“Alright everyone, be quiet, for Liwa is going to tell all of you a wonderful story.” Liwa paused and looked at Bloumen in the eye. She gave her a conspiratorial smile, and then continued.

“Long ago, there was a human hero, by the name of Ludvith. He was a great man, who worked for the divine to slay the great serpents of the deep forest. Thanks to him, the upper canopies of the forests were emptied of the serpents, who had terrorized human and fae alike.”

“Ludvith though, had a problem. When he had slain the last of the Upper Serpents, and laid its mountain sized corpse to rest in the endless abyss, its soul entered his body. The crowning of his, once shining with the golden light of the human gods, had clouded. The vengeful serpent you see, had laid upon him a curse.”

“The curse was a simple one, but quite nefarious. It required all of the power of the dying serpent to lay it. He called one of the demons from the abyss into the hero. It lay in his soul, corrupting the great flow of Erd of the hero, and slowly gnawing away at him.”

“This was the first time a demon or a god had entered the soul of a man, so no man knew what to make of it. Ludwith slowly wasted away from the inside, and he turned cruel. He slew his companion in a fit of rage and became a tyrant in his own fiefdom.”

“But even while his soul twisted and wasted, it was still his own, and he recognized the tragedy that had occurred. The man retreated into the depths of the deep forest, and amidst the corpses of the great serpents he had felled, he worked long and hard upon his affliction.”

“Eventually, Ludwith made for himself a great blade, one that would sever the demon’s soul from his own and render him freed from its influence. In his reclusive monastery, surrounded by the fires of the abyss, he plunged the blade into his heart, and slew the demon.”

“Ludwith emerged from the deep forest with an accursed blade, filled with the power of the demon. When he returned to the world of men, he became once again a great hero, and his fiefdom grew large and strong.” With that, Liwa sighed, and looked about her. “Well, how was it?”

“Elder Liwa! That was so bad, can you tell us another one?” A little boy answered, his face twisted in confusion.

“Yeah Elder, your stories are usually so much better then that.” A little girl responded.

Liwa shrugged. “Sometimes stories have a message, and sometimes they’re stories. I felt like we should give a special story to a special visitor. Anwa, can you help Bloumen down to her room now?”

“Aww. Elder, you better have an actual story when I get back!” He frowned at Bloumen; “Let’s go then.”

Anwa was a little shorter than Bloumen, and he looked to be about the same age. He had a big fluffy coat on, which had six sleeves for his various arms. It made him look like a big beetle, and Bloumen giggled at the thought.

“Alright, is it a long walk?” She asked and followed him out of the room.

Anwa shrugged. “It’s not far at all. I don’t see why Liwa needed me to help you out.”

He pulled open a large doorway at the end of the room, revealing a large passageway. Soft light shined at the end, playing from a large open expanse.

“Hey, Anwa. How is it here? The village seems a little bit cramped.”

“Cramped? What are you, stupid? It’s huge.”

Bloumen glared at him. It certainly wasn’t. “I couldn’t see a thing when I walked up. Have you even seen a big town before?

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She hadn’t either, except from her manor’s window, but she was sure that Midlein was much larger than the Silfae village. It looked so large from her window, with its big temple spires and the Viscountess’ castle looming on the horizon. This place was just a hole in some rock.

There was a sharp turn, and Bloumen found herself on a wide balcony. It traced its way around a great circular hall, carved cleanly out of the rock. Light filtered down from a round skylight high above her. A countless number of doors and entranceways were set into the walls. Five other balconies were visible above her own, each one bustling with activity. Silfae moved about throughout the vast hall, filling the air with a busy chatter.

Bloumen’s breath caught in her throat. It was more people than she had seen in her life. She ran to the edge of the railing and looked down.

The floor of the hall lay about fifty meters below her. There was a statue of a serpent and a tree at the center of it all, and a group of children playing a ball game by its base.

“See! pretty large.” Bloumen turned and saw Nawa watching her with a smug grin on his face.

“It must be larger than Midlein!” She exclaimed. “How does so much fit in such a small island?”

“Elder Liwa says this space was a nest for big Luwein Serpents.” Nawa shrugged. “Papa told me that once the Luwein serpent left, we just added stuff in after them.”

“Have you seen one before?”

“Occasionally when Kaede takes me hunting. He takes me down into the lower canopies, and we hunt down the Sorrowing Spirits.” Nawa pumped up his chest a little. “I get to help butcher them! I get a huge knife and cut them up so we can get the tasty green meat in their heart!”

“Oh really? They can’t be dangerous if they let a little kid like you help them.”

“They are! Plus, I’m older than you are!”

Bloumen laughed. “We were supposed to go somewhere, right? We can talk on the way.”

“Oh, right.” Nawa turned and led her to another stairwell, which followed the circular wall of the great hall. Once they descended three levels, he asked; “Say, have you seen any exciting things out there? Your parents seemed very adventurous, when they would sell things here. They brought crazy silks and magical tools from all over the world. You must have seen a lot.”

Bloumen stopped walking. Her eyes stung, her throat swelled up, and she could barely choke out a word. After a few attempts to talk, she shook her head.

Nawa laughed. “What’s the matter? You look like you’re about to cry!”

“Shut up!” She responded and stamped her foot. Bloumen glared at him, and his childish face. She wanted to punch him, and his nosy questions.

Nawa’s eyes widened in shock, and he looked away. “A-alright.”

An uncomfortable silence reigned while they made their way along the last of the stairs. He stopped at a balcony two floors from the bottom of the hall and made his way to an ornately carved door. Nawa pushed it open with a grunt, and then proudly showed Bloumen in.

The book room was small. Three windows overlooked the deep forest, sitting over a wide couch on the left wall from the door. A fireplace burned opposite the couch, with a fur rug spread before it. Bookshelves lined the wall opposite the door, covered in appealing titles and intricately carved bookends. Two big chairs faced the fire, covered in soft furs.

“Ah! It’s wonderful!” Bloumen ran forward and jumped onto the couch. She let its soft embrace hold her for a moment and let out a long sigh. “Thank you Nawa.”

“Oh. Yeah, you’re welcome I guess.” Nawa seemed a bit confused by her change in tone. “Sorry about before.”

“I- It’s fine.” Bloumen didn’t want to think about it more than she had to. “Say, Nawa, you are hunting in the forests, right? What have you seen down there?”

“Oh, all sorts of things. The big Luwein serpents, they’re larger than a town, and they are so slow its like looking at a statue. There are also big flowers when you get deeper down. The world trees up here are dead, but once you go so deep the air feels like syrup, there are these huge red flowers of fire. It’s really pretty.”

“Wow. Is it dangerous down there?”

“Very, we go in big groups, of thirty or more. I have to learn all sorts of magic and things, since I want to be a guide one day.”

“A guide? Maybe you can show me about one day.”

Nawa smiled. “I wouldn’t mind, but you’ll have to pay a lot!”

Bloumen laughed. “Alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nawa said goodbye, and Bloumen let herself sink into the warm, soft couch. For the first time in two days, she slept soundly.