Ch: 83 The Most Dangerous Game

“Port Clement? No, not right now. We have some business in town for a while. Doesn't the duke have investigators or knights for this?” Gary and Shai were in the workshop after dinner, winding down with a chalkboard and some knucklehead engineering.

“Aye, tis a busy time, we hae a wedding fer Luna an Khan, that Angbold fool tae confound an works tae complete. The kids hae hardly been home in weeks. Tis nae meet that we should take any task yet. Let us clear our benches, ere we begin new crafts.” Shai had the chalk in hand, she sketched and erased continually, refining and re-examining her design as she spoke.

“I told the duke as much. He seemed to be open to negotiation, so I promised to bring it to the group.” Tawny said, while peering at their scribbled designs. “What ever are you planning. Is this some new tool from Gary’s home?”

“Nope, it’s transportation. You guys have all these marvelous roads and trails, we are gonna use them. I wanna be out and moving fast when the summer comes, with minimal baggage.” Gary mumbled, while drawing complex shapes in wax pencil, on a sheet of laminate hardwood.

“Speed, that’s the answer. Next time these clowns try something, I’m gonna be up their ass like cheap underwear.” He kept drawing and measuring, checking Shai’s notes on the board constantly.

Tallum was in the far corner with a tiny file, making minute adjustments to a complex nest of shining steel gears and chains. “If this works out… pity they will only work around you. I would love to be able to…” His bass rumble drifted into inaudible ranges while he worked.

“Don’t make assumptions, big guy… Plumeria said Liam is becoming something not unlike me… Tawny too.” Gary mumbled abstractedly. “Exposure to my… radiation? I dunno, but close contact and resonance between us all is creating sympathetic vibrations in the etheric veil… blah blah blahhh.”

He kept working, sketching the same forms on another sheet of lumber. “Some of you are developing tiny fissures in the veil, cause I’m weird and you like me. It’s harmless, you will just be a little more…” He shrugged. “More like me in a way. Let’s say, more effervescent.”

“Healer has explained the issue, though much remains unknown. We shall see what develops.” She said soberly.

“Our new maple friend is slowly softening her position on murdering you on sight, perhaps we can get more answers from her soon.” Tawny shifted topics casually, too casually.

“You’re going to push this contract again later, aren't you?” Gary asked sweetly, while boring a hole through a block of bronze with one of his insane machines.

“Tell you what, after spring festival, we have two weeks till the feast of Water. If our new design works out we will reconsider your offer. Fair? The kids are still settling in, Dannyl and Becky just Contracted their toys.” He stretched and yawned.

“Lots of us have shiny new Contracts to settle into. Now it’s bedtime for me, Shai?”

“I did wonder, this project is… engrossing in truth. Tallum, dinnae be up all night, we hae other tasks as well.” She packed up her calipers, measures and chalk with a sad smile. “I do see the allure of this work now.”

“That’s the best part. It will still be here tomorrow… and the next day.” Tallum rumbled happily.

“A couple of nerds…” Gary mumbled, until Shai pointedly tapped on his big book of fret spacing and scale length calculations. “That’s different… I’m a weirdo.”

The poor fool trailed her up the stairs and to the kid’s room to kiss them goodnight. “What’s all this then?” She demanded, in mild annoyance.

The kid’s drawers were all pulled slightly open, their contents; socks, underwear and such, were scattered around on the floor. “Fie my loves, dinnae be so untidy.” she scolded softly, as Gary helped her tidy up.

“We didn’t do it.” Amy sniffed, deeply offended by the accusation, but too sleepy to fuss.

“Tis no great matter loves, but we must always be truthful.” She said softly while tucking Amy’s sulky form into bed.

“S’true,” She yawned. “We didn’t…” She drifted off mid protest, as Wilford joined her.

Shai closed the door softly behind them. “I dinnae like that she did lie tae us… Bollocks!” Their chamber was also strewn with underwear.

From Gary’s side, ‘Boxerbreifs’ and ‘Tightywhities’ were scattered on the floor. Shai’s side had been pillaged similarly. Her sensible bloomers and panties were all around. Even worse, the scandalous ‘garments’ stowed in her ‘special drawer’ were cast in among the lot.

Filmy, lacy wisps of almost clothing peeked from among her day to day things. Their shocking colors and startling forms drew the eye, while the delicate stitching and sensual lines held the viewer’s attention.

“My naughties! Who did this?!” She began furiously snatching her undies and unmentionables up, concealing them as quickly as she grabbed them. When Gary bent to help, she squealed in horror and shooed him away.

“I sewed those… and you haven't even modeled them for me yet…” The aspiring erotic tailor complained.

“Perverted wastrel, I hae no need fer yer filmy, flimsy… Oh! This do be fine and smooth… ‘twould feel…” She shoved the silk teddy into her storage gift with a smile.

“Peace boy, I do adore yer crafts… tis…” She blushed the most delightful red and swatted him playfully.

“It still remains tae discover who…” At the same time, they both spotted a gray and black ringed tail swaying slowly from under the rumpled bedding.

“Nara…” Shai called gently. “Nara… are ye asleep under there?” Shai gently flipped back the blankets.

Nara was sprawled out in an undignified pose, completely naked… furry, but naked. Scattered on the blankets and sheets were remnants of some fresh green herb with a minty scent. Gary touched a finger to the mess of shredded leaves and pale blue flower clusters.

catnip/catmint, herb, edible, medicinal, reagent, low magic

“She’s high as hell love, looks like someone got into Liam’s herb garden. We can talk with her about boundaries later, right now she’s on planet nip.”

Together the pair got the cat woman shifted, along with her herb sprinkled bedding. They bundled her off into the kids room and slipped her into Wilford’s empty bunk.

“Nara is sleepy kids, let her rest.” Gary whispered when Wilford stirred. They slipped away to their chamber giggling like fools. “I hope Khan and Luna can get miss Maple to be less… murdery.” Gary whispered. The exhausted duo were barely awake long enough to get snuggled together.

#

“You will not best me that easily, mortal man!” The dryad shrilled in fury, as she swept her club at Khan. Her beleaguered opponent’s hands were full, while she had only a few more tricks left to play before he would be hers.

He battered her back, matching her with a sword, desperately battling to survive. “We only came to talk…” He sputtered, seeing his end in her eyes.

Her rage became a fierce, exultant joy as she saw her opening and went for the kill. “Ace of cups mortal… go fish!”

The entire grove rattled its bare branches to celebrate her victory, as Khan joined Luna in the loser’s corner of shame. The loser poured her another shot of ‘moonshine’ before he found his place of shame by the fire, on the comfy couch. The tiny tryad’s nimble fingers danced through the deck of cards, shuffling aggressively. She turned her brilliant, pale turquoise eyes on Becky, who held up her hands in preemptive defeat.

“I can’t drink that stuff. Maybe Luna wants to try again…” Luna shook her bleary eyed, throbbing skull in a clear ‘no’.

Maple sat back in a huff and began sulking sweetly. “I have been sufficiently entertained. You may ask questions now.” She said eventually, as she began playing a complex game with some sticky substance, making it spin and twirl hypnotically between her fingers.

“Will you give us your name?” Becky asked gently. “We gave ours…”

“How can I be sure you won’t run tell that… thing, the moment I do? Letting it roam around is bad enough, letting children play with it? Really. It should have been decently buried some time ago.” She shook her leafy head in displeasure. “This is why mortals have such a terrible reputation.”

“That thing is my brother and comrade, he won’t hurt you. He just wants to help.” She whispered to the skittish, half wasted spirit. “He is the one who made the dishes and that moonshine you like so much… Solange and Plumeria like him… now.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“You, my dear, are a druid in the old way, drawn here and now fully of this world… save where your soul touches his. Sadly, unripe, but a druid as we knew them so long ago. Liam… sweet Liam and Tawny… they are a new matter, a new delight.” She sighed Drunkenly.

“So clean and pure, entirely of this world, only slightly tainted with his unlife and filth. They are precious.” Her eyes glowed softly, like moonlight reflected from an icy winter pond.

“Once those two have quickened, I shudder to think what we might see.”

“What does that mean, miss Maple? Are they in some danger?” Becky pressed the tipsy forest spirit, pouring out another dram for her.

“Danger? No danger…” She sipped delicately from a cup of turned pearwood as her free hand continued playing with the now smooth, doughy substance.

“They, as well as some others, have been soaking in waters not meant for mortals. Basking in the rays of unknown stars, under the vapors of a thousand alien worlds will change any entity.”

She set her cup down, inverted. “Getting me drunk is a fine plan, but I have no secrets from you Becky… Save, I will not give my name to your cohort.”

“So what does that mean for my friends?” She asked, scooting closer.

“Who can say, with something entirely new? Druids born in the flesh in this world… this is a new miracle in a land of ancient wonders. I plan to enjoy the experience, If I should manage to blossom and sprout new life…” She shuddered with delight and hugged herself tightly.

“Ok, that got weird… boundaries, Maple.” Becky shook it off and carried on, she was a professional after all.

“So my friends are not in danger, what can you tell me about what happened to you, before we brought you here? Can you remember?”

“Of course I remember, silly child. That is a matter for my kind to avenge, none can hide for long from us.” She said cheerfully, with a cold and murderous glint in her eye. “Here, have a sweet.” Quick as a striking serpent, her hand flashed out and popped a small golden lump into Becky’s still open mouth.

Waves of flavor, sweetness, aroma and pleasure wracked her body and mind. She was carried off to a fanciful dreamworld of brilliant colored blooms and fungi.

Sun dappled berry bushes competed with ferns and broadleaf herbs for space under the canopy of trees that stretched to the sky far above.

On every branch a bird, insect, reptile or mammal perched, all goggling at her in confusion. The forest floor was crowded with all manner of other beasts, mingling and conversing in the lush undergrowth around her.

Slowly a pool of silence fell, spreading from her location.

“Ok, this feels weird… am I dreaming right now?” She asked an elegant quail woman nearby.

“No, dear, you aren’t human dreaming anyway.” She piped in a sweet chirping voice of curiosity. “How ever did you find yourself here?”

Before she could reply, a massive figure bustled over. A huge panda man clutching a small clump of tender bamboo in one clawed hand stuck his muzzle in Becky’s face with a toothy smile.

“What is she doing here? Who invited a human… or something?” He asked, lifting his stick of green bamboo.

“She has a touch of chaos and the divine about her, something darker too…” He took a massive bite and chewed contemplatively.

“Never seen a human here before…”

With a shuddering jolt, Becky woke, still sitting beside the dryad. “Well that was interesting… What the hell did you just feed me?”

“A bit of maple candy, just a little crystalized sap.” She hummed happily while snacking on a loaf from the basket. “I can only produce a small amount right now, come full spring, I should be much stronger.”

She hummed happily, while stringing a sticky, semi liquid mass between her dancing, golden fingers. The small woman executed a complex and stunningly fast cat’s cradle, before handing Becky a small golden lump of something that smelled divine.

“What did that do? I went someplace… or rather I peeked in someplace, while staying here…” Becky mumbled, still a little dazed.

“Don’t be silly darling, humans can’t… oh, yes, you are not really a human are you?” Maple chewed her plump, red lips in frustration. “Did you see Beast’s shaman council? You did, I smell them on you.”

“That was weird and confusing. Was that a dream world?” She shook her head, trying to clear the lingering fog.

“Yes, very astute!” She cheered. “I’m sorry my dear, I will make certain it won’t happen again. If you belong there, you will find your own way.” She went back to humming and playing with her sap candy. “I will purify it a little more, that should keep you from the dreamtime, where Beast’s children play.”

Becky settled into the dryad’s lap, resting her head on the spirit’s sweet scented garment of autumn leaves. She drifted off to sleep in the comfy sugar shack, warm beside the silly painted hearth and Gary’s magic stone.

She woke in her little cottage in the other world, feeling pleasantly warm in her middle and still tasting the odd candy on her dusky pink lips. Becky took a looooong stretch and luxuriated in the cloud soft bedding.

She strolled out the front door, into her little walled yard to admire her private garden…

“Well this is unexpected…” Maple said gently, from the lovely little spot beside Gary’s stream she found herself rooted in. “Can you explain this situation?”

She was a beautiful tree, alive with early spring leaves and bedded into the rich fertile loam of Becky’s soul. Axio’s mushrooms ringed her in a charming display of color and exotic forms. A moonflower vine climbed her trunk and peeped from among her leaves, while bees flitted about, tending the blossoms.

“That’s super weird… you followed me here and we have bees.” She turned and bolted for the gate, skipping merrily, under Joy’s influence. “Gary, Ducky? Thirp? We have a… problem?”

Out in the main garden, the place was alive with activity. Butterflies, moths, mantis… and spiders of course, swarmed and flew in profusion. All the crawly, jumpy and flittery bugs were represented in an idealized form. Each one was just a little too big, a bit too colorful and entirely too perfect to be real bugs.

Except the bees, those swarmed around a hive in Gary’s rafters, buzzing in a low mellow drone. Thick, golden honey pooled and dripped into a clay jar below the hive, slowly collecting, drop by drop.

“That’s new.” The young priestess remarked, as she joined the small crowd under the hive. “Guess what else is new… Maple is on my island, rooted in place as a very pretty lady tree.”

“Uhh…” Gary replied with the wit and intelligence she had come to expect.

“I assume you fell asleep in close proximity to her?” Marduk asked with a soft smile. “Dryads have ever been invasive, their roots tangle so many realms together, touching here and there. Wherever there are trees, they can touch.”

He looked around the garden with pleasure. “Dream trees between worlds are certain to draw their attention, did she give you something, flowers, perfume or a fruit?”

“Maple candy, she just popped it in my mouth… then I went to some dreamworld ‘Beast’s council of shamans’, Maple called it.” Becky’s sheepish smile made Gary laugh.

“She is pushy and aggressive isn’t she?” Gary mused. “I think she’s pretty sweet anyway. Maybe I’m just a sucker for trees.” Shai swatted him upside the head, while also giggling.

“Joy must needs Contract wi ye ere I giggle meself stupid.” Shai gasped, as she wrestled with flaring emotions. “We kinnae go on like this. For the nonce, let us visit this tree.”

#

The whole strange family chuckle marched over to the narrow stream, dividing Becky and the kids from Gary’s island. The youngsters skipped over the bridge, while Shai and Thirp settled into a park bench by the stream bank. Gary leaned on a boulder that appeared just for him and smiled at the tree lady.

“Looking good, miss Maple! Are you feeling ok?” The mad man asked happily, speaking over the softly burbling stream. “I don’t think this was supposed to happen… but welcome. Please don’t try to ‘cleanse’ me here, it’s hard to say how that would turn out.”

She rustled her verdant foliage at him, distressing a few of the big, black bumblebees flitting around her vine. “You seem less offensive here, I may be able to tolerate your existence.”

“Pronouns and direct conversation! That’s a big step up from wanton murder on sight, admit it, you like me.” He made a kissy face at her, from safely across the stream.

“Becky… my sweet, druidling whom I love… please go kick that creature in a painful, but harmless spot… I seem to recall the ‘butt’ being a popular target.” Maple sang, but her golden face flushed a little as she hid her smile behind a bough.

#

Becky woke on Maple’s lap when the birds started making a ruckus, just before dawn. The golden spirit looked down with a gentle and motherly smile that made the sweet maple scent of the small hut even more intoxicating.

“I have not entered a mortal’s dreams in so many centuries untold and never in that manner. It is humbling to experience something entirely new at my age.” She leaned down and took a long, slow sniff of Becky’s hair. “Almost ripe… You are a delight my child, I will allow you to bring the ironmonger’s pet wight to speak with me.”

“Will you be safe if we leave you here? There are cultists roaming about somewhere.” She hugged the spirit and gave her a good long squeeze.

“I will not be taken unawares again. If they call on me again they will meet a sticky end. This soil could use some blood and bonemeal…”

“Gross, Maple, try and not murder anyone ok, there are non cultists around too.”

Becky shook Khan and Luna awake and went to check on the horsies. Annie had everything in order naturally. Winslow and her new friend, Shams the pony, came trotting up as soon as she emerged. She distributed ear scritches and apples, while getting them ready to travel with well practiced efficiency.

“You would make a very fine knight… if this whole high priestess thing doesn’t work out.” Khan muttered while scrubbing at his face with a damp flannel cloth.

“Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind, You guys ready?” Already mounted on Shams, Becky shifted eagerly in the saddle. “There were some overnight developments, we need to get back.”

“Trouble?” The pair of veterans asked, in harmony.

“Magical and occult weirdness, it’s all very esoteric.” She dug her heels into Shams’ ribs. “Lets get moving.” Becky really dug her heel in sharply, scratching at that itchy spot. Shams gave a happy nicker and started for the road with a frisky little hopskip.

“Take it easy buddy. We’ll get a good run in before we get home.” She gave him a double ear rub, letting her reins dangle, looped loosely around her saddle horn.

“Can’t believe they had you in a snaffle bit… I’m having words with that groom.” The offending tack was in her saddle bag, where it couldn’t hurt anyone’s tender mouth.

“Becky, not everyone speaks horse, I think Shams just likes you. Usually he’s a pain in the ass, damn fine animal though.” Khan deployed the tiny bone comb he used to groom his marvelous stache and gave it a good seeing to, as they rode.

“How a warrior treats their horse says a lot about them, much more than how they treat their comrades or other people.” Annie nodded in agreement and picked up the pace.

#

Mykonos Spathos was no great one for gossip, shepherds have little time for such things. They do have time for gathering wild herbs in early spring. Stinging nettle shoots and some early morel mushrooms joined the fresh tea buds he snipped from the patch he cultivated on the hillside.

Seeing a group of strangers going to and fro in a dismal cave opening caught his attention. He stepped from the bushes with a cheery wave hello.

“Morning folks! Yer only a few miles from Wheatford town. No cause to be camping in a cave. Yer travelers?”

The whole group stopped and stared at the smiling shepherd as though he had a weapon leveled, rather than a basket of wild edibles. “Who else is around here? Are you alone?” one of them demanded harshly, in a voice rough from disuse.

“Yep, just me… I’ll be running along…” He said, easing back into the woods.

#

Mykonos was gasping for breath within a few hundred yards, his heart hammering on its prison of ribs in desperation. He jumped and slid through the forest, heedless of the noise, they were still gaining fast.

It was too late to curse his lax training, or lack of training, he hadn't gone running in twenty years. His pursuers seemed to be in fine condition. He turned to look back, just in time to catch a stout cudgel to the knee, sending him tumbling down the stoney hillside.

#

There were ropes at his wrists and ankles, pulling him backwards over a hard surface when he woke. He opened his eyes and was not reassured.

He was in a dim lit cavern, a few rush torches sputtered here and there. The hard object he was bound across was a stone slab, rough hewn and waist height. An obsidian knife dangled from a wooden display rack, centered in his view…

One of the men was painting hideous faces and symbols on the cave walls in lampblack and something that looked like blood. His blood, judging by the rudely bandaged slashes on his forearms. A kind of cold clinical detachment lingered over the shepherd, ‘Headwound…’ he thought. That brought his icy calm to a soul shattering terrified end. He struggled against his bonds helplessly

He tried to speak, but nothing emerged. He felt a collar around his neck grow colder, each time he tried to shout or scream.

The painter turned and looked at him with cold dead eyes. In eerie silence, he resumed painting his disturbing images.