The night colored the world a deep navy and the sky swelled with millions of stars. Two moons lounged in the sky, one colored in pale swaths of yellow and blue almost eclipsing the other, larger in bursts of washed out lavender and rust. They lit the world in their ethereal glow. Short juniper trees- cranky in the gnarled wooden poses, frilly cedars with big egos to match, and silent sage seated the mountain. Plants seated and brimming over one of nature's valley cathedrals. Fireflies fluttered about as if the stars had come to settle on the land.
Golden light flashed from between old gnarled trees and a boulder of crumbling slate. Ancient and intelligible carvings in stone and wood flashed with a sickly sputtering glow. A luminous portal rippled unsteadily as the steed and its cloaked rider thundered through. Light and image warped and wobbled, light bursting out and solidifying into solid matter. As soon as they were through the portal collapsed and only the scattered wildlife saw as the golden lights disappeared.
Nimara shivered in mild disgust. Riding through the ancient portal felt like swimming in hot liquid that pressed at every part of the body. She was surprised that the experience had not spooked her mount.
She looked around, slightly taken aback.
The Imperial Court had banned fae from entering Midworld more than ten thousand years ago. Only the few most ancient of her kind had seen it before. It was definitely somewhere she had never thought she'd be, or really even considered going. The realms beyond the material plane were infinite and much more interesting than the mortal world. Now that she was there, in the realm of solidity and grossness, she was pleasantly surprised at the beauty she saw. The sky was brilliant, its moons were beautiful, the vegetation was thriving, and the air was crisp and clean. And though she felt the solidness of existence, the weights of gravity and the shifting of stone and dirt, it all teemed with a pulsing life she had never experienced before. Everything was very much alive and playing a role in the cycles of growth and decay.
"For some reason I thought it'd be dull…" She mumbled to herself as she slowly rode forward.
A thin wisp of inky satin black came forth from the sleeve of her cloak, growing in size beside her. It coiled and writhed while soundless fireworks popped from apparitions of tubular insects that solidified into a towering being. Nimara had pulled on the reins coming to a stop as he lightly landed on the ground beside her. Even mounted on her ride, the man was taller than she. The vypnyr were known for their large size. The shortest of them were around two and half meters while most stood just over three. There were rumors of those even taller than that but she had yet to see such giants.
Birthed as overseers to the animal kingdom, they were also known for their monochrome skin-lacking in color, black sclera and large fangs. Right now two pink eyes set in almond black orbs looked down at Nimara. She thought that under the layers of filth perhaps the vypnyr could be handsome.
"Of course it isn't dull." Unlike the fae, the vypnyr were free to travel between dimensions at their own discretion. They had their own rulers and rules, occupying a lawless and underdeveloped region known most commonly as the Inbetween. It was a realm that had not always existed. Various myths, legends, rumors, and claimed histories shared a similar tale of a great cosmic event that tore at the very fabric of existence. Ripped a seam in the universe. An unexplored and perplexing pocket of existence that few would dare to settle. Only the vypnyr, powerful and ferocious had managed to truly flourish there. They had developed networks of thriving cities existing in strange ecosystems and odd bubbles of existence. A city built beneath a violet sea, a thriving community carved into floating ruins, a trade hub developed in the stone of a massive cave.
Once in their shared history the fae had tried to also prohibit other races from entering the material plane. While most realms and races conceded (as the Imperial Court had been charged with safeguarding Midworld) the vypnyr, rulers of the Inbetween, had outright refused. They were far more warlike than the fae. Massive in size with extensive cultures tied to some of the more deadly animals that inhabited the realms. The vypnyr had always done as they pleased and had famously stated, 'we will not bow to a bunch of sentient plants'.
Though very few creatures, even the vypnyr, occupied midworld, this particular one had frequented the plane quite often. "It is said that all realms bloom from the seeds of Midworld: The Material Plane. Divine relativity states that everything we know; the Twilight Realm, the Inbetween, the Astral Plane, the lands of Om and Um, even the lower realms and the kingdom of Gods, all of it is a reflection of the material realm. Sometimes distorted but still a reflection." The vypnyr stared across the mountain as he spoke with a husky rasp. "So it only makes sense that, just as the Twilight Realm is filled with beauty and nature, Midworld would also possess such beau…"
His eyes had traveled back to the fae and his words caught in his throat. A shadow fell over his face as he scrunched his nose and slightly pulled his lips back, fangs almost visible, pressing into lips drawn in disgust.
"Are you picking your nose right now?"
The fae scoffed, a finger visibly knuckle deep in a nostril. "You must be the life of the party, eh?…Listen," she said before she pulled her finger from her nasal cavity and rolled a booger between her fingers. "I was only making a verbal statement about my expectations of Midworld. I don't need some breathy philosophy as to why my expectations were wrong."
Nimara had rolled the booger to the tip of her finger and with a violent flick it flew forward pelting a firefly, knocking its wings off its back. It was a nasty display of the assassin's power and skill. An insult in action. "Next time save your philosophies for a little seedling wanting a nice bedtime story."
The vypnyr scowled down at the woman.
Nimara ignored his glare, continuing on, "Anyways, I like to keep my cards up my sleeve and not on the table, if you know what I mean. So make yourself scarce." She lightly tapped her foot against her horse and it began to pace forward. "I'll call for you when I have a need for you."
He stared at her in contempt as she moved further away.
When she turned back once more he didn't bother to fix the glare on his face. She held a finger to her lips curled in a wicked smirk. A breath and an undercurrent of song sung out beneath her words. A melody that tugged at his soul. "Oh, don't tell anyone about you and I's deal. It's our secret." She winked and scrunched her nose, then added with a sudden souring of her smirk, "and while you're at it, find some water and clean yourself up. Those are commands, Angus. You smell like shit."
The fae had his name. A name given to a fae was a binding of absolute subjugation. He would not whisper a word of his entrapment in her sung spell and his body would take him to the nearest water and he would bathe. She spoke her commands and he felt the chains of her influence penetrate his mind and tug at his being. The song carried into his ears, his sensitive senses suddenly more acutely attuned to the sounds and smells of water. The grime on him became more prominent to his attention. Filth brought to his attention in an embarrassing light, making him feel insecure.
You smell like shit. The words echoed in his mind said in his own voice. Oh the songs of the fae were wicked in the way they manipulated and influenced.
Angus stood in the same spot watching as she rode off. "That lady is an asshole." He muttered once she had disappeared from sight, pulling a small locket from his cloak. Luckily and with some effort, he had managed to hide it from the guards during his imprisonment.
Two cranes were skillfully carved into the front of it, their necks crossing over one another. He brought the locket to his lips with a gentle kiss. The breeze carried with it smells from populations of mortals to the east as well as the south. His stomach growled, his canines ached and the running of water echoed in the back of his mind.
Surely giving the shitty fae his name had been worth his escape, he only wished that he wasn't too late.
With a swift jump he exploded into an array of smoke and silent fireworks, flying off into the night. First he'd find water and bathe, the desire of cleanliness playing over his every other thought. Then he'd acquire the energy and information he needed to find his way home. Hopefully before the fae decided to set forth her beckoning call.