The fairies vanished like water down a drain, leaving nothing but disquiet in their wake. Apollo stood in the center of the mushroom clearing, the gold in his veins still humming with recognition of the concentrated aether that permeated this strange forest.
The sudden departure of their mischievous visitors left an absence that felt almost physical, as if the air itself had thickened in their wake.
"Everyone still in one piece?" Lyra called, her voice cutting through the unnatural stillness.
She sheathed her knife with a deliberate motion, though her eyes continued scanning the spaces between the towering mushroom stalks.
Nik lifted his once-elegant scarf, now a hopeless tangle of knots and loops that resembled a bird's nest more than a garment. "Physically, yes. Emotionally, I'm devastated." He tugged at one particularly complex knot before sighing dramatically. "This was Calishite silk. Do you have any idea how many nobles I had to charm to acquire this?"
