Long ago, in the Old Kingdom...
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
Quora sat and stared at her plain clothes and expression of disdain in the mirror as Moonfang's attendants busied themselves with getting her ready. They rushed about behind her, arguing about which dress she should wear. A stylist was working on her hair, tying it into an up-done ponytail while leaving some around her face. A sharply dressed makeup artist pondered what to do with Quora's face, commenting on the orange colour of her eyes. He produced brushes with powders on them, instructing Quora to close her eyes while he worked. After shading her eyes and cheeks, he had her open her mouth ajar while applying matte colouring to her lips. Meanwhile, she felt someone taking measurements of her body.
"Okay, that one's perfect."
The stylist had finished, and the artist did some finishing touches before tapping Quora on the shoulder, "She's done."
Quora opened her eyes and gazed at her reflection. The artist had focused on her eyes, making them pop with dark shades and liner. Her cheeks were faintly rouged, and her lips were painted dark.
"Goodness, Quora." said Moonfang, who had received similar treatment, "You're going to kill someone with that face."
"If only," grumbled Quora.
"Now, now," assured Moonfang, "The king and I are glad you came tonight. Try and have fun with this, won't you? We both look so pretty like this."
Quora breathed deeply through her nose, which was full of the scent of her makeup. "...You're right. Fine."
"And no threatening the guests?"
"...No threatening the guests," said Quora begrudgingly.
"Lovely!" said Moonfang, "All that's left is to get you dressed."
Moonfang's attendants presented Quora with a lavender outfit that revealed most of her features - the very one she had become accustomed to wearing in the present. Quora felt oddly excited about wearing it.
"You keep telling me you're near perfect," said Moonfang, "Why not let everyone know?"
Quora was speechless. She gave Moonfang a puzzled look.
"They'll help you into it. Respectfully. I'm not going anywhere," Moonfang assured. With her dignity ensured Quora allowed the attendants to dress her in the lavender outfit.
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Quora and Moonfang made their entrance into the great hall, where the noise and grandeur of Queen Mona's Ball were apparent. The hall was brightly lit and fairly crowded with socializing lords and ladies from across Aveldan. They received a fitting reception, both for endearment to the queen and with awe to her compatriot.
"I keep forgetting Mona is your human name," muttered Quora to Moonfang. The queen laughed.
The room was filled with the conversations of lords abroad, along with the musicians playing elegant songs. Each of the musicians bore brooches denoting them as Scions of Fafnir. A servant with a saucer of champagne glasses maneuvered his way to Quora and Moonfang and offered his sparkling bounty. The women each took a glass, and Quora downed hers in one shot. She heard gasps from onlookers.
"You're supposed to drink it slowly." reminded Moonfang as Quora took a second glass.
"Right..." Quora said, drinking her champagne painfully slow.
The musicians finished their song, smiling at the applause they received. Their attention was called to a balcony overlooking the hall, where the jovial King Fafnir waved. He worked an enchantment to give himself a booming voice.
"I'm so glad everyone could make it out tonight!" exclaimed Fafnir, "But, ah...Too much chatter, it won't do at all! Men, play us something to get those feet a-tapping, won't you?"
The musicians gleefully readied their instruments and prepared to play the Crossinger's Waltz.
"Oh!" Moonfang exclaimed, "This is the song I showed you how to dance to! Go on, make someone's night!"
Moonfang took Quora's glass and nudged her toward the floor where the lords and ladies were pairing up. All the lone lords she passed seemed intimidated by her appearance - or maybe it was her glare.
All except one.
He approached in a regal blue tuxedo, his rectangular glasses shining and his grey hair cropped to one side. His eyes flashed with blue light.
"And what do we have here?" said Lord Dreamford cheerfully, "Could it be Qorrametz seeks a dance?"
"Dremfrrdon?"
Dreamford extended a white-gloved hand, "Come. Let's remind these humans of the giants among them, hmm?"
Quora grinned and took Dreamford's hand. He led her to the center of the floor, where they began the Waltz. Their footwork was near perfect, though they seemed to be competing over whose grip was strongest in the hands they held. Dreamford didn't take his eyes off Quora, nor could she hers on him. At the end of the Waltz, Dreamford twirled Quora and flawlessly held her when she fell back. There was as much applause for the musicians as there was for her and Dreamford. Quora remembered how warm she felt, how she stared into Dreamford's eyes, how safe she felt in his arms in that moment.
She would remember this night for the rest of her days.
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Yggdramor, present time...
The ten eyes of Qorrametz the Beast burned into Orion mac Cumhaill, her heads writhing with anticipation. He kept his spirit darner mount flying in place, thinking of how he would face a true monster.
"Where have your friends gone?" Qorrametz mockingly asked with a voice like a thunderous hiss, "With my many jaws, to not share the opportunity to die inside of me is selfish indeed."
"I know not why you have come here." said Orion stoically, "Surely you did not seek Yggdramor to torment its people."
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Qorrametz raised one of her heads, "You knew Fafnir in life. I harmed your people to draw you out, and now I will raze your little kingdom unless you give me whatever of his writings you possess."
Orion went wide-eyed, "The old king kept mad company, indeed..." Orion pointed his spear at Qorrametz, "The madman and that accursed Bloodstar. We would have been at war had it not been for Lord Dreamford. I aided his quest to destroy the old king!"
"What?!" Qorrametz's heads recoiled.
"Aye," affirmed Orion, "I taught him the spell to send someone to the Netherworld while still alive. Even now, the mad king roils in the agony he deserves."
Qorrametz howled with rage and bore down on Orion. He brought his darner into a dive, narrowly avoiding her snapping jaws. His darner pulled up, and he swung Faesting at another approaching head to keep it at bay. He made a sharp turn, leaning close enough to cleave into one of Qorrametz's necks, his enchanted spear cleaving dragon scale. The dragon roared in pain and thrashed her heads about. Orion's darner acrobatically avoided the heads - perhaps too acrobatically. Struggling to hold on, Orion fell from his mount but managed to drive his spear into a neck to catch his fall. He was relieved to see his darner still avoiding attack and seeking an opportunity to reach Orion. He was much less relieved to find a head facing him with its jaws wide open and a flame building in its throat.
Orion yanked Faesting out of the neck and threw himself out of the path of the ray of pure flame Qorrametz fired at him. With a loud crunch from above, his world went black in an instant. He found himself face-down on a soft surface, with the light of the Everseed illuminating the mouth he was in. A gust of rancid air came over Orion, and Qorrametz's laughter blasted in his ears.
His world began to shift and tilt backward. Despite the unstable tongue beneath him, Orion rose to his feet and drove Faesting into Qorrametz's palate. The jaws opened with a roar of agony, sending Orion flying head over heels out of her mouth. He whistled loudly as he fell, and his spirit darner arrived to catch his fall. He quickly steadied himself upon his mount and saw an opportunity to land a telling blow. He spurred his darner forward, lowering Faesting and bracing himself. His darner buzzing at full speed, Orion drove his spear deep into one of Qorrametz's eyes.
"You little bastard!" Qorrametz howled, violently thrashing the injured head about. So deep was the wound that Orion lost his grip on Faesting. The dragon unleashed a fury of her dreadful fire, setting Orion's vision ablaze with brilliant death and scorching the surrounding forest. The darner avoided ray after ray of pure fire, but all it took was one glancing hit to its wing. Orion felt the darner fall and dissipate beneath him, sending him hurtling toward a waiting maw. He reached out, hoping for a chance to stop himself from tumbling directly down a hungry throat.
Her jaws snapped shut upon him.
Qorrametz laughed darkly, "And so ends the reign of the so-called King in the Woods. Perhaps you will meet Myratel's shade while you're down there!"
She felt something in the jaws that caught Orion - the king was caught in her teeth. He was pushing back against her crushing bite. The Everseed glowing like a miniature sun, Orion forced and held her jaws open with all his might.
"Why fight?" Qorrametz mocked, "It's not fun for me if my prey dies tired in my gizzard."
"I will not fall to a sadistic devil like you!" Orion defiantly shouted. He could hold fast against Qorrametz's jaws - but for how long?
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Yggdramor, far from the battle...
Belladonna sped along the forest floor upon a swarm of twisting vines, Scarlet and Viridian still in her hands. A vine from her wrist carried Cerulean, the pixie sleeping soundly. The dryad's face was fixed in a knowing expression.
"Let go!" Scarlet yelled, "Let go, Orion needs help!"
Belladonna closed her eyes, "There is nothing you can do. Nothing we can do against that monstrosity."
"Well..." Viridian muttered, "...We can't just give up, can we?"
Belladonna slowed her pace to a stop and found a broad, solid leaf on which to deposit the pixies. Scarlet and Viridian looked up at Belladonna expectantly.
"For your sakes...please do." Belladonna said sorrowfully, "I have my orders from Orion should disaster visit Yggdramor. The three of you need to stay out of my way. Understood?"
The pixies looked at each other with confusion. They sulked and acquiesced with little nods.
"Take care of Cerulean," Belladonna said before she called upon her vines to carry her once more.
As quickly as the vines could carry her, she sped past the Gossip Trees and the Redcap Hovel and further and deeper into Yggdramor until the land was cloaked in darkness. She felt eyes everywhere, though these eyes kept a reverent distance. The vines that carried her became thorny briars, nicking and cutting into her plantlike flesh. Ignoring the pain, she continued onward.
Belladonna came before a massive and ancient willow tree. Its roots formed a stairway to a great hollow that could fit several men in its circumference. Belladonna's petals twitched at the terribly powerful magicks she could feel pulsing from within. A drop of dew formed at the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.
"Forgive me, everyone."
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Orion could feel his strength giving way. He stared bleakly at the convulsing throat before him and cursed his fate. His world became darker and darker as the jaws closed upon him.
Suddenly, there was a flash in the distance, followed by a shockwave of magickal energy—his senses, as well as the land itself, twisted from a wave of distorting magickal feedback. Qorrametz also seemed affected by the feedback, her heads chattering and whipping randomly about. The ground began to shake, and the trees rattled. Orion fell from the jaws that held him. He landed hard and bounced upon soft earth like a ragdoll, his strength utterly spent. Qorrametz flashed white and transformed into her human form. She advanced upon the fallen king.
"What is happening?" Quora demanded, an orange dagger of raw magic forming in her hand, "Tell me!"
Orion's antlered helmet disappeared, revealing his weak and bloodied grin. He coughed, "She's...done it."
Quora seized Orion by the scruff of his leaflike armour, "Done what?!"
"The faerie rings, undone...Soon, Yggdramor will merge with your world." wheezed Orion, "It will save my people, while the magickal outburst will tear you to ribbons."
Quora could feel it - magickal pressure was growing around her. She brought Orion close.
"Your kingdom's fate will not matter when you lay slain." she seethed.
Orion held up a hand, "Stop...this foolish mission. You know not what you'll unleash..."
Quora shook her head, "I don't care. Time to die."
"Petrel-!"
Quora threw Orion to the ground. She tore the Everseed from his chest and tossed it aside. She took her dagger in both hands and plunged it into Orion's heart. Gurgling, the King in the Woods reached a trembling hand up fruitlessly.
Tossing the dying king to the ground, Quora felt the magickal pressure building further still. She worked an enchantment to hasten her legs and bounded off in search of a functional faerie ring before it was too late.
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Back in Aveldan, Quora shifted into her bird of prey form and flew up and through the forest canopy to get herself clear of Yggdramor's boundaries. She watched as the forest shimmered and changed, now adopting a blue haze around the forest's canopy, where multicoloured motes flickered and faded like stars.
Quora's blood was quick from her battle with Orion. She was the predator once more, the Beast, and she wondered how long it had been since she felt that way. She was whole once again...She was unsure what she would do with it, but she felt no obstacle in Aveldan could stop her.
"That accursed scholar..."
Quora was convinced that, if what Orion said was true, Cyrus had lied to her. She did not realize how dangerous Orion was and dared to believe she had nearly overestimated herself against him. She would throttle the old scholar for answers in due time, but there was another matter to take care of: Eramus's mission to Amuranthea's Mountain. Quora flew to the mountain's base and awaited her prize if there was one to be had.
She did not need to wait terribly long, for down came the thief carrying a glowing jewel in his hand and a glaring look on his face. He nearly shoved the Manafont into Quora's hands.
"You sent me to my death!" Eramus shouted, "How much more of this do I have to take?!"
Quora smiled sweetly, "Oh, it depends. Go to the Roaring Mount and steal the Origin's Flame."
Eramus was aghast, "Are you kidding me?! Come on! I need to relax and recuperate and...all that self-care stuff, lady!"
"Then do so." Quora said matter-of-factly, "Be reasonable, and you'll find the geas... accommodating."
Eramus scoffed, "Yeah, that's reassuring-"
Suddenly, a mournful howl rang out across Aveldan that rattled Quora and Eramus. The two looked at each other with a mixture of confusion and anticipation.
"The hell was that?" Eramus asked. Quora looked to the direction from which the howl came—the Mountains of Moon.
Quora trembled; she felt a pit in her stomach.
"Muunfareng..!"