Missteps
Chapter 79 – A Little Ancient History
Peggy led the way through the town, one arm tucked under Ander as she carried him, and the other dragging a pack for Iados. The akudaem followed behind silently, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other as the exhaustion continued to weigh on him.
The halfling was silent as he was carried, but he'd stolen a few looks back at Iados, just to check on him. It wasn't lost on him that he still hadn't thanked the akudaem for saving his life, nor that it was partially his own fault that they'd ended up in danger.
Their guide didn't say anything as she stomped through the crumbling town. The small group quickly passed over the main bridge, back to the two-story building they'd seen her stumble out of earlier.
"Harlin, heat up some water for a couple of baths!" Peggy yelled as she kicked open the door and headed inside.
A man about the same age as Peggy, who'd been lounging on a small high-backed bench, quickly got to his feet. His mouth fell open and his eyes went wide as he took in the visitors. "Who are they?"
"Idiots who went and played in the river." She grumbled as she set Ander down on the padded bench. She turned to Iados and motioned for him to just drop the packs on the ground. "Who knows what kind of diseases these two picked up," As she crossed the small room over to a cupboard in what seemed to be a kitchen space, she shoved the akudaem towards the bench as well.
"Geraldine said that Jennavieve showed up again this afternoon." Harlin advised as he picked up the discarded packs and set them in a small chest next to the door.
Peggy rolled her eyes as she pulled down small jars filled with different herbs. "When is that Fanciful bitch gonna stop and just leave?" She turned her gaze to the open-vested Harlin. "Didn't I tell you to go heat some water?"
"Where are they gonna bathe? Do I have to drag it all upstairs?" The man said in a voice that was almost a whine.
"Just fill up a barrel in the back yard, we're just getting the cold out of their system." Their host spooned a bit of the herb mixtures into wooden cups.
Harlin nodded and left the room.
Iados sat on the bench and watched as Peggy moved over to the wood stove. She shoved another piece of wood onto the existing fire, then filled up a small kettle from a water jug that sat on the stove.
"She's only bothering you because she feels guilty." The akudaem said to fill the silence.
Peggy glanced at him for a moment over her shoulder before she went back to the warming water. "I know, and she has every right to that guilt. It's not my job to lessen it." She didn't elaborate, and a silence lapsed between the two of them.
Iados brought his legs up and crossed them under him. He looked over, and saw that Ander had curled into a ball and drifted off. The former pirate couldn't help the small smile that graced his face as he looked at the small wizard. Asleep like this, he always reminded the akudaem of his little brothers. There was a blanket tossed over the back of the bench, and all it took was a few tugs to drape it over the halfling.
"You'd do better to get him out of his wet clothes first." Peggy commented as she walked over with a steaming mug. She handed it to the akudaem, before she settled down on another chair in the small sitting area.
As stated before, the room itself was small. There was a small kitchen area, a sitting area with the cushioned bench and rocking chair, and a long rectangular table with two skinny benches pushed up under it separating the areas. Behind the cushioned bench was a staircase that led to the second floor.
Iados took the cup, and softly blew on it before taking a sip. The drink was bitter at first, but turned sweet as it ran down the back of his throat. He could already feel his body warming up. "Thank you."
The woman nodded her head in acknowledgment. "You two aren't the first young boys not to heed my advice." A sorrowful smile appeared on her face as she leaned back in the chair and began to rock gently. "So, what happened? Decide to go swimming with the Women?"
The akudaem grimaced. "Not on purpose." He began to tell her about Morgen and her cave, and how she'd tried to kill them.
The more Iados spoke, the further Peggy's face fell. When Iados got to the part where the women nearly drowned Ander, her face went white.
"No, no, I don't believe it." The woman shot to her feet and went around to the back of the chair, her fingers clutching the back in a white-knuckled grip. "There is no way that Adrienna, Lucina, or any of the other girls would try to kill anyone."
"Judging by the bloated corpses and skeletons, they already have." The former pirate took a long sip of the sip as they let that news since in.
Peggy shook her head. "I knew that something wasn't right with them, but I never thought they'd be corrupted too."
Iados opened his mouth to say something, but an intense wriggling in his pants pocket distracted him. He reached over and undid the flap.
Mavi's head, his hair ruffled, popped out. The little fairy took in a big gulp of air before he wiggled out of the pocket and laid sprawled out on the cushion. "It was getting pretty hot in there."
"Yeah," Iados leaned down and whispered at the fairy. "This might not be the best time to just lay about."
The little blonde head perked up and tilted to the side. "Why?"
The former pirate pointed towards the rocking chair.
The fairy followed the gesture, and then froze when he saw Peggy. Faster than Iados thought possible, the fairy yelped and hid himself in the former pirate's shirt.
Iados tensed up and looked at Peggy, bracing himself for some sort of negative reaction was the woman.
Instead, the woman chuckled. She came closer and kneeled down in front of Iados. Still with a smile on her face, she gently reached up and moved the akudaem's shirt just enough to uncover the small fairy. "Is that you Mavi?"
"Yes," The small form squeaked, his face hidden in the akudaem's chest.
"Why are you hiding?"
"Because you said you'd kill me if you ever saw me again." Mavi sobbed.
Peggy's face fell, and sat back morosely on her legs. She let her hands drop into her lap. "I did say that, didn't I." She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry Mavi, I didn't mean it."
"Then why'd you say it?" The fairy's muffled voice said.
"Because I was angry, sad, and confused." The woman explained. "The kids were dying left and right, and some of the adults had started to fall ill. We didn't know what was going on, and we didn't have a way to help anyone." She paused for a moment as the memories came back to her. "Then we had you and Kavi, sneaking into the kids' room and doing some sort of magic on them. All of us needed something to grasp on to, some reason for the terribleness, so we blamed you. We wrote the two of you off with the other fairies and pushed you away."
The small fairy turned his head enough so that he could look at the middle-aged woman. "We weren't hurting them, we were trying to help them."
"Yes, we know that now." Peggy confessed. "Some of the children that you and Kavi did your magic on got strong enough to be able to go through the portal. Please, will you forgive an old woman for jumping to the worst of conclusions?"
Mavi hesitated for nearly a minute, before he slowly floated out of the akudaem's shirt, and zipped over to Peggy. He hugged her cheek, and she gently returned it.
Iados let a huge grin cross his face as he took another drink out of his mug. "I thought the village people hated the fairies?"
"The older ones, yes." Peggy moved Mavi to her shoulder, and moved back into the rocking chair. "Mavi and Kavi are different, there's not a child or adult in the village who hasn't played with these two."
The akudaem raised an eyebrow. "What's the difference?"
"History." The woman began to rock again. "Back in the days before this valley became a place unto itself, the people of this village lived just outside of it." Peggy pulled down her shirt enough to show a stylized 'G' burned into her shoulder. "We served the draconic GripThorne, whether we wanted to or not." She pulled her shirt back up. "Our main duty was to take care of the fairies. Every day we gathered fresh fruits, cutting them up and arranging them daintily on large silver platters that took three people to carry. We couldn't fight back when the fairies played their tricks on us. We couldn't complain when there wasn't enough food for the villagers because the fairies ate it all."
Peggy sighed heavily. "Even worse, we couldn't do anything if the fairies stole a child from us, and then handed it over to their Fey masters as a gift."
Iados leaned forward in shock. "They stole kids and gave them to the Fey?"
The woman nodded. "From what we could gather, it's considered fashionable in Fey society to be surrounded by beautiful human children. So when a fairy wanted to garner favor, they'd take a child. No matter how much we pleaded with GripThorne, in his eyes the fairies could do no wrong."
The akudaem gave a long whistle. "Damn, no wonder you guys hate each other."
"When GripThorne got pulled up into the sky, and it became obvious he wasn't coming back, we took that as a sign and moved into the valley." She gestured to the room around them. "This is one of the original buildings that was built, this and three others nearby."
"How long after did the valley move?" Iados flicked his eyes over to see if Ander was listening, but as far as he could tell the small body was still fast asleep.
"About a year and a half, but we knew of Tyren long before then." Peggy explained. "Tyren and a few others like her would visit every few weeks. That group was always on the move, always scheming, always planning. Of course, after GripThorne disappeared, we found out why."
The former pirate widened his eyes. "Why?"
The woman's eyes sparkled. "Because it was Tyren and her group that had pulled GripThorne and all the draconics up into the air."
Iados felt his jaw drop. "You mean Tyren is an Exalted?" The thought of their main enemy in this valley being one of the legendary figures from the beginning of history (as far as Carric had explained) did not sit well in the pit of his stomach.
Peggy shrugged. "I guess, but to be honest we didn't really have a word for them back then. All we knew was that they were people with abilities that rivaled the draconics, and they were willing to fight back." The woman gently moved Mavi from her shoulder to her lap. "After GripThorne disappeared, Tyren stopped by for a few days, alone. It took a few mugs of ale, but I finally got her to tell me the story. She told me how they'd performed a ritual given to them by the gods, but that nearly all of them had died. She was being haunted by the images of watching her friends disappear all around her. She called herself 'one of the lucky ones', because all she'd lost was a few toes and couple of fingers."
"Sounds to me like she lost a lot more than that." The former pirate stated, and Peggy nodded.
"Not long after that she disappeared. We didn't see her for nearly a year, and when we did it was just glimpses of her in the valley. Hunting parties or small groups out exploring would come across her; usually with stones slung on her back. They'd ask what she was doing, but she'd just say that it was none of their business." The woman stopped rocking. "Finally, I tracked her down myself. Bribed her with some ale and got her to talk to me. She said that she was protecting us, herself included. Tyren said that after she'd left, she'd made some wrong choices, got into some trouble, and now needed to hide from someone. She said she needed to hide from a goddess."
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Iados, who'd been taking a drink at the time, coughed violently as the liquid went down the wrong way. He hastily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "She pissed off a goddess? How?"
Peggy chuckled. "That's exactly what I asked her. Apparently she'd gotten a little too close with the goddess's husband/brother/partner/something, and got pregnant. So, Tyren ran away."
The former pirate desperately wanted to wake up the small wizard and bring him into the conversation, but he wasn't even sure where to start if he did. "How does the Fey in the spirit tree fit into all of this?"
The woman shook her head. "I'm not sure. I wasn't even aware of him until Tyren flew into her jealous rage and cursed the young women into the water."
"The ones that tried to kill us?" The akudaem clarified.
"Apparently," She sighed heavily and leaned her head back on the chair. "For so many years after Tyren worked her magic, this place never changed. Every day was the same as the last. The sky never changed, it was always sunny and the perfect temperature. Crops grew bountiful, and we had a sort of give and take with the wildlife. Then one day, the sky darkened into this twilight, and it was like the valley turned against us. Crops died, animals grew violent, and the plague hit. I've tried to find Tyren, to get her to explain, but to no avail."
"From what we've heard, she fled to Cornelia's place." Iados explained.
Peggy didn't look shocked. "I figured that's where she'd go, I just hope she didn't have anything to do with Cornelia's death."
"You don't think she died in the plague?" The former pirate asked.
The woman shook her head. "I saw her body myself, and to me it looked like someone had choked her. We looked around the property, but didn't find anyone there."
Iados didn't say anything else. When the fairies had talked earlier about finding Cornelia dead, they seemed too have left out that detail. He wondered what else the fairies had neglected to tell them.
Peggy talked a bit more about the life under GripThorne, before Harlin sauntered in and proclaimed that the baths were ready. He'd filled two barrels, one large and one small. He was also very happy to see the small fairy.
"Do you need any help with the little one?" The wide-shouldered man asked as he watched Iados shake Ander awake.
"Nah, I can handle it. Just have to get him up." The former pirate grinned as the small wizard tried to push his offending hands away. In response, he ripped the blanket off and shook his even more.
"I'm awake, damn it." The halfling grumbled as he sat up.
"Good, it's time to take a bath." Iados reached over and hauled the wizard to his feet, keeping his hand on the small tunic while Ander got his feet under him.
"You interrupted a perfectly good nap, for a bath?"
Peggy chuckled as she stood up. "Trust me, you'll feel differently afterwards. Go ahead and undress here. I'll put out new clothes for you, and get started on cleaning yours." She headed towards the staircase. "I'll have food ready for you when you're done."
"Sounds great, thanks!" Iados called after as the woman disappeared upstairs. He turned over to look at Harlin. "And thank you for putting the water together."
The large man grinned and shrugged. "No problem, whatever Aunt Peggy says, I do. By the way, I did have a question for you."
"Oh?" The akudaem started to peel off his shirt. Ander had disappeared to the other side of the table and used it to shield himself while he also undressed.
"How come you've got three packs for the two of you?" Harlin asked.
Iados grimaced. "There were three of us, but Carric got carried off by a giant shadow raven." He shook his head. "Still haven't figured out how we're gonna explain that one to Lia."
"You know," Ander called out from his hiding place. "We're probably already in the doghouse with her. We've been gone for quite a while."
The akudaem paused. "Shit," He looked over at Mavi, who'd settled himself on the table. "How long will it take to get back to the tree from here?"
Mavi tapped his chin. "At least an hour I'd say, you guys were right on the edge of the valley, and now we're more or less in the center."
Iados groaned and started to pull his pants back up. "Alright, Ander you stay here, I'll go with Mavi and meet up with Lia. I'll bring her back here."
"Oh no, if you leave without following her instructions, Aunt Peggy will be pissed." Harlin advised as he moved to block the door. "Listen, I'll go with Mavi, get your friend, and bring them back here."
The akudaem grimaced. "You should know that she'll probably be with Jennavieve."
The big man sighed heavily. "Of course she is."
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The journey to the fairy den was non-descript. The small group of two elves and their gaggle of fairies ran quickly through the forest. The only trouble they ran into was an ill-tempered elk that decided to take a stab at them, literally.
The elk was easily put off by the fairies, and the group continued on their way.
After a little over an hour, they arrived at a large clump of bushes at the base of a large tree. Unlike the other trees in the area, this one stood tall and proud, with no sign of illness. The bushes that stood in their way were big and leafy, and were taller than either of the elves.
Jennavieve smiled, and gestured for Lia to follow her through the bush.
Lia was apprehensive about shoving her way through what appeared to be tightly-packed branches, but the moment the pink-haired elf touched the first leaf, the branches twisted out of the way. In only a few seconds, a clear passage through was made visible.
Without another thought, Lia went down the path. She thought it'd be just a few steps to the other side, but instead the duo ended up walking for nearly five minutes. The path itself wasn't a straight shot either, it curved to the left just enough to be visible.
Their fairy guides led the way, their wings illuminating the dark leafy passage.
When they finally emerged into the den, Lia was at a loss for words.
Like all elven children, she'd grown up with the stories of fairies. She'd heard of their penchant for tricks and practical jokes, of how they loved life and lived in the moment without a care for consequences. Some of the tales were also meant as warnings, as the carefree life of a bored fairy could spell disaster for any of the mortal races. These stories were also usually accompanied by lavish descriptions of their dens.
This den, seemed a lot tamer than the stories had said.
They emerged out into a small meadow, probably no more than six or seven feet in diameter, though she supposed for fairies that seemed rather large. In the middle of the meadow was a large cushion, large enough for all of them to sleep in comfortably. Several smaller pillows and blankets were neatly folded and stacked in the center.
Surrounding the cushion, were stations. One station held several baskets of different berries that were being cleaned and sorted, with a space next to it where the baskets appeared to be weaved. Across the way, small pieces of flint were in the process of being chipped at to form knives or other fairy-sized tools.
The most prominent station, was a large pot that hung above a small fire. The pot bubbled with a delicious aroma. Small shelves had been erected that held tiny jars with writing on them. Seated a table not far from the pot, was a one-winged fairy with orange hair. Unlike the other fairies, this one wore a dark green robe that ended at their elbows and knees.
The red-winged Hali immediately zoomed over and enveloped the new fairy in a large back hug. It was almost comical how her face got buried in the high, bushy orange ponytail.
"Ha-ha, it's only been a few hours Hali." The robed figure turned around and returned the hug properly. They looked over Hali's shoulder at the newcomers, and frowned. "I thought you were bringing me two?"
Dali flew over and gently peeled Hali off. "Sorry Tali, the second seems to have disappeared through a portal. We're not sure if he's gonna be coming back."
Tali huffed and rolled their eyes. "He better hope he doesn't, or he's gonna find himself in a mess of trouble without one of these." The orange-winged fairy reached behind them and pointed towards a long string of beads on the table. Each bead was as large as their head.
Jennavieve sat cross-legged on the ground in front of the fairies. The green-haired Vali had zoomed over to the berry station for a snack, while the purple-winged Pali stretched out on the cushion.
"We're sorry to be problems." The pink-haired elf said with a small smile. "Do you have a bracelet ready for Lia?"
Lia gave a small wave as she sat down as well.
Tali walked over to the elves. As Lia watched them, she found it very hard to determine if this one was male or female.
The orange-haired fairy held out a hand and gestured for Lia's hand. When Lia complied, they suddenly pulled out a very sharp dagger from within their robes and sliced across the tip of one of Lia's fingers.
"What the hell?" Lia cried as she pulled back her hand, nearly topping Tali over in the process.
Immediately Dali was by their side as the one-winged fairy regained their balance. A chortle of laughter came from Vali as he sat on the ground munching on a berry that was nearly the same size as his head.
Tali grinned as they looked at the blood on their blade. "Apologies, but I assumed that time was of essence, and explanations take time." They quickly walked back over to their table, and let the blood drip onto the beads as they began to chant.
The pink-haired Kavi zoomed up next to Lia, who was sucking on their bleeding finger. "Don't take it personally, they're not really a people-person." She explained. "Ever since Tyren forced their True Name from them, they've barely left the den."
"What happened to their wing?" Lia asked in a whisper.
A hard thump came from the table. "That damned witch plucked it and used it as a spell component to imprison her boyfriend." Tali growled before they went back to chanting.
Lia exchanged a wide-eyed look of surprise with Kavi. The pink-haired fairy merely shrugged, before they went and joined Vali for a snack.
"Tyren's a bit of a sore subject." Jennavieve muttered to the other elf as she leaned in close. "There's a lot of bad blood there, and given that it's her magic keeping Tali here, she's kind of persona non-grata."
"Got it," Lia settled into a more comfortable sitting arrangement. "How long is this going to take?"
Jennavieve shrugged as she also settled down more. "It took a few hours when she made mine." She sent a side eye to the other elf. "You think the boys can stay out of trouble that long?"
The question was answered with a heavy sigh and a shake of her blonde hair. "They probably left the tree as soon as we were out of sight."
The pink-haired elf snorted. "Typical men, can't follow one simple instruction. Aren't you concerned they'll get themselves in trouble?"
"Of course, but I also know that they can get themselves out of trouble." Lia chuckled softly to herself. "Is it all men you hate, or just these ones?"
Jennavieve leaned back on her elbows. "It's not that I hate men, it's just that I haven't met many who I could depend on. The men in my family don't tend to hang around, so I grew up watching my mom, aunts, and cousins have to play double-duty. Anything that would traditionally be done by a man in my household, was done by a woman."
"What about your team? Were they all females?" Lia asked. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the blue-haired Dali take a sip out of the pot.
"Not quite," the pink-haired elf went quite for a moment. "We had Theodmer and Hubrys as part of our team. Theodmer was a paladin of Ekolord, and one of the noblest men I knew, to a fault. He'd grown up nobility, being taught the ways of chivalry. It was frustrating how he felt he had to take care of the three women in the party, but we knew it came from a good place. However much he wanted to keep us out of harm's way, he also knew that we were powerful in our own rights, and had our own gifts."
"And what about Hubrys?" Lia asked.
Jennavieve snorted. "As his name implies, he was nothing but full of hot air. He was the main fighter of the team, and he made sure that everyone knew it. Anytime any sort of danger arose, he was the first one with his sword out. He'd rather pummel something than talk to it. Where Theodmer was a man of words, Hubrys was a man of action."
Lia smiled softly at the description of the two men. "I take it that the other two members of your team were women?"
The elf nodded. "Vesryn and Ilrune. Ves was my cousin, only a few years older than me. She was a ton smarter though, and got selected to be trained by the mages when she was still a child." Jennavieve sat up. "Ilrune was rough around the edges. She and I had trained together as rangers for a while, but didn't understand why I gave up that life for the clerical. Whereas Ves and I grew up with the mentality that we were just as good as men, if not better, Ilrune always seemed to be in competition with them. She would constantly spar and bicker with Hubrys, or rebuke Theodmer's acts of chivalry. She was the one with the true hatred of men."
"Sounds like it was an interesting team to be a part of." Lia stated.
Jennavieve nodded slowly. "The only reason I'm alive is because of them. Ves cast some sort of spell on me, and it was Hubrys who shoved me away from the fighting. Whatever that spell did, every step I took seemed to take me miles away. By the time I got my footing back, I was out of the swamps."
The blonde-haired druid nodded softly. She wasn't sure how much more she should push the pink-haired elf for information. She'd already spoken more than Lia was expecting.
Jennavieve seemed to have the same idea, as she suddenly shook her head and fixed her gaze on Lia. "So, tell me about your team."
With nothing better to do, Lia launched into the story about her team. She talked about how they met, and their first job in the underground tunnels of the dwarven settlement. After, she talked about Charnin Caverns and the hidden temple, and then launched into the tale of the haunted manor.
She knew that she wasn't the greatest storyteller, but she thought back to how Kerri told the stories to the different groups they came across. As she looked into the rapt faces of the fairies who hung onto her tale, she wished that her half-elven friend was there to make these tales even better.
As she described how the group left the manor ablaze, Tali walked over with the length of beads trailing along behind them.
"You and your friends have been quite busy." The orange-haired fairy commented as they fastened the bracelet around Lia's wrist. "Did you bring all of them to the valley with you?" As Tali worked with the elf, the other fairies disseminated around the den.
Lia shook her head. "One of my friends got badly hurt, so they and another friend stayed behind."
"You do know that time flows differently here, correct?" Tali asked.
The blonde head nodded. "We were warned about that before we came. We're hoping to finish up our mission here and get back before too much time passes."
"And what is your mission?" The fairy ran a hand over the beads one-by-one, and as they did a symbol glowed briefly on each one.
"We were sent to get a sword, a magic one." Lia didn't have the greatest confidence in that answer. In light of everything that seemed to be happening in this valley, it seemed very shallow.
Tali merely nodded in understanding. She climbed up onto Lia's knee, and gestured for the two elven women to lean closer.
"Both of you have goals in this valley, but I warn you that time is running out." The small fairy opened their robe. Lia couldn't stop the small gasp that escaped their mouth. The entire right side of the fairy's torso was a mottled black.
Tali closed their robe. "Tyren used the power of my True Name to split the Crann Arbora sapling in two. With one of the trees already dead, the second one is not powerful enough to keep this valley alive. When it dies, everything in this valley will die with it." She looked mournfully over her shoulder at the other fairies as they laughed amongst themselves. "Even our magic is beginning to fade."
The orange-haired fairy turned to look back at the two elves. "I'm not sure for how much longer we will have the power to open a portal back to your world, or to any world. If you don't wish for this valley to become your tomb, then finish your goals and leave."