20 Days Ago.

Once more, another few hours passed. I definitely want to sleep and curl up on Charlie after this. I didn’t expect there to be so much walking. I was expecting a massive adventure where I would always have another dragon to fight…

Although now that I remember all those fantasy stories I read, I kinda forgot that they travelled weeks on end without anything happening, and that the story just glosses that over. I guess I really am living a fairy tale. Wish I could also gloss over the boring bit, though.

The more we continued, we noticed the area around us had begun to grow in more and more dead wood, some of which even looked like actual plants, like flowers and vines. I was tempted to actually pick them up, but it felt like a bad move.

Koschei took a deep and audible breath, pausing for a moment before raising his hand. “The Mavka is close by.”

The Fae spoke out. “She is, that would be true. However, she is probably trapped amongst the roots and woods of the forest. We would need to cut away and find out where she would be.”

I saw glittering lights from behind the wall appear momentarily. “We sense that she is on your side rather than ours, so be careful and wary of your surroundings. It’s possibly much more guarded.”

Koschei had already begun to try and hack away at all the walls he could see, trying to find anything that looked like it could be of note, making sure to make shallow cuts just in case the Mavka could be hidden underneath.

I placed Charlie down since it looked like we were safe, patting her head as she gave me the side eye before staring at the dead flowers, crouching down as she studied it. “Maybe she’s underneath all of these flowers?”

Immediately as she pointed that out, Koschei swiftly made a cut into it, slicing into the bark, blocking away the sparks with his hand as I noticed that there was something pale and white hidden inside, almost like flesh.

Sadly, it was covered up as quickly as it was cut. “I think we found her!” I said in joy before I saw how fast the wood then grew to close the cut.

“Oh come on! Ugh… We have to force it open…” I muttered as I cracked my knuckles.

Charlie brought out her own knife from her hip, stabbing at the dead wood to no avail, not even a mark or a dent on it. Actually, taking a look, it appeared that the knife actually bent instead.

She sighed and sheathed her blade. “There is only one other option left.” She turned to me and looked at my hands.

“Tch, no way, I might hurt you again. I’d probably accidentally set off this entire place as well.” I tried to think of another way until the voices of the Fae came back.

“If it’s the pain of the soul you worry about, we can offer a temporary respite.” There was a shimmer of rainbow light once more before a wave of euphoria washed over my body. I was reminded of when Ephitet used painkillers on me, testing me in scenarios where I had to be in complete bliss.

Charlie must have gotten hit by it, too, as she leaned against me, sighing in relief as she took a deep breath. “Fuck that feels so good…”

“I know right… What was that?” I rubbed my head as the bliss began to fade away.

“The gifts of the Fae.” Koschei muttered as he didn’t seem to be affected all that much. “They can heighten and dampen your senses, very useful when dealing with pleasure. They use it on their victims so that they could kidnap them and force them to be drowned in endless pleasure, and on those who desire it from them as a reward for their deeds.”

“And now we shall use it to gift you the strength to help do what is needed. It soothes not only the body, but the mind and the soul to counter the backlash of the poison.”

“Oh uh, thanks… Hey, can you also use it on us afterwards?”

Charlie elbowed me as I groaned a little. “What? Come on, you were thinking it too!”

We need to stay focused, it is not time to-“

“Of course, as long as you were to aid us, we shall do the same to you.”

I grinned and aimed my palm down to the ground with all of the dead wood. Actually, before I continued, I took several steps back with Charlie and Koschei, trying to find us some cover so that we would be hit with as little of the blast blowback as possible.

“Okay, firing in three… two… one!”

Without any further ado, a massive rush of fire poured out of my hands and onto the bed of dead flowers and vines like a flame thrower. Immediately, it erupted into a burst of sparks as it ricocheted across the hall.

However, at the same time, a rush of euphoria filled my body, making sure that even as the sparks brushed against me, filling my mind with pain, I could only feel heavy pressure on my body.

With that, I pushed through, using my second hand to fire another concentrated blanket of flames, focusing on burning away the poison and the wood. The more I pushed, the more pressure I felt on my body. I could even notice that Charlie was wincing at this point, but I had to continue, I had to endure.

For myself, and for her.

More and more flames shot out. Finally, I could see the plants starting to move, wriggling and writhing in obtuse and grotesque fashions, as if they were coming alive. I took this as a sign and stopped my assault.

Suddenly, a white hand emerged from the flames and cinders, grabbing at its opening and ripping apart what remains. Out from below, a woman rises up. Her skin is as pale as the night, and her hair is as brown as trees in the spring. Her eyes were a deep green akin to leaves.

She raised her arms up, and the trees began to crack, breaking apart as they bent and twisted by an invisible force, pushing away as finally I saw the Fae that helped us all the way… And they were like an inch tall and glowing like neon signs.

“I…I should have seen that coming.”

They swarmed around the woman, gathering around her skin, glowing brightly for a moment before their lights dimmed, giving color back to her body as she stood up, still straining against the invisible force before she opened her mouth.

“Ahhhh~”

A beautiful and haunting melody sang out of her mouth, echoing all throughout the maze as the earth began to shake and cracks by the dirt appeared. The entire forest started to shift, trees untangled, and roots began to move away, returning to their proper paths.

“Ahh~”

The poison started to gush out of their trunks, leaking like sap onto pools in the ground, forming mini puddles that sat by the roots. They were as black as the night, coalescing into a tar-like substance that bubbles and shivers.

Then, she fell back onto her knees, straining hard as she rubbed her stomach and chest where the fae all flew to.

I ran towards her, taking a knee. “Uh, hey, are you okay? Whatcha doing-“

She stared up at me, her eyes glowing green as if she were trying to study me. “You, bearer of the Flames of Sundering, why have you freed me from this prison? What is your goal?”

Man, I really need a PR team for this to help explain.

“I’m just here to help out. My friends and I want to get to the other side of Galfania, but then we can’t really get there without the help of a Baba, but that Baba was kidnapped, and so we’re finding her- and also because you were in trouble.”

For a moment, all she did was stare at me straight in the eyes, as if trying to find any form of lie in what I was saying.

“You seem truthful. I shall trust you and your friends for now.” She stood up as Koschei and Charlie approached; the latter did so rather gingerly.

“What happened here? Why were you trapped?” I asked while I tried to get her up.

“After Skiper-Weles began to awaken. Our Leshy Visiliy and Watcher Veresha went to do battle before he gained any more power. However, in doing so, they had to leave areas with lesser defenses, such as this forest.” She looked around at the dead greenery around her.

“However, I was not enough to slow down their power, and his herald came to seal me in.”

“He has prophets too- Actually, no, that shouldn’t be so surprising, that actually checks out, yeah. Gods, we really have our work cut out for us. You wanna join in? We need all the help we can get, especially since you managed to actually do this way easier than us.”

“Join in? Ah, you ask for me to party with you on this quest? That, I can do. If we are to stop this threat, we would need to cut it off from its source as fast as possible.”

“Then let’s not uh dilly dally? Is that how you say it?” I turned to Charlie and Koschei, the latter of whom stared somewhat confused, while the former just shrugged at me as if she didn’t understand what I was doing.

“Yeah, just that. Also, what’s your Name then? And the ones with you, too?” I asked the latter part of the question about the Faes on her body.

“My Name is Polina, and as of this moment, the faeries upon me are in a torpor as they are using their powers to soothe my body for some time being.”

“Well, I’ll call you Poli if that’s okay with you. I’m Jane, by the way, and they are over there.” I pointed to Charlie and Koschei.

“Is my princess Charlie and my herald and prophet Koschei. It’s a pleasure to meet someone who doesn’t want me dead.

“Princess?” Poli asked as she tilted her head, staring at Charlie, who now had a blush on her face, which I was proud to induce.

“Yes, she is my princess. I’m in the business of kingdom making, maybe you would like to join in?” I asked with a sarcastic grin in my eyes.

Poli narrowed her eyes as she stared at me. For some reason, I felt like I could hear the grass around me grow. “You are quite brave to ask that. My allegiance lies with the forest, to Visiliy.”

“Uh, that was a joke, but well, after I help liberate your region from the Skiper Welly guy, we can talk this out.” I then turned to Koschei.

“Do you know where to next?”

“Of course, I used to venture out into these wilds when I was much younger. Hopefully, by a month's time, possibly even more, we will be able to get to the valley.”

My eyes widened. “A-A month’s time? What? Really?” Man, I did not want to walk that long.

“Yes, especially since you and Charlie still need rest.”

Man, why must the flesh be weak? I’m starting to regret not getting those cyber augs back in Phorash… Wait, no, they were all manufactured under Ephitet. Man, you cannot have anything nice in this world.

“That will not be the case. I shall summon the vines to help bring us along faster. We shall make it there with haste!” Poli raised her hand, causing the ground beneath our feet to crack open, revealing several vines that grabbed at our ankles. Before I could protect, we were sent sliding quickly beyond the forest.