Dark Tales From Dandelion

1

Leere appeared with the two necessary ones outside of the Shadow Wood. The girl Prudance remained asleep. Leere handed Prudance to Carter who continued to babble.

“Carry this,” Leere said. The girl had become the key. Now they had only a little further. Leere stepped out of the black night’s star speckled sky into the pitch of the shadow trees, Carter trailing close behind.

When they approached the Treespeaker’s barrier, Leere had the babbling man step through at the same time as himself, approving Leere as a guest to one of the residents of the Manor House. They then were able to Move directly to the field of stargazer lilies where the house sat. And now, they had only to wait.

2

Fiona went to Ali first. She was dead. Blood still seaped out of her mouth and around the edges of the hole that the sesnickie tooth had left in her chest. Fiona went to Pip next. The sesnickie’s left fang was missing. Pip lay still on the ground, his long body in a serpentine shape, the puddle of blood covering the area around their head and front legs, staining the perfect white fur red on those spots, and in some spots the red was darker, almost black. Something about the contrast between the white fur and red blood was especially horrible to see on a beautiful beast like Pip.

“Vermilion,” Fiona said.

“What are you?!?” He replied, no doubt commenting on her physical appearance reverting to its original form.

“There’s no time now, Vermilion. Please check on Quint,” she said.

“Are you Ali?”

“Yes! Now go!”

“How?!?”

“GO!” She said in Seru. This time he listened and went to Quint.

Fiona rubbed Pip’s mane and vibrated the sweetest, most comforting feeling into them. The vibration earned her a mind smile sent from the sesnickie. Thank the Void, Fiona thought.

“This is going to hurt Pip, but the wound needs to be closed. They took your tooth with them. You will feel the same hurt that you’d feel over the whole process of skin re-knitting itself and healing over, but in an accelerated way. You’ll feel all the pain at once, but then it’ll be over. Ok?” Fiona asked.

Pip sent an image of a sesnickie on one of the beds they’d seen on the first floor of the tower.

Fiona laughed.

“I’m serious Pip,” she said.

“Do it,” Pip sent.

Fiona did, or at least she started the process.

“How is he?” She said to Vermilion.

“They got him in the belly,” Vermilion said.

Shit.

“I’m going to split myself and do both of you. It’ll take longer this way, but we don’t have any other choice.”

“There’s no time, Fiona. That thing will be going to the Manor House for the Eraser, I’m sure of it. Leave me. Take Pip and go,” Quint said.

“Nutsack,” Pip sent. “Heal Quint and then we will all go. I will be fine. I only lost a tooth. Quint can heal me when we get there.”

“We’re going to Quint’s Manor house, Vermilion. We have an … object there that the horned creature wants. I have no idea if Prudance will be with him, but it’s the best place to start. Are you coming?” Fiona said.

Vermilion stared at her warily for a moment. It was good to have him here with her, remembering him and Prudance, and their little life together, regardless of what damage she had caused, it was nice. Vermilion seemed to roll something around in his mind. I’d have a hard time trusting me as well, Fiona thought. I’m the one that actually left him. I’m the potential me that was most recently with him.

“I don’t have any better ideas myself so yes I’d like to come with you all if you’ll take me,” Vermilion said.

“There’s room on my back for you, Drake. Just so long as you don’t get yourself switched with another inter-dimensional being, I think we are all in agreement that you should come,” Pip sent to everyone.

“More than welcome, Vermilion,” Quint said. Vermilion nodded. Fiona started the process of healing Quint’s stomach wound. She attuned the vibrations of his body, reaching out with her own vibrations to brush against his and align them with each other. There was a significant amount of dense energy in his gut, Fiona could only guess at the exact feelings that caused this cluster, but she could still get her vibrations thrumming at the same frequency. Once she locked into the energy vibrating around the wound, she felt the memory of the nerves, skin and tissue which also had vibrational frequencies, and this showed her how they had been before the wound. Lastly she used a vibration of pure light energy to grow the skin. This took from her own energy of food she’d consumed that day, vitamins she had taken in from the sunlight and fluids she had consumed. When it was done about ten tiks later, and Quint was left with a circular scar, Fiona felt very faint like she could fall over, and almost did. Vermilion ran over to catch her but she put a hand up to stop him.

“I’ll be fine, Vermilion. I need a bite to eat and some water,” Fiona said. Quint came to her, pulled a strip of dried bole meat and a water skin out, then handed both to Fiona who ate and drank greedily. Quint walked over to the Woman in White and stood above her. He started weeping. Fiona stood up and walked to Pip. I’d love to let you mourn properly, she thought. But as you said yourself, we haven’t the time. Through a mouthful, she said, “are you two coming?”

“What about the Woman in White?” Quint asked, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

“I can assure you she doesn’t mind being left. I am her and she is me. Or was anyway. That is merely a shell. And we need to go retrieve our daughter from some goat-headed motherfucker who thinks he’s Leere or some shit. She would want us to go. I want us to go,” Fiona said. The two men hesitated. “I’ll go without you, that’s fine.” They followed shortly thereafter, shooting hesitant glances at Ali’s corpse as they walked toward Pip.

“We can always come back later. Don’t forget to send Vermilion the image of the Manor House, Pip,” Fiona said as she climbed onto the sesnickie’s back.

“Ah, thank you Fiona. I think before you know it, you’ll be the sesnickie, and I the nagging back-rider,” Pip sent.

Quint and Vermilion climbed up

Fiona felt the vibration that Pip was sending. Images, scents and sounds flooded her psyche, preparing her for Moving.

“I’m ready if you are Quint,” Fiona said.

“Ready,” he replied, sniffing and putting his glasses back on and giving a sad look to the Woman in White who lay in a puddle of her own blood.

Then they Moved, no longer hindered by the seventh Veil, the Woman in White herself. Fiona and Ali were the same, but different. Fiona was not the Woman in White. But she was Ali Burris. She still hadn’t puzzled it all out but she knew it to be true, knew it in her bones. The forgiving. The moment I realized, she thought.

They appeared in the meditaz of the Manor House. It was completely dark. Quint immediately began the process of healing Pip.

“‘Have you tried … looking in a mirror?’” Pip quoted.

“For Void’s sake, Pip! Enough!” Quint hissed.

“The whole time … I was so blind. I—I’m going to need some time alone. There’s something I have to try. Quint, will you leave the Sly Grass and Fishing cards with me?”

“What? Now of all times, Pip? Are you out on The Strings?” Quint asked.

Fiona looked at the sesnickie and felt … calm.

“I have a hunch. It may be helpful. It may be nothing. No time to explain. You three go make sure everything is alright in the house. The Eraser must take priority. When we stole it, I had no idea how powerful it was. In the hands of that horned thing … you just need to go. I’ll be fine,” Pip sent.

“We must go, Quint. Give Pip the cards,” Fiona said.

Quint looked at Fiona, a bewildered expression on his face, then handed over the Sly Grass and the cards, then the three left Pip.

They walked slowly through the blackness, not lighting any candles or turning on any thrumming lamps in case Carter and the horned creature had made it into the house already. They made it to the dining room completely by memory, Fiona guiding Quint by holding his hand who held Vermilion’s. It felt nice to be home in spite of the circumstances. There was a light shining underneath the kitchen door. Fiona let go of Quint’s hand and instead grabbed her sword hilt. They could see each other’s faces in the half-light that was provided from behind the door.

“Three,” Quint mouthed. Fiona and Vermilion nodded. He counted up to three on his fingers and when he got to three they burst into the kitchen.

Three giant rips in space stood, black as pitch and ovular in shape. They seemed to swallow the light that surrounded them. There was nothing inside of the rips, just blackness, but Fiona swore she could see them swirling cylindrically like a tunnel into the nothing. They stepped toward the three and then a voice spoke in their minds.

LOOSE STRINGS

And then Fiona was pushed from behind into the center hole.