*~*~*
The Dragon's Hoard
*~*~*
She has lived in relative peace in the Makai for thousands of years. While Se was away from her territory, a strange being settled down in it. Alternate Universe H/OC
*~*~*
Se is pronounced 'SEH.'
*~*~*
Alpha
*~*~*
Prolegomenon ~ Infestation
*~*~*
Se was a River Nymph, and like most Nymphs, she had claimed a portion of land as her territory a long, long time ago, and like all River Nymphs, Se had claimed land that had a long stretch of a river within it.
She did not have an overly large territory, in fact, it wasn't even an ordinary sized one. The Nymph's territory was a rough estimate of about seven square miles. Se's territory was the side of a mountain of a mountain range. And her river was not truly a river but one of the hundreds of streams that flowed down the side of the enormous mountain.
While her territory was no more than seven square miles, the stream consisted of several other different smaller sub-streams that could have added up to twenty or thirty miles. No one knew the terrain well enough to be able to chart it other than Se, but Se did not care how many miles of streams were within her realm. Thus, she did not bother herself with checking.
At the bottom of the mountain was the territory of a Forest Faerie, Chimimouryou. She had just newly claimed her territory - only about a hundred years ago - and was now sending invitations out to the other Faerie Folk of the region to help her create the first Faerie Ring of her territory.
Of course, Se planned to go, but, at that moment, she had a slight problem to deal with.
This being the Spriggan throwing boulders at her. Se did not bother to dodge. Not because she wasn't afraid of getting a bruise or scratch or getting crushed, but because dodging would have been pointless since she was able to make herself transparent in the sense that the rocks just passed right through her.
He - like most of his kind - had a strange urge to erect large slabs of stone in intricate patterns of circles. He wanted to erect one in her territory, and she was letting him by steering clear of him.
However, ten minutes ago as she had passed by him on her way to a stream that she hadn't visited in a while, Se had greeted him with a, "Good evening."
The Spriggan had paused in lifting his stone, and glared at her, "What's so damn good about it, you filthy wench?"
"Filthy?" She had looked herself over, and noted that she was still quite clean. Not a speck of dirt or grime on her pale, creamy, naked skin. Se had not touched the ground since that morning, and she had been flying about all day. Her pale blue eyes had looked through a portion of her silver hair that she had put into her view, and, after she had confirmed that she was indeed not filthy, then looked at him. She had said, "I'm not filthy."
"Like hell you aren't!" He had shouted before picking up a large stone that he had to wrap his arms around, and chucked it at her.
Easily, and instantly, she had let the rock pass through her, and the next, and the next, and the next . . .
Se was still sitting up in the air a quarter of an hour later.
Her eyes widened when she saw what he had picked up to throw next.
An axe.
Se was not able to let metal alloys pass through her!
She barely dodged it in time, but it nicked her forehead, drawing warm blood. The Nymph scowled, 'That's going to scar.'
"Serves you right! Damned Nymph!" He crowed, "You're bothering the shit out of me! Leave me in peace!"
The Spriggan picked the axe up again, and Se finally left, shouting over her shoulder, "I hope that you finish your structure soon!"
He looked around, and began cursing as he realized that he had thrown a large portion of his collection of large rocks down the hill, which had been the direction that she had been in.
The River Nymph left him to his swearing, and traveled to the stream.
It was one of the streams that flowed down from the north. Se had fondly called it the Northern Lake Stream. It had - because of the sheer cliffs that were extremely rare on her soft side of the mountain - created a small lake. It was right in the middle of the sheer cliffs that looked over it.
The tirangular lake had an inlet - the stream coming down from the north - and an outlet - another stream coming out of the western point that went west for only a half mile before dropping down south because of the way the cliffs were.
Within the cliffs were intricate caves and tunnels that not even Se had explored very deeply. One reason was that the tunnels went deep below the earth. That was where the Dwarves inhabited the deepest darkest caves and tunnels of the mountain range, and she didn't like to bother them because they were always so polite when asking to use her tunnels to reach the surface.
Another reason was that some of the tunnels went under other territories of other beings. Giants, Faerie Folk, Humanoids, and Elementals all shared the vast mountain range and the surrounding valleys.
Sharing as in not trying to take anyone else's land.
Beings rarely traveled into another's territory unless invited. Like the case of Chimimouryou inviting Se and other Faerie Folk to create a Faerie Ring.
They were all very proud of their mountain range. Se had felt it within their hearts whenever she had visited them. Only they controlled the mountain range. Not one Dragon resided within the mountain range.
It was an old myth that Dragons brought good luck, and that lands that possessed no Dragons was a very sad land. However, Se hadn't seen a Dragon in these parts in over tens of thousands of years, and it was still very prosperous.
She idly glanced at the sun, and realized that she had taken too long with staring at the Spriggan throw things at her. It was almost sunset, and she was due to meet with Chimimouryou and the other Faeries. Se abandoned her route for a new one to the west where Chimimouryou's territory was.
As she traveled through the air, she looked down. Below her, she could see other Faerie Folk going in the same direction.
Most deceptively glowed in the faint moonlight that was becoming more apparent. They trekked through her territory and the territory of others to get to Chimimouryou's because they themselves could not fly or because those that could were traveling besides companions that could not.
As the sun disappeared far in front of her, the land darkened completely, and they glittered all the more brighter, shedding an unearthly glow upon the ground that they walked and flew over. A large flock of sparkling Faeries - of which the Faerie Folk were named after - flew up into the air, and she gasped in delight at the sight of tiny lights rising from the dark earth like souls ascending to heaven.
A couple flittered around her, and Se twirled through the air, playing with the most delicate of the Faerie Folk before they flitted to another flock of Faeries farther off.
She landed on the northside of the lake that Chimimouryou had instructed them to go to, and Se found her.
Chimimouryou was speaking very politely with an Earth Elemental that was in the body of an oak tree that had come down from the mountains to witness the event. While not of the Faerie Folk, Elementals were all well respected, and were allowed to watch the making of a Faerie Ring. To anger an Elemental usually resulted in death, after all.
This Forest Faerie was short even for a Faerie - standing at only four inches tall - possessing long black hair, and deep red butterfly wings.
Many of the Faerie Folk were already singing and dancing in a circle beside a clearing near the lake.
Those that saw Se waved and cheered out to her. Se was the only Nymph of the whole mountain range, and also the only immortal. She was one of the most respected of the Faerie Folk and the peoples of their mountain range. Many other creatures had offered her parts of her land, but she had declined them all.
Se was quite happy with her little plot of land on the mountainside.
A Leprechuan smiled up at her, "Dance with me?"
Laughing, Se took his hand, and they danced around the Faerie Ring. Her partners changed so frequently and quickly that by she didn't know when one dance ended and another began.
It could have been hours later, - but Se was certain that it was only a half hour later - a song started up, and then another, and another, and another. Long before one song would end, a whole other song started up somewhere else in the ring. It was a strangely beautiful sound, though not an anywhere near intelligent.
While she would have stayed much, much longer, Se left when the moon was at its height. She needed to go back to her territory. It was the side of a mountain after all, and no one was entirely sure that every creature of the mountain range had been discovered. Whether they were new creatures that came from another land, or old creatures from the bowels of the earth.
In a very good mood, Se landed on a tree in the southern part of her domain. Humming snatches of a song that they had sung, she laid in one of the branches, and soon drifted into sleep.
*~*~*
Se was yet again staring at the Spriggan. He was still throwing some of the rocks that he had thrown at her up to the pile that they had originally been in. He seemed to be ignoring her very existance. Trying to communicate with him was a bad idea, even if she was polite like she had been two days ago.
She touched the cut on her forehead. Se had several scars on her body for all to see - since she wore no clothes - but none of them had ever been created by another of the Faerie Folk. This Spriggan had been rude in her standards, but she berated herself. That was just the way that Spriggans were. They did not like to be bothered by anyone, not even those of their own kind. Spriggans resorted to violence quite frequently when dealing with others.
She smiled when she heard the sound of laughter. Laughter from Faeries. Se looked around, and saw a Dwarf heading toward her. It was Render, one of the Dwarves that were often sent up to her to ask permission to go to the surface while trading with other humanoids.
His clothes were inside-out.
As she giggled, he muttered, "My wife said that Faerie Folk won't bother me if I wear them inside-out, but she was wrong! They won't leave me alone."
"What she meant was that they won't try to trick you into doing anything," she covered her mouth, as if that would help her hold in her laughter.
Then he frowned deeper, "What's with the boy, Se?"
She glanced at the Spriggan, "He's just a Spriggan. They like to put stones into pretty circles."
"I know that," Render said. "What I meant was the boy in the caves."
It was her turn to frown, "What boy?"
Render blinked in surprise, "You don't know?"
"He," Se began, "must have moved in a couple nights ago. I was at a Faerie Ring then. What is he?"
The Dwarf opened his mouth, and then closed it. Opened his mouth, and closed it again. He stuttered, "Well, I'm not too sure. He looks like a human, but I could have sworn that his eyes . . . Must have been the lighting. I don't do well with lighted places you know. I was half stumbling on my way through the path, and I know that like my own home."
"Render? What about his eyes?"
"Hm? Oh, well . . . I'm not sure, but I think that they're red."
"Red?" Se seethed, "Do you think he's a demon?"
"No," Render murmured, "he must be human. Maybe some humans have red eyes. If he was a demon he would have killed me, instead of letting me go."
"What happened? He threatened you?" Se growled.
"Just as I came out of the last tunnel, he popped out, and aimed his sword at my throat. He asked me what I was doing - which is very un-demon-like - and I told him. Then he let me pass. I thought that he might be part of some group that you hired to protect the caves. I planned to ask you about it now."
Se nodded absently, "I'm sorry, but I suggest that your people take an alternate route this time. Until I find out what this person is."
"Don't worry, we'll just ask that Centaur family in the north. Not too big of a route shift."
"It also might be best if you go down a different way too."
He nodded seriously, "I'll be heading off now, Se. Take care, and don't do anything too foolish."
She grinned, "Of course, not."
Se lifted up into the air, and watched Render from above as she flew. Shouting from the northwest caught her attention. Loud guttural shouting, and high-pitched screams.
The scent of fire . . .
"Render! Get out of here!"
He unsheathed his short sword, "Never! I will fight with you!"
She had no time to protest; the creatures of her territory were in danger. Se needed to get to them before any lives were lost, or before more lives were lost.
As she headed northwest, she spotted a crowd of thirty or forty Goblin foot soldiers. They were accompanied by two Goblin warlocks who were setting aflame the trees as they passed through and any creature that they saw were shot at by the foot soldiers' bows and arrows.
Since she was so much faster when in flight, she had left Render in her dust, and he was too far away to see the distruction being done upon her land and people.
She was responsible for them, and they were dying!
With an angry shout that caught their attention, Se threw her hands into the air, and infused the air around the Goblins with a violet mist; terrible to breathe in. She watched as the Goblins fell one-by-one, unable to escape the horrible poison that was the mist.
With a sweep of her hand the purple mist dissipated, and the air below was soon breathable. One of the Goblins twitched as she flew down, and hovered barely two feet above the ground. She heard the shouts of pain from some of the creatures - the others were dead - and the running footsteps of others farther off. Render's heavy footsteps from the southeast, many faeries from the Faerie Ring were running to find out why she had used great magic.
And the faint - very faint footsteps of another from the northeast. From the lake and the caves that led to the Dwarven cities far below. From where Render had said that boy was. Whoever owned the feet creating the sound of footfalls wasn't heading in her direction though, but to the north of her. He was moving much too fast. Surely, a boy would never have enough time to develop such speed. Especially a human boy, but Render had said that he saw red eyes. Se had never heard of a human having red eyes. Of course she didn't involve herself with humans very often, so she couldn't be sure.
She ignored the footsteps to attend to the injured Faerie Folk and other mystical creatures that had taken the brunt of the Goblins' assault. Se sat on the ground, cradled a Faerie in her lap.
The Faerie Folk from the Faerie Ring reached her before Render, being fleet of foot. Immediately, they set to work helping the injured. Render came huffing down the hill behind them several minutes later.
He gasped, "Goblins! By all things good! Goblins! What are they doing here?!"
Se took a deep breath to calm herself, and she continued with a bitter note, "Besides, burning my plants and trees, and killing my people? I don't know, but what else are they good for?"
Render frowned, "I'm so sorry, Se."
"For what? You did nothing," she tried to smile, but it failed miserably.
"I don't . . . Watch out!"
Se turned sharply to see the blade of a sword heading straight for her head!
At the last moment, another sword knocked it out of the way. At first, Se thought that it had been Render, but when she looked again, she realized that she did not recognize the sword that saved her life, or he that possessed it.
His back was to her, facing her attacker. He wore a black shirt and pants with a sleeveless red overshirt. It looked almost like a dress because it went to the middle of his shin, but there wasn't any cloth covering the sides of his pantlegs, so she knew what color they were. A white sash served as his belt, and another was wrapped around his neck to keep warm. His hair flared up like a sole flame. The sun was shining through it, and Se could see that it was not black, but a beyond midnight blue.
A grunt from his opponent drew her attention from him. A Minotaur. A hulking mass of muscle with the head of a bull, and the body of a human, he was hideous. His skin was dark brown almost completely black, and his eyes glowed a strange yellow. His privates were barely covered by a dirty loin cloth. As he shifted from foot to foot, she could see his genitals swing in and out of view.
He grunted, "I recognize your face. They put your picture up everywhere, boy. They're willing to pay real good for you. You better be good, and let me take you home, or I'll have to beat your pretty face in." The Minotaur was speaking in his native tongue, and it seemed as if he was more talking to himself than the boy. While it was not a tongue that she had even heard before, Se knew it. Se magically knew all languages ever spoken.
The boy surprisingly replied in the same tongue; it sounded strange in his deep voice. He needed a smooth language, not the harsh raspy sound of the Minotaurs' language. "I won't be taken back."
He blinked his yellow eyes in surprise, and then laughed, "Who's going to stop me? A puny little human like you?"
"Human?" He chuckled darkly, and a shiver ran up her spine, "I guess that I do look human."
"All right, little human boy, I'm going to take you back now," he said leaning forward to grab his shoulder. As he did this, he laughed, "Too bad that you stopped my sword. I could have gotten good money from that pretty Nymph. They stay warm, you know. Even after they're dead. I could have found a use for it if no one wanted to pay for it."
The boy snarled, and swatted his hand away, "You'd need a dead Nymph to fuck, wouldn't you? Not even your own hideous kind would bed you! Disgusting beast!"
The Minotaur growled, and took his sword from the ground, swinging at the boy's head, "Die!"
Se covered her eyes, and cried out nothing, as did several other Faerie Folk. When they did not heard the sound of steel colliding with flesh, they uncovered their eyes.
However, it was not the boy's flesh that had met the cold blade of the Minotaur's sword.
The boy was standing behind the Minotaur. His sword had stabbed into the Minotaur's back, and the end of the sword was sticking out his chest.
He gasped several times, blood trickling out the side of his mouth, "You . . . should . . . you should be . . ."
"Dead?" He pulled his sword out, and watched with a disinterested glaze as the Minotaur collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Faintly, Se noticed that his bangs were in the shape of a star outlined with white - almost silver - hair. His forehead was covered with a white bandana, and . . .
His eyes were alizarin, the darkest of reds.
*~*~*
Prolegomenon ~ Infestation
*~*~*
Omega
*~*~*
The Dragon's Hoard
*~*~*
She has lived in relative peace in the Makai for thousands of years. While Se was away from her territory, a strange being settled down in it. Alternate Universe H/OC
*~*~*
Se is pronounced 'SEH.'
*~*~*
Alpha
*~*~*
Prolegomenon ~ Infestation
*~*~*
Se was a River Nymph, and like most Nymphs, she had claimed a portion of land as her territory a long, long time ago, and like all River Nymphs, Se had claimed land that had a long stretch of a river within it.
She did not have an overly large territory, in fact, it wasn't even an ordinary sized one. The Nymph's territory was a rough estimate of about seven square miles. Se's territory was the side of a mountain of a mountain range. And her river was not truly a river but one of the hundreds of streams that flowed down the side of the enormous mountain.
While her territory was no more than seven square miles, the stream consisted of several other different smaller sub-streams that could have added up to twenty or thirty miles. No one knew the terrain well enough to be able to chart it other than Se, but Se did not care how many miles of streams were within her realm. Thus, she did not bother herself with checking.
At the bottom of the mountain was the territory of a Forest Faerie, Chimimouryou. She had just newly claimed her territory - only about a hundred years ago - and was now sending invitations out to the other Faerie Folk of the region to help her create the first Faerie Ring of her territory.
Of course, Se planned to go, but, at that moment, she had a slight problem to deal with.
This being the Spriggan throwing boulders at her. Se did not bother to dodge. Not because she wasn't afraid of getting a bruise or scratch or getting crushed, but because dodging would have been pointless since she was able to make herself transparent in the sense that the rocks just passed right through her.
He - like most of his kind - had a strange urge to erect large slabs of stone in intricate patterns of circles. He wanted to erect one in her territory, and she was letting him by steering clear of him.
However, ten minutes ago as she had passed by him on her way to a stream that she hadn't visited in a while, Se had greeted him with a, "Good evening."
The Spriggan had paused in lifting his stone, and glared at her, "What's so damn good about it, you filthy wench?"
"Filthy?" She had looked herself over, and noted that she was still quite clean. Not a speck of dirt or grime on her pale, creamy, naked skin. Se had not touched the ground since that morning, and she had been flying about all day. Her pale blue eyes had looked through a portion of her silver hair that she had put into her view, and, after she had confirmed that she was indeed not filthy, then looked at him. She had said, "I'm not filthy."
"Like hell you aren't!" He had shouted before picking up a large stone that he had to wrap his arms around, and chucked it at her.
Easily, and instantly, she had let the rock pass through her, and the next, and the next, and the next . . .
Se was still sitting up in the air a quarter of an hour later.
Her eyes widened when she saw what he had picked up to throw next.
An axe.
Se was not able to let metal alloys pass through her!
She barely dodged it in time, but it nicked her forehead, drawing warm blood. The Nymph scowled, 'That's going to scar.'
"Serves you right! Damned Nymph!" He crowed, "You're bothering the shit out of me! Leave me in peace!"
The Spriggan picked the axe up again, and Se finally left, shouting over her shoulder, "I hope that you finish your structure soon!"
He looked around, and began cursing as he realized that he had thrown a large portion of his collection of large rocks down the hill, which had been the direction that she had been in.
The River Nymph left him to his swearing, and traveled to the stream.
It was one of the streams that flowed down from the north. Se had fondly called it the Northern Lake Stream. It had - because of the sheer cliffs that were extremely rare on her soft side of the mountain - created a small lake. It was right in the middle of the sheer cliffs that looked over it.
The tirangular lake had an inlet - the stream coming down from the north - and an outlet - another stream coming out of the western point that went west for only a half mile before dropping down south because of the way the cliffs were.
Within the cliffs were intricate caves and tunnels that not even Se had explored very deeply. One reason was that the tunnels went deep below the earth. That was where the Dwarves inhabited the deepest darkest caves and tunnels of the mountain range, and she didn't like to bother them because they were always so polite when asking to use her tunnels to reach the surface.
Another reason was that some of the tunnels went under other territories of other beings. Giants, Faerie Folk, Humanoids, and Elementals all shared the vast mountain range and the surrounding valleys.
Sharing as in not trying to take anyone else's land.
Beings rarely traveled into another's territory unless invited. Like the case of Chimimouryou inviting Se and other Faerie Folk to create a Faerie Ring.
They were all very proud of their mountain range. Se had felt it within their hearts whenever she had visited them. Only they controlled the mountain range. Not one Dragon resided within the mountain range.
It was an old myth that Dragons brought good luck, and that lands that possessed no Dragons was a very sad land. However, Se hadn't seen a Dragon in these parts in over tens of thousands of years, and it was still very prosperous.
She idly glanced at the sun, and realized that she had taken too long with staring at the Spriggan throw things at her. It was almost sunset, and she was due to meet with Chimimouryou and the other Faeries. Se abandoned her route for a new one to the west where Chimimouryou's territory was.
As she traveled through the air, she looked down. Below her, she could see other Faerie Folk going in the same direction.
Most deceptively glowed in the faint moonlight that was becoming more apparent. They trekked through her territory and the territory of others to get to Chimimouryou's because they themselves could not fly or because those that could were traveling besides companions that could not.
As the sun disappeared far in front of her, the land darkened completely, and they glittered all the more brighter, shedding an unearthly glow upon the ground that they walked and flew over. A large flock of sparkling Faeries - of which the Faerie Folk were named after - flew up into the air, and she gasped in delight at the sight of tiny lights rising from the dark earth like souls ascending to heaven.
A couple flittered around her, and Se twirled through the air, playing with the most delicate of the Faerie Folk before they flitted to another flock of Faeries farther off.
She landed on the northside of the lake that Chimimouryou had instructed them to go to, and Se found her.
Chimimouryou was speaking very politely with an Earth Elemental that was in the body of an oak tree that had come down from the mountains to witness the event. While not of the Faerie Folk, Elementals were all well respected, and were allowed to watch the making of a Faerie Ring. To anger an Elemental usually resulted in death, after all.
This Forest Faerie was short even for a Faerie - standing at only four inches tall - possessing long black hair, and deep red butterfly wings.
Many of the Faerie Folk were already singing and dancing in a circle beside a clearing near the lake.
Those that saw Se waved and cheered out to her. Se was the only Nymph of the whole mountain range, and also the only immortal. She was one of the most respected of the Faerie Folk and the peoples of their mountain range. Many other creatures had offered her parts of her land, but she had declined them all.
Se was quite happy with her little plot of land on the mountainside.
A Leprechuan smiled up at her, "Dance with me?"
Laughing, Se took his hand, and they danced around the Faerie Ring. Her partners changed so frequently and quickly that by she didn't know when one dance ended and another began.
It could have been hours later, - but Se was certain that it was only a half hour later - a song started up, and then another, and another, and another. Long before one song would end, a whole other song started up somewhere else in the ring. It was a strangely beautiful sound, though not an anywhere near intelligent.
While she would have stayed much, much longer, Se left when the moon was at its height. She needed to go back to her territory. It was the side of a mountain after all, and no one was entirely sure that every creature of the mountain range had been discovered. Whether they were new creatures that came from another land, or old creatures from the bowels of the earth.
In a very good mood, Se landed on a tree in the southern part of her domain. Humming snatches of a song that they had sung, she laid in one of the branches, and soon drifted into sleep.
*~*~*
Se was yet again staring at the Spriggan. He was still throwing some of the rocks that he had thrown at her up to the pile that they had originally been in. He seemed to be ignoring her very existance. Trying to communicate with him was a bad idea, even if she was polite like she had been two days ago.
She touched the cut on her forehead. Se had several scars on her body for all to see - since she wore no clothes - but none of them had ever been created by another of the Faerie Folk. This Spriggan had been rude in her standards, but she berated herself. That was just the way that Spriggans were. They did not like to be bothered by anyone, not even those of their own kind. Spriggans resorted to violence quite frequently when dealing with others.
She smiled when she heard the sound of laughter. Laughter from Faeries. Se looked around, and saw a Dwarf heading toward her. It was Render, one of the Dwarves that were often sent up to her to ask permission to go to the surface while trading with other humanoids.
His clothes were inside-out.
As she giggled, he muttered, "My wife said that Faerie Folk won't bother me if I wear them inside-out, but she was wrong! They won't leave me alone."
"What she meant was that they won't try to trick you into doing anything," she covered her mouth, as if that would help her hold in her laughter.
Then he frowned deeper, "What's with the boy, Se?"
She glanced at the Spriggan, "He's just a Spriggan. They like to put stones into pretty circles."
"I know that," Render said. "What I meant was the boy in the caves."
It was her turn to frown, "What boy?"
Render blinked in surprise, "You don't know?"
"He," Se began, "must have moved in a couple nights ago. I was at a Faerie Ring then. What is he?"
The Dwarf opened his mouth, and then closed it. Opened his mouth, and closed it again. He stuttered, "Well, I'm not too sure. He looks like a human, but I could have sworn that his eyes . . . Must have been the lighting. I don't do well with lighted places you know. I was half stumbling on my way through the path, and I know that like my own home."
"Render? What about his eyes?"
"Hm? Oh, well . . . I'm not sure, but I think that they're red."
"Red?" Se seethed, "Do you think he's a demon?"
"No," Render murmured, "he must be human. Maybe some humans have red eyes. If he was a demon he would have killed me, instead of letting me go."
"What happened? He threatened you?" Se growled.
"Just as I came out of the last tunnel, he popped out, and aimed his sword at my throat. He asked me what I was doing - which is very un-demon-like - and I told him. Then he let me pass. I thought that he might be part of some group that you hired to protect the caves. I planned to ask you about it now."
Se nodded absently, "I'm sorry, but I suggest that your people take an alternate route this time. Until I find out what this person is."
"Don't worry, we'll just ask that Centaur family in the north. Not too big of a route shift."
"It also might be best if you go down a different way too."
He nodded seriously, "I'll be heading off now, Se. Take care, and don't do anything too foolish."
She grinned, "Of course, not."
Se lifted up into the air, and watched Render from above as she flew. Shouting from the northwest caught her attention. Loud guttural shouting, and high-pitched screams.
The scent of fire . . .
"Render! Get out of here!"
He unsheathed his short sword, "Never! I will fight with you!"
She had no time to protest; the creatures of her territory were in danger. Se needed to get to them before any lives were lost, or before more lives were lost.
As she headed northwest, she spotted a crowd of thirty or forty Goblin foot soldiers. They were accompanied by two Goblin warlocks who were setting aflame the trees as they passed through and any creature that they saw were shot at by the foot soldiers' bows and arrows.
Since she was so much faster when in flight, she had left Render in her dust, and he was too far away to see the distruction being done upon her land and people.
She was responsible for them, and they were dying!
With an angry shout that caught their attention, Se threw her hands into the air, and infused the air around the Goblins with a violet mist; terrible to breathe in. She watched as the Goblins fell one-by-one, unable to escape the horrible poison that was the mist.
With a sweep of her hand the purple mist dissipated, and the air below was soon breathable. One of the Goblins twitched as she flew down, and hovered barely two feet above the ground. She heard the shouts of pain from some of the creatures - the others were dead - and the running footsteps of others farther off. Render's heavy footsteps from the southeast, many faeries from the Faerie Ring were running to find out why she had used great magic.
And the faint - very faint footsteps of another from the northeast. From the lake and the caves that led to the Dwarven cities far below. From where Render had said that boy was. Whoever owned the feet creating the sound of footfalls wasn't heading in her direction though, but to the north of her. He was moving much too fast. Surely, a boy would never have enough time to develop such speed. Especially a human boy, but Render had said that he saw red eyes. Se had never heard of a human having red eyes. Of course she didn't involve herself with humans very often, so she couldn't be sure.
She ignored the footsteps to attend to the injured Faerie Folk and other mystical creatures that had taken the brunt of the Goblins' assault. Se sat on the ground, cradled a Faerie in her lap.
The Faerie Folk from the Faerie Ring reached her before Render, being fleet of foot. Immediately, they set to work helping the injured. Render came huffing down the hill behind them several minutes later.
He gasped, "Goblins! By all things good! Goblins! What are they doing here?!"
Se took a deep breath to calm herself, and she continued with a bitter note, "Besides, burning my plants and trees, and killing my people? I don't know, but what else are they good for?"
Render frowned, "I'm so sorry, Se."
"For what? You did nothing," she tried to smile, but it failed miserably.
"I don't . . . Watch out!"
Se turned sharply to see the blade of a sword heading straight for her head!
At the last moment, another sword knocked it out of the way. At first, Se thought that it had been Render, but when she looked again, she realized that she did not recognize the sword that saved her life, or he that possessed it.
His back was to her, facing her attacker. He wore a black shirt and pants with a sleeveless red overshirt. It looked almost like a dress because it went to the middle of his shin, but there wasn't any cloth covering the sides of his pantlegs, so she knew what color they were. A white sash served as his belt, and another was wrapped around his neck to keep warm. His hair flared up like a sole flame. The sun was shining through it, and Se could see that it was not black, but a beyond midnight blue.
A grunt from his opponent drew her attention from him. A Minotaur. A hulking mass of muscle with the head of a bull, and the body of a human, he was hideous. His skin was dark brown almost completely black, and his eyes glowed a strange yellow. His privates were barely covered by a dirty loin cloth. As he shifted from foot to foot, she could see his genitals swing in and out of view.
He grunted, "I recognize your face. They put your picture up everywhere, boy. They're willing to pay real good for you. You better be good, and let me take you home, or I'll have to beat your pretty face in." The Minotaur was speaking in his native tongue, and it seemed as if he was more talking to himself than the boy. While it was not a tongue that she had even heard before, Se knew it. Se magically knew all languages ever spoken.
The boy surprisingly replied in the same tongue; it sounded strange in his deep voice. He needed a smooth language, not the harsh raspy sound of the Minotaurs' language. "I won't be taken back."
He blinked his yellow eyes in surprise, and then laughed, "Who's going to stop me? A puny little human like you?"
"Human?" He chuckled darkly, and a shiver ran up her spine, "I guess that I do look human."
"All right, little human boy, I'm going to take you back now," he said leaning forward to grab his shoulder. As he did this, he laughed, "Too bad that you stopped my sword. I could have gotten good money from that pretty Nymph. They stay warm, you know. Even after they're dead. I could have found a use for it if no one wanted to pay for it."
The boy snarled, and swatted his hand away, "You'd need a dead Nymph to fuck, wouldn't you? Not even your own hideous kind would bed you! Disgusting beast!"
The Minotaur growled, and took his sword from the ground, swinging at the boy's head, "Die!"
Se covered her eyes, and cried out nothing, as did several other Faerie Folk. When they did not heard the sound of steel colliding with flesh, they uncovered their eyes.
However, it was not the boy's flesh that had met the cold blade of the Minotaur's sword.
The boy was standing behind the Minotaur. His sword had stabbed into the Minotaur's back, and the end of the sword was sticking out his chest.
He gasped several times, blood trickling out the side of his mouth, "You . . . should . . . you should be . . ."
"Dead?" He pulled his sword out, and watched with a disinterested glaze as the Minotaur collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Faintly, Se noticed that his bangs were in the shape of a star outlined with white - almost silver - hair. His forehead was covered with a white bandana, and . . .
His eyes were alizarin, the darkest of reds.
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Prolegomenon ~ Infestation
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Omega
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