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HorrorFiend
Whew, I've not much experience writing horror, but I gave it my best shot. What do you think?
The light in the clearing dimmed as Clesa crushed a patch of fungus under her feet. She traveled alone tonight, as the denizens of the area refused to accompany her to her destination. Will o’ the wisps lurked, they said, luring travelers sweetly to their deaths. And their queen - oh, their cold, cunning, beautiful queen! - it was there she sat on her throne, awaiting new toys to come to her. Bah, superstitious fools, the lot of them! Though Clesa wished she had their guidance, there was a magical artifact in a nearby set of ruins that she urgently needed to find.
Still, even though she was above rumours and superstitions, Clesa couldn’t shake the sight of glowing figures from the edge of her vision, tempting her, almost as if they were following her.
After hours of searching, Clesa was beginning to doubt whether she’d followed the right path when a cluster of lights in a clearing caught her attention. They matched with what she was looking for, and surely enough, she found herself walking into the ruins a few minutes later. Although, the lights had disappeared, which was rather strange. Clesa had little time to ponder that before tensing up at a rustle in the bushes.
Clesa relaxed when the rustling simply turned out to be an Imperial, but kept her guard up. What was a wizened old Imperial doing out in the Tangled Woods in the middle of the night, in this area of all places, with all of the legends surrounding it?
The Imperial seemed relieved when she spotted Clesa. “Oh, thank the gods,” she said. “Another dragon. Perhaps you can help me!” Upon seeing Clesa’s wary look, the Imperial elaborated. “You see, I’m a florist. I’ve come to gather an incredibly rare flower that only blooms for a few days during this time of year, but I seem to have gotten myself lost. I was wondering if you might know the way out?” The Imperial smiled hopefully at the last sentence. Clesa studied the Imperial. Though she was suspicious, something compelled her to help the florist. After all, it wasn’t implausible that she had wandered too far from the patch of flowers she was looking for and had gotten herself into trouble.
“Alright,” Clesa said. “Although you’ll have to wait a moment. I’ve got my own reasons for coming here, and I intend to accomplish them.” Clesa scanned the crumbled stone structures, finding the artifact she was looking for, a rune-covered stone tablet, resting upon a lectern. But before she could move, the florist stepped out into the clearing. She had an elegant bearing as well as a careful demeanor. However, what stood out to Clesa was the strange ethereal glow surrounding her. The florist clasped her hands together and spoke.
“Wonderful!” The florist’s voice was sweet, but she bore a cold glint in her eyes. “Here, I ought to repay you somehow. I wasn’t planning on letting anyone see this flower before I made some bouquets, but I think I’ll make an exception for you.”
“I would rather you not-” Clesa began, but was cut off when the florist pulled a flower out of her bag and held it uncomfortably close to Clesa’s face
“Nonsense! I ought to compensate you somehow. Now, here’s the blossom that got me into this whole mess. Lovely, isn’t it, with such a sweet smell too.” The flower possessed luminescent blue petals, but the smell caused Clesa to feel dizzy. Oh, gods of Sornieth, she didn’t think it was possible for a flower to smell like this. It smelled sweetly of shadowed roads and of lives that could have been, of lives that were never lived to completion. Clesa began feeling a great dread towards the florist, and hurried towards the artifact. Just get the artifact and leave. That’s all you need to do, she thought.
But with each passing step, Clesa grew wearier and her head started spinning. The glowing figures from earlier had returned, now beginning to overtake her vision. Were they getting closer? No, you’re tired. it’s just your imagination, she desperately reassured herself. Just a few more steps, and then she’d be at the tablet. But it was no use. When she reached the tablet, exhaustion finally overwhelmed Clesa and she collapsed in front of the lectern.
Clesa awoke merely seconds later in exactly the same spot as she was before, but now an assortment of glowing figures of all shapes and sizes stood around the perimeter, speaking with discordant murmurs. Where the florist once stood was a figure etched with runes, terrible in form and shining pale in the moonlight. A crystal voice emanated from the figure, though it didn’t physically speak, piercing the murmurs.
"So lovely of you to join my court," it said. "We don’t get many visitors here. Me and my subjects are always charmed to have them. Sadly, the locals have all learned by now."
Clesa’s eyes widened. Wait, if this was the figure’s court and subjects, then that meant...
As if reading her mind, the figure responded. "Yes, I am the Queen of will o’ the wisps and these are my subjects. I had a suspicion you were a smart one. Though, not smart enough to avoid us."
Fear surged through Clesa’s chest. She needed to find a way out of here, quickly. Nerve, nerve, she thought. Keep your head or you’ll be stuck here forever. The Court of the will o’ the wisps had an ethereal, misty look to it, and she had arrived here just shortly after collapsing in the ruins. Wait, that was it!
The Queen continued. "It’s always the logical ones that end up in our claws. If only they heeded the warnings. Such a shame, too, they’d probably be far more use in their clans than here. Toys always lose their value."
With a tremendous effort partially fueled by the adrenaline running through her veins, Clesa broke through the veil of the dream world and returned to the waking world of Sornieth. But much to her horror, the same rune-etched Queen and glowing figures awaited her in real life as had in the Court. Crystalline laughter pierced through Clesa’s mind.
"Where are you going so soon?"
Now running almost entirely on adrenaline, Clesa grabbed the stone tablet and barreled her way through the glowing figures, dashing through the brambles and through the woods. But to Clesa’s horror, even though the distance between Clesa and the will o’ the wisps was great, the Queen’s laughter rang in her head.
"My dear, hasn’t anyone ever told you that theft is a crime? I’ve found that’s very good advice to follow, especially since you’re one of us now."
Clesa froze and looked down at the stone tablet, only to cry out in horror as she found that her claws were now etched with the same runes as on the tablet. One of them? Did that mean-
The Queen interrupted Clesa's thoughts once more. "No, not a will o' the wisp. You're cursed to be a Wendigo now, like the others before you. You'll haunt these woods, never able to leave, and prey upon the poor dragons who fall prey to the tricks of us will o' the wisps. If you kill them, you get a meal. If they fend you off, we get a new toy. We do try to help you out in any way we can, so do try and let a dragon wander off towards the Court once in a while, hm? Now, I have courtly matters to attend to. Have fun, my dear!"
Clesa sat and pondered her fate for a while. Was she really doomed to wander these woods alone forever? Her stomach growled, and it set in that she would have to hunt for sustenance now. Suddenly she saw a glowing light at the edge of her vision and then heard the snap of twigs following it. Upon investigation, it was a dragon, glancing around nervously. Hearing her stomach growl again, Clesa bared her fangs for an attack. Here he was: her first victim.
