by Eric Vall
“He didn’t hurt me, I promise! Look!” the feline held out her arms where the beast had taken her arm into its mouth. “He only held it, didn’t bite down or anything!”
“I don’t trust that damn thing, not one bit!” Rana muttered as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared down at the pink-beast.
“What kind of creature is this, Master?” the high queen asked as she placed the toes of her boots on the small stone and crouched down to get a closer look.
The beast beat its tail and swam closer to the swordswoman. It hovered right below the surface and bobbed its head as if it were nodding along with Annalise’s words.
“I have never seen one in person, but I believe people from southern regions call them, ‘walking fish.’ They are part of the salamander family, but I didn’t know they grew to be this big.” I informed them as I took in all the creature’s features.
The six horns floated in the water and brushed at the surface as its black eyes stared Annalise blankly in the face. The way its thick tail moved in the water looked as if it were wagging like an excited dog. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it tried to leap out of the water towards Annalise like a pet.
“The fleet fox that doesn’t run is a fool…did we fail?” Carmedy asked as she leaned away from me and looked up into my face with saddened eyes.
“What if we are not the fool in this situation?” I questioned back, and the feline’s emerald eyes clouded with thought. “Our last task was to be patient and take our time, but what if we weren’t the ones who were supposed to run?”
The rest of my minions stood on their stones and thought for a minute. It took them a long time, and Annalise’s eyes were the first to light up as she leaned out. Her chocolate brown eyes focused in on the pirates standing on the foundation of the archway still. It looked as if they’d gotten about halfway across then turned back, probably frightened by the commotion in the water. This time they looked different, their eyes were glazed over, and their mouths hung slack as they stared up at something in the air. Whatever it was, my women and I couldn’t see it, but it had them totally enraptured. I sensed the presence here with us again, but its eyes weren’t trained on us anymore but on the group of terrified pirates.
One by one, like their leader before them, their eyes became swirling masses of midnight blue and amethyst, and their mouths dropped open. Tears spilled down their faces like rivers, and a few of them spoke silent words to themselves. I couldn’t tell precisely what the being was doing to them, and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know or find out. A single pirate stepped forward and held his arms out as if he were in a dream. He smiled widely as he cried, and his lips moved in a whisper.
“Jacqueline, my darling, Jacqueline …it’s been so long, where did you go, my love?” The pirate murmured to nothing as he stared straight forward and took a step towards the edge of the foundation.
I heard it then, a whisper in the dark cavern. If I hadn’t been listening closely, I would’ve missed it entirely, but it was there, a ghost of a voice as it replied back to the pirate.
“Gabriel, darling, come closer.” The voice purred in a strange accent that I couldn’t place but assumed that the pirate named Gabriel did.
The pirate did precisely as the voice asked, and his smile grew larger with each step he took. His leg hung out over the edge of the foundation, but he didn’t seem to see or care. The water below his foot swirled in a vortex of different colors as he listened to something else the voice said, but I couldn’t hear it over the sound of rushing water. In an instant, the pirate grinned then stepped off the foundation directly into the vortex. He didn’t scream or make a sound as the water swallowed him whole but simply grinned to himself through the hallucination. The other pirates began talking all at once as their own illusions appeared and spoke to them. The swirling vortex in the water spun quicker and spread out so that it surrounded the whole of the foundation. All the pirates ran forward in an instant, and the vortex was a mass of limbs and faces as it consumed their bodies and souls.
The being’s laughter filled the air, and my eyes snapped to the strange creature in the water as its eyes glazed over, and it sunk down into the darkness below as if it were also afraid of the being.
I gripped the God Slayer and Carmedy then rushed forward across the stepping stones. I lifted the feline up, so that she was glued to my side, and her feet didn’t touch the rocks below as I gritted my teeth. I didn’t say anything to the rest of my minions, but they raced after me as quickly as possible. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the vortex had reformed into a full circle and was hurtling towards us. I breathed in hard through my nostrils as my boots pounded against the rocks, and the foundation of the opposite side came into view. I was nearly there, and I could hear my women pounding along behind me.
I breathed heavily, and the air burned my lungs as I took massive strides to get my women across. I jumped the last three stones, landed in a skid and stopped in time to watch as the other three of my minions leaped onto the foundation. Their faces were red, and each of them stopped for a moment to catch their breath.
Rana placed her paws on her knees and took in huge gulps of air. Morrigan fanned herself with a delicate, pale hand and watched as the spinning vortex bounced off the foundation then stopped on the surface. Darkness stared up at us from the middle of the vortex, and I wondered for a moment where it would take us if we stepped inside of it. I didn’t doubt that it would kill us instantly but would it transport us to where the being was, or would it drown us and drift our bodies down to the bottom of the water? Carmedy stood beside me and held onto my arm as I breathed in slowly.
Laughter filled my ears, and it didn’t take long for me to pinpoint the location it came from. The spinning vortex worked as a second mouth for the being as she spoke to us again, and I watched as it undulated each of the words.
“Clever, clever, clever.” The being giggled in her buttery voice, and we all stared down at the whirlpool for a moment.
“D-did you eat them?” the feline asked in a shaky voice, and the being’s voice tittered softly.
“Eat them? No, I won’t eat them, their bodies will drift to the bottom, and my pet will eat at them as they rot.” The being chuckled, and I glanced down at the water to see that the coral colored creature surfaced again.
The creature stared up at us with its lidless eyes, but it watched Carmedy in particular. The feline looked down at the beast sadly as if imagining its sweet face consuming the bodies of the dead sailors. The petite alchemist dropped her pack by the water’s edge and dug through it for a moment. When she pulled her hands out, she held a small package wrapped in parchment paper. Her huge, emerald eyes looked sad as she slowly unwrapped it to reveal a tiny slice of pie she’d taken from the ship. Carmedy broke off a piece, placed it in her mouth, chewed, and then dipped her hand in the murky water in front of the creature’s face. The cat-girl held out the food in front of the beast, and finally, the creature opened its large mouth and sucked the piece of pie in. Carmedy stood and gave the creature a small smile as she tucked the empty parchment back into her pack.
“Why weren’t we consumed? Why did you take the pirates and not us?” Annalise asked as she placed a hand on the pommel of Bloodscale.
“You haven’t run yet, those who run from this place accept that if they return, they have to die,” the voice answered in a bored tone as if she were explaining a very mundane thing. “Once they stepped foot through the entrance, they had signed their death warrant. There is nothing to it.”
“But how would they know? It’s not like you put up a warning or anything!” Rana protested as she threw her paws into the air, and the being laughed again.
“But I did, the song of the Kitsune is loud enough for all to hear if they want to,” the being replied in a purring voice. “You heard the song and obeyed, how hard is it for a lot of pirates to do the same? If they had listened and heard, then maybe they wouldn’t be dead…however, maybe, Rana
, you only heard it because you too are part of the Kitsune tribe?”
Chapter Eight
“Kitsune?” the redhead murmured as her baby-blue eyes darkened, and her lips pulled down at the corners as she thought deeply. “But I don’t know what that is!”
“What is the Kitsune tribe, Master?” Carmedy asked as she grabbed onto my sleeve, and I glanced down at her.
“I’ve only heard the name a few times,” I told her honestly as I pulled the feline to my side. “But only in passing. They are neither from the heavens or earth but instead, the spirit world.”
“Correct.” The being’s voice giggled above our heads, and Rana’s expression hardened as her paws curled into fists.
“What does that mean? What does all of this have to do with me, huh?” the fox shouted angrily into the air. “You’ve been coming for me this whole time, what do you want from me?”
“Are you harmed? Are you dead? Are you floating down to the bottom of the water to be consumed by my pet like the pirates? No.” The being didn’t laugh this time, instead, her tone seemed deadly serious as she lashed out at Rana. “I haven’t laid a finger on you, nor do I plan to.”
“Not the whole group of us! Just me! You’ve been trying to take over my mind this whole time, you made me say and do mean things to my family, and just now you had your weird creature thing try to drown me! When you couldn’t get me, you went to the next best thing, Carmedy! If you want me, don’t bring them into this! Is it because I’m part of this ‘Kitsune tribe’ thing? Is that why you haven’t hurt us?” the redhead cried as she turned and glared into the air above our heads.
Silence washed over us as I moved my eyes over the fox. Rana looked angry, angrier than I’d ever seen her before. Her fiery curls practically vibrated on their own as she scanned the air for any sign of the being. The laughter stopped, and an anxious feeling hung in the air for a moment. I couldn’t tell what the being wanted from us now, I glanced towards the hall beyond the foundation and archway, but all the lamps had flickered out one by one.
“Well, The Kitsune said that your part of the same tribe, there has to be something you two have in common.” Annalise calmly stated, and I nodded to her.
The high queen had hit what I already knew right on the head. I’d figured out what was going on long before anyone else, but that was to be suspected. As with all things, I didn’t want to have to tell my minions what happened around them but instead wanted them to be astute and perceptive. My women were excellent warriors, and I’d trained them to be that way, but they also needed to be insightful and knowledgeable. Adding Haruhi to the family would help exponentially since the sage would help them learn and be more aware of the little clues around them. They did pretty well so far, but I still needed to guide them at times.
I eventually wanted to get to the point that I wouldn’t have to do that, that they would pick up even on the smallest hints and know what was happening around them. It wasn’t that I wanted them to outgrow me, but I required them to grow as my minions, to become extensions of myself like the way the God Slayer was.
“There has been one common denominator that we’ve run into this whole time that may give you some insight into what you have in common,” I said in a thoughtful tone. “Something that’s been repeated and repeated, maybe we’ve just thought it was a coincidence, but it’s been there the whole time.”
The redhead looked at me confused for a moment, then began to pace. She ran her paws through her thick curly hair as she thought, but within seconds, she stopped and raised her baby-blue eyes to mine. They shined and glinted with a feverish intensity I’d never seen before. Her black-tipped pointed ears stayed still briefly as if she heard something far off down the hall to her right.
“Fox,” Rana whispered as she stared deeply into my eyes. “I’m right, aren’t I? All the things we have in common, all the clues leading us here and up to this point had to do with foxes. She’s a fox, right? Or has something to do with foxes?”
“Have you ever heard the legend of the nine-tailed fox?” I asked in a soft tone, and as soon as the words slipped from my mouth, a loud crack resounded around the room.
The porous rock all around us crumbled and cracked right down the middle as midnight blue, and deep purple smoke spilled out. It filled the room in a haze and along with it, brought the heavy, cloying scent of black currant and violets. The being knew that the scent and illusions wouldn’t work on me and they certainly wouldn’t work on my minions, but I assumed that using them came to her like second nature and she didn’t mean anything by it.
Colored smoke filled the room, and my minions stepped backward towards the archway, wary but not afraid as they reached for their weapons. My women didn’t know it or hadn’t realized it, but like the creature in the water, this being meant no harm to us. Each of the challenges we’d been given were playful in nature, all the dungeons we’d been in before were designed to kill us either instantly or painfully, but this place was different in so many ways. It seemed as if the being here was more lonely than anything, like she wanted a playmate, not an adversary.
I stepped into the archway along with my minions and then turned at another loud sound. The mismatched wooden planks behind us shifted suddenly and before our eyes, moved to build something new. Planks and boards slammed together in an upward motion to create a winding staircase. The being made it obvious to us now that the game was over, I’d told them what she was, and now it was time to reveal herself to us fully. The staircase was different from everything else here, it wasn’t meant to disorientate or confuse us like the rest of the structure, but instead, looked masterfully made even though it was constructed within mere minutes. I was the first to step forward and look up the shining banister. The stairs made a few loops, but far above, I could make out the black sky and the twinkling stars through the cracked rock ceiling. This was where the being wanted us to go, a literal arrow pointing us in the right direction.
“Is it safe?” Carmedy asked as she held her tail between her hands and gave it a nervous twist.
“I believe so, but just in case, stay behind me at all times,” I instructed them as I placed a heavy boot on the first stair.
I tested the wooden stair with my weight, and it didn’t budge. I went up two then looked back at my women who waited below me. Annalise held Bloodscale out in front of her as she eyed the structure with her chocolatey brown eyes, but she still stepped up behind me warily. Rana came next, her elven daggers held in tightly clamped fists as she peered over the side of the railing toward the smoke-filled room below. The fox’s baby-blue eyes were concerned, but from the way her jaw was set, I could tell she was ready to receive some answers from the being. Carmedy came third, and she held her sling-shot limply in her paw as she used her other hand to mix up a dry potion in one of her small bundles. The feline’s black ears twitched once or twice but didn’t change direction at any other strange sound in question. Morrigan took up the back as she usually did, and her footsteps on the stairs were completely silent as if she floated instead of walked. The elven woman’s eyes shifted and blackened with the sight as she leaned her head back and looked up towards the sky.
I felt the being’s presence heavily here, and it only got stronger as we climbed higher. The smell of black currant and violets wasn’t as oppressive as we moved closer to the open air, but it still hung around us and clung desperately to our clothes. I was the first to reach the top, and what came into view made me pause for a moment.
The entire roof of the structure looked like an overgrown forest. Trees towered over my head and brushed at the porous rock ceiling. Lush, viridescent grass brushed at my boots along with the bright yellow blooms of dandelions. A warm breeze swept through the strange forest and brushed back my shoulder-length hair. It smelled fresh up here, like the earth does after the rain, and I turned in awe at all the strange and wonderful things the being brought up here to make herself more comfortable.
My minions came up after me and st
opped in a tight huddle as their eyes widened. Rana and Carmedy’s ears twitched and turned at the sound of far-off bird song, and the cat-girl’s tail whipped out behind her excitedly. It was beautiful up here, but I wondered for a moment why the being transplanted all of these things. I already knew for sure that she wasn’t meant to be in this place, that all of this was foreign to her. I turned one last time and finally noticed the massive throne in the middle of the clearing to my left.
Its design was simple, and nothing like the ones I’d seen back in Tamarisch, but I assumed that’s how this being wanted it. The forest was her natural home, and her throne was made from smooth-looking pale birch wood. Flowers in purples and blues wove themselves through the twisting and knotted wood. Moss and grass covered most of it and made it look very comfortable.
I wondered if the being who sat in the throne and looked out over her domain was happy here? Or was she unbelievably sad?
“Do you like it here?” the voice called from all around us, and I heard it, the twinge of sadness in her usually giddy voice. “I molded it after my original home, in the forests of the spirit realm.”
“Are you trapped?” the petite alchemist asked in a soft voice, and when I glanced over at her, Carmedy looked on the verge of tears for some unknown reason.
“Trapped? In a way, yes.” The being called back and to my right, and the thick bushes rustled with movement.
I sensed her everywhere here, but I knew it wasn’t her as the head of a spotted fallow deer lifted from the leaves. The deer turned its head and blinked its wholly black eyes at us sluggishly. My minions watched it as it stretched its neck for another bite, then turned-tail and pranced off deeper into the woods.
This place was like a wonderland, and I could see why she’d created it. Everything else here was fabricated and artificial, all the feelings and emotions she poured onto the pirates weren’t real. But this place was a memory of her world, a place she loved and longed to go back to.