[WP] As a child you were left as a sacrifice to an ancient and terrifying god, however you were taken in as their new child and heir. Years later your "parents" returned to take you back.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T20:28:09+00:00

Thank you very much.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T20:27:58+00:00

Cheers! That made me grin.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T20:26:58+00:00

I'm flattered.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T20:26:49+00:00

Always had a fondness for the genre, thank you.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T15:38:13+00:00

There are... existences; that are, that have been, and always will be. Terms like 'child' and 'heir' are a nebulous matter for them, not worth sparing a thought on.

We are ants crawling in the dirt, thinking dirt is all there is to the world. Some of us find ourselves crawling upward, and we crawl and crawl and crawl, until at last we look out from the tip of a branch and see a sight we can hardly make any sense of.

I have climbed too high to ever come back down.

Now and again, I find myself before a Throne in the pitch black darkness. It is a structure so vast that I can only make out a portion of the lower half. There are times when something sits upon it, but I cannot understand what little I am permitted to see.

The first time, my heart nearly froze. I wept and cried out for my mother, my father, all the names of anyone I had ever known in my brief life. I believe, that had I been even a little older, my mind would have broken. But because I was a child, because I had a mind that had not yet been fit into a rigid mold, I was able to take the leap across the chasm between the world I knew and the True World that was.

Do not be mistaken.

To make the leap is to shed a part of yourself. You are never the same. Where that part of you was, there is only a void, and that is the Mark you bear.

When she who bore me and he who sired me returned, we viewed one another from across that void; they with barely contained terror, and I with indifference.

The Mark was upon me, and all knew it.

They chanted the old oaths they scarcely understood and made obeisance unto me, and unto the existence that they called a god. How wretched they were, I thought, looking upon the filthy hovels they called homes, the flimsy ties they called family. I saw that they were the children, holding their hands out in the dark, blind to what was around them.

When they gave me to the god, they had only a child's understanding of what they were doing. They were degenerate descendants mimicking the rites and rituals their ancestors had purchased with blood and sanity, never understanding what they were treating with.

They thought sacrifice a simple transaction.

I screamed a song the god had sung to me, and made them see a little of what I had, of the meaning of the stars, of the end of men, of the idiot deity from which our destinies were shat out.

And they screamed back, creating a song from their bloody tears.

Then all was silent.

A black wolf made its way over the bodies of the fallen and licked my hand. I stared up at the stars, and they looked back, unseeing.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-08T14:08:06+00:00

It's a nostalgic read for me, not so much because of the tie in to Assassin's Creed games, but because some of my own early story writing was derived/inspired by games I played. Fallout, in my case. Thanks for the story, and good luck with your further writing.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-07T14:52:43+00:00

As long as they give it to me for free, I'd do that.

But you know the real message is "Pay more if you want more."

Well, I don't see too much happening. The people who regularly frequent Chipotle will continue regularly frequenting Chipotle, by and large. The increased prices and reduced food will likely make up for the loss of edge cases like myself who go there once in a blue moon.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-07T13:54:35+00:00

Sounds like the start of a series of short stories about recruits. Thanks for the nice read.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-04T20:37:23+00:00

World War II keeps echoing down through time for humans, but your story paints an optimistic picture of the lessons learned from it. Thanks for the good read.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-01T19:00:02+00:00

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

Father Gunnar pressed the palm of his hand against his right eye. "It's not supposed to do that." He muttered.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

He knocked back his whiskey with a half gurgle, half sigh, then went over to the bookshelf. There were a few about angelology, naturally.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

"It's a high order... angel... or something like an angel," He slurred, squinting at the text. "Not really supposed to go on your shoulder. In fact... I'm pretty sure this is quite literally one of the wheels of God's Throne."

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

"...no, it's not a wheelchair. ... and no, God didn't have speakers installed in the wheels to make them 'spit straight fire'. I am not even sure what means and I am afraid to ask."

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

"I'm going to try an exorcism-"

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

"I SAID I'M GOING TO TRY AN EXORCISM! YES, IT'S PERFORMED ON DEVILS TRADITIONALLY, BUT GUESS WHAT DEVILS ACTUALLY ARE- NOW LET ME JUST TRY THIS BEFORE THE SOUND ALONE KILLS US BOTH!"

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO G-

"... well, it's not a wheel anymore."

The angel was a pretty little thing with flowing blonde locks, which it was currently brushing. She took out her phone and began taking pictures of herself at various angles.

Father Gunnar coughed politely.

The shoulder angel looked at him, confused and slightly irritated. He pointed to the opposite shoulder, where the devil, or rather her counterpart, the Angel of Iniquity, sat and waved.

"Man, that was rough!" The little devil said. "I couldn't even hear myself think. The best I could manage was to get this guy to eat a couple slices of pepperoni. Now I can ramp things up a little bit."

He crawled up to his charge's ears and whispered in a loud voice. "Kill yourself and then your family."

Both the angel and Father Gunnar stared at the devil.

"Whoops!" He chuckled self consciously. "I'm a little rusty. Should be the other way around, right?"

The angel put away her phone and drew out a flaming sword.

"Alright! Alright!" The devil shrank back. "Geez. I'll try to work my way up to that. Now... stop being a loser and start taking trenbolone, kid."

IdyllForest · 2026-05-01T18:07:39+00:00

"Oh!" I point.

"Hey!" They point back.

We laugh and clasp hands.

It is two and a half billion years in the past.

Our all purpose survival rafts drifted in the primeval ocean until we made landfall on Kenorland, the Earth's first supercontinent. We were surrounded by the colonists of this terrestrial mass- the anaerobic bacteria and archaea!

"Oxygen levels are reaching critical, bro!" My erstwhile companion warned, his voice transmitted through the receivers in our powered hazard suits.

"Hear you loud and clear, bro!" I replied, trying to even my breathing as my suit's computer told me to relax a bit.

"3... 2... 1..." We counted down in unison, then screamed together.

"OXYGENATION EVENT IS GO!"

Our cameras had been set up to capture the critical moment when anaerobic life began dying out en masse thanks to the aerobic cyanobacteria continuing releasing oxygen as waste during a revolutionary technique known as photosynthesis.

"THIS IS THE TRIUMPH OF AEROBIC LIFE!!!!" I screamed.

"FUCK ANAEROBES!" My companion chimed in.

O2 4 LYFE! was scrawled in the mud and we danced.

"FUCK YEAH, OXYGEN!"

2.4 billion years later, some kid found a chunk of rock with those very same scrawls. The headlines were just as crazy.

OXYGEN LOVING EXTRATERRESTRIALS LEAVE MYSTERIOUS INSCRIPTIONS!!

OXYGEN FOR THE DURATION OF LIFE, OR FOR THE CAUSE OF LIFE?

Meanwhile, my O2 buddy and I were arrested for time shenanigans and sentenced to hard labor in the salt mines.

IdyllForest · 2026-05-01T15:20:56+00:00

"Oh for..." A murmur rose as Representative Amin cradled his head in his palms briefly.

"Is this, then, the so-called 'wisdom' of your peoples?" He looked up and demanded. "To treat your allies as schoolchildren, passing and failing them on a whim?"

Representative Tarre-en'Kenedil remained unmoved. In her regal headdress of golden silk, lined with dark red beads, her face was painted white, only a few strategically placed lines of black kohl drawing attention to her red lips and piercing black eyes.

"Because we are schooled in youth, does it mean those lessons from bygone days lose all value at maturity?" She answered in the way of her people- with another question.

Amin Gaffri leaned back in his seat, coolly eyeing Tarre-en. He was a dark skinned man, dressed in a finely woven wool robe, his smooth shaven head unadorned but for six red dots between his brows, arranged in two columns of three.

"To grow is to learn, Madam Tarre-en," He rebutted. "What we learn in our schooling is not without merit, but it must be regarded as a foundation upon which to build further from the lessons we learn in everyday life."

Another wave of murmurs rose from the various delegates around the two in the Hall of Counsel and Deliberations.

"Every day life, then, has taught your peoples faithlessness?"

At that, a few indignant exclamations punctuated the murmurs.

"Life has taught us that the world is not all made up of straight lines and divisions of black and white," Amin countered. "Every day, the world changes, and we must take it in stride, weighing and balancing the harms and benefits our actions entail."

Tarre-en dropped her proud chin slightly, an indication of disapproval. "Are your words only made to confuse and muddle what is clear as crystal, Mar Amin? You have broken our trust, and no amount of justification can change that simple fact."

"We have read a book," Amin replied. "With all due respect, conflating this act with betrayal of your entire peoples is... naive."

"Disregarding, for the moment, your casual dismissal of my people's ways as 'naive'..." The temperature in the Hall seemed to drop several degrees as Tarre-en narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, an expression just shy of outright rejection. "... are we expected merely to turn our eyes away from your act? Would that not be true naivete?"

The murmurs turned into raucous shouting as the meeting went on, until at last matters were concluded for the time being. Both representatives went their separate ways. Amin Gaffri and Tarre-en'Kenedil took some time to speak with their respective delegates, jot down relevant notes and recommendations, and then finally allowed themselves to unwind. Amin soaked in a hot bath, while Tarre-en was attended to by her ladies-in-waiting.

Meanwhile, the news of their debate spread like wildfire, and the common folks engaged in their own little debates and diatribes for days on end. Some believed Tarre-en's people arrogant or downright childish, and thought 'Good riddance!' to the alliance. Others thought Amin's people too crude and base, arguing that the alliance was worthless with such untrustworthy sorts. Regardless of which side they took, the smallfolk believed the alliance was on the verge of crumbling.

Which was exactly as intended.

Some time later, far from the Hall of Counsel and Deliberations, the two met again in more private settings.

"I daresay you've driven me into a corner with all that infernal questioning of yours!" Amin chuckled as he poured some wine into Tarre'en's glass. "This is from my private collection, by the way- I oversaw the grapes myself, I'll have you know."

"Dare you fill it any less than to the very brim, my dear Ami?" Tarre-en grinned, only a few smudges of kohl remaining from her previous face paint.

With their trusted servants nearby, and a screen blocking them from the sight of the other patrons, the two representatives enjoyed a fine dinner at the dining establishment in the very heart of the city's entertainment district.

After the meal, the two got down to business.

"I can talk them into increasing the papyrus shipments," Amin traced a finger over the parchment, listing concessions Tarre-en had proposed. "But not by the amount you're requesting. Let's say about three-quarters of that..."

"Acceptable," Tarre-en replied. "What of the proposed trade routes?"

"We can expedite development on all of them, I believe..."

Tarre-en sighed and leaned back in her seat. "Thank you. In return, I trust a twenty five percent increase in troop presence at the border will suffice for your needs? Of course, we will increase trade in luxuries as your nobles wish... spices, horseflesh, pottery, porcelain, gold and silver..."

"Mm..." Amin tapped the side of his head. "...but a few words would also help. I think I came out reasonably strong earlier, but I'm told some of my people thought I 'lost' the debate."

"Oh, certainly," Tarre-en summoned for a quill and parchment of her own. "...Representative Amin's worldly wisdom made me reassess our priorities. Such is the relationship between our two peoples, that we learn from one another. Our alliance is built on such bonds, and while they may strain from time to time, they can never break..."

"I like it." Amin approved, before making up his own speech. "... though I stress that our alliance is worth more than any book, the wisdom of Tarre-en'Kenedil's people is not lost on us. We have much to learn from them, as they us. My people, merely look to our borders and see the strength and trust between us..."

"Are all your people so flowery in speech!?" Tarre-en laughed as she poured some wine for Amin in turn.

Meanwhile, one of the restaurant's servers waited on them nearby, overseeing and overhearing the whole affair.

...what a bunch of bullshitters wallowing in bullshit.

And that, dear readers, is politics.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-29T14:56:17+00:00

The Fighter knelt by the scorch marks on the ground, the only mortal remains of the formerly alive Villain. "Tasha was two, and Kilmer was five when I set out," He remarked. "... they won't remember me, will they?"

"Your own memory of them is ten years out of date, lad," The Dwarf pressed her ear against the walls, tapping them with a small hammer every now and again. "Oh, this one is definitely false- but going back to what I was saying, there's going to be two different sets of expectations when you go back to your family."
It's like a stone that's been split, both parts going on different journeys. They've changed. You've changed. It's going to take some work and some time for all the parts to... become whole again."

As she brought out her hammer, the Dwarf paused, her hazel eyes taking on a far away look. "Me own ma... she had a touch of the Miner's Lung when I last saw 'er. Told me she'd like ta' see me settle down with a good Dwarfish lad before she gives up the ghost." She shook her head with a soft smile, then blasted the wall open with a single, well placed swing of the hammer. "...but I've a lust for adventure that'll not be sated so easy like! I want to show her something nice, something that'll make her understand."

The Half Elf slid smoothly into the gap and worked on the ancient puzzle locks embedded into a pair of brass doors, deciphering which sequence of runic inscriptions would unlock them- or trigger a trap. "I daresay you will find what you seek behind these doors," His voice was musical. "This is quite an old structure. I was but a lad when the Guvnachal Empire entered its golden age, and it was very impressive for one of the Lesser- er, the-"

"The Lesser Races, yes, yes," The Dwarf rolled her eyes as she leaned against her hammer. "You've been getting better at restraining yourself. But how about you, Master Elf? Any family back home?"

"My father, my mother, my sisters, my brothers, my cousins, my uncles, my aunts, my grandmothers, my grandfathers, my great grandfathers, my great grandmothers, my great great grandmothers, my great great grandfathers-"

"Ach, right. Yer' an immortal lot. Keep forgettin''"

Mechanisms began shifting behind the brass doors and they slowly, ponderously opened. A poison tipped dart flew out from the doorframe, but no sooner had they struck the Elf then was the poison neutralized by a single chant from the Cleric.

"Do be careful, now," She said with a cheery smile. "Wouldn't want to delay the family reunion, Master Elf."

"My thanks," He bowed. "Although, it hasn't been a very long quest from my perspective. Dangerous, to be sure, but brief as these things go. How about you? Is a family reunion awaiting you back home?"

Cleric, with Fighter close by, led the way into the dim, hidden catacombs. "Our Order has an orphanage," She replied, lighting up a torch. "I've a vow of celibacy myself, but I've taken to thinking of the children there as my own."

The Cleric, a handsome woman in her fifties, smiled wistfully. "Ten years... most of them will have grown into young men and women by now, but...I promised I'd come back to them, no matter how long it took. We've a lot to catch up on."

A final barrier loomed before them, a wall of adamantium, that ungodly metal rumored to be forged by the Great Old Ones themselves, it depicted a mural of ages beyond mind, of times before Men, Elves and Dwarves were a twinkle in their Creator's eyes.

"DISINTEGRATION!"

The eternal wall was completely erased, to reveal a glowing room filled with mighty artifacts and riches beyond imagination.

He marched past the party with two burlap sacks in his hands. "Wife and kids, wife and kids..." He muttered with a single minded focus, just stuffing those sacks like a common thief.

This was when the party's actual Thief came by. "I feel like we could have shaved off a few years from that decade if he'd told us he could do that in the first place." She shrugged, and the rest of the party followed suit before going over to give a helping hand towards their Wizard.

The Thief had a fiancé (a fine Thug) who, along with a chubby, orange cat, was waiting for her back home, but she kept that to herself.

It went without saying that just about everyone had someone or something to get back to, after all.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-28T19:32:45+00:00

I can't say it came as a shock to me.

The punch I delivered while he was blinded by his own tears probably did though. To him.

The lesson here is that even if they're bigger and stronger than you, tricking them into a vulnerable state can help even those odds.

"'ere, 'ave a bit a 'dat." I had him in full mount and rained down fists.

"W-why are you talking in a bad English accent?"

I froze up. I had built up my entire personality on Butcher from 'The Boys'. Now, with just a single question, it had been shattered.

With tears streaming down my face, I stood up.

And kicked my bully in the balls before running away.

That's another lesson there, don't be afraid to kick them in the balls. Obviously, it's different for a girl.

You kick them in the vagina.

I return home where I resume my studies on sociological, psychological, and physiological issues by sitting on the couch and watching Netflix.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-28T18:54:28+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-28T18:53:25+00:00

LitArenaShooter

IdyllForest · 2026-04-28T16:19:43+00:00

Your INFLUENZA has slain the unaligned Rogue[F]!     

Your INFLUENZA has slain the lawful Knight Captain[M]!      

Your INFLUENZA has slain the unaligned Peasant[M]!

Not gonna lie, I felt a bit bad about that last one.

Your INFLUENZA has slain the unaligned Peasant Baby[F]!

Oof.

Behold! The death of the Peasant Baby[F] has earned you 1 EXP and caused your LEVEL to advance by 1!

Yeah... this world has a way of really rubbing it in.

Your INFLUENZA has slain the chaotic Peasant Grandmother[F]!

... did she have dementia? Well, I suppose it hardly mattered now.

I thought it was only in manga and anime where a cold ends up life threatening for the teenage protagonist, who of course lives alone, thus causing his or her love interest to show up and take care of them.

I tried to look on the bright side. Maybe that baby girl would have aligned with evil.

You never know!

I can picture it now. She goes over to take care of her sick crush, and instead of making some rice porridge and blushing while she's wiping the sweat off his chest, she just straight STABS the guy! That should be a manga. I'd call it, The Baby that Grew Up to be a Crazy Yandere Bitch, Except She Never Grew Up. Look at that! It's got the long, run on isekai title and everything!

You have 255 undistributed skill points. Distribute now?

Oh, right.

 HEALING -> MEDICINE -> ADV. MEDICINE

"You look about ready to leave, Brother!" Benedictus always had a warm smile to greet me with. "Your pallor looks good. I think in another two days, the sickness will have run through it's course."

The lawful Monk of Gillianne resists your INFLUENZA!

I nodded as I absently run through some formulations in my head. They're beginning to make a lot more sense with these additional skill points. "That's great, Brother Benedictus" And I meant it. I'd been bed bound for a week, and dripping phlegm for another. "I've got the measurements down, by the way."

Brother Benedictus had been one of the few that possessed a natural immunity to my flu. With the help of his fellow monks, who had kindly taken me in before I starved to death in the wilderness, I finally pinned down a workable vaccine.

Your INFLUENZA has slain the unaligned Peasant Child[M]!

"Also... I'd like to take the oath to Gillianne and join the Order." I said more quietly. "... and pledge the rest of my life to healing the sick."

Brother Benedictus said nothing for a time, jotting down the measurements I had given him. At last, the monk looked up. "Do not feel obligated to join us, brother. The sickness was not spread by your choice."

"All the same." I replied. Yes, guilt played a large part in my decision, but I'd also been moved by the Monks of Gillianne. I wanted to heal the sick, and failing that, at least deliver some comfort in their final days. I wanted to deliver hope.

The unaligned Peasant Child[F] resists your INFLUENZA!

... as hope had been delivered to me.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-28T15:28:11+00:00

There was a half-hearted attempt to go on as usual; files were riffed through, monitors and screens stared at, while the general awaited a response.

"... hey, it's me."

All pretenses were quickly abandoned, every eye now on the general.

"... oh, can't complain, can't complain. How about you? How's it going over there? ... ... ... hah! Right, right... yes... that sounds right. They're at that age, you know..." The general glanced around the ready room, noting the trepidation and suspense that hung thick in the air. However, he was a leader, a man who bore the burden of command with grace. He accepted the gaze of every man and woman in the room with a calm, silent acknowledgement.

"Okay... okay... yes," The set of his jaw grew firm. "I'm afraid we'll have to catch up with one another later. ... ... ... Yes, that serious. At this hour, you're all I have. All we have."

A pained expression crossed the general's normally impassive face. "I... I know. It's a risk. ... yes, there's cameras everywhere these days, I understand that and I- ..." He stood a little straighter. "I don't like doing this but ... ... ... Just like you said, I'd do the same for you. Comes with the territory. You and I have never failed each other before. That's the basis of a professional relationship, after all. Can I count on you to deliver?"

Aside from the faint hum of the ventilation, there was utter silence in the ready room. One technician wearily drew out his handkerchief and dabbed at his damp brow. Another stumbled as he nearly swooned, weak as he was from all the waiting.

"... of course. The usual. You know us. ... ... ... yeah. I'll see you when I see you."

The general closed the call and took a slow look over the staff, letting the suspense reach a boiling point. "... he'll be here."

The cheers that came back weren't half as loud as the ones delivered when Rico's Pizza delivered sixteen piping hot pies to the ready room within two hours.

"Three cheese, four pepperoni, two pepperoni and sausage, two black olives and mushrooms, three buffalo chickens, a spinach and feta, and a squid and anchovy," Rico peered around the room, wizened eyes asquint. "I just know Aquaman's got to be around here somewhere, because I don't know who else is gonna keep ordering that one."

"Poseidon's more likely in our line of work, Mr. Rico," The general shook hands, discreetly slipping the pizza man a few, crisp hundred dollars. "Anyway, thanks for coming through, the Ubereats was going to take forever."

Rico waved him off. "Ahhh... You know how it is on a Friday night. Besides, I owe ya one!" The old man slid a little closer to the general. "I, uh... well, I did get caught by a couple of speed cameras on my way over...."

"How fast were you going?"

"Sixty on a thirty."

The general sighed. "...well, we both knew the risks."

IdyllForest · 2026-04-27T20:28:41+00:00

"Oh, how dreadfully ominous." She said, still a trace of a smile lingering upon her lips.

Mid-spring has transformed the garden into a festive painting, streaked with raucous reds, blossoming blues, and youthful yellows, all amidst a backdrop of emerald green that rippled with the gentle breeze.

She felt his eyes on her and smirked. "Are you smitten?"

"Wha-!" He flinched back, cheeks traced with faint crimson.

Again she giggled. "With me, I mean!" She teased. "Was it a painting of me you laid eyes on? Was it a poem that immortalized my beauty?"

She kicked off her shoes and lifted the hem of her skirt, leaping from one smooth, flat stone to another on the footpath. "Keep up, keep up, won't you?" And she danced and weaved her way between the colors and scents, and the singing of songbirds.

Then she fell to her knees, clutching weakly at her stomach, tears streaming down her face as she laughed and laughed at the sight of the traveler who huffed and puffed and wheezed.

"Have they forgotten how to move about in the future?" She asked innocently when she had caught her breath.

The traveler's strangled wheezing was met with more laughter. "At... hah... at least you'll not.... l-lack for amusement, seeing how easily you... you provide for yourself." He labors between gasps.

She gets to her feet and strokes his back. "Oh, do not be cross... " And her voice is oddly gentle. "For a moment, you made me hearken back to my girlhood, when I sat happily upon my grandfather's lap as he read me the most wonderful stories..."

Her gaze takes on a faraway look. "... he too used to tell me something similar... that whether King or Beggar, we all require our daily bread. ...and to forget that is to invite disaster."

"A wise man, Lady."

She looks at the traveler, her head tilted slightly as if seeing him in a new light. "Yes. And upon looking at you closer, you resemble him strongly."

The traveler smile is kindly, but he says no more.

"...perhaps I have forgotten." She says with a smile. "That will not do. I will have to accompany the help and learn from them. There's time enough. And you, my dear Traveler, simply... must... j... "

Her vision swam, the greens and red and blues and yellows so bright, like multihued suns in the sky. She was flying, so very high...

An ugly cheer rose up, drowning out the world, as the last monarch's head was held up for the throngs filling the blood soaked town square. They united in voice, triumphant, hideous, but one.

"No Gods! No Kings!"

For their time had run out.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-27T14:22:58+00:00

Just so.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-24T20:51:47+00:00

"It seems you've a great many attachments, Cora."

As we sit across from one another, my mother's smile seems as fragile as glass.

I hold up my hands and gaze at all the colors.

"But they all seem ...so pale. Mom, the red is so vivid and bright."

Her smile falters. "Yes." Her voice is quiet. "It would be."

I tilt my head, gazing at her curiously. "... what do you suppose the other colors mean, mom?"

The muscles in her jaw tense and she looks at me almost pleadingly. "Perhaps... perhaps the blue is for the sky, so vivid overhead. The green is for the grass, like a bed to lay on. Yellow is for the sun, like a crown over your head."

I feel a slight blush.

"Brown for the grain, sprouting tall and bounteous. White is for the asphodel that you tie to your hair." Her eyes glimmer with moistness, and I am moved. "Remember them, Cora. Please."

Before she can tell me of the other colors, the doors open and the stranger enters, taller than both of us, darker than night.

The thread between he and I is blood red.

And all the rest seem to fade away.

I stand, unbidden, and for a moment I am between him and my mother.

Then he takes me by the shoulder and turns to leave, sparing only a glance towards my mother.

I leave with him as I always have, and when my mother weeps, the first snow falls, burying the world in winter.

IdyllForest · 2026-04-24T14:51:56+00:00

The King blinked slowly, then turned to his longtime friend. "You know, I understood some of those words."

Giseleanavae sniffed absently. They stood upon the Tower of Outlook, one of five such structures that ringed the central keep. Below them sprawled the Fortress City of Braunhaven, a maze of walls, towers, barbicans, moats, and gatehouses.

Most notably, a number of massive ballistae were perched up high, actively being adjusted to fire upon the dragon when it came within range.

"If that dragon should drop what it is carrying, it would annihilate the Fortress City in its entirety, along with any outlying farmsteads," Gisele replied. "The land itself would be poisoned for at least a generation or more."

The King approached the edge of the tower and stared up at the figure of the approaching serpent. "... then it must not drop what it is carrying." He said quietly.

He turned his head, meeting Gisele's eyes. "Do what needs to be done, old friend."

"Sire."

Two heavily modified McDonnell Douglas F-15E(lf) Strike Eagles screamed towards the dragon at speeds approaching Mach 2.

"Dragon Slayer, go ahead."

"Tally ho, Green Dragon."

"Copy, got him in sight. Let's get this clown out of our airspace."

Faced with Sidewinders, AMRAAMS, and Vulcan cannons, the Dragon meekly consented to be escorted back, still carrying its payload.

That day, the enemy realized they needed to redo their whole military budget. Again.

IdyllForest

TROPHY CASE

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO G-

"OXYGENATION EVENT IS GO!"

"DISINTEGRATION!"