Private Tales Until the Light Reveals the End

[Sivan]

Somewhere, in the Spine, miles away from the Crobhear Portal Stone.

Tracking fae was never easy. Glamours did more than just disguise them, it could erase scent or sound at it’s peak. There were always tell-tale signs but fae, the little insects that they were, could exhibit sudden and rare bouts of genius. This was one of those times. Reika had been hunting after a fae that Orion had deemed to be extrodinary in beauty and magic.

It was hard to trust a man that was intent on collecting fae like some collected butterflies to pin along a canvas and display for all to see. But this man, despite his unsavory eccentricity, gave Reika the tools she needed to handle the swarm of fae that threatened humanity. It didn’t matter if he sent her on a hunt to catch a pixie or a brownie or even a sidhe. Soon enough, the raven haired woman would be hunting the duanann. The day she brought one of those terrifying beasts to Suntory Market would be the day she cemented her own legend.

Forget being a bounty hunter. Hunting the fae was where all the money and glory was at. Reika was going to make a name for herself. But more importantly, she was going to get her revenge, one fae at a time. Not for herself but for everyone who’s life had been taken from them much too soon.

Even if it meant she was currently freezing her ass off while climbing up a rather precarious, rocky hill. Clothed in heavy, thick clothes, it did little to protect her from the biting wind. Her fur-lined hood had been pulled tight up against her face but with the angle she was climbing at and the fierce winds, her hood was flat against her back and shoulders. She only had to climb a little more and then she could seek shelter from the wind and continue tracking the fae that Orion wanted.

Reika had no description of her other than she was beautiful which had always irked her. She was starting to believe that what was beautiful was vile, a ploy used to play with the simple minds of men. Which was why she always got sent to get the pretty ones: she wouldn’t be distracted by their ethereal essence. She continued in hoisting herself up, rock crumbling underneath her boots and falling down, down, down.

 

[Thyone]

Thyone moved through the ethereal veil that separated her world from the mortal realm. Oblivious to the mortal hunter who tracked her every move, she ventured into the human territory with an air of serene confidence.

The telltale signs of her glamour, entirely unnoticed by most mortals, rippled through the air like a whispered secret. The very fabric of reality seemed to bend and distort in her presence, hiding her from view, while an eerie sense of unease settled upon any unwitting wanderer who stumbled into her path. Yet, the Duanann remained oblivious to the traces she left behind, focused solely on her own purpose.

Each month, on the night of the new moon, Thyone embarked on a sacred journey through the veil, to a secluded mountain pool—a place where legends whispered that the gods themselves had granted healing powers. Though it was not the work of divine entities, but rather Thyone's own gift, and the belief of her godlike status delighted her vanity. Adorned in a cloak trimmed with fur, she moved through the cold, unfazed by its bite. Her steps were sure and purposeful as she made her way toward the crystal-ribbed cavern that housed the sacred pool.

Silence enveloped the cavern as Thyone entered, as though it were holding its breath in reverence. The soft glow of moonlight filtered through the translucent crystals, casting a gentle luminescence on the water's surface. With a fluid motion, she approached the pool, her eyes filled with a quiet intensity as she smiled down at her ghostly reflection.

As Thyone extended her hand to touch the water, a ripple of power coursed through her, bestowing the moon's blessings upon the water in exchange for the gifts left in tribute by those who sought her favour. The tranquil solitude of the cavern echoed with the whispers of the cosmos, as if the universe itself recognized her connection to the moon and paid homage to her presence.

The pool shimmered for only a moment longer after she withdrew her hand, her task complete and her gifts waiting. She turned, surveying the smooth rock pedestal, laden with trinkets and treasures that human folk had valued most, but less than health, or life..

 

[Sivan]

By the time that Reika had pulled herself up and onto the ledge that overlooked the valley far below her, the two moons were already chasing the sun down the sinuous horizon that seemed to be below the fae hunter. She took no more than a few seconds to admire the beauty of twilight: yellow and orange hues fading into pink and then indigo and violet.

Pneria’s somber blue moon glow settled over Reika, casting her in deep shadow that somehow made her much colder than before. Her teeth were clattering against each other, lips and fingertips feeling numb and slow. She wrapped her arms over her chest, hunkering low. She was too cold now to look at the scenery in the valley below and instead turned her head to the destination.

Reika cursed realizing that the old woman she had traded in one of her throwing blades for information had lied to her: climb of faith her ass, there was a small, hardly there path but Reika saw the markers that stretched on and off into the distance. Maybe it would have taken longer to follow along the path but at least she wouldn’t have had to climb the face of a cliff thinking it was the only way up!

When she captured this fae horror she was going back to that little devil hiding inside a grandma’s body and demand her knife back.

Into the mouth of the cavern Reika went, hoping that the old woman didn’t lie about the fact that the path wouldn’t be seen if Reika used her own light. As she slowly headed inside, the light from outside disappearing, Reika was surrounded in pitch black darkness. She waited, hearing nothing but her own labored breathing. Still holding onto herself and shivering, Reika was faintly aware of the drowsiness spreading over her.

She pushed through it, every step feeling more sluggish than it should. That was when it happened: the crystals became alive with the light of the moon or maybe the absence of light, Reika wasn’t sure which, but when she looked up at the cave’s ceiling she could see a ethereal blue river of light from the crystals overhead. At least the old woman got something right. Now with a guide, Reika went deeper inside.

Thyone