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[Martin Willow]

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The fading light of early evening cast a soothing shadow across the forests of Illshenar. Animals wandered in and out of the brush, occasionally crossing the path in front of or behind Martin. For his part, Martin followed Molly as she led him through the forests to an unknown destination. A gentle breeze tugged at Molly’s broad-brimmed hat, and she held it to her head with a free hand. She turned and winked at Martin, then continued to lead the way.
Armor left behind, both Molly and Martin were dressed down to simple clothing. Martin wore regular boots, shirt and pants, his trademark feathered cap, and a cloak, while Molly, still walking a few feet ahead of Martin, wore a skirt and top combination that would have gotten any man to follow her through this forest. Martin suspected she knew it too.
They continued to make their way through the forest, and the sun sank lower in the sky, creating a fiery orange hue on the mountains to the west. Molly glanced over her shoulder every so often, to make sure she hadn’t lost him in her press forward. As they moved deeper into the forest, Martin noticed a few faeries filtering back and forth behind trees and along the path ahead of them. Molly also seemed to be glowing lightly, whether from the magic of the area, or perhaps just a trick of the light. Her form, none-the-less, was no unmistakable amongst the forest shapes.
Exiting the forest into a clearing, Martin saw before him in the failing light a broad structure erected in the trees, with small wood steps leading up to it from various angles. Molly beckoned him up the steps, and then she vanished within the building. Following her up, Martin was taken aback by what he saw. A broad complex sat within the trees, with bridges connecting various sections of it to one another. Several sections had their own little common areas, and all contained ample space for comfort.
Molly waved to Martin from one of the bridges, and crossed it to another raised platform. Following her across, he found her sitting on a blanket laid out on the floor, a picnic lunch set out for them. Sitting down opposite her, they smiled at one another and ate the food quietly. As they ate, Martin admired the structures around them, the flawless design and construction of them. Molly whispered to him, noticing his interest.
“It is a faeri place, love. I come here whenever I need something special for a faeri spell, or along those lines…”

“It is a beautiful place, Molly…” Martin replied, still looking around, and noticing for the first time a few faeri poking their heads over the railing and looking at them.

“Come, Martin...there’s more…” Molly said to him, standing and leading the way to another platform.

She showed him around the entire complex, demonstrating the unique aspects of the rooms, and pointing out the many small things one just casually looking around would miss easily. Their exploration finally led them to the center most building in the structure, but as they approached the doorway, Molly stopped. Turning to face him, she gave him a soft, warm smile, and then backed into the doorway and into the room beyond.
Martin followed her into the room, and found her standing and looking quietly at a ring of small candles in the center of the floor. The sun had set outside, leaving only the burning wicks of the candles to illuminate Molly’s face. They did so, and Martin could see the softness of her features, the most relaxed and at easy he had ever seen her face before. She turned her head to look at him, then slowly stepped into the circle and over to one side of it. Without a word, Martin stepped in behind her, and stood opposite her in the circle.
The small light given off by the candles seemed to grow slightly, and Molly opened her hands, palms up, and held them out at her sides. Speaking quietly, but still loud enough for Martin to hear her easily, Molly looked at him.

“This is a faeri circle, love. It is a focal point for faeri, like me…” She turned her head, looking to either side of the room, as though she was taking it all in and seeking approval before she continued.

“I stand here before my kin and my world…” Molly whispered, taking a step closer to Martin, “and I ask you and I to be bound together. Once we are bound, our lives will be forever linked….” She raised her eyes to his and they stared into each other’s for a moment.

“I love you, Martin Willow, and I will forever…do you want to take this step with me?” She spoke quietly, but her words were all Martin heard. He smiled warmly back at her.

“I love you, Molly Willow, and I would do anything to be with you forever, and a day.”
She smiled, and took a step back from him. From her hands she cast out a dust, changing constantly in color, never holding one but doing its best to be an entire rainbow in a single moment. The faeri dust floated around the room, filling it with the rainbow of colors it portrayed. Existing between them and around them, it suddenly felt to Martin as though the dust also existed within him. He noticed, looking about, that the dust was not drifting at random; it slowly spiraled around the room, orbiting with himself and Molly at its center.
Reflected in the candle’s glare, the lightshow of dust cast all the colors of the world upon Molly’s face. She was smiling lovingly at him, and he returned the smile in kind. The dust orbiting them slowly began to close in, no longer maintaining a constant circle around them but instead weaving between their arms, through their legs, and around their bodies. The paths impossible to follow, the dust coursed between them, until finally, the streams of color slowly began to be absorbed by Molly and Martin’s bodies.
The glowing, faceted dust eventually vanished, leaving Martin with a warm feeling throughout his entire body.
Opening his eyes, though he hadn’t realized he had closed them, his gaze fell upon Molly, who stood close to him, looking up at him with shining eyes.

“We are bound, love.” She whispered to him.

Taking her in his arms, Martin kissed her deeply, pausing only a moment to whisper, “Forever and a day, Molly…forever and a day.”

She smiled up at him, and as the glow that accentuated all her features slowly faded, she spun gently out of his grasp, and walked toward the door lightly. Throwing him a glance, Molly turned and vanished around the corner of the door. Following her out the door, Martin caught a glimpse of her stepping down from the porch, and back out into the forest. Catching up at the edge of the clearing, Martin found Molly in conversation with one of the native faeri of the area, and she glanced at him as he approached.

“Thank you so much, Shei, and please tell the others thanks, too.” Molly said, turning away from the faeri and taking Martin’s hand.

“There’s more, love.”

Walking together though the forest, they passed by more faeri going about their business. Occasionally Molly would stop and talk with one of them, sometimes thanking them, other times speaking quietly that Martin could not hear, but always pointing him and smiling.
Their path eventually led them out of the forest, and across a plain. Entering the city of the Meer. Various class of Meer walked about the town, few out and about at the late hour. Those that were about were heavily armed, as adventures, ignoring the negative connotation of killing the Meer, sometimes raided the town. The Meer did not give Martin and Molly a second glance, however.
Clearing the outskirts of the town, a vast clearing lay before them, with a single tree growing atop a hill. The tree was massive, and orbiting it in criss-crossing paths were bright traces of magic. The magic illuminated the branches and leaves, adding to the glow given to them by the moonlight. As they approached, the illumination dimmed around the tree, and lit a path up to its base on the hill, throwing the remainder of the tree into eerie shadows.
Molly led the way up the path, and Martin could see as he walked that small flowers, ignited in light from the tree’s magic, created the path for them. As he walked, each set of flowers he passed faded and was extinguished, until the path that had brought Molly and him to the base was as unperceivable as the parts of the tree cast into shadow. Only a base of light around the roots of the tree allowed Martin to see where he was walking. Looking at Molly’s barely visible face, he saw her smiling, and then she pointed the other direction and made a circular motion with her finger, indicating for him to walk the base. She started off in the other direction.
Once he had begun walking, Martin came to grasp the sheer size of the tree. Its branches hung far over the slope to its base, blocking out all of the light the moon had offered them. His guiding lights of glowing flowers slowly diminished in unison, throwing him into near blackness. For a moment his dreams from so many weeks ago floated to the surface of his mind, but he quickly cast them back down into the depths of his consciousness, not wanting to let them ruin the eve.
Closing his eyes, Martin continued to walk his path around the tree. He quickly found that no roots reached out to trip him, nor did he stumble on any irregularities in the path. It was almost as though the tree was allowing him to walk its circumference with its consent. Feelings of calm, of serenity flooded into Martin, freeing his mind from the daily stresses he felt. He pictured himself walking through a calm forest, the path before him clear, but lacking any sign of human efforts to keep it such. An overwhelming sense of peace washed over him.


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Grand Paladin of THG