The Tainted Hollow: Part 1 (WIP)

Author's Note: 

This is a story concept I've tried to work out a few other times. It's a pretty big departure from Organism X in terms of genre, but as with most of my stuff, it will have a hearty bit of corruption. This story will be a part of a broader fantasy universe that I hope to set other corruption stories in. So far in this story, I haven't reached any corruption/good stuff. Mainly it's just character development and build up, but I hope it will lead to some good payoffs. I'm releasing it early on the blog and adding to it as I go so I can get advice while I construct the story.

This will also be a much shorter series than Organism X. My plan is to do either three or four parts total. However, some of the characters in this series will likely bleed through into other stories set in this universe.

I hope you guys enjoy!

Also: Organism X Chapter 8 will arrive on literotica tomorrow. You can already find it at Hentai Foundry. Once I finish The Tainted Hollow, I will move on immediately to chapter 9. 

Golden morning light filled the halls of the castle tree on the fifth morning of the season of the carp. An unremarkable day for most in the faerie wood, but not for Oona Cailinion. For Oona, the day marked a bright shimmer of light in the drudgery of Royal duties. It was her birthday.

The morning rays flickered across the young fairy’s nose, tickling her and causing her to sneeze. Oona’s eyes snapped open.

It was time.

The second princess of the Faerie Wood bolted out of bed and made her way down the hallway. She reached a humble green door at the far end of the hall and knocked loudly.

There was the soft pitter-patter unique to the footfalls of the fairy race along with a grumbling of colorful expletives. The door flew open revealing a pudgy fairy with very short, very curly brown hair and striking purple eyes. She looked displeased for just a moment. Then her eyes focused on Oona and her expression softened.

Before the pudgy fairy could say a word, Oona dashed forward and snatched her into a tight hug.

“Kell! Guess what day it is!” She cried.

“What day?” Kell asked, her voice straining as Oona squeezed the air out of her. “The fifth of - oh! Happy birthday!”

“Did you forget?”

“No, Oona, I swear! I’m just kinda sleepy. I had the strangest dream.”

Oona jumped on this immediately.

“Oooo, a dream? Tell me about it!”

Nell’s face darkened as she thought about the night before.

“I don’t really wanna talk about it, Oona. Besides, it’s your birthday!”

Now that the chamber servant was starting to wake up, she was gaining back some of her trademark cheer and warmth.

“Not just any birthday,” Oona proclaimed.
A nervous look crossed Nell’s round face.

“It’s the day of your reckoning,” She said.

“Oh don’t say it like that! You make it sound like I’m going to my own funeral!”

Nell slapped her hand to her mouth to stifle a gasp and turned as red as a raspberry. She stumbled backwards into her humble little room and averted her gaze.

“My apologies, Mistress. I reacted poorly!”

“Stop!” Oona said. “And stop with this mistress nonsense. What has gotten into you?”

“Nothing!” Nell cried.

Oona’s eyes narrowed. She could sense something afoot. She could see her mother’s machinations written all over her poor friend’s face.

“Did someone speak with you, Nell?”

Nell’s eyes widened and she retreated further into the room.

“Please don’t ask me that. You know I cannot lie to royalty miss-I mean Ooona.”

Oona hugged Nell again and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, Nell. I hope she didn’t pressure or scare you.”

“Of course not! Our Queen is a majestic and kind ruler!” Nell said, but the tone of her voice betrayed the truth.

Yeah, if you say so, Oona thought.

“As long as she isn’t around, you can drop the mistress junk. If she catches you, I’ll fend her off. Don’t you worry.”

Nell broke into a big, goofy smile that suited her rounded face well.

“It’s really no trouble,” she said. “But thank you mistress-er-Oona! Ah, I practiced it and now I can’t stop!”

Oona giggled, her button nose scrunching up as she did so.

“No come on, we’ve got to get ready for the ceremony!” Oona said, seizing her friend’s wrist and dragging her back down the hall towards her lavish apartment.

“Ceremony?” Nell asked.

“Well they must have a ceremony! It is my Reckoning after all. You remember Fia’s Reckoning, right? I’ve never seen Castle Tree Court so packed!”

“Right, Fia. The King and Queen certainly put on a party with her.”

“Exactly! I can only imagine what they have planned this time,” Ooona gushed. “They’re always trying to outdo themselves! Now help me pick out what to wear!”

The next hour was a blur of tossed dresses and upturned bottles of makeup and perfume. Before long, Nell loosened up and began to laugh and play with her best friend like old times.

The entire time, Oona was an unstoppable ray of sunshine. The second princess of the Faerie Wood defied expectations by nestling herself in an intricately woven uniform of golden silk-wood leaves and spun unicorn fabric. The design was inspired by the paintings of elven warriors from the distant south brought back by trading and patrol parties. While beautiful beyond any mortal garment, the dress held a second purpose. The materials would provide exceptional armor against both blade and magic. A fitting dress for the Reckoning Oona desired.

Nell initially refused to dress up, feeling it impertinent to risk crowding in on her princess’s highest moment. However, Oona insisted and before the hour was up, Nell’s pudgy body was tightly encompassed in an elegant violet party dress inlaid with minium leaf. The rare metal glowed with faint blue light in the shadows of the room. It was, by far, the prettiest garment the humble servant had ever worn.

At the end of the hour, Oona and Nell stood before the large, ornate mirror in the back of the princess’s spacious apartment. Both looked radiant in their own ways.

Staring at herself in the mirror, Oona could not help but notice the slight similarities between her dress and the enchanted armor of her sister - especially the silver stitched orchid at the center. From a distance, it was not much different than her sister’s own trademark golden rose.

So be it, Oona thought. Fia, you’re about to have competition!

The fairy princess shook out her long hair, its golden strands sparkling in the new light. One day, these locks would be locked in the ceremonial braids of a defender of the forest.

“Are you ready, Oona?”

Oona took a deep breath.

“As ready as I can be! It is my Reckoning after all.”

The princess stepped into the hallway and looked around.

“It is awful quiet,” She said. “I wonder if they have a surprise planned.”

For a moment, Nell’s face turned overcast and she averted her glance. The servant fairy knew something, but whatever it was did not seem good. For the first time that day, a sickening doubt crept into Oona’s heart.

They couldn’t have forgotten. There were a lot of things they were capable of, but forgetting her Reckoning? That was unthinkable.

***

The throne room was crowded when Oona arrived at the front entrance. Dozens of courtiers and warriors and scribes filled the vast chamber of carefully tended branches and vines. Many of the younger fairies of the court splashed about in the central pool of the vast room, giggling and playing.

“It really is crowded,” Nell said.

Oona didn’t like the way she sounded so surprised. The longer the day dragged on, the sicker she felt.

“Well a surprise party is probably out of the question, but at least there seems to be something planned.”

The two fairies took to the air, Oona on her graceful swallowtail wings and Nell on her functional brown skipper wings. They landed just before the first step to the throne itself.

The crowd around the throne was even denser, but through the mess of butterfly wings and slender bodies clothed in every possible color of the rainbow, Oona recognized the billow of fiery hair at the center. It was the blazing mane of her sister Fia - the supreme warrior princess of the Faerie Wood. The pit inside Oona’s stomach grew deeper.

Without thinking, Oona drove into the crowd, pushing and shoving courtiers out of the way to get to the center. As she wormed her way in, she noticed various courtiers flashing her looks of annoyance.

Finally, Oona reached the center. There, her mother and father sat upon their matching ironwood thrones, gazing intently at Fia. Behind the king and queen stood Marquette, the court sorcerer. All three of them were focused intently on the object Fia held in her hands.

It was a jagged and ugly blade made of dusky gray metal that sucked in the surrounding light rather than reflecting it. Oona had never seen a blade like this, but the very sight of it filled her with unspeakable dread.

Oona’s mother noticed her first. The queen gave her a blank look as she pushed through the crowd, betraying nothing of her underlying feelings.

“Hello daughter,” the queen said. “Look what Fia has in her hands.”

Fia turned to face Oona and her icy blue eyes filled with light and joy.

“Oona! I’ve been meaning to pay a visit to your quarters. I just got back late last night from another patrol.”

“Enough prattling, Fia. It’s below your station,” the queen said.

Fia’s attention snapped back to her mother.

“Yes, my queen.”

The queen stood and walked over to Oona, resting an elegant hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Do you know what that blade is?” The queen asked.

Oona shook her head. Between the dark energy wafting off of the blade and slowly dawning realization that her Reckoning was an afterthought, it was all she could do to not vomit.

“It’s a goblin blade. Fia found it while out on patrol on the northern border.”

Oona’s eyes widened, fear temporarily supplanting disappointment.

“Goblins? In the Faerie Wood?”

The queen burst into cold, mirthless laughter that echoed across the throne room like falling rain.

“I highly doubt it. They have been extinct in these parts for centuries. Besides, that sword is ancient. Still, it’s quite a find by your sister, is it not?”

“I’ll still be collecting a party to inspect the area starting this afternoon. We must be certain of the kingdom’s safety,” Fia said.

“Such a good protector,” the queen gushed.

Oona shook away from her mother’s hollow touch and looked upon her assembled family in disbelief.

“Wait a minute,” she said. “Is that why everyone is gathered?”

“It’s not any day that our very own daughter recovers a relic of the ancient wars, dear,” the king spoke up.

Oona stumbled backwards, feeling as if her heart had been ripped from her chest. This had to be some kind of prank. It was a fairy custom after all. Or maybe it was a dream.

It was the fifth day of the season of the carp. It was her day. How could they forget?

“What day is it, father?”

“Why, it’s the fifth day of -- oh my.”

The king’s face went pale and his eyes bulged in his slender, aged head. Meanwhile, Fia looked shell-shocked and proceeded to hide the goblin sword behind her leg and out of sight.

The queen maintained her empty, level expression as did Marquette, the sorcerer.

“Oona,” Fia said. “I was on patrol, I forgot. I’m so sorry.”

“We’ll start the festivities right away!” The king said, his voice shaking.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Oona said. Tears welled in her big green eyes as she looked upon them. “You forgot. You forgot my reckoning.”

At that moment, Nell barrelled through the crown and fell flat on her belly in front of everyone. She took one look at Oona and gasped.

“Oh no,” she said.

“Oona, we’ll make it up to you,” Fia said.

“I don’t want it made up to me!” Oona cried. “You got your parade. You got your feast and your ball. What do I get? A make up prize. By the Gods, how did you forget?”

“I didn’t,” the queen said.

The regal fairy stepped up to her daughter, towering over the younger fairy. Her wings spread out in full, showing the pattern of a monarch butterfly, but with speckles of icy blue and silver instead of the usual orange and black.

The queen continued.

“I instructed Marquette this morning to perform your trials. You can receive them as soon or as late as you wish. I suggest the former - he tends to get sluggish in the afternoons.”

“Thank you, my lady,” Marquette said. “I live for your praise.”

The queen turned back to the sorcerer and flashed him a wry smile that the king did his best to ignore.

“That’s all?” Oona said, nearly sobbing at this point.

“Oona, dear. This isn’t the time for parties and parades. We have active patrols circling the kingdom on a regular basis. The ancient wars are long gone, but threats remain. We must focus our resources wisely.”

“Let her have something, mother,” Fia said. “She deserves it.”

“I don’t want your charity, Fia!” Oona snapped.

Fia’s eyes widened and then went cold, making the powerful warrior look very similar to her mother.

“Enough,” The queen snapped. “You can perform your trials today and be sorted by tomorrow. Ask no more of me.”

Oona looked for a friendly face in the crowd and found only one. It was the round, sweet face of Nell. The chamber servant gazed at Oona with a blend of sorrow and pity, her eyes misty.

Of course Nell knew. Mother would have gotten to her early, knowing their close bond.

Loneliness seeped into Oona’s heart like a poison. She felt cold, even though the air of the throne room was balmy and sweet smelling.

The stricken princess leveled her eyes on the queen.

“I’ll face my challenges right here. Right now!”

The queen’s eyes narrowed to slits.

“You are embarrassing us,” she said.

“You said I can take my challenges at any time today. I’m taking them now.”

The queen turned to Marquette.

“Grab the necessary items. Be quick.”

Marquette shook his head.

“That won’t be necessary, my queen. There is only one challenge this one is interested in. You can tell by her little costume,” he said.

Oona seethed with rage. Her outfit was the product of months of careful enchantment and weaving. It was true armor.

Marquette noticed the princess’s anger and smiled. His canines were longer than average and glistened like snow.

“She desires to be a warrior, like her sister. We can settle that right now.”

The sorcerer approached Oona, shaking his right arm and producing a small dagger from his cloak. It was a plain thing. No designs or intricate shaping - an anomaly in the among fairies. And yet, when the dagger became visible, Oona watched as brave, strong Fia began to tremble.

“Do you know what this is, young princess?” Marquette said.

Oona shook her head. The trials of the Reckoning were a closely guarded secret among the royal family.

Fia stepped up and laid a powerful hand on the sorcerer’s shoulder. Marquette brushed it off as if were a loose branch.

“Marquette, don’t you dare put my sister through this in front of all of these--” Fia grimaced at the gathered crowd. “These voyeurs.”

“Your sister has made her request. I am respecting it. You should too,” the sorcerer responded coldly.

He turned back to Oona and continued.

“You saw the parades and feasts for your sister’s reckoning, my dear. You never saw what came before. All fairies can play with magic, but only true warriors can master it. This blade tests this capability. Only the most powerful magical beings can wield this blade without losing control.”

Fia piped up again, this time nearly screaming.

“Listen, you bastard sorcerer. You aren’t doing this to her.”

“Fia, shut up,” the queen snapped.

Fia looked as if she had been slapped. She stared wide-eyed at her mother and then slinked away from the sorcerer.

“I’m sorry Oona,” she said. “I tried.”

Oona looked at the rinky little blade and then at the sorcerer.

“All I have to do is hold the blade and if I’m powerful enough, I can train as a warrior? That’s nothing. I’ve been using magic since I was little.”

“Every fairy uses magic starting at an early age. Even this fat trollop you pal around with,” the sorcerer said, pointing a bony finger in Nell’s direction. “Don’t take this lightly, young mistress Cailinion. You’ll regret doing so.”

Oona felt hatred rise like bile in her soul at how the sorcerer regarded poor Nell. No one deserved to be treated like that, certainly not sweet Nell. He would pay for that.

“Give it to me.”

The sorcerer grinned and through the blade in the air. It spun three times before he caught it by the blade-end while remaining unharmed. He then extended it to the princess.

“Brace yourself,” he said.

“Don’t patronize me,” Oona said.

She snatched the dagger out of Marquette’s hands and that’s when it happened.

A flash of red light filled Oona’s vision, followed by an explosive pain that radiated up her right arm. Oona tumbled backwards, landing on the hard ground below. The pain rapidly spread across her, filling her entire consciousness. Despite this, she did not scream and she did not let go.

The last thing Oona wanted was to give the damn sorcerer any satisfaction.

There were gasps and cries from the crowd as the second princess struggled against the blade. Her entire body was now engulfed in a hellish blaze of light.

Then Oona’s vision went dark. A moment later, she opened her eyes on an inferno. Before her, the castle tree was set ablaze, flames licking at the sky. The sky was black, but showed no stars. Scattered across the ground were dozens of corpses. Deer and fox and even fairies.

Oona’s vision swirled and reformed on a putrid swamp. The air smelled strongly of decay. From the shadows of the surrounding trees came strange chirps and bellows. Before the princess, three noxious red eyes appeared, arranged in a triangle. They stared at her with pure hatred.

Another shift. There was a flash of intense pain and a woman’s agonized scream. A fairy rolled across the ground, coming to rest face down. Oona saw that her wings were severed, leaving a pair of bleeding pits in their place. That, however, wasn’t what truly horrified her.

No, it was the fairy’s hair that sent her into a spiral of despair. It was the fiery red mane of Fia, Oona’s dear sister.

Oona screamed, though she could no longer find her mouth, and felt her consciousness plummett to untold depths. In the next moment, she opened her eyes and looked into Fia’s terrified face.

“By the Gods,” Fia said. “Oona, talk to me.”

Oona sat up and looked around. Everyone in the crowded throne room was staring at her. She could feel the weight of hundreds of eyes upon her shoulders.

In front of the young princess sat the blade, looking innocent and plain.

“I failed,” she said.

Marquette held his hand above the test blade and muttered an incantation. The blade flew to his palm and disappeared up his sleeve.

“As I suspected,” the sorcerer said. “You are your father’s daughter.”

Fia glared at the sorcerer. Oona could feel the hatred wafting off of her sister as she began to spit venom at Marquette.
“What is that supposed to mean? You dare say such things about your king?”

“I mean no offense. It is a simple fact.”

Oona saw that her father now stared vacantly down at the ground. It was no secret that the king was not of the warrior class, but to hear it brought up with such brazen disregard was shocking.

Meanwhile, Fia was still on the warpath.

“You meant every bit of offense! I see the way you look at my father. It’s the same way you look at her.”

Fia jabbed a finger at Oona.

Oona expected their mother to intervene, but the queen merely stared at her daughter with that empty, level gaze.

“You should watch your tongue, first princess,” Marquette answered.

“You should watch your back. Look at her! You humiliated her! You knew she wasn’t going to pass that test. We all knew!”

The words escaped the warrior princess’s mouth before she realized what she was saying. They hung in the air like strung up corpses.

“You knew I would fail?” Oona asked.

The queen’s lips curved into a nasty little smile as she looked upon her stricken youngest daughter.

Fia whirled around and tried to put an arm around her sister.

“It’s not that. Really! I misspoke.”

Oona slapped her sister’s arm away and scrambled to her feet. Rage like a fever descended on her.

“You did not,” Oona said. “You meant every word. All my life, I have wanted to be just like you. A warrior. It was all a lie.”

“No! Not a lie,” Fia said.

The queen stepped forward and stood next to Marquette. She was still wearing that nasty smile. By the Gods, Oona wanted to knock that smile off of her.

“It was a delusion. One indulged by too many in this court, myself included.”

“There are other places for a fairy,” Marquette added, raising an eyebrow. “You could be a seamstress, for example. That’s a fine little costume.”

“It’s my armor!” Oona cried.

The sorcerer grinned.

“Sure it is.”

“Enough, Marquette. She might not be a warrior, but I sure am. You do not want to test me.”

Oona felt her rage boiling over. The lies, the condescension. Now Fia was here to protect her. It was always Fia who got to be brave. Fia who was exalted. Fia, Fia, Fia.

“Stop protecting me!” She shrieked. “I’m not some child!”

Fia turned cold.

“Excuse you. I am trying to help.”

“But you aren’t! You never have. You don’t even know what it’s like! You get to be the face of the kingdom and I’m the forgotten black sheep. And you!”

Oona pointed at her mother.

“No matter what I do, it is never enough for you! All you see is your glorious first daughter. I guess you can’t be bothered to remember you have a second one!”

“Are you finished?” The queen responded.

“I am,” Oona said. “I am finished forever. I’m leaving the kingdom.”

The queen through her head back and cackled.

“Then go, my dear daughter. You’re free to leave!”

Even in self-imposed exile, there was no satisfaction. Mother was glass that never cracked. Oona could feel the tears streaming from her eyes, tickling her cheeks. She felt so small surrounded by the crowd. It was all too much.

In that moment. Oona broke.

“I hate you!” She screamed at her mother.

The queen simply smiled.

“I know.”

She didn’t care. None of them did. Oona shook her head in despair. There was truly nothing for her here. She flapped her swallow tail wings and took to the air, zipping as fast as she could out of the throne room.

She needed to get away. Far away.

***

The sun sank low in the sky, casting a fiery hue over the Faerie Wood. Oona gazed down at the bubbling brook in front of her, musing on how the water looked like molten gold during sunsets. You could just cup that water between your hands and be richer than all the kings and queens of the world.

Oona tossed a stone across the brook, infusing just enough magic into the item to make it bounce perfectly.

See? I can do it too.

The dagger must have been a trick. The sorcerer never liked her and mother was always manipulating things from the shadows.

All of a sudden, Oona heard the desperate flapping of wings and a high pitched shriek. In the next moment, Nell skittered to the ground next to her.

Oona flashed the chamber servant a dark glare.

“Are you here to retrieve me?”

“No! They don’t even know I’m gone.”

Oona eased up. It was nice to see a friendly face.

“You really are my only friend,” Oona said. “Thank you for coming, Nell.”

Nell stood up straight and saluted Oona.

“It is my honor, princess!”

Oona smiled and plucked another rock from the river bank. She focused on its surface, imagining her own life force surrounding and permeating the surface. In the dying light, the dull surface of the rock began to sparkle.

With a flick of the wrist, Oona rocketed the stone into the distant woods, making the air hiss with the release of magical power.

“See? I can do magic just fine. I think that test was rigged,” Oona said.

“You might be right about that,” Nell responded, but she didn’t sound convinced.

The chamber servant picked up her own rock from the shoreline and cupped it in her palms. She closed her eyes and focused. Within moments, the rock began to glow with a soft violet light that matched Nell’s eye color.

The rock lifted into the air and began to spin, starting slow and gradually picking up speed. Oona watched the glowing rock become a blur in equal parts wonder and envy.

The moment was shattered when a loud shriek rang out from the woods.

Nell screamed and the rock fell to the ground, the purple glow retreating from its surface.

“What was that?” Nell cried.

Oona looked off into the direction from which the sound came and drew a slender shortsword from a scabbard at her side. As she did so, Nell squeaked and jumped backwards.

“Princess, where did you get that?”

Oona flashed her friend a mischievous grin.

“I may have dropped by the armory before I left the castle tree.”

Another shriek rang out across the land. Oona could sense pain and fear radiating from the woods beyond. It felt like storm clouds rolling over the folds of her mind.

“Stay here,” she told Nell.

The second princess of the Faerie Wood leaped into the air and flew towards the treeline. As she approached, she noticed a soft white light radiating from the shadows.

Oona landed and approached the light carefully, doing her best to remain quiet and unseen. As she got closer, the glow intensified. Then, after another few steps, she saw it.

Nestled in a patch of brambles was a small, glowing orb. Oona could make out vague shapes swirling under the surface of the orb moving like living ink.

The orb bounced up and down within a cage of thorns and let out another ear piercing screech, causing Oona to cover her ears in pain.

The thorn-tipped vines surrounding the orb sprung to life and closed in on it. Oona had never seen a plant move like this before, but she had heard of similar things witnessed by patrols in the borderlands. As the thorns closed in, the orb dimmed and began to let out a series of strange whimpers.

In that moment, Oona felt her heart gush with pity for the orb of light.

“By order of the royal family of the Faerie Wood, I command that you let this creature go!”

The vines went still and for a moment, Oona thought the issue resolved. Then, without warning, a black vine lined with razor sharp thorns lashed out at the princess like a whip, striking Oona on the leg.

Hot pain erupted across Oona’s leg, causing her to cry out. From the other side of the brook, Nell called to her.

There was no time for Oona to respond. The vines redoubled their attack, slashing at with abandon. In response, Oona brought her small sword up. This creature’s impertinence would not go unpunished.

The creature flicked another vine Oona’s way, but this time she was ready. Oona brought her blade out in a savage slash, severing the plant’s limb.

The bramble bush let out a hiss of pain and retreated backwards, in the process leaving an opening for the little ball of light to escape. The orb flew into the air and came to hover just above Oona’s shoulder.

“Hey, you’re free! Are you okay?” She asked.

The little orb bounced up and down in the air as if it were nodding its head yes.

The thorn bush tried one final strike at Oona, but it was weak and easily blocked by the fairy princess. After that, the plant dashed off into the gloom of the forest.

There was a thud on the ground behind Oona and she turned to see Nell standing before her, red in the face and holding a big rock between her pudgy hands. The poor fairy’s violet eyes were wide and moist from fear.

“Princess, are you okay!”

Oona looked down at her right leg. There was an ugly looking scratch across her shin, but otherwise, she was unscathed.

“I think so.”

The orb bounced up and down before orbiting Oona several times. As it did so, it let loose several little chirps and peeps of joy.

“Gods be praised,” Nell gasped as she stared at the orb. “Do you know what that is, Princess?”

Oona shook her head.

“Whatever you are, you’re pretty cute, little buddy,” she said to the excited little orb. “What is it?”

“It’s a wisp!” Nell exclaimed. “They usually are only found in the deepest parts of the Faerie Wood!”

“A wisp, huh? Is that what you are?”

The orb bounced up and down in assent.

“We should leave this place, Princess. That creature was dangerous. We need to warn the royal guard!”

Oona thought of the humiliation of crawling to the royal guard, and by extension her sister, for help. All her bluster and rage rendered impotent.

“Not yet,” Oona told Nell.

Oona cupped her hands and motioned for the wisp to land between them, which it did obediently.

“You can understand us.”

The orb bounced up and down.

“Can you speak?” Oona asked.

The wisp moved from side to side as if to say no.

“Hmm, is there any way for you to communicate with us?”

The wisp bounced up and down excitedly and shot into the air. It did a loop-de-loop before descending on a patch of dusty earth. From its body shot forth a tendril of bluish lightning that carved its way across the earth. Oona watched as symbols began to carve themselves upon the ground. She immediately recognized them as the high language of the fairies.

The letters on the ground spelled out the word “write”.

“Good,” Oona said, clapping her hands together.

“Princess,” Nell said cautiously. “It’s getting dark. We should head back.”

Oona put out a hand, indicating for her friend to wait, and turned her attention back to the wisp.

“What was that creature?” Oona asked.

The wisp danced across the ground with its little lightning bolt, carving out the word “taint”.

“Taint? Do you know what it means , Nell?”

Her companion shook her head.

“Whatever it is, it sounds vile,” Nell responded.

Oona scratched her head and pondered what the wisp meant.

“Why did it attack you?” Oona asked.

Instead of writing new words, the wisp merely bounced up and down above the one it had already written.

“Taint? It wanted to taint you?”

The wisp bounced up and down emphatically. In the same moment, a cold and foul smelling winds fell upon them from deeper in the forest. Oona shuddered and felt goosebumps rise on her exposed skin.

Peering into the distance, Oona began to notice odd details. The trees seemed to grow more sickly the deeper they were in the forest. Strange vines and fungi with unnatural colors attached themselves to some of the trunks and branches of the most withered and unhealthy of these trees.

“Taint,” Oona repeated, mulling over the word.

“Princess, we really should head back. This seems like a job for the royal guard. Your sister should be told.”

Oona leveled a cold glare at Nell.

“Don’t bring my sister into this.”

“Yes, Princess. My apologies.”

Oona turned her attention back to the wisp.

“You came from the deepest part of the Faerie Wood, right?”

The wisp motioned Yes.

“Why are you all the way out here?”

The wisp flew back over the ground, carving the words “driven out” into the ground before tapping the word “taint” once more.

“So the taint drove you out?”

The wisp confirmed.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Oona said. “I’m guessing the taint is more than that thorn thing?”

The wisp bounced up and down.

“Did it make that thorn thing?”

It did.

Nell once again tried to pull Oona away. By this point, the sun had slipped over the horizon and the last of its rays were rapidly retreating from the forest. Nell’s voice was frantic.

“We don’t have to go back, Princess, but we shouldn’t stay here. I have a nasty feeling about this place.”

Oona looked off into the distance at the sickly trees and fungi.

“Taint,” she repeated.

“Please, Princess.”

“You can go back, Nell. I won’t judge you. But I’m going to figure this out.”

“You can’t! It’s dangerous.”

“Warriors don’t run away from danger. They face it bravely to protect the innocent.”

Oona reached out and cupped the wisp, feeling a reassuring warmth rush over her body as the creature nuzzled against her palm.

“Can you take me to your home,” she asked it.

It could.

“Then take me there. I’ll save your home and fight this taint. Besides, I fought off that thorn bush pretty easily.”

The wisp bounced around the glade like a ball of lightning, its joy palpable. Even the nervous chamber servant, Nell, had to smile at the sight.

“I’ve made up my mind, Nell. I won’t force you to come, but it would be nice to have you by my side.”

Nell looked like she was about to vomit, but she forced a smile.

“I suppose I’ll come along,” she said. “I couldn’t leave you alone to face whatever this taint business is.”

“Good,” Oona said. “It’s a party then!”

***

The three of them soared over the woods in the darkness with the wisp leading the charge. Every passing moment took Oona further from home. This was uncharted territory for her.

Despite the gloom, the young fairy princess felt an effervescent cheer inside her heart. Before her was an adventure; her best friend flew at her side and her newest friend looked to her as its savior. Beyond anything else, this was the opportunity for redemption Oona craved.

After nearly an hour of flying in the darkness, the wisp began to sink down towards the canopy below. Oona and Nell followed suit and before they knew it, they had plunged into an alien portion of the Faerie Wood.

The first thing Oona noticed was the stench. It was a pungent, rotting smell with a spicy undertone. It was a smell of neither death nor life, but instead something in between.

The trees in this portion of the woods were even worse than the ones Oona had seen earlier. They were graying, gnarled monstrosities with black leaves and glowing fungal blooms.

The putrid glade the trio had entered was silent save for a whistling breeze coming from an unknown source. It was cold, despite the Faerie Wood being in the height of its summer and before long, both fairies were shivering.

“Is this your home?” Oona asked the wisp.

The wisp moved side to side to indicate that it wasn’t and then proceeded to lead them slowly forward.

“Come on,” Oona said. “It wants us to follow.”

Nell stared at her surroundings in equal parts awe and horror. A humble servant of the castle tree, she never before saw such unsettling rot and decay in the wood.

“This place scares me,” Nell said.

Oona extended her hand to her friend. Just because she felt on top of the world did not mean Nell felt the same way. The chamber servant was being so brave for her sake.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’ve got me by your side!”

Nell clutched Oona’s hand and flashed her a weak smile.

“Thank you, Princess.”

The going through the forest was slow as this section was far denser than any Oona or Nell had ever walked through. Gnarled roots and sticking brambles lined the forest floor in most areas leaving a handful of openings to carefully traverse.

Despite it being the dead of night, an eerie green glow emanated from the woods. The soft light illuminated just enough of the woods to make the fairies uneasy.

At one point, a large black fly with many luminous red eyes randomly placed across its body landed on a tree next to Nell. It regarded her with a curious stare before zipping off into the woods, leaving the chamber servant deeply disturbed.

Eventually, the wisp lead the pair to a clearing in the woods. Here, the air was even colder and the whistle of the wind had become a howl.

Standing in the clearing were three obsidian pillars with arcane markings carved across their surfaces. Between them, the earth rose to form a mound. The wisp darted forward and hovered over the mound, looping through the air in excitement. Clearly, they had reached the spot.

“This is your home?” Oona asked, stepping forward.

The wisp bounced up and down to indicate that it was.

Meanwhile, Nell looked over the pillar closest to her. The markings carved into the black stone reflected red in the dim light of the clearing. Something about the markings seemed familiar to Nell, but she could not quite place them.

“Come on Nell,” Oona said, approaching the mound.

Nell fought the urge to listen to her dear princess and continued to examine the markings before her. She had seen similar markings before, but where?

“I’ll be there in a bit, Princess,” Nell answered.

“Come on, we have a forest to save!”

Reluctantly, Nell pulled herself away from the pillar and slowly approached the mound. Oona was already climbing to the top, her sword in hand.

Something was wrong with this place and Oona did not see it. Nell spared one final glance at the pillar and that’s when it hit her. A bolt of fear ran through the fairy as she remembered where she had seen those carvings before.

“Princess, we need to leave!” Nell cried.
Oona turned to face her, looking peeved.

“We have a mission, Nell. We can’t chicken out now.”

“You don’t understand, Princess. These markings, they’re from the ancient wars!”

“What?” Oona said, shocked.

“These are dark fleet markings!”

Oona glanced at the pillars and froze. How could a dark fleet artifact still exist in the heart of the Faerie Wood?

At that exact moment, a red glow fell upon the clearing, bathing Oona’s body. Turning around, she saw the wisp - only, it wasn’t the small white orb of light it had been. It was bigger now, reaching nearly the size of an overripe melon and it burned with hellish light. The writhing ink under the glassy surface of the orb condensed into a single point. It was an eye.

“Princess, run!” Nell screamed.

The red eye focused its wicked glare on Nell and sent her flying with a burst of magic.

“Nell, no!” Oona cried.

In the next moment, the second princess of the house Cailinion froze like a corpse as magical energy sparked through her body.

The mound rumbled violently before splitting down the middle, revealing a deep gouge in the earth. From this gouge emerged dozens of thick, black vines which wrapped themselves around the arms and legs and torso of the paralyzed fairy princess.

In the distance, Nell recovered from the magical blow just in time to watch her beloved princess and best friend be carried into the dark maw of the opened burial mound. The last she saw of Oona that night was her bulging, horrified eyes.

Then the fairy princess and the burning eye disappeared into the earth, which resealed immediately afterwards.

***

Oona awoke to the sound of water dripping. Her consciousness slowly emerged from the murk and she opened her eyes on a cramped, shadowy chamber. At the center of the chamber was a deep pool of black liquid with a pungent odor.

The fairy princess tried to move only to find her arms and legs secured to the wall by the same kind of dark vines that pulled her underground.

“Nell!” Oona called out. “Where are you, Nell?”

There was no answer.

A wave of panic washed over the fairy as she realized she was completely alone. She glanced around the chamber, looking for her sword, but could not see it.

From deep within the black pool came a gurgling sound. A red glow appeared at the center of the pool and the liquid began to bubble. In the next moment, the wisp, now in its malignant red form, emerged from the pool and slowly approached Oona.

The aura given off by the orb was repulsive and mind numbing - a far cry from the warmth and reassurance Oona had felt while touching it at sunset.

“What are you?” She asked.

The burning eye turned back towards the pool and summoned a dollop of the oily fluid into the air. The fluid weaved its way in front of Oona and began to spell a familiar word.

“Taint,” Oona repeated. “So this was all a trick?”

The eye nodded and started to creep closer.

Oona looked on as if she were having a nightmare. How could she have been so foolish? For the first time since her catastrophic reckoning, Oona desperately wanted to see her sister. Who else could save her now?

The only thing she could do is put up a good bluff.

“What are you going to do? Kill and eat me? Better make it quick. Pretty soon, my sister will be here and you do not want to mess with her!”

The eye cocked itself to the side and spelled out the word sister as a question.

“Yeah, she’s the greatest warrior in the land and she’ll rip you apart!”

Deep sadness sank into her bones as Oona remembered her last exchange with her sister. The look of hurt in Fia’s eyes. It wasn’t her fault that mother and father could be so vile.

The eye manipulated the black liquid again, this time spelling out the word “mother”.

Apparently even her thoughts weren’t safe.

“Stay out of my head,” Oona snapped.

She half expected the eye to kill her right there. It certainly seemed capable of it. Still, why had it lured her all this way? Why had it captured her? It had plenty of opportunities to harm her, but she felt fine.

Instead of attacking, the eye dimmed its light and came very close to Oona. She could feel animal warmth rising off of the surface of the being and soon, beads of sweat formed on her pale skin.

The black liquid swirled in right front of Oona’s eyes, forming the word “weak”.

Oona blushed and looked away in shame, but the liquid followed her line of sight. She watched as it reformed itself, this time into the shape of the dagger from her reckoning. It turned until the handle was pointed directly at Oona.

What in the heavens was this thing’s game?

“You know about that?”

The eye nodded.

“Of course. The entire kingdom saw. Why wouldn’t a demon eye in the middle of the forest see it?”

The liquid dagger shattered into thousands of little black droplets before reforming into another series of words. What it spelled this time shocked the fairy princess.

“I can help you,” it spelled.

“What?”

The liquid fell to the ground and condensed into a small humanoid form. The figure was a female fairy clad in jagged and imposing armor. It wielded a pair of sabres with lethal efficiency as it danced and cut its way through legions of invisible enemies. As the figure turned to face Oona, she realized with a shock that it was her clad in the armor.

“I wish,” the fairy said. “I couldn’t even pass my reckoning test.”

The figure melted into an amorphous sludge that rose into the air. It swirled, forming the letters for the word “help.”

“How could you help me? And why? I saw the markings on those pillars. You’re part of the black fleet, aren’t you?”

The eye blazed and released a loud shriek that rattled Oona to her core. The liquid below it reformed itself into several words in quick succession.

“No”

“Hate”

“Enemies”

Oona cocked her head to the side. This puzzled her. Why would something that lived in a place covered in black fleet ruins hate them so much?

“You hate the black fleet?”

The eye nodded.

“But the markings.”

The eye formed the word “trapped” with its dollop of liquid.

So the black fleet had imprisoned this creature. It matched with everything Oona had learned from her elders regarding the dark army of antiquity.

Still, if this thing was trapped, how had it made its way nearly to the castle tree? It hardly seemed confined to a prison.

“You left this place to find me. How are you trapped?”

The liquid shifted to form an answer.

“Only a part of me.”

So this eye was only a portion of something bigger. Oona wondered what it was like to be trapped alone for centuries. It was a ghastly thought that made her heart swell for the strange being.

“If you’re trapped, then we can help. My people fought the black fleet. We have powerful magic on our side. We can free you.”

The eye shook its body back and forth emphatically, refusing Oona’s help.

“But why?”

The eye did not answer. Instead, it formed the word “help” again with its black liquid before motioning to her with its body.

“But how could you help me?” Oona said. “I’m not special. I’m not Fía. I couldn’t even hold onto a bloody dagger.”

The eye brightened and brushed up against the fairy princess. It drew the black fluid close to her eyes and spelled out the words “show you”.

Before Oona could react, a tendril emerged from the bulk of the eye. It swirled through the air before coming to rest just above the fairy princess’s forehead. From the tip of this appendage came a single drop of liquid that glowed like molten iron. The dollop, no bigger than a drop of rain, fell upon Oona’s skin, where it sizzled.

“Hey,” Oona yelped. “Get it off!”

The liquid took on a mind of its own and rolled down the princess’s forehead. It made its way over the ridge of her nose and then defied all natural laws by arcing from the tip of her nose directly into her mouth. It was down Oona’s throat before she realized it.

The liquid burned and tasted spicy. As it entered Oona’s stomach, it seemed to react with her body and expand, filling her belly with warmth. Before long, Oona’s entire body began to tingle as if lightning were coursing through her veins.

“What is this?” She asked. “It feels so-so-oh!”

At the moment, the warmth hit the fairy’s nether regions. Her virgin lips immediately moistened and begged to be touched. Meanwhile, her tiny breasts began to tickle as her nipples hardened against the enchanted material of her makeshift armor.

The muscular vines pinning Oona to the wall retreated, granting the fairy princess freedom. However, all she could do with her newfound liberty was fall to her knees and grope reflexively at her burning crotch. Before she knew it, Oona was rubbing herself, trying desperately to relieve the building pressure between her legs.

As Oona writhed and clumsily pleasured herself, a wave of crimson energy radiated across her skin. Arcane markings revealed themselves before disappearing into her pale flesh. The fairy princess didn’t notice. All she could focus on was the inferno building in her core, bringing her to an alien threshold of need and desperation.

Moments later, the princess cried out as an earth-shattering wave of lust exploded from her nether regions. Her body took on a devilish illumination in the gloom of the cavern before a shockwave of energy erupted from her body. The entire chamber shook violently. Rocks and debris fell from the ceiling, crashing onto the dusty ground and splashing into the pool.

Then the cave fell silent save for the shallow, rapid breaths of the princess in her post-orgasmic state. Oona’s mind was blank as she lay on the ground, feeling a steady trickle of fluid escape her lips.

There had been times when she had experimented with herself in the privacy of her lavish apartment in the Castle Tree. However, none of those moments ever lead to such an eruption of pleasure.

After several minutes, the fairy princess finally sat up into a kneeling position and drank in her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was the debris scattered around the room.

Turning to the eye, Oona asked, “Did you do this?”

The eye shook back and forth to indicate no.

Oona’s eyes widened.

“I did it?”

The eye indicated that she had before spelling out the word “power”.

Oona stood up and immediately noticed that her arms and legs felt full to the brim with pent up energy. She felt as if she could leap hundreds of feet in the air without even using her wings. The fairy princess bent down and picked up a chunk of rock near her foot. She held it in her palm and focused her energy on its surface, just as she had done at the brook.

Awestruck, Oona watched as the rack began to glow bright red, saturating with energy. In the next moment, the fairy chucked the rock at the wall as hard as she could. It flew through the air like a crossbow bolt before exploding on impact with the opposite wall.

Oona cheered and began to dance across the chamber. Never in her life had she managed that kind of destructive magic. Now, after drinking one single droplet of whatever the eye had given her, she was filled with potent reserves of energy. How was that even possible.

“Power,” Oona said, echoing the eye. “You gave me power! I can be like Fia!”

The eye nodded.

“Thank you!” Oona cried.

Oona turned her attention to the opposite wall and extended her arm. Focusing, she brought all of her energy to a single point in the tip of her index finger and then let it out. A ray of fire shot from the fairy’s finger, colliding with the opposite wall in a loud clatter. Some of the vines lining the wall even burst into flame.

Having this kind of power was incredible. For a fairy that had always struggled with the most fundamental gift of her people, the power to throw this kind of magic around was intoxicating. Still, it was only a tiny fraction of what her sister could manage. Oona had seen Fia’s exploits first hand. The warrior was a prodigy beyond even the strongest of her predecessors.

Oona imagined Fia and her, back-to-back, facing off against hordes of enemies. She imagined the parades and parties in their honor. They would be an inseparable duo. Two sisters, both unbelievably powerful in their own ways, carving out glory for the castle tree and the Cailinion name.

Oona turned to the eye, her eyes blazing.

“More! I want more!”

***

With an impotent cry, Nell the chamber servant focused all the magical energy she could muster and flung it at the mound. There was a loud bang as the magic collided with the mound. There was a spray of dust that filled the air, obscuring the mound for a couple seconds. Then, as it cleared, Nell saw the fruits of her labor.

A tiny little crater marked the top of the mound. It sank into the earth a couple of feet and then stopped. There was no entrance to the chamber below.

Nell screamed and dove into the crater, tearing at the dirt with her bare hands. The earth scorched by her magical attack burned her fingers and knees, but she did not care. All that mattered was getting at her beloved princess.

As the humble servant fairy strived to reach her best friend, a strange chattering sound arose from behind her in the woods. Nell dismissed the sound when it first rang out. Woods this creepy were bound to have all sorts of strange creatures. As long as she kept her wings at the ready, Nell knew she could get away from anything. Besides, she had a mission.

However, the chattering sound grew steadily louder. Soon, the sound of rustling branches and snapping twigs joined the odd call of the unknown beast. Fear replaced righteous fury in the heart of the servant fairy as the size of the approaching creature dawned on her.

Nell looked behind her into the treeline, but saw nothing. Again, the loud chattering sound rang out.

“By decree of, um, the Castle Tree and house Cailinion, I demand that you show yourself, forest creature!”

More chattering rang out from close by and a spindly black shadow skittered between the trees before disappearing once more. Whatever this creature was, it was larger than any Nell had ever seen in the woods.

Nell swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the earth beneath her feet. There had to be an entrance into the place the evil wisp had taken Oona.

“Please hold on, Princess. Please,” Nell whimpered.

Tears of despair fell from her cheeks as she burrowed in the dirt like a rat. She knew she was running out of time.

The chattering sound rang out again, this time much closer. Every hair on the back of Nell’s neck stood on end as she sensed a presence directly behind her.

Panic overtook the fairy. Whatever stood behind her radiated ill will.

“I’m sorry princess,” Nell whispered.

Then she jumped into the air, flapping her wings with all her might. In the next moment, something hot and sticky slammed into the fairy’s back, sending her tumbling to the ground. Nell tried to free her wings from the substance, but found that they were completely immobilized.

She screamed and rolled around to face her attacker, immediately regretting doing so the moment her eyes lit on its hideous bulk.

It was a spider. Not the small kind that only ever got as big as a royal dubloon. Those ones hid in the corners of the castle and fed on bugs. No, this creature was enormous.

Its hairy body was nearly as black as the night’s sky and covered in sickly red eyes that glowed dimly in the darkness. It had many legs - too many legs. The monster’s head was by far the worst aspect of it. A pair of thick, blade-like fangs protruded from the bulbous head that was more eye than flesh or hair. Hundreds of eyes, both big and small, stared at Nell with demonic hunger.

Terror seized the young fairy and by some miracle drove her to her feet. She sprinted into the woods, shrieking like a banshee.

Behind her, Nell could hear the insane chattering of the spider as it took off at her with unnatural speed and grace.