Lilyth

  There definitely was something wrong with that pocket of quiet. Even though the Murdergrove didn’t look any different from the forest surrounding it, the trees felt more looming and the air was heavier. I could well understand why people were wary of the area.

  I looked at my companions and noticed a curious thing - both Rennie and Dhelmir seemed ill at ease while Aki and Caei looked to be unaffected altogether.

  Interesting.

  ‘Told you there was nothing special about this place,’ Aki shrugged, confirming my observations.

  ‘Can’t you feel it?’ Rennie asked.

  ‘Feel what?’ Confused, Caei answered her question with one of her own.

  I looked at Chirpy and Veenaya. They looked like my cat did during the annual animal cruelty event happening every New Year’s Eve - distraught and uneasy, but not panicking. Yet.

  ‘There is ambient magic in the air,’ Ren explained. ‘At least that's what I think it is. I can almost see it forming a web, the edge of which we are right now standing on.’

  Huh?

  ‘Are you a mage, Lady Ren?’ Dhelmir asked, curiosity having replaced his own reaction to the place.

  And there goes the kayfabe.

  We knew it would be a longshot, but we’ve decided to at least pretend to be normal: Chirpy and Veenaya would be described as exotic pets of Ren given her wealth and our suspicion that if we tried to pass off the nesumi as belonging to someone else we would be finding “presents” in our shoes for weeks; I would be staying in my Elf form; and we’d pray no one asks about Caei’s heritage, panic when someone would inevitably bring it up and then desperately make shit up on the go. My vote would be to distract the interloper, hide Caei and then gaslight the person into thinking that my horny vampire wife was just a figment of their imagination.

  All credit’s where it is due, Ren made a decent save.

  ‘I wish I was, good man. I think I may have some fey ancestry, but that's all. My whole I’ve been getting those occasional glimpses into the fabric of the world. Usually, it is not that intense though.’

  Being a crime boss makes you a good liar, whodathunk.

  ‘I would wager this is why the air feels… oppressive,’ I quickly added and pointed at our pets. ‘Our little friends feel there is something wrong with the place too.’

  Veenaya, as if to underscore my point, let out a low whine, while Chirpy climbed on Ren’s shoulder and nuzzled her neck.

  Next time, maybe wait a moment before engaging in any theatrics, blasted furballs.

  Luckily, Dhelmir, probably too spooked to think entirely straight, didn't seem to notice the slightly too convenient timing.

  Aki came over to Veenaya and lifted the lumizu into her arms, giving the creature a tight hug.

  Deciding not to draw any attention to my wives being wholly unaffected, I had some theories about that, but those would need to wait until we were alone, I gestured towards the forest.

  ‘Shall we?’

  ‘Pay up,’ Caei whispered to me as we followed what was left of the tracks deep into the Murdergrove.

  ‘Ah ah ah…’ I replied, shaking my head. ‘It still holds up. Blame Ren.’

  She harrumphed and stormed off.

  Before we got into Dan-Hem we made a bet as to how long our cover story of “just normal people” would hold up. I gave it two hours, Ren until midnight, Caei twenty-four hours and Aki two days. If, by some miracle, it still held then we would bet again.

  Hey! Don’t judge us. Our cover story was paper thin, and I don’t mean the nice eighty gsm stuff you usually get for your printer. No… it was the crappy almost see-through stuff you would find in cheap paperbacks.

  I never expected there would be this many problems with knowing magic.

  Caeileera

  I checked the clock on the interface and saw that it was 10:36 meaning I still had eight hours to win the bet, as we arrived in Dan-Hem at around 18:30 the previous day. We would potentially be screwed, but at least I would be three hundred Divines richer then.

  Might buy me something nice for that. Maybe some good food or nice clothes. Lilyth also mentioned some items I could be interested in tracking down assuming they were being made on Dwynveia.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I was continuously amazed at the variety of stuff you could get on Terra and partially on Dwynveia. There wasn't much in terms of luxury goods, as Lilyth called them, in the Badlands. The most extravagant things you could get were fancy clothes and those were pricey. Occasionally, some external items would end up on the market, usually brought in by the Serrated Blades, but I could never afford any of them. One time I was really tempted, but the price asked was one I was unwilling to pay.

  You see, most trade in the badlands was barter-based. What was the currency? Items of value, favours, sex, slaves, servants, servitude contracts, anything and everything of value really. We had a currency called Bloodstones and everyone was issued twenty of those a week, but you usually spent all of them to cover your basic necessities.

  So my position as a Vicars concubine was a dream come true in a way. I never really loved the man, our arrangement was purely transactional, but he was good to me nonetheless, and I guess you could say we developed a wary friendship. His being retired from his position still saddened me from time to time. At least It was quick from what I was told, though.

  I only realised it after the fact, but the steep price for that item I wanted, a pendant with a smiling amphibian of some kind made out of polished green rock, through the eyes and the mouth were painted black, was part of that plot all along. The seller, a Serrated Blade no less., said he would give me the pendant if I agreed to spy on my benefactor. It hurt, but I refused. I would not jeopardise my meal ticket for jewellery, no matter how much I wanted it.

  Maybe I should try tracking one like it down? There should be pendants like this available somewhere in Ror-Bhyk or Denyr.

  There was a question of price, of course. I had only a few hundred Divines to my name, and I didn't want to mooch of Ren and her mom all the time.

  Might need to look into getting a paying job at some point so that I can add money to the “pile” or at least cover my own expenses.

  I walked up to Ren and asked her about that.

  ‘I wouldn't worry about it,’ she shrugged. ‘There will be plenty of work with setting everything up in the barony and setting up the trading stuff, so you will easily earn back your keep and more.’

  ‘If need be we can also go delving and/or dungeoneering.’ Lilyth joined us. ‘We need to get more experience AND we have an expedition to fund.’

  ‘Good point,’ Ren nodded. ‘I’ll try to get us some intel on that. Delves should be easy enough to find, as they frequently pop around in ruins. Dungeons though…’

  She shuddered.

  ‘We’ll get there when we get there,’ Lilyth said. ‘We can always go and clear Akh’ret’s Mercy again. There was…’

  I interrupted her by clasping her mouth with my hand.

  ‘I know you are joking,’ I hissed,’ but if you ever suggest that again I’ll feed you to Phosi.’

  Aki and Dhelmir eyed us suspiciously after that outburst, but we waved them off.

  ‘A minor disagreement,’ I smiled. ‘Nothing to worry about.’

  Dhelmir rolled his eyes and we continued.

  ‘Women…’ I heard him mutter under his breath.

  Lilyth

  The deeper we got into the Murdergrove the more… disquieting it seemed. The shadows got longer and darker and the trees seemed to hate our presence. Even Aki and Caei looked uncomfortable now.

  What is with nature hating my very existence? First my allergies, then Zalikh, then the Dryad and now this. Was I the meteor that killed the dinosaurs in a previous life or something?

  Then something gave me a pause.

  The Dryad! I am a Plant fae now. What if I am like Ren here and can feel something that the others cannot? I need to check this. Could be important.

  ‘Can we stop for a moment guys?’ I said. ‘I feel nature calling.’

  My friends looked at me in confusion. It wasn't much of a secret among us that I didn't have to worry about that particular bodily function. I caught Aki’s gaze, shifted one of my grass wisps over my eye and corrected it as if it were a stray strand of hair. Understanding dawned in her eyes.

  ‘I’ll come with you to watch your back,’ she said.

  I wanted to protest, but on second thought nodded my assent. It was potentially dangerous here.

  ‘Talk to me,’ she whispered while we were a reasonable distance from the rest of our group.

  She didn't seem particularly enthusiastic about my idea.

  ‘I am not sure whether going that rabbit hole is a good idea right now,’ she pondered out loud, her arms crossed. ‘Ren didn't actively mess with whatever is hiding down here. She just saw things.’

  That was a good point. If something hated you, would poking it in the eye be a good idea?

  ‘Maybe I’ll just check if my Kitsune form gives me a better passive perception?’ I suggested.

  Aki tapped her chin with one of her fingers.

  ‘What if it overwhelms you though? You have no experience with… angry trees.’

  I looked for a good counterargument. One came to me almost immediately.

  ‘It’s better I discover that now than during a fight.’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Transform away.’

  Like many of my bright ideas over the past few weeks, this one was a massive mistake too. Saying that the experience was overwhelming would be like calling an ocean “slightly damp”. I immediately transformed back and Aki had to catch me when I stumbled forward.

  ‘Th… the forest,’ I stammered out. ‘It hates us. It is furious at us. But… it isn't because of us. There is a cancer here… that is causing the trees here… an agonising pain. It forces them to FEEL that pain. To be. Normally… both the cancer and the forest slumber… but… the cancer is hungry… so…’

  ‘We are its food?’ Aki suggested.

  ‘Yes and no. The cancer feeds on pain and suffering. The trees… don’t provide enough sustenance…’

  ‘So… the aura of fear… is the cancer wanting to feed on that emotion?’ Aki was horrified by the implication.

  ‘Y-yes. The forest wants us gone from here… because it… it… will be free from pain then.’

  ‘And the cancer wants us here to drink it all? Which is why Ren said that the magic here forms a web?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I am sorry to ask about this,’ Aki said after a moment of deafening silence. ‘But were you able to locate our quarry?’

  ‘No,’ I sighed in defeat. ‘I spent too little time “in there”. The psychic imprint I got just from the forest’s struggle… It eclipsed everything.

  Aki, to my surprise, hugged me then.

  ‘Thank you for figuring out as much as you did, anyway. It will help us a lot.’

  ‘My pleasure, babe,’ I smiled weakly. 'My pleasure.'