The lantern in the fog
Soooooo hi y'all, I've been cooking this one for like a week. Its legitimately like 4 pages long on word. In a change of pace from me take a happy, and maybe mildly bittersweet fairy tale about the Ferrymen of the Land of Mists
It’s often said fairy tales are hidden lessons, stories with kernels of truth to be unearthed through time.
This fairy tale is one that has been passed down through generations of people in the lands of mist, the tale of the ferrymen who guide the lost home.
The lantern in the fog
Once upon a time when the land of mists was new and civilization young, there was a small village on the coast of the Sea of Sorrows. During this time the mist was thick and unknown, but she sang of danger and fear to those who dared to wander too close.
In those days the city of light was but a small town, and inside the town was a young woman whose name is now lost to time. This was when towns lost many every year to the mists and the things that lurked within, when beasts of the night were well known and feared by all.
On the night of the new moon, when the sky was darkest and the fog thickest, the young woman was walking near the edge of town listening to the siren song of the Mists. As she is walking peering into the every shifting mists, humming a tune to follow the melody of the song of the mists, she notices a young man. He is sitting under a tree, letting the mists lap at his heels as he writes in a small journal.
“It's not safe out here at night alone” she calls to the young man.
The young woman turns to look at her, a smile crosses his face “Why is that?”. And despite the smile the question seems quite genuine, as if the young man in front of her doesn’t know of the dangers of this land.
“Are you from somewhere far away?” She asks not unkindly to the gentleman before her.
He seems to ponder her question for a moment, “No, my home is these lands of mist same as you”. After answering the question he stands up from his sitting place under the tree. “Well if it’s so dangerous to be out here alone let me accompany you on your walk?”
The young woman ponders his question for a few moments, as trusting strangers is often dangerous, and yet this young man does not frighten her in the slightest. Instead she finds his presence quite calming.
“I see no reason you can’t” she eventually replies “I am going nowhere specific, simply wandering the edges of town to help those who have gotten lost in the fog” she says as she raises her lantern slightly higher.
The young man smiles again “ah I see, so you’re like a light house, but for people”, he says as he chuckles to himself.
“Well” she pauses “I suppose you could say that, I never really thought of it like that” at this the young woman laughs to herself as well. “We’ll come in then, plenty of more town to see” as she turns to continue her route along the city, lantern in hand.
That night was the first night where the young woman did not wander the edges of the town alone. And despite how she often enjoyed the solitude on her nightly vigil, the woman quite enjoyed her new companion.
And so they walked the town until few began to gather on the grass and leaves around them as the sun began to peak from beyond the horizon.
When she noticed the first rays of sunlight coloring the mist and sky the young woman turned to speak to her companion. And yet as she turned to wish him farewell, as the rising of the sun marked the end to her vigil, she found her companion was no longer with her. Confused, she looked around for him to see if she could find where he had gone, but there was no trace of the young man.
Bewildered but exhausted the young woman went home to rest, deeming her companion a figment of the Mists.
The next night when the young woman went out to walk the edges of the town, her new companion was waiting for her at the same tree she had found him. She thought to ask him where he went that morning, but something in the back of her mind told her that she would not get an answer from her new friend.
Instead the woman simply smiled at him and waved him over so he might join her on her walk. His silent presence, a welcoming and calming one.
This pattern of a shared silent vigil over this small village continued for some time. How long is another detail long lost to the sea of time, but what is known is when the pattern changed.
The moon that night is full and blue, an uncommon occurrence in the land of mist. The sky so bright the lantern seemed nearly useless, but still the woman brought it with her as was routine.
Instead of her companion sitting under the tree himself, this where he normally resided was another. The young woman was not blind to the differences this new “man” had, the long ears and slim features of this new man clearly marked him as a fairy. Which was strange, for as far as she knew the fae of this plane were confined to stay within the bounds of the shadow rift.
“Good evening” she calls to them, the young woman offers a slight bow in a show of pleasantries to the fae before her. This fae is unlike the ones she has seen before, the ones who make their home in the shadow rift. Those fae are cold and cause fear to trickle down the back of her spine.
This fae is different from them, his presence is almost warm, inviting like a crackling campfire fire on a cold night under the stars.
The fairy smiles at her and bows in return, a light chuckle passes from his lips as he does. “Its lovely to be greeted with such kindness” he says to her. “I can see why my darling speaks so highly of you”
The woman looks at the fairy in front of her confusion clearly present on her face. “Apologies” he states “He can’t be here himself he…” the fae pauses clearly searching for the words he wants to say. “He’s a bit indisposed for the moment. But, despite my feelings on the matter and his decisions, I did promise to bring you this since he can’t himself.”
At this the gentleman takes the staff he left leaning against the bark of the tree and holds it out to her. The staff itself is beautiful, carved of a silver wood she has never seen before. And at the top where the wood begins to curl back upon itself hangs a lantern; not unlike the one the young woman currently holds. However this one is made of a different metal, one the woman can not name but it shimmers beautifully in the evening light. The final and most striking difference is the lack of flame or glass, instead at the center of the lantern is a ball of mist that is emanating a soft light.
The woman takes the staff carefully from the fae in front of her, in awe of the beautiful piece in front of her. After inspecting the instrument before her she turns to the fae, “I mean no offense, but I have heard tales of the fae and their kind and gifts are often not without their cost”.
The gentleman smiles “You would be correct, but fear not, his request is quite simple. In exchange for the gift all he, and I in his stead, ask is that you keep to your vigil. My friend, your companion, may be gone for sometime. So use this lantern to keep you company, and keep as eye out for him in the mists, one day you may have to guide him home as well’
The young woman nods her agreement to the terms before she replies “A promise easily made, may the light of the lantern guide him home wherever he may be”.
And so the ferrymen of the land of mists were born, as the young woman began to travel between villages with her lantern searching high and low for her lost companion. Her light became known throughout the lands, and eventually with time she taught others of the young man in the mists, and through him helped more people learn to navigate the lands without fear.
And eventually when her time of keeping the lantern lit was done and her service complete, her companion would return to her. This time to guide her one last time into the mists, to walk side by side with her one final time as they had done many years ago, to her final rest.