Day 89: Dicey Deception
Sentence: Writing
Sentence: Writing
“My lord, perhaps some deep breaths would help,” Frankincense said calmly as the sound of glass shattering against the floor once again filled the air. Shui had been breaking anything he could get his talons on and screeching with rage for the better part of ten minutes now, and Frankincense was beginning to feel this was becoming unproductive.
“Deep breaths?” Shui snarled, turning on the nocturne. He could feel the wildclaw’s spittle hit his face, but he refused to flinch. “For years I have been building a following, building these rituals, working towards my ascension, and my game master turns on me? Myca has destroyed everything, everyone who is in the Challenge of Shadow is stuck there, doomed to be devoured by The Shade until nothing remains. I don’t know if there is any way of redeeming this. How am I going to become a god now?”
“All is not lost, the day is not yet done my liege.,” Frankincense reminded him.
“And yet you cannot break into that godforsaken laboratory and get Myca to fix it,” Shui loomed over the nocturne, claws flashing. “You better come up with a solution, or I’ll separate your head from your body.”
“No, you won’t, you’ll get Glacier to do it,” Frankincense snorted. “Besides, with how fractured your disciples have become, you can’t afford to lose my loyalty and devotion if you want to ascend. I’ll do anything for you and you know it, which means you can’t kill me.”
“I hate it when you’re right,” Shui sighed, putting his claws away. “Now, you better be right about fixing this. I hope you have some idea, because we’re running out of time here.”
“I may have never visited The Feywild myself, but given that my siblings and I were bestowed upon you by a powerful archfey, we have a certain connection there,” Frankincense began. “I have heard tell of an archfey who has the ability to play with fate and change reality. They can turn things to your favour and grant your heart’s desire, they would be able to fix this and bring the challenge from failure to success.”
“There must be some catch, there always is with the fair folk,” Shui narrowed his eyes.
“A simple catch really, you must beat me in a game,” the archfey slunk into view, as if pulled together from the shadows.
“My lord, I swear I did not summon them. I would not have done so without your approval,” Frankincense looked frantically between Shui and the veilspun that had just entered the room.
“You did not need to, my child,” The Game Master said, before shifting their attention to Shui. “I am a lover of all games, and yours have drawn my attention for some time. I have been watching for a while from the shadows, eager to see whether a mortal can really craft games that twist reality the way mine do. I was going to make myself known if this challenge failed, but given the fact that this youngster has already alerted you to my existence, I figured I would show my hand early.”
“So, if I beat you in a game, you will restore my challenge?” Shui asked. “What if I lose?”
“There is a game I like to play that involves the lives of dragons as pawns. I am always on the lookout for more pieces I can pull into play. If you lose, you and all those involved in your games will join my collection.” The Game Master smiled. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt, you will hardly notice the difference. It just means that I may have a bit of sway in your actions should I pull you into play. It will still feel as though you are making your own choices, and there will be some choices that will still be your own. I do enjoy a good wild card. That is why I play with real dragons instead of toys.”
Shui stared unblinkingly at The Game Master. Frankincense could almost see steam coming from his boss’s nostrils. If there was one thing Shui didn’t like, it was being controlled. That said, they really were in dire straights, and Shui knew it. Frankincense wished he could see the battle that clearly raged inside the wildclaw, playing the risks against each other in an attempt to make a decision.
“Fine,” Shui snorted, looking out a way. “I’ll play your stupid game.”
“No need to be so rude, this will be fun,” The Game Master purred, pulling out a collapsible game table and setting it up. “Now, what shall we play?”
“Grimm, I’m getting thirsty,” Ilyana moaned, leaning against the other vampire.
“Just a bit further, love,” Grimm nuzzled her. “I’m sure we’ll be finished this challenge soon enough, then we can go for a proper hunt. And who knows, maybe we’ll stumble across some prey in this dreary forest.”
“It reminds me of home,” Ilyana sighed. “I miss our castle, our cave isn’t anywhere near as nice. I miss the tapestries and chandeliers and lack of sunlight.”
“Just a few more years, and we’ll drape the whole world in darkness,” Grimm promised.
“Mmm, that does sound nice,” Ilyana said, nipping playfully at Grimm’s neck.
She pulled away sharply, suddenly aware that they were no longer alone. She could not smell blood flowing through whatever approached, nor could she hear a heartbeat. Instead, she was picking up the subtle scent of cotton, much like the smell that Grimm carried with him.
She didn’t have a chance to react before two needles shot out of the darkness, piercing the plush flesh of Grimm. From them, thread hung, linking Grimm to his attacker. The string grew taught, and a tundra doll stepped out of the shadows. His button eyes were glazed and lifeless.
“Sorry doll, someone else is already pulling the strings here,” Ilyana hissed. With a flick of her tail, Grimm fell limp, suspended in the air like he was hung on strings. She could not let him hear this conversation. “I assume you are some plaything of The Dollmaker?”
Buttons just stared blankly back.
“She’s been after Grimm for a long time, sending doll after doll after him,” Ilyana explained, not sure if the tundra was taking in anything that she was saying. “She can’t come herself, because I know her name. She has no power over me. Unfortunately, I can’t let my Grimm go. I’m not strong enough without him.”
Ilyana lunged forward and bit through the string connecting Buttons and Grimm, and removed the needles. She had to admit she was slightly charmed by the fact that the holes that remained looked like vampire bites.
“Run along now. I may not be able to drain you, but I can still rip you apart,” Ilyana warned.
Buttons seemed to heed her warning, because he turned and disappeared into the woods once more. Ilyana watched him go, ensuring he was truly gone before restoring consciousness to Grimm.
“Did something happen?” The nocturne asked, looking around. “I feel like I blacked out.”
“It’s just your hunger getting to you,” Ilyana purred. “Nothing to worry about. Let’s find some luscious little thing to hunt.”
I've finally identified the source of my writer's block. What's been challenging for me is that since I had originally planned for this story to end in May of 2024, in my mind I just really want to move onto my next pinkerlocke. Unfortuantely, I can't do that without abandoning this pinkerlocke (which I do not want to do because I want to do this story justice) because there are elements of my next story that are dependent on how this story ends and who survives. So, I've made it a goal of mine to try to spend at least a bit of time each week working on this story (even if I don't finish enough of a chapter to post it). I've put The Stories of Clan Yonder on hiatus too so I can put my full focus on the story, so hopefully I will finish it before the end of 2025 (and if it is not finished by then, then hopefully I will have the grace towards myself to not be so bummed out about it).
