yarrow's world

Yarrow meets a wizard

Yarrow had been travelling for over a day at this point. By the time he had seeked out a small clearing in an unfamiliar forest, it was getting dark. He got a small fire going and got to work making a simple stew of root vegetables.

Eventually, he turned in for the night by the dying flame, using his rucksack as a pillow and his long coat as a blanket. He wanted to pack as light as possible for such a long journey. As he hugged his coat tighter around himself, unused to sleeping in the cold wilderness (although he was partial to a nap in the sun on a warm summer's day), his mind drifted to the imps back home, and how they huddled for warmth as they slept. He wished Jesper was with him.

The next time he opened his eyes, the wintry morning sky filtered through the canopy above him. It was a pale pink, almost white. He rolled onto his back to take it all in.

There was a man.

An impossibly tall man, looming over Yarrow, analysing his features curiously.

"Hello, little one!" exclaimed the man with great exuberance upon realising Yarrow was awake.

Yarrow was upright in an instant, backing away on the heels of his hands.

"Do not be frightened! We wizards are a friendly people, welcoming to all creatures on this Earth, I promise you this."

Yarrow had backed up to a tree in his effort to escape, and walked his hands up its trunk now, slowly standing up as if any sudden movement might end in catastrophe.

"My name," he exclaimed as he kneeled to the ground with a flourish, "is (cool elaborate wizard name)."

Yarrow opens his mouth then closes it again.

"And yourself?" the wizard says imploringly.

"Yarrow," croaks a small voice, eventually.

"Yarrow! Like the sea of white flowers that grows in the fields right by my village." He beams. "I confess, I have not seen more than a handful of sprites in my rather long existence and curiosity got the better of me. You will tell me what brings you here, hm? Are you looking for an unoccupied territory?"

"N-no, I came here from Wynwood Forest."

"Ohoho! That is a far journey for anyone, much less a small creature such as yourself! What, then, if not to find a new home?"

"I'm--" Yarrow feels silly all of a sudden, saying it out loud to this enormous stranger. "I'm visiting my mother."

"Ah! I was led to believe that sprites typically leave their parents for good once they reach maturity. Is it not so?"

"Yes... this is not typical for a sprite, I suppose."

"Well, I am all for it! We wizards rarely leave our families." His face lit up. "You must be weary, my friend! Come, I will take you to my village. It is but a mile from here. I will make sure you are fed and watered before you depart."

Yarrow's stomach growled at that. He was curious what a wizard village must be like, though he was terrified in equal measure.

"Let me take the weight off your feet for a while, young sprite!"

Before he could say anything, the wizard was picking Yarrow up from his underarms as if he were a toddler.

"W-WAIT!" Yarrow screamed, kicking his legs in the air to no avail until the wizard had placed him atop his broad shoulders.

Yarrow gripped onto the wizard's head for dear life. The ground was so far away...

"Worry not, you are as safe as houses, my child."

Yarrow is not sure why he should trust this stranger who just took him captive, but he relaxes slightly all the same.

"Um!" Yarrow points at the ground.

"Ah, your things! Must not forget those." Yarrow's stomach drops from the sudden change in height as the wizard bends down to scoop up his possessions.

"Now," starts the wizard, bracing himself, still close to the ground. "One thing about wizards is that we are very tall! So I must do this very slowly, lest we both end up on the ground."

Yarrow suddenly regrets his earlier decision to trust the wizard. Thankfully, the incline is much slower, and the journey begins.

"I'm 270 years old," Yarrow huffs. "By the way."

"Oh hoh! My apologies. You are much the same size of a toddler-aged wizard. No, you are not a child. I am sure you carry much wisdom about this Earth."

"Y-yes, I think so." He feels embarrassed for having said that now. "About my forest back home, at least. I've observed some flora and fauna I haven't seen before, though, on my way here. I've been--" Why is he telling the wizard all this? Oh well, it's too late now. "I've been, uh, recording them in my book..."

"In here?"

Yarrow winces as the wizard starts rooting around the backpack he's been carrying in his hand.

"Mhm..."

He pulls out Yarrow's sketchbook and slings the bag's strap over his forearm so he can flip through the pages while he walks.

"You have a great talent, sprite!"

"They're just sketches, notes... I'm drying some leaves and flowers in the back pages, too. I'll make paintings from observation, when I return home."

"Fascinating!" He continues flipping through the pages. "Is this a common practice for your people?"

"I don't think so, but then I haven't met any others. Except my mother."

"Of course..." The wizard seems to be pondering something. "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of turn... but is it not a lonely old existence?"

Yarrow thinks for a moment.

"It used to be. But I-- well, it's a funny story. I have a domestic imp companion, now."

Yarrow feels the wizard's brow raise in surprise.

"Now, what is a sprite doing with a domestic imp?"

"I bought a bag of holding, from the marketplace near my home. It was just meant to help me transport supplies to and from the town. I had no idea it was housing an imp until he emerged from it the night I came home with it."

The wizard chuckled, then there was a beat of silence.

"His name is Jesper-- I don't suppose you have any way of finding out who conjured him? I'm not sure if he'd want to meet them, but... well, at least then I could give him the option."

"It is possible! I will do some probing."

"Th- thank you."

TBC...

Things I want to include in the next part...