You will see where we all soon will be.

I'm feeling stoned and alone like a heretic,

And I'm ready to meet my maker.

   To say she was powerless would be the understatement of the century. In a few short months Elebrea’s entire existence was meaningless. When the young Crown Princess was born Elebrea had her share of panic attacks, but it seemed to ebb away as time went on and the pretty red doe aged into a skilled wielder of herbs and magic in her own right. She was a recluse, but that wasn't to say she hadn’t lived. Elebrea had lived. She’d known love, though it was more reliance than love. She’d known loss and pain. Most importantly though, she’d known possibility. The possibility of power had been just at the edge of her nose her entire life and now that possibility had been taken from her.

    The news had not been shocking, but the disturbance was impactful to say the least. Her sister’s words carried no comfort, not that she’d expected any. The conversation in all was quite limited and to the point. It brought forth a rage in Elebrea that even she could not hide away from the Queen. The Princess’ guard had remained nearer to the light colored doe - that was his ultimate priority - until his immediate master had passed a safe distance away. Elebrea didn’t hesitate in her exit, scoffing at the overprotective young stag acting as if she’d try and off the Queen, especially beneath the great tree surrounded by several guards…  She gave him fair warning when he began to follow her, but his stupidity from taking too many hits to the head as a child shown through as he approached much closer in the woods. She swung her antlerless head powerfully to face him, muscles tensed and eye’s burning as she made her point clear. She was heading to her private home and although his job required it, he was not welcome. ”Leave.” Came the hiss from her throat followed by a swift half lunge toward the youngling. It was a shame they’d assigned him to her guard so soon in his career, surely she’d have him ruined before he’d hit his prime at this rate.


    The tree homes in Auster were almost always dimly lit, Elebrea’s no acception to the tale, though often she liked to take it to another level when her rack was shed for the year. Vines covered the holes often remarked as windows and when in season wisteria also bloomed here. The potent yet beautiful flower had become her adornment in recent years, a testament to how she’d been feeling since returning to the community. The rage she felt now was something entirely new and entirely raw, unbearable. Her eye’s were already heavy when she reached the room she slept in, her muscles aching from the sudden intensity that spread across her body. The smell of herbs was familiar to her, but today it was far more welcoming than normal.

    She was no stranger to hallucinogens, though she often found them funny for other people to take rather than herself. Relaxants were a cocktail of slumber and peace often consumed by the elder princess. There was a fair stash of stimulants in her arrangement as well as these were seldom touched by any in the herd let alone herself. The rage today was a cocktail in itself and Elebrea felt careless as she selected the not so appropriate treatment, a mash of all three, and laid in her down comforter of moss. It was a quick task for one with skill, and Elebrea didn’t struggle to consume the pile she’d selected, what was to come was an entirely different story.

    The darkness came slowly at first, but by the time she felt asleep it was all consuming. A fog seemed to lift from her brain and was replaced by a murky haze that clung to her mind in a way she’d only experienced one time before. She woke from this haze three times only to fall back with another mouth full from the pile she’d put before her. The sun rose, blocked out by the vines, and the moon followed, but Elebrea remained still in her confusion and rage, growing more and less numb to what was around her as the time passed and she began to waste away. It wasn’t a beautiful sight, but the tragedy that Elebrea liked to surround herself with left the image with a certain sorrow that was enough for her.

    By midnight on the third day the fog began to pour back in as Elebrea rose from the haze, but this time the vividness that came with it was surreal enough to startle the doe. She didn’t take the next mouthful immediately upon feeling the stabs of hunger in her belly and the leather piece that had once been her tongue. She let the breeze float over her, the smell of something damp following along into her nostrils. It was the voice, though, that truly caught her before she slipped back into oblivion. It was a whisper at first, carried on the fog that had now filled the floor of the princess’ home, but as Elebrea began to wake up it became much fuller and deeper. The distortion of three days drug use isn’t something that can be snapped out of however, and it took time before words could be made out. In fact words came second to the dark figure stepping in on the mist. It was a doe, damp and covered in the smell of moss. Her eye’s were dark, but unlike those of a doe who didn’t posses the Queen’s magic. They were far deeper than that and they still glowed in the mist. Elebrea didn’t speak because she couldn’t, but that didn’t stop the strange figure from leaning down to whisper in her ear.

    “Elebrea…” Her eye’s were closed then opened, closed again seconds later as she pieced together what seemed to be a dream. “What is it that troubles you, my child?” Her voice seemed too close to be imagined, but it's sickening smoothness made Elebrea want to sleep again. The topic kept her alive though, as the rage returned with a vengeance.

    “What troubles me?” Her voice was too loud and harsh for the mist in the room. It swirled around her as she shouted to the not so vacant space. “My life troubles me. I am dispensable. I am dead.” Her eye’s closed again briefly, but when they reopened the figure was clearer in the haze. “Cadhara will be queen and I will be nothing, my children will be nothing.” There was a certain pain that came with the mention of her children. They weren’t estranged so to speak, but the pair rarely saw their mother now that they’d been integrated back into royal society. Little did they know that their status was all but null within due time.

    The figure took a sharp breath in, bringing the princess back to the dream she was watching. “Why is it that this troubles you?  Should you not be proud of your sister’s daughter?” A sigh was all that escaped Elebrea at the question. Duty had always been the way of the royal, Austerians reigned with grace and humility, power and sacrifice. She was no stranger to the shaming that came along with her negativity towards the Queen's line, her own flesh and blood. Elebrea, in truth, was a main culprit in the abuse.

    It was strange that the dream would not end, its vividness only growing as time flew on, the mist growing and yet the figure becoming more clear, her musty scent getting stronger and stronger. It seemed the ghost was covered in feathers along her neckline. Adornments no doubt, though the red doe had not scene such a thing in auster ever. “My, my, my… That is… unfortunate, dear princess.” She moved closer, the mist twisting as she walked across the wooden floor. Laying beside the princess, the ghost felt warm but damp. A shiver shot through Elebrea as she realized her dream was not quite a dream but a spirit, at least it had to be right? Disoriented even further she listened as the liquid tone of the figure continued to speak. “It is a shame no one can help you - that I cannot help you.” She cooed at the doe as if she had influence, as if she had power, but Elebrea was beginning to lean into the ghost, her ears locked on to whatever murmurs the strange doe made. “But perhaps…  Perhaps there is some way I can help…  But only if you can help me in return.” Without missing a beat the doe leaned back into Elebrea, nearly knocking her to the floor. Her words spun lyrically into the princess’ ear and she closed her eyes as her blood began to pump two times the rate it had been moments ago, steadily increasing as more moments passed. The secrets of a spirit flooded into her brain and spread through her calming body aggravating even the farthest of reaches. The ghost was awakening something in Elebrea’s dream state. “The true power of our world awaits you, Princess.  But only if you do this for me, Elebrea -- for yourself.”

    It was then that Elebrea’s eyes truly opened. She stood with a start, nearly knocking her head on the branch that held a veil of veins above her. She was alone and her body though warm shook from her fasting sleep. The dream clung to her mind, it’s ghostly figure and her words causing much distress as the doe shook herself from slumber. It was only when she looked down that she saw the black feather when she realized it hadn’t been a dream at all. The ghost was real, this was only the beginning.