he still couldn't determine where the child was. Till he saw something in the forest that enclosed the village.

A will-o'-the-wisp.

Without further thought he followed it into the wood. He knew he shouldn't trust it, nor the direction it was given him. But he also knew they had the tendency to lead you to your destiny. And now he was looking for a child he couldn't find. Why wouldn't he try to follow it?

When he had reached the first will-o'-the-wisp, it disappeared, to quickly reappear a few feet further away. This happened several times. Every time he thought he had reached the end a new will-o'-the-wisp would appear. Looking him further into the woods. Till he knew he was lost once more.

For a mere human this would mean a death sentence. But for him with his magic he could retrace his footsteps that were a few hours old. And apart from that, the cries became louder and more clear. He was surely getting closer to whatever he was being led to.

While walking further into the forest the darkness was slowly swallowing the dim light of the moon and stars. It became so dark that the only light he could see was the one that was leading him further into the darkness.

Being engulfed in the darkness wasn't a new sensation for him. After all, he had lived at the bottom of the ocean for centuries. But this darkness felt different, suffocating even. Like the moment the last light would disappear so would the life given to you.

That was exactly how it felt when the light did disappear. Complete darkness all around him, without any way or form for him the find the village back.

Apparently the will-o'-the-wisp did brought him to his destiny. Though it wasn't the one he was hoping for. That didn't mean that deep in his heart he knew that it was the one destined for him. He had been cheating death for centurie after centurie. At some point the game was over, and it would be his time. His time to join his family in Chawin.

It wasn't his time yet.

A cry so loud it almost deafened the wizard, brought him back to his senses. And he turned around to actually look at his surroundings. It was a clearing, now finally visible in the light provided by some mushrooms. And the soft glowing hair of a baby.

After he walked closer and picked up the child, he saw that she was most definitely not human. No human could have that kind of hair nor eyes. She was a halfling, a child from a human and humanoid creature. Judging from her lack of eye white and pitch-black eyes she was most likely a part fae or mer.

But where her human parent was, was a complete mystery. Maybe they had given up, and left the child here. But why the forest, the survival rates for anyone were almost none existent. Leaving the child here would most definitely kill them both.

Fortunately, finding the parents wasn't his job. The child was now his according to most supernatural laws. The moment a parent left their child alone in a forest or other place filled with magic. And the child was found by someone else, the child became their responsibility and none of the parents had any say in the child's life anymore.

There were always some exceptions, but in this case no parent would appear anymore. That became awfully clear when he found the body of a young man in hunting clothes lying still on the forest floor. The smell of the child laying in the wizard's arms could still be distinguished on his body. The man had probably hoped that his lover would take the baby, he couldn't provide for, back. It was a selfish action of the magical creature to leave their spawn in the human world. But the wizard could have told the man, that once given up, no magic-user would take their child back. Decisions like those were permanent and never revoked.

Just like he had made the decision to take this child in and became her parent. So had her magical parent decided they weren't.

He put the child on a soft piece of moss to clear his hands. During his years in the ocean he forgot how it felt to dig in the earth with both hands to create a grave. But after a few minutes it got back to him, and with some help of his magic, he quickly and quietly he buried his child's father. A human he didn't even know the name of, and would most likely never get to know.

Before he picked the child up again, he placed a magical mark on the grave. So, that if the need arose for them to visit the grave they could find it back.

Picking the child up again he retraced his steps back to the edge of the forest. Looking through the foliage of the trees, he could see the sun that was slowly appearing above the horizon. Now in the first light of the day, he could finally take in the appearance of his daughter.

Her eyes were closed once more, she had probably fallen asleep during the walk. But he could still remember her startling black eyes. Though nothing he couldn't disguise with some magic to help her appear human. Her hair most closely resembled the colour ash grey, if humans had to describe it. Though anyone with magic knew it had gotten the colour from the ocean. He had lived as a mer for many years and knew what colour her hair truly was. But it was safer to make it resemble a more human color.

A name should be given to her, and it was just the right moment at the breaking of dawn.

"A name should be given to you little one, don't you think?" While looking up at the sky he softly murmured, "Kleigainja will fit you."

•••

Walking in the village with a baby in his arms and arriving several months after he was supposed to start occupying the lighthouse, did start some expected ruckus. Though it mostly centered around the small child in his arms. Who had now ash coloured hair and grey eyes.

The inn owner's wife especially observed the baby with great interest, when he ate breakfast there. Luckily some milk was provided by her for the baby. He of course didn't want her to be hungry.

After an early breakfast he asked the inn owner what the fastest route to the lighthouse was. And if anyone knew if there were any important things he needed to know about. Fortunately, the inn owner, Jonas, was the contact person and he knew everything you could want to know.

"If you're willing to wait, till all my morning customers are gone. Then I can give you a tour around the village and show you the lighthouse. I was good friends with old Morris, so I can show you how everything needs to be done. And if you're interested I can give you some tips about how the work is most easily done." He leaned towards the wizard and spoke in a considerable softer voice. "And I can give you all the gossip that goes around these parts."

Those words were spoken with a meaningful look on his face. He, more than anyone wanted to know why he was so late and who the mother of his child was. New gossip in such a remote town was obviously a rarity. As the newest inhabitant everyone would want to know more.

He didn't really had any problems with people being curious about him. That had become a part of his life when he left his family behind. Though that didn't mean he would give his secrets up.

They were his and he was going to keep it that way. No one needed to know them.

His face apparently showed his disinterest in the matter. So the innkeeper, Jonas, he would need to learn his name, quickly changed the subject to the old light keeper.

"Old Morris would usually spend his nights and days in my inn. That's why I knew him so well. So when he died two summers ago, I initially tried to keep the light burning. But I don't have the time for it. No one in the village has it, to be honest. Everyone has their own job to keep everything running. So I sent a letter to the committee to ask for a new lightkeeper. And last summer I heard that they had sent someone, you. But, now that your journey took so much time," he had an apologetic look on his face, "is the lighthouse not in a very good condition anymore. I don't know if it's save to life in with a baby. Luckily my wife and I are more than happy to help as long as needed."

Before Jonas could ramble on about how much he wanted to help, stopped the wizard him quickly. Under no circumstances would he separate from his child. Apart from the fact that he didn't want to, it was also dangerous. She was a halfling after all. In the first few months she would grow immensely. When she would turn one year old, she would have the appearance of a four year old child. That was also why he had kept her under his coat, so no one would exactly know what she looked like.

Because of that he wouldn't be able to life in the village at least for the first year. After that Kleia would grow as a normal human child. And he preferred to live on his own away from others.

"Let's first see how bad it is before we decide on accommodation. It probably won't be bad enough to risk staying in the village. I don't want any boats to sink under my watch."

His words quickly shut up any objections Jonas could have. And after some thinking on his own he agreed with the wizard's reasoning.

"Yeah, you're right, we don't want that to happen. Though old Morris never took it too seriously. He always said that if boats were stupid enough to sink without light they would also sink with it. And I'm not going to give my night rest up for their stupidity." After Jonas said those words he looked at the wizard's face to judge his reaction. "Though that's probably not the way you should think about such an important job. You obviously don't want to end the same way as he did." His face twisted while reliving the painful memory. "That was a nasty business. It better be behind us."

After those too honest words that shouldn't have been spoken. They left the inn and the tour around the village began.

April 9, 2022

Picture on top is from paint by number

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