Fabledom of Fae-wrought Stone, Part 4,

by J. W. Cassandra

"Fabledom of Fae-wrought Stone" - the story emerging from the mists of time, straight from Bluebell Pixie's Enchanting Bag, is now continuing. Now I am bringing you the fourth, and at the same time, finishing part, for a grand lore needs time to unfold.

Now that the story is coming to an end, I will tell you a secret: if someone reads or listens to the sequel as a child, then they can enjoy a fairy tale. And if he is willing to read it as an adult and wants to see the entire story in one piece, the Hidden Path can be revealed to him in the end, and if the Secretkeepers allow him, he can also find the keys leading to the secrets, because they had also been hidden in this story by the Creator Fae.

In the fourth part, the trials end: the protagonist is left alone with the puzzle. Will he be able to find its key?

True-hearted Mick's encounter with the immortal old, withered grandame from the village.

The Fae Queen's enchantment

The Fae-book and the Fae-mirror–the enthralling lays sing of miraculous events. Finally, True-hearted Mick returns to the Upper World with the Fae-wrought stone–you can read about his adventures and happiness in the final part.

Enjoy the story, have a good time!

[Together they all swam to the surface of the spring, and proffered it to the Capricorn Beetle, who in turn handed it to the lad.]

Then, as if by magic, the ants, the magpie, the giants, and the Capricorn Beetle all vanished in a trice. The lad was left all alone, holding but a tiny diamond stone in place of the Lower-world Fae-wrought stone. He turned it over in his palm, gazing at its light, trying to reckon what to do: how might he charm it back into its true form, the Fae-wrought stone, or where could he find a soul with the power to do so? For even now, True-hearted Mick still did not dare to trust in his own strength.

As he was turning the gem, all of a sudden, a tiny book glimmered in the diamond stone. True-hearted Mick reached for it, and then the Fae-book emerged forth from the diamond. It began to swell, and in the blink of an eye, it had grown into a mighty Fae-book, with pages to be turned—a true and wondrous book.

He sought to open it, but the Fae-book unfolded of its own accord, its pages fluttering until they came to rest upon the very spot where the braided Fae-glyphs meant for True-hearted Mick were written.

"Chronicle of dim days of yore,
Chronicle of the Fae-wrought stone,
Scribed in the Fae-book, now arise!
Open your mirror, cast a charm,
Who looks in you, let him see True!"

And as the lay faded away, a Fae-mirror was slowly revealed before the marvelling lad's eyes. Nay, more the dance of laughing Fae traced lines of runic Fae-glyphs within the mighty book of the Fae; as True-hearted Mick gazed upon them, the following rhyme was woven around a dim, opalescent mirror:

"Stonecrop leaf and Faerie-charm,
You hide the all-seeing-eye.
Fae-mirror, just open wide!"

The rhyme drummed and tapped, the rhythms danced, and the words shaped themselves into a lay; and slowly, the Fae-mirror began to clear, its surface gradually brightening with light.

And who else should appear in it but the old, withered grandame from the village?! Aye, it was she, yet young again, and in the splendour of her beauty; only her gaze was telltale: it was by her eyes that True-hearted Mick knew her for the old granny of his childhood, a master of all Fae-lore. And the maiden telling Fae-lore winked and smiled, and all of a sudden, she was turned into the old grandame, the lad remembered so well.

"Mercy me!" He cried, rubbing his eyes, marvelling. "Who are you in truth?"

"The old grandame from the village, the master of Fae-lore, that I am!" The grandame winked. Her eyes laughed, the thousand wrinkles of her face laughed as they ran every which way, and her mouth laughed, too.

Then the young woman stood before him once more, now not only in the splendour of her beauty, but veiled in the enchanting power of the Fae.

"I am one of those Fae who enchanted the Fae-wrought stones to root out envy and malice from the hearts of men! You see me as I am!"

Then she stepped to the mighty Fae-book, closed it, and beckoned:

"Now you must open the Fae-book, as well!"

True-hearted Mick heeded her word. Meanwhile, right before his very eyes, the Fae-mirror had taken on a life of its own: it floated forth from the mighty Fae-book and came to rest so that the Fae-book was reflected within it from every side. Whatever the lad did was mirrored in its depths.

The cover of the Fae-book was thick and heavy, adorned with golden scrolls and silver mountings, forming a mysterious pattern. Mick did not know what it was. He gazed at it in wonder, just as he marvelled at the joined faces of the Sun and Moon, which sat in the very middle as an embossed image of gold and silver. Around them, a myriad of stars, great and small, twinkled and scattered their sparks.

The lad touched it fearfully. As his fingers brushed the surface, the scrolls and mountings began to wind and weave, transforming into braided glyphs, and burst into song with a silver, tinkling voice:

"Sun has waited ages for thee,
Moon has waited ages for thee!
Wise and enthralling words of old,
Now the true Fae-charm shall unfold!"

And as if into a symphony, the lay of the golden and silver, glimmering Sun-Moon face mingled with the melody:

"On golden chariot, the Sun awaits thee,
With silver light, Luna's charm lures thee!
Ages have come, then ages have gone –
Here find the now, the upcoming, the bygone!
Feel the Fae-power: its source ever-giving,
Open the Book: its wisdom is living!
Son of Fortune, whom Sun and Luna protect:
Thy life with Fae-magic, henceforth we connect!"

And the song was answered by a shower: heaven knows from where, an iridescent cloud gathered above them, and from it, rainbow-hued raindrops fell. They fell on the ground, into the spring, onto the mighty Fae-book, the Fae-grandame, and the mirror—the lad was not spared either, for he received his fair share.

The rainbow fish rose from the spring toward the heavens, hovering there like a fragrant, iridescent spray once the rainbow rain had ceased.

At last, True-hearted Mick opened the Fae-book, and where it fell open, he saw braided glyphs glimmering in moon-silver.

He frowned and racked his brain, but could not read the script. Then, the drops of the iridescent rain fell upon the writing, and at their touch, he finally managed to read it, nay, more, he even understood its every word!

The braided glyphs spoke thus:

"From mists of yore, it draws its breath;
The future comes, the upcoming,
From distant past, where future hides—
To renew Fae-Home, where it lies.

Wanderer of the Upper-world,
Wanderer of the Lower-world,
The Fae-stone turns: he spins and whirls
Fate and time, then Sun and Luna,
So his charm renews what once was."

As he read it, the book trembled, the braided glyphs quivered, and True-hearted Mick was overcome by a strange sensation. The Fae-mirror drew his gaze: looking within, he saw himself, or his own likeness, yet it was a wondrous twin—armed with Fae-charms, knowledge of the Fae, and sovereign power. This twin-self gave him a heartening look, then stepped from the mirror's depths straight to him, and his airy shape melted into the lad. Yet, he knew who he was! Yet, he knew what to do!

He stepped to the spring and gazed upon the place of the Fae-wrought stone. There, by the intertwined power of the Sun and Moon, he enchanted the Fae-wrought stone which he had once cast into the draw-well of the Upper-world. He turned it so that the braided glyphs of the Fae faced upward. Then, he began to turn it thrice to the right and then thrice to the left. And miracle of miracles, the Fae-wrought stone all at once obeyed his will and his magic might! The enchanted stone let out a great, resonant chime, and at the sound, the ants and their Queen flocked forth, the magpie returned, and, twirling its moustache, the Capricorn Beetle also arrived, as well.

The ants and their Queen flocked to the mirror, the magpie perched close by, and the Capricorn Beetle also wormed its way into their midst. Then, a shimmering silver light burst from the Fae-mirror, sweeping over the ants, until they were transformed back into Fae-youths and maidens. Their leader became the Fae Queen so radiant that no mortal eye had ever beheld her equal! She was veiled in a rainbow cloud, the Moon shone silver upon her mantle, the stars twinkled there, and the Sun radiated a thousand rays.

Her scent was borrowed from the rainbow: it shifted subtly as the colours vibrated in the rainbow.

Her smile graced everyone and everything alike, as bright as the sky of the high summer noon, and as deep as the starry sky of summer night.

Then the magpie hopped even closer to the mirror, peered in, and chattered: "Mercy me, that is me! What beautiful and bluish my feathers are! I am a magpie indeed..."

Even as she finished her chattering, a silver ray of light burst from the Fae-mirror again, and she was turned back into a beautiful Fae-maiden. Only her thick, long, bluish-black hair, falling in waves, reminded one of a magpie she had been.

Then the Capricorn Beetle stepped before the mirror with a flourish:

"Moustache, I twirl, moustache, I twist,
By wood and wold, I shall be missed!"

The silver ray of light of the Fae-mirror turned him back into his true form: a mischievous Fae-elf stood in the Capricorn Beetle's place. His charming figure swayed to and fro, and he whistled a pert, mysterious tune.

Then the Fae Queen beckoned, the Fae-book turned its pages to the spell, and the lad,  who was now both Fae and mortal man, mingled his voice with the lay flowing from the Fae-book:

"In Fae-stone hidden, the True shall lie;
In Fae-stone hidden, balm glows—no cry!
Sit on the Fae-stone; it shall beguile,
Read braided glyphs—Fae, you'll be, High!

Fae-wrought stones guard the Fairy Realm,
Entwined by charm and magic's helm.
Find it, and Truth shall dwell in you—
Prophet beyond death—it shall be you!"

And the Fae-wrought stone rose into the air, the lad clung to it, and the stone flew him back to the draw-well. There twinkling points of light sparkled, and his companions—the Fae of the Mirror and the Book—appeared once more. The Fae Queen gave him the tiny diamond as a farewell gift, in which the Fae-book was hidden, and within the book, the Fae-mirror, as well.

"You know what must be done with it, Chronicler of Days of Yore! For now, you are what you have ever been: the sentinel and adept of the Fae-book, the Chronicler of Days of Yore, who is the treasurer and keeper of the Fae-wisdom through all ages," she spoke to the lad, who nodded and stowed the diamond away with care.

Then the Fae-wrought stone rose with the lad and carried him over the well; there it tilted to its side and laid him gently upon the ground, right beside the draw-well.

Oh, how Heartsease, his betrothed, rejoiced! She had been waiting for him unwaveringly, having wept her eyes out in grief, that she would never behold her beloved fiancé again! Together they hastened to True-hearted Mick's house, where his mother had lain grievously ill when the lad first set out to fell wood. But lo! She was bedridden no longer; she walked out to the gate, for her heart had whispered that his son was nearing home! With great joy, she gathered him into her arms along with Heartsease.

Yet, their mirth soon turned to sorrow once more, for shimmering rays of light sparkled from the tiny diamond, and Mick remembered that a quest still awaited him!

He bid farewell to Heartsease and his mother and set forth once more with the Fae-wrought stone.

He wandered until he returned to the mountain peak, to the very spot where he had first sat upon the Fae-wrought stone among the stately trunks. He restored the stone to its place, drew forth the tiny diamond, and gave it a rub. The diamond twinkled and sparkled, and lo! the Upper World Fae Queen appeared with her train of Fae. She, too, rubbed a small diamond she had with her—the perfect twin of the one held by the Lower World Fae Queen.

Then, a Fae-book and a Fae-mirror emerged forth from each of them: from the diamond of the Lower World came the Fae-book and the Fae-mirror of the Lower World, and from the diamond of the Upper World the Fae-book and the Fae-mirror of the Upper World.

The Fae Queen beckoned, and the two books and the two mirrors merged into one, even as the veils of clouds mingle and melt together in the sky.

And at the very moment when the two books and the two mirrors merged into one, a Fae-enchantment arose from them, uniting the Fae Homeland of the Lower World with that of the Upper World. Thus, a far stronger, more wondrous Fae-realm came into being than the one which had been sundered in two before.

Meanwhile, a lay drifted forth from the Fae-wrought stone on its own accord:

"Fairy charm and fairy magic:
Behold the one of whom script sings!
With him comes the world's rebirth:
From Fae-lit earth, the magic sings!"

Then the Upper World Fae Queen enchanted the united Fae-book once more—which now held the united Fae-mirror within—and it was once again enclosed inside the tiny diamond.

"At the full moon, we shall dance in the glade! Bring also your betrothed, and be there with us!"

With these words, they left the lad there, and he hastened home to finally wed his betrothed. And so it came to pass: they held a wedding feast that was famed through seven kingdoms, and when the moon was full, they went to the glade together.

There, the roundelay of the Fae was already in full swing!

Upon their arrival, the Fae Queen beckoned, the roundelay ceased, and she drew forth the tiny diamond.

With a smile, she handed it to Heartsease, who turned it over and over in her palm, and in doing so, the Fae-book fell forth from the gem. Then the Fae-mirror sprang from the book, veiling the maiden in its shimmering silver light.

In a trice, her own Fae-likeness appeared within the Fae-mirror and stepped toward her; then, just as the lad's Fae-likeness had done in the Lower World, the spirit-self melted into Heartsease. Thus, she too became both mortal and Fae, a hundredfold—a thousandfold—more beautiful than before! In the years that followed, she and her husband, the Chronicler of Days of Yore, performed many more wondrous deeds, but those are stories for another time.

Suffice it to say, they became the first human-Fae pair, and their offspring were of the same blood. Thus was the Fae-folk renewed: people who are both men and Fae.

And as for the Fae-wrought stone, having journeyed through the Lower World, it was made new; and in its awakening, it also renewed every enchanted stone scattered all over the Earth and in the Upper World, so that Fae-homeland could provide a true home for all.

As I have said, even Bluebell Pixie herself stood agape, watching what had rolled forth from the enchanting bag; for a while, she quite forgot to lead the tale back to its source. By good fortune, the children, too, were fascinated by the tale of Fabledom of Fae-wrought Stone, which at last billowed and wounded its way back into the enchanting bag of its own accord.

Then the little Bluebell Pixie came to her senses. She tied up the bag, slung it over her shoulder, and bid farewell to the children. The spell of the Fae-wrought Stone tale lifted her aloft toward the smoke billowing from the chimney; there she spiralled and wreathed for a while, before, most likely, turning onto the celestial highway. I did not see it with my own eyes, but so it is said. Even then, her merry song still drifted from the curling smoke; listen to it, all of you, too!

"Today here, tomorrow there:
I turn into Fae-stone, spelt!
Spells and Fae-charm I shall bring,
Where I am, just magic sings!"

Written: 18 – 28 / 11. 2025, by J. W. Cassandra
Translated: 05 / 03 - 30 / 04. 2026, by J. W. Cassandra

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