It was a narrow, mossy gorge with steep, rugged walls covered in lush greenery. A serene stream flows through the center, its waters smooth and reflective, winding through the natural rock formations. At the edge of the gorge stood an old moss-covered pavilion, with elegant columns and intricately carved dome, overlooking the stream.
Helene, walking on the stone pathway leading to the pavilion, which slightly extended into the gorge, saw a slouched, hooded figure, near the balustrade, trying to feed the birds. She would collect feeds into her palm and extend it to them, but none approached her and after a few moments she would toss it out to the ground, far away from her, and they will flock it.
"Nothing sees deep into the souls of humans more than innocent creatures" Elda said without turning as Helene approached.
Helene stepped beside her in silence as she casually tried again. And again the birds ignored her.
She turned and gave Helene a once over look. She was wearing a scarlet gown sweeping the ground, its gold-embroidered sleeves and shoulders catching the morning light.
"You smell like death" she said flatly, turning back to the birds.
"The king keeps me busy," Helene replied, reaching for Elda's seed pouch. She collected some of it and barely extended her arm when one bird came on and started pecking eagerly. Soon there were three, then four.
Elda saw it and smiled faintly. "I can never understand the way the world works"
They stood in silence. Helene caught the faint chant under Elda's breath, and felt a pulse of magic spread outward.
"There's something coming that goes beyond kingdoms" Elda finally began, bringing out another handful of seeds. "A war with gods"
A stray breeze stirred the pavilion's hanging moss.
"I first heard of it in the first century of the Age of the crown" she continued. "When my old druid master took me to the druid abode. Back when they still interact with us. It was all they talk about, and I went there enough to pick up pieces"
She tossed the seeds.
"Something about an evil god that seeks to end all life" she continued. "The demons that plague the continent are his, sent ahead to prepare the path for his arrival"
She had ran out of seeds. She looked at Helene pour out hers while the birds were still eating. A shadow flickered in Elda's gaze—envy, perhaps, or frustration.
"I didn't think much of it until centuries later" Elda said. "Sable Vyrnmont appeared. No one knew where he came from—some guessed far east, others far west—his accent was unrecognizable. No one cared. He was just an ambitious young lad who later married into the Vyrnmont family after deaths of two of their children. He wasn't a good man, but ambitions often do that to people.
With that position secured, his ambitions unexpectedly evaporated and he retreated into the shadows to the point most thought him dead. Until recently."
Helene remained quiet. Most of these things she already knew, even though she didn't connect them as such.
"Vyrnmont had an ability even I don't know of" she went on. "One so powerful that even if he hadn't enslave Rowena by her vanity, she would be powerless against him regardless. Any of us would."
Helene's eyes flickered with surprise. This was new information.
"How did someone so powerful remain quiet in the continent?" Helene asked.
"Because he needs the quiet to work." she said. "I have come to believe he is the emissary of the evil god"
"One of their prophecies spoke of him: 'One with his blood to carve a way in the heavens for He to descend' "
She said it like it was a direct quote.
"Vyrnmont is responsible for everything that has been happening recently?"
"Yes"
"I didn't know that," she said. "But that's not something you would call me over here for"
Elda studied her for a long moment, as though weighing how much more to reveal.
"The druids spoke of another." she said. "One as dangerous as the evil god, or even more. I don't know much about it but the druids speak of him as the last hope"
Helene's eyes narrowed a fraction, a slow exhale slipping past her lips.
"The king" she said.
"I believe so" said Elda. "Rowena thought you knew, she thought that's why you left for the king's side" Her gaze dropped to Helene's belly."She didn't know how it was personal. I don't know whether to be envious or pitiful of you."
Helene ignored that. "But why Drakoria? Why didn't they go to the east or west where only city states exist?"
"I don't know" Elda replied, brushing stray seed husks from her fingers, "But the reason is important enough for Rowena, who destroyed the south over an insult, to endure a new life as the whore of the king"
Helene said nothing. She knew Rowena was planning something to accept that, but she didn't know it was this dangerous.
"So she has not killed the king yet because they didn't know about the prophecy?"
"Yes, but that's a matter of time now" she said. "I didn't say anything because I didn't want to risk it, but it is already past that"
"What happened?"
"I found Rowena's worm in a knight"
Helene was shocked but not entirely surprised. For something this big it was only natural. How did she not notice all these?
"It is safe to assume that at least half the knights are compromised" she said. "The king can't survive that"
"No he can't" Elda affirmed. "But they would need a good reason for knights to turn against their own king, or else they would give things away. Vyrnmont I'm sure can't risk that, Rowena wouldn't care."
They both went quiet.
Drakorian knights were the strongest knights in the continent during the first Civil War. Many didn't understand how they lost the war that created the 3 kingdoms of the south, but the southern coven were well aware. While the continent thought that the knights had turned their backs on their king, the coven knew their dear leader had taken control of the most loyal and strongest Knights long before the height of the war. She gave the rebels the victory and forced King Albert Dragonhart to the negotiations table.
It was a well kept secret because it meant the survival of their coven, but Rowena now threatens it with a repeat, and one more blatant.
"A ritual necessary for an event this big will need lots of deaths and blood to prepare the lands that it is needed for" Elda said. "I'm thinking without that there cannot be a ritual, or at least it will be delayed"
Helene agreed, but she kept quiet because she was waiting for the exact thing Elda wanted to say.
"I believe that's why the knight was cursed." Elda finally said. "It can't be the only one, but it is the one we know, and it needs to be stopped. I want you to convince the king. The knight needs to die."
Helene considered her. "Since when do you need permission to do what needs to be done?"
Elda gave a dry laugh, stepping away.
"Telling you the young Dragonhart scares me would be an easy answer, Helene" she admitted. "But someone who the druids are willingly bending to his wills is not someone you need to antagonize. They are not telling us something and it goes beyond mere death"
They both casually turned toward Helene's left. There was a disruption of a spell. After Rowena stuck Jakob AlKurd into her shadow, Helene had always used a spell to make sure that didn't happen again, so she was certain this wasn't one of hers.
"Convince the king" Elda said, turning to leave.
Helene watched her go, then called out as Elda left the pavilion. "Why do I feel like you are holding back on something, Elda?"
"I'm a witch, I always hold back on something" she said with a rough laugh. "Get the king in order. We need as much time as we can get"
And with that she left.
Helene stood there watching the witch. A little bird came on the balustrade, close to her, chirping for food. She ignored it. Trust is not common amongst witches, but she had no reason to doubt Elda's words. The problem is she feared Elda had put her in a position where if the king refuses, she would have to take matter into her own hands. Elda knows this, and she feared that's what she's counting on.
A terrible scream tore from the direction Elda disappeared to. Drawn, guttural, like one whose soul is been tore out.
For over a century, Elda had shown restrain. If she's letting go now, then it really has begun.