Lepre-Conned

Prologue

Chaos.

The entire structure of the Northern Faerie palace was trembling with fear. Finnoula could feel it through the woven branches that made up the inner structure of her home. She picked up a fallen branch in front of the entrance to the vault, feeling the wet, jagged edge of the wood and rolling it over in her fingers. As she held the branch, she looked out over the floor of the chamber, taking in the destruction, feeling the pain from the fallen pieces of the Great Tree as they were drained of life. She placed the branch gently back on the floor before turning back to those behind her.

"Whoever has done this, is no faerie," she said. "None of us would have hurt a tree like this, not even to another clan..." She scanned over the carnage around her and lifted her eyes to meet her guards' gazes. "Such cruelty to our living home cannot go unanswered."

"My lady!" said one of the guard faeries to her right, pointing off into the distance.

Following his gesture, Finnoula saw a dark figure retreating in the distance, dropping out of a window.

"Rori, you're with me!" she said, nodding to her personal guard. "The rest of you search the vault, find out what was taken." Without waiting to see if her orders were followed, she ran down the hall and dropped out the same window, catching herself on the ledge one level down.

With a loud thump and a slight bowing of the supporting branches, Rori dropped down behind her.

"Which way?" she asked, looking out. The moonlight seeped through the branches of the great tree, casting shadows everywhere, making if hard to see the dark figure from before.

"That way, my lady," said Rori, pointing to yet more broken branches off to the right.

They took off, following the trail along the outter walkways, running as fast as their feet could carry them. The wind seemed to whisper among the branches, louder as they kept on target, helping them find their quarry. With a silent prayer of thanks, she and Rori soon caught up with the shadowy intruder just as he re-entered the palace through another window.

Running down the Great Hall of Light, Finnoula chased after the fleeing shadow. Horns bellowed all along the corridors, sounding out a call to arms as she tried in vain to catch her foe. At her silent command, vines broke free of the walls, snapping at the legs of the intruder, only to snap at the air as he (at least, she assumed it was a he) ducked under or jumped over each one in turn, never slowing down.

Beside her, her personal guard, Rori, drew his bow and fired three arrows straight at the intruder's back. The intruder cried out in pain as one arrow hit its mark, right in the middle of his back as he dodged the others. As the intruder staggered in pain, the vines along the walls caught him by the ankles and wrist, sending him sprawling to the ground.

With a sigh of relief, Finnoula and Rori slowed to a walk and approached the downed figure. Finnoula nodded to Rori, and her guard lifted the dark hood of the intruder's cloak, revealing a blank, white cloth face.

"What magic is this?" Finnoula asked, mouth gaping open.

Rori shook his head, and he poked the figure with the edge of his bow. "It appears-"

He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as the figure exploded into a cloud of glowing green sparks, sending them both to the ground. Sitting up, Finnoula looked up at the sparks circling her head. They began to swirl around eachother, joining together to form letters in the air.