A Song for Winter: Castimeria, World of River Islands

Chapter 10: Castimeria, World of River Islands

The portal sickness began to fade as William braced himself against whatever hazard this portal was going to throw him right into only to find himself standing on the ground. Grass bristled against his feet as the folf took in his surroundings. Odd thin trees, that ranged in color almost as much as the wildflowers that grew thick on the ground, dotted the landscape. Not far in every direction rivers flowed around islands that seemed to make up this place. The fragrant smell of flowers blew in with a gentle breeze. William was weirdly at peace in this place. Almost as if the flowers soothed his anger, putting him at rest.

 

    Finding a spot on the south bank of the island, William stripped off his blood-covered clothes and began to wash them in the river water.  After taking care of his clothes William dived into the river to clean the blood from his fur. Relaxing cool water flowed down the scarred muscular body of the folf as he cleansed himself. Climbing out of the waters William whistled a couple of notes to call on a mild breeze to dry himself and his clothes before redressing. Fully dressed once again William began to contemplate which direction to go.

 

    Just as he was about to give up a pick and random direction William something bumped him from behind. Whirling around quickly with his hand on his sword he was greeted by some sort of quadrupedal being with a face that closely resembled that of a butterfly. Colorful chitinous scales cover the being’s body in fantastical patterns. William tried to talk to the butterfly-headed creature but it just pointed south before moving past him and continuing on its way. Without any better idea, William grabbed his gear before following the strange creature. 

 

    The creature moved with ease through the lands and over the rivers at such a pace it was difficult for William to keep up. Through the flowers, around the thin trees, and over the small rivers was easy enough but the large rivers made for a bit of an obstacle at first until William remembered a little trick his mom taught him. Whistling a hoppy few notes while brandishing his talisman dagger the folf was able to walk across the air over the water for a bit. As William followed the creature it was joined by others of its kind.

 

    Shortly before nightfall, William found himself in some sort of town on a decent-sized island. All the buildings were made of different colored glass panels and covered in flowers. Signs hung from the buildings glowing different colors of pulsating light that seemed to indicate what type of building they were. Not knowing how to interpret the colors it took a bit of time checking each building before William managed to find an inn. Luckily there was one room left but it cost him what little remained of his coins as he was unsure how to haggle with the butterfly-faced beings. Making a mental note to pick up a side job to make some extra money William settled down for the nice and slept restfully.

 

    Waking up well-rested for the first time in a long time William heard noises coming from outside. He tried peering through the translucent glass that made up the inn to no avail. Giving up the folf got dressed before walking outside to find a multitude of races setting up for some sort of festival. A passing dwarf informed William that it was the Wildflower festival. Normally he wouldn’t care for this sort of distraction, but this place’s calming presence put William in a festive mode. He took his weapons back to his room, braided strands of glass beads into his head fur, decorated himself with his most colorful jewelry and strapped a bejeweled sheathe to his left hip for his witch knife. Those that knew William before would hardly recognize him now that he looked like a festival goer instead of the normal angry warrior that he usually is.

 

    Music and laughter filled the air as the festivities for the day kicked off. Large decorations made of wildflowers in a variety of shapes and colors were erected across the small town. Market stalls were set up selling all kinds of goods from places William had never heard of. There was a set of daggers with gold hilts shaped like griffins in flight with rubies inlaid in the eyes but as much as William wanted them he had no coins left nor anything to barter with.

 

    Leaving the market stalls William decided to try out some of the other festivities. Drinks made of various flower nectars were served alongside various flower-based salads. The butterfly-headed natives played wooden drums alongside various instruments of other races. Dancing continued all day and well into the night as the stream of music never seemed to end. Lanterns made of wood and glass were lit so the darkness wouldn’t put an end to the fun.

 

    In the middle of enjoying one of the nectar drinks, William noticed a lantern go out followed suddenly by another. A parent screamed about their missing child as another lantern went out and another child disappeared. Whirling around William caught a scent that wasn’t flowers but something foul. Lanterns continued to go out as the smell got stronger. William caught sight of something skulking in the darkness as he recognized the scent. It was sulfur which meant there was some sort of demon. Another parent cried out for their missing child as William caught a good look at the skulking beast. Scampering on four legs that ended in hook claws was a long slender body with a whip-like tail and an animal skull face with spiraling curved horns. Upon the beast’s back was a cage full of the missing children.

 

    This was a fiend William had heard of only in old legends of the Drackonas clan. A creature that skulked through the darkness feeding on whatever prey it could sneak upon. Stalking the night between realms cursed forever to hunt between realms never being allowed to return to its homeland as retribution for an ancient blasphemy. This was the Night Crawler and William needed to act quickly if he was going to save the children.

 

    Feeling his rage, William drew his witch knife into his right hand and charged the foul creature. Dropping into a low charge, he aimed to tackle the demon but found himself wrapped up in the creature’s whip-like tail. Not missing a second William stabbed with his talisman dagger nearly severing the appendage in half. The Night Crawler’s ichor sprayed from the wound as William fell to the ground. Leaping from the ground William managed to knock the cage of children free from the demon’s grasp as he stabbed at the hellish predator. With a shriek, The Night Crawler tried to scamper away into the darkness but William was not about to let the being that interrupted his peace escape that easily. A mighty roar rumbled from the folf’s throat as he threw his dagger straight up into the air before tackling The Night Crawler into the river. Struggling in the water the two combatants clawed and bit at each other clouding the once clear river in a mixture of blood and ichor. 

 

First to the surface was The Night Crawler who began to skulk off on the opposite river bank. A rapid note sounded several times in a row as William broke the surface of the water. From the dark sky overhead, William’s talisman dagger rocketed down severing The Night Crawler’s front left leg at the joint. With an otherworldly shriek, the cursed abomination limped into the nearby flower maze as its leg began to rapidly regrow. Struggling to shore while trying to hold a deep gash in his side close, William retrieved his dagger from the small impact hole before limping into the maze after the beast.

 

During the day the maze of large wildflower hedges had been a beautiful work of landscaping but under the night sky, it became a nightmare of dark corridors. William was able to follow the demon’s ichor trail for the first few twists and turns till the trail suddenly stopped. Still bleeding heavily William limped his way to the clearing at the center of the maze. The Night Crawler was nowhere in sight and William’s rage was the only thing keeping him conscious. As he took a moment to try to center himself the creature rushed at him from the shadows. Roaring with rage William met it head-on grabbing its front limbs as The Night Crawler tried to gnash at him. William let out a slow ragged whistle that called upon a burst of air that helped him lift and slam the beast onto its back. Without missing a beat the raging folf leaped upon his fallen foe, first stabbing it through the neck with his witch knife, before raining punches down up the demon’s head. The skull face of The Night Crawler shattered under the rage and fury of William’s fists. Still angry he labored to whistle a few notes that caused the carcass of the demon to inflate and burst apart. Suddenly, aware of how much blood he had lost William promptly passed out.

 

Rain woke William as it fell on his face. Struggling to a sitting position, he found that someone had found him in the maze and tended to his wounds. The big gash in his side had been sewn shut with some sort of plant material, slathered in a sticky nectar-like substance, and bandaged with a plant-based cloth. William slowly walked his way out of the maze and back to the town of glass buildings. There was no sign that a festival had taken place at all. Almost as if the entire thing was some sort of hallucination. William collected his weapons and gear from his room at the inn. As he did so he found several thank you notes from parents and the set of gold griffon hilted daggers in his bag. That was all the proof William needed to prove the festival had happened. Limping outside he found a new portal waiting for him. With a set of swears not ever heard on this plane, William limped through the portal and on to whatever waited for him.



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