24.3 Destiny's Guide

General Summary

Day 402

Tira, Camellia, and I cross the river together and follow the remains of an ancient road closer to the forest. As we get closer it seems like the road becomes clearer, whether from use or maintenance is unclear. Along the way are enormous stacked boulders even larger than the one we found Ghost atop. They gather closer and closer until the road seems almost like a valley.   Then up ahead a woman sits perched atop a boulder. She is so radiant that for a moment I think she must somehow be a dawn fae but no - she's my size. Shining golden hair and a golden mask with a delicate pointed beak covering her face but leaving her dark eyes unobscured. She steps off the boulder and floats down to us, grey robes rippling.   She greets me by name and introduces herself as Yneir. As we exchange pleasantries I am more and more unsettled by her mannerisms and familiarity - she asks where my 'tall friend' is and chides me for not bringing him. I'm not really sure what to make of this statement... It is so unusual to have a stranger several steps ahead of both me and Bran. As the two of us speak a few other witches emerge from the surroundings. Four in total all disguised with illusory camouflage, all mistrusting and guarded before the three newcomers. Yneir tells them to relax - I'm not someone she would dare to collect and she tells all four of these disguised sisters that they are no match for even my companions, so it is best not to provoke us.   We agree to accompany her back to her camp and share tea together to begin the prospect of friendship. Over tea and cookies she tells us a little bit about the village. All of the women in the village consider themselves sisters. In her home she was a princess before she left. When I ask about her magic she says that at home she would be called Destiny's Guide because she guides fate. She helps people achieve glorious destiny by…intervening in matters. I liken her magic to that of my 'fateseers', alluding to a more passive relationship with fate than what we practice, though I'm not sure how successful such a ruse would be against someone who seemingly already knows about Bran.    The term 'glorious' strikes me as sinister and I comment as such, but she waves it off. Personal glory is a concept for men; real glory is made of many shining lights together, she says. And she sees that whatever I'm doing is working towards such a future as someone who collects friends and allies - an army of witches who I can heal as well as lead.   Speaking with her is uncomfortable and I can't quite place why. She has such an assurance about her that I find disturbing in a way I don't when it's Thalien or Bran, or even myself looking at someone else's path. Maybe I'm just not used to others doing it to me. I turn conversation towards the Witch Queen and Yneir nods sagely - whatever I have come to do here I will succeed in. She seems certain, although she does not know exactly what I plan to do. Her Mistress will simply trade whatever I need in exchange for what I can offer her. The Witch Queen, apparently, also has wings but is plagued with nightmares that I do not experience. Yneir hopes that I will be able to free her from the nightmares.   Again, I shift the conversation. The village itself is full of people with great destinies who have been tarnished by the outside world. It's what I expected - a foil to the Village of Lost People. Where Tom 'healed' people by stripping them of their pain, the Witch Queen fuels it and gives them power to challenge the pain. Yneir herself seems a little troubled by the thought of vengeance - she is interested in healing people by guiding them towards those who will speed up the healing process. To that end, she says, Mistress needs two elves in order to heal. One is special because of love...and one is me. It feels so much like a tidily packaged trap that it's all I can do to smile and nod and make polite sounds about what an interesting healing method it is.   She pokes at me a little more about why I'm here, not buying the story that we are simply looking for lost elves. Decades of dealing with the Imperial Court were not wasted on me and I lightly offer half-truth after half-truth: I'm not searching for a specific lost one. My goals are simply the reunion of all missing elves. I know where all of my family are.   "Family is a heavy word," "Yes, wonderfully so,"   Finally we deem ourselves trusting and trustworthy enough to be escorted to the village proper - Yneir seems to be eager to befriend us and takes every opportunity to allude to our friendship. We had deeper along the road and find ourselves entering the valley. Twisted, gnarled trees just beginning to flower surround the path. Then, eldritch trees spring up surrounding the misty and damp village. It is dotted with open cooking fires and coloured flames beneath cauldrons and alchemical brews. The women here are all dressed similarly in pointed hats and masks, gloves, and rather drab robes. Yneir seems unique in her radiance.   As we approach her home I see more and more people carrying staves, wands, and even enchanted brooms all carved from Grove wood. When they come near I can feel the pain radiating off of their tools and resonating inside me. These were all carved from living wood and I feel the rage boiling inside me as I reach back and grab Camellia's hand for support. I can see her wings trembling and I make a particular effort to still mine.   At Yneir's home she offers us masks of our own so that we fit in. It is customary here as many may have conflicts with others and it is easiest to simply hide old names and faces so that we can move past it. As a gesture of good faith she removes her own mask to reveal her face and I almost do not process what I'm seeing before I am waking from a frozen state a few minutes later. She is simply so unreasonably beautiful that both Camellia and I were immobilized for a few moments. Thankfully Tira was mostly resistant - a suppose there must be a reason she's partnered up with two men.   Finally we emerge from Yneir's home and take a tour of the village, winding up at a cauldron with three women that Yneir greets as friends - Alma, Stella, and Bryn. We stay from supper and enjoy a hearty stew that is reminiscent of Dal's cooking and the Frontier meals of my childhood. Stella, an elf, did the cooking and she seems eager to chat and reassure us that the village is a safe place for elves.   We stay late into the night and Yneir skillfully guides the conversation towards pleasant, enjoyable topics. It might be either a manual manipulation of the conversation or her magic working to keep me happy and interested in staying here but either way, it is enjoyable and I am only slightly on edge by the time we return to her home to sleep.