"Kidnappings?" Her eyebrows raised in disbelief, she had yet to see slave traders in this world but it wasn't surprising that there was slave trade.
"Not really kidnappings, it seems like the kids leave on their own will and there's never signs of struggle."
"They could have been drugged or fed sedatives?" Lucas said thinking about the strange disappearances.
"Anyone rich enough to afford those drugs doesn't need to steal children from a tiny village." Ronnie felt perplexed, where did the children run off to? "If it's ok we'd like to have a look around the premise." The village chief nodded in understanding, the village was not very well off so they could only afford grey badge mercenaries, it was their only hope to see the children alive.
"Be careful when out in the woods, there's a rather insidious lake that many of our people have drowned in."
"Thanks, we'll report back to you as soon as we find a few clues." Picking up her staff she left the small hut and walked through the village, surely they wouldn't be able to keep themselves locked up in their houses for too long, she needed to find out where the children were and if they were still alive.
"Where are we searching first?"
"The lake"
"But the chief-"
"An insidious lake should know if there was another insidious being in the area." Lucas looked at her bewildered, why was she speaking like she expected the lake to speak like a human? He didn't say anything instead he just followed behind her as they left the village into the surrounding woods. "Nothing seems too abnormal in these woods, is there possibly a monster or a witch deep in the woods?" She murmured to herself, she couldn't help but think of the story of hansel and Gretel, a child-eating witch with a gingerbread house, that would explain a lot of the disappearances.
"I can see the lake, it's over there" Lucas pointed ahead and she could vaguely see the glistening waters so they increased their pace.
[Welcome to my humble abode]
A huge body burst from the lake, it was the body of a woman with flowing moss covered hair and deathly pale skin that shimmered in the sun. Her eyes were white and her teeth protruded from her mouth making the duo back up in fear she was going to try and eat them. Next to the lady a part of what seemed like a snake's tail peeked out of the waters.
[What brings you here?] Her voice was angelic, Lucas found himself being drawn into her pale white eyes, a sharp slap from Ronnie was enough to snap him out of it.
"You're a fae" Lucas muttered in awe, Fae never made themselves known to humans, the weaker feared humans while the stronger fae held them in contempt.
[You're a human] She laughed ridiculing his reaction, [Let me introduce myself, my name is Gorgon, your majesty] Her eyes remained fixed at the small chubby girl wearing the cloak. Lucas felt flushed as he felt the fae was addressing him. He turned to look at the girl that he was following but was glad to know she hadn't caught on.
"We are here to look for the children that have gone missing in the area, do you have any idea where they may be?" Ronnie broke the awkward silence as her eyes remained fixed on the creature.
[But of course, it's only natural that I know about all activities in my territory, I would love to tell you but I have a little problem I would like you to solve for me]
"What is it?" Ronnie asked as Lucas was still mildly Hypnotized.
[Get rid of your trash your kind left behind in my home]
Ronnie's face froze before contorting, she was filled with rage, she couldn't believe what Gorgon was telling her. The Gorgon sensed the hostility coming from the girl and a twisted smile graced her eternal face.
[Oh? What's wrong?] She pronounced each word slowly with a nonchalant manner as the beautiful moss covered hair moved revealing countless snakes hidden under the beautiful lush green, they hissed and snapped, the sight caused Lucas to snap out of whatever spell he was under as he stared in horror and quickly pushed the girl behind him to protect her from the creature in front of them. He drew his sword in desperation causing a sweet laugh to roll from her tongue. It sounded heavenly, he couldn't comprehend how such a beautiful voice belonged to such a terrifying being.
Ronnie calmed herself and pushed the boy to the side, she looked at him giving him a reassuring smile. She dug her staff into the earth and lowered herself kneeling down. Her knees were covered in mud and she bowed her head. "On behalf of my people I offer an apology for our past mistakes - however, this is the last time I will ever bow to you, Gorgon."
Lucas was shocked, a question arose in his heart, was she not a normal commoner? He bit his tongue, she hadn't questioned him about his background so he had no right to question her.
Ronnie stood up and raised her staff before closing her eyes. Lucas watched unsure of what she was doing, she wasn't casting magic or a rune circle would manifest in front of her, she wasn't enchanting either as her lips didn't move, so what exactly was she doing?
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden rumbling coming from the lake and the sound of chains, his eyes bulged from their sockets as a huge corpse was lifted from the water, or rather what remained of a corpse, a skeleton the size of the lake. It was lifted and it was placed on land.
[That's better, in terms of the missing children, they were sold by their own people to another human. I hope to never see you again, it was a pleasure meeting you, your majesty.]
The creature submerged in the lake and there was silence, Lucas turned to face the girl who stared right back, "are you curious?" He nodded sheepishly, he wanted to know why the fae was so hostile. "You can always ask."
She turned around to face the bones she had lifted from the lake, she closed her eyes and placed her hands on the bone and they started to fall apart, turning to sand and mixing with the mud on the floor.
"Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust."