Arpious of the Planes



"I assume you are envoys of Queen Ysal. We have been notified of your presence," The woman smiled, causing both me and Loath to look at each other. 

Shit… she found out. 

It wasn't like there was any turning back now, so we followed her into the marshes, keeping our guards up as we got off of our horses and inspected the land. 

Of course, it was muddy, wet, and smelled a bit funny, but the entire society seemed to be working perfectly fine and functioning without any problems.

"This is cool as shit," I smiled. 

The entire town may have been small, but it was certainly bustling with activity, causing Loath's smile to only grow wider and wider. 

"What are you planning?" I questioned her, but as she turned towards me, the only thing that she displayed was a small uncaring shrug that I knew was hiding something malicious. 

She better not do what I think she's gonna do… 

"I would like to meet your leader. Do you have a leader here, or is everybody independent?" Loath asked, and the witch guiding us happily answered, although her eyes soon shifted to our army waiting in the middle of the marsh. 

"What was the reason for bringing so many men?" She asked just before taking us to meet the witch queen or something like that… I don't know, I just knew there were no men here. 

"No need to pay attention to them," Loath giggled, placing her hand across her back and leading her deeper into the society, guiding her vision away from our army, awaiting our orders. "Let us meet this ruler of yours. She seems interesting." 

I gave them a signal to stand down for now, which they, of course, followed but knew to stay weary just in case any conflict arose. 

Soon, we arrived at a cabin not much bigger than the rest, and inside was fairly simple with a bed, desk, and a few plant-like accessories that really brought a desperate amount of life to this seemingly dead room. 

"Hello, is there something these people need?" A woman with a large black hat, standard to your stereotypical witch, greeted us while standing up from her desk. 

She wore a black robe that could hardly contain her bust, and the tender white skin from the lack of sunlight almost looked silky like a set of satin blankets.

"Greetings, and please forgive our sudden intrusion," Loath smiled before walking past the witch who brought us here and walking up to the witch queen whose purple eyes glowed menacingly in the dimly lit room. 

She's wary of us… please, Loath, don't do anything stupid… otherwise, this could get ugly. 

"Ah, you must be the ones the queen had sent. Yes, I have heard much about you two and of course, your highness, the former empress of elves on this plane. I utterly respect you even if you have been defeated," 

The witch seemed genuine, but Loath took a bit of offense to it just by seeing how her eyebrows slightly folded inward before she let it go and turned back towards me. 

I let out a short sigh before cracking open my dry lips. 

"Hello, your… highness?" 

"Please, just Tether. Just call me Tether, as I may be the queen of these witches, but in reality, we are all equals. I am just one witch who represents us across the plane in order to protect our safety," 

As she smiled, she walked past Loath and approached me, grabbing my hands before kissing the left and then the right one. 

"I have heard much about you as well, Arpious the Plane Walker. I have never met a plane walker before, and if I may be truthful, you seem more normal than I had initially thought," 

"Thank you?" I responded before Tether sat back down at her desk and leaned back in her chair, staring up at Loath, who decided to get right to business. "Now, I believe we have something important to discuss, right?" 

"Yes, and unfortunately, we cannot take 'no' as an answer… so please be smart with your words," 

The witch smirked before leaning back even further, crossing one leg over the other and gesturing for Loath to come closer with a finger scrunch. 

"What?" Loath smirked back, and as the witch who brought us here began to feel sparks fly within the room, she swiftly left without a sound. 

"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do? Do you know who I am? I'm the Witch of the Dark Forest, a being so powerful that I can zap your little kingdom away with just a wave of my staff… so why don't you watch your tone around me, little girl," 

Loath obviously didn't like how the woman was looking down on her, but didn't do anything yet, so I made sure to keep a keen on her just in case she did something. 

"You must become absorbed into our kingdom; otherwise, we will destroy this paradise of witches… and don't think you're the saints you are. I know what you do to reproduce… so I don't think you're any better than us, old hag," 

The eleven empress' has liven a long life, but nowhere near as long as the witch before us, who I couldn't even inspect, no matter how hard I tried. 

Sparks flew even more than before within the room, and I honestly considered leaving the hut, but I just couldn't trust Loath enough to contain her temper. 

"I'll consider it… but if you don't give me something in return, then I'll go to war. As long as it isn't an insulting amount, I won't care, so make the right decision," 

Loath slammed on the arms of the witch queen's chair, bringing her face so close to her's that it looked like they were about to kiss. 

But, it was apparent both sides shook with anger and annoyance at each other… so I decided to end this little political dispute. 

"Now, now, let's be civil with each other,"