The Fey Demon of the Circus

Understanding Loss

(Is it rude to have songs that relate to what happened in the story? Probably not.)(the instrument in the photo is a viol, a violin that is played like a cello basically.)

The smell of smoke was common for Redwood with the burning of incense, wood, and meats. The strength was too strong for what they remembered, the hope of last night's events being a vivid dream of sorts faded. Their eye focusing to the rotten, scavenger-picked face of an ogre, which crushed their legs and the dull pain of the spear still pulsed.

With great difficulty and breaking the spear tip off in their chest, Redwood managed to scrambled out from under the corpse, it falling back the ground with a muffled thud. Surveying the area while sliding their sword from beneath the body, the temple had collapsed and only chunks of the walls remained standing. Bodies were scattered over the area, charred, naked, rotting, all frozen in states of shock and fear.

"Morran? Aruwyn? Inadi? Acolyte Daylus?... Anyone?" The emotion that incased Redwood's very soul was something they didn't want to understand, they had seen some members of the temple shed tears but never understood why. Moving rubble and carrying what they could find for bodies, overtime, Redwood knew what everyone felt when Priestess Yllarona had passed away in her sleep. They were unaware if they too could shed tears, but once they picked the now broken and bloodied field clean of the remains of their friends and family, they began to bury them.

It took several days before all the bodies had been properly buried, a prayer for each of them to find peace in their untimely deaths. Finding what they could scrap together, Redwood managed to set up a large stone slab and with a knife, began etching a grave marker into it. Taking their time and even scratching the sentence into the dirt, a slab was set up at whom they recognized as High Priest Morran's grave.

"Here lies the followers of Corellon Larethian, may their souls by at peace." Having searching the bodies to identify them, Redwood recognized many of them, Morran, the bard acolyte Inadi, paladin Perven, and many others. Aruwyn and Felpos's bodies were nowhere to be seen, the Fey beast hoping that they either escaped or received a quick, painless death.

With many days passing since their awakening, searching and scavenging for supplies, food, and other items they could sell, Redwood came across a well hidden chest, still locked and untouched by the chaos. Busting the lock and opening it, Redwood found that this was Inadi's things, a wooden flute, some books, and a strange case inside. Inadi was teaching Redwood the ways of the bard, how to play the viol with an old, beat up one she had learned to play on, how to carry a tune, and to write poems. The arts coming near naturally despite the difficulties of holding pencils and art supplies in Redwood's large pawed hands. Having to overcome the slight fear when overhearing that demons and inherently evil beings were all left-handed, as was Redwood.

Back to the matter at hand, the strange case held a beautifully crafted viol, dark colored wood with a small human skull at the scroll and a faint crescent moon in a lighter tarnish. After tuning it, Redwood sat on a fallen wall and after going over the few songs they were taught, began to play Aruwyn's favorite piece. It wasn't a jovial song like many would expect of the happy-go-lucky Half-Elf, it was slow and calming almost somber in its own way. The notes carrying through the unnerving silence that had consume the open field, reverberating inside Redwood's skull. The clutching pain in their chest escaped in what could be identified as a sob, the song stopping as the heaving sobs shook Redwood's towering form. Their vision blurring but no tears falling, setting the instrument away they curled in onto the ground. The sobs sounding more and more like snarls, then harsh growls, before a manic roar erupted from Redwood's maw, echoing across the field and forest. Once the echo died out, the silence consuming the field once again, Redwood began to gather their things in haste, realizing the fault they made.

"Get out of the forest. Out of the forest." With their final goodbyes to the open plane Redwood grew to love, the unknown world far ahead of them, the Fey took off in search of a new place to call home.

(Fantasy fan-fiction....whelp, no turning back now! Check out Critical Role on the Geek and Sundry website, Twitch, and/or YouTube, I love the show and its cast so much.)