Book of Shadows, Fragment 1

I met the old Norse woman near the windmill house overlooking the swamp. She called the area Fen’s Breath, though we know it as Outlook Mill. She claimed to have been a wise woman in the Old World, one who could speak with the spirits of nature. The Fae, she called them, the Folk of Light and Shadow. She claimed they taught her to create various wards and charms. I had heard of such things but my granny told me such magics were wicked. But here, magic manifests as easily as mist on a cold night. The wise woman agreed to tell me of her spells so that I could create a Book of Shadows. I asked her if the Fae were present on Aeternum. She smiled and stroked the end of her crooked nose. “They be everywhere, child,” she whispered. “You may not see them with your eyes, but they are there, watching, waiting…” I asked her what they were waiting for, but she would not answer. She began humming a haunting tune I had never heard before, but I have heard many times since. -Deidre