The Web of Fear: A Tale of the Black Rabbit

 

Enlay was not supposed to be here, of this he was certain. But this time there were no cutting warnings or creepy fae giving him notice. Indeed, no warnings had come at all. And so he found himself weaving and dodging past the balls of explosive moonlight being thrown from the beast's horns and wishing that for once he had chosen to not get involved. But it was too late, and as he jumped and twisted in midair to avoid being hit by a pillar of moonfire, he knew that the danger to the Glomdoring was too great to have not stepped in. He only hoped the plan would work.

 

Rixen was ahead of him, sitting crosslegged in the cave corridor. She had been preparing, knowing it was up to her to give Enlay the needed breathing room to escape the clanking beast. As he entered the passageway, she slammed her hands into the ground, channeling natural energies through herself and causing a thick wall of briars to spring up in his wake. There was a horrendous bellow as the beast slammed into the briars, and the ground shook with fury as it tore at the vines.

 

It wouldn't be long until it was through the briars, but it was long enough for Enlay to stop and catch his breath, gasping from the exertion of leading the creature down this path without getting himself killed in the process. Before a moment had passed, however, he had regulated his breathing, and the two were on the move.

 

"I have to wonder who would get the idea to put a moonbeam in THAT," Rixen commented as the pair jogged down the tunnel, seeking to put as much distance between themselves and the bellowing monstrosity as they could.

 

Enlay shook his head in distress. "I've been thinking about that, and I don't like the answers I've come up with. Hopefully I'm wrong."

 

Their conversation was cut short as a grating cry came from behind them, followed by a loud scraping sound, and then the build up of speed in trampling hooves. The two quickly took to a run, racing towards the entrance of the caves. As they raced up the slope, Rixen closed her eyes and called out to the roots of the trees above them, calling on them for aid. The roots responded, crashing through the dirt walls and slamming into the ground below, some striking at their aggressor, and others merely providing a temporary delay by way of barrier. It was enough.

 

Reaching behind him, Enlay grabbed Rixen's hand, leading her past the descending roots and now collapsing cave tunnel. Suddenly they were out, bursting into the clearing outside the cave and jumping instantly, with Enlay giving an extra tug on Rixen to help her get into the air. With his free hand he reached out to the vines hanging from the trees, and they reached out in kind, spurred on by Rixen's druidic call. With his paw clutching a vine, the foliage wrapped around Enlay and Rixen, hauling the up to the safety of the branches, just as the beast charged out into the clearing itself.

 

For a brief moment, the beast was lit by a stream of moonlight pouring through the canopy of the forest. A massive, mechanical bull, shining in the light despite the dirt and debris now covering its riveted steel hide. It reared back on its hind legs, gouts of steam howling from various pipes and openings as whirling gearworks could be seen beneath the frame. The bull bellowed, a massive, ferocious sound that shook the forest from end to end.

 

Then the moment was gone, and the moonlight was swallowed again by darkness and shadows. The bull was trapped in a web of thin, shadowy tendrils, caught by Nisha's complex ritual and held in place. Clearly frustrated by its sudden inability to move, the bull bellowed again, writhing and fighting against the shadows that dipped into every crevice and jammed every gear. Only then did Campion descend from the trees, his scimitars plunging into the beast's head and damaging the control unit irreparably. There was a faint struggle as the beast fought to use what power it still possessed to do anything at all, and then it fell silent forevermore.

 

"We did it!"

 

As the vines loosened around them, Enlay gave Rixen a big hug, squeezing her tightly. The vines went suddenly slack, and the two fell to the forest floor, with Enlay twisting midair to land on his back, shielding Rixen from the fall. Safely on the ground, if a bit winded, the two smiled at each other.

 

Their celebration was interrupted by a looming shadow, dark even against the darkness, with an unmistakable, if somehow even more infuriated, scowl.

 

"If you two are quite done," Nisha hissed, "then there is still work to do."

 

Sheepishly, Enlay slid out from underneath Rixen, who rolled into a sitting position, her face pinched worriedly. The rabbitkin ran to the now cold and still machine, pulling his trusty scarab from his satchel. Gingerly, he set it on the bull's head, where it dug its legs into the machinery, and began hungrily sucking the moonbeam into itself. Finally stated, the bloated scarab released itself and fell back into Enlay's arms.

 

"So what now?" asked Campion. "We give it to that sky freak, and be done with all this?"

 

Enlay shook his head worriedly. "No. See, I've been thinking about this. Why would Rhenboe have wanted us to get these moonbeams in the first place? He already had them. He said he wanted to "test" us, but why? What does he get out of it?"

Nisha nodded slowly. "Perhaps we should keep the scarab for Glomdoring, then. I think Queen Lhiannan might be able to make use of it somehow."

 

"I agree. I think he was playing us, not that we were in much position to refuse. But now the moonbeams are ours, and I see no reason to pass them off."

 

A tinkling laugh like the sound of wind chime echoed through the clearing, then there was an explosion of light, a rush of wind, and when they could open their eyes finally, they saw a peculiar, lanky fae with a hawkish crest of multi-coloured hair upon his head. And in his hand, the fae held the moonlight bloated scarab.

 

"Rhenboe!" Enlay hissed, trying to dash forward and grab the scarab, only to be stopped by a prismatic barrier surrounding the fae prince.

 

"Tsk, tsk, Enlay, you can't take this back. You gathered it for me, heheh. And really, I must say how much more entertaining you have made it than the Serenwilders. Those fools you simply tell that you're the reemergence of a near dead race of fae, and they're tripping over themselves to give you moonbeams. You three... or four now, is it? You have kept me on my toes."

 

"So, then, you did have a plot?" Nisha's voice cut through the glittering motes.

 

Aye, shadow girl. I needed the sacred power of the moon, and the corrupted power of darkness, melded together in a specific amount, so that I could create my greatest work. I told you once I wanted to see how powerful your Wyrd was, and this was true. But, I may have misled. I wanted to see how powerful it was used against you, and the rest of the Basin."

 

Rhenboe held the glittering scarab in his hands as he floated higher in the glade, out of reach of the four below. Streams of prismatic motes flowed down his arms and infused into the scarab, which bloated further until it suddenly ruptured with a flash of moonlight and a tormented howl of agony. Rhenboe held in his hands a ball of writhing light and shadow, roiling with darkly iridescent colours across the entirety of its surface. With a crooked smile, the fae prince threw the ball down, slamming it into the forest floor.

 

"I have won, Enlay. And all of the Basin will fall against my web, now, thanks to you." He laughed again, the tinkling chimes sounding hostile and menacing, and then he vanished, leaving the glade to darkness.

 

But it was not dark for long. Silvery threads began to rise from the ground, spreading out like a spider's web building itself across the darkness. The softly luminescent threads spread rapidly, digging into the soil and trees as the web grew. Within moments, the glade was covered with the web, and the quartet was retreating to a safe place.

 

***

 

Kensi prowled through the forest, grumbling darkly to himself. He was not fond of the Wyrden wood that stole his sister from him, and was even less so now that it was filled with a swiftly growing moonlit spiderweb that was actively trying to kill him. He had seen the effect as he wandered the forest looking for his sister, to try again to convince her to return to his adopted home in Shanthmark. Instead he found a sickly deer, overwhelmed by the silver web as it sucked its life-force from the poor creature's body, leaving a withered husk ensnared in the strands. Kensi was revolted, but he didn't have time to retch over such a sight, as the web seemed vitalized by its kill, and began moving towards him at a horrific pace.

 

Everywhere he moved, it seemed the web was growing, larger and larger, spreading through the trees, across the ground, and everywhere it could get a hold. Kensi constantly found his path blocked, everywhere he turned, grasping tendrils of corrupted moonlight reached out towards him. He sighed to himself, finally having run out of places to go.

 

It was then that he noticed the cave entrance, and while he was leery of entering a confined space with the web hungering after him, he had no choice. Fortunately, his decision was made easier by the sudden appearance of an aslaran girl, calling his name.

 

"Kensi, quickly!"

 

He ran as the wave of threads crashed down around him, the threads greedily grabbing at the few small animals that had found no other shelter, draining them of all life. He ran to the cave where his sister stood, waving a torch that burned at the silken strands and provided him with access. He ran past a shrivelled faeling corpse, tangled in the web, a victim of its consuming hunger. He did not care. He ran until he slammed into a massive wall of fur and armor, barely recognizing it as an igasho before he collapsed.

 

Campion hoisted the aslaran boy to his feet, holding him steady as he gained his bearings. Kensi stepped back, glanced around, and narrowed his eyes, quickly forgetting his lack of composure as he readied to scold his saviors.

 

"This," he hissed, hiding his nervousness as he watched Rixen drop the torch and the cave opening seal up with the frightful web, "this is the danger you drag my sister in to, with your promises of glory? I knew you were no good tricksters, the lot of you. Rixen, we need to find a way out of here, and quickly. You can't stay here, playing these games with these fools."

 

"Oy, you got a lot of nerve, kid!" Campion fumed, roughly releasing the boy to his unsteady feet.

 

"That's right, Kensi, I came of my own free will. And the only place we're going is deeper into the tunnels, where we've built a refuge for the time being. Stop treating me like a child, when you're acting so childish yourself."

 

Enlay struck his tinderbox, lighting another torch and waving it helplessly towards the opening of the cave. "Now is not the time, you two! This stuff is getting in here, and the fire isn't doing much anymore."

 

The group stood for a second, pondering the reality of their situation, then they as one turned and began to move though the tunnels, towards the underground shops and stores of Glomdoring. Kensi, eager to argue with his sister about his beliefs on her safety, hung to the back where their voices would be low. Campion simply rolled his eyes as they walked. No one was paying attention when the web began creeping along the dirt walls of the tunnel.

 

A single silver thread lanced out, catching Kensi in his shin. The aslaran boy cried out in pain, hacking at the strand with his claws. But one strand was replaced by two, and then a dozen, and then a hundred, and Kensi's cries were a thing of terror as he more and more feebly attacked the web. Rixen and Nisha were on it, sending shadowfire to try to burn the web away, and tearing at it with briars. Enlay strummed his mandolin, sending eerie notes to wash over the web, and with a hiss it finally retreated, long enough for the girls to grab the youth and drag him to safety.

 

The damage was done, however, and their efforts were too late. Kensi huffed and wheezed, gasping for breath with lungs that had had the life sucked out of them. His leg was withered down to cracked skin and brittle bone, and his eyes were glazed over with pain. Rixen collapsed next to him, scooping his head into her lap and holding him as what life remained slowly ebbed from his body.

 

Not a word was said. Nisha stood guard in the tunnel, warding off the web with a torch of shadowfire, while Enlay and Campion quietly dug a grave for the fallen youth. As Kensi was lain to his final rest, Nisha quietly called forth a shadowbound banshee, and had it sing a mournful song accompanied by Enlay's haunting playing. Rixen stood with fists clenched, hot tears wetting the fur of her face as she said her goodbyes. And then in silence, the group returned to the commons, weaving amongst the crowds of forestals, ignoring the conversations about the web and how to deal with it, and finally settling into a shadowy tea house. It was only then that Rixen finally spoke.

 

"Rhenboe must die."

 

Enlay went over to her, sitting next to her and offering her a comforting shoulder to lean on, an offer which she took. She closed her eyes and rested her head on him, too tired to continue her tears. Now, she resolved, was the time to turn her sadness to strength. She could grieve for her brother later.

 

Across the shop, Nisha stared at the pair, a dismal frown on her face. With a whirl she stood from her perch and stormed out of the tea house, fists clenched and feet clonking across the dirt. She marched out into the tunnels, dangerously close to the now slowly approaching wall of webs. A hoarse cry tore from her, and the shadows responded, rending into the web and seeking to tear it to shreds. But the web continued, digging into the shadows and building on them, capturing the wisps within itself and refusing to let them go.

 

"Something the matter?" Campion's gruff voice sounded behind her.

 

"She is a tramp, Campion. Her brother dies in front her and she just clings to Enlay like she's his lover. It's reprehensible. Her conduct since joining the forest has been..."

 

"I'm gonna stop you there, Nisha. She needs a friend right now, and Enlay's a friendly guy, that's all. What you're doing is jealousy. And given the position we're in, we need to all be on the same team here. You could stand to be a bit nicer to Enlay, too. He likes you, you know, and you treat him like dirt."

 

Nisha didn't respond, only sending another wave of shadows to tear ineffectually at the web, so Campion backed off, watching quietly until she tired and joined him on a return to the cave.

 

While Campion and Nisha talked, Rixen and Enlay had a conversation of their own. Nisha's exit had not gone unnoticed, and the furrikin sighed discontentedly, knowing her anger was directed at him. The aslaran girl, for her part, had her own idea.

 

"She really doesn't like me, does she?"

 

Enlay sighed again. "I think it's my fault. We're friends, but she doesn't like me very much, so it's probably guilt by association."

 

Rixen sat upright and murmured to herself, "I'm not that guilty." She pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the black rabbit, who was worriedly playing with his ears. "It's not because she doesn't like you, silly. I think she likes you more than you know. She might just not know how to handle it herself, and acts mad at you instead."

 

"That's weird. She likes me so she's mean? How do I get her to stop?"

 

A wry smile crossed Rixen's face. "Have you tried talking to her about it?"

 

Enlay shook his head.

 

"Then give her a present to throw her off guard, and then slip in and get her talking. You might learn something"

 

It was then that Nisha returned, sweeping imperiously into the tea house and settling into a high backed chair, casting a glance over to Enlay and seeing that he was not quite as close to Rixen as he was left. The aslaran girl gestured to Campion, calling him over on the pretext of trying to find a tunnel not choked off by the web so they could make their way out of the forest.

 

The two sat quietly for a moment, neither certain of how to proceed. Then a smile lit Enlay's face. He quickly dug through his satchel and pulled out an only slightly squished eclair wrapped in paper. Then he scampered over to Nisha and handed her the pastry.

 

"What... what is this?" She unwrapped the eclair, and stared at it with a bemused expression on her face.

 

"It's a pastry I made before we got thrown into the mess with the mechanical beast. It kinda looks like a redcap's hat now, though, doesn't it?"

 

"I think it looks more like a pigwidgeon's hat, with the way it's crumpled." She tentatively scooped a bit of the creme filling that was oozing out, and tasted it. "This... is not bad. You did good, Enlay."

 

He beamed brightly. With a swift hop, he twisted through the air and landed on a chair next to Nisha, causing her to raise a hand to her neckline and give a half-smile at him.

 

"I liked your song, earlier, the one you made the banshee sing. That was really nice of you to do for Kensi." Nisha frowned but said nothing, so Enlay continued. "Did you teach it that song, or did you just tell it to sing for you?"

 

She sniffed disdainfully. "You may be a bard, Enlay, but that doesn't mean you have a monopoly on music. I happen to like singing with my fae. And I may not be a conductor, but they do a very good job following along."

 

"Heh, I know. I was just wondering if you and your fae wanted to sing with me for a while. Until Rixen and Campion get back, at least."

 

A worried look crossed her features briefly, then settled into a bland smile. "We really should be thinking of a solution to the web problem, not dilly-dallying. But... I suppose a little music while we recuperate would not be unwarranted."

 

Nisha reached out to the shadows, and from them drug a pixie, a sylph, and a leprechaun, which she quickly admonished and gave instructions to. Enlay settled in with his mandolin and began quietly strumming, playing a low harmony to match Nisha and her chorus. Their song grew louder than intended, echoing through the tunnels and caves below the Glomdoring Forest. A murmur grew, rippling through the bunkered down commune until it became a roar of excitement and Enlay and Nisha were finally forced to quit their tune.

 

The left the tea house as Rixen and Campion came rushing up to them, the aslaran girl excitedly babbling and nearly drawing a sharp rebuke from Nisha, who thought better of it and simply asked her to calm down and explain clearly. Rixen exhaled slowly, allowing a long fluid breath to creep from her lungs.

 

"That song, the web doesn't like it. When we started to hear it, we noticed the web began to wilt away, and crumble. So Campion and I tried, and though it wasn't very good, we confirmed it. The web would retreat when we began to sing at it! You know what this means? We have a way out!"

 

Enlay shook his head. "It's more than that. We have a way to defeat it!" He was met with blank and expectant looks, so he rolled his eyes and continued on. "The Tower of Silence, remember. Last time we activated it, the noise could be heard as far away as the Gloriana River. If we do it again, but manage to make it louder, we can probably stop the whole thing directly."

 

Everyone stopped to absorb his words. A big grin played across Campion's face, but it was Nisha who spoke first.

 

"Well done, rabbit. Well done. I think now this means we prepare for war."

 

Her eyes flashed with dark intent as one by one she called her fae to her, dragging them into the murky darkness of the tunnels. As she gave her fae instructions, Rixen slipped into a cloak of crow feathers, her demeanor becoming harsh and corvine. When the group was ready, they marched down the tunnels towards the web. Enlay set a tune to the rhythmic stomping of Campion's feet, punctuated by periodic caws from Rixen. Nisha's fae chorus backed the song, and as they approached, the web withered and allowed them passage.

 

But it did not stay withered for long, and as soon they emerged above the great chasm of Glomdoring, the web was lacing its silvery strands back down the tunnels. They could not stop, though, for fear the web would engulf them as it had everything else in the wyrden woods, so they kept up their song, slowly marching forward surrounded by a protective shield of music.

 

Eventually they emerged into the foothills south of the forest, where the web was lighter but still a threat attested to by the shrivelled bodies of eyelash vipers and cockatrice. They pushed through the gloomy foothills and scattered trees, finally coming to rest on an isolated outcrop up in the Southern Mountains. The web struggled to gain purchase on the gravely mountainside, leaving them finally safe. They ceased their ensemble performance, and looked out over the Basin below.

 

"Nil, this is bad," Campion swore softly.

 

From the outcropping, they could see far into the Basin, to the glittering depths of the Inner Sea and the Sea of Despair. Glomdoring, the dark forest, was now covered entirely in a blanket of white webbing, draped so thickly that not even the trees could be clearly defined any more. But the web extended further, covering nearly the entire southeast corner of the Basin. Balach swamp, the Blasted Lands, and they could even vaguely make out the smog soaked fires burning around Magnagora to keep the web at bay. It seemed to be growing more slowly to the west, having scarcely crossed the Gloriana River to slowly encroach upon Castle Djarrakh.

 

Rixen gasped as she looked out at the devastation of the web, murmuring worriedly, "This is too much. Will this actually work?" Then her eyes lit on something distant in the Grey Moors, and went wide. "Enlay! The Tower of Silence!"

 

He looked, squinting out into the distance and then groaning himself. Breaking into a run, he led a charge, sprinting through the mountains with his allies tailing behind, and only Campion able to keep pace. He stopped past the Gloriana River, on another overlook above the moors where he could see the Tower more clearly.

 

The once dark stone structure had changed considerably. The upper segments of the Tower now floated in the sky, held aloft by skeins of glowing power. Strange symbols rippled across the ancient stone. A circular staircase, now exposed to the open air, spiralled around the former edge of the tower to a suspended platform, hanging in the sky. And above the platform, only visible due to his sparkling prismatic radiance, was Rhenboe.

 

"I think the fae is taunting us, friends." Nisha maintained her cool, brushing her hair over her pointed ears as she looked out at the Tower.

 

Enlay scowled miserably. "He's always been a little on point, hasn't he? He knew this was going to happen and set up a trap for us. A very obvious trap."

 

Rixen flexed her hands, extending her talon-like claws. "He just made it more convenient, then. He's right where we need to go. And I think we all know what needs to be done, don't we? F'ai Glomdoring."

 

* * *

 

In ages past, the open skies over the Grey Moors had been a favoured playground of the sky fae. The vast expanses of clear sky above the heath was a perfect place for their merriment, and while they enjoyed other places, none were as special to them as the skies of the moors.

 

The legends held that the sky fae had died, killed in battle with the Soulless, never to return. And so the Tower of Silence was built as a burial site, a monument to their legacy, empowered by the grief of the now nameless Voice that sang with them long ago.

 

Whatever truth there was to the legends, two things were clear to Enlay. For one, the sky fae were very much alive. And secondly, they had not lost to the Soulless without a fight.

 

The Tower was now a bastion for the sky fae, a veritable fortress that ascended into the open air. All around the fantastic structure of glowing granite and shining tourmaline, fantastic spirits of the wind and air swarmed about with predatory intent. The bird-like ouranola screeched about the sky, flapping their twin sets of rainbow feathered wings and lashing out with stingered tails. Mercurial anemola gathered together their wispy green forms, shifting into a variety of threatening shapes. And weaving through them all were the feathery, serpentine nephela, bearing cloud coloured scales and strangely leonine faces.

 

A whirl of green caught Enlay's eye as he stood before the Tower, and he glanced up quickly enough to see an anemola twist itself into a spear-like shape and come hurtling downwards. Campion readied himself, jumping in front of Enlay and letting the fae slam into his crossed scimitars, then thrusting it back and slashing it into green motes. As the fae dispersed on its beloved winds, Campion growled to no one in particular, "I promise I'm gonna feel real bad about this."

 

Enlay prepared his mandolin. "We all know what we have to do, don't we? Let's get to it, and put and end to Rhenboe once and for all."

 

Campion pulled a shield from his back, sheathing one of his scimitars as he did so. Then he began to clang the flat of his blade against the shield in a rhythmic progression, and soon the Tower responded, singing out with a harmonic resonance that flooded the air around them with near crushing waves of sound. After glancing back to make certain everyone was ready, he charged forward with a roar, leaping at a shrieking ouranola and spearing two of its wings.

 

As Campion crashed to the ground with his foe, Rixen took to the air, flapping her cloak of crow feathers as though they were wings and speeding through the lot of airborne assailants. Hers was the hardest job, as she called out her raucous caws in a distinct rhythm, acting as a metronome for the others to act by.

 

Nisha turned to her choral coterie, kneeling before them and giving them final instructions. "To Mother Night you owe this service, to work with Brother Crow. At the caw of His, and only then, attack. But always you must sing the song I taught, and never falter. Now go."

 

The fae surged forward as Rixen cawed, following Nisha and Enlay into the Tower. Another caw, and they surged to act in a flurry of noise, punctuating the notes of the song with unconstrained emphasis. Another ouranola fell from the sky, paralyzed by the barghest's cry and poxed by the slaugh's wicked wiles, only to be set upon by a blade-fingered redcap who cackled in time with the chorus's song. Another caw came, and a nephela was drawn from the sky, dragged down by a sylph, and stuck all over with pixie arrows. Nisha herself delivered the killing blow, stabbing her athame into the feathered serpent's throat as Rixen cawed above.

 

Enlay dashed up the circular staircase, his training keeping him playing his song despite the jarring movements. Ahead, a group of anemola had created a wall of whirling green spikes, intent on piercing him as he ran. Instead he went into a handstand, then sprung over them, landing on his feet. He whirled in place, facing the rapidly shifting group of wind fae, and in lieu of a note he played a minor second interval, sending the damaging harmonic vibrations at his shapeshifting foe.

 

He got more than he bargained for, as the empowered Tower resonated with the interval, and the harmful vibrations lashed out at everything. Rixen was caught in a caw, and everyone else howled in pain, causing the Tower to howl back. Nisha regained her composure swiftly, lashing shadows at her fae to bring them back to focus and continue their singing. But as she looked around, she knew Enlay had inadvertently evened the odds for them. The nephela and ouranola limped through the sky, dazed and flying haphazardly. The anemola were scattered into a sparkle of green motes, temporarily unable to reform.

 

"Enlay!"

 

"I know! Everyone, rush to the top!"

 

With their foes disoriented, the group surged upwards, running up the stairs and into the now open areas of the tower. Few of the fae challenged them after the sonic disturbance, seemingly content to let them make their way to the top. Those few who did challenge them were quickly dispatched with a rhythmic grace, as the song never stopped. At least, not until they ascended the floating stairs and emerged on top of the floating platform where Rhenboe awaited them.

 

"Welcome, friends!"

 

The iridescent fae floated serenely in a column of rainbow motes that flitted about his body. Surrounding and backing him was a host of his sky fae, waiting on his command to descend and scourge their foes. Enlay's heart sank at the sheer number of them. But Rhenboe descended without them, and so the furrikin levelled his gaze at his nemesis.

 

The fae prince spoke first. "I'm somewhat pleased you made it here, everyone. I would have been terribly disappointed in you if we couldn't have a final confrontation. But you have to know that you've lost already. There are too many of us, too few of you, and no way for you to stop my web from spreading. I know you won't go down without a fight, but let us all accept that you WILL go down."

 

"Rhenboe," Enlay cried out, "why are you doing this? What do you stand to gain from killing Glomdoring with the web?"

 

"Enlay, Enlay, I am saddened that you are so narrow minded. I'm not after Glomdoring. I want -all- the mortals of the Basin to die. Your forest was simply a good starting place, ripe as it was a powerful and useful energy."

 

"But why, Rhenboe?" Nisha interjected. "The mortals have done nothing to you, and would indeed welcome your return to the Basin."

 

"DONE NOTHING?" Rhenboe bellowed, a howling maelstrom surging from him. "Do you know where you stand, girl? The tomb of the sky fae. This was built as a trap for us, a snare, to use us as bait for the Soulless so that our poor, tortured Goddess's Voice could be used as a weapon. She alone protected us, casting all of my kin into a slumber and hiding us away until the day that I was able to free us all. A day long after She had died, the only one who cared about us.

 

"We once were warriors, proudly patrolling the skies of the world and offering what aid we could. We fought Crazen, and Muud, and Kethuru, and because of us, many mortals lived longer than they would have otherwise. And how were we repaid? Deceit and betrayal, and the sacrifice of our only remaining friend. You all deserve to cower in fear as the web comes for you, knowing that nothing will stop it from sucking the life from your bones and doing, finally what the Soulless could not."

 

A shrill caw from above interrupted the fae, as a feathered aslaran swooped down and grabbed him, hauling him into the air and then descending again. Rixen used her momentum to slam Rhenboe into the stone platform, shaking it violently.

 

"Enough talk," she cawed out again. "Enlay, Nisha, Campion, it's time to end this!"

 

The horde of sky fae descended as Rhenboe rose up, straightening his battered body and groaning in unexpected pain. His kin surrounded the group on all sides, and Rhenboe watched the carnage with twisted delight, feeling pangs of mourning for those of his who fell, pierced by sword or rent by vine, or sickened with vomitous shadows. But as he watched the mortals play defense against the fae army he became increasingly aware that something was off. Their attacks had a strange rhythm to them, and they missed many obvious openings in service of that rhythm. The elfen girl didn't fight at all, instead leading her fae in a song of all things. He sharpened his senses, listening to the strains of the song as he drifted closer. Then his eyes widened in panic.

 

Nisha's fae song hit a crescendo as Rhenboe dived at them, hurling sprays of rainbow colours at the group and screaming for the sky fae to fully assault the small group. He was too late. Since they had entered the Tower, Nisha had been instructing her fae to sing the song Rixen had once sang, that awakened the Tower and amplified its power. The Tower responded as the music reached its conclusion, humming with a volume and violence that shook the air across the entire Basin and painted the sky with slick rainbow patterns.

 

Enlay led the final attack, playing several notes on his flame maple mandolin that sent an eerie pulse throughout the area. Shadows rippled and swarmed over the Tower, and amplified by its power they crept up into the sky, mingling with the rainbow sheen and embracing the whole of the Basin with dark vibrations. As one the four cried out with crooning notes that froze their blood, whipping the Tower into a frenzy of Wyrden Song that echoed across the far reaches of the mountains surrounding the Basin.

 

The Tower twisted violently, the shimmering skeins of power that held the stones aloft turning to wyrden shadows that pulled the Tower back into its normal state. The shadows snaked out, grabbing at the sky fae and hauling them back into the confines of their former prison. Rhenboe surrounded himself with a whirling maelstrom of colour, but the resonance of the Tower was too much and the colours darkened and turned against their summoner, dragging him shrieking into the stones of the Tower along with his kin. The air shuddered for a moment, and then everything was silent, and still.

 

* * *

 

In the quiet night in Glomdoring forest, the members of the commune still tended to the damage that had been dealt by the web. Thought plants had largely been spared the life-draining effects, the numerous creatures that roamed the forest were slowly having to be returned to their normal populations, and funeral rites were still being held for the fallen.

 

Rixen perched on a rotting, vine covered branch, watching sullenly as a small group dispersed from a stone shrine where someone's memory had just been honoured. As much as she could, she attended the rites, to watch and mourn for her brother. In the weeks since the web had fallen, the pain it inflicted had barely begun to dull.

 

She glanced to the trunk of the tree she was in, watching as Enlay scrambled up and sat next to her, awkwardly clinging to the branches. A soft smile crossed her face as he took her hand and patted it gently.

 

"Still missing him, huh?"

 

She turned and stared down at the altar, chewing her lip. "I think I'm okay with indulging a little bit of Black Sorrow while we recover the forest."

 

Enlay nodded and leaned up against her, letting his legs hang over the branch and swing freely. The two chatted for a while as Enlay tried to get her mind on other things and Rixen slowly let him. Then Nisha entered the clearing below, casting a glance up into the trees and seeing the two there, then lowering her head and moving on.

 

Rixen rolled her eyes as she watched Enlay's ears droop. "You're not getting of that easy, rabbit. Go talk to her, or I'll turn you into carrion and use you to line my nest." With that she shoved Enlay out of the tree, and he skilfully tumbled to land on his feet, then turned into a sprint to catch up with his elfen friend.

 

"Nisha!"

 

She turned, careful to keep a frosty face and trying to catch Enlay with her usual stare. But he surprised her, bouncing up as she turned and wrapping her into his best attempt at a big hug. She blinked rapidly, and her mouth gaped as she tried to say something scathing to him but failed. The most she could do was splutter, "wha.. what...?"

 

"I like you! And I wanted to give you a big hug to show it. So now you know!"

 

She blinked again, briefly stunned by the admission. But then she realised he wasn't letting go, and so her stance softened, and she returned the embrace, adding a gentle kiss on her friend's forehead.

 

And in the distance, a cheery laugh was heard, sounding entirely like the tinkling of wind chimes.