OOM: Elysium or Shephard's quest for an arm.

[brave_kreyu]

Even before the Combine came, Shephard's world had few places left that had never known the touch of men. This forest has no name, for no tribe of wanderers has ever dared to settle here, to harvest the mighty oaks that tower far above his head.

It is nearly noon on Midsummer's day, but little light reaches Shephard and Kreyu down here on the forest floor. The only thing of note in the clearing is a large ring of mushrooms, a formation sometimes called a faerie ring.

Comments

[brave_kreyu]

"Faerie is what it is," Kreyu explains. "The gargoyle is bound to guard that gate and demand an answer to its riddles. In return, it has the right to devour all who fail."

There are definitely bones, human bones, scattered on this side of the arch as if from something feeding on the top of it.

"Beings such as he are as much a part of the landscape here as the deer and the trees."

[hecu_marine]

"Didn't know about the devouring part," says Shephard, a little startled. He's not going to get any louder than that, though. He'd pretty much expected a whole lot of homicide around these parts to start with, from the way Kreyu had spoken of it.

"I'mma keep that in mind. Where to next?"

[brave_kreyu]

"Had he tried to devour US, he would have bitten off more than he could chew," Kreyu replies with a predatory grin. Nom nom nom tasty minerals.

"A left here, and....." Oh look, a hedge maze! A really, really, frustrating hedge maze that appears to have been inspired by M. C. Escher. It looks like it will take HOURS of backtracking and cursing to find a way through this thing.

Several hours later....

Kreyu curses at length in at least 4 languages as she finds herself standing upside down on the "floor" of yet another dead end. Hacking at the maze does nothing, and flying over it has proven impossible.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard's going to have to remember a few of those. Well, okay, all of those. You don't waste perfectly good profanity.

However, when navigating the maze no longer works, and cursing no longer works, and cutting your way free no longer works... well, he's gonna sit himself down on the ground and think a bit. He's tired. His right arm's starting to shake some. It's been a long walk so far and it's not getting any shorter. Might as well try thinkin'.

Eventually he looks up at the hedges and calls out, "Don't suppose you'd be so kind as to open up and let us through, pretty please?"


(What? The Green Faerie told him he had to ask the Big Damn Fish nicely before it would come out of the pond. Maybe it would work again.)

[brave_kreyu]

"Oh, what a nice young man you are," says the maze in the pitch perfect voice of a slightly dotty elderly lady.

"I'd love to let you through dear, but I can't give anyone that kind of help."

Kreyu perks up at that. "What kind of help are you allowed to give, madam?"

"Hm? Oh, well, I suppose I could give you the key. But are you SURE you must go so soon? I get so lonely here all by myself..."

[hecu_marine]

"Can't say I blame you, ma'am," says Shephard after a moment's recovery. "But I got folks back home I got to get back to, once my hand problem's all dealt with, and so does my friend here. We surely would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to give us the key, and we'd be right grateful for it after."

[brave_kreyu]

"Yes, yes I suppose you must," the maze answers with a sigh. "It's quite simple, really. Once you go through the Mirror, the path out is the reflection of the path you came in on."

Which would be helpful if they'd seen anything at all reflective anywhere in this maze of hedges.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard considers this, and glances over at Kreyu. "I ain't carryin' a mirror," he says. "I mean, I got the shield and all, but it ain't near that reflective to count. You got anything shiny on you? Nobody here wants me to make a mirror, trust me on this..."

(Puddles are reflective, are they not? He's been walking a good while. He could generate one if he had to. Please let there be another way he's not thinking of.)

[brave_kreyu]

"You didn't walk past it?" the maze asks, confused. "Oh. Oh dear. Surely I haven't forgotten my own solution? Oh, this is so terribly embarrassing!"

The walls of the maze twist and contort in various bizarre configurations almost too fast too track, rather like someone flipping rapidly through a picture book.

Finally, the walls stop moving and an open area with a large, still pond appears. "Oh, there it is! I can't believe I forgot to put it on this morning, forget my own head next!"

The maze whispers, almost furtively, "I'd be much obliged if you didn't mention that little gaffe to anyone, dears. I don't know that I could live with the shame."

[hecu_marine]

"That's quite all right, ma'am," says Shephard. "You got it goin' proper in the end, that's what matters. We won't mention this to nobody."

He nods to Kreyu- that's a fair thing to say, right?

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu nods in approval.

"Now all you have to do is dive on in and swim down," the maze replies, relieved. "You'll know when you've crossed it properly and can start swimming back up again."

At first, the water is what one would expect of any pond in the summer, the water tepid but getting darker and cooler the further down one dives.

And then, the world turns upside down with the feeling of a roller coaster doing a loop. The water changes, going from tepid to ice water in an instant. As they struggle toward the surface, they're greeted with the now frozen over surface of the Mirror.

Kreyu shifts her hands to claws and starts tearing at the ice, trying to make a hole so they can escape the frigid water.

[hecu_marine]

What in the ever-living hell-

Well. Shephard's been hauling a shitload of bronze around for a reason, hasn't he? And he's been defying his doctor's orders in private so's to keep both his arms strong even if one of 'em's not what it used to be, hasn't he?

It'll use up what oxygen he's got left in his lungs, but he's gonna see if he can't bash at that ice as hard as he can with that damn shield before it drags him down.

[brave_kreyu]

Oh, fuck this! When the world is starting to go grey from oxygen deprivation, they finally break through the ice. More than human strength allows Kreyu to haul the two of them and their gear up onto the ice.

After that, a rapid stream of spells pulls the water off of them and shifts the temperature of the air around them from 'arctic' to 'autumnal'.

"It would appear," Kreyu hisses acidly, "that our hostess neglected to mention that the seasons would also be mirrored."

[hecu_marine]

"Must be getting on in years," Shephard mutters. "Least we're out of that shit now. Lead on- standin' still don't make nobody warmer, in my experience."

[brave_kreyu]

"Nor in mine," Kreyu agrees. Wading through knee deep snow isn't FUN, but at least they know the way out of this damn maze now.

The air is quiet and still as they thread their way through the maze, and the sun seems to be dropping lower in the sky. It will be near dark by the time they finally reach the exit. Kreyu frowns. "As dangerous as it is during the day, worse creatures roam at night. It might be wise to make a camp and rest a while."

[hecu_marine]

"Brought a flint," Shephard says. "Used to knap my own arrowheads- made me a knife a long while back from the extra. Can't strike much of a spark off bronze, though. Gon' need to gather up a couple things to make a proper fire drill."

[brave_kreyu]

"I can create a spark with magic readily enough, unless you would prefer to do it your way?" Sometimes, magic is handy.

[hecu_marine]

"Your way's faster," says Shephard. "You go ahead, I ain't gonna argue."

Seriously, using a drill takes time. Fire now is good.

[brave_kreyu]

Once they've hauled enough wood for the night into a sheltered location among some old pine trees, Kreyu makes with the magic.

One musical sounding phrase later, there is Fire.

Maybe just in time too. There's an eerie howl on the wind that's not quite the right sound for a wolf pack, or any other beast that Shephard knows.

[hecu_marine]

"There, uh-" Shephard glances out into the darkness. "There any rules here 'bout what I am and ain't allowed to kill if it comes lookin' for us?"

[brave_kreyu]

Kreyu shakes her head. "Self defense is perfectly acceptable."

There are shadows moving among the trees, but they do not come close. It would seem that, like many night hunters, they fear fire.

[hecu_marine]

"Fair 'nough," says Shephard. He settles back into a low crouch, the sword in his left hand and the shield braced in front of his knees. "You need t'sleep or somethin'?"

[brave_kreyu]

"I can go several days without sleep, if need be," Kreyu says with a small smile. "You ought to sleep, if you can."

[hecu_marine]

"Fair 'nough," says Shephard. "I've slept fuckloads worse places before. You wake me if you need me, mm'kay?"

And with that he stretches out on the ground, the shield to one side and the sword just shy of his reach to the other.

[brave_kreyu]

The night is uneventful, unless you count some truly peculiar wildlife noises. The eerie gray light of pre-dawn may serve as an alarm clock of sorts as it filters its way through the bows of the local evergreens.

If that fails, the smell of rabbit cooking may do the trick. Two rabbits wandered a little too close a few hours ago and nominated themselves for breakfast.