small_magics | what are you doing here?

Isibel has never seen an odder collection of fauna. She has not traveled extensively, but she is sure that creatures of this size - lizards as heavy as ten elves together, beavers eight and nine feet long, turtles with shells the size of small houses - are not customary. Yet the island is riddled with them.

The creatures have no particular fear of elves, but nor do they seek them, and none of her party have been attacked; she feels safe enough traveling through the forest on her own, stepping lightly, looking for the sweep of the treeline and any springs that might be useful for settlers if elves settle here. Besides, she is a student of the small magics, some of which may be cast quite rapidly if there is need; she could frighten away an animal that took too much interest in her. The ribbons tied around each of her knees and ankles (blending seamlessly with the rest of her travel outfit) are some of her finest small magic, guiding her steps so that she may place her feet as elves ought to be able to and bring no embarrassment to her House. They don't make her truly graceful, but she can walk, and care will do the rest.

She's deep into the forested part of the Unknown Island when she starts finding statues. Old statues. The trees have grown up around them, it looks like, they've been here that long; they're worn and weathered and have lichen growing on them.

And they're all of unicorns.

The oldest sculptures are none too skillful, but as she proceeds inward towards the center of the island, they become newer and better and it's plain to see that they're not of unicorns, but a unicorn. A unicorn with a broken horn; this is not, it soon becomes apparent, random damage to early statues. Someone has carved a specific unicorn, dozens - hundreds? thousands? - of times. And the art has been made with such intense love, and the newest of the statues are so delicately done that they look almost like real unicorns, with all the magic that implies, though they hold still and are on closer inspection all still carved from stone.

Someone loved this unicorn, and lived on this island, and made a thousand statues of her, and now the place is inhabited only by giant animals that certainly could have done no such thing. Isibel wonders what happened to the sculptor. To the unicorn, too.

On she walks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

endragoned

The demon nods some more.

"Demons hurt other people," he says. "Demons hurt elves. Demons hurt unicorns. I hurt me."

From:

small_magics

"You hurt yourself -" She bites off the questioning, incredulous inflection at the last moment, makes like she was correcting his grammar. "I did not know that would make magic."

From:

endragoned

"Demons did not know that would make magic," he says. "Demons were angry. Demons were..." he frowns; shrugs. "I was other people. Demons hurt other people for magic, I hurt me for magic, I was other people."

From:

small_magics

"They hurt you," she murmurs.

From:

endragoned

"They hurt me," he agrees. "They put me far away and hurt me and hurt me."

From:

small_magics

Isibel hesitates, then puts her hand on his near shoulder, gently, in case he wants to shrug her off. "I'm sorry that happened," she murmurs.

From:

endragoned

"I don't understand that word," he murmurs back, leaning into her hand a little.

From:

small_magics

"I - it makes me sad that it happened," she says. "I wish it hadn't happened - I want it to have not happened." She relaxes her arm, since shrugging her off seems to be the last thing on his mind.

From:

endragoned

He closes his eyes and smiles.

"It makes me happy that you say that."

From:

small_magics

She's silent. She waits.

From:

endragoned

He shrugs again, wings fluttering slightly with the movement.

"They hurt me for - time," he says. "Years. They put Tialle where I was so we would kill each other. But I did not kill her, and she did not kill me, and we went away."

From:

small_magics

"That's why you touched her horn," Isibel realizes. "For magic so you could escape - go away from the other demons."

From:

endragoned

The demon nods.

"I hurt myself for magic."

From:

small_magics

"I didn't understand before why you would touch her horn or how you escaped, but now I understand."

From:

endragoned

He smiles.

From:

small_magics

"That was not very smart of the demons. It did not get them what they wanted," observes Isibel.

From:

endragoned

...He laughs.

From:

small_magics

From:

endragoned

He drapes his wing lightly around her.

From:

small_magics

She peers at it.

"I - don't know why you're doing that," she says, and she lightens her hand's settled touch on his shoulder.

From:

endragoned

He lifts his wing away.

"You do not want me to do that?" he guesses.

From:

small_magics

"I don't know why - I don't know what thing you want to get," she says, struggling with the limited vocabulary but not knowing what other words to introduce or how, "I don't know what you're thinking."

From:

endragoned

"...I want my wing to be on you," he says. "You wanted your," he touches the back of her hand lightly with the pads of his fingers, "to be on me."

From:

small_magics

"Hand, that's my hand," she says distractedly. "I wanted my hand to be on you because I was sorry about a thing that happened to you. I don't know why you want your wing to be on me."