War and Nature, Part 2
Neptis landed with a loud crash in the centre of the ruined city of Valenca. Her preferred method of travel matched her personality well. Brutish, destructive, but most importantly it was flashy. Her quarterstaff floated casually in the air next to her as she looked around for a brief moment at the decaying buildings.
"They knew how to build." She knew good art when she saw it. It was a nice style, maybe it would come back one day. "Let's go." She glared at her staff, and it nestled itself in a holder on her back.
She wandered for a few minutes, but history wasn’t her art. With a shrug, she walked out of the city but something made her stop at a certain ruined Inn.
She regarded it with some suspicion for a couple minutes, before continuing on her way. It felt like something had been calling to her across the vast gulf of time, but that was impossible. Or was it?
She felt eyes on the back of her head as she left, and ignored them. What could threaten her? She was a God. A God!
A tiny pair of gleaming yellow eyes watched her leave, but made no move to follow.
The fields were starting to resemble woodland, and if not for the regular stone walls could easily be mistaken as such. Turning off the path, Neptis went deeper into the forest that surrounded Valenca.
The trees grew closer together knitting a tight web of branches and leaves above her head. The forest grew darker, but not any quieter. Birds chirped, and at the edge of her vision she saw deer watching her carefully.
"I see you." She wasn't amused. Animals always got close to her, but this was out of hand. "I'm here for him."
The animals moved out of view, but not out of distance as she pushed her way through thickening trees. Despite her temper she knew it best to not destroy any trees, not in this place. At last, she reached a wall of trees, so thick she couldn't see through them.
"This must be it." She held out her hand and her quarterstaff quietly moved into her hand. "Come on, let me pass."
When the trees did not yield, she smacked one lightly with her staff. Sensing the barely contained impatience behind it one tree deigned to move ever so slightly, enough for Neptis to pass. Forcing her way through the bark wall, she stumbled into the clearing.
"Now this is more like it." She whistled when she saw what was waiting for her.
A sleeping King embraced by nature lay before her. Draped in vines and moss he was perfectly still and did not make a single sound. Neptis chose to stand and appreciate the moment first, as despite her reckless behaviour over her many years, she knew a sombre scene when she saw one.
"So, you're the Raven King. But where is your crown?"
Then she spotted it. High in the tree he lay at the base of. The massive raven. It was different this time, though. She squinted her eyes.
It was wearing a crown of branches.
"Little on the nose, isn't it?"
She nudged the Raven King. The raven let out a loud caw, but didn't budge. She tapped her foot. Motioned for it to come down. It just cawed again.
"Oh come on!"
She picked up a rock the size of her head and hurled it at the raven with lightning speed. She heard a crunch as it hit and watched the raven fall to the ground with a squawk.
"Yeesh. Serves you right though. Come on, don't be dead."
When she walked over to where it fell, it was gone but the crown remained. She sighed with annoyance.
"Of course. One of these symbolic things, is it?"
She picked up the crown, turned it over in her hands and lifted it toward her head. Then she paused. He was one of those extremely symbolic Gods steeped in metaphor. If she did that, she might become the God of Nature and while this was all very pretty she didn't want to be in charge of it.
"No, I don't think so. Time for you to wake up, slumbering King."
She walked back over to his resting body, and gently placed the crown on his head.
"Lady War." The voice didn't come from his body. It came from everywhere, all at once.
"I am her." Neptis wasn't about to be cowed or scared by some fancy magic, no matter how old it was.
"You have come not a moment too soon."
Antlers burst from his head in a flash. The blackbirds nesting in his hair chirped loudly, but didn't take flight. They knew where they were safest.
"It has been far too long. Nature retreated while mortals built." He opened his eyes, and looked upon the impatient War God standing before him.
"You don't look like much. That big raven going to come back?"
"Did Lady War not care for my friend?" He gave a look at Neptis.
She scowled, causing him to laugh.
"My lovely lady I must assure you there was no harm intended. Why don't you help this old man to his feet and we go for a walk, hmm?"
"Where?" She offered him a hand. As annoyed as she was with him, she had a good feeling about him.
"Around the world. We have the time." He mirth was obvious, chortling as he took Neptis's out-stretched hand and was pulled to his feet in an instant. "The Lady is stronger than she looks."
"War and Violence, old man." Neptis prodded his chest with her finger. "Of course I'm strong. So, where first?"
"So you accept?" His eyes were sparkling, and the blackbirds in his hair chirped happily.
"Of course I do." Neptis sat on her staff as it floated and looked him over. "You stand out."
"Nature never hides, Lady War." He stretched, sighing in relief. "All will know my approach."
Neptis heard loud crashes, and looked around as the suffocating closeness of the forest around the grove suddenly gave way. The wall of bark receded, giving way to an open wood. The smothering canopy opened up and sunlight streamed to the forest floor.
"You are not so subtle yourself," he continued, starting to walk through the woods.
"War never is." Blood dripped from her mouth at this statement, and she smiled.
Plant life bloomed in his wake as the Raven King walked through the forest, Neptis by his side. He asked her a few questions about the progress of mortal society, and seemed to be both pleased and annoyed by it.
"The humans still burn my forests for fuel?"
"Yes."
"Hmrh," he murmured. "What of the dwarves? Do they still dig greedily into their desert?"
"They're calling it the industrial revolution. Golems and machines everywhere. The heat from the mines have turned entire sections of the desert to glass." Neptis was admittedly impressed by the scale of runic magic being used by the Dwarven Empire.
"Good. The treasures of the sand shouldn't be left to rot."
Neptis raised an eyebrow quizzically. "You're a complicated one."
"Nature frequently is, Lady War."
They soon cleared the forest and started down the path toward Valenca. Stopping at the Inn again for a brief moment, the Raven King smiled.
"Something funny?"
"A Locubrur is nesting in that Inn."
"A what?" Neptis looked bewildered. She never heard of any creature named that before.
"Come along. You're scaring it." He resumed his stride down the path leading north away from the city. "They do no harm. But you'll feel.. displaced, near a nest." He finished with a small chuckle.
"What do they eat?" Her curiosity was getting the better of her. He seemed to have a knack for saying just enough to draw you in.
"A Locubrur nibbles on time."
"Oh, you mean a Whispermouse. Strange place for it to be."
"The exit of a once grand city. Just outside the city walls. Who might have stayed there, hmmm?"
"Ah. You still didn't tell me. Where are we going first?"
"A place where war and nature meet. So that you may continue to grow."
"Do you ever say what you mean?"
"I always mean what I say."
Neptis huffed in frustration again. He was infuriating, in his own way.