When Worlds Collide - Part 1

Our story begins on a little clearing somewhere in the woods, away from most of the main roads. The only Sound you were able to hear was the chirping of birds. The reflections of the sun on the little pond in the middle gave it a very relaxing and mythical feel. At the water’s edge sat a little red fox who watched some ducks on the other side of the water.

A rustling in the crown of one of the trees suddenly put him on his feet and slowly he walked near it.

With a fluid motion, Crystal jumped from one of the lower branches down on the ground. She looked around before she removed some lose leaves from her clothes. Shortly after, Blaze started yelping at her, to draw Crystals attention to him.

“Hey, little one. You didn’t try to get some food for yourself this morning? I think I have spoiled you a bit too much.” Addressing the little fox that now sat in front of her and looked up.

“Let me get my bag and we get some breakfast before we head out to our next destination.”

Blaze barked one more time before going back to the edge of the pond where he sat a few minutes earlier.

Crystal went back to the tree and fetched her belongings. They were tied with a rope around the tree stump on a level where wild animals couldn’t reach it. And after that, she went over to her little friend who still watched what was going on, on the water.

She removed a small package from her back and checked what was left of their supplies. Taking out some bread, she gave some of it to Blaze and ate the rest with some spread she had over.

“Looks like this is the rest. Luckily, we will reach Rosegarden somewhere around noon, if someone won't slack off this time” she looked at Blaze, who lowered his ears after he saw her look.

Finished with their meal, Crystal refilled her flask with some of the water from the spring of the pond, before they resumed their travel to their destination. Crystal was looking forward to her small vacation with some of her oldest friends out there. Even if she was a restless soul and always loved being on the road, it was still fun meeting friends and just be with them, before her next travel begun.

The hike through the woods went very unexciting. Crystal was warned about bandits roaming the main roads, but they normally stationed themselves near the edge of the woods. Normally not venturing too deep into them, because of the possibility of encountering wild animals. But also, their vehicles mostly weren’t built for the rough terrain out there.

For Crystal, this was the best way to travel. She loved the peace out in the woods, and the wild animals didn’t really bother her. They normally stay away from humans entering their terrain, but she was prepared should they come too near. Through her time in the circus of her parents, she had learned a lot from her friends who worked with their animals.

Another plus side of taking this route was to travel together with Blaze. Most people who saw them together found It strange, to see someone being followed by a fox.  Most people only saw foxes as a pest something that made Crystal always sad. In her eyes, foxes were clever and lovely creatures, even if they are wild animals. If people just knew what Blaze was able to do, especially on their heists, they would have seen these animals in an opposite way.

It was nearly 12 o’clock when they reached the main road that lead to the entry gates of Rosegarden. It was located near the mountains and was the last town before the pass through if you wanted to avoid traveling by airship.

Crystal left the forest and walked the last bit on the main road, she wanted to avoid being mistaken for a bandit. Blaze stayed back in the bushes and followed her as far as possible into the direction of the town.

Shortly after she arrived at the main gate, she was approached by one of the guards near the entrance.

“Welcome to Rosegarden. What brought you here?” He asked politely.

Crystal was a little bit taken back because normally guards never asked travelers about their business in towns.

“It’s just a stopover. I am on my way to Sharpton on the other side of the mountains.” She answered honestly and continued “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why do you need to know this? Normally the towns guard is never interested in who enters and leaves the town?”

“Sorry, for the inconvenience. We are urged to ask so we can inform travelers, who want to take the mountain road, that, at the moment, this is not possible. There was a caravan accident, and it will take a while until the road and pass are cleared again.” He answered.

“These are actually really not good news for me. Is there already a time frame until the pass is clear again?” Crystal wanted to know.

“I am really sorry, but we are not sure. The way it looks at this time, it might take somewhere between Three to five days.”

“Three to five days?” She was shocked hearing this. She wasn’t under any time pressure, but she didn’t want to spend more time in this town than needed.

“Yes, we know that these aren’t great news for the people traveling through.” He said.

“If you need a place to stay, there is a small tavern on the other side of town. The owner has agreed to help and rent rooms out to people, who stranded here, for a low price. We will give out an official statement and inform you when everything is cleared. Your only other option would be to cross the mountain by airship, but the prices went up since the incident.”

Crystal knew she had no other option. The next pass was nearly a six-day travel to the west and the airship option just wasn’t for her. She hated flying.

“I understand.” She said to the guard. “Can you please give me the address of that tavern?”

“Of course. Just take this letter and give it to the owner.” He handed Crystal a small envelope with an official seal and explained the quickest way for her to the tavern. “Goodbye and stay safe!” and with that, he went back on his post.

Crystal made her way through the busy streets. Rosegarden was mostly a merchant town that connected two different regions through the mountains. It had two big marketplaces and a lot of different kind of stores. You were able to get nearly everything, beginning with the everyday things, to weapons and armor, and even tourist items.  

She followed the main roads through the heart of the town until she reached the outskirts on the other side until she stood in front of a very rustic looking building. The sign said “Tavern – The fox hunters” and showed something that looked like an abstract drawing of a woman with fox ears.

[What a strange name and sign?] She thought.

Opening the door, she was greeted with the sight of a man cleaning the bar. The furniture was still on the tables and there was only one person sitting at the bar.

After noticing Crystal, the bartender stopped cleaning glasses and addressed her.

“Welcome to “The Fox Hunters”. If you are here for a drink, then I sadly must inform you, we are still closed.”

 “Hello.” Crystal replied “I am here because a guard at the south gate told me to come here for a room. I am on my way through the pass, but like I was just informed, this is not possible at the time.” She walked over to the bar and handed the envelope to the bartender. He took it, while he peaked at the backside of her hand.

“Ah, yes, the blocked pass. I still don’t understand what these idiots tried there. Who in their right mind would transport explosive material on roads like these? Anyway. Yes, we have some spare places to sleep, but they are already all taken.” He said.

“I somehow thought so, this is one of the main passages to the other side. But thank you for your time.”

She was ready to leave when he started speaking again.

“Wait, I didn’t say I can’t offer you a place to stay. All the rooms in this house are taken, but if you have no problem with a short walk, and maybe sleeping a little bit outside of town, I can offer you my small garden house. It is located in a small community garden plot just through the gate.”

Crystal didn’t need to think twice about this option.

“If you are ok with, I would take it. How much would the night cost?”

“I would give it to you for 10 silver coins for the complete time the road is blocked. How does this sound.?” He asked.
“That sounds very cheap, as long as you are ok with it?” she replied “But I don’t want to exploit your kindness. How about I help you the next days, at least as long I am stuck here, with the bar? I know a little bit about tending one and serving customers.”

“Deal!” He said.

Crystal wasn’t sure why, but she had the feeling as if he was at ease after he heard her reply.

“By the way, you can call me Dave. And this quiet fellow at the end of the bar is Roger, my cook.” He pointed at Roger who just nodded in Crystals direction, before getting back to the newspaper that was lying in front of him.

“Great. My name is Crystal.” Crystal said.

“Oh, by the way, can I ask you a question? Why is this place called “The Fox Hunters”? Isn’t it a strange name for a tavern? And what is up with that logo?”

“Oh, that.” Dave stuttered “To be honest, I have no clue what is up with that name.” He smiled at Crystal. “When I bought this place, I asked the same thing the old owner. He told me that it had to do with an old legend about a ghost, that apparently once looked like a woman and other times like a fox, that haunted this place. At some point, a group of people gathered together to hunt this supposedly ghost down. And this apparently started from this place. So that is why it has the name and the logo. I personally don’t believe in these stories. If you ask me, it went more the way, that some very drunk fox hunters gathered here and one of them told the story about how they saw a woman with fox ears and tail. Who knows?”

He then looked again at Crystal and continued “Ah sorry, I didn’t want to bore you.”

“It’s ok, curiosity won because of its really unique name. I will now get myself comfortable for the next days and will be back later to help you out.”

“Ok, see you later.”

And with that Crystal left the tavern, walking to the garden plot outside town. While leaving the tavern, she couldn’t wipe the feeling that both, Dave, and Roger, were looking at her in some way, but she swept it away as men just looking at a woman.

After crossing the town borders, she heard a familiar voice from the side of the road. It was Blaze who was happy to see her again. A short walk later they arrived at the garden.

On first sight, the area with the gardens looked like a small gated community, but if you looked closer it was nothing more than an old farm that was repurposed from different people and slowly became a collection of small gardens. Crystal followed the map she got and finally arrived at a very tended little garden with something that looked like a small two-room house in the middle.

[Damn, this looks more comfortable than I imagined.] she thought.

Opening the small gate at the front, she made her way through this little garden and went up to the small wooden house. On her way there she suddenly was called out by a person from one of the neighboring plots.

“Hey what are you doing here? This is private property.” An older man shouted angrily in Crystal´s direction.

“Hello. The owner Dave offered me to stay here for the next days. If this bothers you, I will take my leave immediately.” She answered, not knowing what to say and a little bit surprised by this aggression.

After he heard the name of the owner, his face changed from angry to friendly in an instance.

“So, it's you. Sorry, for shouting. This is a very special place for us, a place to retreat from all the chaos that is going on in the world, and we try to look out for each other and keep this place free from just curious people or the ones with ill intentions.” He told her.  

“No, no, it's ok. I think I would react in a similar way when suddenly a stranger appeared in my living space. By the way, my name is Crystal.” She introduced herself.

“Crystal? What a nice name for such a young woman.” He smiled “You can call me Peter. And this over there in the chair is my wife, Gretel.” He continued. “I hope you will have a wonderful stay here and should you ever need something, please, don’t hesitate to let us know.”

“Thanks.” Crystal replied. She still was a little bit on the fence, from what just happened, but Dave already warned her, that his neighbors here are a little bit strange.

She went back to the little house in the garden and opened the door, still not knowing what to expect, just from the outside. The little shed wasn’t big, but it had everything you needed on a daily basis – a table with two chairs, a small couch that could be used as a bed and little kitchen and even a small bathroom, that seemed to be added later as a small extension.

She put her bag down and wanted to freshen up when a sudden knock on the door surprised her.

Crystal opened the door and there stood an elderly woman, wearing an outfit that reminded Crystal of what Madame Xander, the pretend fortune teller, from her old circus, normally wore.

“Hello, what can I do for you?” Crystal asked.

The woman didn’t answer but tried to take Crystals hands. Crystal stepped back, still not knowing what was going on.

“You are creeping me out, please leave me alone.” Crystal said angrily and reached out to close the door.

The woman followed the movement of Crystal's hands, then started to smile, turned around and slowly walked away while muttering something. Crystal thought she heard her saying something like “She arrived. Finally, it will happen.”

Crystal wasn’t sure what just happened. But she had to ask Dave or Peter about this creepy old lady. It wasn’t like she hadn’t already met strange people over the course of her travels, but this woman topped them all. Crystal knew when she told Ada about this encounter she would hear something like “What do you expect, you are a magnet for this kind of folk”. She laughed at herself about how she just reacted and went to the bathroom.

Later that evening she went back to the tavern for her evening job. When she arrived, the bar already bristled with life. Dave immediately signaled her to come over to the bar.

“Are you ready?” he laughed.

“Of course.” Crystal replied, “After meeting some of your neighbors, especially this old creepy lady, I need some distraction.”

“Oh, you already met the old hag.” He laughed. “Don’t worry. That is Ms. Coraline. She is strange but harmless.”

That was a very kind way to describe what happened earlier that day, Crystal thought, but again, Dave warned her. It was just, that since she started her secret profession, she was always on the edge and cautions. It helped her to stay out of trouble and it was one of the things she learned the hard way, she rubbed the scar on her hand. But it sometimes was also a burden, because it alienated people who never wanted anything bad from her.

The rest of the evening went like a normal day in Crystal bartender life. She quickly got a lot of attention for the way she was able to keep the customers entertained behind the bar. Even Dave was amazed and even tried to offer her a permanent position her in his tavern which she refused to his disappointment. But he understood her position.

After they closed the bar, Crystal went back to the garden. On her way there she picked up Blaze, who was waiting for her arrival outside of town. While walking through the night. Crystal suddenly detected something on the small edge of the mountain that was located a little bit behind the gardens.

It looked like a few small blue spheres circling around something. They appeared and disappeared in and in between the cycles Crystal could have sworn she heard someone crying. As quickly as this whole show started it also stopped again.

“I think I am starting to hallucinate. The day was long, and I think I need a couple of hours sleep. How about you Blaze? Feel like taking a good nap.”

Blaze just yawned which was his way to agree with Crystal. And with that, after arriving at their destination, both just went inside and got some rest.

The next morning Crystal went to the markets to get some supplies. She wanted to continue her travel as quickly as possible after the pass was cleared. She got food, some extra clothes for the two-day hike over the pass and some spare parts for eventual repairs of her equipment, if needed.

The rest of the day she used to clean her clothes and to do a checkup of her equipment. Blaze sat the whole time at her feet, while she was sharpening her knives and controlling the darts of her small crossbows.

Near the evening she packed everything together before she left the house to go to work. Crystal opened the door and after she was sure, no one was around, she gave Blaze, who peaked through the open door, the signal he could leave.

This time she arrived a little bit earlier at the tavern. Dave and Roger were still preparing for the evening. She quickly got changed and helped them with their preparations. They finished just in time before the first patrons arrived.

At first, Crystal helped to serve the customers at their tables before Dave put her again behind the bar, where he thought she was just the perfect person to keep the people entertained. She did her small show and served drinks to people sitting around the bar. This was until she overheard two men at the very end say something about a strange blue appearance they saw the nights before.

With some witty remarks, she got Dave back behind the bar, even if the guest were a little bit sad letting her go.

“I will be back in a sec. Give a girl a small break” and with that, she left the bar and went to the table in the back.

“Can I get you something?” She asked while looking at them and trying to find out if they were from here or also just some stranded souls like herself.

“You can bring us two beers.” One of the men replied.

From the way he said it, and his clothes she placed them in this region.

“They are on their way.” She replied. “Oh, by the way, know any rumors from around here. I have to keep the people at the bar a little bit more active, and I thought people like you from this region might know something I might tell them?”

She hoped she can get something out of them this way. It was visible that Crystal wasn’t from here, but you were also able to see how playful she was behind the bar. It was a gamble, but she tried it anyway.

She walked away to get their drinks and crossed her fingers that the seed she planted will grow up.

When she returned with the drinks, she placed them on the table. One man took the glass and looked Crystal in the eyes before sipping the beer.

“So, you want to tell them some stories, to get them to leave you more money?” He said. “Figures. But I can’t blame you. Everyone who falls for some show behind the bar can be caught with something like this.”

“Don’t be so harsh. You already admitted yourself she is good.” The other one said.

“Ok, yes you are good, better than Dave in any case.” Both laughed.

“So, you want to hear some legends about this town to keep them busy. You know what? There is actually a story, that is even active in some way, and will get you the attention because it could be seen.” He continued. “Late at night, when you leave the town through the east gate and look into the mountains, you sometimes can see some blue lights appear and flying around. It's only visible for a short time, and then it stopped as quickly as it began. And if the wind is right, you even are able to hear the cries of a woman.”

“This actually sounds like a great spooky ghost story for these people.” Crystal replied without letting on, she knew what he was talking about.

“Right! And if you want to go more into detail. It was said, that this is the ghost of a woman who lived in an old mansion where she was tortured by some evil cult who was crushed by a landslide and she was trapped there for all eternity.”

“Is there really a mansion up there?” Crystal wanted to know.

“Yes. I don’t know how long it's standing there, but as long as I can remember, no one ever lived there. I think you can still find the remains of it up there taken over by nature.”

“And what was that with the landslide?”
“Oh, that was just how the legend goes, but if you look up there, the house is too far away from places where a landslide could hit it.”

“Ok, thank you, you two fine gentlemen for your time and for the story. It will definitively help with keeping this group over there a little bit longer at the drinking table.” She smiled, and both raised their glasses while she left.

The rest of the night she tended the bar and kept the spirit around the bar up until late into the night. After closing and cleaning up, Crystal asked Dave about what she witnessed the night before and what the two have told her.

“Oh, that.” He said a little bit surprised “Yes there is something going on.” Suddenly there was a grunt from the kitchen. “But I am honest. I think there are just some kids playing a joke to all the people stranded here.” He laughed.

Crystal wasn’t sure, but she had the feeling he was hiding something from her. But she didn’t want to push anymore. If there was something going on, then it wasn’t her place to judge. And with that, she helped both to clean up everything, said goodbye and left to her sleeping place.

After she left the east gate, she waited for the strange phenomena to appear. She was so fixated on the mountains that when Blaze nudged her, she was so surprised that she jumped a step back.

“Oh, it’s only you Blaze!” she said with some shock in her voice. “You scared the hell out of me.” Blaze just cocked his head, not really understanding what was going on.

After she was able to relax again, her view trailed again to that little platform above the gardens. She slowly walked along the path always checking for something strange going on, but nothing happened. When she arrived at the gardens, she gave up.

“Looks like Dave was right, it really looks like some idiots were trying to play a prank on the people here.” She said, showing some disappointment in her voice.

Crystal wouldn’t admit it straight away, but she somehow secretly hoped there was more to it. She always loved those ghost stories that were told at the campfire. But also read a lot in those old legend books in the local libraries, when she found one.

She always thought maybe one day she will find a real explanation for one. But she never told anyone this, because she feared people would find her crazy – someone looking for an explanation behind a ghost story or legend? That would have been preposterous. She looked once more to Blaze, who started yawning again.

“You are right. Let’s get inside and get some sleep.”

It was nearly 5 o’clock in the morning, when Crystal woke up, because she felt something shaking under her blanket. Still very sleepy she slowly removed it and found Blaze with his tail tucked between his legs and ears down, pressing against her body.

“What is going o…” she wasn’t able to finish her sentence when she saw something at the window. It looked like a figure surrounded by blue light. She was immediately awake after seeing this. She grabbed her daggers and sprinted out of the door to the side of the window. But there was nothing.
She looked around but couldn’t find anything. Until she heard again this crying voice. This time she could make out something “Find me, help me. Please!”.

“Ok, that’s it. I wanted to leave this place without getting involved in anything, but whoever scared the shit out of Blaze will have to answer for it.” She said into the darkness. “No one tries to scare me and will get away carefree. You hear me. I will find you and I will teach you a lesson.”

Angrily she went back into the house and first checked out on Blaze. The little guy was still shaking and hiding under the sheet. Crystal had some time to get him back to normal, but whatever that was in front of the window had scared him to the bone, and she knew it took a lot to get this little fox to get scared. They would pay, and she would do anything, so they would never forget the name of the Zeaphyr Fox.

A few hours later, Crystal started her quest where it all begun, behind the shed under the window. She checked every single corner and hole if there was something she could use, but she didn’t find anything. It was like there wasn’t anything.

“Good Morning Crystal.” A voice suddenly took her out of her focus.

“Good Morning Peter.” She replied.

“What are you doing. Some garden work?” He asked.

“No, I try to find something. This night someone tried to scare me out of the shed. Did you noticed anything this morning, or heard anything last night?” Crystal explained.

He looked a little bit shocked after hearing it and answered “No, but I can ask the others if they noticed anything. We had our fair share from troublemakers from time to time, but this never happened before.”

“They used some blue light. So, I have the feeling it’s the same people who are behind the nightly light shows on that plateau over there.”

When Peter heard what Crystal just said, his face turned white.

“Listen, Crystal, don’t do anything stupid, ok?” He told Crystal. “I will talk with the others and come back to you.” And with that, he disappeared.

[What is going on in this town? If they are playing some kind of game, then they have chosen the wrong player this time!] she thought.

She took another look around the garden and some of the places and paths surrounding it, just to be sure, that she hadn’t missed anything. But even after a nearly two hours search, she found nothing.

[This cant be. With such a light show, there must be something here, like broken twigs, candle wax or anything. Maybe I find something up there?] Crystal looked up to the edge where the old mansion or better the old ruins should be found.

She got back into the shed to gather some smaller supplies. Blaze was still sitting on the makeshift bed. He got better since the initial shock but still wasn’t in the mood to get out for his daily routine.

“I will get this person who did this to you, Blaze, I swear.”

And with that, she left the garden and made her way into the direction. Crystal didn’t have any idea how to get up there, but if someone was able to get there this quickly then it couldn’t be that far away. Half an hour later she arrived at the foot of the mountain. The walls were very steep and even for a professional climber, they would be a challenge.

“There has to be a way up?” Crystal mumbled, “But where?”

She decided to check the parts under the ledge where the mansion was supposed to be located. It didn’t took her long, to find a small pathway between the rocks that looked like it was used frequently. Following it, she found a path build out of stairs that were directly carved into the rock that took her right up to the ridge.

Crystal was surprised at how good the stairs were, there was never a dangerous situation and the way they wound up, it was like someone thought about how to make them as secure as possible.

When she arrived at the top, she found herself in front of an old gate that had its best days already behind it. It was still standing, but already totally rust covered, on one side the hinges were ripped out of the wall and the rest was covered to a large part with ivy.
The old stone walls around were mostly destroyed and overgrown with trees and other plants. You could only imagine that there was a garden once somewhere in all this mess of plants. An old fountain was a few feet behind the gate and you could be made out some old destroyed marble and stone figures here and there.

In midst of an overgrown garden, there stood a two-story building. The roof had partly collapsed, the windows were destroyed and partly covered with destroyed wooden planks and the main entrance door was blocked by a large tree that grew from inside.

In its prime time, this building would have been an amazing sight, but its hard to imagine this just from its current state. Crystal went around the plot, to get behind the building, the spot where she expected the place someone was playing these nightly tricks with travelers and especially her.

For the next hour she checked the whole area between the property and the edge of the plateau, but again, she couldn’t find anything, except an odd little altar, that looked like it was hazily build up and was used from time to time for small offerings. But for her, this was not an odd sight, because a lot of people use these for faith reasons and they could be found around the world at the strangest places.

Crystal was disappointed to not be able to find any clue. But she had to admit it impressed her how that person who pulled this stunt was able to hide all his traces.

She packed her things and went back, to the stairs down the mountain. It already got late, and she had to get back to be in time at the tavern. On the way back, she couldn’t shake this eerie feeling that someone was watching her.

Crystal stood again in front of the old gate and watched over to the mansion. While looking over the property she suddenly had a very strange feeling. It was like she was called out by something in these ruins. Like it begged her to come closer. Crystal moved closer and was already nearly at the halfway point when she saw a white figure moving behind one of the windows in the upper flow. This brought her out of her trance and cleared her head.

“What the hell just happened?” She asked surprised. “Didn’t I just stand in front of the gate?”

Crystal was confused. Never did she experienced a blackout like this in her life, even the one time she got really drunk. There was a feeling in her, that there is a little bit more to this story than she first thought. But for now, she has no time to find out more, she had a job to attend to. And with that, she was on her way back to the tavern.

The evening at the tavern was again a full success. Crystal fully shut down and just concentrated on putting up a show for the patrons

On her way home, there was again this feeling like something was calling out to her. It was a feeling like someone was hugging her and whispered in her ear to help. But Crystal was able to shake everything from her. She wouldn’t fall for it a second time, but still, there was this feeling like she needed to be there again.

“Tomorrow I will have to check out that ruin again.” She said, before laying down on the bed.