Mystic Heart Odyssey

Part 6: In the Shadows of Kryckwood

Chapter 4

A story within a story! Hope you enjoy this bit of grim, creepy background!

-Llox

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The walk back to Algrytha’s strange garden was uneventful enough, albeit as unsettling and creepy as they’d come to expect in the Kryck. However, they soon found themselves getting lost and confused within the garden itself. Things seemed to be in different places than they remembered them. At first, they assumed they had simply approached from a different direction than the last time. But eventually they started to suspect there was more going on.

“Wait, didn’t we already pass those bushes?”

Lykou scratched his head. “Now that you mention it, yeah…”

“Great, we’re going in circles,” Kuna grumbled.

“But we haven’t turned recently… have we?”

The sereva looked around anxiously, then shook his head. “I don’t think so. Let’s… try retracing our steps.”

“Sounds good t-” the konuul started to reply, then stopped after turning around. His eyes widened slightly. “Wait. We just came from this way, right?”

“Yeah w-” Kuna started, then paused when he saw the problem. Instead of a gap between the walls being right behind them, they were faced with a solid wall, and there was a gap they didn’t see before off to the side. “...okay I KNOW we came from that way, but we did not walk through a solid wall.”

Lykou experimentally prodded the moss-covered wall with the blunt end of his spear. “...feels solid.”

Kuna walked over and felt around through the plant matter. “Yeah… there’s solid rock under there.”

“Walls don’t just… move around though.”

They both looked around warily, their unease growing. Kuna sighed. “...are we finally going insane?”

“Well, if we are, at least we’re doing it together,” Lykou said with a slight smirk, then wrapped an arm around the sereva, hoping to ease both their nerves a little.

Kuna smirked back faintly. “I guess madness is better with a friend, at least,” he replied, reciprocating the hug. “Still, might as well keep looking.”

“You know, as big as her house is, you’d think we’d at least see the roof poking over the walls at some point,” Lykou commented as they continued wandering.

“Probably blends in too much.”

“The chimney sticks out.”

“...is that what you call the thing that lets smoke out?”

Lykou nodded. “Mhmm. Kind of important.”

“I’d imagine so.”

“Guessing your… ex-tribe never had fires inside?”

“Not really. Everything was way too easy to burn. Didn’t want a fire getting out of control. Mostly just bundled up real snug during the winter. And… I guess the others huddled together sometimes, too.”

Lykou frowned and gave him a gentle squeeze. “At least you can make up for lost time now.”

Kuna shot him a small smile and leaned into the embrace a little. “Yeah…”

They came to an intersection between two paths meandering between the garden sections and paused to look off to either side. Seeing no familiar or distinctive landmark to work off of, they decided to just pick a random direction and continue. “...you know, I think it’s getting harder to deny at this point, so I’ll just say it. She’s probably some kind of Sylthean.”

“I was thinking the s-same thing,” Kuna agreed, his nerves returning a bit. “N-not that we have a lot of first-hand experience w-with them. Aside from Aelana and Daisy.”

“What did Ink say the ones that built those ruins were called? El… something?”

“Elnyr, yeah.”

“I wonder if she’s one of them?”

“Hard to say,” Kuna said, his eyes darting around warily, half expecting her to pop out of one of the walls again any moment. “Kind of wish w-we’d asked more about them now, though.”

“Hey, maybe tonight if we can find a safe enough place to sleep I can visit them.”

“Good idea, but that’s a p-pretty big ‘if’ right now. Much a-as I hate the idea, it’s pretty obvious w-we’re not going to get to the gate before n-nightfall at this rate.”

“Fair point. I wonder if Algrytha will mind letting us set up camp somewhere in her garden for the night,” Lykou mused.

“Yeah no. That s-seems like a bad idea,” Kuna said, eyeing some of the strange plants- particularly another one of the bitey-ones in the corner of one section.

“Worse than out in the forest?” Lykou retorted. “With all the undead things?”

Kuna shied away from one patch of shrubs bristling with sharp thorns. When he wasn’t looking directly at them, he could swear he saw them move out of the corner of his eye. “...kind of a t-toss up at the moment.”

“Hey, at least if anything in here gives us trouble, we can probably fight back. Out there, not so much,” the konuul pointed out. “Our weapons won’t do much good against things that are technically already dead.”

The sereva shivered. “T-true... Still n-not great options though.”

“No ideal, no. But I’d rather camp somewhere in here than out there.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before being startled by what sounded like an eruption of high-pitched laughter when Kuna brushed against some leaves they were passing. They spun around to see a cluster of mostly-normal looking yellow flowers that he’d apparently disturbed. What made them strange is that they were bobbing around, and the laughter-like sound was apparently coming from the flowers themselves.

“W-what the…?” Kuna said as he backed away.

“...well, I’ll take noisy over bitey, at least,” Lykou commented, then winced. “Though that’d get annoying after a while.”

“Like ‘em?” a familiar voice said from behind them, startling them again.

“Do you HAVE to s-sneak up on us??” Kuna snapped, clutching his chest as he tried to calm himself down. “We’ve had enough s-scares lately as it is!”

Algrytha cackled and patted his shoulder as she walked past them with an oddly-shaped jug, then sprinkled some water over the flowers, calming them. “Not my fault you were too distracted ta notice me walking over.”

“What kinds of flowers are those?” Lykou asked. “And… do they have some kind of use?”

“Some, but mostly they just make the place feel a little more cheery,” Algrytha explained. “And they’re laughodils, of course.”

Immediately, Kuna fixed her with a flat stare. “...what.”

Lykou couldn’t help but snort in amusement, both at the name, and at his companion’s expression.

The sereva’s eye twitched. “Please tell me you’re joking,”

“Not at all. Why?” Algrytha responded with an innocent expression. “Seems like a fitting name to me.”

Kuna slowly turned to Lykou. “...I don’t like gardens anymore.”

The konuul burst into a small fit of giggles. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Wouldja like a tour of the garden? I’ve got some lovely eyelacs and twolips.”

“If they stare back at me or start talking, I’m taking my chances with the undead.”

Lykou snickered some more, then patted his friend’s back. “Alright alright, take it easy Ku,” he said, then turned back to the witch. “We got those ingredients you told us about.”

“Didja now?” Algrytha said with a grin. “Even the spook’s slime? That musta been fun.”

“We got lucky actually. Found a fairly nice ghost. She wasn’t a crazy hungry ghost yet, but she’d been around long enough to hold a conversation,” Lykou said, then frowned. “Feel bad for her honestly.”

The witch waved the comment off. “Wouldn’t suggest gettin’ too attached. She’ll be another mindless hungry corpse-dragger eventually. Probably knew the risks when she came, too. ‘n’ still went ‘n’ threw her life away for some treasure, no doubt.”

“I don’t know, from the way she put it, she kind of did it out of desperation and kind of expected to die anyway, at the ruins.”

“Place is littered with folk like that, I’m afraid,” Algrytha added with a shrug. “Some more sympathetic than others, but all walkin’ dead in some form or other regardless.”

“I wish we could help them move on,” Kuna chimed in sadly. “Even everyday assholes don’t deserve that.”

“Deserve it or not, s’what they got,” the witch said dismissively, then walked towards a gap in the wall, gesturing for them to follow. “Anyway, since ya got them ingredients, let’s head back to the house ‘n’ get started.”

Lykou wrapped his arm around Kuna again and gave him a gentle squeeze. The sereva sighed, and they both followed along behind the garden’s odd owner.

*****

Inside the dimly-lit witch’s home, Lykou and Kuna sat quietly, watching Algrytha busy herself with setting out the tools and ingredients for the potion, muttering to herself as she did so. There were apparently several things she’d already had on hand that also went into the concoction, which she made sure to measure out ahead of time. Finally, when everything was laid out on one table, she reignited the fire and poured a small bit of normal water into one of the mid-sized pots. It didn’t take long for the small amount of liquid to start boiling off.

And that’s when things got interesting. Kuna’s eyes widened as he was the first to feel a certain charge in the air- it wasn’t like any of the energies he was familiar with, but he definitely felt some kind of magic at play the moment she waved her hand through the steam. After a moment, even Lykou could feel it- a certain faint charge in the air. She then brought the jug of the more dangerous water over to the pot and began speaking in a strange tone- not to mention rhyming.

“To start the brew that’ll see you through,

Waters that thirst will sting the worst.

With a pinch of salt, boil it well,

‘lest you wish for a taste of hell.”

She uncapped and carefully decanted the dangerous fluid into the pot as she spoke, then sprinkled some salt from a small clay bowl in after it. A few moments passed in awkward silence as she stood by, her unusually large eyes wide open and focused, watching the water slowly come to a boil. Neither Lykou nor Kuna could bring themselves to say anything- she hadn’t said as much, but they had a strange feeling that interrupting would be a bad idea. Finally, when the water began to churn, she continued, reaching for a large wooden spoon and another small wooden bowl filled with what looked like some seeds.

“Stir the pot and tip the fennel seed,

Then golden sprout to mute its greed.”

She stirred in the seeds, then sprinkled in a few unfamiliar yellow things neither of the boys recognized. The water’s boiling started to calm, then it transitioned to sizzling and hissing instead. The steam faded, leaving a strangley fizzy liquid visibly and angrily seething inside the pot. Kuna shifted and eyed the mixture uncomfortably. Lykou held him and continued watching with a mixture of bewilderment and fascination. It was clear this was unlike any cooking he’d seen before.

Around five minutes passed, then she continued again. She picked up the sprigs of death’s breath they’d gathered and began stripping the stems bare, setting the rest aside in another little bowl. Her eyes were fixed on the pot, and never seemed to blink. Combined with her neutral, yet intense expression and her smooth, yet extremely precise movements, she was starting to look especially… uncanny.

“Strip the ashen stalks all smooth and bare,

then add its flesh when steam fills the air.”

They waited in uncomfortable silence again. Suddenly, a plume of steam suddenly burst up from the pot, and she immediately dropped the stalks in and stirred it exactly twice with the spoon.

“Let it once more bubble and churn and hiss,

then sprinkle bitterleaf in for a chilly mist.”

After a moment, the mixture began boiling harder than ever, and the hissing grew louder. She grabbed another small bowl and tipped some spotted, dried up leaves into the pot. Almost immediately, it settled again- in fact it wasn’t fizzing or anything. Despite still being over the hot flames, the liquid inside became completely still. A few moments later, a chilly mist began to slowly rise from within.

Finally, she pulled the bag containing the rock coated in ectoplasm off the table and carried it over. She pulled the rock out and examined it for a moment. Fortunately, the ghostly slime hadn’t faded. After a moment, she slowly pulled the slime off, weaving it around her long, gnarled fingers, and held it over the pot. Lykou and Kuna shared a look. Clearly she had the same knack for interacting with the stuff that Kuna did. Her voice lowered to just a little above a whisper as she continued,

“When all is quiet and still as the final breath,

Stir in the essence of those that deny their death.”

Slowly, the ethereal slime dripped down and entered the pot, until it’d all left her hand and disappeared into the mixture. After a moment, she slowly stirred it. A chilly mist began to rise, then the fluid started glowing faintly with an eerie pale green light. Finally, she grinned and brought over an armful of small, clear containers. They were slim and round, and after she filled each one, she plugged the top with a cork and set it aside. When the entirety of the brew had been corked up, she brought three of the glowing containers to each of them. Somehow, they were cold to the touch- almost uncomfortably so.

“And there ya have it, boys. Draught of the dead. Drink one each when you approach the ruins. The others’re extra, just in case.”

“Th-thanks,” Kuna said, nervously taking and examining the three he’d been handed. “...i-it is safe… right?”

“As safe as anything can be, especially ‘round here,” the witch replied, then chuckled. “Might feel a smidge weird at first, but that’s about it. Not much flavor either, which, considerin’ how some brews taste, is a mighty blessin’, let me tell ya.”

“G-good to know…”

“What exactly is this made of?” Lykou asked, tapping one of the containers lightly.

“Weren’t ya payin’ attention? I mentioned all the ingredients while I worked,” she retorted.

“No, I mean… the container. Haven’t seen anything like it before.”

“Yeah, I’m n-not used to being able to see through solid things,” Kuna added.

Algrytha eyed them for a moment, then snickered. “Guessin’ your folk haven’t worked out glass yet, eh?”

“Oh!” Lykou said, perking up. “Glass! We just heard of that for the first time recently, actually. Never saw it until now though. Er, not like this anyway.”

“Not too surprisin’. Lot of folk don’t have it, apparently. Kind of rare I s’pose, but I’ve an old collection I keep around for this very thing,” she explained. “Careful, it’s kinda fragile, ‘n’ if it breaks, it makes a nasty, sharp mess that’ll cut ya good. Best bundle it up in something soft until ya need ta use it.”

“Why use it if it’s s-so easy to break?” Kuna asked.

“Lotta magic brews can get sorta… messed up a little if their in other kinds of containers. Or mess the containers up. Don’t tend ta have to worry about that with glass, fer whatever reason,” Algrytha said, then shrugged. “Some other brews do fine with reg’lar jugs ‘n’ such, but when yer dealin’ with somethin’ usin’ that water that thirsts, s’best ta play it safe.”

“And… you’re sure it’s safe to drink?” Lykou asked warily.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry about it. The cookin’ took out the dangerous qualities.”

“So we just… d-drink this when we get n-near the ruins and… the dead won’t attack us?”

“Exactly,” Algrytha assured him. “On that note though, don’t forget there’s one more thing you need.”

Lykou furrowed his brow. “Oh?”

Kuna facepalmed. “Oh, right. That… key stone thing,” he grumbled, then looked back up at the witch anxiously. “W-why do I get the feeling it won’t be easy to find?”

“Finding ain’t the hard part, kiddo,” the witch said as she started cleaning things up a bit. “Gettin’ it is. It’s deep in the Great Wraith’s territ’ry, y’see.”

Kuna gawked at her. “… seriously??”

“Oh great,” Lykou said, rubbing his face in exasperation. “Didn’t you say that thing’s super dangerous?”

“Lots’a things around here are,” Algrytha said with a dark chuckle. “But yeah, he’s probably the worst.”

“Oh good,” Kuna snarked. “Wonderful. Fan-fucking-tastic.”

Lykou arched a brow. “Why would that thing have the keystone to the ruins?”

“Because they’re connected, in a way,” Algrytha got out a knife and began cutting some kind of root vegetable up. “Why don’t you two join me for a late lunch and I’ll tell you a little story about the ruins, the revenant, and the Great Wraith, and how they’re all related.”

“Er,” Kuna said, visibly uncomfortable with the idea.

Lykou was a little uneasy as well, but didn’t want to seem rude. “Well, um…”

“Oh don’t worry, I make a mean stew that’ll suit both’a ya fine,” she assured them, then briefly waved the knife nonchalantly at Kuna with a smirk. “No meat or anything, promise.” She turned to Lykou. “But I guarantee you’ll still enjoy it.”

“Well, I mean, sure,” Lykou said with a shrug. “I’ve enjoyed plant-only stuff before,” he said, then glanced over at Kuna for a moment before continuing. “...I guess that sounds good, thanks for the hospitality.”

Kuna sighed and leaned against him lightly, resigning himself to the situation. “Yeah, thanks…”

Algrytha chuckled and poured some regular water from a large container into a pot, then dumped the chopped-up rooty things in after it. She then reached over and tussled Kuna’s hair lightly. “Don’t worry, I know what yer thinkin’,” she said with a smirk. “If I meant ya ill, ya’d already be ill. But ya’ve been lovely guests, so I’ve no reason to want such a thing.” She shrugged. “’sides, when I have ta deal with livin’ pests, I’m more inclined to let the forest deal with ‘em than waste ingredients on shit like poisons.”

“That’s… reassuring…?” Kuna replied with a small eye-twitch.

“Er, yeah…” Lykou hesitantly agreed. “Um. So. What’s the deal with this Great Wraith thing? I got the impression you didn’t really know much about it last time we talked.”

“Not all the specifics,” Algrytha admitted as she started slicing up some onions. “No idea what his name was and whatnot. Only name I got is the revenant, Elzhan. I just know the legend. Plenty’a folk do, but seein’ as how yer not from around here, it’d be my pleasure ta tell it to ya.”

“I do enjoy a good story,” Lykou said, then noted Kuna continuing unease. “First, though… mind if we get a little more comfortable?”

The sereva shot him a curious look. Algrytha chuckled. “Of course, of course, by all means. Whatever works, just don’t knock anything over and make a mess.”

The konuul grinned and looked around for a moment, then suddenly grabbed Kuna and pulled them both down to the floor. Pulling the startled seereva with him, he slid over to lean back against one of the few open patches of wall, cuddling his buddy in his arms. “There. Better?”

Kuna folded his ears down and blushed. Part of him wanted to be a bit indignant at being tugged around like that, and he wasn’t sure how he felt being so… cuddly in front of the strange witch. But after a few moments, he couldn’t resist the urge to grin a little and settle into it. He could never resist their little cuddle position. “...how many times do I have to tell you, you can just use words?”

“Pfft. More fun this way.”

Kuna smirked and settled into the konuul’s arms. “Yeah, yeah…”

Algrytha eyed them for a moment, then chuckled. “Well don’t you two look cozy. You really are quite different from the usual folk that come through these parts, I must say.”

“Best cure for this guy’s nerves, I think,” Lykou said, giving the sereva a gentle squeeze.

Kuna blushed some more and rolled his eyes a little. “Yeah yeah, I’m panicky, uptight cuddleslut. No need to rub it in. Let’s just get to the story.”

“Works for me. Lessee...” Algrytha said as she stirred the pot. Steam started to rise from it soon after. She tossed in a bowl of herbs, then waved her hands over the steam. It might’ve been their imagination, but Lykou and Kuna thought for a moment the light in the room dimmed a little more, and they could just barely make out shapes in the rising cloud. “Centuries ago, where there’s naught but ruins now, there was a fortified village- a town, some might call it, surrounded by a bog. Its people were rugged and wary, but fiercely loyal to one another. The land was extra wild back in them days, you see. Extra harsh and full of danger.”

“But they worked together to build up the stone walls you see now, to protect ‘em from the monsters that lurked in the ol’ Kryck. They’d go out during the day and toil hard to find enough food fer everyone, and even kept small gardens out in the bog, under the watch of the vigilant warriors standing on the walls. And at night they’d huddle together around warm fires, eat their meals, and sing songs to keep their souls as warm as their bodies… and keep the nightmares at bay.”

Algrytha lowered her voice and peered through the steam at them, as she sliced some carrots into the stew. With only her narrowed eyes peering through the cloud for a moment, it almost gave her a menacing look. “Even back then, you see, while the Kryck wasn’t as dead as it is now, the place still had a thin border between worlds, especially at night. Even without the curse, people tended to go missing, or die in mysterious or dreadful ways out in these woods… and that means ghosts have always been a common thing here.”

She paused and thought for a moment. “You know… it occurs to me that I never finished tellin’ ya about the different kinds of ghosts ‘n’ such last time we spoke.” She slowly moved her hand through the steam again, causing more shapes to form. “Souls are strange things… separatin’ ‘em from their body without letting ‘em pass on can lead to all sorts of… oddities. Not all become hungry ghouls. Some never develop the knack fer taking empty bodies, ‘n’ become banshees. Horrible, noisy things that feed on fear. Or ‘geists, unable to remember what shape they were, so they just throw invisible tantrums. And others besides.”

There was another brief silence as she scooped the insides out of some kind of hard-shelled fruit they didn’t recognize. “And then on the other side’a things, you have the strangest of all,” she said, then held up the empty shell. “...husks.”

“H-husks?” Kuna asked, huddling up in the canid’s arms. “I-I don’t get it…”

“There are ways, albeit very rare and usually involvin’ terrible, dark magic, that a soul can be separated from its body, without the body dyin’,” the witch continued as she set the shell aside, then stirred the pot. “What ya get then… is a husk. Body’s alive, does everything it always did… but no soul inside. Depending on the magic involved, even other ghosts can’t take it. It just carries on, acting on its own.”

Kuna stared wide-eyed at her, shivering a little. Even Lykou was notably unsettled at the thought. “H… how?” the canid asked. “What controls it?”

“Nobody knows fer sure. Something to do with the way the world was built, or somethin’. But I tell ya, it’s the most eerie, unnatural thing ta see,” she said, then narrowed her eyes again and grinned at them faintly. “And it just so happens… there’s one living several hours’ hike southeast’a my garden, at the edge of the Kryck.”

Lykou and Kuna stared wide-eyed at her. “R-really?”

“Yes indeed. Has himself a little hut and everything. Right at the boundary between Kryckwood and a more healthy-lookin’ forest, where he goes huntin’ ‘n’ fishin’ at regular, very predictable times,” she said, then leaned over the pot, allowed the steam to flow around her. “And it so happens to be related to this story, y’see.”

Lykou gulped. “H… how?”

She leaned back and stirred the pot some more. “Back to that little village. Like I said, its people were very familiar with the terrors lurking all around ‘em. But they were brave and close to one another. A few even knew a thing or two about magic. In partic’lar, they had a certain magical axe… they didn’t make it. They just found it when they built the village.”

“See, when they first settled into the area, there was already some old ruins there, left by someone even longer ago than anyone can remember. Not much was left… mostly just a big stone floor ‘n’ a few crumblin’ walls. And… a stone box, covered in strange symbols nobody could make any sense of fer the longest time.”

“...and the gate?” Lykou hazarded.

“Oh, yeah. That too, though they probably just figured it wasn’t important. Not many folk these days know how them things work, so they tend to just be brushed off as some old funny decorative arches,” the witch said, then pointed her finger at Kuna. “Which makes you two extra special ‘n’ interestin’, frankly. Remind me ta get yer own story from ya sometime.”

“Heh… sure. Getting kind of used to telling it anymore,” Lykou said with a faint smirk.

“Guess it helps to remember the details if you have to keep telling it,” Kuna pointed out.

“Good point.”

“Well anyway, the box refused to open through any mundane means. The village’s mystical and spiritual experts puzzled over it fer a while, until eventually they worked out how to channel the mystical energies into the signs inscribed on its sides in the right order. Inside… was a magical axe. They looked over it ‘n’ looked over it fer a long time, tryin’ to figure out its secrets. But unlike the box, they weren’t makin’ any progress. The symbols on its sides were completely different from the ones that’d been cut into the box. But even without knowin’ how, they knew it had magic in it.”

“Eventually they gave up trying to figure it out though, and left it to their most respected warrior. She trained with it, and ended up fighting off all kinds of monsters with it. After wieldin’ it fer so long, ‘n’ killin’ off a fair share of monsters that threatened her friends and family, she somehow unlocked its magical abilities, making her the most impressive guardian the village had ever had. It guided her arm, revealed hidden dangers, and cut things from far away. It was even be able to cut spirits and send them forcefully to the afterlife- or the hells, in certain cases, like with demons.”

“Woah,” Lykou said, wide-eyed. “Sounds pretty amazing…”

“No wonder s-so many people go l-looking for it,” Kuna commented.

“Indeed. And it became a closely-guarded relic for the village. When the mighty warrior grew old, she passed it onto the most promising up-and-coming warrior in the next generation, who she personally trained to use its magical powers. And they passed it to the next, who passed it to the next, and so on.” She scooped out some kind of powder from a clay jar and tossed it into the pot, causing a puff of red-tinted steam to rise. “Trouble is… power can sometimes breed jealousy. And greed.”

“Some of the mystical sorts resented that the magical artifact that their predecessors had granted the village access to had been given to the warriors, who tended to be, in their minds, less enlightened than themselves, and thus unworthy to wield its power. But they weren’t foolish enough to try and take it outright. No, they started to… stir up trouble. Little by little, they quietly spread false rumors about the bearer, about how they were terrible ‘n’ dishonorable in private. Finally, it came to a head when another warrior challenged his claim to the axe. Some sided with the challenger, while others sided with the bearer. Arguments turned to fights, and fights into big ol’ brawls. Among the chaos, the mystics stepped forward, claiming the chaos as proof that the axe belonged in the hands of more thoughtful, level-headed individuals, and took it for… ‘safe keeping’, until they could determine who the most worthy bearer really was.”

“That was the story they told everyone, anyway. Secretly, they examined it ‘n’ tried to figure out how it worked. Eventually, one of ‘em became obsessive. Nobody remembers his name, only that he slipped off into the woods with the axe late one night, ‘n’ vanished into the shadows. The village panicked fer a while, ‘n’ even sent some of their bravest warriors to look fer ‘im. But eventually they all decided it wasn’t meant to be- the remaining mystics figured that it was a sign from the spirits that their pettiness ‘n’ quarreling proved they were no longer worthy of the axe.”

“Things went back to the old ways fer a while. They expected the Kryck to go back to bein’ a terrifying place again. And it did- just not in the way they expected. The old monsters never came back, but ghosts were on the rise again. Hunters and warriors went missing out in the wilderness, or turned up dead without any sign of what killed ‘em. Finally, one day, some years later, the thief returned. He’d changed- he was a hardened warrior in ’is own right. He said he’d mastered the axe’s secrets ‘n’ spouted off about how only those with the strongest will could truly possess its full potential. And with that in mind, he proclaimed himself the new ruler of the village, ‘n’ dared anyone to oppose him.”

Alrytha stirred the pot again, bringing up a fresh plume of steam, with new, faint visions dancing around in its shadows. “Nobody liked that idea. The warriors surrounded him ‘n’ demanded he surrender the axe. Unfortunately, it turned out he was right about his mast’ry. Blood painted the walls of the village that day. He was merciless,” Algrytha paused to check the stew, then sprinkled some more herbs into it and set a lid over the pot for a bit. “You see, weapons like that… they take after the one that’s bonded with it.”

“B-bonded…?” Kuna asked, perplexed.

“Mhmm. When it comes to certain magical items, particularly weapons, you don’t just pick ‘em up and expect to be able to wield their powers straight away. You have to get to know it. And in the process, they sorta… get to know you, too. There’s a trick to it that many folks can never figure out. But those that do, form a sorta bond with it, tyin’ their soul to it in a way. And that imparts a bit of their own personality into its magic.”

“A person who’s pure’a heart ‘n’ good-natured will become a great defender of the weak ‘n’ defenseless with its help. Able to cut down threats ‘n’ guide people away from danger. But a wicked soul… someone who’s obsessed with power ‘n’ so on… well, I’m sure you can imagine.”

Lykou gulped and nodded while Kuna shivered in his arms. “Y-yeah. We uh… know the t-type.”

“Well this fella was definitely the latter. He’d been a bit power-hungry even afore he snuck off with the axe- when he came back, he was more deranged than when he’d left, havin’ gone a bit mad out in the wilderness on ‘is own, with only his obsession over the axe fer company. So when he returned, the axe pulsed with dark, twisted magic. He didn’t just kill people- he found out he could sever their souls with it and leave behind mindless, obedient little husks that he could rule over without question. And he didn’t just stop with the warriors- he started attacking everyone. He was so crazed that he didn’t even consider the ghosts he was creating in the process.”

“Eventually, the bravest warriors and the disgraced mystics banded together to take him down. Even with his magically-enhanced fighting abilities, he realized he was losing, and he’d been injured badly over the course of the fight. So he fled back into the woods, determined to find a way to overcome his mortal weaknesses.”

“By the time he left, more than half the villagers were dead or separated from their bodies. Torn by grief and horror, the survivors decided to abandon the village ‘n’ seek fresh starts elsewhere. Some stuck together, but some, who’d seen their entire families taken from them, went to finish their days in solitude out in the wilderness, never to be seen again- not alive, anyway.”

Kuna sniffed and shivered a bit, then squeezed Lykou’s hand absent-mindedly. The konuul just squeezed him in return and folded his ears down. “Damn, that’s… that’s just awful…”

“Tragic indeed. But not the end of the tale,” the witch said, then took out some bowls and spoons and set them out for when the stew was ready. “The survivors decided they should leave Kryckwood altogether. But they didn’t like the idea of leaving that menace out there with the axe before they left. So while the others began preparing for travel, the warriors and mystics decided to track the bastard down while he was weak. It took a while, but three of the warriors found him- or what was left of him.”

“Apparently, the bastard had set up a small hut fer ‘imself out in the woods that he’d been livin’ out of the whole time. When they found him, they immediately realized somethin’ was wrong. The axe was laying carelessly discarded in the dirt a short way from his hut. And the man himself was calmly sitting and tending a small fire. When they confronted him, he did not respond. And that’s when they saw the emptiness in his eyes. The madman thought that if he severed his own soul, he could wield the axe as a spirit and become invincible. Unfortunately for him, and fortunately for everyone else, it didn’t work out that way.”

“Fucking hell,” Lykou blurted out, staring at her aghast. “He did that to himself??”

“W-what some people will do f-for power,” Kuna murmured in shock.

“Madness can be its own undoin’, sometimes,” Algrytha continued. “They considered killing the body. But when they tried, they were startled to find that it was more than willing to defend itself. And as a husk, it was uninhibited by emotion or pain- a perfect killer, even without the axe. After one of them was struck down, the other two took the axe and fled. With no motivation to pursue them, the empty husk went right back to life as usual.”

“The village survivors eventually settled in another forest a long way from here. The axe was carefully guarded, ‘n’ they tried to figure out what was to be done with it. It was finally decided that one of their number- a warrior who’d become more spiritual since the tragedy, after he lost his entire family to the bloodshed- was truly of good enough nature to be trusted to wield it. He declined initially, but he was reminded of the restless spirits of his kin that’d been separated from their bodies on that fateful day, and how there was only one way to grant them peace. So he agreed, and trained with it until he could wield its powers. But he had a further plan he didn’t tell them about.”

“You see, after leaving the Kryck, they’d encountered other people from other nearby villages. There were occasionally tensions, but eventually they got along fine by sticking to their own small corner of the new forest they found themselves in. But after he was chosen to bear the axe, the chosen warrior told the others to wait while he visited one of the other villages, who had a wise old sage that was incredibly adept in all sorts’a magic. In a private conversation, she revealed to him a ritual that he kept secret for the time bein’.”

“When he returned, he rallied a few other brave warriors and a few of the mystics to return to the old village, to put the lost souls there to rest once and for all. When they arrived, several of ‘em had already become hungry ghosts, and even turned into ghouls. With the others’ help, he bravely fought them and slew them. Once the more unruly ghosts were dealt with, the rest were sent to the afterlife while the others slew their lingering husks and laid the bodies to rest. With the grim work over with, the others prepared to leave- but the axe-bearer said that he would not be joining them. He revealed his plan to stay behind- indefinitely- and ensure that the axe never again fell into the hands of an honorless, wicked soul. That man’s name… was Elzahn.”

“The revenant…” Kuna murmured, wide-eyed.

“Precisely. The ritual he’d learned from the wise old sage would turn him into an undead guardian to watch over the ruins ‘n’ guard the axe. The others initially tried to talk him out of it, but he was steadfast. They eventually relented after he reminded them that his family was gone, so he may as well watch over their final resting place. They aided him in the ritual after placing the axe back in the box it was originally sealed away in. His life was taken, and his body interred before the axe’s box. A magical gate was constructed to seal the ruins up, ‘n’ a keystone matched to it was given to his fellows. Once his spirit was settled into its long duty, the others left to return to their budding new village to spread the legend as a warning to others- it was meant to warn people of the dangerous of lusting for power, and to deter people from visiting the mournful site.”

Algrytha sighed. “Unfortunately, people will be people. Cautionary tales became a lure for greedy, thick-headed treasure-hunters, ‘n’ the bodies gradually built up. For years, a group of mystics and warriors made an annual pilgrimage to the ruins to check on Elzahn and pay their respects, and tried to shoo away the treasure-hunters. As years went past, they started to lie about the location of the ruins, to deter people. Unfortunately, that just meant folk wandered around the Kryck in search of ‘em, getting’ themselves killed by its various dangers in the process.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Including the most insane spook of all, who gradually grew more powerful as he continued to linger and get saturated in the strange energies given off by all that death.”

“W-wait, so,” Kuna chimed in. “Y-you mean the Great Wraith is… the thief guy?”

“Mhmm. Initially, his soul fled his body in disgust and confusion. He became a hungry ghost, then a ghoul… but he was more persistent ‘n’ ravenous than most. He continued to linger ‘n’ became the most dangerous thing in the woods… until finally, all that remained of his former self was a hatred for those he once sought to rule over, and a desire for something he couldn’t recall, ‘cept for the fact that the revenant had it. So one day, he somehow convinced a pack of other ghouls to follow along and ambush the visiting mystics during their pilgrimage. The ghouls devoured them, and the Wraith made off with the keystone.”

“Elzhan eventually realized what had happened, ‘n’ decided to just keep all mortals out of the ruins. In his long stay as a revenant, he eventually worked out more magic he could use from beyond the grave, and cast the spell that turned the bodies in the bog into a secondary group’a guardians. Ever since then, the three have lingered. The revenant, keeping an unwavering watch over the blood-soaked ruins of his kindred; the Wraith, lost in his deranged, chaotic madness with a keystone that he doesn’t understand his desire for; and the husk, toiling away its empty life, the last living, eerie reminder of a tragic and violent past.”

“W-wait, shouldn’t the husk be dead by now?” Lykou asked. “From old age if nothing else. I thought this all happened a long time ago.”

Algrytha chuckled. “It did. Funny thing about husks… for some reason, they just stop aging when they’re separated from their soul.”

“F-fuck that’s creepy,” Kuna said, shivering.

“Fitting, for the Kryck. Certainly gives me some very… interesting neighbors.”

“W-what about the curse?” Lykou asked. “When did that happen?”

Algrytha shrugged. “Pretty straight-forward. Over the years, the Great Wraith got more and more deranged, but at the same time he figured out more strange, twisted magic of ‘is own, ‘n’ eventually cursed the place. Maybe deep down, he figures if he can’t leave, nobody should be able to. Though like I said, place tended to get more ghosts than usual even before that. He just took whatever was there and made it worse, really.”

“S-so we have to find the Wraith and… d-defeat it so we can take the stone?” Kuna asked.

The witch burst into a loud fit of laughter for a solid minute. “Defeat him? My, yer a bold one,” she said as she finally calmed down. “No, no, don’t even try such nonsense. Ya just need to sneak in and find the stone, then get away before he, or his ghoul friends, getcha. Head back this way when they start chasin’ ya, if ya like. They know better’n ta tresspass in my garden,” she explained, then winked. “Place has protections that spooks can’t cross, y’see.”

“Th-that’s good to know,” Kuna replied.

“Y-yeah. Um, on that note,” Lykou said, shooting a look at the sereva briefly. “We were wondering…”

Kuna frowned and sighed, but didn’t object.

“...would it be alright if we set up camp somewhere in your garden tonight?”

“Well sure, if ya like,” Algrytha said as she began serving up some stew. “Can even sleep in here, if ya like. Keep the chill of ya.”

“W-we’re fine wi-” Kuna started to reply, but Lykou interrupted him with a light squeeze.

“That’d be nice, if you’re sure you’re alright with it,” the konuul said. “We really appreciate the kindness.”

Kuna frowned and fidgeted a bit. “...garden works too…” he mumbled.

“It’s my pleasure, really,” Algrytha said, then handed them each a bowl of stew. After Kuna took his, she pinched his nose playfully. “Ease up, kiddo. I promise I’m not about ta do somethin’ to ya in yer sleep. If it makes ya feel better, you can even use yer magic ta seal yerself up snug inside. Walls got plenty’a shit growin’ on ‘em, as you can see.”

The sereva gawked at her slightly. “W-wait, how-??”

“I been around a while, kid. Yer a magic user, ‘n’ you’ve been travelin’. Without any kinda tent from what I can tell. If ya didn’t use it to shelter, you’d be an idiot,” she said, grinning. “But yer no idiot. Nah, I bet my left foot yer a clever lil’ shit. So like I said, feel free ta spend the night ‘n’ do whatever makes ya feel safe here.”

Lykou grinned and squeezed Kuna again with one arm, while his other hand held the bowl of stew. “You’re right about that one. He’s a smart guy.”

Kuna blushed and smiled bashfully. “...th-thanks…” he said, then, after a moment’s hesitation, stuck a spoonful of the stew in his mouth. Almost immediately, he perked up. “W-wow,” he said, after swallowing. “This is… r-really good.”

“Damn, no kidding!” Lykou agreed after trying some for himself. “I didn’t know food without meat could taste this good! I’d… ask you how you made it, but it looked complicated.”

Algrytha chuckled. “S’why it helps to write things down, ‘least till ya get so used ta makin’ it that you got it memorized.”

“We… don’t know anything about that ‘writing’ stuff, unfortunately,” Lykou said with a sheepish grin. “Kinda new to the whole concept, frankly.”

“Mm. Just like glass, eh? Hope ya fix that. Writin’s pretty damn useful. I’d offer ta teach ya, but I don’t ‘spect you’ll want to stick ‘round these parts long enough to really get the hang of it.”

“Well, I think one or two people back home were starting to experiment with something like that anyway, so… who knows?”

“Ah, good, good,” the witch said as she made herself comfortable on one of the stools, then started eating some stew herself. “Well, in the meantime, I told you a story. How about ya tell me one back? Mighty curious about you two.”

Kuna smirked and swallowed another bite, then looked up at the konuul behind him. “If we ever do learn how to use that writing stuff, I imagine it’ll be useful so we don’t have to keep repeating things.”

Lykou chuckled. “Probably. But I don’t mind,” he said, then turned back to Algrytha. “Well, it all started around two months ago now…”