A dark fairy tale about traps, lures and falling for shadows.
When you see an eldritch dark horror made of shadows by the side of an old cursed trail that no one dares to go, you expect it to be less charming as it tries to trick you with deceitful...
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Art by James Fenner (@JMFenner91 on Twitter)
One time, in one of my stops at the border of Redwood, Erebus had been lying on the grass as usual, gazing at the night sky and waiting for me to finish preparing my customary cup of tea when a sudden idea passed my mind.
I rummaged through my bag and took two cups out, instead of just the one for me, and then I filled both with the tea from the pot that had been over the fire before I walked up to him.
It was something I had never done before, and my gesture took him by surprise since he wasn't expecting it. Before he could react, I had already put his cup on the grass and pushed it across the shadow threshold marked on the grass, stepping quickly back and away from it.
He sat up slowly and watched the cup in surprise, eyes flickering from the cup to me in stunned silence.
"I just realized how rude it is of me that I've never offered you some tea, during all the time I've been coming here. I hope you can forgive my lack of manners." I explained with an embarrassed shrug. "You don't have to drink it if you don't like it. I just thought you might want to try it."
He reached out tentatively, picked up the cup, and then took a small sip. He savored it for a moment and then gave a tiny nod, to signal that he appreciated it, and we both carried on as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
We talked for a while and when it was time for me to leave, I put the fire out, packed my things and when I was heading to my wagon, he whistled to get my attention. As I turned to see what he wanted, he gently tossed the cup of tea back to me. I smiled when I saw that he had drunk it all.
I didn't think much of it and pushed this interaction to the back of my mind. It was just a curious thing that happened between us this one time, there was no need to dwell on it.
But the next time I stopped by to see him, I found him already at the border waiting for me, and a small bundle placed on the dead dry log where I used to sit by the fire. He gestured for me to take the rustic bundle made of wool and I picked it up with the same hesitant caution he had when he first took the cup of tea.
I found an interesting assortment of ripe berries inside the bundle, with a small bouquet of Red Drop flowers on top. I took a curious peek at him, trying to decipher what was his intention with this.
"I too have lacked manners." He told me with a quiet smile. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to. But if you wish to try it, I think the berries would go nicely with your tea."
He was not lying, they certainly did. It was the most exquisite berries I had eaten in my whole life, they all had such a rich fresh flavor! They might have had some sort of magic in them as well because I didn't go hungry for the rest of the night after eating them.
After I was done eating the surprising treat he had brought to me, I tucked the Red Drops safely in my pocket, thinking about how excited the village healer was going to be when she saw those flowers in my hands.
