Chapter 21: Upon the Everfall Curtains, a touch of the unexpected

Before them was a solid sheet, a rippled crystal wall, it seemed to stretch from one unseen end of the Red Crystal Realm to the other.

It sparkled and glittered, giving it an illusion of movement, but it was still, still and dead, even the crystalline waters around it were still, displaying none of the fierce activity that the rest of the waters had, not even a wave stirred.

It was an eerie look that frozen coast, the waters not moving in and out as they usually do.

“Well, isssn’t that ominous, not really ssseeing why it getsss the everfall though. Itsss jussst a cryssstal cliff-face” Gander said derisively.

Olice couldn’t help but chuckle, knowing what things she did.

Gander not willing to face even more of Olice being smug, retreated into her shadow.

-He really has no sense of beauty does he?- Sussasov questioned.

The Ogittra crunched into the coast prow first, Olice almost fell over and when Gander whipped out his tail, she did fall over, right onto her face no less. She curled up a whimpered a little, Ka wrapped herself comfortingly around her. In sort order the ship had completely stopped.

-A-are you alright Mistress?- Susasov thought.

Olice got up a bit unsteadily, but she bravely looked out at the curtains before her. Thanks to Ka, she knew just where she was supposed to go.

-I’m fine Susasov, I’m glad you care about me, unlike someone else-

There was a mental hmmpf from Gander.

“Thank you Midal, I do hope that you are freed from your service soon” Olice said.

Midal smiled bowed, but said nothing.

Olice felt a bit awkward then and hurriedly trotted off the ship onto the shore. The shore was made up of big gems that crunched unpleasantly under Olice’s feet.

There was a rumble behind Olice as the Ogittra changed, descending into the shore, the other end of it twisting into a prow that looked like a lip of a cliff that had been eaten by the water. Upon that clifftop was a pole with a horn.

Olice made her way forward, stumbling a bit over the gems that would shatter and break even under her small form, but she reached where she meant to, a fold in the curtains, a tunnel. Nothing could be seen within the depths of it. Olice and Ka knew it was not long though, and they knew what lay beyond it.

Olice passed through the darkness.

When she made her way through she gasped involuntarily.

A pathway twisted upwards to the true Everfall Curtains. Cascading from the kaleidoscope sky was layer upon layer of shimmering cloth, gently moving to some unseen and mighty breeze. They really looked like they were falling, but they never once reached what lay below them.

“What in the name of the sssseven forked tongue isss that?” Gander exclaimed in horror.

Gander was of course referring to what was below the curtains.

A vast lake, like pitch in appearance, but with the occasional shine of something much like the star-fruits of Kigan’s Anchor Tree, Yiabggael, the branches of which covered both the sky and cast their shadow in Awarth.

This dark lake, much like the shore outside was utterly still, no it radiated an oppressive stillness. A strangely aggressive serenity. The peace of being trapped and bound.

-Oh, I can explain it- Susasov said.

“Susasov, I order you not to explain it!” Olice quickly commanded.

Gander glared at her.

Olice once again smugly smiled at Gander, grumbling and hissing under his breath, Gander again returned to Olice’s shadow.

“It really is different seeing it in person Ka. I’m glad you contracted with me” Olice said.

Ka gently rippled on Olice.

“I’m glad too” she simply said.

How could she not be? It was joy to an weak spirit to be made stronger, to be made more whole, but more, Ka was delighting in the innocence of Olice.

-Wait a moment, is one of those curtains blue?- Susasov observed.

“What?” Gander, Ka and Olice all cried out at once.

They all frantically scanned the curtains, ignoring any beauty they had previously admired. They weren’t even quite acting out of curiousity, but more they had seen so much red that any other colour was to be treasured.

Gander spotted it first.

“Mmmmm delightful” He said.

“Such a lovely shade” Olice commented.

“Never seen so much” Ka said.

-Well, I do admit that it is nice to see, but why is it blue?- Susasov wondered.

“It wasn’t that way in the memories Ka gave me” Olice said

“There mussst be sssomething ssstrange going on, I’m sssure you are curiousss my Missstresss, but if we can avoid anything on our way to thisss oracle we sssshould”

“Problem” Ka stated.

Olice nodded.

“Gander, that blue curtain is the very one we need to go to for speaking to the oracle” Olice said.

Gander distantly stared at the blue curtain.

“You know, I actually liked thisss place at one point”

-So did I- Susasov said darkly.

“Plan no good?” Ka inquired of Olice.

Olice shook her head.

“So what if it is blue?, I’ve Gander, Susasov and you! We need to go to the oracle, we aren’t going to be defeated by blueness are we?”

“I would be very amused if you were defeated by a colour” Gander said.

Olice stuck her tongue out at Gander and began climbing the pathway to the curtains.

It was quite hard going for the small child, even with her irregular body.

As she was making her way up, Ka suddenly pinned her against the ground.

“Wa?” Olice’s mouth was quickly covered.

“Silence, watcher!” Ka said.

A shadow was cast across the pathway that Olice had been climbing, this was accompanied by the flute-like screech of some bird.

Olice looked using Ka’s sight, and could see just what manner of bird it was, a fiend! Fiends in an inexact and base sense are creatures that are not only dangerous but are usually naturally quite violent and ill-tempered.

This bird fiend was a Strix, a blood drinker! In particular they have a fondness for youthful beings. There is nothing that they prefer more to plunge their long golden beaks into. Deep red wings, four black feathered legs with wicked talons and unblinking golden eyes without pupils and their body is a faint mockery of the humanoid torso.

A cowardly being that loves young blood, but even older people could have trouble with such a vicious fiend.

Gander however had quite a bit of pent up aggression.

“MY PREY” he called out, firing from Olice’s shadow like a black javelin.

-No you fool!- Susasov cried out.

The strix did not have the remotest chance, Gander pierced right into it, killing the fiend instantly. Then he quickly sank it into his body, a method of devouring that many spirits can do.

-Mistress, you need to move, now!- Susasov said urgently.

Gander floated down with a satisfied expression on his face.

“Why all the panic sssenior, did I kill the fiend ssso quickly that you thought it wasss sssstill there?”

-No you impetuous serpent! Other fiends will have caught the scent of death!- Susasov raged.

“Cloud?” Ka queried, spotting something.

Olice looked at the ‘cloud’

In the next moment she was scrabbling up the pathway.