I looked closer. At their eyes, which were large and golden, at the buck’s antlers, tipped with gold … the deer were full of Aelvesgold, so they must be from Faerie.

“I saw him once before,” I whispered. “On Christmas night.”

“That’s the king of the forest, Cernunnos. I imagine he’s been keeping a keen eye on you. Look, he wants you to approach.”

The buck stepped past the beautiful doe and stamped a hoof on the ground. Summoned, I stepped forward. I put my hand out, as I might for a dog or horse. He lowered his head with the grace of a courtier bowing before a lady and touched his velvety muzzle to my hand. He huffed and his warm breath misted the air in a golden cloud that grew between us. I looked up and met those large golden eyes and felt a spark of recognition.

“Do you see the Aelvesglow?” Duncan said from somewhere behind me. He must have been close but suddenly he seemed far away. “Do you see how it connects you to all things?”

Lifting my hand I saw it was surrounded by an aura of gold. My whole body was surrounded by a nimbus of gold.

“You’re made of the same substance, all interconnected. When you move …” He held his hand a few inches above mine. Gold light filled the space between us. When he lifted his hand I felt a tug move mine, as if we were connected by invisible strings. It reminded me of my dream … how Liam had stirred the gold light over my naked body.

“You can do it, too,” Duncan said.

I lifted my hand above his and saw his hand trail behind mine. I swung my arm in a wide balletic arc. It was like stroking through warm water. The branches of the trees above us swayed in the same arc, a shower of honeysuckle blossoms drifted down and landed on the buck’s antlers, forming a flowery wreath. The deer were swaying, too, their golden eyes following the motions of my arms, the drifting flowers dancing in the air like tiny ballerinas. I laughed and the golden air rippled in concentric circles that spread outward into the woods. I felt the ripples touch the trees and move through them. I felt the trees, their rough bark, the sap that moved through them, the prickle of leaves sprouting from branch tips … I looked down and saw where the gold light limned my fingertips, the shadow of branches.

“The Aelvesgold heightens your connection to the rest of the world,” Duncan whispered in my ear. “When you see how you are like a thing, you can become that thing. That’s the root of metaphorical magic – the oldest magic.”