Wars and Wealth - Bargains with Exiled Fae

Chapter 8

A few hours later, David sat alone next to a fire just outside the cave. He reached into his pack and pulled out a thin square of dark wood that was polished to perfection.

Tiny hinges opened silently, revealing a single page of crinkled parchment with the look and feel of an age many centuries past.

Upon the sheet were drawings of a punch, drawn six times on the front and six more times on the back, each a slow progression through the single move.

As David studied this paper for the hundred thousandth time since he had first seen it many years past, the images seemed to come alive in his mind. However, today was different.

Hailey and Kat had shown him something he had never fully considered before. The leverage and angles used in rock climbing had similar effects in martial fighting. Pressure applied to the right spot at the right angle could have devastating effects.

By the age of 16, he had already mastered much of what this single sheet could offer. While his punch was already stronger than any of his masters and army instructors had ever seen, tonight, he felt that new insight was taking him to a new level.

Subtle shifts in the angles depicted on the back side of the instruction sheet took on new meaning and new significance as David ran through the motion mentally, integrating what he already knew and what he had seen today.

As the new understanding flooded him with excitement, he looked around, wanting to share the discovery with someone.

“Nyx,” he said softly into the night air.

When nothing happened, he growled louder, “NYX!”

Where was she?

“I am not a beast to be summoned,” said a sultry feminine voice from behind him.

David glanced over his shoulder at Nyx, his elusive fae familiar. She stood in the cave entry eating a rabbit raw, the blood dripping down her chin and across her naked front, staining her pale skin with red.

She had painted herself in intricate tribal designs of the fae and her eyes were lined with dark charcoal that streaked down her cheeks. Her visage was terrifying and alluring at the same time.

“Nyx, put some clothes on. We are not in the fae wilds or the wandering woods.”

Nyx sniffed. “Of course it’s not the wandering woods. The air is too stale. There may be life here, but it is stunted. Do you have food? Its been months.”

Nyx was not referring to the mundane apple of the mortal plane, but of the eternal fruit from the Fae realm. Namely one from the orchard of the fae lord of the wandering forest.

“You still have time, but yes, I think soon I will have other sources of sustenance for you.”

To remain living in the mortal plane, Nyx had few choices. Fruit from the fae realm was rare and unlikely. She could also eat fresh meat, but that was far less sustaining. A single fae apple could allow her to remain in the mortal realm for almost a year. Without it, she was practically mortal and required daily hunts to maintain enough sustenance to survive.  

In the cities, this had proven nearly impossible. While on campaign though, there had been a steady supply of fresh kills.

“Human hunts? I thought you declared I wasn’t allowed to hunt humans.” Nyx said, her eyes lighting with excitement and anticipation.

“That was part of our bargain for saving your life. However, I recall a clause including the provision that I could offer you specific humans.”

“True enough. So long as I can kill them, I am pleased. When do we start?” The small fae female asked.

David looked back at her and was thankful she had chosen to put on clothes, even if they seemed to be little more than leaves and body paint. She stood about 160 cm tall with devastatingly attractive exotic looks. Her eyes were canted down towards her small nose and slightly pointed ears could just be made out in the moonlight.

However, the elongated canine teeth changed her beauty into that of a feral demon. The war paint designs she often sported also lent her appearance a deadly hue.

Even more scary, and annoying was that he knew she chose such a look, and could shift, if only subtly, at will.

“Soon… I have a few things to consider first, but soon, I will let you feast on the blood of the wicked men of Perth. Come, have a look at this.” He said gesturing to the boxing sheet.

“You part with knowledge freely? Foolish mortal.”

“I do not part with it freely.” David said, gritting his teeth. Dealing with fae, even seemingly friendly ones was a nightmare. Nyx may be beautiful, but she was a trickster and devil  in her own right. Only the life debt between them kept her more on the civil side of her wild nature.

“Fine. Come here and view this knowledge, Nyx. But in exchange for sharing this knowledge, I demand a price of a single mortal soul of my choosing to be claimed at a time of my choosing as well as one favor.”

Nyx grinned. While she wasn’t fond of his tally of favors to be owed, the soul however worked in her favor. She needed them to remain in this mortal plane, and David would provide them. It made no difference to her who the souls came from.

Going back to the fae realm was as much a death sentence as remaining here without the needed permissions to hunt.

Nyx owed him much, the life debt being the hardest for her to satisfy. She could take mortal lives with ease, provided she had the needed permission to circumvent deep magic that prevented fae from killing humans here.

Mortals who entered the fae realm were fair game. The lives Nyx owned for sharing knowledge was a simple system they had worked out. David would sanction her killing of a single human of his choice. She still benefited because the soul could sustain her, but David benefited by having a powerful fae eager to kill on his behalf. 

Thanks to some ancient covenant between men and fae, only a mortal of enough power or authority could authorize the death of another mortal by a fae, and David was one of the few in the world that met that standard.

The life debt she owed him only meant she had to stay close enough to potentially pay that debt back. However, even in the press of full battle, David had never really felt he was in true danger of a sure death. Serious injury didn’t often rise to the level of sure death to satisfy such a debt.