As I stepped through the huge wall of leaves, I paused and did a double take. “What… is this?” I had some issues wrapping my head around what I was seeing. Uncle patted me on my shoulder. “Welcome to the court of the Autumn Fae.” Ahead of us was a valley in late autumn. Two suns were shining from a turquoise sky and a myriad of Fae creatures were moving about.

Amber grabbed hold of my hand. “Ugh, the magic in this place is so strong I feel…” she lost balance and fell to her knees. I gently pick her up. “Hang in there Amber, it’ll pass.” She nodded and nestled into my shoulder, as I turned my attention back to uncle Moor.

“This place isn’t normal. Just what’s going on here?” Uncle turned his head for a moment before he spoke. His gaze seemed distant, as if reminiscing about something. “It was just after the changes to how dungeon raiding worked. There was a backlash among a certain subset of adventurers. They began raiding Fae communities, since they didn’t like dungeon delving anymore.” I felt a cold knot forming in my stomach. Uncle glanced at me, then continued.

“Raiding peaceful Fae communities for sport. The Guild has long forbidden such acts, as it is little more than banditry. And when Labyrinthia learned the details about what they had done… hoo boy.” Uncle paused for a moment, as a shudder went through him.

“Those bastards never stood a chance. She enacted their punishment in person, with Justina’s blessing. Tore the lot of them apart in a maelstrom of overwhelming power. Then she created a separate dimension for the Fae, a place where only those invited could enter. Faehome, one for each of the four Fae Courts. The Fae have been stalwart fans of Labyrinthia ever since, and Syana decreed that her and those following her should always be welcomed in the courts of her children.” That was quite the tale, but something didn’t add up.

“Wait, if only the invited can enter. How did an assassin get in?” Uncle turned towards me, his expression grim. “That is the same question I have been asking myself since I heard the news, and the question plaguing the Fae, no doubt.” Sarirrva walked up next to us. She had picked up Glu to ensure she didn’t wander off. “The Fae are panicking, no doubt. Let’s hope they don’t act in haste because of it.”

Uncle glanced at her for a moment. “Indeed. Well, no point in standing around. Let’s go.” As we entered the valley, it opened up into a picturesque landscape of sills intersected by small glens and copses. Now and then we came upon a small creek, and all around us, we could hear birdsong and the rustling of leaves.

It was like an autumn landscape straight out of a storybook or someone’s imagination. Then again, I suppose it was. Labyrinthia had created this place, after all. I looked down at Amber as we walked along. “How are you holding up?”

She looked up at me. “Everything’s spinning. This place is about as magical as it gets. Even the forest wasn’t this bad.” Her gaze was distant, and her pupils kept altering size, clear signs of being overwhelmed by magic. “Just hang in there Amber, once you get used to it, you’ll be one of the most magic resistant gnomes in the world.”

She gave a weak smile. “Sounds great. Might take a while t- let me down NOW!” I didn’t hesitate as I dropped her like a burning piece of wood. I knew what was coming. Amber staggered over to a bush, and we gave her the privacy she needed. When she returned, I handed a waterskin to her. “Here, should help the burning in your throat.”

She took it with a faint smile and downed it all as I picked her back up. “Feeling better?” She shook her head. "Well, if you feel the urge to vomit return, just signal me, and I’ll drop you again." She mumbled something in response.

As we continued our trek, we found a road, or to be exact, a path so well trodden and so wide it might as well be one. It was heading for what could only be described as a giant pumpkin and castle fused into one massive amalgamation of stone and plant.

“Is this where-?” Uncle nodded. “Welcome to Andilia, the Autumn Castle. Home of the Autumn court of the Fae and the Wood Elves of Ondul.” He led the rest of us over to the gates, where a pair of wood elves decked out in armor made from some kind of metallic wood and vines. In their hands were glaives? Halberds? I couldn’t tell. They were too sleek and stylized for me to identify what exactly they were.

As we approached, the guards moved to block us. “None may path for now. Not even you, Mordred.” He stopped and looked at them. “The queen was attacked by an assassin, or so I hear. And I might be-” Before he could finish, there was an odd noise from down the path, a loud repeating noise.

As we all tuned our attention to the weird sound, we saw something approaching. It seemed like a sleek, floating box, but with holes in it to allow whoever was sitting inside to see. The thing was heading towards at a breakneck speed, before swinging sideways and sliding to halt at the base of the stairs leading to the gate.

The front door opened, and a small, dark-skinned gangly looking kid with a red cone-shaped cap hopped out. He seemed off in so many ways, with short pointy ears, a far too wide mouth filled with shark-like teeth and bloodshot eyes. Then the rear door opened and two more people appeared. One looked like a girl in her early teens with pale skin and purple hair, with strange cat-like eyes and long pointy ears.

The other was a man in his mid-twenties, early thirties? With a handful of fox tails and fox-ears for ears, amber eyes, and dark brown/auburn hair, and there was a strange air about him, that I couldn’t place. Uncle looked at the three with obvious surprise.

“What in… what are you three doing here?” The fox-man paused and looked at us. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business, old man.” Uncle scoffed. “Last I checked, you were 6 months older than I am, Rael. Or have you grown forgetful since turning into a fox spirit?”

The fox spirit paused, and then furrowed his brows as he looked at uncle. “Mordred? Is that you, damn, you’ve changed over the last 60? Years. Hmm, no wait it makes sense you’d grown old by now. I just didn’t expect you to change so much.”

Uncle looked at him, his expression now unreadable. Then he walked back down the stairs and stopped just in front of Rael. They stared at each other for a moment, before they both began laughing and hugged each other. “Damn good to see you Rael, but again, why are you here?”

The small, gangly child walked past the two and began ascending the stairs. “If you two are done, we have more important things to do.” His voice was far too deep for a child. Mordred looked down at me. “Nice to see you to Nicomphus.” Nicomphus just waved him off without eve looking back.

“Save the sentimental crap for someone who cares, Mage-Man. We can catch up later if you insist. For now, we have our orders.” Rael hesitated for a moment, before he grabbed the girl and began ascending the stairs too. Though when she spotted Glu, who was busy munching on some apples we had found and was oblivious to what was going on, she stopped dead in her tracks.

“M-Milunia?” Glu dropped the apple she was eating, then scrambled out of Sarirrva’s grasp and embraced the bigger girl. “INVIII!” Then both began crying and conversing in a language I could not comprehend, let alone describe.

Rael looked down at the two. “Why don’t you stay with them, Envy? Nicomphus and I need to deliver what we came here for, but you’re not part of that.” She glanced up at him and gave a quick nod, then turned her attention towards us. “I am Envy, Gluttony’s elder sister. Thank you for looking after her.” She bowed deeply, then resumed her conversation with Glu, who seemed just as happy to see her as well. The two siblings seemed to have become fast friends again.

I looked down at Amber, who still seemed out of it. “How are you doing?” she opened her eyes, her gaze was more focused than before and her pupils weren’t going amok. “Better, I should be fine soon.” She gave me a weak thumbs up and then closed her eyes again. I looked over at Sarirrva, and uncle. “Shall we?” They both began walking towards the guards again. The guards didn’t move, which seemed to annoy Nicomphus.

“Listen up, dummies. Lady Labyrinthia sent me and Fox-Man here with a delivery of Panacea, made by her personally. Now, the rest of these fellas ain’t with us. But three of them are good friends of ours, and we’re willing to vouch for the lot of em, so open the damn doors.” The guards hesitated. Then Rael picked two things out of the pouch he was carrying. One was a vial of liquid, the other was a sphinx statuette.

He set the statuette down, and with a bright flash, an apparition appeared in front of the guards. But it was no sphinx, but the image of a woman with long silver hair and brilliant white wings. As I was looking at her, I was once again hit with that strange sensation I got when I first saw Rael.

The ghostly apparition looked around, then turned to Rael. “I take it the guards aren’t letting you in, and that’s why you contacted me?” Rael gave a single nod. The apparition turned towards the guards, then suddenly seemed to turn completely solid. “In the name of Labyrinthia, open these gates.” As she spoke the words, the gates opened on their own accord and the guards hurried aside.

Rael and Nicomphus began walking, though Rael paused for a moment to scoop up the statuette. “Thanks, Indella.” The winged woman gave an impatient shrug and disappeared in a flash of light. With the gates now open and the guards no longer barring our way, we entered the strange castle.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It took everything I had not to reveal myself as the group entered the castle. Those wretched monster lovers needed to pay for abandoning me for that sphinx back then, but not now. However, I couldn’t endanger the plan. As much as every fiber of my being is screaming at me to kill them, rip them apart, and make them suffer, I can’t. The butterflies won’t let me. “Just you wait you miserable traitors. I will have my revenge yet. On you, your precious Sphinx and on the gods’ themselves!”

ALL WOULD - the butterflies calmed me back down. Right now, I didn’t have time to rant or plot since I had a job to do. However, their arrival complicated things. “Hmm, so what now? Surely, they aren’t here to help those misbegotten knife ears and their Fae friends.”

Naah, couldn’t be the guild regulation. Wait. My information was outdated and the new guild was not running the place as it should have. “So, we can only assume they are here to interfere.” The butterflies agreed with my assessment. Well, we would have to prevent that. The butterflies pulled my attention back to the room. The useless elf I was using as an anchor was stirring.

Just as I was about to extend his sleep, there was a knock on the door. "Sire, sire, please wake up, sire. Labyrinthia has sent a delegation to aid the Queen." The useless piece of meat woke up and rushed towards the door, pulling me along with him. “Really? Then let’s go meet them at once!”

The elf’s hopes were in vain, no mere medicine that useless sphinx could concoct would help against that poison. With no other choice if I wished to avoid detection, I was pulled along the corridors as the Queen’s consort hurried towards the audience hall to meet my old subordinates and their new friends.

The butterflies urged me to be cautious, and as always, I had no choice but to accept their demands. Being dead for a century had made me aware of our dynamic. They kept me stable and sane, and I obeyed. It made me wonder, though. With the Lord of the Void gone, who controlled the butterflies? “It doesn’t matter anymore, now does it?”

Talking to myself was risky, but I needed to put it to words. As much for myself as the butterflies themselves, who were delighted in my acceptance. It was a small price to pay to have my revenge.