Al emerged into a space of open visibility, pushing past the grasping limbs of the forest’s bramble. He pulled his body out, coming face to face with a large and imposing shape. Cast in the brilliant white light of the moon sat a large rectangle, a structure of some sort, made of deepened ornate planks of rich purple wyldewood. The construct appeared more like a coach, or ornate carriage in design, except without wheels. It sat, mouth open, walled in by two open doors, maw pointed straight at Al. The entire structure shifted at various angles, swirling archways of bent timber went every which way, struts and nail heads glinted and sparkled in the light, staining the whole thing in a snowy glint. From the opening fluttered royal curtains of violet, laced with gold signs and shapes along its edge. Sitting next to the right most door, was a large mirror attached to a squat little table, a vanity. On the opposite side stood an expensive looking armoire, next to a few stacked, off centered drawer sets, all matching. The inside of the cubic carriage was shaded, no matter how hard the boy tried, Al’s eyes could not pierce through the shadowy darkness that followed the billowing obscuring curtains. Illuminated like sheets of iron on a misty day, the moon bound cube dazzled Al to the point of distraction, it sang to him in a way, carrying his feet and body without the boy’s consent.
He took an approach from the side, still a ways away, the young warrior craned his neck, trying to peek into any sort of gap or space, without getting too close. No luck, Al’s feet took him right, stepping past the large door to reveal another banded side. Al didn’t really know what he expected, a dragon perhaps? Either way, there was something interesting about this side, another door. Inset into the sparkling alien wood, framed in swirling burnished iron, with a small chunky crown carved at eye level, was a rather regular door.
“What might you be doing here boy?” came a thick and sultry voice from behind, Al jumped a little, shivers plaguing his skin, a shadow stepped out from the leftmost door as the boy hurried his way back to the mouth of the structure.
From the nothingness stepped Galena, making her way across the other side of the crate, she waltzed towards the entrance in a new shawl-like covering. Deep purple, and mysterious in conviction, the cloth masked her shapes and her presence.
“I mean” the boy replied as his eyes were drawn to the woman, “Argjend sent me to… help” he finished as the woman held a finger to her lips, turning away from the boy’s words. The witch riffled through drawers, opening one and then another, searching through the rather ornate vanity, which set itself upon the grass.
“Yes, yes I know, merely messing with you” Galena retorted.
A silence befell the duo, before the woman folded her cloak about herself, setting her legs upon a cushioned little stool, which had been slid out from the darkness.
“This is where us ladies” Galena paused, “well, this is where me and little Every sleep, quite cozy, like a bobble to be sure. Speaking of the girl, I wanted to discuss something with you” she turned in her rounded stool, beckoning Al to a small wooden seat, located to the right of the witch, on Al’s left.
The boy moved, sitting in line as his eyes locked with the woman’s piercing gaze. “She seems to have taken a liking to you, a lot of people treat her… differently, she hasn’t really been able to open up to anyone in a long time, not truthfully at least” Galena sighed to herself, turning again to rummage in a drawer once more.
“So, I wanted to ask if you would like to be her honorary guard of sorts, not exactly a title to take lightly, but nothing too outlandish” pursed lips accompanied the swapping of drawers.
“Maybe gain some more of her trust, and report back to me… and also make sure no harm befalls her, course that’s also Sonne and Argjend’s job, but maybe she’ll be a little more open with you, although her life is more important than any of ours… her parents are upper class.”
She paused, fixing the boy’s gaze once more, “so what do you say? Will you take me up on this little proposition?” Al nodded with the rhythm of her words, never breaking eye contact “good boy, here take this then” she said, as the witch's hand disappeared within her cloak, before appearing, an object in her taloned clutches. Galena reached out and dropped the thing in Al’s hands, it was glass and had some heft to it, the boy turned it over in his hands, letting the leather strap brush against his thumb, geometric lines and planes caught the light of the moon.
The object appeared to be a glass bottle, filled with deep red fluid, wrapped in a thin band of hide lashing, marked with a crimson waxed seal, and a small ruby gem at the front. A cork capped the top of the bottle, held in with metal prongs which attached to a larger darker gem over top.
“I doubt you’ve ever seen one of those” Galena said beaming, Al replied in a mildly wondered state, “it's a pot” Galen rolled her eyes, the annoyance directed at the remark alone. “Of course, it’s a P-O-T-I-O-N. We do not use such slang here, looks like I’ll have to start teaching you manners as well. Regardless, it is a diluted health potion, made for non-mage consumption, as if I gave you a pure one then you might just burst into flames upon ingestion.”
Al gulped loudly to himself, “anyways, this one is a little special, it refills itself, all you have to do is fill it with water, and after one day, it should be filled once more, truly a very special and enchanted relic, I trust you will take care of it?” The boy was awestruck with the woman’s words and the gift itself; his lips were barely able to force out a quiet “Yes ma’am, thank you.” Galena stiffened but softened once more. “Promise to take care of it and the girl also?” She asked, “Yes Miss Galena I promise, thank you” Al said, still marveling at the relic bestowed upon him, the raven shrugged slightly, “good enough, well that’s enough lounging for now, we best be off.”
The witch stood stark and silhouetted against the darkness, a deepening shadow, a darker shade. Lightly touched by rich purples and blues, brushing against all that wasn’t swathed in pale ivory, giving everything a painting-like aesthetic that flowed through the woods. Galena wasn’t joking about needing to leave, right after their conversation found itself ending, she had stood, now grabbing the boy's arm, nearly disappearing in a blurred flash. Moving with immense speed the woman left the mouth of the construct, pulling Al with her, yanking him off his seat, dragging him to his feet. Startled, the young warrior stood at attention, shoulder to shoulder with the witch at the western part of the clearing. Albatross shook his head, almost refusing to look at the woman, he stared forwards just as she did, not speaking, not moving, a few seconds went by, and the witch clapped her hands. Galena’s eyes closed slowly, their violet glow going all but dark, as her lips moved, words mumbling, hands pushing out, grasping air, grasping nothing.
As Al stood, waiting, watching, he swore the wind died, then picked up again, all the blades of grass pointed in one direction, and the pebbles amongst the dirt began to vibrate. With only another second to spare, the cubic structure in front of them sucked its overspilling contents in with a booming breath, slamming its doors shut, scaring the young warrior in the process. Wood creaked and groaned, like a mighty oak in an even mightier wind, the shape appeared to spin and cry, spiraling out in a slight tornado of dirt, kicking dust in every direction, it twirled faster, growing smaller and smaller, shrinking down. The cube became more reflective, and more purple, a shrieking noise came from abused flayed wood until the spectacle finally stopped, Al looked over his defensively positioned arms.
Within the cloud of dissipating dirt, there lay a quiet little palm sized cube, sitting in a slight square indentation. Galena sauntered up with no lack of swagger, bending over in her robe to pinch the trinket off the ground with her claws, throwing the thing up before catching it in her palms. With a flutter of milky fingers, the cube disappeared. The witch adjusted her shawl pulling it around to cover the robes and adornments underneath. A shoulder slung bag was fixed straight before the raven made her debut, trotting off towards camp, leaving as if nothing had happened, nothing spectacular at least. Al had to double check that his jaw was indeed closed and not unhinged like some wild animal. The awe had struck him in the aftermath of swirling wonder, the boy about-faced fording his own way back through the breaking brush.
Only a few minutes had passed, unless Galena had some sort of time displacement bubble, or something crazy, anything was possible at this point, Al thought. He arrived back at the main clearing, the center fire now just a smothered pile of smoking ash. As he approached, four figures looked up to greet him. Galena had somehow made her way to the far circle of the tree line, already lounging about like some sort of royal. Every was to the right, hopping idly just trying to entertain herself, clad in a similar cape and shawl hybrid to cover most of the clothes and the person beneath, yet she carried no bags of her own. Sonne was back in full military garb, armor and all, no helmet of course, however a multitude of bags lay wrapped around her bristling shoulders, muscles rippling to easily carry the items. Argjend was to the left, standing stoic, cane in hand, a dark half shaded visage with a few hidden satchels of his own.
A shiver of panic crawled up the boy’s spine as he dropped to his knees and began rolling up a thin bedroll, he had completely forgotten was part of his possessions. It had been haphazardly slipped into the satchel he had acquired earlier; in the rush the item had completely slipped Al’s mind. The end stuck out of his bag, as he rustled down in the dirt, much to the subtle amusement of all who witnessed the transgression. When all was said and done, and the scrambling had been completed, the party took off, setting out into the cool, damp, purple night. Sonne snuffed out the last of the amber coals, as the group was plunged into utter darkness, again causing a pang of panic to plague the young warrior.
Shadows were everywhere, overwhelming and stifling, the moon couldn’t reach through the dense blankets of leaves above. Slimy branches and twigs caressed the boy’s face as he passed, hopefully heading towards his allies and not off in some wayward direction. Right as another song of panic was about to sing its way through his weary bones, a crystal rainbow of light shone out from the shade, cutting through the midnight air, before it reigned itself in. Al made a diagonal line over to the four silhouettes he had been moving away from, reentering the group, almost tripping over a bundle of roots in the process. He held his bag and walked up on the left of Sonne, in front Galena headed the snake as they slithered past the trees, Argjend strayed slightly behind, and Every bobbed second within their serpent.
A small floating orb burst forth a deluge of crisp light, as it floated out on a cushion of air, levitating in the confines of an outstretched, splayed, witchy palm. The party trudged in the wash of magic tripping and stomping over brush and lightly moistened timber. Al fell back a little, and the bouncing form of Every slowed to a near stop, all to fall back as well, dancing up to Al’s left now in a horizontal line with the orc. Galena the ringleader, headed their journey swiftly and silently through the shadows as they shifted and moved.
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