Yaerfaerda

by Imploding Colon


Place Your Throne In High Places

“This place just keeps going and going,” Josho muttered as the two of them approached the dim light at the top of a sloping ascent. “I'm worried that I've forgotten most of the twists and turns.”

“I haven't,” Eagle Eye said. “I've got an impeccable memory.”

“You would, ya little pecker wood.”

Eagle sighed. “Must you? I mean, I'd understand if this was the Noble Jury's mess hall... but here?” He shuddered, glancing aside at the cave walls plastered all over in black tar and dead changeling shells. “In Slime Central?”

“You've got a better idea for keeping sane?”

“Well, how about a happy little story to pass the time?”

“This one time, on the northern edge of Franzington, I stopped by a bordello and got drunk with—like—six smoking hot mares—”

“Okay, stop it right there.” Eagle Eye grumbled. “I said happy, not nauseating.”

Josho smirked to himself. “...the punchline is that I'm secretly your real dad.”

“That's not even remotely funny.”

“Come onnnnnnnn.” Josho glanced back, wagging his eyebrows. “Part of you had to have tittered inwardly at that.”

“I'm not sure what frightens me more,” Eagle muttered. “The fact that it's remotely possible or that I kind of wish it was true.”

“See? Happy happy!”

“Nnnngh...” Eagle Eye strolled past him, squinting at the next turn. “Hey, I think it opens up here.”

“Feel the warm air?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Maybe the cave's exposed to the skystone fields.”

“Only one way to find out.”

“I'll take point.” Josho strolled ahead of him, levitating his shotgun as he peered left and right. At last, he ascended a final incline of stone, stepping over the crumpled remains of hollowed-out changelings. When finally he was level with the enormous chamber beyond, he stood dead-still, his muzzle agape. “Peaches'n'cream...”

“What?” Eagle Eye scrambled up and stood beside him. “What is it—?” His violet eyes widened.

A large cavern stretched before them. The ceiling was made out of patchwork nodes of skystone that dipped down, glowing with red and yellow energy. Sparks of electricity danced between the bulbous stalactites, gradually forking their way down the furthest wall—where they all converged into what appeared to be round platform constructed out of translucent jade. The green material was translucent, and had the texture of petrified sap.

“It's... organic,” Josho muttered.

“Almost looks like...” Eagle blinked. He turned to look at the discarded shells of dead changelings behind him. Looking back, he fought the urge to vomit. “Changeling blood.”

“I think it's more than that,” Josho said, slowly strolling forward. “It's probably what they build their hives'n'crap with. Maybe the very fabric of their soul-suckingness.”

“The same stuff we saw along the way in?”

“Yes. But... I dunno... fresh.”

“Fresh?”

“I mean, look at the stuff!” Josho pointed. “It's still bright and... gooey... or some crap.”

“Seems like the skystone energy is keeping it fluid.”

“Yeah, but for what?”

Eagle Eye was squinting again. “Is that... no.”

“Hmmm?”

Eagle gritted his teeth. “Something's inside the substance. A body.”

“A body?” Ch-Chtung! Josho cocked his shotgun. “Chrysalis?!”

“No... no no no wait.” Eagle rested a hoof on Josho's shoulder. “I see two of them.”

“Two?”

Eagle nodded. Silently, he strolled forward, levitating his sword and shield alongside. More bolts of electricity forked across the ceiling. The cavern crackled as if with thunder while the two stallions approached the platform. They ascended a patch of rock, brushing past dead changelings and jagged slash marks set within the polished black stone. Coming around towards the broad side of the organic structure, they suddenly froze in place.

There were two deer wedged inside the slimy material—a doe and a buck.

“What... the hell?” Josho slurred.

Eagle flashed Josho a look, then approached the two bodies. They both hung, suspended in the viscous solution, their eyes shut. The doe's legs were curled up towards her grimacing face. The buck's antlers poked out the very edge of the slime, but the rest of his body was just as dormant as the other creature's.

“This whole place...” Josho thought aloud. “...was set up just to keep these two here?” He glanced back at the dead metamorphs once again. “But... what for? It doesn't make any sense.”

“Chrysalis must want something with them.” Eagle Eye reached forward, lightly tapping the edge of the buck's antlers. “Are they even alive—?”

The buck's eyes flew open.

Eagle jumped back with a gasp.

Teeth gnashing, the buck thrashed and writhed in the slimy prison. His mouth opened wide, gargling slime in dull green bubbles.

“Get...” Eagle grimaced. “Get him out!” Schiiing! He slashed his sword into the mess, cutting a deep swath. Josho used the butt of his shotgun as leverage, prying the thing open as Eagle cut his way to the deer.

When at last they had the buck's muzzle free, the creature lunged forward, gasping and sputtering. He vomited a bucketful of viscous ooze, then tilted his face up—seething—to look at Eagle Eye in the face. “Grkkkk... unicornssss...” His eyes flared. “Alafreons?”

“Uhm... n-not exactly.” Eagle Eye chipped chipped away. “Just stay calm. We'll have you out—”

“Snkkkt... no... NO!” The buck writhed and ripped a hoof out. “Her first!” He seized Eagle's shoulder, snarling. “Her first! Damn you!

“Uhhhhhh...” Eagle glanced aside at Josho.

“I heard 'em!” Josho was already ripping and punching his way into the other half of the slimy structure. Within a minute, he was pulling the doe's dainty body out. Eagle Eye reached in, helping the larger stallion set her on the ground. Suddenly, she writhed on the rocky floor, sputtering up slime and saliva.

“Azira!” The buck wheezed from where he still dangled in the mess of ooze. “Azira, my love! Are you alright?! Speak to me!”

“Grkkkt... hckkkt...” The doe writhed, curling up in a fetal position as she trembled all over. “So... s-so cold...” She wept. “My poor little fawn... wh-what have they done to him?”

Eagle Eye leaned in, burning his horn bright in order to warm the trembling deer. He glanced up at Josho. “I don't understand! What were you both doing here?”

“Just get me out of this! I need to be with her!” the buck stammered. Josho trotted up and gave the buck a telekinetic tug. At last, he and his antlers burst free with a splash of green muck. Josho tried helping him stand, but the deer merely shrugged him off with a grunt. He rushed over and cradled his mate, nuzzling her close. “It's okay, Azira. We've been found, my love. We're no longer prisoners to that monster.”

“So long... been so long...” The doe wept, burying her face in his chest. “What have th-they done with him? I can't bear to think of it...”

The buck clenched his eyes shut. Slowly, with a seething expression, he glared at the two stallions. “Speak the truth, unicorns. Does Prince Eine still live?”

“Prince Eine...?” Eagle murmured.

The deer frowned. “Is my son still alive?! Answer me!”

“Yes! I mean, from what we know—absolutely!” Eagle Eye nodded. “The Prince still lives! But... but wait.” He leaned forward. “Who are...?”

“I am King Lunarius of the House of Evo!” The buck's eyes flickered as his antlers glowed angrily at the very tips. “And I want that bastard Sharp Quill's head on a platter!”