Private Tales Chasing Shadows

[Olyssa]

Olyssa barely paid attention to what he said about the trees. They had told her as much with the odd memories they had allowed her to gather from them and if or how he chose to repay them their loyalty was his domain as King. The sidhe only cared that they were rewarded. Further thinking was far beyond her paygrade. No, what caught her attention was the mention somebody wielded a magic that combatted it. Her head snapped up and her quill paused in her hand.

"A pixie?" Olyssa had known powerful pixies before but not one who could hold the strength needed to defeat a foe such as this. Though, if they knew what magic is possessed, perhaps they could find more powerful fae with the same type of magic and use them too. Or she could dissect the pixie and see what was inside of it; perhaps that would give them a clue to the cure. She tapped the end of the quill against her chin thoughtfully.

"What type of magic does she possess? Did she face the creature?"

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth too had been surprised at the idea of a pixie with enough might to drive back a foe he'd found so fearsome. Tharu insisted it to be true, though, and the King had no reason to believe his son would feed him false hope. "Yes." He nodded thoughtfully. "Albeit not at full strength, she was able to drive it back far quicker than I. The Prince says she wielded potent light magic, that burned away at the foul thing."

Of course, San'Seya had insisted upon meeting this Pixie, but that meeting had yet to take place. until then, he had only what Tharu could tell him to go by. There was another point to mention, however, one which would likely be of great interest to Olyssa.

"Curiously... that encounter was the only time the Dark One has been spotted far outside of Spring. The fight took place in the Ixchel Wilds."

That was nearly on the other side of the known world. Such distances were trivial for Fae who could travel through leylines, but for their enemy to somehow cover such a vast amount of land, to attack his son, no less. It brought implications, implications that Nairth didn't care for.

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa's gaze snapped up.

"The Wilds?" her nostrils flared and there was something in her eyes that could chill a mortal to the core. Before, this being had been something to study out of curiosity at the behest of her King, but knowing that it had strayed into her own homelands where the creatures and fauna under her protection dwelled had turned a switch inside of Odessa. Now this hunt was personal.

With a furrowed brow she wrote down those recordings and mused on them out loud.

"Light makes the most sense with how you have described the ... essence. I would also hazard a guess life magic might make a dent in it too," Darkness and Death were the two overriding tastes in the spoiled earth. "The Lady Fiadh has light magic like the sun, and our own Princess has magic that is said to create the lights of stars," she mused jotting those names down. "It would be interesting to see if it is a certain type of light magic that hurts it the most.."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth had to repress a smile. He'd an inkling that would increase her interest in seeing their mutual foe defeated. Granted, she hadn't seemed to pick up on the odd pattern that the encounter in the Wilds began to paint. Perhaps that was for the best, but they would no doubt need to broach that topic regardless.

"Well, it took a considerable amount to push it back in the state I faced it, but yes." Nairth nodded as he looked over the scene one more time, replaying that battle in his mind's eye over and over. It had been the closest he'd come to death in all of his life. That he'd been taken so aback was a bruise upon his ego, but he was alone no longer. Golden gaze flickering back towards the emerald-haired woman jotting notes furiously, he found himself thankful for his new ally. "Testing such variants of magic would require the capture of at least part of the being, though. A tall task, even for us."

A wave of realization settled over Nairth's face, and his eyes seemed to drift away, looking through Olyssa as his lips puckered, a mumble leaving his throat, "A tall task... and a viable one..."

His eyes slid shut, and reluctantly the King spoke.

"I believe I have a way of baiting it."

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa blew on the ink to dry it before carefully closing her journal.

"We would need to gather the magic users too in order to cage it, unless," her head cocked to one side and her gaze turned inwards as she tried to recall a memory. A distant, old memory, of a Dawnish courtesan and her glimmering whip of sunlight. She had claimed that she had sung the sun such a song it had lowered itself to her until she could touch it. Then, when the song was over, it had given her a thread of its hair as a thank you.

Of course the story was gibberish but if the whip was truly a thing of light.

"There are objects that could bind it, but it might be as much of a toss of the dice as which of the light users magic works."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth's momentary sullenness gave way to a smirk as Olyssa began to lay plans bare to him. Yes, it all sounded quite daunting when she spoke the words, but the reality was that it was all fairly doable for the Spring Ruler, with a bit of time. Perhaps far less than his Autumn companion expected

"We would only need a small sample to perform such tests, correct?"

There were those who would seek to depose him if they knew what he was about to suggest to the young Beast Master. It was an action Nairth would not take did he see any other reasonable path to victory. Unfortunately, they had little time. Any action they could take to gain a swift advantage was necessary now.

San'Seya stepped forward, crossing his arms over his mostly-bared chest as his thin amber gaze slides shit in silent thought. Would Olyssa take this well? It would be asking her to be an accessory to an act most would consider heresy. "I know where we can find a fragment of the being, and I know how to draw it into an area of our choosing." He mutters down to her. "It's become increasingly clear to me over time that this... thing, whatever it is, has a particular taste for royal blood."

How it could even differentiate ordinary blood from royal blood was a question in and of itself; Spring was a Parlor Court, which meant its throne wasn't passed by bloodline. Even so, the pattern was too clear to ignore. "King Oberon was its first victim. Then once I ascended to his throne, both my son and I were targeted." Nairth opened his eyes, angling his head to look down at Olyssa. "Don't you find it odd that it was never spotted outside the Spring Court until it attacked the Prince in the Wilds?"

Turning on his heel, Nairth headed back towards the horses, reaching out to place his hand on Patience's snout. The young creature's presence was unaffected by the staunch smell of darkness in the air here, a credit to her namesake.

"If we want a piece of the Dark One for study, we must exhume Oberon. At least, what remains of him."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa, to her credit, merely pursed her lips. From the thoughtful expression on her face she looked more like a scholar who had been given an interesting piece of evidence for her thesis rather than a fae who had just been told they were about to commit such a heinous act that even their own kind would call it a sin.

"Wouldn't it prefer living flesh?"

If the thing was death and darkness and it craved to block out its opposites then it would be drawn to the current king or prince. Given Nairth's history she doubted he would mind chopping off a bit of his son to lure the creature forth. Princes didn't need all their toes or fingers anyway.

"Or do you think it is the fact it is Spring royalty that the creature is drawn to? Living or Dead?"

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

The broad-shouldered King gave a shrug, his gaze trailing off to the side as he seemed hesitant to answer her questions. Everybody had suspected that there had been more to Oberon's demise than San'Seya let on. Even with transparency regarding the Dark One, there was some truth to that rumor.

"I find it telling that it would follow my son from the Wilds all the way back here... when there is no doubt it would have smelled the power of the Erlking. Indeed, my collaboration with Autumn has revealed no further activity there since."

Nairth did not say what he thought outright, but the conclusion seemed obvious enough given the opinions he'd laid bare to her.

"Oberon..." He began, again pausing for a moment as his crossed arms fell to his sides, another exasperated sigh leaving him, the only sign he would openly show of the stress with the upcoming admission. "Was not dead in the traditional sense when I laid him to rest. He was corrupted by that... thing... and circumstances beyond my control forbade me from actually killing him."

A pact, of course. Nairth had been sworn to do Oberon no harm for many, many years. Even a mercy killing would have gone against such a promise.

"I had to settle for confining him. The King we knew is quite dead, but the being still inhabits his husk, assuming it hasn't starved."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Both of the sidhe's brows shot into her hairline.

"I see."

It was not lost on her the amount of trust it had taken to reveal that particular snippet of information. By some laws, even if Oberon was only being inhabited, he would still technically be King. If her own Sire had not acted upon it then she knew her courts stance on the matter, even if it was in an off the records manner. Having made their way back towards the horses Olyssa stepped up to Patience and stroked her soft nose before clambering onto her back.

"Well, I suppose you should show me this thing. Then we can see if it'll work."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth was grateful she did not see a point in chastising him over what he'd revealed to her. It was clear from the creases on his usually smooth face that it was a distressing topic. Some would consider him a false King, but then what would they have him do? Allow Oberon to fester? Stand aside while his madness corrupted the entire Court? No, Nairth had no choice. He'd done what he needed to do to ensure the safety of his people.

The Crown atop his head was a result of that, but it was not a reward he'd wanted. It was the price he paid for his loyalty.

"We must be careful. Even weakened, it could be dangerous."

It was, even by his own standards, a rather obvious statement. Anything to break the tension that now fell over him, having admitted to what amounted to regicide. Nairth climbed aboard his own horse, giving a gentle whisper down to the beast as it set off back towards Grovehaven, in the direction they'd come.

"He's entombed beneath the castle. I built it over his grave, to contain him if he somehow escaped." San'seya muttered over to Olyssa, fully aware of how bad that sounded. He did not look over at her with that polite smile and easygoing gaze now, he merely stared ahead, eyes of stone looking towards the looming walls of Grovehaven. "Thank you. For... withholding your judgment. Or at least not speaking it.

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa flicked her gaze in his direction briefly.

"If Midir didn't kill you where you stood after admitting it, then that tells me all I need to know about the stance I take as a member of the Autumn Court," she looked ahead, at the glade they trotted through bursting with life. It was an effort not to ask Patience to stop so that she could gather some samples and take them back with her. This forest was so different to the Wylds of her home and she would learn what she could of it before returning. "And it is far above my paygrade to be making those kinds of judgements," a soft snort and her gossamer wings fluttered at her back.

"But..." she relented, seeing the tenseness of his jaw and the shadows in his eyes. "If I were to form my own judgement, I think I would have wound up taking the same course of action as you. It is better to fell one rotting tree than let the whole forest die."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Though he likely shouldn't have, Nairth found himself smirking at Olyssa as the pair of them once more rode to the gates of Grovehaven Castle. "Well, I may have left out the part about burying him alive when I spoke with Midir." The King considered that tidbit to be on a need-to-know basis, and The Erlking hadn't needed to know at the time of their meeting.

The Duanann slid from his horse and ran a hand smoothly along his mane, muttering gratitude under his breath as the stable hand awaiting their return took the creatures from them with a bow to both of the Fae.

"Come. He's in the Underchamber." Nairth retrieved the robe that he'd left hanging by the wall and threw the heavy garment of black and white waves over his sheer, loose apparel. The massive doorway to the castle slowly began to open, smoothed stone scraping against the dirt beneath as the intricate design carved into its surface split in two to allow sunlight to pour into the Great Hall from outside.

Nairth led Olyssa in, paying no mind to the many spiraling staircases that branched out from the hall like the twisting roots of a tree. Instead, they approached the dias that sat at the other end of the large room, Nairth's own throne sitting empty atop it.

"This passageway goes underneath the castle, to the lake it was built atop. It's flush with ley energy, hence why I lived there for so long." As he speaks, he reaches out and presses in a symbol resembling a bolt of lighting that traveled across the back of the throne. It depresses into the seat, and the throne itself begins to slide back to reveal a staircase. "But I also haven't been down there since... so we must use caution."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa slipped the young mare a treat from her various pockets as they left to enter the large palace. She was sure to most fae it was an impressive room and she could see that it was indeed worthy of the word beautiful, but after one glance she dismissed it entirely. The sidhe was not so taken with grandeur and seats of power no matter how well crafted. Her gossamer wings fluttered until they became nothing more than a whir of air which lifted her off the floor to keep up with his much larger strides.

She hovered at the edge of the descending staircase peering downwards then sent out her magic to probe whatever lay beneath. Nothing but the empty hallway called back to her and she shrugged, both at the lack of results and his words.

"Yes, yes, haven't we gone over that already?" she clicked her tongue then fluttered down the staircase.

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

"You would be surprised at how many people need reminders, Olyssa." Nairth hummed as he followed her down the staircase with pursed lips. Despite his warnings, he'd already caught several of his attendants overwhelmed with curiosity and sneaking their noses where they didn't belong. The allure of the energies beneath the castle was strong to any Fae, but the danger that came alongside it was far too high.

The stairs wormed their way into the ground for some time, before ending abruptly in the stripped dirt. There was no sunlight this far down, but the lake that still rested underneath Govehaven held an ethereal glow to it, illuminating the cavern in an otherworldly blue light. Where once there had been a grove flush with life was now a crater, barren save for that sparkling lake.

Around the waters, the roots of the massive trees that surrounded Nairth's kingdom snaked their way from above, running like tentacles across the ground and joining in the crystalline lake. Nairth stepped ahead of Olyssa, walking carefully down the sloped side of the crater. "I used the energy of this water to construct the Castle, and it provides us with the life we need." His voice echoed in the empty space of the Underchamber as he gestured for her to follow him around the edge of the reservoir.

"I'd hoped that being exposed to such purity would offer Oberon some semblance of sanity, but I was disappointed." Of course, bathing somebody infected with such darkness in the waters that sustained his kingdom would have been a catastrophic decision. No, he'd restrained the once-king on the opposite side of the crater.

Where the dirt began to slope back up on the other side, there was a curious formation of roots that seemingly sought no water. Instead, they clustered around something, forming a protective barrier.

"Good, he hasn't moved. That means whatever darkness that lives in him isn't potent enough to resist me. Should make this a simple ordeal..."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa's feet gently touched the earth once the lake came into view. Jewels, gold and power did little to impress the sidhe but wonders of nature such as this one stole her breath away. She looked on with awe as they walked, attempting to take in as much detail about the place as possible. Instinctively she sought out any signs of life. The roots were the obvious ones but there was more life here than simply the echoes of what lay above. She watched with a blooming smile as two butterflies danced across the mirrored water heedless of whose presence they were in. She found herself feeling calm here despite what they had come to see.

Reluctantly she turned away from the lake to follow him towards the cluster of roots. The feeling of calm she had had since entering began to wither and a pulsing presence pressed down upon her growing heavier with every step. Her wings pulled in tighter to her back and she found her jaw clenching as her senses resisted that ... darkness.

"And this is just... a sliver of the creature?" Olyssa asked as curiosity got the better of her and she rose on her tip toes to peek into the roots.

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

"A small segment, yes." Nairth responded, reaching out to place his hand upon the largest root, encircling the others and holding them together. "The rest of it managed to escape when I subdued Oberon. It seems to have a keen survival instinct, fleeing at the first sign of defeat." It had perplexed the King; the behavior it exhibited was almost that of an ego; needlessly aggressive and hostile until the very moment things stopped going it's way, before skittering off like a coward. "Whatever happens, we must take care that it does not leave this chamber and reach the surface."

The majority of his servants above were ill-fitted to defend themselves. To allow this mutation to ravage his defenseless people would be a failure of the greatest magnitude. "Give me a moment to undo this." He muttered, stepping in front of them and tracing his hands along the roots, muttering words under his breath until the wooden tendrils slowly began to recede from their knotted prison back into the positions they would normally have grown into.

Behind them, the dirt was stained as black as night, a withered and emaciated figure sat hunched, its knees pulled all the way up to its head. Any semblance of who it had once been was gone, merely a skeletal frame with rotten drapes of mottled skin covering the former King.

"My lord," Nairth mumbled, rather solemnly, averting his eyes and bowing his head. The disgusting thing before him was still his King, and San'Seya was loyal to the last, despite the measures he'd been forced to take." "This is Lady Olyssa, of Autumn. She's here to assist me in ensuring that... this doesn't happen to anybody else."

The figure rose its head from between its knees, locking its eyes, or the sockets that had once contained them, on the pair. Its maw opened, devoid of teeth, and attached to its skull only by threads of festering flesh.

And it screamed.

Nairth drew back slightly, wincing in both discomfort and disgust.

"He's far worse than when I left him. If this is what one becomes of you in the prolonged presence of the dark parasite..." His lips drew back in a sneer. "Any fate is preferable."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa peaked around the King as he stepped forward to unravel the roots. She watched the way the roots seemed to sigh in relief at the reprieve from holding such a darkness with morbid curiosity. With a few beats of her wings she silently rose to peer over Nairth's shoulder impatient to see what it was that could make a tree so old feel fear. The figure within was certainly not what she had been expecting. From how the New King of Spring had described it she had thought it would be... well a corpse. It seemed, however, that whatever this Darkness was it was not just a sentient being but a parasite. A parasite that could take over the body and...

Olyssa landed beside Nairth and leant over the remaining root that acted as a barrier between them to get a closer look,. When the creature screamed the sidhe merely grinned.

"How extraordinary," she breathed, her head tilting from side to side like a curious bird. "I have not seen a parasite like this for..." her eyes took on a faded look. How many years had it been? Did it matter? She shrugged and then, sitting on the root, picked a scalpel out of her bag. "Do you think you can hold it still whilst I collect a sample?"

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Olyssa seemed to take on an entirely different personality when confronted with the subject of Nairth's dread. What had been faint curiosity in her tone when speaking of the parasite now blossomed into fascination once it was before her own eyes. He would have felt unsettled by the interest she showed in the living remains of his King, had he not brought her here for this very purpose.

Midir trusted this woman to aid him in combating this living plague. So too would Nairth.

Oberon reacted as Olyssa leaned closer, his body lurching forward, struggling against his constraint as his jaw twitched and snapped. The snapping of his own bones echoed through the chamber as the root ceased its efforts of escape, and after a moment the facade of the King slumped back once more, quiet and still.

Nairth took the opportunity that presented itself, raising a hand to manipulate the vines that ran down the dirt slope of the crater. They heeded the King, pulling free of the earth and wrapping around Oberon's skeletal form as ropes.

"Take care." He warned, "Its condition belies its cunning."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

"That tends to be the nature of a parasite," Olyssa waited for the vines to do their job and then slid the rest of the way into the small hollowed out tomb. Her eyes flickered to the creatures mouth which would pose the most threat to her whilst she collected her samples. It was tied down enough but she would need to stay out of range of a biting. Though... it would be interesting to see if it could transfer itself in that manner. Maybe the King had a prisoner she could test the theory on...

"If it is indeed something similar then it's job is to infect but not kill. In my mind that has always made them more dangerous," she scraped off bits of the creatures skin and cut off bits of its clawed nails. Once they were safely in their vials she eyed the mouth. A spit sample would be helpful.

"If you bite me, Seadán, I will personally see to your suffering whilst you wait here for death," Olyssa spoke once more in the language she spoke to all Creatures with. The twisted thing seemed to go unnaturally still, its head turning towards her to regard her anew.

"You speak the Forgotten Tongue," it hissed.

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

The King felt his jaw tighten when he heard the cursed thing speak. Knowing that the enemy he'd faced nearly to his demise had the capacity to communicate all along, and instead chose to wantonly destroy what he held dearly send surges of rage through his body. If not for his Oath and Olyssa's need of him, Nairth would have no longer held any regret about ending the filth's existence then and there.

Nevertheless, he stepped forward, seething at the decrepit remains of his King. "Silence, parasite! That you live is only by the grace and benevolence of your victim!" San'Seya wanted not to hear another word from its filthy mouth, lest his ears be tainted further.

Then there was Olyssa herself: She had begun to say something before starting her work, and now alluded again to some unnamed predecessor. Nairth cared not what she thought of him-- if there was any clues as to the origin or nature of this Darkness, it behooves her to tell him.

"That is the second time you've suggested a previous experience now. Similar to what, Olyssa?

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

The King's head twisted round to face the New King though it's body didn't move. Bones snapped but that didn't seem to bother the parasite which suddenly grinned. It was a terrible thing but provided Olyssa with her chance. She lunged forward with the swab and shoved it down the creatures throat before it knew what was happening. It shrieked then clamped its teeth down but Olyssa had managed to yank her hand back just in time. She put the little swab in a clear tube then put it away.

The thing hissed at her.

"I have..." she frowned trying to dredge up the memory. It was so long ago that it took a while to wade through the memory banks. "I was very young... learning from my grandmother," a touch of surprise as she recalled the old fae's face. "She is who taught me the ways of working with animals. But one day she showed me this parasite in a half fae's body. It didn't want to kill the host because it needed the host to live, but by living in it it slowly killed it."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth's brief outburst of frustration subsided as he listened to Olyssa's tale. To think that a wretched thing such as this could have existed for so long was one thing, but that it had only just now begun to resurface and become a threat once again? There was something that didn't entirely make sense about it, and his golden eyes narrowed at the Autumn Fae's words.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that, your methods I mean." The King mused as he watched her collect her sample and retreat to a safe distance. Nairth wasted little time in calling the roots that had held the old King back, and once again thick veins of wood slid from their places, snaking across the dirt to wrap around the disgusting remains like serpents, save for the still chattering head. "The way you speak to the life around you, the reason it caught me by surprise is because I possess that same ability."

He'd alluded to it earlier but had refrained from saying it outright until he'd learned a bit more about the Beast Keeper. If she had any intention of misusing the position she'd been put into, she'd likely have done it by now, however. "I was under the impression it was a trait of the San'Seya bloodline, but evidently it runs much farther back than that. It raises more questions than it answers, I suppose..."

Nairth trails off and shrugs, shaking his head.

"Do you have what you need?"

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Something like disappointment crossed the sidhe's face as the creature was tucked away. The answers, if there were any, were to be found right here. She could have watched it for hours. The Spring Kings quasi question dragged her from her thoughts and she looked up at him with an impatient sigh.

"Of course you are not the only one to speak to the Wind," it was only manners that kept her from scoffing. "My Grandmother used to say it was a gift from one of the Gods the Fae have forgotten, that once there used to be many of us but a great evil wiped them out." It had been a bedtime story the old fae had used to scare her into going to bed. She'd forgotten about it until she had dredged up the other memories associated with her tutor. The deep dive she had done to recall that one memory would no doubt bring more as the next few hours - perhaps even days - went on.

"Or perhaps you are correct and there are lines to your family you do not know," a simple shrug and then she glanced down to the satchel. "I believe for now this will do, yes. I shall run a few tests with my magic and see what it says."

 

[Nairth San'Seya]

Nairth shrugged at Olyssa's impatience with him. Perhaps she was correct in that his assumption had been a foolish one. Still, those with their talent were seemingly rare enough that he'd not encountered another outside of his bloodline in the many centuries he'd lived, though Tharu's lover Shayleigh had the capacity for it, he'd been told. Still, San'Seya couldn't be blamed for coming to such a conclusion, could he?

"This corruption seems especially fond of attacking those who share our trait. I can't help but ponder whether that means anything significant. It's... troubling, to say the very least." He hadn't meant to imply that perhaps her Grandmother's story was somehow connected to this current threat they faced, but it was an odd coincidence, one that nagged at him.

Nevertheless, the underchamber wasn't the place for such musings. Olyssa had collected what she needed, and Nairth had no desire to remain in the presence of Oberon's cursed remains any longer than was absolutely tantamount. As she tucked away her sample, he allowed himself to slide down the sloped earth back to the edge of the Ley pool, and began walking around it, back towards the stairs they'd descended from.

"Come then. I'll ensure you have the peace and quiet to focus, and you can deliver me your findings afterward."

Olyssa

 

[Olyssa]

Olyssa opened her mouth to make a smart retort then paused. It took the time as it did with all fae as old as they for her to properly sift through the memories, but when she did she realised that he was right. Until today she had not met another for many centuries that could speak to the world as she could. Her head cocked to the side as they walked and she let her thoughts tumble down that rabbit hole. Why would the creature like this particular skill? Was it attracted to those most powerful in that gift? How did it identify them? She wished she could recall more of what her grandmother had said on the matter but those memories would take time to come to the surface now the dive had begun. It might be weeks before another helpful nugget appeared.

"Perhaps it is something your historians can take a look at whilst I work," Olyssa had no interest in the subject herself, not unless it was the key to answering the questions of today. Creatures evolved too quickly to be contained in dusty volumes in her opinion. As they made it to the top of the stairs she paused.

"You do have those, don't you?"