Soul Harvest Prompt:

„One word is on the lips of every spirit, two-legged or Courser, man or elf: Galatea. Galatea. Galatea. The Harvester is silent if queried on the matter. What do you make of this?“

Dungeon Dive Prompt:

„The next step you take feels a bit squishy and is immediately followed by a high-pitched ruckus at hoof level.

*MIMIMIMI.* You have stepped on a mushroom, and a family of pixies is swearing at you for crushing their beautiful gazebo. Oops!“

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„Galatea… Galatea…“ Nero tried the word on his tongue as if repeating it multiple times would suddenly lead to… anything, really.

„I have absolutely no idea what it stands for. Galatea.“, he muttered to himself with furrowed brows. The bay stallion was in the Dungeons once again and this time it was for a different reason than usual. Well, not entirely, because who- or whatever Galatea was, it might be able to help him in some way. Maybe Galatea was a mighty being and willing to give him some information about…

Nero shook his head with a heavy sigh. The longer he thought about it, the more hopeful he became and that was a dangerous thing. He shouldn’t be too hopeful. Not after all this time, but could he be blamed? He would never stop searching, he would never give up. He had given his promise. 

„Maybe I’ll be lucky today and stumble into a huge library with lots of ancient books. I’m sure there would be interesting things to find.“, he mused in an attempt to brighten his mood and to his surprise, it really worked.

As he walked down a narrow path, one side blocked by high stone walls, the other a deadly slope into complete darkness, he went through all the encounters he’d had down here in the past few weeks. Things have been getting wilder, that was for sure. It was crazy to hear about the things other Coursers had experienced in these sunken depths and Nero himself also had one or two stories to tell.

Despite the scarce light, the patches of moss grew thicker as he proceeded into the buried vastness. Once the sloping path came to an end, Nero found himself standing in the middle of a giant hall. It was so wide that he wasn‘t able to see it‘s end and the walls were so high that the ceiling was swallowed by complete darkness. Yet, there still was some life down here. Moss climbed along the moist rocks and strange vines dragged their leaves over the cold ground. Tiny lights danced as pale dots through the shreds of fog, creating a gloomy, yet peaceful atmosphere. 

Some of the small lights - wisps, Nero supposed - creeped closer and bounced playfully around his face. The stallion was so caught up in watching them that he didn‘t pay attention to where he was setting his hooves on. He was strattled by a wet squelching noise and the feeling that his ftong hoof has just stepped into something. Before he had time to take a closer look, a stinging shriek rang in his ears, sending a shiver through his entire body. 

A group of pixies - he had met such critters before - flew up and right into his face. Nero backed off a few steps, but the pixies continued to bump into his face and as their offended screeces went on, he could make out a few words. 

„Our house! Our house! You destroyed it! Monster! Monster!“ 

„Aah, I‘m sorry! I didn‘t mean to harm you!“, Nero tried, squinting his eyes as the ongoing shrieks to become really unpleasant. „I was looking for something… Galatea. Do you know what Galatea is?“

Of course the pixies weren‘t too keen on helping him. He wasn‘t even sure, if they had listened to his words. They kept attacking his head, successfully triggering a ringing pain in his skull. 

„Not worthy! Monster! Go away! Go away!“, they chimed and their voices grew even louder as the high walls caught up the ear-pitching echoes, resonating it through the entire hall. 

Wonderful. If they went on like this, the chance to lure something actually dangerous their way was quite high. 

„I am sorry!“, Nero repeated through clenched teeth. Not that it worked, but he had tried. Maybe it was smarter to return at a later point. It would give these pixies time to calm down and shut up. Certainly an annoying turn of events and a frustrating delay to his plans, but there wasn‘t much he could do about it. 

„Not worthy! Go away! Away!“, the pixies continued, who had managed to push Nero back to the upleading path. 

„Okay! I‘m leaving, alright?“, the stallion defended himself with an annoyed grunt and turned to trott up the path in a rushed pace. Finally the pixies let off of him and their angered swearing became quieter with each step. 

Oof, what a waste of time. Why couldn‘t he just pay attention to the objects in front of him? There was no one else to blame. He had messed up and all he took home from this trip was a nice amount of frustration.