After checking the progress of his various mead experiments, Belissar took the tablet over to the human house and handed it over to Sehfitis. The old man blinked and muttered to himself as he looked over it.
“This is…unusual, Tower Keeper. From what I can make it out at a glance, it appears to be a routine assignment of new soldiers to an outpost. But…I’ve never seen a stone tablet used for such a mundane order of business. To my knowledge, the wicked kings of old preferred parchment and other such materials. Where did you say you found this?”
“The closest ruins to the Tower.”
Sehfitis rubbed his chin.
“I see. Perhaps I could take a look at them sometime, presuming the area is safe to travel. I’ll look into this tablet more in the meantime, Tower Keeper. Perhaps my translation is off…”
Belissar nodded and left Sehfitis to it. Honestly, he wasn’t too concerned one way or another, but he supposed more information was a good thing. In any case, he had more pressing business to attend to.
For Queen Vanieskon had just arrived in his dungeon, followed by Henilett, Captain Karpakynne, and a whole group of pixies. Tarwantrad had come with them, Finnakynne had somehow noticed and flew through the Tower as well. The two Circle masters were now standing in the way of the pixies.
Belissar headed on over to find Queen Vanieskon rolling her eyes.
Finnakynne glared back at her.
“You didn’t need to come yourself to do that, mother dearest. Don’t think we’ll trust you around Beely just because you turned off your glamour!”
Queen Vaniekson, however, cut off her own reply as she saw Belissar approach, and gave him a smile instead.
“Greetings, Tower Keeper Belissar.”
Tarwantrad and Finnakynne both gave him worried looks. Belissar thus grew concerned himself, but the pixies had been incredibly helpful thus far, so he pressed on anyways.
“Hello, Queen Vanieskon, welcome to my Tower. Are you here to discuss the pixie room?”
Queen Vanieskon’s smile grew.
“Among other things.”
She lightly waved her hands and four pixies flew forward, working together to carry a big sack that they dropped at Belissar’s feet. The sack unfolded into a mat as it fell, spreading out its contents neatly before him. Belissar couldn’t help but smile.
There were flowers, lots of flowers, many of which were full of powerful mana.
Queen Vanieskon then curtsied, sending a ripple of gasps through the pixies.
“My gift to you, as promised. Thank you, Tower Keeper Belissar, for reversing the fortunes of all that is fair. Additionally, I would like to have a set of armor enchanted for you personally, though that shall take a while longer.”
Belissar shook his head with a grin.
“No, this is plenty. Thank you.”
Queen Vanieskon covered her mouth and let out a small laugh.
“I see your love for your bees has not been exaggerated. This is but a small token compared to what you have done for us, Tower Keeper. Don’t forget that in your dealings with the others. Now then, I believe you would prefer to get onto business?”
Belissar agreed so Queen Vanieskon waved Henilett, Captain Karpakynne, and Vice-Captain Mahgare over.
“Today, I hoped both to send an expedition to the lands outside of your Tower, as well as to discuss your offer of a place within it, if that is acceptable to you?”
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Belissar had no problem with that.
“Of course, we agreed on that already, right?”
Queen Vanieskon nodded.
“Correct. I intend to lead the expedition beyond and witness how your Tower interacts with the Hunger myself. Henilett here will negotiate the details of a settlement within the Tower, as I believe you would prefer to continue working with her. Is now a convenient time for you?”
Belissar confirmed that it was, so Queen Vanieskon continued.
“Henilett has my permission to agree to anything you desire in my name, so please do not hesitate to ask. Now then, Captain Karpakynne…”
Captain Karpakynne grinned.
“…will coordinate the logistics of the Royal Pixie Guards garrison with you and Henilett.”
Captain Karpakynne’s face scrunched up.
But Queen Vanieskon just glanced at Captain Karpakynne out of the corner of her eye. The captain’s face paled and she rushed to salute.
“I-I mean, gladly, Your Majesty!”
Queen Vanieskon didn’t respond, instead waving her hand to the other pixie guard.
“Vice-Captain Mahgare will accompany me and lead the scouting expedition in her place. Is that all acceptable to you, Tower Keeper?”
“Yes. Do you need a guide? I can ask the Fourth of the Seventh to send some scouts with you?”
Queen Vanieskon smiled.
“That would be lovely, thank you.”
Belissar only remembered now that he was supposed to be worried about the supposedly tricky Queen Vanieskon, so he glanced over at Tarwantrad and Finnakynne to see their response. Tarwantrad just seem surprised, while Finnakynne was fidgeting with an uncomfortable expression.
“Ugh, this is weird, this is really weird! Mother dearest speaking normally…I don’t like it!”
Queen Vanieskon rolled her eyes.
“I’ve told you before, Finnakynne. If you never deal nicely with anyone, then no one will ever deal with you. Not that you are bothering to listen to me, these days.”
Tarwantrad turned to Finnakynne.
“You know…that’s how I felt with you using my name and stuff.”
Finnakynne glared at her.
“Tarwantrad! Whose side are you on?!”
Belissar…decided to leave them to their conversation to take a closer look at all the new flowers…
Queen Vanieskon soon left Henilett to handle to the Tower Keeper. She met up with Wardmaster Varilold and the bee guides Tower Keeper Belissar had promised, and then promptly made her way out of the Tower. It took all her self-control to walk at a dignified pace, but fortunately the Tower Keeper had shortcuts so she didn’t have to keep it up for long. Before long, she stood before the gate of the Tower itself. She gently placed her hand against it and pushed it with the lightest of effort.
She stepped out into the warmth of the sun. She looked up and could not help a smile as the sunlight bathed down upon her and the blue sky stretched overhead. The true sun and sky, not the little pocket dimension her predecessors had twisted off for the pixies to hide in when in danger. The silver elves, pompous as always, named it the “land of the fair” and disparaged the rest of the world as the “land of mortals” after they helped the pixies expand it, but Vanieskon knew the truth. It was this place, out here, that had been their true home all along.
She could not help but beat her wings and rise into the sky. She could not help but breathe deeply of real air for the first time in centuries. She could not help but giggle as she looked out upon the leaves of the trees swaying in the breeze.
For a brief moment, she was just Vanieskon, not queen of the pixies, and she was home.
But the queen of the pixies was needed if she were to remain here, and so she restored her usual expression and flew back down. Wardmaster Varilold gave her a knowing smile, but was wise enough not to say anything. She turned to her guide, the one called the Fourth of the Seventh, who danced happily about. Not unlike a young pixie, in fact.
“What want see? What want scout?”
Queen Vanieskon narrowed her eyes as she replied.
“Take us to the Hunger.”
Setting foot in the mortal realm once more was just an indulgence. Queen Vanieskon’s true purpose, and Wardmaster Varilold’s as well, was to see where the Hunger and the Tower met. To see, firsthand, how this dungeon had survived without any wards at all.
The Fourth of the Seventh chose a direction and led them forth, with pixie and warden magic encouraging bushes and branches to move out of their way. Before long, the group had reached the edge of the purified area, remaining at a safe distance from the sea of Hunger beyond.
“Hunger there. Can attack, so dangerous to get closer.”
Queen Vanieskon vaguely nodded while she stared at her enemy. There, before her, was a greater mass of the Hunger than she had ever seen since the fair folk retreated to the pixie court’s shelter. It writhed and flowed and lashed at the seemingly defenseless land beyond…and yet, it did not advance beyond a certain point. Any tendril of the Hunger that did dissolved away before making it far.
But to the fair folk who could see with more than eyes, a great battle raged before them. The mana of the Tower suffused the area and constantly collided with the Hunger. The Hunger was purified by the mana, but bits and pieces of it infiltrated in, corrupting from within. These, however, were then pulled away, towards the Tower itself.
Wardmaster Varilold furrowed her brow.
“So…what we suspected is true. The dungeon is purifying the Hunger directly. It’s managing the continuous corruption we feared by condensing it into smaller shades, the Tower Keeper just has to keep up weaker purifications on a regular basis to hold back the Hunger indefinitely. I…was wrong all along. The gods indeed accounted for all that we feared.”
Queen Vanieskon shook her head.
“It could not have been helped. The so-called land of the fair has always been artificial. If the Hunger corrupted any part of the magic maintaining it, we could have lost the entire thing. We could not take that risk.”
She then made a predatory smile.
“But not anymore. Now…we know and have everything we need to take back what was ours. Come, Wardmaster. We both have much work to do now.”
Wardmaster Varilold nodded, her expression as hard as steel.