A Bloody Tea Party

      A thin young man with short blonde hair and dull brown eyes marched confidently into the shaded forest, almost pitch-black despite the glow of the full moon above. He travelled a roughly laid path, occasionally having to duck under low branches or step over exposed roots, seemingly unphased by the dark. He followed the path for a short time until he reached a clearing, with a cottage in the middle. It looked like it was once quite homely, but now the windows were completely boarded, the chimney was destroyed and lay broken to one side, and there were several bloody trails leading towards the door. The young man walked first to the dilapidated garden on the side of the house, once lush with roses, lilies and all sorts of lovely flowers, now overgrown with weeds, mushrooms and corpse-flowers. He leaned against the wall as he waited for his compatriots to catch up to him. They weren’t as limber as him, so they took longer to travel through the forest than he did. Finally, he saw the first of them emerge from the woods and step into the moonlight. A great lumbering werewolf with black fur wearing patches of roughly forged iron armor approached the young man and kneeled before speaking. “The others are arriving shortly, Alpha… she is here.” He sniffed the air while he spoke, and the young man waved at the beast dismissively, “I know she is, Genn. How many times do I have to say though, you can just call me Alfie? Or even Alf, you don’t have to continue acting like a general in my presence.” Genn corrected his posture as he turned to face the forest, watching with Alf as more werewolves discreetly crawled out into the moonlight and slowly surrounded the cottage. “Apologies… Alfie,” Genn seemed to physically struggle to refer to him as such, “it is not in my nature to be so… casual as you.” Alf looked up at the giant, who stood at attention at his side, before he kicked himself off from leaning against the wall. “Of course, old friend, I suppose I should have expected this,” he motioned for Genn to lean in close, and he whispered, “tell the others to form a perimeter, but to remain hidden, I don’t trust her.” Genn nodded as he straightened his back from leaning down, “a wise decision, I don’t trust her either. Will you be taking anyone inside with you?” Alf pondered for a moment as Genn silently relayed the information to the others, who had begun to slink to darkened corners of the clearing and behind the worn-down stone fence. “Just you and Tobias will go in with me. Knowing her she’ll have two escorts of her own, although they’ll undoubtedly be hidden.” Genn nodded his head and beckoned over a werewolf with short, curly red fur, and the three approached the steps to the small patio. “She may be permanently in the body of a sixteen-year-old, but she’s been that way for over one hundred years, she’s more cunning and far more dangerous than meets the eye. Any final input from either of you before we go in?” Alf asked his companions without turning. A second of silence passed, and Alf nodded his head, and the three carefully walked up the rotting, paint-peeling steps towards the door. Alf cleared his throat, knocked gingerly on the door, and spoke up, “Crimson Queen, may we come in for tea?” A moment of silence passed, an almost unnatural silence, before a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the small window frame of the door. They hovered there for a second, glowering at the three visitors, before they vanished and the door swung silently ajar.

           The inside of the cottage almost seemed darker than the forest, but the three’s lycanthropic vision pierced the shadow like a spear pierces flesh, and they bore witness to the horror show within. Much of the original white, yellow and floral paints of the cottage have been covered red, and the stench of old flesh permeated the atmosphere. They could barely make out the shadowy figures of two vampires perched in the rafters above, watching them as they walked in. Lastly, a young, pale woman sat cross-legged in front of a short table, several spots set up with coasters and dirty teacups filled with red fluid, and each seat occupied by the severed, bloody heads of different young men, some human, some dwarves or elves, one of them was even a rhoshi, a lup-rho judging by the wolf-like visage. The woman wore a surprisingly clean loose fitting white dress, and floated a short distance above the floor, bat-like wings curled behind her as she seemed to converse with the severed heads, reminiscing on the times they shared. When the three had fully crossed the threshold, the door closed behind them and the young woman turned her black and red eyes towards them, an even greater smile spreading across her face. “Alpha! What a pleasant surprise darling!” She uncrossed her legs, seeming like she was rising to her feet, but as she approached them they saw she was still hovering, her bare feet floating mere inches above the floor. She approached them with open arms, as if seeking a hug, but settled for a handshake as Alf stood there bluntly. “And who is this young specimen you have with you?” She gestured towards Tobias, who flinched slightly, and she chuckled. “You know I can’t have a nibble of your kind, not with our little alliance at least; you bring him here to tease me dear Alpha?” She slouched a little and put out her bottom lip, pouting. Alf stepped in front of Tobias “I brought him here because I trust him, Crimson Queen, and we are here to discuss something very important that’s happened recently.” The Crimson Queen stared past Alf, towards Tobias for a moment, her lips twitching, before she finally broke her gaze and gestured to the tea table. “Well, you’re just in time for tea dear, I’m sure my guests won’t mind scooching a little for you!” She waved her hand and three of the heads were thrown unceremoniously off to one side; one of them made a wet squelch as it collided with the wall. She acted like she took a seat once again, floating there, pointing her legs toward the empty spot next to her, as she beckoned Tobias to sit there with one finger. Alf walked ahead of the others and sat next to her instead, Tobias sat on the farthest seat, and she pouted once more. “Ugh, you’re no fun!” She flicked her pinky finger, and her teacup was raised to her lips, “so, what do you want to talk about, Alpha Buzzkill?” Alf stared at her, wondering still at the twisted happenings within her mind, before finally speaking. “The Fallen. He’s dead.” The Queen chuckled at that after she sipped on her “tea,” “well of course he is dear! He is a necromancer after all, he’s been dead for about five-hundred years!” Alf had to physically stop himself from slamming a fist on the table in rage and failed in concealing the venom in his voice as he spat out, “He’s dead, someone killed him and destroyed his phylactery! His soul has gone to the Void and with him our connection to the One!” The Queen chuckled once again as she put down her teacup, “I thought you didn’t trust The One?” she said The One with a playful tone of voice as she smiled mischievously at them, her eyes were unblinking as they bore into his soul, however. “I don’t trust the One, by the Void we don’t even know who they truly are! But the Fallen and the One promised me and my people security! Their plans were for our kind to have a better future, where we don’t have to hide in the shadows!” Alf was snarling through his teeth as he fought off the beast within, trying to remain calm in the presence of his strenuous ally. The Queen stared at him, all trace of a smile gone from her lips, “do you think I honestly don’t remember that, Alpha? Do you think you have any idea how badly I want to feel the sun on my skin again?” Alf chuckled now as he leaned back gingerly in the half-broken chair he sat in, “probably as much as I want to keep my people safe, no?” The Queen’s lips quivered and her eye twitched. Alf could feel the other two vampires look at each other with concern. “What do you want to discuss, Alpha?” She stated bluntly as she stared into Alf’s eyes. “With our only connection to the One gone, and the Fallen gone, I have two questions in mind I was hoping you could help me with.” The Queen continued to stare blankly into his soul, he had her full attention. “My first question, who killed the Fallen, and don’t play dumb with me, I know you had eyes and ears all over that gods-forsaken citadel of his!” The Queen scoffed, turning her head away for a moment, holding in a guttural hiss from the depths of her throat. When she turned to face Alf once again, her mood had changed to how it once was, she smiled sweetly and leaned in as she spoke, “I don’t know names, only that it was some ragtag group of unremarkable individuals, except for the golden witch of course.” Alf leaned forward out of his chair as Tobias and Genn glanced at each other. “What? She was there?” The Queen nodded her head giddily, “yup, still is too! The bitch is dead!” She rocked back and forth as she cackled while continuing, “the Fallen was able to get her out of the picture before he kicked it!” She continued cackling as Alf sat suddenly, taken aback. As her laughter died down, he stroked his chin, pondering, before speaking up, “any more info on the rest of the group?” The Queen had her teacup up to her lips and stopped to think, playfully placing a finger on her chin as she looked up. “I don’t know all of them, there was some young half-orc girl, a wood elf girl, and some handsome young fellas,” she stopped to chuckle for a moment as she licked her lips, “one of them was a phae-rho, and the seeming leader was a fa-rho, devilish little fox so I heard!” She chuckled once again and sighed dreamily before taking a sip. Shouldn’t be hard to track down then… Alf thought to himself as the Queen slurped noisily on her sanguine beverage. She finished her cup and let out a refreshed sigh, “ah, that’s the last bit of Jonathan left then… such a handsome lad he was,” she stared at one of the severed heads for a moment before she sighed and threw it off of the table as well. “And what was your other question dear?” Alf stared deep into her, “what do we do next?” She narrowed her eyes quizzically, “what do you mean, ‘what do we do next?’” Alf threw his arms out around him, “I mean what do we do now that the Fallen is dead and the One is gone?! We’ve lost our little organizations leadership, and likely to lose the support of the other necromancers and warlocks as they fight over the power vacuum, what in Dagons’ name do we do now? I need security for my people!” Alf’s eyes became slitted, and his body covered in short blonde fur as his bones cracked and stretched, his legs bending backwards and his fingers and toes sprouted fierce claws, his jaw split in half as it grew outwards into a growling maw. Finally he was transformed, angrily staring into the Queen’s eyes as he snarled, slamming a fist onto the tea table, causing it to splinter. The two remaining heads shook and fell to their sides and the teacups shook spilling their contents as the two vampires from the rafters hissed. The Crimson Queen held a hand up, stalling her compatriots as Tobias and Genn attempted to calm Alf. “Why, we continue as if nothing has happened of course. We have the entire siege plans relayed to us already, what makes you think the loss of those two really changes anything?” She cocked her head to one side, “unless of course, you’re thinking of splitting up the gang?” She made a mocking fake sad face at Alf when she said that. “I’m thinking of RIPPING-” Alf cut himself short, no, let’s not do this now. We may still need her. He sighed and relaxed his tensed muscles, awkwardly shifting in his seat that was now suddenly so small for him, “I was merely curious as to your input on matters, dear Queen.” She reciprocated the thin, forced smile he gave her, and they leaned in close to each other so he could whisper in her ear. “You know I have the place surrounded, you can’t touch me now, and dawn is nearly upon us so you can’t touch us later, we’ll be taking our leave. I’ll inform you of my decision in five days’ time.” They leaned away from each other, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Though they smiled at each other, their eyes were focused with hatred and disdain, and the Crimson Queen’s eyes twitched psychotically. “With your leave, ma’am?” Alf and the others rose from their seats and she smiled at them all once more, “but of course, dear Alpha, always a pleasure to have you around!” She waved them goodbye and one of her vampires came down to open the door for them as they made their way out. He had a patchwork doll smile sewn into his lips, and a loose silver collar around his burned neck. “I hope to see you in particular sometime soon darling,” The Queen said as she stared at Tobias, chuckling as the door closed behind them.

           The three descended the rickety steps, and Alf gave a loud yip and a short howl, and all the werewolves emerged from their hiding spaces to follow their leader. Genn leaned in close to ask Alf, “What do we do now, Alpha?” Alf stared into the pale moonlight, the moon gently drifting south as it began to set, the faintest glimmer of dawn rising from the north. “We hear from the opposing side. Call our best trackers, we need to find a particular young fox leading a misfit group. Should be easy to track such a strange and diverse group,” Alf began marching to the east, “if they’re back from the Frozen Isle, they’ll likely land in Halsylver, that’s where we begin our search.” Genn smiled, and the pack fell to their haunches as they began to run to the coast of Halsylver. I just hope I join the right side in the end, my people are depending on me.