Magic: The Gathering - The Tale of the Flaxen Intruder

Welcome to Eldraine—a storybook land of castles and cauldrons, of chivalrous knights and trickster faeries. But like the devious creatures and beguiling magic that lurk among the shadows, this world is not all that it seems. Join the five courts of the Realm on an epic adventure for honor and glory, or venture a darker path into the mysterious Wilds. Which path will you choose?  

Once upon a time there lived a family of three bears. 

One day they returned home to find a young girl with long, golden hair asleep on one of their beds. Not only that, they discovered that she'd filled her basket up with food; their food!

The bears were confused—and a little angry. Pappa Bear prodded the snoozing girl with a big paw.

'Hey!' he growled. 'Get up!'

The young girl stirred, yawned, stretched and opened her big eyes. When she saw the three bears staring back at her she yelped and hid beneath the blanket.

Mamma Bear stepped forward. 

'My dear,' she said soothingly, the way mummies do. 'We won't hurt you. But we would like to know what you're doing in our house—and with all our food in your basket.'

The girl blinked quickly, her long eyelashes fluttering adorably. 

'Well, Ma'am, it's for my dear Grandmother.'

Baby Bear sniffed the sweet girl.  She doesn't seem any older than me, he thought. 'Your Grandmother? Why?'

The girl angled her angelic face up towards the bears. 'We live in the deepest part of the forest and we haven't eaten for months. My Grandmother is starving to death. I had to steal so she could live.' A single tear ran down her freckled cheeks.

Pappa Bear nodded. The young human girl was utterly endearing. His anger softened.

'Take what you need, my dear,' he said.

'My Grandmother is also freezing to death. No sun ever reaches us there.'

'Well, we can give you blankets too,' Mamma Bear said. 

'Perhaps something a little thicker?' The girl's eyes suddenly darkened - and her breath deepened to a menacing rumble. 'Like, I dunno…. Bearskin?'

When the girl stood up she was suddenly taller and more muscular than any of the bears had suspected. She walked calmly over to the door and bolted it shut – before reaching inside her cloak and pulling out a heavy sword.

'Right,' snarled the girl. 'Who's first?'

And some of them lived happily ever after.

Nighty night, sleep well.