To Fight Against Fate

"Is everyone okay?" Priscilla asked as she nudged her horse towards the carriage. Mr. Ordan seemed to be taking deep breaths, clenching and unclenching his fists around the reins as he calmed himself down, but he seemed uninjured, if jittery. Illnyea was panting, but shook her head when Priscilla glanced at her.

"Perry's good too," Illnyea said, gently patting the platypus's head when he poked it above the edge of his carrier. Perry didn't acknowledge the rest of them, his gaze fixed firmly on what lay ahead of them, and boy was that real fucking reassuring. The nerves that twisted in Priscilla's gut tightened but she tried to reassure herself that they could handle whatever was hiding in Crystal Falls.

"We got a little banged up in here," Kavil said, leaning out the front to squint into the darkness, "but nothing serious."

"Does anyone know anything about a Crystal Falls?" Sulaiman asked, frowning at the sign like it had offended him by not providing him with more information.

Priscilla shook her head with a sigh after she racked her brain and came up with nothing. No one else knew anything either, and they all stared warily at the darkness ahead of them.

Done with the silence and indecision, Priscilla pushed her horse forward.

"Let's follow the path for now," Priscilla said, "and see what we find. It surely can't be worse than a horde of spiders."

Illnyea shuddered at the reminder of what they ran from, and fell in line with Priscilla. Sulaiman summoned two more spheres of flames to guide the way ahead of them, and Priscilla did her best to not visibly flinch when they hovered near her and caused pinpricks of pain to go up the side of her face. She didn't want him getting the wrong idea that she was somehow afraid of the fire or thought he couldn't control it, so Priscilla ignored the pain and kept her gaze sweeping over the path ahead of them, ready for the first hint of danger.

With each passing step, the sound of rushing water grew a little louder and the air grew heavy with moisture. Priscilla thought there was a river somewhere to the left of them, but she wasn't about to fall into the horror movie trope of walking off the path to investigate something in the dark because she had a working brain in her head.

After five minutes of riding, they saw the first hint of a settlement in the form of two guardsmen who were positioned near a wooden archway, illuminated by two torches above them. On either side of the archway were two large bells. In the guards' hands were wide shovels, and they both straightened in surprise when Priscilla came around the bend in the road, the sphere of flame bobbing alongside her.

"H-halt," the younger of the pair said, a freckly boy who was roughly Illnyea's age. He brandished the shovel like it was a weapon. "Don't come any closer."

The older guard sent the young boy an unimpressed glance, like she didn't know what to do with him. She had the look of a woman whose fields were barren of fucks to give, with deep circles under her brown eyes that suggested it had been a very long time until she had had a good night of sleep.

"Don't be starting problems we don't need, Toby," the woman sighed, and the newly named Toby's face flushed in the torchlight. The older guard ignored her companion as she took a look at Priscilla's party as they came to a stop, her lips pursed like she was mulling something over but wasn't sure if she liked the conclusion she had come to.

"We don't get many visitors to the falls," the woman said, shifting her grip on the shovel like she was caught between pulling it up defensively and allowing it to remain pointed towards the earth, "especially not at this time of night."

"We hadn't planned on visiting," Priscilla said, studying the guards to see if there was any indication that they were about to attack them, "but we were rudely awakened and chased by a bunch of fucking spiders, and we're looking for somewhere safe to sleep."

Both of the guards stiffened at her words, with Toby's eyes going wide as his mouth fell open.

"Spiders?" Toby repeated, his voice having gone high-pitched with an emotion Priscilla couldn't place.

"There were so many of them," Illnyea said in disgust, shuddering again, "and they were relentless. We barely managed to kill the ones leaping at us so we could get away safely."

The older guard grabbed Toby's shoulder when the boy glared at Illnyea and took a step forward, pulling him to an abrupt halt. She whispered something in Toby's ears and the boy looked unhappy, but he nodded. When she pulled back to meet Priscilla's eyes, there was something heavier about her gaze and her eyebrows were drawn together in contemplation.

"My name is Ferine," the older guard said, "and I'd be happy to show you to an inn. It isn't much, but there should be enough beds for all of you. Toby." The lad straightened, looking away from Illnyea, as Ferine fixed her gaze upon him. "I'll send Joanas to replace me, but stay high on alert until he gets here, do you understand me?"

Toby nodded and Ferine squeezed his shoulder once more before beckoning them to follow.

Priscilla exchanged a glance with Sulaiman, who had pulled his horse next to hers. He looked unhappy with their welcome but nodded his head when Priscilla quirked an eyebrow at him. Something was definitely up with Crystal Falls, but they really needed a place to rest and even if this Ferine lady was hiding something, she had offered to guide them to a place they could sleep.

They followed Ferine, who remained silent as she marched steadily forward.

The settlement Ferine led them to was completely quiet as they approached, the only light coming from the torch in Ferine's hand and Sulaiman's balls of flames. That was definitely odd — even in Aidais' Lament, there had been some sort of lamplight or torches lit at night so that it never was quite pitch-black like this town was. It was difficult to tell how large the settlement was, with the buildings blending into one another in the darkness without any distinctions to where one ended and another began.

Ferine walked with the confidence of a woman who had made this trek a thousand times before and walked right up to a door and knocked three times.

For a moment nothing happened, but then there was some rustling and a muffled swear before two knocks came from the other side of the door. Ferine knocked four more times and then the door finally opened.

A bedraggled man in a long nightgown stood there, his nightcap teetering dangerously to the side as he steadied himself against the door. There was a desperate shine in his eyes as he stared at Ferine.

"Ferine, has it —"

"No," Ferine said firmly, cutting off the man's words before he could finish the question. The man sagged in relief and blinked several times as he took in the sight behind Ferine. He then stared at Ferine uncomprehendingly.

"These," Ferine said, gesturing towards Priscilla and her friends, "are travelers who need to spend the night."

"Travelers?" the man echoed, sounding confused as Priscilla waggled her fingers at him.

"They encountered spiders on the road," Ferine said, her words heavy with meaning and insinuation Priscilla didn't understand, "and that led them here. They were hoping to stay the night."

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The same shock Toby had flashed across the man's face before a grin revealed he was missing two teeth.

"Of course!" the man said, throwing the door wide. "Come in, come in! I'll go rouse up my nieces and nephews and have them deal with your horses — we have a stable round back, so be rest assured, they'll be well taken care of."

The sudden change in demeanor took Priscilla aback, but she shook that off as she dismounted. If these people were going to be a danger to her, Asha would warn her, and Priscilla really would love to sleep on a real bed after not sleeping well yesterday.

The man, who Priscilla could only imagine was the innkeeper, had lit several candles by the time everyone had filtered in, and was ordering a gaggle of pre-teens. He sent three off to tend to their horses, two were carrying large bundles of bedding up a set of rickety stairs, and two more remained by his side, awaiting orders.

"You'll be wanting one bed per person, I imagine," the man said, bustling about with a smile that brightened his face into one that neared rapturous joy, "and is anyone hungry? Of course you're hungry, you've been on the road — Jennie, go fetch bread and cheese from yesterday's dinner."

A short girl with black hair sticking up in every direction yawned but did as was directed.

Priscilla watched the flurry of motion with amusement, gently herding Kavil out of the way when a boy hurried past.

"We don't need food," Illnyea tried to protest as the man approached them, holding Perry's carrier to her chest.

"Nonsense!" the man said, casually disregarding Illnyea's refusals. "This one looks like he's about to drop dead if we don't get some grub in him!"

Kavil did look tired, leaning against Priscilla's shoulder, and he straightened in an attempt to show just how awake he was. But ultimately, it was Priscilla's stomach growling so loud that everyone turned to her that sealed the deal on the fate of the bread and cheese. Her cheeks were red because she hadn't even thought she was hungry, but Priscilla accepted the snack gracefully.

Soon, the innkeeper, who had introduced himself as Florent, had bustled everyone upstairs and into rooms that were small, but nice. Priscilla and Illnyea were sharing a room, two twin sized beds pushed against opposite walls with just enough space to stand between them.

"How're you holding up?" Priscilla asked as Illnyea placed Perry's carrier at the foot of her bed. Illnyea's fear of spiders was a minor thing, but Priscilla had a new-found fear herself after the encounter they just had, and she knew it had to be ten times worse for Illnyea.

Illnyea sighed, sitting on the bed heavily.

"I'll probably have nightmares," Illnyea said, playing with the wooden edge of the carrier as Perry turned three times and made himself comfy, "but I know I have to try to sleep because Sulaiman will nag at me otherwise, so yeah."

Priscilla eyed the beds critically before nodding decisively.

"Let's push the beds together," Priscilla said, putting her pack atop it so it was out of the way, "so maybe I can chase off some of your nightmares as I tell you about all the ways you can kill a spider without actually having to touch it."

Illnyea stared for a moment before a smile stole across her face and she stood.

"That sounds great," Illnyea said softly.

It didn't take long to fix the beds and crawl into them, and Priscilla regaled Illnyea with mighty spider-killing tales until the sounds of Illnyea's gentle breathing filled the room.

Careful to not jostle Illnyea, Priscilla sat up and whispered, "Psst. Psst. Hey. Hey Perry. Perry, you petty little fuck, please wake up."

The platypus sighed deeply before poking his beak over the edge of the carrier, an irritated glint in his eye.

"Are we in danger here?" Priscilla asked and tried to not feel like a fool for treating a platypus's opinion so seriously.

Perry tilted his head as he considered the question, gazing towards the small window where only the barest hint of moonlight peeked through the cloudy sky. After a long moment where Priscilla held her breath, Perry let out a little chirp, nodding and then shaking his head before repeating the gestures.

"There's danger but we might necessarily come across it?" Priscilla asked, trying to parse through the gesture. Perry tilted his head again and nodded.

"Got it, thanks dude."

Perry let out a harumph and plopped back down into his basket, and Priscilla laid down in her bed and wondered just what the fuck was up Crystal Falls.

Priscilla wished she could have woken up bright eyed and bushy-tailed the next morning, but when the sun finally hit her face, Priscilla felt like she had barely rested at all. The same strange feeling of being watched had invaded her dreams, though she could somehow tell that the watcher now felt smug and accomplished, and it left her fingers twitching as her nerves insisted something was wrong.

When Illnyea woke up, Priscilla gently bullied her sister into putting on her armor and strapping every weapon on because her paranoia demanded it be so. Illnyea did it with a bemused smile, her fingers lingering on her new daggers as she said, "This'll be handy if we come across any more spiders."

The breakfast that Florent served them happily helped Priscilla regain some of her energy. It was simple oatmeal with seasonal berries served with sliced apples, served with a pitcher of apple juice. The fruit was all sweet and the burst of sugar helped Priscilla blink away some of her tiredness.

Florent and his army of nieces and nephews disappeared somewhere as Priscilla and her friends began to dig in. There was only one table, and it wasn't big enough for all of them, so Illnyea and Mr. Ordan opted to stand as they ate. Priscilla tried to protest, but both shrugged and claimed it was easier to stand, waving away attempts to give them her seat.

"I'm going to take Perry on a short walk," Illnyea said when she was finished and put her now empty bowl to the side. "I'm sure he needs to go to the bathroom."

Priscilla nodded in acknowledgement, her mouth too full of apples to respond. If Perry was with Illnyea, it was unlikely her sister would get into serious trouble.

"Be careful," Sulaiman warned. "Don't wander too far."

"We won't," Illnyea said as she scooped up Perry. "We'll be back soon, just need some fresh air."

…

The town was a lot more homier in the light, Illnyea thought as she placed Perry onto the ground. She didn't spy any people walking about, but she could smell something delicious being baked and made a note to see if Priscilla wanted to track that down before they left that afternoon. The wind was chilly, but it was pleasant with how warm her clothes kept her. Last night this place had seemed ominous, with each long shadow potentially hiding spiders that wanted to leap out at them, their fangs reared back and ready to pump venom into their blood, making them suffer like the poor antelope had.

Illnyea shuddered as she remembered last night's chase through the forest. It had been something right out of her worst nightmares being surrounded by creatures that had far too many eyes and legs, moving in ways that made her skin crawl. Her brain had been evil last night, combining the image of the horde of spiders with her experience running for her life in the fens to make it tens time more terrifying, and Illnyea didn't end up sleeping well because of it.

That was partially why Illnyea wanted to go on a short walk so she could remind herself that the sun still shone, that she wasn't in the fens any longer. She tightened her hand on the chest sheath of daggers, reminding herself that she could protect her friends in case anything happened.

Perry shook his fur and began to trot determinedly down the road, so Illnyea followed her little platypus. He soon veered off the path to nose at the ground beneath a fern and Illnyea let her eyes wander as Perry did his thing.

There was a river roughly thirty feet from where she stood, and its waters were quite murky and muddy for a place that was named Crystal Falls.

Maybe it's an ironic name, Illnyea thought idly as Perry sniffed at the ferns. Name it something pretty so people come visit and hope the tale of your deceit doesn't spread.

Well, that didn't seem very likely, but Illnyea hadn't seen anyone else since Florent left the inn, so she couldn't exactly ask why this place was named that.

Illnyea let her platypus sniff to his heart's content as she walked a little closer to the river. If it wasn't too dirty, maybe she could see some fish swimming along there. She didn't know a lot about fish, but if there was something that looked edible, maybe Kavil might want to try and cook it.

The sound of Perry's search suddenly stopped and she turned towards him to see if maybe he found a worm.

"Find anything good?" Illnyea asked with a smile, taking a step towards him. She had drifted away from him, but she looked at the ground to see what had caught his attention.

Perry's gaze was locked onto something in the distance and he let out a clacking growl that lifted the hair on the back of Illnyea's neck and sent goosebumps down her arms.

With her hand on her sword, Illnyea whirled around, slightly panicked and caught off guard because she hadn't actually thought she would get into trouble while on a brief walk.

The river's waters had started churning in the brief second she looked away from it, growing rough and choppy as it began to form a whirlpool. The water suddenly surged upwards, forming a mound and then that mound was morphing into the shape of a horse — and Illnyea barely had enough time to register what she was seeing before the horse with malevolent purple eyes was leaping straight towards her, letting out a gurgling whinny.