When Minnette returned to the guild’s tent, Thane was nowhere to be seen. Just as well. She thought. I’d rather only have to deal with him as much as necessary.

The guild had made the most of the space given to them. The now uncovered animal cages were stacked neatly on top of the empty crates with sacks of grain and feed laying on the ground.

Nearby, there was a small squirrel-like creature cowering in the back of its cage. It had flaps like wings under its arms and short silver fur interspersed with shimmering green.

She gave the creature a pitying look before walking closer.

“Hi, little guy…” she said with a gentle smile, placing a finger on one of the cage bars.

It looked from her finger to her face before settling back on her finger.

“It’s alright,” she assured it.

It crept towards her, ever cautious, and sniffed at her finger for a moment before nuzzling its small head against her.

“There we go…” Minnette said with a grin. “If the other animals are as agreeable as you, I’ll have you all tamed in no time.”

Speaking of which, she was supposed to be meeting someone named Geyna. “I’ll see you later, little buddy,” she said giving the squirrel a final cheek rub before pulling her hand away.

A cursory glance revealed no one under the red canopy. Minnette frowned. She went around some of the higher-stacked crates, hoping the elf she was supposed to meet was on the other side.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye that made her pause. It was the huge container she’d been drawn to earlier, still covered by the tarp. It was on the far side of the canopy, away from all the other cages.

A million thoughts seemed to fill her head all at once. Why was it still covered while the others were not? Why did they keep it so far away from everything else? Was it dangerous? What was it?

She bit her lower lip and approached the container. No one was there to stop her from taking a peek this time.

She reached for the tarp, glancing over her shoulders to make sure no one was paying attention to her, and peeled it back–just enough to see underneath.

The container, she discovered, was a giant glass tank full of water. Still mostly covered with the tarp, it was dark and hard to see inside but she could just make out the shape of… something. She leaned in closer to the glass, squinting to try and get a better look.

Suddenly, a pale elven face appeared on the other side of the glass. Minnette gasped with a jolt, nearly falling backward. Her gray eyes were wide and her jaw hung ajar.

His face was as beautiful as it was terrifying, framed by wavy black hair. His eyes were a deep blue and full of anger as he glared out at her.

Minnette pulled back the tarp farther, revealing more of the tank and letting more light in. His pale skin appeared iridescent where the light touched it.

Minnette tore her eyes away from the man and looked up. There was no air pocket inside the tank that she could see. How was he breathing?

Her thoughts were interrupted when deep growls sounded from behind her.

She dropped the tarp and spun on her heels, seeing three giant white dogs stalking toward her, teeth bared and hackles raised.

She fell back onto the ground this time and threw a protective hand up as the dogs prepared to lunge. “Stop!” As she spoke, a feeling–like the warmth of a hug–spread through her arm and pulsed outward from her palm.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

The dogs–mere inches from her now– all but froze in place. They whined, cocking their heads to the side as they stared at her.

Minnette let out a relieved sigh.

Fast footsteps sounded from around the crates and then an older elven woman rounded the corner. She was tall–5’11–with dark skin and had long black hair pulled back in intricate braids. She wore the blackened leather armor of the guild but was not wearing the tabard.

“Feon! Viri! Sila! Heel!” the woman commanded sharply and the dogs immediately went to her side. “Sit.”

They obeyed and she approached Minnette.

“Are you alright?” the woman asked

Minnette nodded. “I am.”

The guild woman extended a hand to help Minnette off the ground. She took it and the woman hoisted her up.

“Thank you,” Minnette said with a disarming smile, trying not to seem as nervous as she felt. “Sorry for upsetting them,” she added, looking at the dogs, their tongues lolling happily at her as she brushed the dirt off the back of her dress. They were cute when they weren’t trying to maul her.

“No, it is I who should be apologizing,” the woman said. “I should remember where we are and not leave the dogs to guard the creatures without my being here.”

Minnette turned back to the woman. “They are kynders?” she asked, referring to the dogs.

The woman's gold eyes lit up. “You know of them? Most in these lands do not,” she said.

Minnette nodded.

The kynders were dogs from the frozen north. Bred by the Kiir elves to be hunting companions, they were as intelligent as they were loyal, strong enough to take down lions, and had a good enough sense of smell to track prey through heavy snow fields. At least that was what Tobar had told her.

“I’ve never seen one in person before though,” she said.

“The Kiir do not often part with them,” the woman said.

“How did you manage to convince them to part with three?” Minnette asked.

“The Guild has its ways…” she said with a smirk.

The way the woman said it, had Minnette hoping she would never know just what exactly those ways were.

“I am Geyna, by the way. Geyna Taldori, kennel master of the guild–well, for this branch anyway.”

“I am Minnette,” she said, tilting her head down in an informal bow. “I’m with the carnival troupe.”

Minnette watched as realization dawned on Geyna.

“Ah!” Geyna started. “Merk said you’d be over here at some point.”

Minnette nodded, putting her hands up. “And here I am,” she said pleasantly.

“I hope you’re as good as that Galen fellow told Merk,” Geyna said, turning to face the cages. “I’ve been working with these animals for weeks and haven’t been able to make much progress–I think they’re still bitter about us rounding ‘em up.” She shook her head. “Honestly, I’m not sure they can even be tamed.”

“Well,” Minnette said. “Let’s get started and I’ll see what I can do…”

***

“I don’t know how you do it,” Geyna said as Minnette lowered a large red lizard back into its tank. It was the last of the animals the guild had asked her to help with.

“You managed to do in a few short hours what I couldn’t do in eight weeks,” she added.

Minnette shrugged with a grin. “I’ve been working with animals for as long as I can remember. It’s really just second nature to me, I guess,” she said. It was the truth, even if not the full truth.

“Well, if you ever decide that carnival life isn’t for you, the guild would be happy to have you. We could really use someone with your talents,” Geyna said.

“Thank you for the offer but I–” Minnette trailed off as something else caught her attention.

Seven of the Guild’s men were struggling to lift the tank. “Hurry up, you lot!” said another man standing off to the side of the group. “Master Thane says the carnival has given us a better place for this one!”

It had to be heavy with as much water as was in there, let alone the elf…

The elf… Had Minnette truly seen him? It was so bizarre to her that she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just been seeing things. Maybe it was some… weird… Kri’Kori fish that made others see things. Or maybe something to do with how hungry she was. She still hadn’t eaten yet today. Could hunger cause one to hallucinate? She wasn’t sure, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to find answers.