Look Before You Leap

I, Fawe, share a story this 200th day, that happened in Raven's Hold long ago. T'will be a tale in which you surely learn to look before you leap.

Hands trembling, she inches closer and closer to the edge, orb in hand. "What is to become of me?" she thought. She lifts finger after sweating finger, still uncertain of the consequences that lie ahead of her, awaiting, anticipating.  As she was thinking, the orb seemed to have sensed its impending doom, and heated itself at an alarming rate. She dropped it out of surprise, and the orb fell, nearing the surface of the silent water. But just as it was to meet the water’s surface, it cracked open, sending out a strong white light. A deafening shriek followed soon after, and then it was submerged in the unfathomable deep. The tension released, the woman sighed, relieved, looked around quickly, and ran for her life. She felt as if she had changed history. She did, of course. A few weeks later, it was a lovely spring day, the equinox in fact, and so there was a festival to be held for the people of Loreroot. Flowers bloomed that day, and one could see long, near-endless rows of lilies and morning glories while walking to the capitol. And that was what everyone did: they marveled at Nature all the way to Raven’s Hold. Many sorts of beings had gathered there; it ranged from druids and nymphs to elementals and warlocks. So was it that it was reminiscent of noisy, moving flowers. All was cheery and happy there, and everyone was so busy eating candied flowers and assorted fruits that they failed to notice the figure swiftly going up to the peak.

A man with a beautiful set of wings adorned with lustrous, night-black feathers spoke with a clean, booming voice, “My dear Lorerootians, ‘tis time once more to celebrate this fine spring equinox. I, Raven, am to hold this feast, and I assure you all of a grand experience!”
Everyone had been listening intently by then, and at the end of the speech, a roar of applause sounded. No one took note of the thud masked by the applause. It was getting warmer than usual by the afternoon, but everyone suspected it was due to the large gathering. Everyone enjoyed a good game of Easter Egg hunting, with outrageous prizes galore, and watched Metal Bunny, the mascot, perform. Muratus del Mur was a little tardy, but with knowing how busy he always was (or seemed to be), nobody cared and even applauded the coming of the Game Master.

The day progressed, and many had shared legends of old and danced to sonorous tunes. And all the while, a woman sat alone in a corner. She had shifty eyes and a wrinkled forehead.

The thudding intensified, but only the elves detected it over the hustle and bustle of the celebration. “Something approaches!” one called. Another said, “Look there!”
All looked to the elf to see what it was all about, and then looked to see where he had pointed. A strange object approached with a strange, white light emanating from it, bellowing with every step. The thing was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. There was something about it, though, that seemed similar, but which nobody could place. At this point, you could tell people panicked. You could see in their eyes the mixed feelings of wonder and worry. A few volunteered to see for themselves what the thing actually was, and fight it off if the need to do so arose.  The majority ran towards it, some flew, and a couple took to burrowing underground.
The flyers reached it first, and took a good look at it while circling it. The runners then hid in the bushes, while the burrowers felt the quake from each step.  The thing, sensing sentient life near it, released a heat wave so powerful it had incinerated all those who had approached, leaving the witnesses in awe.  Some started to summon their creatures, preparing for a long fight. A line of Lorerootian archers were set to send volleys of arrows with pinpoint accuracy.  A horde of grasans were sent to test their mettle on the behemoth, with bloodthirsty Chaos Archers behind them.

All failed dramatically as another heat blast burned the arrows and eliminated the approaching enemies. Under orders of Mur, people started fleeing, flustered and shouting.  People sent out elementals and that is where realization came. Braiton spoke first.”That… that thing is an elemental! But… how? Who could’ve distorted it like my drachorns?” Everybody gasped and analyzed the facts. It was indeed an elemental, transformed somehow.
“Who has done this blasphemy?” asked the Game Master. A minute passed, and the only thing heard was the clash of mutant and creatures. All looked around to see if anyone would own up. Then a woman seated at the corner stammered, “S-sir, I-I am th-th-the culprit.”
”What was that?” asked Mur.
“S-sir, I-I-I said it-it w-was me.” muttered the woman with a voice that seemed to have gone out like a candle. All eyes were set upon her, and no one knew whether to be angry, upset, worried, pitying, or all this at the same time. The attention led her to shrink in her chair as Mur rushed to face her. “Why did you do it? HOW did you do it? Do you know what you’ve done?”
The woman shrank even more, and hardly managed, “I-I was breeding… I was breeding my e-elemental, sir.”
“How could breeding an elemental cause this catastrophe? Explain yourself!”
“I… I d-dipped it in this concoction I made… and… it got out of hand. I couldn’t help it, sir! I-I left it in it for too long, and it… started to look and act o-odd. So I threw it out into Angien’s Ferry. It must have drifted to Raven’s Peace. I don’t know… I don’t know…”
The scene was frozen that way for several moments until Mur broke the silence with a heavy sigh and a furrowed brow. “I, as of yet, do not know how to deal with you. The only thing I hate more than a crime committed is ignorance to it being a crime. I might have no choice but to ban you, Helena Wasp.”
The woman screamed, “No! Sir, please, don’t! I beg of you, don’t ban me. I-I can help!” She pulled a vial of liquid out of her coat pocket.
“I made this formula, toxic to any who touch it!” But before Mur could even reply, she had run towards the behemoth that was hers, and probably, her doom. Little else was known afterwards. She reached the elemental, this was certain, but something must have gone wrong, because as she threw the test tube at the being,
all lay witness to a blinding white light, followed right afterwards by a loud explosion. This caused everyone to instinctively cover their ears to muffle the sound. Everybody closed their eyes and covered their ears for thirty seconds. They opened their eyes to a rain of ash.  She was remembered, of course. People even went so far as to erect an obelisk in her name. So was it known that Helena Wasp was the woman who had run to her own doom.