Luvena
The swamp was familiar. Afterall, she’d once made it her home, and so when she finally took a good look at that last portal in the clearing… She recognized its borders right away, as they twisted and warped around an uneven shimmering opening. The bog behind it seemed haunting. Dark and foggy. Tinea always had an air of mystery around it but this… this was different.
It was the last of the five portals she had to explore, and for a moment she found herself hesitating, hovering just inches away. It was dark already. It had taken her longer to get here this time, her head starting to ache, and the rest of her starting to tire. She thought about turning back, cutting herself off while she still could. But it was just one more day, one more portal, one more adventure. So she’d swallowed the rest of the feverfew she’d gathered the day before and made her way back to that eerily dark pathway.
After a few moments she finally stepped through the portal, her hooves landing in a wet patch of sod. It was horribly unpleasant. It was darker here then it had been on the other side. The moon didn’t seem to pierce the fog, and it took a moment for Luvena’s eyes to adjust, and focus on the strange landscape that surrounded her and Picoro.
As they did she saw it. Just briefly, out of the corner of her eye, and she spun to face it, but it seemed nothing was there. “You shouldn’t have come today” Picoro growled. “You’re feverish. You’re going to get us stuck here”
She bit back a cruel retort. She wouldn’t stoop that low. Not again. Not like she had at the temple. Not again.
She saw it again, this time more clearly, a tall figure, drifting ahead in the distance. She stilled immediately, trying to quiet her breath, hoping maybe it wouldn't notice her. She feared that if she moved through the portal again, it would see, and follow her back.
So she waited, and waited, for it to leave her sight. It never did.
And then the cough crept up her throat, resisted only for a moment before she was taken by the loud fit.
Frantically she backed away, hoping that whatever it was would mistake her as just another noise in the bog.
Table © Camy
