The Carnival of Stars
The ground is damp under your feet. Grass blades bend and flatten, and with every step you take, you can feel your feet lightly sinking into the soft earth. It's not soggy, but it's nearly there. Twilight has passed to the realm of the beyond, and the only light you have is granted to you by the moon and stars. You're lost, but you are still too proud to admit it. Your walk in the woods went awry once it got too dark, and you thought you knew the way back. You didn't.
The ground is damp, but so is the air. There's a fog creeping through the trees and making everything look more eerie than it already is. It's somehow seeped through your clothes and has left you feeling cold and rumpled. You pull your jacket tighter around you, fumbling with the zipper with chilled fingers to make sure you're as cozy as you can get.
The tree you just passed seems almost familiar, but then again, so do most of the others. They're vague black shapes standing tall and strong, and if you'd seen any of them earlier, you'd have no way to tell now. Where is your phone? On your bed, connected to the charger, where it's not helping you. No convenient flashlight and GPS. You've already worn yourself out yelling for someone to come find you, but you never heard a response. How long have you been out here? Hard to say. A few hours now. Still haven't made it back. So you just shove your hands into your jacket pockets and continue to wander, hoping that you're on the right path home.
But what's that? Between those two trees up ahead!! A soft, fiery light glows like a tiny lantern. At first, you think it must be a firefly, but it's not the season for them just yet. Even if it was, this light isn't like theirs. Their light is small, yellow. It blinks on and off. But this light.. is constant. It's also much bigger than a firefly. Perhaps the size of a plum. And it pulses a glowing light while never fading. And you can't help but move towards it.
It moves with you. Away from you.
And so you follow it. What else are you going to do out here?
The wispy light leads you through the woods, taking you further and deeper in without you really becoming aware of it. The more you hone in on its glow, the darker the woods become. But it's comforting somehow, the light.
And eventually, without you realising it, more light unfolds itself on the horizon, through the trees. Slowly, the soft glows of neon green, pink, and blue begin to dust themselves on the ground, the trees. You lift your head from the light, looking up and ahead, and you have to blink several times to convince yourself that what you're seeing is real.
Up ahead, past the remaining trees and leading into a vast clearing, is a carnival. It's surrounded by trees; the clearing being a massive circular spread with a low, inner rocky border, but still very much in the middle of the woods. The Ferris Wheel is what catches your eye first; it's in motion, as if there are people riding it. The sounds of classic kooky carnival music reach your ears, and you can start to smell popcorn, cotton candy, and funnel cake. But your eyes fall back to the little light, which merrily zips its way ahead, causing you to break into a clumsy run just to keep up with it.
The light makes its way over to an individual that you hadn't noticed until now. Some sort of winged creature, looking like a cross between a cat and a dragon. The neon carnival lights paint it in many colours, but it's easy to see that its coat is a deep purple. Its body is covered in glowing blue markings, even down to the tip of its tail. It stands on two clawed feet, and holds out a paw in the light's direction, which it is drawn to. It hovers above the soft golden paw pads before the creature clenches its paw closed, almost menacingly. And the light disappears.
And the creature smiles, revealing fangs of fiery hues to match the eyes that glow eerily from underneath its horned mask. It holds out its paw once again, this time in your direction. You're hesitant to take it, especially with what just happened to the light.
"Do not be afraid," the creature says, "These are my woods. I could sense you were lost, so I sent my light to lead you here. It's safe."
Against your better judgement, you slip your fingers into the inviting paw, enjoying the softness of the pads.
It leads you with it, causing you to step over the edge of stones forming the low ring around the carnival, as if you've just stepped into a fairy ring.
"I am Irrlicht," it says, leading you further in. The trees behind you begin closing up, turning into nothing but a thick choke of forest. "And welcome to the Carnival of Stars."