The alcove sat a few meters back into the outside of the cavern to the left of the cavern exit. It seemed to have been burrowed out long ago and given that it was somewhat furnished with a wooden table and chair, a bookshelf and two cages, Alanna was certain the fomorian just came across it and started using it. It was possible it created them but given its arm deformity building was unlikely. Alanna entered the room and was first drawn to the skeleton seated in the larger iron cage. She moved up to it and inspected the skeleton and based on the head and hips she thought it was likely a woman. However, she knew this was a guess based on the very little information she remembered from general studies classes on anatomy.
There were a few scraps of decaying leather that belonged to an intact satchel at the side of the skeleton. Alana picked it up carefully and moved it over to the table where she gingerly opened it. Inside she found a book with a well preserved leather cover holding in a series of loose sheets that were only slightly yellowed with age. Whatever agent had been used to bind the pages had long since eroded away.
Alanna carefully opened the book and looked at the pages. On the pages was a language that she had only really ever heard spoken and had not read in this lifetime. She had to sink into the memories of one of the ancient druids before she found she could read the pages. There was not many pages with writing on it and as she read she understood why. It was a journal of the one of the druid of a Lord Kirwan. The book described the kidnapping of the lord's daughter by a trickster spirit who then fled into the otherworld. The lord sent his druid into the into the otherworld to track down the spirit and rescue his daughter. The druid followed the lords request and entered Tír N-ail and tracked the spirit to the a place of colors that were indescribable. The druid got lost in the myriad colors. He made a bargain with the Nymph Cadhla who led him through the land of color and into a land of shadow. He found his lord's daughter bound and the trickster spirit trying to force a handfasting ceremony. The druid managed to use his connection to the land to rescue the lords daughter and helped her to escape back to her home. Yet he had bound himself in debt to the nymph and was forced to remain in the land of color.
This new bond severed the connection that the druid had with his grove and the land's gifts would slowly leave him. However, his duty had been completed. So, he spend the remaining years of his life bound to Cadhla and he learned to love her in his own way. He did not seem to believe she loved in the same way of the humans yet she cared for him even as she used him. When she had taken his seed and the remainder of his power their pact had been completed and he was permitted to return. Yet he knew he could not make the journey as he was so he searched for a way to reconnect to the land. He found his way to Tir Tairngire where he met with a man calling himself Cormac. This Cormac knew the way to a fountain that could grant knowledge and thought perhaps it held the answers the druid was seeking.
The pair traveled together for a year and a day before they found the fountain of knowledge. The druid took a single sip from the fountain and the only knowledge he gained was that of his death. He felt a deep regret that he would not be able to pass on his knowledge because what he had discovered both here in the otherworld and his gift from the land were unique. So, he made a difficult choice. He broke with tradition and wrote down both his tale and the way he unlocked his greatest ability. He found a peddler near the fountain who offered him a book, quill, and ink.
He did not find it odd that these were the exact items he had desired the most in that moment. In his haste he agreed and pulled out a pouch with the few items of value he owned. A bit of bullion, a small uncut gemstone, and a sprig of holly were dumped out before the peddler. It laughed at the trinkets and shook its head then grabbed the druid by the hand. It claimed that a bargain had been struck and then darkness covered the land. When it cleared the druid found himself in a cage naked except for his satchel in which was a book, quill, and ink. The druid felt a bit of sorrow. For he had seen his death in this place. Still, he had accepted this was his destiny and wrote his tale then his secrets down.
Alanna did not know how the druid had spent his last few days. The tale was only a few pages long but she understood the decision must have weighed heavily on the man. Druidic traditions were verbally passed down for the most part. Yet with the fall of the covens and groves what little remained was annotated and hidden within the clans, tribes, and families. He did not want his knowledge to be lost and she was understanding and grateful. She read over the druid's greatest ability and felt something inside herself resonate with the words. She closed her eyes and tried to understand the feeling when a familiar fog screen opened in her mind's eye.
Congratulations you have found insight into the shapeshift ability. A new wild shape has been unlocked.
Alanna could feel how the ability worked and wanted desperately to try it out but her common sense advised against it. She had no idea if there was a downside to the shift and finding out alone and in a dangerous location was the height of stupidity. She carefully put the sheets of paper back into the leather cover and set it aside on the table. She looked around the room and noticed that there was something in the smaller iron bird cage. She moved toward it curiously and found a tiny winged woman staring ahead blankly. She recognized the sidhe for what it was and knew it was highly unlikely to be harmful. So she bent closer to inspect it. She was quite beautiful as was natural for its kind. She had dark green hair that looked almost black, given the limited lighting of the area, and emerald green eyes in an almond shape. Additionally, she had quite delicate features including a small button nose and slightly pointed ears. The creature seemed to be alive but was completely unresponsive to external stimuli. The cold iron cage was not locked and the small door was easily opened when Alanna pulled on it. Still, the fairy did not move. Alanna refreshed her bark armor just in case and reached in gently to lift the tiny Leanan sídhe from the cage. She let it lay down on her forearm like she would a human baby except it was likely around half the size at 25cm.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
When the fairy still had not moved Alanna pushed a bit of her regeneration into the creature. The tiny thing let out an inappropriate sound and its eyes started to regained their focus. The fairy blinked rapidly and stared up at the Alanna without moving overmuch. She very slowly turned its head and looked around. When she saw Alanna just staring at it with a bit of wonder it put on an innocent smile and waved. Alanna raised an eyebrow and then gently set the fairy down on the table and took a few steps back toward the entrance of the alcove.
The Leanan Sidhe stretched and started flapping her wings until she was flying out over the table. Then her form enlarged until she stood around the size of a normal adult woman then her wings vanished. The woman sighed in relief and stretched in a way that many would likely find alluring but had Alanna snort in amusement. The fairy pouted at Alanna's amusement and started speaking in an ancient dialect. It took Alanna a minute to recall this dialect from her memories but her mouth was unused to forming the words. It took a few minutes of trying to speak before she finally got the muscle memory of her tongue and mouth to form the correct sounds.
"Start over. I did not understand everything you said and I am trying to remember this dialect." Alanna demanded. The Leanan sídhe frowned and nodded then began again. "I said I would have likely gotten out in a few more years but that now is as good of a time as any to leave. So, I will let you tag along with me while I go back to the palace." Alanna showed both surprise and growing amusement at the woman. "Are you afraid to thank me?" She asked the fairy. "Hey I could have gotten out just fine. I certainly refuse to owe a debt to a druid for something that I was perfectly capable of extracting myself from." The woman held her nose in the air which caused another snort of amusement from Alanna. "Right well I am heading toward the top of this place I cannot have to much farther to go." Alanna said as she walked back to collect her pack. "Come with me or stay here. It is all the same to me." She collected her belongings and the druid's book as well and after placing it in the pack she put it back on her back and started trudging toward the top. "Very well I shall allow you to accompany me out." The fairy insisted then it shrunk itself down and flitted over to the pack and crawled atop.
"So, where did you come from?" The fairy asked. Alanna turned her head to the side to see the creature from her peripheral. She looked back toward the front and explained a bit about her travels thus far as she headed up to the next floor. The journey to the next floor seemed to be similar to that of each previous so when Alanna came to the entrance to another cavern she silenced her hitchhiker and crept into the room.
This room seemed slightly darker than the others but still a hair brighter than the tunnel she moved out of. Alanna could make out another forest biome on this floor but as with the previous it lacked the common sounds one would expect to hear. It took her a bit of time to find out what would be on this floor but after carefully moving around she found several creatures stalking the grounds. They were small like the redcaps had been but were far thicker and while they had a sort of goblin look to them they shared the kyphosis trait the fomorian had.
Alanna could feel a general sense of malevolence from the creatures and the wrongness of them required her to act. They were an affront to the land and she found herself creeping forward toward the closest creature. She heard a tiny squeak from her pack but paid the fairy no mind. She snuck close to creature and hid up close to the trunk of a tree. As it walked past she swung out hard with her staff and with an ease she had yet to experience in her combat thus far she dispatched the creature. It turned into a pile of black dust before the corpse even hit the ground.
The druidess was surprised with the ease in which the creature was killed but she remembered how difficult the redcap fight was even though they did not take much damage to actually kill them. Likely catching this one off guard was what caused the easy dispatch and so she resolved herself to sneaking about the best she could. She began to move forward when she felt her pack moving and a soft whisper called out. "What are you doing?" The fairy demanded. Alanna turned back toward her pack then frowned and shook her head indicating the fairy should remain silent. The fairy crossed her arms in anger and turned her head away in a pout.
This did not bother Alanna at all and she went about her dark business. She snuck on toward the next creature and attempted the same stealthy takedown but it seemed to notice her and screamed out in rage before charging at her. Fortunately, its speed was not anywhere near that of the redcap. However, when the creature swung at her she felt the strength of the blow in the displaced air. Alanna eyed the creature carefully and kept it at bay with the longer reach of her tall frame and the staff she held. It took several seconds to get the creature to overextend but when it did the druidess was unforgiving with her overhead strike into the creature. It died as easily as the first but Alanna had missed the entrance of another of the creatures into the melee.
As she dispatched one, another came charging toward her and clipped her from the side. The impact was so hard it sent her flipping head over heels and landing on her back side. She felt like something might be dislocated from the impact as a sharp pain was shooting up and down her left leg. She quickly cast a regeneration spell and managed to get back up to her feet. She saw the creature had injured itself in the collision and was staggered. This was fortunate as it allowed the regeneration spell to take affect and after a sharp pain and a pop resounded from her hip the pain receded completely. Alanna breathed a sigh of relief then charged back into combat. It didn't take more than 2 strikes of the staff to kill this creature.
Alanna was frustrated by the outcome of the battle. She was glad she was alive and had defeated her enemies but she should have focused on the battlefield as well as the enemy. It was a rookie mistake and while she was technically a rookie, the experiences she had over her lifetimes made her feel like she should be doing better. She determined to be better in the future and took this lesson to heart. With resolve in her heart she crept through the cavern doing her best not to be noticed.