Sithris

Bar/Shim/Glimmer, Smoke or Spines
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You have been walking for seems like centuries despite the fact that you are also keenly aware that you've only left the last village (if it could even be called that, as riddled with heretics and pilgrims as it was) that morning when the sun had just barely risen above the sky. It's hot, it's muggy, and the trees seem to be leaning in towards you. Sure, you could have flown over the forest instead of walking through it, but the villagers had warned you of a clan of dragons that haunted the upper canopy and hills and that they were extremely territorial. Only the fastest and most agile flyers could escape them but your long journey has exhausted you; hiding in the thick underbrush seemed a better at the time, though now you wish you took your chances flying because now you can't find a spot clear enough to take to the air nor find a tree strong enough to support your weight.

You wish this journey wasn't necessary, as well as the haste needed to complete it. Cutting through the forest was a stupid risk and one you normally wouldn't have taken. But complete your task you must if you wanted to sleep at night. >Where are you going? What is at the end of your journey? What is your task?

The forest grows steadily darker the deeper you go and the underbrush grows even thicker. You struggle to keep your bearings but soon you can barely see the trees you keep bumping into. You groan at the thought of how long it will take to clean out the bark and leaves trapped under your scales but continue to push forward. You're looking for anything now that will just get you out of this deities damned forest. You will risk the hostile clan if only you could see the sky again!

You stop for a rest, idly nibbling on a berry bush despite your distaste for them. You haven't eaten since last night and your belly demands sustenance. You don't hear it at first, but slowly the forest grows silent as a song begins to reach your ears. At first, you think it some sort of instrument but as you listen you think it must be some kind of bird because it is too... chirpy. Fascinated, you begin to search for the source. The song is haunting, soothing. You walk forward, dazed and awed.

Soon words begin to make it into the song, flitting at the furthest edges of your hearing.

I am the shadow that marks the way
to guide this weary traveler to their grave~

You can make out the words but not their meaning. Something deep inside your gut churns as the feeling that something very wrong is about to happen but you can't stop yourself from walking forward. You scream at yourself to stop, to turn around and run, begging your legs to flee when you can feel the ground softening beneath your feet and the stench of decaying vegetation. The song is leading you into a bog and if you walk out any farther into it you won't be able to pull yourself out.

"Please, stop," you manage to say, a begging note making it into your voice. Just those two words manage to exhaust you as you fight the compulsion. The song pauses briefly, as if the singer was considering your words.

Then, laughter. Haughty, nasal giggling interspersed to coarse chirping as the singer struggled for air. You try to free yourself from the mud while the singer is distracted, panic clawing its way up your throat when the singer tries to continue their song between fits of giggling. You can already feel the compulsion begin to settle itself back into your limbs.

What do you do now?
>Attempt to bribe/bargain with the unknown singer?
>Make threats?
>Continue to try and pull yourself free of the bog and flee?
>Other?

PM PossessedFae with A Wisp's Song in the subject line. Make sure you include the details of your journey, your choice of escape, and a link to your trapped dragon in the body of the message to find out what the singer thinks of your attempts to free yourself!