by DM Fike
Avalon peered into his face. He quickly hid a flash of fear as he turned to her. “I think the dragons might be coming for you, Avalon.”
Avalon pushed down a flash of fear. “What?”
“We’ve been attacked by dragons twice now—once outside of Jentry and once on Mt. Hornley. Both times, the dragon had been attacking someone else, but once it saw you, it focused on you.”
“I meant to distract them. I was trying to draw attention away from you.”
Kay appeared unconvinced, but he started walking again. “It looked more intentional than that. I’ve seen enough battle to recognize when a combatant has found its target. The ice dragon seemed intent on catching you, Avalon. I hit it with three direct lightning strikes—everything I had. It faltered, obviously hurt, but refused to give up. It wanted you more than protecting its own life.”
“I’m human,” Avalon reasoned, keeping up with his pace. “Maybe Scawale has ordered all dragons not to rest until they’ve killed every last human.”
“Or maybe Scawale, or even the Child herself, still seeks you for some reason.”
Avalon stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. What if Braellia knew that Avalon could sacrifice herself, like Ladybug did, to stop her again?
Kay caught her by the elbow, then hoisted her gently back to her feet. “I didn’t intend to scare you. It’s only a hunch.”
“I’m not scared,” Avalon said with false bravado. “Just tripped on a loose stone.”
The pair wound their way down through the lower streets, passing markets preparing for the day ahead. A mixture of people worked on their stalls side-by-side. A pale Merfolk exchanged laughs with a boisterous human fishmonger while a group of tired mothers drank something hot outside a small café, their pointy and non-pointy eared toddlers crawling all over each other. Now that Avalon had experienced other parts of Llenwald, she more fully appreciated what Emerged Falls was trying to achieve.
After passing through several gates, Kay saluting with a “Ho!” at each checkpoint, they finally made their way to the camp at the edge of town. Almost immediately, the duality of the camp struck an odd note. At one end, the tents were all neatly propped up with drab-clothed people milling about, stoking fires for morning breakfast. Avalon recognized a few Jentryfolk hauling baskets of washed clothes over to a grove of trees with lines strung between them, ready to be dry. At the opposite end, on the other side of a sizable pond, the tents tilted sloppily to one side, surrounded by bits of trash. No one walked among them, and in fact, their loud snoring attested to their dormant state.
“I wonder which side the gremlins occupy?” Kay muttered sarcastically.
Before Avalon could reply, a voice cut into their conversation. “Good morning, Sir Marcus.”
Jalamir approached them from the Jentry side. A tall Aossi with spectacles and dark hair framing a narrow face, he had the air of a prize show dog about him. Avalon had met him on her previous trip at his expensive healing clinic, where he had been unable to do anything about her Miasmis symptoms. She wondered what he was doing down here.
He must have been thinking the same thing about her because he recognized her. “Miss Benton? What a surprise.”
“Hello,” she replied shyly. During their clinical visit, Braellia had terrorized Jalamir in The Deep, a place that was supposed to only affect Avalon’s mind. Jalamir had been shocked to discover that Braellia bent the rules a little by physically injuring him.
To his credit, Jalamir did not back away, although he definitely put up his guard. “How is your… condition, my dear?”
“Under control,” Avalon tried to assure him.
Kay, who did not understand the subtext of the exchange, cleared his throat. “We’re here to check on the camp, as per Lord Emerson’s request. He would like an update on the injured, if you would be so kind.”
“Certainly,” Jalamir motioned them toward the largest tent in the center of the Jentry camp. “Please follow me.”
Upon approach, Avalon saw that unlike the other simple structures made of large cloth and sticks, this tent felt more permanent. Someone had built a simple wooden frame out of logs and thrown layers of fabric over it to keep the wind and rain from entering. Inside, six lumpy mattresses sat atop crude wooden frames, each with a simple end table next to the head. All but one patient glanced at them as they entered. Above the single motionless bed, a stout woman with a French braid applied oil from a bowl onto a boy’s exposed chest.
“Gonait,” Avalon called in greeting, softening her voice so as not to disturb the injured.
Gonait swung around and smiled when she recognized the newcomers. “Avalon!” she said in an equally enthused, although subdued, voice. “I am so glad to see you.”
Jalamir raised an eyebrow as the two gave each other a quick embrace. “You know each other?”
Avalon nodded. “She healed me back in Jentry.”
“Miss Gonait is quite skilled at herbal medications,” Jalamir said. “She has been aiding me in healing her fellow townsfolk.”
Gonait blushed. “I never in my wildest dreams thought I would aid an Aossi healer. The experience has been educational. I am very fortunate to prep each person before Jalamir administers his daily treatments.”
“Which is what I was about to do,” Jalamir explained to Kay. “Five from Jentry are healing quite nicely. I only have one patient who has yet to regain consciousness.”
Avalon glanced over at Gonait’s patient. It was the orphan boy who had found her in the field. She had almost forgotten about him in the last few crazy days. “The boy will recover, won’t he?”
Jalamir bristled, his talents insulted. “Of course, he will. He lost quite a bit of blood, but Gonait closed the wounds with needle and thread quite nicely.” Gonait blushed at his side. “He should awaken soon.”
“Good to hear. I will relay that information back to Lord Emerson.” Kay made to exit the tent.
Jalamir stopped him by clearing his throat. “Excuse my boldness, but there is one other matter I would like to address.”
Kay turned back around.
“It is the gremlins,” Jalamir began.
Kay’s neutral expression darkened. “Go on.”
“I hate to sound harsh, but they are somewhat of a… nuisance,” Jalamir said politely.
Gonait had no such filter. “They’re up at all hours of the night, playing their loud music, drinking and leaving uneaten food everywhere. It has attracted wildlife into our camp.”
Jalamir nodded. “We found a rodent in here this morning.”
Kay folded his arms. “Have they stolen anything of yours?”
Gonait eyebrows arched in confused. “Nay.”
“Have they stayed on their side of camp?”
“Aye, but…”
“Have they used dark magic?”
“Not to our knowledge,” Jalamir said.
“Then they are honoring the terms of their stay,” Kay said. “There’s not much I can do.”
Gonait opened her arms in protest. “But they’re disturbing us.”
Avalon tried to reason with her. “Everyone in Emerged Falls is living with people who do not share their culture,” she tried to explain. “It’s not so simple.”
“But nobody likes gremlins,” Gonait muttered. “Why would anyone take them in?”
Avalon opened her mouth to protest, but Kay cut her off. “I’ll talk to their leader and ask them to quiet down. In the meantime, thank you for tending to the injured.”
Although the two healers did not look happy, they nodded as Avalon and Kay exited the medical tent.
Once out of earshot, Avalon scowled. “You should have let me tell her off. I owe Gonait a lot, but she needs to learn some tolerance.”
“And what would that have accomplished, other than making her angrier?” Kay asked.
“Maybe it would have made her see things differently.”
“I doubt it. Emerged Falls has been doing this for a few decades. Peaceful coh
abitation of different cultures does not come easily. It always works best when the two parties have a chance to interact calmly with each other as neighbors. Think of it as an act of good faith.”
As they stepped into the gremlin side of camp, surrounded by snoring, Avalon asked, “By good faith, I suppose that means we’ll just tell the gremlins off?”
“I’ll let them know they’re making their neighbors angry and hope Mutt will get his tribe to do the right thing by settling down.”
“You want them gone.”
Kay stiffened in exasperation. “I am trying to maintain peace. If I really wanted to, I could make up stories that could get the gremlins kicked out of Emerged Falls. Instead, I’m trying to find a way for them to stay, against my better judgment. I gave my word as such.”
Mutt’s green-with-orange-dotted hide tent stood to one side of camp. When Kay pulled back the flap, an unpleasant stench of old seafood wafted out. “Remind me to tell the kitchen no more fish,” Kay muttered before taking a deep breath of clean air and shoving his face inside. “Mutt! We came to speak to you!”
“Morning, is it already?” a muffled voice whined.
“Aye.”
“This afternoon, come back.”
Kay pulled himself back outside, took an even larger gulp of air, then thrust his whole body inside the tent. Avalon had no idea his intent until she saw him pull a puffy sleeping bag out by the feet, Mutt still trapped inside.
Mutt howled as he struggled, a feral animal trying to gather his bearings as Kay plopped him on the ground. Once outside, Avalon stepped up to help, tentatively reaching for the zipper while Mutt flailed for it. She finally had to take a plunge to get a hold of it, falling to the ground with Mutt, yanking downward as his moppy purple hair bust free, followed by his gnashing teeth and rumpled clothing. Kay guided Avalon back to her feet as Mutt lay prone on the ground.
“Dare you, how!” he screeched, blinking painfully in the light. “Sleeping, I was!” Even at a distance, Avalon could smell alcohol on his breath.
Kay frowned down at him. “Maybe if you didn’t party all night, I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you.”
“Shout, don’t!” Mutt complained, throwing his hands over his triangular ears.
“I’m not shouting,” Kay said, although he did lower his voice further.
Mutt raised an eyebrow at him. “Hear you, I can’t.”
Kay looked about ready to explode, so Avalon intervened. She gently removed Mutt’s hands from his ears, trying to breathe through her mouth so the mixture of booze and fish didn’t make her gag. “Mutt, you’re in a refugee camp, not at a tavern. Your tribe needs to be respectful of others.”
“Respectful, we are.” Mutt crawled up into a sitting position. He wiped both hands over his bloodshot eyes.
“Really.” Avalon’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “So, you didn’t stay up all night having a good time?”
“Rules, we did not break,” Mutt growled. “Steal, use dark magic, we did not. Song and drink, it’s not wrong.”
Avalon could not help herself but ask, “Where did you get the alcohol?”
A sly grin formed on Mutt’s thin lips. “With local pub, traded for dark magic favors.”
Kay bristled. “You just said you didn’t use dark magic.”
“Break our word, we didn’t!” Mutt protested. “Bartered for future magic only, we did. Crime, it is not.”
Avalon decided to steer the conversation back on track. “You’re keeping Jentry up all night with your partying. They’re tired, Mutt. They lost their homes. Some of them are quite ill.”
“Share our mead, we could,” Mutt offered.
Avalon shook her head. “They need quiet, especially after dark. And you should clean up all the fish bits you left out.”
“Talking about, what are you?” Mutt took a huge whiff of air, and his eyes bulged out. He stuck his nose in his tent, took another sniff of air, and immediately began gagging.
“You see,” Avalon said.
“Point, you have,” Mutt choked. “More calm, we will be.”
“Everyone would appreciate it,” Avalon said. Kay motioned for them to go.
“Different, gremlins are,” Mutt called after her. “Strange, we may seem. But worth, we have.”
“Of that, I have no doubt,” Avalon called over her shoulder. She did a double take once she realized she had adopted Mutt’s strange speech affliction.
“Prove it someday, we will!” he declared, attempting to stand. Disoriented from the previous night’s events, he toppled hard on his backside, which sent him into a laughing fit.
Kay’s jaw set in a hard line as Mutt’s giggle fit faded behind them. “I’m not sure why we bother.”
Nobody’s attempt to save her during their last encounter with Bedwyr flashed through Avalon’s mind. Her heart sank, thinking of his lifeless body in Hamad. Because I owe it to Nobody, she thought silently, not wanting to get into another argument with Kay about the merits of gremlins.
CHAPTER 26
ISOLDE SURPRISED KAY and Avalon by showing up at the gremlin camp as they headed back into town. “What brings you out this far?” Kay waved in greeting.
The boulder elf shifted a heavy knapsack on her shoulders, the straps cutting into her thick jacket. “I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I’d do something useful.”
“With the gremlins?” Kay asked skeptically.
“They cast dark magic, which I believe can beat the Child of the Statue.” She shrugged her shoulders at Kay’s raised eyebrow. “It doesn’t matter if you think so or not. It’s an avenue worth pursuing.”
“They’re mostly still asleep.” Avalon gestured toward their ragtag tents, snores audible even at this distance. “We forced Mutt awake, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he fell asleep in a fit of his own giggles.”
“I can be patient.” Isolde walked past them, patting the knapsack behind her. “I’ve got stuff to read while I wait.”
“Probably more forbidden books,” Avalon said, more to herself than Kay as Isolde left earshot.
“I don’t even want to know,” Kay grumbled, heading away from the refugee camp. “Please, this way.”
Instead of leading her along the same street back up to the Emerged Falls castle, Kay pulled Avalon off onto a narrow dirt path that headed out even farther into the wilderness. “Where are we going? Shouldn’t you report back to Shivant?”
“I will.” Kay rested near a tree, stretching his arms high above his head. “But I also need to check on something else. Will you come with me?”
“Maybe,” Avalon said slowly as he spun his shoulders from side-to-side, as if preparing for a sprint. “Depends on what you’re checking.”
A sly smile spread on Kay’s face. “It’s a surprise.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Not at all. I would never fly you anywhere that would put you in danger.”
“Fly? Now I’m even more intrigued.”
Kay leaped up into the air, his wings catching a magical wind. Tendrils of breezes whipped in her gut as he held out his arms toward her, his boots now at her eye level. “Are you coming or not?”
Avalon couldn’t help herself. In spite of the worry of Gaea’s prophecy, she felt a tension inside her ease just gazing at Kay’s outstretched arms. “Let’s go.”
Kay swooped down and nestled her against his chest, her legs tucked over one of his arms with the other steadying her back. She threw her arms around his neck as he soared above the treetops, back over the refugee camp and over the first city wall. A sentry shouted “Ho!” as he passed the gate, his voice crescendoing then fading as Kay sped past him. Kay hit another updraft and glided higher into the sky, the little houses at the very edges of Emerged Falls proper becoming more ant-like below.
A chill sent Avalon into shivers. She wished she had worn a jacket like Isolde’s instead of a thin tunic. Kay drew her closer, trying to cover her torso with his limbs. “My apologies for that. I should have
had you wear something warmer.”
Kay whipped past another gate and guard as the houses below grew an income class in size. The fairy kept a parallel line to the ground, rising upwards as the slope drew toward the castle. Its patchwork towers cut through the bright morning sky, not a cloud in sight, only the mists of its waterfall namesake causing distortion behind it.
“You’re taking us back to the castle,” Avalon accused as they passed a third wall.
The corner of Kay’s mouth upturned, but he did not refute that remark. The behemoth shield, sword, and vine Emerson crest at the last gate loomed not far below. As they passed the last sentry shouting up at them, Avalon expected Kay to set them down in the courtyard. Yet he flew up higher, their flight pattern as high as most of the towers. She thought maybe they would land on a turret, but Kay wound around all of them, soaring up so that they aimed for the waterfall beyond.
The sound of thousands of gallons of cascading water drowned out everything else as Kay shifted sharply upward. This close to the bottom of the falls made speech impossible, so Avalon could only tighten her grip on the fairy as he shot upwards, wet stones glistening below. Her lungs tightened at the altitude shift, and she took large gulps of air as they crested the top of the falls. Once above it, Kay flew straight across a surprisingly lush meadow that surrounded both sides of the raging river. A mountain summit not visible from Emerged Falls loomed large above them, the source of all the water. They flew farther inland across a plateau, the waterfall’s roar subduing as they traveled another half mile away.
At the far end of the meadow, the river split in two, the main channel still roaring its way downstream. A secondary feeder, however, gurgled more contentedly to itself, and it was this path that Kay followed. A few yards in, Kay spied a smaller waterfall against a short cliff face and set Avalon down at its pool base. The trickling of water it produced seemed almost quaint.
“Who knew all this was up here?” Avalon breathed.
“It’s part of the forests around Emerged Falls. Hard to access without wings.”
“But why are we here?”
