Eylderfell || ONC 2024

1-8

Adrenaline kept him awake the rest of the night. Tavor waited until the dawn light cracked the sky and then crept out of the room. The scent of fresh tea and warm bread made his stomach rumble.

Imizael sat at the table, sipping tea daintily from a ceramic cup. She lifted her eyes as Tavor walked in and a scowl marred her features.

"Good morning," she said. Her tone was pleasant, as if she hadn't tried to kill him just the night before. "I trust you slept well?"

"As well as I could." Tavor sat at the breakfast table, watching her carefully. "I have some questions for you."

She looked petulant. "You may ask four. Speak."

Tavor frowned. "Where can I find Nestani?"

Imizael leaned back in her chair, eyes flashing. "So you really were serious about hunting her down. How amusing."

"I asked you a question," Tavor said.

"I don't know her exact location," Imizael said, with a long sigh. "She came to me a few days ago, seeking knowledge, as you are. From what she shared with me, I would say that your best course of action would be to seek out the Tower. Whether Nestani is there or not, you will find your answers there."

"And how do I find it?"

"Again, I cannot tell you specifics. Its location changes often. But you have the tools you need to guide you."

Tavor fidgeted a little in his seat. He'd expected something a little more definitive, considering he'd nearly been devoured last night.

"My curse," he said. "Is killing her the only way to cure it?"

"Curse?" Imizael's eyebrows flicked up. She looked him up and down, lips pursed. Then she shook her head. "I cannot sense any dark magic affecting you," she said. "Otherwise you would not have been able to enter my house, the same as those creatures outside."

Tavor's brow knotted. The familiars? Dark magic? He frowned. Perhaps she'd got them mixed up. He wanted to probe, but the crow had told him to ask about the contract.

Part of him didn't want to. He was the one who'd risked his life in this house, not them. But if the crow hadn't woken him up, he'd have been devoured for sure. Tavor sighed. He supposed he owed them one question, at least.

"And...what about the contract?"

Imizael crossed her legs, a narrow smile at her mouth. "What contract?"

Tavor shook his head. "I...don't know. I was told to ask."

A look of amusement flitted over Imizael's face. "And you just blindly obey those familiars? Follow orders without understanding them?"

Tavor scowled. Her words touched a nerve. More and more since the curse, he'd felt like his control over his own life was slipping away, piece by piece. Entering the Eylderfell was the only thing he'd decided for himself, and yet here he was, on the whim of the familiars, asking questions for them.

"I know what I'm doing," he said.

"If you say so. All I know is that it is an agreement between Nestani and The Elder. She didn't discuss the details with me, but from what she mentioned on her last visit it lasts until the next full moon. After that, all terms are void."

"I can only tell you what I know," Imizael said. She smiled, and her teeth gleamed sharp and white. "Perhaps if she'd been a little less careful, I could have told you more."

"And who's the Elder?"

Imizael's eyes glittered. "Now that is an interesting story. But you are out of questions, and I believe you have rather outstayed your welcome." Imizael stood and extended her arm. "Leave my house."

The room flickered, distorting like static. Tavor slipped through the chair as it suddenly became intangible beneath him, thumping against the ground.

"A word of warning," Imizael's voice echoed around him. "Those familiars you're travelling with. I sense dark magic within them, a very powerful evil. A great power lurks in this forest, and those two are certainly involved. Be very careful how you go from here."

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