The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 4

"This all sounds very familiar," Miranda mused.

"There are patterns woven into our lives," Gwen said. "Perhaps the gods do take a hand in shaping events, or perhaps I unconsciously set you on a path that mirrored my own... because, like you, I survived the destruction of my family by the Dark Court and, like you, I fled into the night and found my way to a hermit who would guide the next steps of my path..."

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The Bramblewood, just outside Henford-On-Bagley, 2000

My hermit was named Lucius Tempest, an old friend of our family who lived - and lives still - in a cottage above Old New Henford. He is a recluse, living alone save for his cat, and generally avoids getting involved with either the affairs of the Council or the mortal world.

My mother had always told me that, if ever I needed a safe place to go, I should go to Lucius.

So, it was to Lucius that I fled.

He took me in and, for a time, gave me a place to rest and to heal.

As I said, I had never before known grief or loss, and sudden they seemed to be all I knew. Almost all. Even in the depths of my despair, I felt an unaccustomed weight dragging me inexorably forward. I felt the turning of the days. 

The rising and setting of the sun outside my window were no longer unchanging. The days were not always golden and the nights not always perfect, but the stars still glittered and the sun still shone.

Lucius comforted me. 

"I've lost everything," I told him.

"Oh, my poor, dear girl," he said. "I know your pain... but, Gwenivar, you aren't alone. You have lost so much, but not everything."

"They're gone," I wept.

"No," he replied gently. "Their memory lives in you, and so long as it does their spirits endure. Death is not the end. There are no Endings. My poor child, you have only ever known Spring and Summer... Autumn follows Summer and Winter comes behind it, but then Spring comes again and Summer returns."

It must seem strange to you that I had no experience of this truth that every mortal child knows. Almost as strange as it was for me to experience it. Yet, I did find some comfort in it.

I don't know how long I stayed with Lucius. I had not yet learned to measure the passing of days. (I think Cassie and Miranda will both tell you I still don't have the knack of it.) Still, despite Lucius's declaration that there are no Endings, my time with him had to end.

We left his cottage, by means of a magic different from the magic I was used to, and traveled to a place... a Place Between.

"Gwenivar, I have to tell you something," Lucius said. "Your grandmother foresaw the coming of the Dark Court and feared that she and Ari might not survive it. So, she made plans to keep you safe. She charged me with seeing those plans through. I am taking you to someone who will protect you."

"Taking me? I don't understand. Mother said I should go to you." I was confused and angry. "Why can't I stay with you?"

"Because I cannot protect you so well," he replied.

"You are the greatest weather witch in the world!" I insisted, because it was - and is - the truth. "Grandmother always said you could be the Sage of Wild Magic, if you only had the ambition to challenge for it."

"Yes, and your grandmother's opinions about my lack of ambition are one of the chief reasons I stopped coming 'round to dinner," Lucius smiled ruefully. 

"Why can't you protect me?" I demanded.

"Gwenivar," he sighed. "I am a simple man, who lives alone with my cat on top of a mountain. It is only a matter of time before someone notices I have suddenly taken to boarding a mysterious young woman. From that, it is only a matter of time before word reaches the Dark Court that Lucius Tempest has taken in what can only be the last surviving Guardian of Glimmerbook Watch.

"They seem content, for now, to ignore you, (more fool them)," he continued, "but in you and me together they will see a threat that must be answered. I am a powerful witch, but it is a long time since I have been a warrior. My cottage is no fortress to withstand attack or siege. 

"Right now, your safety depends on secrecy, not strength... and your safety is all that matters to me. So, I am taking you to a place where you will be safe, and at the same time, a place where you will learn many things that you have not been taught but that you greatly need to know."

So, Lucius led me into the hidden path within the Tree, through mists and along a secret stream until we emerged into a sunlight that was as far from the golden sunlight of my youth as I had ever been. 

There he spoke the words that would forever seal these great changes to my life...

"Welcome, Gwenivar Silveroak, to Willow Creek."

The first words I said at this momentous change were less than grand.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No," he said. "No, this is Willow Creek."

"I can't stay here," I said, appalled. "This is the mortal world! It's loud and ugly and it smells! You must have made a mistake. Misunderstood grandmother's plan..."

"Come along," Lucius replied. I recall he smiled a little, amused at my horror, which did nothing to improve my mood at the time.

He took me to one of the houses just beside the Tree we had emerged from and introduced me to the mortal man who lived there, the man who was to be my foster father, Doug Brown. 

"Hello Gwen," Doug said to me. "Ari... your mother... and I were very close once."

My mother, you see, made a habit of visiting the mortal world. Her little vacations, Grandmother called them. Every twenty or thirty years, she would attend University (she had a number of degrees). I fairly quickly gathered that during her last "little vacation," she had met and had a dalliance with this Doug Brown.

"She asked me to look after you, if anything happened to her," Doug continued. "I... I can't tell you how sorry I am for your loss. We can never replace your family, but I hope, given time, you'll find a home here."

So, I found myself in a new home, with new people, in a strange world so very unlike my own.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 3

"Oh, my turn is it?" Gwen smiled. "Well, why don't I begin around the same place..."

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Glimmerbrook, Endless Summer

I grew up here, in Glimmerbook Watch. It was Spring when I was born, and all through my childhood, and became Summer when I grew into a young woman. Every day was warm and golden, every night was under glittering stars, a silver moon and the shimmering aurora that was the echo of the skies of another world.

I was raised by my mother and grandmother, and together we were the Guardians of Glimmerbrook Watch. Our magic protected the Magic Realm, maintaining the warding spells that prevented anyone from passing through the Gateway without our permission. 

My grandmother, Ceridwen, was counted a peer to the Sages themselves and, along the heads of the Old Families, was a member of the Council, the leaders of our people.

She was my mentor in the arts of magic. It was Ceridwen who first taught me the Words of Power and the magic of the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. She taught me the mysteries of Wind, Rain and Fire, the secrets of Plants, Birds and Beasts.

Under her guidance, I studied the ancient texts and the hidden histories of our people. I became quite adept at the arts of alchemy, brewing potions both subtle and powerful. Though I was still a young woman, as witches count our endless years, I was considered a magistra, a witch of great power and knowledge.

It was my mother, Arianrhiod, who taught me that there was more to the world than grandmother's magic. She told me the stories of the stars and constellations. She showed me the beauty and wonder of those stars, quite beyond the uses of their influences upon magic.

She also encouraged me to practice art and music. She said that there was a different kind of magic to be found in the creation of beauty, one simpler and more profound than the magic my grandmother taught.

Yes, it was an endless golden summer, but that is one of chief dangers of immortality. When every day is golden, and every night is beautiful, then each day blurs into the next. When there is nothing to mark the passing of years, they have no meaning. When one never needs to grow up, one never seeks to grow.

My life was full of joy... but what is joy, without sorrow? What is summer, without winter? These were questions I never thought to ask.

I had joy. That was enough.

I remember... I will always remember... the night my Autumn began. 

I went out, to gather night-blooming flowers by the brookside as I had on nights without counting. 

But that night, They came - the Dark Court. The vampire lords sought to once again make their war on the Magic Realm and to that, first they needed to overthrow the Guardians.

I know my grandmother stood against them, as she was sworn. I know my mother fought at her side. I don't know why or how they fell. I've never asked them.

All I know is that, just before she died, my mother sent Bluebell, her fairy companion, to warn me. It was the first time I knew real fear and real sorrow. 

I did the only thing I could. 

I ran. 

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 2

"Let me set the stage," Cassie said, "and take you back to the start of my last year of high school, just before Gwen and I first met..."

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Ophilia Villa, Willow Creek, 2000

I wouldn't say I thought my life was ordinary. As a moody teen, I was averse to "ordinary" on a basic level. Besides, as the daughter of a wealthy old family, ordinary wasn't really in the cards for me anyway. 

The Goth family has lived in Willow Creek for about as long as there has been a Willow Creek to live in. Ophilia Villa, our family house... I guess mansion is more accurate... is one of the oldest in the town. We're an old money family, and most of the money is in real estate. They say that the Landgraabs might have built most of Willow Creek, but the Goths owned the ground they built on.

My dad, Mortimer, was perfectly content to leave the management of the family real estate empire to the legion of lawyers and accountants who were equally content to run it for him. He focused on his writing. His books, mostly dark fantasy stories involving witches, ghosts and wicked kings, had been generally well received by both critics and readers. 

Still, I know he was shocked when he found himself suddenly catapulted into fame. A movie producer had gotten ahold of his first best-seller - The Raven Headmistress - and turned it into a blockbuster. Dad was even more surprised when the studio announced plans to film the other two books in the Raven Academy trilogy... especially since he hadn't written them yet.

So he was pretty focused on churning out two sequels and dealing with the movie people.

I wasn't getting along Bella, my mom... stepmom, as I insisted on pointing out to her at every opportunity... very well in those days. Looking back, I think it started as mostly the usual tension between a teenager and parent. That wasn't helped by the late hours and frequent travel required by her job, which we all thought involved sales for a company called TransWorld. I was convinced she was up to something nefarious. 

That fact that I was right... well, we'll get to that.

Then, of course, there was Alexander... my annoying, geeky, too-smart-for-own-good little brother.

It's funny really. For all that I insisted on calling Bella my stepmother, I never once thought of Alexander, her son, as anything other than my brother. He might have been an annoying geek, but he was my annoying geek and heaven help anyone - other than me - who gave him grief.

I think the only person in the house I got along easily with was Edwards, our butler. He was an orderly and hard-working man, from a local family that was probably as old as the Goths, just without our money. I remember, he made the most amazing shrimp gumbo. 

I think I got my love of cooking from him.

Of course, I was going to school which was remarkably ordinary as I'm sure... No, right, of course. I'm the only person at this table who had anything like an ordinary high school experience. 

Well, I can assure you, my high school was fairly ordinary... a large, ugly building decorated with "inspiration" posters and filled with burned out instructors and a horde of hormonal teens forced into colorless, soulless uniforms.

I dedicated a lot of time to my music. When I was feeling bad, which was fairly often in those days, I would go to the music room and play. 

Dad always encouraged me. He could see that I loved music, like he loved writing. I think he could see that I could be a musician someday, but he didn't pressure me. He wanted me to find joy in it. 

Now, one thing you must understand, to really understand this story, is that in those days I had no idea that I had been born a witch. There were family stories that some of our ancestors had been witches... and I honestly did believe them... but it never occurred to me that I might be one. I thought that magic was something lost to the world sometime in the past.

The closest I came to real magic were the seances my dad and I would conduct, reaching out and hoping to contact the spirit world. My dad was actually a very talented medium, and he always said I had a knack for contacting the spirits.

We didn't really talk about it, but I know we were both hoping for a message from my mom. My birth mother, Victoria, had died in a car accident when I was little. I know he thought about her still. She was, after all, the inspiration for the main character in his Raven Academy stories.

So, there you have it... young Cassandra Goth, budding musician and moody teen... completely unaware that someone was about to enter her life and change everything.

The Raven's Apprentice - Chapter 1

 Glimmerbrook Watch, Present Day* 

"Thanks for breakfast, Mrs. G," Mariah said, "and thanks for letting me stay with you for a bit."

Mariah Huntley and Miranda Silveroak-Goth's final year of University was now behind them and, as their friend Aadi had pointed out, it had been accomplished without interruption by gangsters, vampires, evil wizards or other strangeness. They were ready to begin whatever came next.

At the moment, whatever came next consisted of a visit to Miranda's home, Glimmerbrook Watch, to spend a little time with her moms and go through her room to decide what to keep and what to store.

"Don't be silly, dear," Cassie Goth, who Mariah still found surprisingly grounded for an international musical superstar, called from the kitchen. "It's nice to have someone else to cook for... and you're always welcome."

"Of course you are," Gwen Silveroak, Miranda's other mom, added. "You're family now."

"Well, we're not married yet," Mariah said, feeling a little self-conscious. 

In fact, Mariah had been fully prepared to drag Miranda down to the Britechester courthouse and turn her fiancé into her wife the moment the graduation ceremony had ended. A smiling Miranda, however, had pointed out that Mariah's mama, romance novelist Danielle Huntley, would not be denied a wedding.

"Just a formality," Gwen smiled.

"A lovely and important formality," Cassie added, "but, I agree, a formality."

The arrival of Cassie and breakfast forced a brief pause in conversion. Cassie's cinnamon French toast, which Mariah felt was reason enough by itself to visit to Glimmerbrook, required one's full attention. The real maple syrup that accompanied it had forced her to reconsider her habitual denial of the concept of a benevolent deity.

"Gwen and I didn't get married for years," Cassie mused finally. 

"That's right," Mariah said. "You guys were living together when Miranda was little, after her dad left you..."

"At the altar," Gwen muttered savagely.

"I still don't understand why she held that against him," Cassie smiled. "You'd think she'd rather I had married him."

"High school friends, discovering love in the healing of a broken heart," Mariah said, surprising everyone accustomed to her tough-girl persona.

"Oh dear, she's been reading that new unauthorized biography, hasn't she," Cassie smiled.

"Yes," Miranda nodded.

"No," an embarrassed Mariah insisted. "I mean, maybe I read a little... there might have been an excerpt, in a magazine that I probably picked up in a waiting room... somewhere..."

"You're so cute when you get flustered," Miranda laughed.

"I hate you," Mariah laughed, blushing.

"They never get the story right, anyway," Gwen mused.

"Which is probably just as well, given the truth," Cassie chuckled.

"So, what's the truth?" Mariah asked. "I mean, how did you guys fall in love?"

"Oh well, as the Bard says, thereby hangs a tale," Cassie smiled.

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*Author's Note: After some thought, I chose to label these sections as "present day" to save confusion.

Year of the Wolf and Unguarded Heart each cover most of a year, and College Years covers three years. So, if we assume that our M&M's story started around the actual "present day" when I started writing, the story has progressed faster than real time. Suffice it to say, these parts of the story take place in M&M's "present day."

Of course, only compulsive continuity geeks, such as myself, need be concerned with such things. :) 

The Raven's Apprentice - Prologue

Willow Creek, Fall 1986

"Oh, my little Cassandra," Victoria Goth whispered as she kissed her sleeping daughter. "Sleep, and dream of wonders. You will be so amazing, my little girl. I wish..."

"Vickie? What are you doing up?" Mortimer said, sleep slurring his speech. "Why are you in your coat?"

"I have to go, Mortimer," Vickie replied softly, not looking away from her child, "but I couldn't leave without giving her a kiss."

"Go?" Mortimer struggled to clear his sleep-fogged mind. "It's the middle of the night, Vick. Where are you going?"

"Mortimer, you know I love you," Vickie stepped over to him. "I remember the first time I saw you... Ari pointed you out to me in the dorm. You looked so dashing. I think I fell in love you in that moment. I really did. What we have... it's real, Mortimer. Please, never doubt that."

"Vickie, you're scaring me," Mortimer said. "What's going on?"

"Just hold me for a minute," Vickie sighed, folding herself into her husband's arms. 

"Is this about those men who came earlier? The ones from the Agency?" Mortimer asked.

"Yes," Vickie sighed. 

"I know I promised to never ask about your past," Mortimer said. "I won't start now... but if something is wrong, we can face it together."

"I'm sorry, Mortimer," Vickie smiled sadly. "I need to face this alone. I've known this was coming for a long time. This is my Moment... and I know what I need to do."

"Vickie," Mortimer said sadly. "Will you come back to me?"

"I will always be with you, you silly man," Vickie whispered.

---------------

Outside, the cool, night air smelled of rain. It should really be raining, Vickie thought to herself. It was the kind of night that called for rain. Still, she smiled sadly to herself, it was probably best not to tamper with things.

Turning, she saw a familiar face under the streetlights and smiled. 

"Bella," Vickie said as the other woman came closer. "I'm glad you're here."

"Did you think I'd abandon you?" Bella Bachelor asked, a little stiffly.

"Not for a moment," Vickie smiled. "I knew you'd be here."

"They're coming for you Vick," Bella said seriously. "I can't... there's nothing I could do. They'll be here soon."

"I know," Vickie said calmly. "Bella, I need to ask you a favor."

"I'll do my best but, Vickie, they..." Bella started.

"It's not that," Vickie shook her head. "I need you take care of Mortimer and Cassandra for me."

"Vickie, I..." Bella stammered, shocked.

"You've always loved him, Bella," Vickie smiled sadly, "and he loves you too. He loves us both. I just got there first... but he's going to need you."

"Vick, don't talk like that," Bella said, shocked. "They're not going to..."

"No lies between us, Bella," Vickie said easily. "Not now."

"I always lie, Vickie," Bella said.

"I know, but not now, not about this," Vickie replied.  "Promise me, Bella, that if something should happen to me, you will look after Mortimer and Cassanadra Goth. Promise me."

"I promise," Bella shuddered. "But Vickie..."

"By the Oak and the Ash and the Ivy, by the Sun and the Moon and the Sea, by the Open Eye and the Open Hand and the Open Heart, I bind you to your promise, Isabella Bachelor," Victoria incanted, finishing with a Word that Bella didn't know but felt she still somehow understood deep in her bones.

"Vickie... I work for them," Bella breathed.

"I know," Victoria smiled. "I've always known, ever since you were that pretty freshman following Ari and me around. Just like I know you keep your promises. 

"Goodbye, Bella," she added as she turned away. "Take care of my daughter."

"Like she was my very own," Bella replied.

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Bella followed at a discrete distance. She hated that this was happening, hated herself for being part of it. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She knew she couldn't let Vickie walk into this alone.

She saw Vickie intercepted shortly after crossing the street. 

Of course, it's Agent Hand, Bella thought. Who else would they have entrusted with Containment order for an Active?

He's trying to reason with her. Standard procedure - talk her in. Avoid a confrontation if at all possible.

She's arguing with him. Does she know not to try to appeal to his emotions, to his humanity? Hand has neither. Surely, with everything else she knows, she knows that.

Reason with him, she silently urged her friend. Logic and reason are what Hand will respond to.

Or you could yell at him, Bella groaned inwardly.

That surprised you, didn't it, Hand. Caught you off guard. She isn't intimidated by you. Under all the cold discipline you do have some feelings, if only a sense of self preservation. 

Confrontations with Actives generally don't end well for Agents.

They see me, Bella sighed. Too much to hope they wouldn't, I guess.

She's coming over here. 

Oh, what are you doing, Vickie? Please don't tell me you've convinced him to let you surrender to me. I don't want that. How can I...

Vickie!

"Vickie! Look out!" Bella shouted.

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In Memoriam 

Victoria Lenore Rowan Goth

Wife to Mortimer

Mother to Cassandra

"The Raven"

D. 1986

The Raven's Apprentice

The Raven's Apprentice

A Wyrd Tales Story

Bad Moon Rising - Afterword

Thank you for joining me for Wyrd Tales - Bad Moon Rising. I hope you enjoyed reading it at least as much as I've enjoyed writing it.

When I finished Wyrd Girls - College Years, I knew I wasn't done with writing SimLit or with the universe I'd established. I had the idea of writing some short stories to fill in some of the odd corners, like I had done earlier, so I cast around for ideas. 

Bad Moon Rising actually started as a throwaway line in College Years, Chapter 49... I needed a reasonable narrative excuse for Gwen and Cassie not to come riding to the rescue. The easiest was that they were off dealing with some big crisis of their own. So, "the Wildfang troubles" were born. It seemed like a plot line worthy of exploring. :)

It didn't take me long to remember that Claudette Faust (now Etta Blackwood), the fan-hated villain from Unguarded Heart (who I had unconsciously modeled on an ex-girlfriend), was living in Moonwood Mill. The Wildfang Troubles seemed like a great opportunity to visit her again and give her a shot at redemption. 

An early draft of Chapter 17, with Claudette confronting and repudiating her father, was actually the very first thing I wrote for this story. 

That Jake, Beth and Kristopher would play roles in the story was a given. I also knew that Kristopher's ennui was going to be significant to events. How exactly that would be resolved was one of those things that I debated heavily but I'm actually very pleased with the outcome. 

Lux Demarco was actually a late addition to the story. I realized I needed a fresh set of eyes on the story. Demarco was a character from the Sims 4 Werewolves trailer, where she plays the same role of being the audience's eyes into the new world of Moonwood Mill... but she wasn't built into the official Sims canon. She isn't in the expansion but was available as an extra character for download. 

I decided to recreate her story from the trailer, as a way of introducing her. I'm proud of that and I really want more applause for it. :) Still, I'm glad I did, because that brought in Kiril and Bianca, two other downloadable trailer characters. Unlike the other Wildfangs, Kiril is actually Evil (he has the trait). Connecting Faust to the Wildfangs through Kiril meant I could keep Rory "clean" even during her pack's fall.

The roughest part was the pacing, as you could probably tell. Chapters 1-16 (Lux's intro) cover about eight months, while chapters 17-29 (the Wildfang troubles) are less than two days and had to connect back to the College Years finale. I actually thought a lot about how long it would take Bluebell to get from Britechester to Glimmerbrook and back... a calculation that included looking up the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow.

The one thing I'm sorry I didn't do was include a little more about Etta's mom. She's a major motivator for Etta, but apart from the one flashback, I kind of left her out. If I could go back and "fix" anything it would be include more mentions and hints about her throughout Etta's parts of the story, just to keep her more in mind. I think it would have given the ending the punch it deserved. Oh well, can't get everything right.

Still, despite a few stumbles along the way, I really enjoyed writing what turned out to be a not-so-short story.

There will be more stories coming, but I'm going to take a little break... maybe I'll just play the Sims for a bit.

Thanks again for reading.

-Leo