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puppy-wife · 7 days

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Tales of Arcanum #4: The Golden Steps

Cast List:

- Zedrick Took, he/him, human chef

- Evermore of the Summer Court, she/her, dryad

- The Queen of the Summer Court, any pronouns (mostly feminine)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Running. Running. Running. He couldn’t stop running, or he was dead. His legs burned, and he was so tired, but the guards were ever approaching. Zed could hear the howls of the hounds, and he knew his time was running short.

He jumped over a small stream, and looked at his options. He could continue running east, and try to find somewhere to hide. Unlikely to succeed. Out to the east was plains until you hit the Shiroi River, and Zed knew he was not a good enough swimmer to cross that unaided. He looked to the south, and gulped. It was a long shot, and just as likely to get him killed, but he had no other choice. Escaping into the Whitewood was his only path to freedom. He didn’t mean to kill the guy. He was just a cook, he had no idea that noble was allergic to lavender.

Zed took a deep breath, turned south, and ran into the trees. This was a strange forest, even by Arcanum’s highly magical standards. The bark of the trees in this wood, no matter what kind of tree they were, grew white like chalk. It was a strange thing to see, and caused an odd sense of bright light, even under the slightest bit of light. Granted, the sun was high in the sky, which did not aleve Zed’s worries about the pursuing guards. He knew he would be easy to spot if they were to give chase into the trees, but he was hoping the rumors and legends would be enough to dissuade that.

Eventually, he had to stop. Soaked in sweat and panting for breath, he dropped and pressed his back against the base of a tree. He needed to rest, he had been running for so long. The calls of the men and the barking of the dogs had long since stopped, but he could still feel something chasing him. Watching him. It felt as if there was a presence hovering just over his shoulder, but he had no more energy. Maybe if he just rested, just for a moment, he would have the energy to keep going. Find somewhere safe. He just needed to close his eyes...just for a moment…

Zed sat up with a start. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. It was dark now, the light of the moon illuminating the Whitewoods around him. He was unsure of how long he had been asleep, but judging by the stiffness of his back as he stood up, it had been quite a while. He stretched slowly, grunting as he stretched muscles that begged to stay tight and unmoving, and looked around. He had been running for so long and so hard, he was unsure of where he was now, or how deep in the woods. At least his plan worked. He could never go back to Lovers’ Cove, and that was painful to think about. It was his home city, and he would miss it greatly, but living was far more important to him. After glancing in every direction, he decided he would just have to pick a direction and start walking. He needed to get out of these woods, especially now that it was night, and that would not be an easy task, given he had no inclination of where anything even was.

He eventually just spun himself in a circle, picking a random direction, and moved. He thought back to his life in Lovers’ Cove, and then shook his head. Best not to dwell on things he had no control over, and he needed to focus. He had heard lots of stories about these woods, and he shivered. He hoped none of them were true, but in every urban legend, there was always a nugget of truth at least. Tales of strange beasts, living trees, and even the fae were of course choice among these stories. Sure there were some good stories of people swearing they had met with an avatar of the All-Mother, whose Lifetree was supposedly somewhere deep in these woods, but he knew those types of stories were one in a thousand. Besides, the most important fact, and the one that shook him to his core, was that most people who went into the woods did not come out, and the ones who did often did not come out the same.

He had been wandering for a good hour before he heard the movement. He stiffened immediately, and turned slowly. Nothing there. He gulped, knowing that the unseen hunter was the deadliest. He turned back to his front and continued, listening intently. Nothing for a few minutes, and then- crack. A twig breaking. His breathing quickened. There was no mistaking it now, he was being followed. He looked around at the ground quickly. He needed a weapon. He wasn’t much, or any, of a fighter, but he wouldn’t go easily. He picked up a rock about the size of his fist and gulped. He couldn’t believe he had ran so far and escaped, only to be killed in the woods by some beast. He gathered the last of his courage, gripped the stone tight, and spun ready to strike whatever was charging him!

There was no beast. Zed stared hard at the trees around him and waited. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. He stood completely still, listening, and… there was a shuffling in the opposite direction. Here it comes! He spun, ready to face his death, and-- it was a girl. He yelped, and stumbled back. Oh gods, she was naked! Well, kind of. Her skin was brown, and had the texture of bark, but still she had no clothes on!

“A-ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I mean, I didn’t know there was any- anybody out here…” Zed covered his eyes with his hands and turned his head. He waited but there was no response. Slowly, he uncovered his eyes, and oh gods she was so close to him! He yelped again and stumbled, tripping over a tree root and landing hard on his bottom.

“Ouch! Ah, shit.” He rubbed his rear and looked up at the girl again. She didn’t look scared, just curious. She stepped forward and squatted in front of him, studying him closely. He blinked a few times, and looked more closely at her. She was beautiful. She had barklike skin, but it looked very soft to the touch, like it had the look without the texture of trees. She had long brown hair, with little twigs and leaves mixed into it. It almost looked like a natural look, he thought. Her eyes were a golden brown that shone with a feral curiosity in the moonlight. She reached her hand out slowly, and Zed, unsure of how to react, just froze.

Her fingers gently touched the fabric of his shirt and she poked his shirt, and in a strange accent said, “Shit.” Zed blinked.

“Sorry, what?”

She stared at his mouth as he talked, and tilted her head slightly to the side. “Sorry, what?”

He was starting to think she didn’t speak Common.

“Um… hello? Can you understand me? My name is Zed. Zedrick Took.” He tapped his chest, pointing to himself and repeated slowly. “Zed. And you are?” He pointed to her.

She looked down at his finger, and tilted her head to the other side. “Shit? Zed. Zed?” She pointed at him when she said his name. He smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! I am Zed. What is your name?” He asked, putting emphasis on the last word. She just stared at him for a moment, and he sighed. “Yeah, I didn’t think so. What...are you? I hope you don’t plan on eating me. … It's nice to see another face out there though. Do you live here? Obviously you do. That was a dumb question, sorry. Um… do you know the way out? Away from here?” He stared at her, hoping she understood even a single word of that. She just blinked at him, and bared her teeth, attempting to replicate his smile from earlier. He looked at her and then just laughed and shook his head.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Alright, well, I need to get out of here, so I guess we can travel together? How does that sound, will you keep me company?” He slowly stood, trying not to spook her, and offered her his hand. She looked at it and he saw a true smile, and as she took his hand, she leapt forward and pulled him along through the woods. He could hear her speaking, but it was in a language he couldn’t understand at all. It was like she was singing, looking over her shoulder often at him, mixing with her words the sounds of the breeze, the gushing of the river over softened rocks, and the twinkling of the stars. He could think of no other way to describe it.

Zed wasn’t sure where she was leading him, but he could only hope it was to safety.

Zed thought he was lost before, but that was nothing compared to wherever he was now. The brown skinned girl had taken his hand and was leading him through the Whitewood, but he wasn’t so sure that's still where he was. The trees seemed to have an almost golden hue to them, and he swore he saw other creatures peeking out from behind trees to see them as they raced through the forest. He could see sunlight beginning to peek through the foliage and the bright light of the sun caused him to shield his eyes with his hand for a moment, and once they adjusted he looked around again and he gasped. He let go of the girl’s hand and stared at the scenery, his mouth agape.

He was in some kind of… golden city. The bricks of the street he stood on were solid gold, and he could see buildings, built out of golden wood, and in small groves were golden ivory trees with clouds for leaves. There were so many people, creatures of all sizes ranging from tiny humanoids with insectoid wings fluttering about, to a centaur peddling goods out of a golden ivory cart. There were some elves here, but they looked different than any elf he had ever met. They had long ears, longer than his forearm almost, and their hair colors were all bright oranges, somehow reminiscent of the current season of fall they were experiencing.

The girl had stopped, and came back to him, and softly poked his chest again. “Zed?” He blinked and looked down at her, blinking back tears.

“Y-yes? I’m sorry, it's all just so...beautiful. What was it?”

She smiled as she took his hand again, and pointed in the distance to a large golden castle that seemed to be connected to the city only through stairs built into clouds. The castle itself floated about 60 feet off of the ground, with crystal clear waterfalls pouring out of either side of it. She poked his chest again and giggled, and pointed at the skycastle. “What.”

Zed was constantly gawking and stopping to stare as the girl pulled him along. She never became irritated with him, though. She would giggle each time and poke him in the chest, mumbling his name and continue pulling him along. He saw so many amazing and wonderful things while they made their way up the steps to the castle gates and into the castle itself. He saw off in the distance, great winged things that resembled dragons and giant birds of prey. He saw a large number of those elves with the very strange looks to them. He even saw a few humans, though even they looked off to him. Their skin took on a somewhat more gray tone, and their eyes shone like silver. Almost like they were more decorative than real.

However none of the creatures he saw prepared him for the close up beauty of the skycastle. The walls themselves seemed to be made of actual solid gold, and though it sat directly in the light of the setting sun, the metal felt cool to the touch as they passed through the open gates and into a foyer. Inside was even more beautiful than the outside. The metal was carved and bedazzled in so many beautiful stones and gems, only some of which were even recognizable to a man as simple as Zed. He knew the rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and pearls he saw, of which were innumerable, but there were so many strange and entrancing gems in colors he did not even know the name of. The smells of this place were just as intoxicating, as aromas wafted out of open doors and caressed his nostrils. He smelled freshly baked bread, different woods, and one scent he was fairly certain was seafoam. Such a strange allotment of smells, especially considering there were no trees near the castle and especially no ocean.

The girl continued to pull him through another large set of double doors that were gilded in pure ivory and had a large crest of an insect across it that split down the middle as the doors opened. Zed pulled back from the girl as they entered this final room however, and put a hand to his mouth. Tears began to fall from his face as he saw the most exquisite image yet. He now stood in a throne room, and orange golden rays of the setting sun’s light flooded this room. Expertly crafted trees of pure gold and silver decorated the outer edges of this room, and a huge throne in the shape of a giant sun took up the entire back wall of this room. Seated on this throne was a being who could only be described as godly. She was a bright and effervescent silver, and the fur around her neck, arms, and legs looked as soft as air. She stood upon their entrance, smiling down at them, and large moth wings fluttered out from behind her displaying a beautiful black and white image that seemed to swirl as they lifted her from the stage the throne sat upon. The girl took Zed’s hand again and pulled him forward, and he stumbled, unsure of how to act. This was obviously some kind of queen, as she wore a beautiful golden crown that looked like rays of sunshine, and accentuated the long antennae that rose of her perfectly quaffed black hair.

The Queen floated gently down to land in front of the girl, and bent forward to caress her face and kiss both her cheeks and her forehead, the girl giggling the entire time and..was she blushing? Could wood blush? He supposed so. It was cute, he thought.

The two women began to converse in that same singsong language that the girl spoke to him in. He wished he could understand any of what was happening, but whatever it was, the girl seemed very excited. Every now and then, he would catch a word he understood, such as his name, “what”, and “shit”. The Queen looked him up and down, and stared through him, seeming to search his soul. He turned beet red, he had no other choice what with this beautiful woman staring at him.

The Queen squatted a bit to look Zed directly in his eyes. He didn’t think his face could get any more red, but she proved him wrong. He gulped, unsure of what was going to happen next. Very softly, surprising him by speaking in Common, the Queen asked him, “Is this acceptable to you?”

Zed blinked, now very confused, and stammered a bit before replying. “I, ah, erm… what?”

She smiled sweetly and chuckled. “What, indeed. Will you stay and live with us?”

Now Zed was taken completely aback. Is that what the girl was trying to do? Was she saving him from fleeing his entire life by allowing him to stay here? He wondered about her relation to the Queen. He weighed the possible pros and cons to this, and figured wherever he was right now was better than always being paranoid living in Arcanum. This was probably some kind of fae kingdom, right? It surely could not be worse than being wanted for murder. He tried to find some words to describe his situation but the emotion of being granted a second chance was causing him to be more emotional. That may have also been the lack of sleep or food. So instead, he simply locked eyes with the Queen and nodded. “Yes.”

The Queen stood clapping her hands and laughing, calling out in that same strange language, and dozens of fae creatures, including sprites, fairies, redcaps, elves and satyrs, erupted out of the nooks and crannies in the room and began celebrating. There was suddenly music playing, and plates and platters of food were brought into the room. A couple of small gnome-like creatures grabbed Zed and spun him around and he suddenly found himself in a silk tunic and pants. This was definitely strange, and he looked over at the girl, who was also being spun around and when she faced him again, she was in a beautiful white silk dress. Zed forced himself to focus and think a bit. Wait a minute…

The Queen clapped her hands again, this time from the stage where her throne rested. The room fell silent, and every eye was on her. Zed suddenly felt very uneasy, and as if he might be sick.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and all renowned guests of the Court,” the Queen spoke, in Common. “Thank you for gathering for this wonderful occasion. It is with great passion and excitement that I present to you the newest member of our family. My daughter Evermore’s husband, Zedrick!”

The room erupted into cheers and hoots and hollers, and Zed and Evermore were lifted into the air and carried around the room in circles, all the while Zed struggled to come to terms with the fact that he had just agreed to all this and he knew from the legends he heard as a child, there was no breaking a fae contract.

It has been five years since that incident, and Zed looks back on it fondly. As he lays in his bed next to his loving wife Evermore, he thinks about how lucky he has been to have had his life upended like that. It was a shock at first, but one he quickly accepted. He lived a far better life than he could have ever imagined in Lovers’ Cove, and he could not help but have fallen in love with Evermore. She was everything he could want and more. She was a dryad, he had been informed, and lived for virtually ever so long as her tree lived. He had come to learn many things about the fae and their Courts, including some of their language, Sylvan. He was not great at the pronunciations, and he would often be picked on for his ‘accent’, but he couldn’t tell a difference in what he said and others were saying.

He rose and dressed, and Evermore stirred. “Dear..? Why are you awake so early, it is still hours before the Queen will raise the sun.” She rubbed her eyes, and stifled a yawn.

He leaned against the doorframe and smiled. There was no one more beautiful in his eyes than she. “I am simply nervous, darling. I can’t shake these nerves.” Evermore gave him a sad but understanding look. They had learned so much about each other, and they had so many wonderful memories together, but there was one thing they wanted that continued to evade them: a child. It seemed that Zed had some kind of minor mutation from living in the feywild, and it was that he could not father children. They had discussed options, and decided to bring their request for a child to the Queen.

Time came for their appointment, and they made their way to the skycastle. They moved through the beautiful halls once again, and entered the large throne room where the Queen was seated, waiting for them. She rose once they were in eyesight, and greeted them warmly.

“Ah, my children! I am so enthused to see both of you. I understand you come with an official request. What, pray tell, may I assist you with? You have my full strength behind you, my daughter.”

Evermore looked to Zed, who nodded and she cleared her throat and stepped forward. “Mother, we wish to have a child,” as she said this the Queen looked ecstatic and jumped in place, clapping her hands, but before she could interject, Evermore continued. “But we are barren. We have been unable to conceive and so come with the request that you grant us a child.”

The Queen slowed to a halt as this information processed in her brain. Her face clouded over, and her hand raised to her chin while she thought about this.

Zed swallowed and watched her intently. He didn’t know the limits of her power, but hoped with all he had that she would be able to do this. He had seen many amazing things in his time in the Golden Steps, but this would be the thing that completed his life and made him whole.

After an almost unbearably long silence, the Queen looked at them and snapped her fingers. A servant brought forth a bag of clay as she made her way down the steps towards them.

“I have been considering something like this for long, and I believe that this is the solution I have. I worried that this type of problem might arise, and have made certain preparations that will allow us to remedy the situation and provide for a new and useful tool for myself as well!” She giggled, and Zed always worried when she did that. The Queen was a powerful being, the most powerful he had ever met, but she terrified him on a primal level that he could not explain. “This is what we shall do. I shall take a piece of each of you, and create this child. But,” Zed felt his breath catch in his throat, “the child I create will not be the one you care for.”

Zed and Evermore exchanged a look that betrayed their confusion.

“I shall explain. There are many powerful magics in my realm that even I cannot fully control. I will create a child that will be your direct offspring, but they cannot exist here, because if they absorb too much of my realm's magic, I am unsure of what kind of creature they may become! Do not fret, though, my child,” she caressed Evermore’s cheek as she reached them and smiled. “You will still have a child, because I have been offered children from mortals in Arcanum, and you will take one of these as your own. The humans will be none the wiser, because they will raise your child as their own. Both children will be cared for, and only you will know the difference in them. The human child will love you as their birth parents, and will grow powerful here, just as your blood child will have spectacular abilities and will become influential in the human world.”

She took one of each of their hands.

“Does this please my children?”

Zed looked at Evermore, and though there was a touch of sadness in her eyes, there was also hope and a desire for the child. They smiled at each other, both looked to the Queen and nodded.

Thus, the first changeling was born.

#arcanum #tales of arcanum #the golden steps #fae #writing #mine #high fantasy #GM #ttrpg #dnd #short story #changeling

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