“Most shows,” said Rukh after a time, “would end here, for what could they possibly present after a genuine unicorn? But Mommy Fortuna’s Midnight Carnival holds one more mystery yet — a demon more destructive than the dragon, more monstrous than the manticore, more hideous than the harpy, and certainly more universal than the unicorn.” He waved his hand toward the last wagon and the black hangings began to wriggle open, though there was no one pulling them. “Behold her!” Rukh cried. “Behold the last, the Very End! Behold Elli!”
Inside the cage, it was darker than the evening, and cold stirred behind the bars like a live thing. Something moved in the cold, and the unicorn saw Elli — an old, bony, ragged woman who crouched in the cage rocking and warming herself before a fire that was not there. She looked so frail that the weight of the darkness should have crushed her, and so helpless and alone that the watchers should have rushed forward in pity to free her. Instead, they began to back silently away, for all the world as though Elli were stalking them. But she was not even looking at them. She sat in the dark and creaked a song to herself in a voice that sounded like a saw going through a tree, and like a tree getting ready to fall.
What is plucked will grow again,
What is slain lives on,
What is stolen will remain —
What is gone is gone.
“She doesn’t look like much, does she?” Rukh asked. “But no hero can stand before her, no god can wrestle her down, no magic can keep her out — or in, for she’s no prisoner of ours. Even while we exhibit her here, she is walking among you, touching and taking. For Elli is Old Age.”
The cold of the cage reached out to the unicorn, and wherever it touched her she grew lame and feeble. She felt herself withering, loosening, felt her beauty leaving her with her breath. Ugliness swung from her mane, dragged down her head, stripped her tail, gaunted her body, ate up her coat, and ravaged her mind with remembrance of what she had once been. Somewhere nearby, the harpy made her low, eager sound, but the unicorn would gladly have huddled in the shadow of her bronze wings to hide from this last demon. Elli’s song sawed away at her heart.
What is sea-born dies on land,
Soft is trod upon.
What is given burns the hand —
What is gone is gone.
The horrors of entropy, death, and decay: desiccated black mosses, vetiver, bone sandalwood, olibanum, patchouli, opoponax, and ashes.
lucretia6913 –
My first purchase and I am very pleased, I love the subtle coconut and the calming vevitar. I feel safe and protected wearing it.
madameww –
This is so great! It really is snake oil with toasty dark coconut and vetiver that makes less intense and more earthy than snake oil. Wonderful! So glad I sprung for this bottle, and almost want to buy another for back up.
bmjenkins604 –
Dark, musky, sweet but not candy sugar sweet. I can definitely smell the coconut, however it isn’t that super sugary coconut. It’s more so a dry smokey type. I can smell a tad bit boozy (in bottle mostly), but it adds to the sultry darkness. I have been using it as my signature scent as of late. It is definitely yummy!
kattenbecka –
This is such a perfect blend – Snake Oil tends to be a little too erb-ish and over the top sweet on me sometimes, but the coconut, vetiver and vanilla balances out this wonderfully. Death Adder somewhat reminds me of Dragon’s Milk because of the vanilla, but it is not quite as sweet. Over all, this is a gorgeous blend that I find myself wearing all the time, and it is quickly becoming one of my most comforting scents. 10/10, would HIGHLY recommend.
Gloame –
This could be the one. I love the smell of Snake Oil but it’s a little too much for an every day scent for me. I was hoping to find a nice compromise among these Carnaval Snake Pit blends. This is the 4th or 5th I’ve bought (thank god Carnaval has lasted so long) and it may be the best yet. It’s got that sultry, smoky, spiciness of Snake Oil, but the coconut is really mellowing it out. I like the vetiver here, too. Much deep, chewy, earthiness. Much love.
Where I’d wear it: Would be great in the autumn, but I think it’d work on a sultry summer night, too.
josefinstjernqvist –
Amazing! In the bottle it smells like nuts and a bit of Snak Ooil. On the skin on the other hand you can smell the coconut and vanilla blended with SO. Smells sexy and not too sweet!
Hellokoi –
Sexy, sugared, dark muskiness with the addition of a sweet, dark, dry, woody coconut and an extra helping of a sexy, dark vanilla.