Missteps

Chapter 77 – Time to Explore

By the time a short figure in a hooded, heavy green cloak finally slinked out of the surrounding woods, the protective mushroom ring of fairy magic had almost fully shriveled away.

"It's about time!" The blue-haired fairy Dali announced, hands on hips, as she watched the figure approach. The other two fairies, red-haired Hali and green-haired Vali, who'd been conversing with her also turned their gazes to the figure, though Hali's was less judgmental. Vali mumbled something under his breath that earned him a smirk from Dali.

"I was in the middle of something." The figure yanked the hood off their head, revealing a head of bright pink hair that was pulled in a tight braid down their back. "I was trying to convince those old bags, again, in the village to leave."

Two fairies flew out of the folds of her cloak. A purple-haired male flew over to Dali and immediately began to massage her shoulders. The second fairy, a female with just as vibrant of pink hair as the figure, hovered in the air next to the cloaked female.

Iados, who'd been lounging against the tree's trunk, clambered to his feet and approached the newcomer. "Safe to assume you're Jennavieve?" Lia, who'd been sitting next to him, stayed sitting. The blond-haired Mali sat up on her knee, eyes full of amusement.

Deliberately, the obviously much shorter woman moved a hand to rest on the pommel of a sickle that hung at her side. "I am. Safe to assume you're the dumbasses who stumbled in?"

The halfling, who sat cross-legged on the ground with his book of spells balanced on his knees, cleared his throat and looked up. "We didn't just stumble in here." He explained.

Jennavieve raised an eyebrow. "Well then you want to explain how you got here?"

Ander flicked his eyes over to the compass that rested on the ground near him. "How'd you manage to get in? Or did you just stumble in and make a mess of everything?"

The elven woman used her thumb to pull out an amulet from under her shirt. Carved into the wooden token, were the images of a tree, its roots reaching up and wounding back through its own branches. All three members of M.A. recognized it as the symbol of Ekolord, the God of Wild Nature and lover of the Fey.

"My team and I were sent on a mission to locate a Crann Arbora that had gone missing hundreds of years ago, even from before the destruction of Skonia." The woman explained. "What could you possibly be looking for here?"

"Some old guy wants a very specific sword, so they sent us here." The former pirate said as he crossed his arms behind his head. His posture may have looked like he was bored, but he kept his eyes trained on the elf and her sickle.

Jennavieve scoffed. "I was sent here on a mission for my god and people, and you're just a group of treasure hunters?"

"Well-paid treasure hunters," Iados flicked his eyes towards Ander for a confirmation, but all he got was an eye roll.

Lia stood up and approached the elf. "The reason why we're here doesn't matter. What does matter, is that you help us, or rather me, so that those shadow creatures don't kill us."

An amused smile crossed the pink-haired elf's face. "Got a look at them did you. Hope they didn't scare you all too badly."

Ander closed his book loudly as he looked at the elf. "We got a great look at that bear. In fact, it even looked a little scared when we beat it and it turned into nothing."

Jennavieve's eyes widened at that. "You managed to defeat one of them?" She turned to look at Iados and Lia for confirmation.

Iados slapped a cocky grin on his face. "Yeah, is that supposed to be hard?" He stepped closer to the elf, and leaned his face down closer to her height. "We're more than just pretty faces."

The small elf quickly regained their composure as she matched the former pirate's grin with one of her own. "If that's so, then why do you need my help?" The pink-winged fairy in the air giggled behind their hand.

Iados's eyes darted to the flying fairy. "Who are you supposed to be?"

"That's my sister Kavi." The blond-haired fairy yelled as he zipped over to the violet-skinned akudaem, and settled on his shoulder. The fairy pointed over to the purple-winged male that had settled on the ground next to Hali. "That's Pali over there." He waved over and received a wave back.

The flying fairy flew down and settled themselves on Jennavieve's shoulder as well. She turned her gaze over to Lia, who still stood a few steps behind Iados. "He's not very nice." The fairy stated as she pointed to the akudaem, her finger 'hidden' behind an outstretched palm.

Lia smiled and stepped forward. "Yes, that's something we're still working on." She reached out and gently pushed Iados back behind her, to which he complied. The druid turned her eyes to Jennavieve. "As I said before, I was told that you had something for me to help protect against the shadow creatures?"

Jennavieve held up her right wrist, where a bracelet with three small stones woven into it sat. "Tali's almost finished with one for you and your friend." The small elf ran her eyes over the trio again. "Pali had said that it was a foursome that came through, with two being of fey ancestry."

"Our fourth got kidnapped," Ander explained as he stood up. "We're hoping it's just a temporary thing."

"Ok," The pink-haired didn't look as confident as the halfling did for the outcome, but didn't press the issue. She turned back to Lia. "Since Tali needs your blood to finish the talisman, I'm to take you to her at their den."

Iados whistled. "I've never seen a fairy den before, this should be fun."

"Too bad for you, you don't get to go." Jennavieve reached up and replaced her hood. "Only those with fey blood are allowed to enter, and judging by that skin of yours, you've got something more…demonic in your veins. Am I right?"

The former pirate shrugged. "Guilty as charged. So, are Ander and I just supposed to wait here till you and Lia get back?"

Lia smiled back at Iados. "That sounds like a great idea." She grabbed her pack from the base of the tree, before standing next to Iados and kissing him on the cheek. "Just stay here, wait for Carric, and don't get into trouble." She gave a final wink to both boys, before she left the mushroom ring with Jennavieve, and almost all of the fairies.

Once the large group had disappeared into the foliage, Mavi (who still sat on Iados's shoulder) stretched and looked up at his new big friend. "Are we really just gonna wait here?"

Iados flicked his eyes over to Ander, who'd already picked up his pack, and then grinned. "Hell no, we're gonna go explore, and you're our guide."

The trio gave the larger group a few more minutes to get further away, before they left in a direction that Mavi assured them was the exact opposite of the fairy den.

"So where do you want to go first?" The excited fairy asked as he flew around his new friends. "There's a few little ponds around here, or we can go to the village, or I can show you the river." He listed off as he counted on his fingers. "There are some homesteads too, but they're all empty and not any fun."

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"What did you usually do for fun?" Iados asked as he tried not to get dizzy watching the blond blur.

The small fairy froze in mid-air. "I used to play with all the little kids." His voice was soft. "Unlike the adults, the kids didn't care that I was Fanciful. We'd run around the forest playing hide and seek."

Iados held out a hand the little fairy sat down morosely on it, his knees pulled up to his chest. The akudaem looked down at Ander, who looked sadly at the small naked creature.

The halfling reached into a pouch at his waist, and pulled out a small nut. "We heard that when the plague hit, it hit the kids the hardest." He gently handed the nut to Mavi.

"I snuck into their rooms, and tried to use some of the magic my mother taught me to help." The blonde fairy nibbled on the nut, and it was obvious that he was trying not to cry. "Some of the parents caught me, and accused me of making them worse. I was just trying to help." Fat tears started to roll down the fairy's face, and he hid his face behind the nut.

The former pirate reached out and gently patted the small head. "I'm sure the kids appreciated you being there. After all, it sounds like you were a great friend."

Mavi looked up from behind the nut. "You think so?" He squeaked out.

Iados nodded.

The fairy smiled and nodded. He quickly wiped his tears, and took off into the air. "So, where do you want to go first?"

"How about the pond where Carric disappeared?" Ander suggested. Their guide nodded, and took off, finishing off his nut as he flew.

The pond wasn't anything special. It was about 6 feet across with some water lily's floating on the surface. Ander and Iados searched the area around the pond, but didn't find anything.

"Well, guess I'm going in." Iados announced as he started to take off his boots. He looked over at Ander. "You gonna join me?"

The halfling crossed his arms and turned his back on the stripping akudeam. "I could, but then you'd have to fish me out. There's a reason I had a death grip on that bridge back in Charnin Caverns."

The former pirate laughed as he peeled off his shirt. "You mean to tell me you decided to become an adventurer, and you can't even swim?"

Ander huffed. "My hometown is landlocked, and honestly the whole swimming thing never came up."

All Iados could do was shake his head. Left in only his skivvies, he walked into the pond. To his surprise it wasn't that cold, but was deeper than it had first looked. Only a couple of feet in and suddenly the bottom dropped and his whole body sank.

After a few panicked seconds, Iados got his bearings. He took a quick trip to the surface to get a lungful of air before he dived back down. By his estimation, the pond bottomed out around fifteen or so feet. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found that his efforts had been rewarded. He snatched up the rewards, and made a break for the surface.

"Find anything?" Ander asked once Iados's head re-emerged.

In answer, the akudaem threw a boot and sword on the ground next to the wizard. "If I'm not mistaken, those are Carric's, right?"

Ander picked up the boot and traced the small teeth marks, courtesy of a certain weasel. "Well, at least we know he was here."

"Where do you think he is?" Iados asked as he wrung out his hair. Mavi zoomed over and helped.

The halfling shrugged. "Hopefully we'll find out when we leave the valley."

"You don't think he'll find his way back?" The former pirate asked.

"Without the compass, I'm highly doubtful." Ander stood up and picked up the akudaem's shirt. "Get dressed, I want to go talk to whatever locals are left."

"Why? They don't sound like a very fun bunch of people." Iados instead used his shirt to towel off before he started to shimmy into his pants.

"I want to see if they know if this place started to mess up before or after Jennavieve got here." The wizard explained. "According to Darnell, she showed up after the mystery illness hit the village and rounded up the survivors. But, when she showed up at the tree she said that she and her team came to the valley on their mission." His eyes narrowed. "What happened to her team?"

Iados paused for a second as he pulled a boot on. "You think they had something to do with fucking this place up?"

Ander nodded. "Think about it, for years this place never changes under the rule of some fey queen, and then a group shows up looking for a magical fey tree. Suddenly the whole valley goes to shit and a strange pink-haired woman is trying to get as many survivors out as they can?" He rolled his eyes. "Tell me those aren't the actions of a guilty mind."

Iados nodded in agreement. He looked over at Mavi, who'd settled themselves on a rock. "Didn't one of the other fairies says that they'd found Cornelia dead before the plague?"

"Dali found her in the hedge maze." The fairy confirmed. He flew up in the air as Iados got to his feet. "The villagers don't like me very much, so I can't go into the village with you."

The former pirate tsk'd. "Like we'd leave our guide behind." He reached down and opened up one of the larger pockets on his pants. "Try this on for size."

With a huge grin, the fairy flew down and settled himself neatly into the pocket. The flap settled down, and the fairy was out of sight.

"Will that work?" The akudaem asked.

Mavi stuck his head out and nodded.

The trek to the village took a little over an hour. According to Mavi, the village itself was located in the center of the valley. In fact, the river that flowed from the eastern edge of the valley to the bottom of the western edge, went right through the village.

"Where does the water for the river come from?" Ander asked as he gazed off to the east. According to the compass, the manor house was somewhere up on the side of the hill.

"Who knows," The fairy said from his pocket. He'd gone out of the pocket a few times, but he seemed to enjoy being chauffeured. "I can tell you this though, it's turned the western side into a big swamp." He shook his head. "I don't see how Tyren can live out there, it's all muggy and wet."

"That is the definition of a swamp." Iados chuckled. The group cleared a small rise, and on the other side were greeted with their first view of the village.

There were maybe fifty or so buildings, mostly single-story with thatch roofs. Just as Mavi had said a river wound itself through the middle. A few bridges had been built over it, and what looked like to be a very long building.

The most depressing part of the scene, besides the stillness of the village itself, was the multitude of tree stumps that surrounded it. It was obvious that at one point the forest seemed to go right up to the building's edge, but now it was nothing but a large clearing.

Mavi gasped at the sight. "What happened?"

"It takes a lot of wood to burn a village's worth of bodies." Ander explained, his face showing no emotion. Without another word he set off for the village.

As the duo (with the third hidden away) walked down the empty main path, the village's atmosphere didn't get any better. Most of the wooden buildings had begun to rot, with doors that either swung open vacantly, or were held on by a single hinge. Their footsteps echoed through as they searched for just one of the ten or so villagers they'd been told were still here.

"Hey," Iados leaned down and whispered to Ander. "Does a place usually start to fall apart so quickly?" Most of the structures here were made of wood, and yet they seemed to be in worse shape than those they'd seen in the dwarven settlement that'd been abandoned for a hundred years.

The wizard shook his head. "There has to be something more going on in this valley." He was frustrated at himself that hadn't prepared his spell that'd allow him to see the trappings of magic, but at the time he hadn't wanted to risk becoming blind in an area that would obviously be magic-heavy.

The two of them walked up one street and down another, occasionally yelling out trying to find someone. After nearly two hours, they finally found someone.

A woman who looked to be roughly in her late 30s came stumbling out of a nearby building. Her long brown skirt was full of rips, and her pale shirt was halfway untucked.

She scowled as she hastily tied her hair up with a length of leather as she closed the door with her foot. "Damn Harlin, you were only supposed to let me sleep for ten minutes." She grumbled.

"Excuse me!" Iados yelled out as he saw the woman turn the opposite way of them.

The woman paused her grumbles and turned to look at them. Her eyes widened as she took in the violet-skinned man with horns on his head, and the very short man next to him. "What kind of new Fanciful hell is this?"

The former pirate grinned. "I can assure you that the two of us are nowhere near 'Fanciful'." He took a few steps forward, and the woman didn't move. Taking that as a sign he continued. "We're new to the valley and we're hoping to speak with a local."

"You picked a hell of a time to visit." The woman's lips turned downwards in a scowl. "If I were you, I'd march right back into those forests and hope those damn fairies take enough pity on you to let you out."

"What's going on around here?" This time it was Ander who spoke up. "This whole town looks like shit."

"Thank you for that assessment, we just thought our handyman had gone on vacation." The woman's voice was laced with sarcasm. "Listen, I don't have time to play happy host. I've said my piece, now either heed my advice or not, I don't care. If you care about your lives, be careful around the river." She turned and took a step down the street, before she paused. "Oh, and if you see a hand or some other body part coming towards you, don't hesitate to put it down." With that she did turn and walk briskly away.

Iados reached up and scratched the back of his head. "Well that was curt."

Mavi poke his head out of the pocket. "That was Peggy, one of the oldest humans in the village." He stuck his tongue out in the direction of the woman. "She's never been very nice."

The akudaem nodded as he turned towards Ander. "Well, what now?"

The halfling crossed his arms with a smirk. "I've always been partial of going to places I'm told not to go to."

Iados grinned. "Exactly what I was thinking."