Mider from It's the End of the World as Humans Know It by Laura Knight ©2004
At 11:00 PM, Anise kissed her father and headed towards the woods behind their house. The moon was bright enough to light her way through the woods. She was grateful the night was clear and the trees didn't yet have all their full summer leaves. After walking for about fifteen minutes she came to a clearing and almost stepped into the faery ring. It had grown to about five times the size of when she last saw it. Small mushrooms grew in the dark green grass that formed the perimeter of the faery ring. She checked her watch and saw that it was only 11:20 PM. She had to wait forty minutes. She sat down beside a big oak tree next to the ring. Shadows of leaves and birds and squirrels and other small animals made her think that she was surrounded. But she just had to tell herself that she was safe - there weren't any dangerous animals in these woods, as these woods weren't really woods but thirty acres of overgrown cow pastures. The owners hadn't had cows for about twenty years - since before she was born. But still, she heard leaves rustling and the wind blowing through the trees and night birds calling to each other and frogs croaking and crickets chirping and Anise thought the night had never been noisier.
Eventually, midnight approached. Anise stood up and watched the second hand on her watch tick it's way to midnight. She hoped her watch kept accurate time - she had set it with the clock on her computer which was set to the atomical clock. It was the kind of watch that also had the day and date on it and she loved the fact that it wasn't digital - she thought digital watches were so ugly. The day and date were rolling around to the next one. When the little hand hit twelve, she began walking around the faery ring. Around and around she went and finally, she had walked nine times around the circle. She then hesitated. Did she stand inside the circle and make a wish to see a faery, or just wait outside the circle for a faery to appear? She decided to step inside the faery ring and make her wish.
"I wish for a faery to come to me and answer my questions," she said, then sat down in the ring and waited. She caressed one of the daisies around her neck and wondered if that would keep the faeries away. All she could do now was wait.
Again, she listened to the noise of the woods and then it changed. Slowly it became quieter, as if from far away the animals were being silenced. The quietness approached like a wave, until all was silent. The wind didn't even rustle the leaves in the trees. Then she heard what sounded like several people running, but she couldn't see anyone. It sounded as if they were getting closer and she couldn't tell how many there were - maybe three or four. She tried to listen for voices - maybe it was a couple of kids having fun in the woods, but Anise heard no voices.
Then, it sounded as if they were very near her, but she still couldn't see anyone. She thought about leaving the faery ring but she stayed. She was too curious to prevent these invisible footsteps from appearing. She then heard a twang and something whistling through the air and someone groan, as if in pain. She saw a man fall right in front of her, as if he fell from mid air. He landed at her feet, inside the ring. He was injured.
"Take me out of the ring," he said as he clutched his shoulder. An arrow stuck out of his shoulder and he was bleeding badly.
Anise grabbed his feet and pulled him outside of the circle of mushrooms, smashing several in the process. She pulled him near the oak.
"Please, help me. This arrowhead is iron. It will kill me if you don't remove it," he said as he grabbed her arm with his bloody hand.
Several things ran through her head at that moment. Who in the world was this guy? Was he faery? Why was he shot? Who shot him? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? But what she did know was this guy was in pain and she needed to help him. In the back of her mind she knew that to help a faery could only bring good things, as faeries are very likely to thank anyone generously who helps them. So, she helped him to sit up, broke the end of the arrow off, took a deep breath and shoved it through then yanked it out in front by the arrow head. The man let out a something close to a growl and a string of words Anise couldn't understand. Anise set the arrow down next to her and took off her father's jacket. She looked at the man again and saw that he was bleeding a lot. She took off her baggy t-shirt then put the jacket back on. She tried not to think about the fact that she had just let a strange man see her in her bra. She took her t-shirt and tried to tie it around his shoulder. She worked with it until it was secure enough that it wouldn't move if he were very still. It was a good thing he wasn't a very broad man or the t-shirt wouldn't have fit around his shoulder.
When she finished, the man scooted himself over to the oak tree and leaned back against it. He sat there for a few minutes with his eyes closed before he said anything else. Anise was wondering what in the world she should do now.
"I suppose when you wished to see a faery you didn't expect to play nursemaid to one," he said in a melodic voice.
"No, not exactly," Anise said. She crawled over to sit in front of him. He was tall, even sitting. His long legs stretched out in front of him. One slender hand rest in his lap and the uninjured arm he sort of leaned on for extra support. The moon shone down on him and Anise almost laughed when she realized it spotlighted him. His long-sleeved shirt and tunic and leggings were all various shades of green and Anise couldn't tell exactly what they were made of. He was dark complected, as far as she could tell in the moonlight, with long straight dark hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail. He was slender and if he had a little more bulk to him he could rival Antonio Banderas or that hot Italian stud Anise had met in Rome when her father bought a large collection of rare books.
"Am I all that you expected?" he asked, breaking her reverie.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. I've just never met a faery before and I guess I thought you'd look less human, more animalistic I guess."
"There are many different races of the Good Folk and some do tend to resemble their favorite animals rather than humans. There is also a glamour that we can all use to hide our true appearances, so we can look however we desire or however our humans interests desire," he said and paused to look at her. "Don't worry, this is my true form. I am injured and could not hold a glamour."
Anise shifted and wrapped her arms around herself. "Can you read my mind?"
"Not precisely. I can have a sense of what you're feeling, but I can't read your exact thoughts. By the by, I am Mider Lares of Khepera and I thank you for your assistance," he said and held out his left hand to her.
Anise took hold of his hand and squeezed. She was unaccustomed to shaking with her left hand, but his right arm was injured. Once she had a hold of his hand, she didn't want to let go. A warmth flowed through her, touching every spot inside her. Everything was warm and alive. It felt as though her blood rushed through her veins and hit every extremity and then as quick as it came, it was pulled back out of her and she felt chilled. He let go of her hand. She stared at her hand and felt as if she'd lost something very important. Mider sat up a little straighter and moved his injured arm a little.
"Oh, don't move too much, I'm not sure how long that knot in the shirt will hold," she said.
He smiled at her and rotated his injured shoulder a bit and then took the t-shirt off of his wound. Anise reached out to stop him, but he handed her back her shirt instead. He moved his arm some more and then smiled at her.
"It's okay; I'm a fast healer," he said and stood up.
Anise sat there and stared up at the first faery she'd ever met. Were they all able to heal so fast? And then she thought she'd ruined a good shirt for nothing.
"Lest you think that your help was not needed, I assure you that iron arrow would have killed me," Mider said as he reached a hand down to Anise to help her up. Anise hesitated in taking his hand. But when he remained there, smiling, she decided to risk it, but this time there was not warm feeling, just the warmth of his hand. Anise stared at their joined hands after she stood. Mider leaned his head down to look into her eyes and she let go of his hand. He was at least a foot taller than she was, definitely taller than her dad who was right at six feet tall.
"I have told you my name, but you have yet to tell me yours," Mider said.
"Oh, sorry. My name is Anise Tanit."
"Well, Anise, now that you have saved my life, how may I be of service to you?"
"I have questions that need to be answered. Will you answer them honestly?"
"On my honor, I will answer your questions honestly," he replied and reached for her hand. He took her hand and turned it so that the back of her hand was up, then he pulled it to his lips and placed his hot lips on the back of her hand. A warm chill ran through her body. For a moment, Anise wondered if a handshake and a kiss on the back of her hand could make her feel so much, what would an embrace or a kiss do to her?
He brought her hand away from his lips and said, "I'd like for us to go somewhere else, if you don't mind. My hunters may return. Your daisy chain may protect you from harm from the Good Folk, but I do not have one. May we go to your home?"
Anise didn't know if she could really trust him. But she had saved him and he promised to tell her the truth, so she figured the odds were in her favor. She'd take him to the shed behind her house. She had fixed it up as her gardening shed, since her father didn't have many tools. There was a comfortable old settee she had put in there so she could sit while she sifted through seeds.
"I'll bring you to my home, but we can't go in the house. I don't think my father would like the idea of me bringing a strange man into the house this late at night. But we can go inside the shed to talk," she said. When he nodded in agreement, she led the way.