He Needs A Body to Love (Spirit Walks Part 6. Fantasy Art)

Sama stood beside the mute ghost of her brother, and the chill rising from his proximity made her shiver again. She wrapped Auberon’s cloak tighter around her, although the ghostly chill penetrated her as if she were unclothed.

‘Auberon, you’d said you’d help me. Help me bring Gabe back.’
The Lord of the Faerie watched her impassively for a moment before answering. ‘I can return this spirit to his body. However, that is a much greater task than simply pointing you towards a ghost, as you originally asked. I will reserve further conditions upon our deal.’
Sama was well beyond caring about the details of her arrangements, as she was not going to walk away after having come this far. The open-ended deal she had made last night with the Horned God still hung over her as well, so she thought there really wasn’t much more to lose. ‘Yes, yes, Auberon; if you must quibble! What do you need to fix Gabe?’
‘His body.’
‘Oh,’ said Sama, thinking of the rites the priestesses of the Cult of Cybele had performed with Gabe, both before and after death. ‘His body’s been mulched,’ she said.
‘That is somewhat problematic.’
‘But you can still do something?!’ Sama asked, her face lighting up again with hope.
‘Of course. But you are asking for ever increasing levels of work in this agreement.’
Sama sighed and nodded. ‘Whatever it takes, Auberon.’
He smiled and said, ‘You will need to see our homunculi fabricators,’ and pointed to a cluster of short, green, dragonfly-winged sprites.
Oh shit! Sama thought, briefly hiding her face in her hands. Why did it have to be them? Although all she said out loud was, ‘What’s a homunculi?’
‘A magically created body.’

The two of them walked back to the green swarm they had only recently watched pick themselves up off the floor. Sama retrieved the disk of faerie-toxic iron that was still sitting on the ground and pocketed it out of sight. Many large eyes watched her from faces tight with anger. She looked around and smiled, showing her open hands as a gesture that she came in peace. She received growls in return, and their sharp little teeth showed clearly.

‘Oh, c’mon guys!’ she said, ‘lighten up! That iron thing was just a joke, right!’
The sprites put their heads together in angry little groups, seemingly to complain about why Auberon hadn’t killed her already.
‘My sprites,’ said Auberon, finally intruding on their gossip. ‘I need you to help this mortal.’ A few choked exclamations of disgust came from the sprites, as they listened in disbelief. ‘You will create a homunculus to house this spirit,’ he continued, ‘and you will start now.’

The sprites turned and walked from the hall with their heads hung low. Auberon followed them, bringing Sama with him, and the ghost of Gabe drifted behind.

The sprites walked through a wide doorway into a strange looking room filled with almost-scientific apparatus. However, instead of being gleamingly clean, it was dingy and soot-covered, and cauldrons bubbled on fires throughout the room. The last sprite turned and let Auberon pass, then held his hand up to stop Sama. ‘You’re not welcome. Stay outside.’ A thick, wooden door slammed shut in front of her, and Gabe drifted on through it, leaving her alone in the corridor.

She paced for a moment, then scowled in frustration as she looked for a non-existent chair to sit on. She had only just begun an internal monologue on the benefits of power tools in modern faerie taming, when the door opened again, and Auberon returned to her.

‘I’ve explained what we want to them in no uncertain terms. They will create a complete replica of your brother’s body, to the same proportions as the original, and including body parts he was missing when he died. The spirit will then be inserted into it, with complete control, as if it were born into it.’
‘Yes!’ Sama leapt into the air in excitement, twirled around, with the forest-green cloak flowing out behind her, and rushed over and threw her arms around the faerie knight. She embraced him happily for a moment, until it occurred to her that she was probably overstepping castle etiquette, and stepped back sheepishly.

‘I am glad you’re pleased, my witch,’ he said with a slight smile.
‘How long will they take?’ she said.
‘Long enough for us to eat and then rest. The Hunt began many long hours ago, and we should not disturb the sprites while they work.’
‘That sounds great,’ Sama began, and then hesitated, remembering. ‘Auberon? I can’t eat the food of faerieland! If I do, I’ll be trapped here forever. That’s what the stories warn!’
‘You can buy items safely, however you can not just take. That is the difference.’
‘Oh,’ she said in relief. ‘What sort of money do you use? Because I don’t have any faerie money.’
He smiled and shook his head. ‘You can buy it from me with a smile.’

Sama laughed and beamed a radiant smile up at Auberon. He reached out and delicately mimed taking something from in front of her face. She felt something subtly shift, like a sensation deep within her jaw, and looked at him in amazement. ‘That wasn’t a figure of speech, that, buy it with a smile, line?’
‘No.’
‘You coulda told me!’
‘I did. Don’t worry, the feeling will pass. I haven’t taken your ability to smile, just that single smile. It’s helpful in some magical potions,’ he explained.
‘Right,’ she said, rubbing her jaw. ‘The food had better be bloody good for that!’
‘But of course. You’re a guest in the castle of the Lord of Faerieland. The meals here are the finest in existence.’

On to part 7

Constructive criticism welcome.

© 2008 Damian Herde

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Tags:

dark, fairy, wild, spirit, arts, goddess, sprite, knight, hunt, walks, faerie, fae, oberon, samhain, auberon, homunculi and homunculus