A Knight's Lilies

“Vast tracts of cursed mist laden forest separated the lands between Melton, Volksgrad, and Carrador. Yet the vile magics that haunt the Mistveil only go so far, and untold numbers of small villages and towns carved their own place out in the wilderness outside the mistier parts of the woods. Amongst them, stood the proud fortress city of Eichafen, a bastion of civilization that traders and travelers alike can flock to, and the gateway between the three kingdoms.” - Senior Pathfinder James Livingston ‘On Places of Peril: Beyond the Veil’ , Arterian Exploration Guild Series: Journals From the Frontiers Vol 5

The moon hung low in the sky as wispy beams of moonlight cut through the thick fog that surrounded the ruins. Chirps and growls echoed throughout the forest as the predators of the night began their hunt for prey as the creatures of the light shunted themselves away to whatever dark nook they called a home. Tall shapes made waves through the fog, sending ripples across the air as their every stride displaced the mist around them.

Sophie shivered as she perched atop the moss covered ruins. The dull gray green stones proved to be annoyingly damp due to the fog and she was almost elated when she found a relatively dry spot to settle down. On the second floor of a ruin missing two of its walls was a ‘cozy’ looking sheltered area. She had tried to settle down for an early night, but after clearing a roofed area from the few lizards that lived it as a home she found she had another problem, hunger. It was just as the sun began to set when her body had finally caught up to the day’s events. Having pushed herself beyond expectations she found that she was burning through energy dangerously quickly.

Since then, her stomach growled almost like clockwork every time the thought of food crossed her mind, as if to make fun of her unfortunate situation. She remembered little of her last meal besides the things that Eva had said about ‘Earth’. Restaurants that would open to the late hours of the night, market stores that were conveniently open for all hours of the day and night even in some of the most remote villages. More incredible than that however, was the very idea that many people would be able to eat chilled or frozen items at all hours of the day despite not knowing magic, all thanks to the development of re-fridge taters, which Sophie could only picture as some large metal potato.

How nice would it be to have a portable version of that here, ready to set up and use. It would, at the very least, keep her stomach from complaining. Sophie thought it was a great shame that Eva wanted to hide her otherworlder status, not that she blamed her, but Sophie’s heart and stomach yearned for the foods that Eva had described and a part of her knew that if given free reign of the kitchen, there would be no stopping their culinary adventure.

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled once more but this time something was different, there was a disturbance in the air and Sophie quickly grabbed her axe and remained quiet. Yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched, and gulped down her fear as she turned around and almost soiled herself.

From the dark nook of the ruined building, she couldn’t tell what it was but she knew something was hiding in the shadow, watching her. A gnarled tendril of pure darkness extended outwards from the corner, the featureless limb prodding the air as if it were a blind peasant trying to find a path. What horrified Sophie even more was that when she traced the tendril’s path back to the shadows, it was almost as if there was nothing but a ravenous maw waiting for her. Backing away from the darkness she startled a stray lizard and as it scampered away from her foot she watched as the tendril plucked the lizard from the ground before vanishing, lizard and all.

Sophie blinked a few times before she could process what just happened, and she dropped to her knees as she looked back at the nook. The textures and stone were back, the night still left the area covered in darkness but unlike moments ago, she could see the mossy stone bricks with their chips, dents and missing chunks. Hoping to avoid whatever that was, Sophie carefully backed away only to remember a little too late that the building wasn’t surrounded by walls on four sides.

“Guh!” Sophie yelped as she barely grabbed onto the side of the building, her axe landing on the stone floor below with a loud clang that rang clearly throughout the forest. Within barely a second Sophie found herself dangling over the walls as her arms cried out in agony. She could see the axe, the weapon still whole as it rested on the ruins of a once paved road below, lodged between the cracks of two bricks. If she dropped down now she would be fine, but she could only imagine how much worse her leg would get if she wasn’t careful. For a moment or two, she found herself just dangling there as she tried to figure out how she would drop down, unfortunately the choice seemed to be made for her.

As if sensing the presence of prey, guttural growling began echoing in the ruins around her and as they closed in she forced herself to abandon her axe below. With one last effort she pulled herself back up to the second floor, her hands radiating heat from the force of the action. Shit shit! Out of breath and gasping for air, Sophie stared back down despondently as the shadowy figures that were once only on her peripheral grew closer depriving her of a valuable tool and weapon and ensuring that a safe night’s rest was out of the equation.

Trying to make the most out of her situation she sighed and unclasped the cloak, laying it over the damp floor as if setting up a picnic for Eva. For the briefest moment she considered relocating under the cover of the roof and back into the dry corner instead of the wet stone, but realizing that she didn’t want to figure out where the lizard or the shadow arm went she decided against it. It wasn’t what she would call a luxury or even an average way to rest, it was in fact quite abysmal. Yet when compared to the prospect of waking up next to blood and bodies, to her this was definitely the superior option.

She awoke to a chaotic mix of emotions, she was hungry, starving perhaps as she felt much weaker than before. Then she was happy, glad that even though a loud stomach growl had woken her up, at the very least it wasn’t because of a nightmare. Her joy then turned to annoyed anger as she berated her past self for choosing the moist option instead of the dry corner. While certainly the threat of being devoured by a nightmare was exponentially higher, at least she wouldn’t have to wake up soaking wet. The fog bank here seemed much worse than before, and while the sun still shone through, it was not nearly as radiant.

Now all this while being lost in a forest was pretty bad to wake up to, but when she tried to naturally go to the bathroom she discovered another looming problem. She had removed her skirt and nightgown when she squatted over the edge, only to find a sizable contingent of the undead hibernating in place on the first floor of the building. It effectively meant that not only was retrieving the axe an impossibility, it also meant that she had to have the most stressful bathroom break in her life as she tried to not disturb any of the dead.

Sophie had intended to rest a little more and scavenge the nearby area for sustenance, but now she was in a bind. She could try to remain stealthy, it had worked so far and should she remain here at the very least it didn’t look like the undead could climb. She wouldn’t exactly have a safe place but it could definitely serve as a guaranteed shelter owing the decent size of the ruined area making it relatively easy to find as long as she stayed nearby. But of course, this ruin was also decidedly hostile, a pretty good reason for her to leave. That then brought about her second problem, how?

As far as Sophie could see most of the area around her was dense forest, and the only trail was back to the glade. She could try and force her way through the underbrush but without her axe that would be significantly harder. Not that her being hopelessly lost would be solved by a quick escape, for all she knew she would just end up in the territory of a creature far more vicious than the undead or nightmare instead of out.

A loud rumble came from her stomach as she prayed that nothing below heard her. Sophie clenched her eyes shut for almost a full minute, silently counting the seconds passing by until she was certain she could not hear movement from below. Taking advantage of this opportunity Sophie threw the now soaked cloak back on before poorly tying her messy hair into a soft ponytail, something that she remembered Eva letting slip that she enjoyed seeing. With a sad giggle Sophie turned her full attention to shimmying down the side of the building. Ensuring that every step and drop was deliberate and quiet. Turning what could’ve been a few seconds of planning where to jump, to an agonizing minute of hoping she wasn’t eaten alive or discovered.

It took a few seconds longer than she liked since it was tricky to find the right hand holds, but with a satisfying plop she finally touched the ground. As the tension briefly evaporated from her body she let loose a relieved sigh only to be answered with a low growl that came from behind her. Dammit you stupid idiot, running it is I guess.