Arden studied the circus tents. It was dark out, and their shapes were a little odd. Anyone who didn’t know what they were would have taken a few moments to figure it out.

Getting back to the circus hadn’t taken as long as leaving it. Apparently Bellows had given orders for Meeks to keep moving the show on as planned, not wanting to lose any money by waiting for too long in one place. The move had put it closer to Winna’s home than it had been when Arden had busted Marri and Rowan out of it.

They’d stopped every so often to ask after the circus from various fey folk they came across, and had adjusted their route accordingly after getting the information. The free fey folk knew to give the place a wide berth, having heard of Bellows’ reputation.

He knew if he’d waited to get them out of there, the trip wouldn't have been quite as long, but waiting any longer had felt so wrong, especially after seeing the scars on Marri’s back that had been courtesy of Bellows.

But the dwarf was dead, now, and they were going to free Rowan and Marrina’s friends from Meeks’ admittedly far less intimidating grasp.

The white-haired soldier smiled to himself as he remembered that he had to give the half-ogre hell from Marri. That could be arranged.

Turning, he bolted back through the forest. He’d been the lone person sent on reconnaissance. He had his magic suppressed and was wearing his disguise amulet again, since they didn’t want to risk Meeks sensing a foreign magical presence or anything. Although to be fair, given how bad the half-ogre was at magic, he probably couldn't do much in the way of sensing such things.

Arden slowed as he approached where the rest of the group was waiting for him to give the all-clear so they could move forward with their plan.

He stopped and announced to Lear, “Everyone seems to be asleep. It was quiet.”

“Alright. We’ll move forward. If we’re noticed and anyone tries to keep us from freeing the captives, again, let me or Arden deal with it.” Lear addressed the group. “Our main focus is freeing the fey folk without getting hurt ourselves.”

“We won’t face any resistance from the captives themselves, will we?” Tark asked.

“I don’t expect so. They’re familiar with my human face, and I’ll go in first to wake them.” Arden said.

Lear addressed Silver, smiling at the little dragon, who’d rode with Dern on Windscale’s back, “Are you ready to eat more of those metal bands?”

Silver gave an excited little yip. He hadn’t been entirely sure what was going on, but had had a fun time traveling with all of his friends, and was excited to eat more tasty metal.

“Good lad!” Dern smiled, patting Silver on the head.

“Alright. We’ll hang back in the forest, and Arden will go in ahead of us. Then he’ll give the signal, and we’ll go in.”

Once everyone who couldn't run fast enough was settled on Windscale’s back again, they moved out, traveling the remaining distance quickly.

The circus was still quiet.

Arden glanced around, then darted forward, into the tent. He stopped and walked in, quietly saying, “Pippa?” Pippa was the only other member of the group of fey captives that Arden had gotten to know at all, and she’d been very sensible.

There was a murmuring sound as the tent roused slowly.

“Arden?” Pippa said, blinking sleep from her eyes as she buzzed up. “Oh my goddess! It is you! Are Marri and Rowan with you?! What happened?! You all disappeared after that giant attack! We were worried you’d died! Bellows just went off as well, and Meeks and his ilk won’t tell us anything!”

“Shh, it’s okay!” Arden said, motioning for her to keep her voice down. “We need to stay quiet, and don’t turn on the lights, alright? I was able to get Marri and Rowan out of here, and I’ve come back, with help this time, to get the rest of you out of here.”

“What? How?” Pippa gasped.

Arden pulled off the necklace that bore the rune-carved pendant, removing his disguise. The firebug gasped. “Oh!”

The noise level in the tent rose again, and Arden motioned urgently for them to quiet. “Shh! I’m fey military. It’s a fluke that I found you all when I did, but I couldn't stand to let you stay in this situation.”

“Ohh, so Bellows left to hunt you and Marri and Rowan down! What if he comes back and finds us all missing, and tries to come after us?” One of the goblins asked.

“Bellows is dead.” Arden told them, smiling grimly. “I’ll explain more later, but let’s get you all freed. There’s a little dragon who’s proved able to eat the bands off. He’s here with me. Dern is his dwarf companion, but please don’t be frightened, he’s a very good person.”

“Of course!” Pippa murmured.

“I’ll give my group the signal to come, okay? It’s mostly fey folk, but a few humans as well. All friendly to fey.”

“Yay!” Mud giggled, and Charlie gave a happy sort of hum.

Arden turned, poked his head from the tent and waved at his companions in the forest.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

In a flash, the fey helpers darted over to the tent. The humans, and Dern, hurried after as quickly as they could, and Windscale stayed outside to guard the entrance with her enormous bulk with the others who had agreed to do guard duty.

Lear, who’d been carrying Silver, set the little dragon down. “We can risk some light now, I think. Who’s in charge?”

“I…guess that’s me, now that Marri and Rowan aren’t here.” Pippa said as the magical lights flicked on.

“I’m Lear.” the captain introduced himself.

“Pippa.” the firebug nodded.

“This is Silver, and his handler Dern. We’re going to get you out of here.” Lear said, motioning at his little dragon companion, and then the dwarf in turn.

Dern stepped forward and bowed, standing beside Silver, who was already sniffing Pippa’s band excitedly. “I am so sorry for how you’ve been treated, and at the hands of a dwarf!”

Pippa smiled, “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do this to us. He did.”

“Bellows is gone now, just so you know.” Arden murmured, “Managed to catch up with Rowan and Marrina and me. But Lear solved that problem.”

“Good.” one of the goblins muttered.

“Indeed.” Pippa sighed. “He left behind some helpers though. Some of the corrupt fey slavers he kept on his payroll, I think. You might wind up having to tussle with them.”

“That’s good to know, thank you. We may have more of a fight on our hands than I was hoping. But I think we can handle it still.” Lear said. “Dern, you and Silver get started taking off the restraints. I’ll go help stand guard. Arden, get things organized and going in here.” he strode out of the tent to join Windscale and the others.

“Alright.” Arden called, organizing the still-captive fey folk. “Let’s form a line! Silver will eat off the metal restraints as quickly as he can, but he can only do one at a time, so please be patient! Once yours is off, go get whatever you want to take with you, and wait for my, or Lear’s, order to head out! If we get interrupted or separated, our destination is due west, and is about a day’s worth of travel. The village we’ll be heading to is within a ring of mountains. Fey folk all around here will know of it, and can point you towards it. Ask after Winna and Lear’s cottage once you’re closer, since that’s our destination. Once you’re there, we’ll have places for you all to stay until you can get back on your feet. Okay?”

A general murmur of understanding filled the room.

“Good.” Arden nodded.

“Okay, everyone, let’s form a line like Arden said!” Pippa called, clicking her claws together.

The line formed with Mud at the front, and Silver happily gobbled the band off.

“Mud is free!” the innocent goblin cried, then burst into tears.

“There there, sweetie.” Pippa patted his shoulder kindly. “Go get your things so we can go!”

“Mud can’t wait to be able to explore all the places he never could before!” the goblin said excitedly as he dried his tears and hurried away.

Pippa’s band, worn around her neck, came off next, and she flew off to gather her own belongings and wait for the signal to head out.

Silver had munched his way through about half of the captive fey folks’ metal restraints when Arden heard cries coming from outside the exhibit tent.

Everyone froze and looked to him for guidance. “Keep on getting the bands off.” Arden said firmly, “We’re prepared to deal with resistance. Dern, you can oversee things for now on your own, I think. I’ll come back though, once this is dealt with.”

“Right!” Dern nodded, reaching out to pat Silver as he chewed on a large bite of the rather big metal band that was around Charlie’s leg.

Arden darted outside.

Lear stood before a group of people. It consisted of circus employees, and a few fey folk that Arden didn’t recognize, but he supposed were the fey folk that Bellows had left behind to help Meeks, who headed the party and was busy threatening Lear.

Meeks was shouting at Lear, “You’ll move aside and let me in that tent this moment or-”

“Or what?” Lear asked, tone mild.

“We’ll move you ourselves!” Meeks bellowed. As if they could just move a dragon as large as Windscale! But Meeks hadn’t been gifted with much in the way of brains, so he probably just thought of the large dragon as just a beast that could be chased away.

Lear smiled slowly, “I’d like to see you try.”

Arden stepped forward, drawing Meeks’ attention.

“You?!” Meeks gasped, recognizing the white-haired soldier, despite the fact he wasn’t wearing his disguise anymore.

“Yes, me.” Arden turned to Lear, “Can I? Marri isn’t here to do it herself…”

“Where is that wretched mermaid?! She’s caused so much trouble, you-”

“Of course.” Lear bowed slightly, stepping aside.

Arden looked back to Meeks, who was still shouting at him, vein pulsing in his head. “This is from Marri.” He grinned, then darted forward, and in the blink of an eye, caught the circus manager’s face, and used all of his strength to slam the half-ogre down, and into the ground. Meeks twitched, but didn’t move.

“Think he’s dead?” Lear asked.

“Nah, just really hurt.” Arden replied, hoping that what he’d done was a sufficient amount of hell-raising for Marri.

Lear looked to the rest of the group, which stood there, now staring down at the unconscious circus manager. “Who’s next?”

“Hell, no job is worth this.” one of the minions muttered.

“Surely Bellows didn’t expect us to fight for him?! He’s not even here!” another chimed in.

“Bellows is dead.” Lear said, smiling grimly, “I killed him myself.”

“Dammit, now we won’t get paid!” someone else grumbled.

“This is pointless!” yet another goon cried.

“I suggest you all leave and find gainful employment somewhere else.” Lear told them in a mild tone.

The group began to break up, grumbling and muttering in satisfaction.

“Well, that went better than I thought it would.” Arden muttered, “I didn’t count on Bellows leaving extra cronies behind here.”

“Me either, but we could have taken them.”

“Yeah, probably.”

They walked back into the tent, leaving the rest of the group to stand guard again.

“How’s it coming?” Lear asked.

Things had taken a turn for the festive inside, since the threat of discovery was over and dealt with. Fey folk of all shapes and sizes danced and sang as they waited to set out.

“Very well!” Pippa said cheerfully. “We’re about three-quarters through everyone, now!”

“Good.”

“It’s a bit of a long trip, and I doubt we have enough supplies for everyone. Let me go raid the food storage and see what I can find for us to take with us so we don’t have to try to forage for food for everyone or anything.” Arden said thoughtfully.

“Good idea.”

“Mud will come with you!” Mud announced.

Arden smiled, “Perfect, I could use the help. Thanks, Mud!”