The Verdant Mark

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Portal ^

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"Dead?"

The fairy stares at Mikyla with wide eyes as she hangs her head in shame.

"I'm sorry- the fire started to too fast and I didn't-"

A slow rumble started to escalate in the fairy's direction and Mikyla braced herself for a storm warning. She shut her eyes tight and stuffened herself as the rumbling grew lounder and louder but with the crack of an eyelid, Mikyla was amazed to see the fairy giggling to herself.

"Oh, you are a funny one, aren't you?" The fairy wiped tears from her eyes. "It's been a long time since an Elf made me laugh, your kind, especially 'the nobility' as you like to call yourselves are so stuck up but I like you."

Mikyla gave the fairy a meek smile. "I'll take that as a compliment..."

"A compliment?" The fairy joked. "You really are a weird one. Say, they call me Su'aco. What do they call you?"

"Miky- Mikael." Mikyla corrected herself. "Mikael Fëanor."

"Well Mikael, if it was that easy to kill 'Chath', or Treeman as he's commonly called, I would have done it personally a long time ago."

A look of horror slowly bleached itself onto Mikyla face only causes Su'aco's grin to widen.

"What? Just because I'm a fairy doesn't mean I'm cute and all. I am the sole protector of the realm after all, we aren't all the heroes you hear about in your 'fairytales'. Mind you, we aren't as bad as mermaid at least- piece of advice- stay far far away. Rip off your ears if you have to because as soon as your ensnared by that melody- you're a sinking ship."

"I'll take a note of that then."

"I would. There aren't any in this realm and the scariest thing you may stumble upon are the wyverns but they're all hibernating at the moment so you'll be fine as long as you don't fall into one of their nests." Su'aco grimaces slightly. "So as I way saying, Treeman doesn't die, or rather can't. Some type of curse turned him into a tree but that doesn't prevent him from practising his old tricks. Phoenix fire though... that's an old one."

"Phoenix fire?"

"A fire spell." Su'aco shakes her head. "Not my field of expertise but essentially it's a cheap trick with a heavy price. It's the perfect scapegoat. You basically commit suicide- but before you get any crazy ideas, it's not really suicide. The enchantment behind it is fiddly but to put it bluntly you fake your death, turn into ash and are reborn like a phoenix, hence phoenix fire. The recovery time is about a year and whilst you're in ash state, you're at the mercy of the elements. Nonetheless, he can't de but he's been pulling the same stupid stunts ever since he was human and it gets old real quick."

"Human? What's a human?"

Suddenly Su'aco stiffens and her eyes dart to the side before a gust of wind creates a moment of turbulence.

"Nevermind that," Su'aco waves off as she starts to fidget. "It seems like another has awoken... Drat the blasted wind... Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat to such a unique specimen but I've got a riddle to tell. Speaking of... this one's a little trickier:"

"Tricki-"

"A nimble mind, one must possess, to cast spells from z to a,
A will of fire, plagued with desire, will no doubt lead astray.
To humble oneself, an imitate fast, the perks of being a raven,
Doubt not the gleam, borne from thoust dream, a path dusted with brazen."