With a stomach full of assorted meats and vegetation, Yuler looks to the ceiling of her room. Dim rays of moonlight spill over her as they penetrate the thin veil her window curtains provide, reflecting only the dullest of blues onto the wooden beams overhead. She trails the length of each that can be seen. Stopping only when she has reached a corner of the room before proceeding to start on the next. No matter how many nights she has spent in this place, it has never begun to feel any more like a home than it had on the first. Blinking her eyes rapidly for a brief period, she rolls onto her side and peers out the window that sits level with her mattress.
Nothing but rolling hills and rows of crops are to be seen for miles; especially under the night sky. This does not bother her, however. After all, it is the one thing she has found some ease in adjusting to. Nearly a year of trekking up and down The Keep's mountain was all it would take to appreciate such a sight.
Pausing as she runs her eyes across the horizon, they snap towards something not so far off from the cottage. Near the bottom right corner of a single window pane sits a warm glow of red light. Pulling herself upright, she continues to examine it. Glancing up at the sky and then back at the anomaly, she finds it curious how much it resembles the midnight flames. It is as if a star had fallen right into her reach. Keeping as quiet as she can, she creeps out of bed and shuffles into the hall with an extinguished lantern. Once outside and with only the sounds of crickets and critters chirping and chattering around her, she ignites the wick and lets her own light cast itself over the yard. Though visible from the window, she finds that the glow is much further than it had appeared previously, but remains determined to seek it out. Keeping the base of her gown lifted above dampened soil, she passes through rows of cabbage and carrots; doing her best not to trample any as she does so. Once the vegetables are behind her and the loose soil turns to firm blades of grass, she lets the cloth fall freely to her ankles and continues towards trees and low shrubbery. As the curious luminance comes into view once more, she lowers her lantern and walks on, precariously. Noticing that the wick of her own lantern burns brighter than the strange orb, she uses it to further examine her surroundings.
Beneath the anomaly is a common stalk with leaves on either side of it. Along with several other stalks that seem to branch off the same root system. Though, they do not appear to share the same head as the one that brought her to them. Each other stalk ends with a blackened and rounded receptacle that she can only assume had started a whitish color, rather than what it is currently. Unlike those that remain less intriguing, the tallest stalk continues to draw her in. With only two or so feet remaining between her nose and the flower's shifting glow, she begins to feel as if it has put her into a trance of some sort. The fluffy pappi become its most alluring anatomy, as Yuler's awareness of them being the source of the flower's otherworldly glow embellishes the plant as a whole. She nearly misses a third source of light approaching, but the sprout opts to not allow such distractions to take over. In an instant, the flower bursts into flames, which breaks Yuler's concentration and immediately fills her with rage.
"NO! What are you doing? Why!?" Lunging to her side, she attempts to strike Lee with her lantern, but he ignores the efforts and proceeds to cover the growing, hissing flames with a thick rag. As he does so, Hael wraps her arms around Yuler and pulls her away from Lee as he continues to work on eliminating the mystical lifeform. With each passing moment that the thing burns, its grip on Yuler's mind seems to wane and her struggles against Hael lessen.
"Sh, sh, sh, sh! It's alright. Everything is fine!" Hael assures with a whisper, brushing hair away from Yuler's face as she does so. "It's gone now. You'll be alright."
"What was it? Why did you destroy it?" She begs, still looking to where it had been growing and then back at Lee, who remains fixated on its demise.
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Nostrum: Tales of Valor
Werewolf*Completed Story* In the heart of an Old World that has been filled to the brim with unimaginable horrors, one of humanity's final forces has founded itself. Yet, the glory days are long gone. With only the guidance of those who have come before the...
