At the edge of town, Aisling stopped. She gestured ahead of her, where a ramshackle old stable stood outside a small farmhouse. “They agreed to let us sleep in their stable.”

“Good, good,” Oz murmured. He lifted his head, gauging the area around them. Yes… this should do.

She paused, looking at the stable. “They warned me not to leave after dark. Something terrible might happen.”

“That’s ominous. Did that ‘something terrible’ involve hundreds of cursed wooden puppets?” Oz mused quietly, just loud enough for Aisling to hear.

She snorted. “I take it we aren’t going to follow that advice?”

Oz shook his head. “We’re here to investigate terrible things. If something terrible is happening, then we should be in the front row seats to see it unfold.”

Aisling nodded. “Reasonable.”

He lifted a single finger. “But not interfere. For now, we have to keep a low profile, no matter what.”

“If that’s the case, then is it goodnight for now? You still need to sleep, after all,” Aisling reasoned.

“Yeah… true. I’ll see you in a little while, then?” Oz offered. He headed into the stable.

Aisling nodded, following after him. “I’ll stand guard.”

He nodded. “Thanks.”

Where’s that leave me, huh? Am I just supposed to obediently sit here and sleep? Fflyn complained.

Yeah? You’ll be awake tonight, the same as me, Oz pointed out.

Fflyn snorted. Yeah, but… freedom!

Fflyn… Oz shook his head. I’m going to have to learn a sleep spell. I’m sure there’s one somewhere in the library.

No, no. I’m just joking. I’ll rest obediently. He sighed. What would I do in a tiny town like this, anyways?

Yeah. I don’t want to be totally unfair. If we reach a city, and it isn’t dangerous, I’ll give you some time in control.

Fflyn blinked. Are you sure? Is that a good idea?

Is it not? I mean, I’ll sit here watching you, ready to take back over at any moment. But I think you deserve a little time to yourself, Oz informed him. To himself, he thought, I’m not that stupid. I can’t risk giving him total freedom.

Alright! I’ll hold you to that.

Oz pushed open the door to the stable. The old hinges creaked, the wood dry and lightweight. Hay and animal scent mixed together, slamming into Oz’s nose. He stumbled back, overwhelmed.

A tired old nag and a cow stood in the stalls, already put away for the night. The cow looked up and chewed its cud at Oz lazily, placid eyes reflecting the sun.

He licked his lips. Yeah. I mean, it’s a stable, in a medieval country. It’s in live use. His eyes traveled to the hay in the empty stall, and he gave it a good look. There isn’t shit in there, is there? No… there’s totally shit in there. Shit.

“Is there a problem?” Aisling asked, drawing up alongside him.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Oz glanced at Aisling, then shook his head. “It’s fine! I’ll go ahead and get comfy. You can go stand watch.”

She did a quick scan of the stable, then nodded. “Understood.”

Oz sighed. He put his back to the wall and scooted down, getting as comfortable as he could. The faster I finish reading the books and hit first stage, the faster I can get over having to sleep. It’s so convenient to not have to sleep or eat… I feel like I’m dragging down all the other cultivators right now.

When I head back to the library at night, I’ll be sure to read as much as I can. It’s basically night studies!

He glanced at Aisling. “Watch over me while I sleep, okay? Make sure I don’t do anything crazy.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

No trust, no trust! Fflyn complained.

Fflyn…

It’s fine. Go on. Don’t waste your time watching me.

Oz disconnected from the possession spell and stood, stretching. He looked around the library. Right. I’m safe here.

Safe for now. But I won’t be safe forever.

He quickly grabbed food and downed the antidote, then retreated to a nook with his food to flip through a few books. The hours piled on. Oz’s head dipped, and his eyelids closed.

Oz jolted back awake with a start. He wiped his mouth. Where am I? What happened?

Oh, right. Library. Right. Er, what time is it?

He leaned out of the nook, looking for a window. Darkness greeted him from the other side of the frosted glass.

Shit! He settled back into the seat, getting as comfortable as possible, then once more called on the power of the spell.

A startled Fflyn jolted awake as Oz took the controls back. Whoa. Warn me!

How?

…Fair enough.

Oz stood from where they slumped against the wall and hurried to the door of the stable. He peered through the gaps in the old wood, sneaking a look outside.

Darkness cloaked the village. The last glimmer of light lingered behind the mountains, but shadow had already fallen over the valley. Stars glimmered through the darkening twilight. A pale glimmer of moon hung low over the mountaintops, as big and bright as it was slender, barely a sliver left.

He nodded. “Looks dark to me.”

Aisling looked up from where she meditated in a relatively clean corner of the stable. “Is it time?”

“We’re about to find out,” Oz murmured. He glanced left and right, then carefully slid the gate open. His foot barely hit the ground outside before he leaped up onto the top of the shed, gliding down to the top of the old wood to land as lightly as a feather. Fflyn’s instincts guided his movements as he hunkered low and lifted his hood, cloaking himself in darkness and using the hunker to disguise the shape of his body.

Aisling landed beside him. She copied his motions, squatting beside him.

For a while, they waited, sitting there in silence. The town laid before them, quiet and sleepy. Lights went out one by one in the houses, until not a single flicker of motion broke the stillness.

The moon rose. The stars crept across the sky.

Abruptly, a door flew open across town. A wooden puppet walked out, heading toward the mountain. Another door opened, then another, then another. A steady stream of wooden puppets marched up the hill toward the mountain.

“There’s that question answered,” Oz muttered under his breath. He put a hand to his mouth. I really want to help these people, but I don’t know how to break curses, and I especially can’t risk revealing myself now.

It’s painful, but this is a stealth mission. Stealth above all. Once I finish the mission, once I discover the true root of this situation, then I can worry about these people. For now, they’re already cursed, and they’re as cursed as they will be until I finish this out.

Plus, for all I know, this is part of the trap. If I make a move here, whoever’s in charge of this whole mess will almost certainly retract their hands and vanish. I need to catch them red-handed, with irrefutable evidence. Not just for my own purposes, but to root out this evil once and for all.

We hold, here. This isn’t the time to make a move. Not yet.

“Though… the puppets attacked us before the sun set,” he murmured to himself. Are there other villages with the curse? Or… His eyes travelled to the houses with dark windows, and he pressed his lips together. Are some of them already too far gone to return to human?

He shook his head and glanced over at Aisling. “Let’s go back to bed. I’ve confirmed what I needed to know.”

Aisling nodded. She lowered a crystal from her eye.

“What’s that?” Oz asked, mentally shuffling through the books at the same time. After a moment, he added, “A recording crystal?”

“Indeed.”

“Good idea,” Oz said, nodding. I can’t afford recording crystals myself, so it’s nice she brought one. Now I can supplement whatever I find with Aisling’s crystals.

He glanced at Aisling. “Speaking of money, do you have any mortal money? There’s something I’d like to buy.”

Aisling nodded.

“Excellent. Let’s rest now, so we can get started bright and early in the morning.”