Missteps

Chapter 76 – Welcome to the Valley

At some point through the mad dash through the dark, rich underbrush of the forest, Iados let go of Lia's hand.

The former pirate skidded to a stop the moment he felt the loss of the familiar weight. His breath slightly ragged from the sudden sprinting, he peered into the shadows around him. "Lia, where are you?" He whispered harshly into the air.

A branch cracked loudly off to the side, and the akudaem's head immediately whipped around. He saw a dark shape, but it was hard to distinguish it from the other forest shadows. He took a step closer. "Lia?"

The shape gave a loud, guttural roar. A shiver ran down the akudaem's back as he involuntarily took a step back.

"Ok, not Lia." He mumbled to himself as he reached around and quickly unhooked his staff from its harness across his back. The former pirate watched with narrowed eyes as the shadowy form stepped out from amongst the brush.

It was a bear. Instead of fur, it had ripples of shadow that crossed every which way across its form. It was also large, very large. He'd put it at least twice the size of the brown bear form that Lia occasionally took on. Another indication that this creature was not Lia.

He readjusted his grip on his weapon as he sank down into a stance. Ideas and strategies began to cross his mind on how best to deal with this threat. The shadow bear reared up onto his hind legs, doubling its already impressive size.

Iados's eyes went wide. He gulped, turned on his heel, and ran back the way he'd come.

Even though the creature was made of shadow, Iados could still hear it as it crashed through the brush after him. The fact that it seemed to have some sort of physical form gave him hope that he could hurt it, but he wasn't too keen to test it.

With his attention split between the creature racing narrowly behind him, and his own haphazard jaunt through the woods, he failed to see the small body race out of the brush in front of him.

For the second time that day, the former pirate's body went sprawling to the ground, thankfully coming to a stop a lot sooner than the hill earlier. He'd barely had time to get his bearings before the large shadow was upon him.

A large claw reared up and struck down at his prone form. Iados rolled out of the way and was barely able to grab his staff before the creature's dark mouth opened and the shadows formed into sharp points as it attempted to bite at him.

"No thanks!" The akudaem grimaced he blocked the maw with his staff and began the toughest push-up of his life.

"What the hell is that?" A familiar voice yelled out from behind the bear.

Iados spared a glance as far out as he could see, and saw Ander sitting on the ground. "Something not happy with me! A little help?" He yelled back as sweat began to bead on his forehead. The bear tried to wrench the staff out of his grasp, but the former pirate held firm.

Ander got to his feet and began to chant softly to himself as he gathered pure arcane magic into the palm of his hand. As the final word of the spell dropped from his lips, he felt the arcane force take shape and rocket from his palm in four bolts toward the back of the large shadow beast.

The creature gave a grunt of pain, opening its mouth enough for Iados to pull his staff free. The former pirate reared his head back as much as he could before he slammed it into the bears' jaw.

This time the creature took a step back, though more in shock or pain the akudaem couldn't tell. Not that he spent much time thinking about it as he quickly scooted away and hopped back on his feet. He made eye contact with Ander, and sent him a nod and a wry grin.

The wizard didn't have time to respond as he'd already started casting a second spell. This time, he gathered the same kind of arcane magic (since it'd had an effect last time) in front of him in a large sphere. When the last syllable was uttered, Ander forced the balled magic out between his hands. The arcane energy spread out in a cone that slammed into and through the bear.

The wry grin on Iados's face dropped as he saw the cone of magic head straight for him. He threw his hands up to protect him (as if that would do anything) and braced for a world of hurt.

But it never came. The magic swerved and went around him before it dissipated completely.

Through ragged tears in the bear's shadow body, Iados could see the halfling, hands on knees, panting with a satisfied smile.

Slowly the bear turned its massive body around to face the much smaller, but larger threat.

The former pirate whistled loudly and spanked the creature on its butt with his staff. He saw the head turned back towards him.

"That's right buddy, I'm the one you want!" Iados took a few backward skips, as he whistled again.

The bear took a step towards the former pirate.

Iados glanced back at Ander and watched as the smaller man stood up straight. The pirate grimaced; time to play one of his least favorite games.

"Let's see you move that fat ass!" The pirate stuck his tongue out at the creature before he took off running back into the woods.

Ander's eyes widened as he watched the purple-skinned form disappear into the brush. Unfortunately, the shadowy creature in front of him didn't follow. With an almost deliberate slowness, the bear turned back around to face down the small man.

The halfling gulped as he tried to take in the large form with several large gaps in the shadowy form. "I take it you didn't feel like running." He quickly gathered another palm of arcane magic and sent three bolts to its jaw.

The creature grunted in pain before it swiped out at the little man with two large claws amidst a large growl.

Ander barely managed to dodge. He didn't hesitate to run away, though he was nowhere near Iados's speed. Alas, short legs and thick underbrush do not mix well.

The halfling felt the wind as another swipe came down from above. This time the tip of a shadowy claw snagged the back of his coat and pulled him back. He barely had time to think before the creature's sharp teeth sank into his shoulder.

It wasn't pain from tearing flesh that hit him, but an intense cold as he felt the pressure of the teeth. Right behind the cold, a wave of sickening nausea crashed over him. Unbidden the halfling fell to his knees as he broke out in a cold sweat.

He reached up and grasped his shoulder. It was insanely cold, but there was no blood. Further evidence that this creature wasn't natural. Ander looked over his shoulder at the creature and could have sworn that he saw a satisfied smirk cross the shadowy face.

Well, if it wanted to play with necrotic magic, then he could play that game.

The wizard balled up his hand and called upon the darker side of magic, gathering it up in his darkened palm. He felt the sickening feeling be sucked from his wound and join its brethren. "Let's see how you like it." Ander muttered under his breath. He twisted quickly around and shot himself towards the bear's large torso.

With all his strength he slammed the necrotic magic in his hand into the creature's chest where normally a heart would be. He allowed himself a satisfied smirk as he saw the shadowy form dissipate around the area, and the creature roared in pain.

The smirk didn't last long. He watched as the shadows reformed.

The creature reared back onto its hind legs and gave out a guttural roar, aimed directly at the very small creature that crouched before it.

Ander felt that nagging feeling of fear begin to rise up. He darted his eyes to the side, hoping to see Iados, Lia, or Carric coming to his rescue. But there was nobody, not even one of those damn fairies.

With a second growl, the bear slammed down two fists toward the small body.

The halfling jumped through the bear's legs. He gave a cry of pain as another cold/pain combo sliced down the back of his calf. He rolled onto his back, and for the third time shot out another barrage of arcane bolts.

At first, the bear didn't react like it had before when the bolts carved into its body. That feeling of fear bloomed within Ander as he wondered if this was how he died.

After what felt like an eternity, the shadowy form began to dissipate, until finally, it was as if the creature had never been there.

The throb of his wounds assured him that the creature most assuredly had.

Ander gritted his teeth as he rolled up his pants leg and inspected his calf. There was a dark slash wound there that was eerily cold to the touch, but once again no blood. He had no doubt that a similar-looking wound adorned his shoulder too.

As he shakily got to his feet, he mentally prepared a speech for his teammates on the importance of not splitting up.

Above he heard the caw of a large bird.

To Iados's credit, he meant to lure the creature away from Ander so that the small wizard could keep pelting it with magic from a safe distance. That plan came to a crashing halt as thin arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his torso and pulled him against a nearby tree.

Actually, he wasn't pulled against the tree, but into it.

It was a very strange moment for the akudaem as one moment he was under a large leafy canopy, and then the next in a sparsely decorated living chamber.

Trails of ivy covered the walls and ceiling, seemingly holding a small dome of light aloft in the air. The rest of the room, which wasn't very big, but bigger than the tree outside had been, held a couple of stools, a small table, and a sleeping space carved into a nook in the wall.

'Where am I?" The akudaem asked as he looked around. He realized that he didn't have his staff or his pack.

There was a sharp-toned giggle. "My home, of course." A small, lithe figure wrapped in a dress made of the same ivy materialized out of the wall. Her skin was a similar brown shade to the wall she'd stepped out from, and her long, wavy hair, was a deep green as it framed her face.

The woman giggled again as she took a step toward the former pirate. "You really should be thanking me. After all, I did save you from that bear."

Iados took a hesitant step back. "Thank you, but I can't stay." It wasn't too hard to discern that this woman was 'Fanciful', and if she was like the Sirens he'd encountered out on the open sea, he didn't want to stay here. He gestured towards the ivy-covered walls. "How do I find the door?"

The woman pouted, her hair beginning to brown at the tips. "When I think it's safe for you, I'll let you go." She began to sing in a language that the former pirate wasn't familiar with, but he could feel himself begin to relax.

What was the harm in staying here for a little while? The akudaem thought to himself as the melody washed over him. He looked up into the eyes of the brown-skinned woman, and felt a calm descend over him.

'What about Lia? And Ander and Carric? They're not safe.' A small voice in the back of his mind nagged. 'What would you say to Elaine and Jun if you were the only survivor because you hid out in some woman's tree house?'

The thought of having to face the two of them with such a pitiful excuse was enough to shake the former pirate out of his stupor.

With a sickening realization, he felt as the ivy wrapped itself tightly around his extremities. He began to struggle against the restraints.

The woman gave a heavy sigh. "Will you just stop? I said I'd let you go when it was safe."

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"I have a feeling that you and I have very different definitions of the word 'safe'." Iados grunted as he tried to tear at the ivy with his teeth. He managed to snag one of the vines around his arm and pulled at it till it snapped.

"I said stop!" The woman cried. She reached above her and a thick length of vine dropped down into her hands. She brandished it out like a whip toward the former pirate.

Iados winced as the end of the vine cut into his cheek. He felt the warm blood as it oozed out of the wound.

He narrowed his eyes as he felt his blood begin to boil in anger. "Let me go!" He growled in an unnaturally deep voice.

The change in tone shocked the woman but didn't change her mind. She flicked the whip out again, this time cutting into the side of his neck.

Fire flashed in the akudaem's eyes as he felt the sting. The boiling of his blood began to heat up his entire body. The vines around his extremities began to smoke.

Fear began to creep into the woman's eyes, and she took a step back. "Stop that!" She cried out. She lashed out again with her whip.

Iados caught the end of the whip, as the vines that held him disintegrated into ash. "Let. Me. Go." With one move he yanked it out of her grasp and then started a slow, deliberate walk towards her. With every step, he wound the vine between his fists.

The woman backed up as far as the wall would let her, fear in her eyes. "No," She stammered. "This is my home, I make the rules." Any bravado she might have had didn't make it into her words.

The former pirate reached her. He reached out his arms behind her head and brought the vine down around her neck. As he crossed his arms in front of him, the vine tightened. He leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Either you open a fucking door for me, or I'll break whatever magical hold you have on this place with your death."

The woman's hair began to turn red and brittle as the pressure around her neck continued. "You kill me, then you'll be trapped." She gasped as her hands struggled to tear the vine out of his grasp.

A malicious grin graced Iados's face as he looked down on the Fanciful's gaunt face. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

He watched as realization dawned on her as to how serious he was. Her attempts to claw at his hands slowly lessened as she grew weaker. Her once dark, rich, green hair was now a mixture of dingy browns and sickly yellows, with clumps falling to the floor. The ivy along the walls had lost all their color.

Still, Iados kept even pressure across her neck. The next move wasn't his to make.

Finally, just when he thought she'd rather die than cave, a door shimmered into existence just to the right of the woman.

The former pirate let go of the vines. He lightly tossed the weak woman to the ground away from him and walked out the door.

He stepped back out into the forest. The door slammed closed behind him and disappeared. When he looked back at the tree, he saw that it was nearly lifeless, its bark beginning to peel away from the trunk.

Just a few feet away were his pack and staff. Just as he was fastening his staff in its harness, one of the small fairies from before flew up.

"Found you, finally!" The high-pitched creature yelled.

Iados grinned, this one full of humor as he watched the indignation form on the small face. "Sorry, got held up. You know where the others are?"

The fairy nodded. "Lia sent me to find you!" The winged creature flew around excitedly. "Follow me, I'll take you to her!"

The akudaem laughed as the small being pulled at his sleeve and tried to pull him. "Alright alright, I'll follow you." He spared one last glance back at the bare tree before he followed after towards his group.

It ended up being a relatively short trek. Lia and Ander sat under a large tree that had a ring of mushrooms around it. As the former pirate stepped over the ring, he felt a tingle go up his spine and shivered.

"Don't worry, it's just fairy magic," Lia reassured her boyfriend as she saw him look back at the ring with a worried face. "They say it'll keep the shadow creatures from finding us."

Iados whipped his head back to her. "Creatures? As in more than one?"

Ander nodded. His shirt was off and Lia was in the process of using some healing magic on his wound. "There's a big raven circling above us somewhere. I saw it before I dashed into the forest." He sighed in relief as he felt the magic sink into his shoulder and warm it up.

Iados sat down and leaned over to take a look. He winced. "What did that to you?"

"The bear," Ander grumbled. "Evidently it decided that I was a better target than you."

The akudaem hung his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was hoping it'd follow me, but I got waylaid." He briefly explained his encounter with the Fanciful woman but left out the strangling part.

"Sounds like she's a dryad." Lia held up Ander's coat as he used a bit of mending magic to fix the tear. "They're tree spirits." She explained further when Iados opened his mouth.

"Ah, that makes a lot of sense." He thought back to the changing color of the dryad's hair. He looked over at one of the fairies who'd sat down on a mushroom nearby. "How many dryads are in this forest?"

"Just two, Adona and Carlie. The one you met is Adona. Carlie lives on the western side of the valley." The fairy pointed off toward a direction Iados assumed was west. "Neither of them really likes us."

A female fairy with red hair came zipping out of the forest. She flew over to Lia and hovered in the air in front of her. She seemed close to tears. "I'm sorry," The little woman wailed.

Lia reached out and let the fairy land in her hand. "Why? What happened?"

"I can't find the red-haired one anywhere!" The little body shook as the sobs started. "What if he got captured?"

The fairy on the mushroom stood up and zoomed over. He grabbed a chunk of the women's red hair and yanked. "How could you say that Hali?"

"Let her go!" A third fairy, a female who'd been sitting up in the branches, flew down and tackled the male. Ander recognized it as the one who'd told them to run into the forest earlier. The two of them wrestled in mid-air for a few minutes.

"Stop it you two!" Lia admonished as she reached over and tried to separate the two of them. She managed to pluck the male fairy out of the air. She was careful not to squish his green wings.

Now that they all had a chance to really pay attention to the fairies, the members of M.A. noticed that a fairy's hair and wing color matched.

The male fairy struggled to get out of her grasp.

Hali, the sobbing fairy, settled down on top of Lia's pack. "Let Vali go, he's right."

The second female swooped down and lightly patted Hali's hair. "You only said what all of us were thinking."

Ander cleared his throat and raised his hand. Once he had the various fairies' attention, he continued. "If those shadow creatures did capture Carric, where would they have taken him?"

Vali stopped struggling and tapped his chin. "Probably towards the swamps, where Tyren's castle is." He looked over his shoulder at the fairy with the short blue hair who still comforted Hali. "When's the last time you visited the swamps Dali?"

Dali shrugged. "Tyren doesn't like us going over there. Last time she caught me I couldn't fly for a week." Unconsciously she reached up and petted one of her wings. "You might ask Mavi, I think I saw him head down that way a few sleeps ago."

"And nearly got eaten by the raven for my trouble." A sleepy voice above them called down. The entire group turned their gazes up and saw a blond-haired fairy sprawled out over a branch.

Vali flew up and landed next to the new fairy. "How long have you been here?"

Mavi yawned. "I figured I wasn't needed once the red-haired fellow went into the water."

It was hard to tell who was more shocked, the fairies or the members of M.A. as everyone's jaws dropped in shock.

Iados climbed to his feet. "What do you mean Carric went into the water?"

The sleepy fairy sat up (aided by the green one), and stretched. "I followed him into the forest, and when we ran past the pond some woman was there. Like, she was in the water. She called him over, by name, and once he got close enough she grabbed him and pulled him into the water. I waited for him to come out, but he never did."

"So instead of running to get help, you came here and went to sleep?" Vali said through gritted teeth. "What if he was drowning?"

Mavi scratched the back of his head. "Pretty hard to drown if you're not even in the water."

"Wait, what?" This time it was Lia who climbed to her feet as she spoke. "You just said that some woman pulled him in?"

The blond nodded. "And when I went closer to the water to see if I could help, I watched her open some portal near the bottom and drag him through it. The portal closed pretty quickly afterward." He yawned again. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

Vali scowled down at the fairy. "Sure, in fact, why don't you sleep forever?" He shoved the blond off the branch.

Iados scrambled forward and caught the fairy in his cupped hands before he hit the ground. "You ok?" He asked the small naked person.

Mavi nodded. "It's not the first time I've been shoved off a tree." He grinned and sat up. The little man looked over to the two female fairies and waved.

Hali giggled and returned the wave, while the blue-haired Dali merely rolled her eyes.

Iados set the blond fairy on his shoulder. He turned and looked at Lia. "How did you make out in the mad dash?"

Lia sighed and pointed towards Dali. "She dragged me into an animal den and refused to let me out till she thought it was safe. Then she led me here where we met up with these two," The elf pointed towards the red and green-haired fairies. "I asked them to go find all of you."

"Lucky you," The halfling grumbled as he pulled his pants and exposed his injured calf. "You got any more healing in you?" He asked the elf.

In answer, she reached over and laid her hand over the dark slash. There was a soft glow, and when she removed her hand the slash had been reduced to a thin line. "Do you want another one?"

Ander shook his head. "We should try to conserve our spells for now." He turned his head towards the blue-haired fairy. "How long will this ring keep us safe?"

Dali tapped her chin. "It should be good for a couple of hours at least. As long as Lia stays within it the shadows won't be able to sense her."

"Just Lia?" Iados asked as he settled himself against the tree trunk. "What about Ander and me?"

Dali shook her blue head. "The shadows are only interested in fey."

Mavi yawned from the akudaem's shoulder. "Only reason that bear attacked the two of you is that you were there."

"How does the ring protect Lia?" Ander asked as he quickly mended the tear in his pants with magic.

The red-haired Hali flew over and held the fabric together for him. "The shadows aren't interested in us fairies, so they more or less ignore us." She explained. "So this ring is hiding Lia behind our magic. We did the same for Jennavieve."

"We're actually waiting for Jennavieve now." Dali stated. "Once we saw you guys come out of the portal, we sent Pali to go fetch her."

"She's that elf that sent the villagers away." Iados said.

Mavi nodded. "Most of them anyway, there's still like ten or so in the town that refuse to leave."

"Are the villagers in danger from the shadows?" The halfling asked. He started to pull small bags of rations and dried fruit from his pack. This immediately caught the attention of all of the fairies, including Vali who'd come down from the tree.

Hali shook her head. "None of them are fey, besides a lot of them already died when that plague hit." A huge smile broke over her face as Ander handed her a piece of fruit. The other fairies lined up for their own.

Iados smirked as he saw Mavi quickly join the queue. "Did that plague get any fairies?"

"Nope," Vali said around a large piece of mango. "Though a lot of the mundane creatures in the valley got hit."

"That explains why it's so quiet." Lia said quietly. The statement took Iados and Ander off-guard, and it took them a second to realize that outside of the shadow creatures and the fairies, they hadn't seen or heard any other animals. Even while they've sat around the tree no insects have buzzed around.

Ander frowned. "Do you know what caused the plague?" The halfling handed out food to his party members too.

Dali shook her head. "We didn't even have a word for it until we heard the villagers call it that."

Iados tore off a chunk of jerky. "I've got a question for you guys, how many of you are there?"

"Seven," Mavi answered around a bite of fruit. "Kavi stays with Jennavieve, and Tali's back at our den making a couple of amulets for Lia and the red-haired one."

"What do they do?" Lia asked.

"Same thing that this ring does," Vali explained. "It's a way to hide you from the shadow creatures." He took another bite of the fruit that was nearly as big as him. "Not that you'll have them for long, Jennavieve is going to want to you leave right away."

"She's going to be disappointed then because we don't intend on leaving right away. We're looking for something, a manor house." Ander said.

"We were told it was where Cornelia used to live." Lia added as she popped a berry in her mouth.

Dali grimaced at the name. "That old bag didn't like us much either."

"Because of you!" Hali frowned. "You always had to go in and mess with her plants."

"I was only trying to help her with her experiments." The blue-haired fairy pouted. "She's the one that got all bent out of shape."

Mavi shrugged. "Look at it this way, she's no longer around to keep you out of her garden." The blue-haired fairy's face fell.

Lia reached out and lightly touched Dali's shoulder. "We'd heard that the plague got her."

Dali shook her head. "No, she died before the plague hit. I'd snuck into her garden to tell her about Jennavieve and found her body just instead the hedge maze. It was another sleep or two before the villagers started getting ill." A tear escaped her small eye. Lia scooped up the fairy and placed her on her shoulder, where she then hid behind a lock of the elf's hair.

"I thought that Cornelia's home was hidden, how did you manage to sneak over there?" Ander asked with a tilt of his head.

Vali flew up and hovered near the halfling's face. "Tyren used fey magic to hide it, so of course it doesn't work on us."

Lia looked over at her companions. "Did we know that this Tyren was fey?"

Ander shook his head. "Not that Darnell or Bymer said. I've got a question for you fairies, why is this place called Fairy Bless Valley? It's a little on the nose isn't it?"

Hali giggled and flew up in the air. "A long time ago there were a lot more of us fairies in the valley. An emerald dragon called GripThorne gathered up all of us that he could find and put us here. He told us that no one would hurt us while we stayed in the valley and that we were now under his protection."

Iados felt his jaw drop. "You're saying that a dragon made a fairy sanctuary? Did he call it Fairy Bless?"

The red-haired fairy shrugged. "That's just what his followers started calling this place whenever they'd visit. They used to bring us really good food, and lots of sweets." Her face lit up as she remembered the treats.

"What happened to the other fairies?" Ander asked. "Why are there only seven of you?"

Vali sighed heavily. "After GripThorne got pulled up into the sky, people started to invade our valley. They wanted the land for themselves. Rather than fight them, almost everyone left or went back to the Fey Lands."

Iados cocked his head to the side. "Why didn't you guys go?"

Dali (who was no longer hiding in Lia's hair) spoke up. "Tali was pregnant and wasn't able to make the crossing. Bavi went on ahead to get a place ready, and we were supposed to follow."

The akudaem's face twisted in confusion. "Wait, fairies can get pregnant?" He reached up and scratched his neck. "I guess I always thought that you guys either popped into being or came out of an egg."

None of the fairies could hold in their laughter at the former pirate's statement.

Hali flew over and gently patted Iados's head. "You sweet innocent boy," she crooned.

Lia hid her own laughter in her hand at that statement. "Oh trust me, he's not that innocent." She wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. She glanced over at Ander, who openly wore his amusement on his face. "So, you guys were still here when this place got disconnected, right?"

Dali nodded and pointed over to the blond-haired Mavi. "He and Kavi were born here."

"We heard that you guys can open a portal out of here, so why are you still here?" Ander asked. "Why haven't you left to go join this Bavi?"

All amusement from the fairies immediately died. Vali floated down to the group and sat down heavily. "We can't leave without Tali, and Tali can't leave the valley."

"What do you mean?" The halfling asked.

"We don't know the full story," Dali added. "But shortly after the valley was moved, Tyren took Tali and made them help with some secret project. We're not sure what happened, but when it was over, Tali told us that Tyren had used their True Name to bind them to this place." The small fairy balled up her fists. "Until we can find a way to free Tali, none of us will leave them behind." All of the other fairies nodded in agreement.

Iados growled softly. "The more I hear about this Tyren, the more I don't like her. You said she has a castle?"

Mavi nodded as he flew over and settled on the akudaem's knee. "She's not there though. Honestly, I haven't seen her since Jennavieve showed up."

"I guess we'll have to add that to the list for when this chick finally shows up." Iados yawned. "You fairies ever play cards?"