After several hours of walking, the sun began to rise.
“Let’s take a break.” Arden said, coming to a stop beside the stream we’d been walking along.
“I’m going to get my scales in the water as best I can. No sense in letting them get dry and itchy.” I told them as the white-haired half-elf came over, he motioned for me to slide off, which I did. He caught me easily in his arms.
“Let’s get you over there, then.” Arden nodded.
My face heated as he carried me easily to the stream and sat me down on its bank. Hopefully he hadn’t noticed. “Thanks.” I muttered, then felt my face heat even more deeply when my stomach rumbled loudly. “Oop…”
“I guess we should find some food. I think I remember how to forage.” Rowan smiled a little.
“Oh, no. Sorry, I should have said. I managed to grab some supplies from the storage crates. Let me see if I can find it.” the fey soldier grimaced, lifting a small satchel he had with him and starting to dig through it.
Given its size, I doubted it held very much. But then much to my surprise, he plunged his arm into it past his elbow, grimacing. “I did a quick expansion charm with a rune, but I accidentally made it too big.” he explained, finally withdrawing several full waterskins, some apples, a bit of bread, and cheese. “Despite my interest in runes, casting them isn’t my forte. I can manage in a pinch, but I usually prefer to leave rune-making to dwarves whenever possible.” he said, then paused and frowned, “Sorry, that’s…probably insensitive.”
“Eh, maybe, but it’s fair enough, they do tend to be the best at runes.” I shrugged.
“Still.” he muttered, seeming annoyed with himself as he handed out the food and waterskins.
“Relax, it’s fine. We’re not so easily upset.” Rowan assured him.
I slid my tail into the cool, running water of the stream and began to eat. It was just the same simple food I was used to, but I was so hungry it tasted like a gourmet meal. Or…what I imagined a gourmet meal would taste like, given I’d never had one before.
Arden ate quickly, then disappeared into the trees for a little while.
“Where’d he go?” I arched an eyebrow at Rowan.
“Not far!” the fey soldier’s voice called.
After a little while longer, he came back, his arms laden with berries. “These’ll make a nice change of pace! You two are probably bored with that food, but I took it because I knew it’d stay good during our trip.”
“Oh! I haven’t had blackberries since I was taken!” Rowan exclaimed, eagerly accepting some.
I took some as well, and popped one into my mouth. It was both sour and bitter at the same time, and I grimaced, “Oh, that tastes awful!”
Rowan laughed, “Sometimes they can be kind of bitter! Try another one!”
“What if I just get another bitter one?” I grumbled.
“Well, it’s not like it’ll hurt you.” the centaur snorted.
“Hmm.” I picked up another berry, eyeing it warily. Well, even if it was bitter, at least it was new. I popped it into my mouth. This time, the flavor was sweet with just a hint of tartness. “Oh! Oh that’s very nice!”
“It can be a little hit and miss.” Arden said, smiling a little as he settled down beside me, munching on berries as well. “Winna makes an amazing blackberry crisp. I’ll have to ask her to make it for you.”
“Ooh, that sounds amazing!” Rowan sighed happily.
“What’s a crisp?” I frowned. “I don’t think merfolk have those.” Especially not those of us who lived on the ocean floor. Nothing could be particularly crispy underwater. Those of us who were more frequently above water might have some crispy foods, though.
“It’s a kind of dessert with a crispy crust made of oatmeal and brown sugar, and then you fill it with whatever fruit you want.”
“Well, I’m sure it’s lovely.” I said, not wanting to admit I didn’t know what oatmeal or brown sugar tasted like. “I’m sure I can’t wait to try it, if she’ll make it.”
“She likes to bake, we’ll probably have to pick the berries, but if we do, she’s usually happy to make one.” Arden smiled.
“She’s your friend?” Maybe it was a silly question to ask, since he was clearly fond of her.
His smile grew a little melancholy. “Yeah, I guess. She…sort of mothers me.” Why did that make him sad? “She does it to all of Lear’s underlings, even though all of us are older than her.”
“Does Lear act fatherly towards you?” Rowan sounded skeptical.
“Not in such an outright manner, no. But he does make sure we’re taken care of. He used to be far more stern, but she’s softened him. In a good way, I mean.”
“I think this Lear fellow is lucky. Winna sounds a lot like my wife.” Rowan said softly, his hand floating to his shoulder, which was where his marriage-mark was.
“You’ll get to see her again, Rowan.” I murmured, smiling at him. “You’re free.”
He flashed a bright smile at me. “I know! I’m free! Or I will be once we get rid of these accursed metal bands once and for all!”
“Yeah.” Arden nodded.
-
Marri and Rowan slept peacefully on the bank of the stream.
The pretty mermaid’s tail still trailed in the water. Her face was at peace, but her tail shifted slightly in the water every so often. Her blue hair was sprawled out on the ground around her head, a tumbling halo of curls.
Gods, she was gorgeous.
Arden tore his eyes away, since staring at someone, particularly a lovely woman, when they slept was probably more than a little creepy.
He’d gotten a little bit of rest himself, but it had been fitful. A sense of worry had been gnawing on him, growing in the pit of his stomach. The soldier’s mind kept drifting back to their brief discussion about Bellows coming after them, and the fact that the dwarf probably wouldn't be alone when he did.
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From his discussions with Marri back before they’d left camp, Arden knew Bellows had connections with fey folk who had no scruples tracking down and catching other fey folk for money. He wasn’t sure how quickly the dwarf could have gotten in touch with those fey folk, but plenty of his kind had no qualms about enslaving their kinfolk, so it might not even be the same group of people Bellows usually worked with, if he did hire anyone to help him track down the escaped captives.
The enslavement and abuse of fey folk by other fey folk was something that still happened regularly, despite being against some of the newer laws of the feylands. Indeed Bellows was ignoring those laws entirely by running his little circus on the backs of enslaved fey folk.
How the evil dwarf distinguished between the fey folk he wanted as his captives and the fey folk he paid was mystifying, but Arden was beginning to realize that if the person was greedy and could be manipulated by money, or in other ways, Bellows was happy to leave them free, so long as they were still useful to him in some way, like Meeks, who was weak, stupid, followed orders without question, and also took pleasure in making the enslaved members of the circus miserable. But if the fey person was already in a bad situation, like Irving, Marri, and Serha had been, or was free and Bellows wanted them as a performer, as in Rowan’s case, he would procure them by any means necessary.
It was about power and control, really. How strange that a circus, something that brought entertainment and awe to its visitors, was really just a front so a dwarf with a fragile ego could feel more important by enslaving other fey folk and lording his power over them in terrible ways.
But had Bellows noticed his missing captives yet? Surely he had.
Knowing he wouldn't be able to get any more sleep, Arden got up and stretched.
Something in him urged a reconnaissance mission in the backwards direction, just to see if he could tell if anyone was already on their trail.
The fey soldier pulled out his disguise amulet and put it back on. It was probably best if he wore it from here on out, and started to subdue his magic again, in case they ran into anyone else.
Taking a moment, he took a deep breath and pushed his magic down. Thinking of his mother, he was able to feel the human aspects of himself, and carefully folded them around the fey side of him, burying it deep in the memories of the mother who had loved him so, so deeply, despite being nothing more than a slave to the very fey man who’d abused her so terribly.
Once he was done, Arden scrawled out a quick note in the dirt to Rowan and Marri telling them he’d just gone to recon, in case they woke up and found him gone. Then he darted off into the woods in the direction they’d come from. Thankfully, using his fey speed and strength was an inherent physical ability, and didn’t require him to use any magic.
Every so often, the half-fey soldier would pause. Closing his eyes, he would stand still, and focus on the sounds of the area surrounding him.
If he heard nothing, he’d move on. Several times, he heard the chatter of birds, the grumble of a raccoon up to some mischief, and just the general, normal noises of the animals and plants in a forest.
After making it a good distance away from where he’d left Rowan and Marri sleeping, he started to feel the dull presence of other fey folk. They were far off, but still not as far as he’d like, if it was a group led by Bellows, in pursuit of Marri and Rowan.
Focusing on that, he crept closer, keeping his ears open because he knew he might hear them before he saw them.
Finally, he felt the presence of a dwarf. Dwarves were less wild in how their magic felt, instead more like a steady, constant instead of a flowing, fluctuating kind of feel.
It was all the confirmation he needed, so he turned and quickly darted away, hoping no one had noticed his presence. Given none of them had started to immediately move in his direction, Arden suspected they hadn’t realized he was there. Besides, why would they expect him to be doubling back?
They might not even realize he was with the escaped centaur and mermaid at all, much less that he’d been the one to orchestrate that escape. It was likely that they hadn’t. Hell, there was every chance that Meeks had never told Bellows about his employment, lest it come to light that the manager had been shirking his duties, and that’s what had led to Marri and Rowan getting away. There was also no way that they’d figured out he was fey military, given that none of the captive fey folk, who he’d been around more than anyone else, had guessed it either.
Without pausing to stop at all this time, Arden ran at top speed all the way back to Rowan and Marrina. Their pursuers were a good ways away, not so close that the metal bands would start reacting to Bellows yet, but still far too close for the half-fey soldier’s comfort. Their proximity told him that it had taken them a good bit to end the giant attack, then take stock of everything and realize that they were missing some fey folk. Not as long as he would have hoped, but still long enough that they weren’t going to risk getting caught, but only if they set out again quickly.
As much as he hated to wake his sleeping companions, he knew they had no desire to go back to being under Bellows’ control.
He scuffed out the message he’d left for them in the dirt, then knelt and gently shook the sleeping mermaid, murmuring, “Hey Marrina.”
“Mm?” she began to stir.
“Wake up, we need to get going,” he told her. “Pretty urgently, actually.”
Her lovely blue eyes flickered open, focusing on him. “Oh?”
“Yeah. Let me go get Rowan up, then I’ll explain.” he stood.
“He’s hard to wake, I’ll do it.” She told him, sitting up. Arden felt her magic surge, and she started to sing.
He could tell she was singing just to Rowan, as her magic wrapped only around the sleeping centaur. That meant Arden could just listen to the music without feeling its effects, so he could appreciate the song as just that, a song. It was energetic and sweet.
Before he’d thought about it, he blurted, “You have a beautiful voice.”
Marri blinked, cutting off and looking at him in surprise. Her face flushed a rather adorable shade of pink. “Not…not really. If the song was nice, it was only because I was using magic.’
The fey soldier shook his head. “The magic wasn’t directed towards me, so I heard your voice as it is. It’s nice. I like it.”
The mermaid flushed a deeper red, murmuring, “Thanks.” So, complimenting her voice made her blush. He filed that away for future reference.
Oh who was he kidding? He was crap at flirting, and probably would never be able to tease her the way Lear teased Winna. But it was nice to know that Marri wasn’t impervious to getting flustered by him.
The song had worked, and Rowan was stirring. He yawned and stretched, saying “Oh, that was a lovely song to wake up to, thank you, Marri!”
“I…thought it’d work better than making Arden kick you awake or something.” Marrina shrugged, still a little red.
“Much more pleasant!” the centaur snorted.
“We need to get going.” Arden interjected, picking up the bag that carried their supplies. “I doubled back a good distance to see if there was anyone behind us, and there was. And from what I could tell, there was a dwarf in their midst. It’s too much to hope for a coincidence, so we should go, as much as I’d like to let you get more rest.”
They stared at him for a moment.
“Yes, we should get going.” Marri sighed.
“Can you help her get back on my back, Arden?” Rowan asked.
“Of course.” Arden bent and scooped the mermaid up, then carefully helped her get situated on the centaur’s back once more.
“You look exhausted.” Marrina murmured.
“I am.” he sighed, rubbing his face tiredly.
“Did you sleep at all?”
“A little. But I was too worried about them following us.” he said, then started walking again, this time at a swifter pace. “Do you feel up to running a little, Rowan?”
“Sure. And I’ll keep it up for as long as I can.” The centaur’s tone was a little grim. The idea that their captor was already on their tails was a grim thought though.
“Oh, let me sing! I think I can energize you all, since none of us slept as much as we’d have liked.” Marri offered, sounding eager to help.
“Sure!” Rowan said.
“Alright.” Arden nodded, interested to see more of how her strange magic worked.
As they hurried along, Marri’s magic surged, and she started to sing.
This time, the half-elvish man felt the magic wrapping gently around him and coursing through his veins. It spoke of wakefulness, boundless strength, and stamina, but also of positivity and encouragement. Marri was truly a thoughtful young woman. She could see he was tired, but also that he’d felt discouraged that Bellows was already after them, so she’d decided to do what she could to help.
As her song came to an end, it felt like he’d had a full night’s sleep, and just emerged from a long bath after getting a full-body massage or some kind of spa day.
“Gods, I feel like I could run for days!” Rowan laughed, then broke into a run at fey speeds.
Arden grinned and let himself dart forward as well. Rowan couldn't keep up when he ran full speed, given he was transporting Marri as well, so he made sure to keep pace with them.