Journey of the Magi
“A cold coming we had of it, just the worst time of the year for a journey, and such a journey: the ways deep and the weather sharp, the very dead of winter.”
The SC Erebus was fitted with flinderglass engines, twice-tough amber oars and sails woven from moonlight and cat’s breath. Every line and curve lovingly finished. She should have cut the clouds with ease, filling her sails with starlight – but a bitter winter storm struck, catching her in its deadly embrace. Her sailors struggled valiantly to keep her prow above the freezing clouds. In spite of their effort, ten thousand icicles clung to her hull and dragged her into another world below the sky sea.
Such a hard time they had of it – the world below the sky sea was not meant for mortal men. The sailors feared for their lives. The ship’s priest lit blue wax candles to keep away the haunting musical voices that swam about the SC Erebus while the sailors prayed for sun and starlight to guide their path and hacked away at the treacherous ice that bound their ship to this strange icy jungle. One by one their numbers whittled away as the men sent to hack the ice failed to return.
Men do terrible things when they are desperate and afraid. They threw the priest overboard praying to draw away the horrible singing voices. It didn’t help. If anything, the voices began a slow crescendo, until no man could sleep for the deafening noise. No one bothered to try and cut the ice away. The ship was stuck, the stores were gone and the few men left would be glad of their death.
And then there was one man, barely a man, for the youth had turned 17 on the first day of his first voyage. He outlived them all, drinking mouthfuls of melted snow-water and moving slowly to conserve his energy. That is how the witch found him, very nearly frozen to death. She marveled at his resilience and used her power to revive him.
Now, the youth knew of the faerie tales of the dark powers that lurked beneath the sky sea. The witch offered him a summer kingdom if he would have it, the most beautiful maiden in the seven skies, or a ship wrought of solid flinderglass, if only the youth would enter her service for a year. All of these things meant nothing to the youth, who knew his soul was lost beneath the sky sea unless he could avail himself of a higher power and rise above the freezing clouds. So in exchange for his service, he asked for the wind.
The witch found this amusing, for few sky-dwellers would ask for such a blasphemous craft. In their beliefs, the wind was a fierce deity to be worshipped, not bound by mere mortal will. But the witch desired company, so she accepted to teach the youth how to call the wind in exchange for ten years’ service.
One cannot spend time with a witch without becoming a little fae-touched. The youth was surprised to find his ears becoming a little more pointed and his legs growing a luxurious coat of fur. He was more terrified when he discovered horns (he screamed so loudly the witch knocked over her breakfast and made him clean it up). By the time his feet became cloven hooves, he had found the beginnings of a magnificent tail. At the end of his ten years’ servitude, the youth knew the arts of candle-making, horn-carving and how to weave cloaks from starlight and ice. He could call the wind and rain. The witch released the youth from his contract and thanked him sincerely for his service.
The youth could leave now – he could carve a ship of ice and weave its sales from starlight and ice. He could craft the candle to light its engine and an oar of horn to steer it when the wind grew tired. But he no longer wished to leave the land beneath the sky sea. He had been changed by his time with the witch – one cannot learn the undersea arts without being touched by them.
So the youth, who was now more aptly described as a Faun, stayed with the SC Erebus and built a strange little town from the well-preserved frozen wreck. He used his power to carve paths through the undersea that would lead to Erebus. He lit the windows with ever-burning blue candles to guide any lost sailors to this haven, knowing that a light in the dark would re-kindle the hope of any lost soul who thought themselves drowned in the sky sea.
The Faun’s efforts worked – his blue candles kept away the alluring musical voices and Erebus became a candlelit haven in the dead winter. As the years snowed by, hundreds of lost sailors found their way to Erebus and made a humble home for themselves. As the centuries came and went, the snows melted, leaving behind a fantastic jungle. The Faun’s enchantments held, and Erebus remained steady. The invisible paths the Faun carved through the undersea (now a lovely forest) remain to this day.
The Faun had left when the first sailors came to Erebus – he was shy about his appearance and did not wish to disturb the skydwellers. In truth, the Faun no longer felt a connection to the people that sailed the cloud seas and fished for sky turtles. But he left a detailed written record of his journey and his work, so that the folk of Erebus knew of its genesis and did not have anything to fear by staying or leaving.
Occasionally, a young child will glimpse the Faun wandering the peaceful wood. They say he walks silently, hooded in cheerful colours and carrying a stout horn-staff with a bag made of dragonfish scales. If the musical voices dare to stray near Erebus, the Faun will come to banish the spirits and check the blue candles to ensure they remain burning. Eventually, the people of Erebus named the Faun and called him guardian and protector. They carved little statues in his likeness and sang songs to praise him.
They called the first faun by the name Faranik, he who survived a journey for magi.