by E. Molloy
"Let's hope so," Ragen continued. "One more thing," he added, using his right hand to remove a long knife on his wounded side. He handed it out to Daveth, hilt first. "No sense in having a weapon I can't use, so hold onto it for me."
Daveth looked down at the blade, not yet reaching for it. "I thought you said not to fight them."
Ragen shrugged. "Weapons are useful for more than fighting," he said.
Daveth took the knife, finding a convenient sheathe for it that was just a little too big on the fur vest he'd been given hours before. It wouldn't be perfect, but there was at least a buckle to keep it in place. The sword, he would just have to carry.
Ragen grinned at him once he appeared ready, then nodded. "Alright, let's get going then."
Wasting not a moment more, the large man bolted off into the woods. Daveth followed behind as quickly as possible, trying to follow his fleet footsteps and failing. While he managed not to trip over anything, he had a hard time keeping up because of it. For such a big guy, the man was swift on his feet. The raven flew overhead between the two, and Daveth remembered his instruction to follow her.
Before long, Ragen had disappeared from sight. Still, Daveth followed the bird dutifully, and she seemed to be keeping his pace for him. The woods grew thicker, and both slowed. Daveth had to break his run, climbing between fallen trees and brushes. The bird remained overhead, taking up a perch in a tree and waiting there for Daveth to catch up before flying a little ahead again and doing the same thing. The farther in they got, the harder it was for him to see, and the more sounds there seemed to be all around. Even in the night, this part of the forest was alive. Leaves above and somewhere to the side rustled every so often as his foot touched the ground. Despite the uncertain circumstances, he didn't really feel afraid. Determination creased his features as he kept his eyes on his footing, looking up every so often to relocate the raven and adjust his path accordingly.
He realized by now that Ragen had either taken another path, or gotten way ahead. There was no sign of anyone else coming this way, though Daveth wasn't exactly experienced in tracking. The thought occurred to him that he was being sent off on a wild goose chase, but that was banished when three figures came into view in the distance. He slowed his steps, fixing his gaze on them as he crouched as low as he could manage while maintaining his view. The bird sat just a little ways ahead of him, and didn't seem to be moving to signal him to go any farther yet. Daveth didn't want to make any sounds, and didn't want to initiate anything before he knew where his companion was. That is, if he even had one anymore.
His eyes skimmed the darkness, but there was very little he could see. Between the darkness and the brush, anything that was trying to hide would be impossible to spot anyway. Drawing his attention back to the three shadows, he could make out the smaller one in the front dancing wildly. Whatever their spell was, she was still under it. Daveth couldn't even hear music anymore, so either the bell was working or Lillian was dancing in complete silence, now.
Daveth moved in slowly, each step carefully placed to make not a sound. He managed to move in close enough to start to make out the features of those he followed, and saw the twisted smile coated in tears on the princess's face. The grip on his weapons tightened, and he leapt to his feet.
The moment he got to his feet, there was more movement. Another shadow joined the three tall ones, this one much shorter. Daveth immediately lowered himself again, watching carefully and trying to listen. The two fairies stopped and turned to face him while Lillian danced in place, swirling around limply like a puppet.
The female fairy spoke, her voice ringing with several women's voices all at once, some of them high pitched and singing, others deep and coarse. "What do you want? We're trying to play." It sounded irritated, a whining nasally voice like that of a spoiled brat.
The wolf that had approached, much to Daveth's surprise, replied. His voice was rough and quiet, but Daveth recognized it as Ragen’s immediately. He could make out most of what was said. "Just came to make sure everything was going well, see if there were any leftovers," the beast said with a chuckle, looking at the dancing girl. A thick black tongue stretched out of his mouth and over his sharp-toothed maw and nose as he watched her hungrily.
"One of them escaped. Go after him if you want your scraps," she snapped as the male fairy turned to watch the princess.
The wolf whined a little. "I'm a little hungry to be running around. How about you find the boy, and I'll take this little snack?"
She rolled her eyes. "Or you could do some real work for your meal, mutt."
He huffed in response, grinning a toothy grin again. "I seem to remember someone being responsible for getting them to you in the first place. And, if he escaped, well, then I don't really think it's my fault that your magic didn't work."
"It worked fine. He tricked us," she snapped back, turning to look at the girl a moment, then back at the wolf. "Take him if you want anything. She's the one we were supposed to kill. I'm sure he'll die on his own soon, anyway. If you don't snatch him up, something else will."
The wolf chuckled, his nostrils flaring wildly. "I sincerely doubt that," he said.
"What-" she started, but she was cut short as the raven overhead let out a loud scream. It flew into the clearing, flapping into the face of the male fairy wildly. The wolf let out a growl as the female's gaze followed the bird. Once her back was turned, the animal lunged at her wrist, digging his teeth in and pulling her to the ground. A translucent green oozed from the wound, and the fairy screamed in pain, all of her voices hitting a high pitch that shook the ground beneath Daveth's feet.
The moment the scream pierced the air, Lillian's body crumbled to the ground. Daveth leapt from his hiding spot toward her, using the long blade to slash any brush between him and his target. He hadn't been hiding far off, and he was glad for it now. There was little time between the distractions to get there and get out.
As he reached Lillian, he dropped to his knees beside her and stabbed his sword into the ground. Moving to lift her up, he felt the ground beneath them start to shake. Roots had grown from the feet of the male who still struggled to get a grasp on the raven clawing at his face. The roots still seemed to be moving, and dug into the ground underneath Daveth and the princess. Daveth lifted her up off the ground before anything could grab at her, and managed to get to his feet quickly. He began to run as vines grew from the ground all around him. They shot upwards and gripped the trees above, tightening to form a cage around the young man and his damsel. Daveth stopped, turning around with Lillian's limp body in his arms as he looked for another way out. There was none, though, and before his eyes the vines began to grow sharp little thorns. He couldn't pick up his sword, since it would be impossible for him to swing that and hold the princess at the same time, and there was no way he was putting her down now that he had her.
The wolf had released the leg of the female fairy and was now backing into the darkness. Its golden eyes caught sight of the predicament that Daveth was in, and he growled. The animal charged at the woman, ramming his head into her stomach. The weight of the beast sent the two pummeling into the male fairy behind her. The three landed on the ground, the wolf on top of them both. The raven, freed of her charge, flew toward the cage that had formed. The bird circled around it a few times as the fairies struggled against the large beast. Finally, the raven moved up into the tree above and began biting a vine from the very top. It snapped, collapsing to the ground. Daveth watched, waiting for the first window of opportunity, and as soon as the vine dropped he darted through the opening. He pressed his back against one of the wires as they went through sideways, making enough room so the princess wouldn't get stuck on the thorns. His back suffered for this as two of the long needles scraped against him, slicing through the fur he donned and digging into his skin. This only fueled his adrenaline. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he pushed through it and carried her off into the woods.
He considered stopping, go
ing back to get his sword, but everything in him knew that he needed to get her as far away from those things as possible. His brain was trying to piece together everything he just saw, but he shoved the thoughts aside and focused on his footing. They needed to keep moving until the bird stopped. The raven darted through the air ahead of them, and this time, Daveth kept up surprisingly well.
From the shallow shore of the lake, Glop had watched the dancing scene unfold. The creature hadn't slept a wink that night, beady yellow eyes atop his head poking out of the surface of the water surrounded by reeds. He'd watched the two men talk, the two people sleep, and the big man leave with his bird in the middle of the night. Glop had seen the fairies but hadn't heard their music. His people were no strangers to fairies. It was part of why they collected so many shining things, in fact, because of the fairies’ weakness to certain metals. It kept them out of their homes, but, here, Glop was defenseless. Except that the fairies didn't see him. If they didn't know he was there, then he couldn't be affected by their magic. At least, that's what he figured, and so the little swamp rat remained perfectly still as he watched his new companions in their festive dancing.
Once the scene had cleared, though, and he couldn't hear anything nearby anymore, Glop crawled out of the water cautiously. His slimy wet skin glittered in the moonlight, and he fumbled through the tiny pockets of his skin-clothing. There weren't many of them, and most of them were empty anyway, but he did retrieve from one at his waist a thick iron chain necklace with a pendant on it. The pendant was a teardrop-shaped clear crystal, and the swamp rat fit the chain over his head to hang around his fat neck. The otherwise dull metal was shined with slime and hugged his skin snuggly. His whole body shivered with delight. His slimy frog-like nostrils moved back and forth as he sniffed the air, then shot off into the woods on all fours in the direction he'd seen the girl leave.
Chapter 16
Niko's new friends in the sewers had done a fair job of leading him out. From what he could tell, they likely knew the city better than anyone else. Every time that Niko thought he saw a way out, he was pulled in another direction. The man would shake his head, and say that it wasn't the exit he wanted. Curious, Niko had thought, that the man seemed to think he knew which exit he wanted. While he could have easily checked the map that had been building in his pocket since he got here, he was interested to see where he was being led.
It turned out that the man was right. When he was finally ready to release his charge, he pointed to a small tunnel. "Take it on 'til it don’t go no more. Thur's a stairs just hidden round a corner. 'Tll take ya right wur yer trynta get."
Niko bowed his head slightly in thanks. "My thanks," he replied before taking the recommended path.
"Don ferget whatcha heard! Oh, an mister, ya never sawr us!"
Niko waved over his shoulder at the echoing voice in confirmation. He had no intentions of forgetting any of this, and certainly wouldn't inform anyone in the kingdom about it. No, not until he knew what he should do about it and what role it all played. If they turned out to be a bunch of crazies beneath the streets, vagabonds and thieves, he'd bring it to someone's attention. Something told him, though, that such was not the case.
Down the corridor and up the mildew-covered stairs of stone, Niko emerged from a barred door and into a dark alley. Despite the shadows, it was much brighter than where he'd just been. His eyes adjusted to the light, taking in the surroundings and locating the castle. As it turned out, the sewer man had been correct: this was exactly where he wanted to go, and he hadn't even told him. He needed only to get to the castle to continue his investigation and mark his presence, preferably without causing a fuss amongst the locals. It wouldn't do them any good to have wild stories of wizards or warlocks or whatever rumors had spread this far about his people. Even less helpful would be bringing such attention in a city that likely already had too much magic to begin with.
Dusting off what filth had crept onto him from below, he eyed the castle door. From where he stood, it was only about twenty steps through the alley, and another twenty to the well-guarded gates that opened into the yard. Well, guards wouldn't be an issue. He pulled from his pocket a scroll of paper, wrapped in a blue silk bow and sealed with hardened purple wax. He walked a ways in the alley, headed in the opposite direction of the gate to emerge instead a little farther down the street. It wouldn't be wise to come leaping from the shadows at armed guards from only a few steps away. He intended his approach to at least seem a little more professional than it actually was.
Calmly approaching the door, Niko could see the guards' grips tightening on their spears. One was scowling so hard that he could even see the creases in his features from beneath the helmet. Niko, however, approached without smile or expression, holding the rolled up paper in his hand with the seal facing outward.
"Halt. State your business," one demanded before he had gotten within ten steps.
Niko stopped, respectfully, and replied, "I am a messenger from the Collective. I would have words with your King."
One huffed his disapproval, and the other chuckled. The chuckling one, also the one with the greeting, replied with bitter distaste, "A Kainite with the Collective? What would they send you for?"
Niko offered a charming smile, "I believe that information is far above your pay grade."
The guard's grin faded as quickly as it had come. He looked as though he had a thousand biting words to throw out, and not enough mouths to get them all out. The other guard spoke up eagerly, sounding as though he felt he was interrupting the silence. "Y...you may enter. The guest quarters are directly to the left. Be sure not to stray until you are summoned."
Niko nodded with another smile, this one far more grateful. "Good day," he replied simply, then moved forward.
The towering wooden doors had a smaller door built into them. The theatrics of opening the giant doors were mostly for ceremony, though Niko had found them more of a burden during times of war. A door is far easier to bust down than walls of stone. The smaller door built in to the larger doors were for instances like this, and a guard outside of this door moved to open it for him as the other watched with his hand on his spear, eyes burrowing holes in Niko's skull.
Inside the castle grounds, it was disturbingly quiet. Servants bustled about the small garden area, although it was likely not the only one on the grounds. The silence between the servants was unsettling. Their eyes were fixed on their tasks, as if they didn't even notice his entry. He lingered there a moment to watch. A young woman trimmed a tree dressed in roses, a boy swept the stone pathways, and an older man strained against the obvious pain he was in as he bent over for what must have been hours digging and planting in the nearby soil. Niko watched for five minutes, and not a single pair of eyes came up to even glance at him. He wasn't insulted, but it was certainly not the sort of behavior he was used to. Perhaps they were slaves, or just strictly kept.
When he did move, he kept to his word and went straight to the guest rooms. Or rather, he went to where he was supposed to go in order to be led to the guest rooms. Immediately upon walking through the door, he was greeted by a young woman, dressed in simple clothes. Her eyes remained turned down to the floor as she greeted him with a slight bow of her head and a gentle, "Afternoon. This way, please." She turned and led him down stone halls in near silence.
It may seem odd to take such an interest in servants, yet none in the guards, but Niko had long since noted that if you wanted to know what was truly going on somewhere, you needed to watch the servants. Their actions and words, or lack thereof, could tell someone much. After too much silence, Niko finally broke it, "The guest quarters are closer to the throne room, I see."
"Yes, sir," she replied quietly.
"I would think that would pose a security risk. And your job here. What is it?" Already, he sounded as though he were interrogating her.
"I lead guests to their rooms. That is all," she replied, every word sounding rehearsed.
"That
is all?"
"Yes, sir."
"When there are no guests to lead, what do you do?"
She hesitated, "I wait."
"Where you waited for me, I assume?"
"Yes, sir," she replied meekly as she led him around a corner.
"It seems there would be a lot of waiting in your position."
"Yes, sir."
"Are you compensated for the time you spend inactive, as well as the time you spend leading?"
She didn't respond. In fact, it was as if she hadn't heard the question at all. Or maybe she just didn't understand. Niko continued. "It seems to me like you might have the easiest job in the house," he prodded further, but she still didn't respond. "Is it also your job to ignore the guests’ questions, or is this something you do as a hobby?"
His quip got her to respond quickly, sounding a bit panicked, "Apologies, sir. I...don't know how to respond."
"Truthfully, if I had my say."
Her pace slowed, as if she were thinking too hard to keep walking quickly. "Yes, sir."
"Yes, you are compensated?"
She nodded, a gesture he almost didn't notice.
"I see."
They rounded another corner to be greeted by a door. She pulled a key from the small ring at her waist and unlocked it, opening to another corridor, this one lined with doors. The guest quarters, presumably. She led him down the hallway to the third door on the left, tenth door from the end of the hall. He wondered how often the King entertained guests who needed to be housed in the castle. She pulled another key and unlocked that door, opening it for him to enter. Her eyes went to the floor again before they had chance to meet his. "Your room, sir," she offered quietly.
"Do servants tend the rooms as well?" he asked, still standing in the hall as though entering the room would be giving her permission to leave.
