The Bride of the Fire Fox God

Chapter One: Welcome to Nevrithil

The first thing I noticed when I peeled back my eyelids was that I was outside. A perfect dusk filled sky greeted my vision and wisps of moon were just becoming visible.

The second thing I noticed was that there was a giant moth on my head. Now when I say giant, this thing was the size of a puppy and was casually nuzzling against my skin as if it had known me all its life. Quickly, I jolted from the ground trying to dislodge the creature. It fell, surprised for a moment, before recovering and hovering next to my shoulder. Taking the opportunity, I peered at it more closely. The moth was a beige colour, with big dark brown eyes. A circular pattern the same shade swirled over its delicate beating wings. Most prominently of all was the curling antennae it possessed, they stretched over the puddles of chocolate it used to see, and twisted elegantly into the dusk surrounding us. It didn't move, seeming content to let me examine it. Carefully, I reached out to touch the moth, wondering what it would do.

The moth hovered back a little as my arm stretched towards it and I felt an odd need to reassure it. "Hey, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, trying to make my voice as soothing as possible. I kept my arm still and the rest of my body as relaxed as I could, hoping I looked the definition of "unthreatening". The moth swayed a bit to each side, as though it was trying to make up its mind.

"I won't bite, I promise. You were happy on my head when I was asleep, what's the difference now I'm awake hmm?" I carried on in my calming voice. That seemed to be the decider and the moth flew into my hand so that I was petting it's rounded head.

"There we go, that's not so bad is..." my words trailed off as I noticed the dirt and dust covering my arm. Glancing at the other by my side, it was sadly in the same condition. Flicking my eyes down, I saw my whole form was covered in bits of dirt, twigs and leaves. Some of it had smeared across my white robe thing, making it filthy.

My white robe thing. What was I wearing? How had I ended up in it!? (That was the more worrying question). It was simple, there was no fancy embroidery or embellishments and all the material was the same shade of white. Some of the material had been made to resemble a belt, which wrapped around my waist like a snake. It was long and flowing around my legs where I sat, pooling around me like water. At least it looked respectful, though the neckline was rather daring.

This is not the time to be a fashion critic! Shaking my head to clear it startled the moth I'd been petting, causing it to hover away from me again.

"Hey hey, it's alright, I was just thinking about something, I'm still not going to hurt you." I rushed to reassure it. The creature did the strangest thing and cocked its head to the side.

"How did you...never mind. Listen, do you know where we are? The last thing I remember was..." Pain, hospital, corridors, beeping slowly fading into silence. "Erm, not being outside."

The moth buzzed around excitedly. "You do know where we are?" I asked again to be sure and trying to deal with the fact the moth seemed to understand what I was saying. It buzzed around again, this time making little darts to the sides.

At this moment it occurred to me that while it could understand me, I could not understand it. "I'm really sorry, but I don't know what you're trying to say," I looked at it pleadingly. The moth drooped and if it were human, I'd have said it was sighing. "Sorry," I apologised again sheepishly, for some strange reason I felt like it was disappointed in me. The moth slowly bobbed over to me, nuzzling it's face against my forehead. "Is this your way of saying it's alright?" My response was more nuzzling.