V A New Enemy (Unmaking Quest: Arbiter's Plea)

Ovidia

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Erde Nona
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Ovidia had been traveling south for days. Her hooves ached, her wool was embedded with leaves and twigs, and yet she had yet to come upon any sign of civilization. The sun was going down now, and it would soon be dark. Ovidia’s eyes flitted warily over the rapidly darkening woods. These were unfamiliar parts, and they held unfamiliar dangers. She tightened her grip on her crook. While she would much prefer to keep moving, she had no lantern to guide her way through the dark dense foliage. She had no choice but to bed down for the night. Selecting a suitably large oak, she laid her saddlebag at its base and began to dig a shallow pit in the dirt. After completing this task, she set to work gathering as many fallen branches and twigs as she could find.

The sun was almost completely set, and Ovidia could barely make out the branches strewn about the forest floor. She stooped down to pick one up when she heard a twig snap a short distance away. Her ears perked up immediately, and she held her crook close. “H-Hello? Who’s out there?”

There was no response.

“Show yourself! I-I mean it!”

The woods were silent. She inhaled deeply, hoping to catch a scent, a whiff, or any kind of clue as to the source of the noise. She only smelled the beech trees, and the decay of the forest floor. She frowned and hurried back to her camp to start the fire. Hopefully it would ward off any predators that may be around these parts. At the very least the light would provide some comfort in the darkness.

The fire now lit, Ovidia laid down and placed a few mushrooms on a thin stone slab over the fire. It was by no means as efficient as a pan, but at least they would be cooked enough to be edible. She hardly paid attention to the mushrooms, though. Her eyes remained fixed on the darkness just beyond the reach of the firelight. With the smoke in the air it became difficult to distinguish the various smells of the forest or its potential dangers. This put her on edge even more than she had been before. She hardly noticed the mushrooms beginning to burn, but luckily looked down just in time to save them from complete inedibility. As she ate her supper, her fingers slowly worked their way over the carved designs on her crook. She had watched her father carve these late one night, many years ago.

_________

“What are you doing, father?” she had asked, her little tail waggling in interest.

Her father had smiled, looking up from his work. The firelight danced in his eyes as he told her: “I’m making you a shepherd’s crook all your own. That way you can help me in the fields, just like you always wanted!”

Her eyes glimmered with excitement as she ran over to inspect his work. “It’s beautiful! But what are those funny marks?”

“They are inscriptions, my lamb. Ancient runes used long ago to protect people from harm.”

“You mean like magic?” she gasped, her little body full near to bursting with excitement.

“Well… sort of. Magic is something that left our lands many years ago. There are few who even remember it having existed at all. No, no… these runes are not magic. They are rather a symbol of my hopes for you- a life of safety and security.”

Her tail had stopped wagging in her disappointment. “So… no magic?”

“No magic,” he shook his head. “Only my love for you. Is that so disappointing?” he smiled warmly.

“N-No father not at all!” she protested, shaking her head so hard her ears flopped from side to side. “I’m not disappointed about that! I just- magic would be neat.”

He chuckled, setting the cook aside and pulling her into a gentle hug. “I know, lamb. magic would be neat.”

_________

Another snapped twig brought her out of her reminiscence and fully back into the dark woods that surrounded her on every side. She got to her feet, holding the crook out at the source of the sound. The smoke kept her nose essentially blind. “Alright I know somebody’s there! Come into the light then!” At first there was nothing, and then there was the glint of a dagger in the firelight. Ovidia gasped, narrowly dodging the blade as it embedded itself into the trunk of the oak.

A giant, inky black humanoid figure stepped into the light, wielding another dagger. It was almost as if its body had no color at all. Its hulking form seemed to swallow all light- the only distinguishable features being a gleaming set of razor sharp teeth and milky white eyes, round as dinner plates. Its jaws hung slackened, drooling ink onto the forest floor.

Ovidia shrunk back, her heart pounding so hard her vision pulsed. She drew her crook and held it at the beast, hands trembling. “I-I don’t know what you are, but you’d better leave! I know h-how to use this thing!”

The beast cocked its head, uncomprehending. The light of the fire glinted across its teeth. Its jaw remained slack, ink beginning to pool around its feet.

Ovidia swallowed hard, and did her best to keep her knees from buckling from fright. She set her teeth. “I-I won’t tell you twice! Leave!”

The creature’s jaw snapped shut. It roared an unearthly roar, shaking the leaves from the branches of the canopy above. It charged, dagger and teeth flashing as its clawed feet scrambled over the fallen leaves. It was lightning fast, and Ovidia had no time to react- she couldn’t run and she couldn’t fight. But before she could shut her eyes and wait for death, the runes on her crook began to glow. A pink light surrounded her on all sides. The dagger and the creature’s teeth hit the forcefield with a thunderous crash, and with a sickening crack the creature’s teeth and blade shattered. It howled in agony, inky blood pouring from its mouth and splattering over the shield, trees, and leaves.

It was gone as soon as it had appeared, sinking back into the darkness beyond the firelight. The only evidence it had been there at all was the black, sticky substance it left behind.

Ovidia stood stock still in shock as the forcefield dissipated, leaving only the light of the fire. After what felt like hours, slowly her blank mind began to flood with questions. But before she could address any of those she was on her knees, trembling as violently as the canopy had shaken at the creature’s roar.

Ovidia had seen death before, but only in the glazed eyes of the sheep lost to the wolves. It had been there, on full display in the dead, milky eyes of that demonic creature. She shuddered, her teeth chattering at the mere memory of those eyes. She had encountered nothing like this before. Could it be that these were the creatures that awaited her outside the bounds of her kingdom? It explained why her father had always warned her to never leave the confines of their property… But how could she have never heard of such a creature before? She hadn’t heard of anything as horrid, even in the ghost stories he had told her around the fire. Surely he would have warned her of the existence of such creatures at least. Did he not know of them? It was certainly possible… but he knew nearly everything there was to know about the natural world that surrounded their little homestead. How could he not know of something as horrid and huge as that thing?

These thoughts of her father prompted her to look back down at her staff. The runes still glowed faintly along the shaft of the crook. Suddenly she remembered the pink light and the forcefield that had saved her life. “I… didn’t think that was possible…” Her father’s words echoed in her mind. “They are a symbol of my hopes for you…” she whispered. “…a life of safety and security.” Perhaps her father had been wrong. Perhaps magic hadn’t truly left. It lived on in his love for his daughter, and in his wishes for her life.

Suddenly, those thoughts fled from her mind. It was almost as if they had been a herd of deer, spooked from the fields of her brain by an entity much greater than she could know. In the space they left, there was only a feeling. A chilling dread, and the feeling that the unlocking of this magic was meant to serve an even greater purpose. Her eyes fell to the ooze left on the forest floor. The evil she had seen in the eyes of that creature now seemed to have a presence in every direction. This… this was not the only creature in these woods

The runes glowed a warm, comforting pink as if sensing her anxiety. She held the crook close, setting her jaw. She couldn’t make out any words, but she could make out an intention. There was someone or something that also knew of this darkness, and needed her to bring it into the light. But what could she do? She had hardly escaped this creature with her life, and this darkness would undoubtedly be much stronger than any wolf or bear she had fought before. She swallowed thickly as she remembered the plight of her father as well. Any day now could be his last as he awaited the axe of the executioner. No. No she didn’t have time for any new responsibility. She needed to return home.

…But suppose this darkness reached their kingdom? She could already almost feel it breathing around her, anxious to consume everything in its path if only it would be allowed to expand. No doubt it would reach them if left unchecked. What would be the point in rescuing her father from that tyrant if they were only to be killed by this evil as soon as they were free? Besides… at least the king had the capacity for mercy. This inky blackness all around her… that creature…there was no reasoning with it. “…Just hold on a little longer, father. I’ll be there soon. I promise.”

The sky was already beginning to glow with the first light of morning. She took a deep breath, inhaling as much of the fresh air as her lungs could hold before letting out the breath in a deep, heavy sigh. She doused the fire, readjusted her saddlebag, and looked on into the steadily lightening horizon. Her heart knew the direction she must go. One hoof after the next, she slowly began walking in the direction of her new calling.



Morioh now awaited her.


Quest: An Arbiter's Plea
Word Count: 1801/1000
Quest Complete
 
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