Following the old ways

Rhiannon had been feeling it for a few days now. Something stirring in the ley lines. Something shifting. It was a very particular feeling. She'd felt it before. Many times, in fact, over the last five hundred years or so. At first she hadn't known what it meant. But the third time she'd felt it it had been stronger. Like she was closer to the source of it. When she'd followed it she had come across something most peculiar.

Since then she'd followed it quite a few times. Become acquainted with the cause of the feeling. Or rather the causes, plural. It always started off faintly. Like something was being gathered together. It built then until a moment of opening. Then it dissipated completely. This time was proving to be no different. It had begun as she sipped tea in her favourite tea shop. That tingle that told her it had begun.

She was familiar with it enough after all these years that she could pinpoint the exact location of the shift. Could arrive there before it happened.

It was an unusually still night out just beyond the city, where fields took over from houses as the primary feature. Like the wind itself was holding its breath in anticipation. The air held a slight chill to it as nights at this time of year did. The first sign that autumn was on it's way. Rhiannon stood at the side of the road looking out over the moonlit landscape. Watching. Waiting.

Between one blink of her eyes and the next it was there. Arriving all at once and making you feel like you'd simply missed it before if you didn't know any better. Because surly it had always been there.

Rhiannon gave a soft smile and started down the dirt track that had just appeared. Passing, as she did, an arrowed sign that read 'Inn for Travellers and Adventurers'.

The Inn in question was clearly visible as she walked down the gently sloping track. Though she knew that it would not be to any Mundane who did not have the sight. To them the field would still be just that, an empty field. But to those who could see, the Inn looked right at home in the landscape. Like it was part of it. Even with all its peculiarities.

The thatched roof was covered in enormous cheery mushrooms with red caps. Some of which had small creatures dozing on them that looked a lot like tiny dragons. The rest of the construction boasted a stone foundation with a timber frame upper that any set designer going for a Tudor fairytale look would have been proud of. With windows both round and rectangular, and several chimney pots all with white smoke drifting lazily out of them. The garden out the front boasted flowers as large as a small child, in a variety of sugar dusted colours. They seemed to perk up as the warlock approached. Just off the side above the door a wooden sign hung, declaring this to be The Merriwick Inn.

Lifting the latch she pushed the door open and stepped inside. Instantly a contented sigh escaped her as she was enveloped in a gentle warmth. The perfect temperature after the subtle chill of the night. It was always the perfect temperature in the Inn though. The air smelt like spiced cider and fresh-baked bread. Another comforting familiarity.

She stood in the entry way and took it in. It was just as she remembered. From the large fireplace on one side, the wooden staircase on the other. The various open doorways leading off to different parts of the Inn. The open corridor that ran alone the upper level of the double height room, that eventually disappeared out of sight at the limits of the space. And the large Grandfather clock that had things like Dumplings & Stew, Toast & Tea, Porridge, Mead, Honey pie and Forest Cake in place of numbers.

Just at that moment that very clock chimed. Wine & Cheese. And then she heard movement coming from the dinning room. Followed by a quiet chatter that started moving closer. Though the entryway three familiar figures appeared. The owners, creators of the Inn and the power behind the Inn's sudden appearance. Sylas, Demelza and Twylla Hollyfield.