The Hob's Bargain

it.
    â€œHow is it that it—and you—speak the same language I do?” I asked, when the noeglin was gone.
    â€œâ€™Tis a gift of the hobs to speak whatever tongue they hear, a gift the guardian spirits share when they will,” he said. “As for the other—another human wouldn’t have understood the noeglin. But you are a speaker, and what good would your gift be if you couldn’t understand the spirits you call? Now about the will-o’-wisps—”

    S PEAKING TO THE SPIRITS, ONCE I KNEW I COULD DO IT , was easier than the visions. Calling them was simply a matter of knowing what they were. Caefawn had started with ghosts because they were relatively powerless, and I already knew what they were. He seemed to think it was his duty to stuff my head full of every kind of spirit I was likely to meet. He made me memorize the names and characteristics of any number of them. Most of the creatures, he said, he’d never seen.
    Spirits had no body in their natural state—which is what made them spirits, I suppose. Ghosts, ghasts, noeglins, and poltergeists were lesser spirits who were often hostile. He hadn’t found any ghasts here, but I met most of the rest of the very weak and horrid. Poltergeists, he said, were both powerless and mindless—not worth the effort of approaching them.
    The weaker benevolent spirits like dryads and naiads he’d shown me as well. The dryad had been soft-spoken and solid-seeming; he reminded me of the ancient oak he called home. The naiad had been shy, leaving as quickly as she’d responded. Caefawn hadn’t seen her, though he’d been sitting beside me the whole time.
    Some of the spirits we’d looked for, like the will-o’-wisps, we couldn’t find. I could tell it made Caefawn sad, though he didn’t say anything.
    One or two of the creatures had attacked me. Sometimes their attacks were physical, like the noeglin throwing sticks. More often they were mental. As I learned to defend myself, the hob would find a new, stronger, more contentious thing to call.
    Caefawn said that most of the stronger spirits, like the earth guardian, would know when I was about and come on their own if they chose. I could summon the lesser spirits whether they willed it or not. Some of them I could dominate if I chose—but it made me increasingly uncomfortable to do so. It felt wrong, even evil, to do more than defend myself. Gram always said that if something felt wrong, it probably was.

    â€œS O WHAT’S IT TONIGHT ?” I ASKED CHEERFULLY . I WAS starting to feel brave in the night. Facing off with noeglins and ghosts had made me less afraid of the darkness. Silly me.
    Still, it was easier than facing the villagers. Someone had decided it was best to tell the village about the necessity of appeasing the earth spirit. Predictably, it was seen as my fault. As of yesterday, none of the patrollers except for Ice would talk to me.
    â€œThere’s a fetch abroad here,” Caefawn said. “They weren’t very common Before, and you might not get another chance to meet one.”
    There were stories about fetches. I decided missing my only chance to meet one might be a good idea. “Isn’t it dangerous to meet a fetch?”
    â€œYes,” he said, stopping beside one of Soul’s Creek’s little waterfalls. “But so are ghosts and noeglins.”
    We were half a league or so above my old croft. I leaned against a tree, panting a little. The hob was hard to keep up with, even when he was obviously slowing down for me.
    â€œAre we here?” I asked hopefully.
    â€œAs close as we need to be,” he answered. He waited, gathering his thoughts. “I wouldn’t willingly take you to meet the fetch. They have too much power over humans, and I’m not certain how much your talents will help you against it. And it’s too far from the mountain for me to help much.”
    I’d learned a lot about the hob. Away from the mountain his magic—which mainly concerned things of the hunt, like hiding or tracking—faded, though his great strength and speed seemed to stay with him.
    I frowned at him. “You’re scaring me.”
    He nodded solemnly. “Good. You’ll be more wary that way. I don’t think it would be a good idea to try to control it—I’m not certain you’re good enough. However, you don’t want to let it wander around the valley