Arden stumbled forward, grimacing as pain from the wound in his side coursed out through his abdomen and chest.
What a disaster.
The mission had been accomplished, but he’d been spotted, which of course blew his cover. Although there was no way they’d realized he was fey military, that was for sure. The disguise amulet that Captain Lear had given him did its job very well, as always, and his ability to hide his magic behind his human blood was a massive advantage. They’d never know it was the fey government that had put the hit out on their leader.
Once upon a time, he’d cursed his human blood, but now it proved to be a boon. Had they realized he was fey, they’d have undoubtedly coated the arrows they’d shot at him with rowan berries, which would have proved deadly despite his human blood.
That said, Arden knew he was lucky, as far as his difficult to sense magic was. His immediate commanding officer, Lear, had told him that he’d never heard of such a thing before they’d met, and that it made Arden perfect for stealth missions. After a lot of practice, Arden had grown incredibly good at suppressing his magic. No one had ever clocked he was fey, or partially fey, without him telling them, not even other fey folk, if he had his fey side suppressed, as he currently did.
The rune-stone pendant he wore didn’t even have to have very complicated illusion runes on it, either. Instead it was all mostly just basic stuff. It changed his hair from white to dirty blonde, his eyes from gold to hazel, make his feet appear to only have five toes each instead of six (he only had five fingers on each hand, so that was all good without any disguise), and dampen the fey good-looks that came naturally to him. Given he was elvish, he didn’t have any other fey features like wings or scales, like Captain Lear and many of his other squadmates did.
He only had to wear the necklace because, despite his ability to hide his own magic, he wasn’t otherwise particularly good at illusion magic.
The sound of the dogs barking and yowling behind him reminded him that he couldn't let his pace slow, not even for a moment. So onward he pushed, doing his best to ignore his pain and exhaustion.
Suddenly, he stumbled out into a clearing, and stopped dead in his tracks, momentarily confused by what he saw and felt.
Several enormous tents and other temporary structures filled the area before him. He also felt the presence of a surprising amount of fey folk in the immediate vicinity. He’d been so tired and preoccupied with the pain in his side, not to mention with the concern of whether or not his pursuers were still on his trail, that he’d only just noticed it.
Not wasting a moment, he hurried forward as silently as he could. Surely he could find a place to hide in all this.
As he passed one of the larger tents, the swell of the presence of other fey folk indicated it had to be where a large group of his kin were staying, for whatever reason.
The dogs chasing him would have trouble isolating his smell from amongst all the other fey folk, and the humans wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Given the dogs couldn't tell their handlers that he was fey, and that they couldn't isolate his scent anymore because there were too many other fey smells all in one place, it’d be like the dogs lost his scent for no good reason, and his pursuers would probably give up searching for him in this area.
Praying to a goddess, one that he really had no right to pray to, he desperately hoped that he’d be able to enter the tent. If it was considered a proper dwelling by those inside, he was still definitely fey enough that he wouldn't be able to enter without their permission.
Taking a breath, the fey soldier ducked into the huge tent without any difficulty. A sigh of relief escaped him, and he counted his lucky stars.
Once inside, Arden paused, looking around the place. It appeared to be full of structures. There were cages, several corrals and other sorts of enclosures, and also a large tank with rocks in the middle of the tent.
It was entirely strange, and, given his hurry, he couldn't make much sense of it. For whatever reason, the fey folk sleeping there didn’t consider it a proper home, but at that moment, he was incredibly glad of that fact.
The sound of barking dogs from outside made him push all confusion about the contents of the tent, and why he’d been able to enter, aside, and he stumbled forward, heading for a corral near the tank in the middle of the room. There was a large pile of hay in that corral, and it would make a good hiding spot that would be relatively comfortable.
-
I stretched, shifting restlessly as I struggled to get comfortable.
The booze-laced juice had brought me a few hours of sleep, but I’d woken again, and now struggled to get back into a restful slumber. Drinking more alcohol didn’t sound particularly appetizing at the moment either, so I lay there, trying to ignore the awful pain in my back and tail.
The noise of dogs barking came faintly to my ears, and I frowned.
What was going on?
A rustling noise came from Rowan’s paddock, and I looked over, just in time to see some hay shifting around. Frowning, I chewed my lip. Waking Rowan was no small feat, but it might be necessary if something was going on in the hay in his paddock.
Voices spoke outside the tent, drawing my attention away from Rowan’s corral.
I strained my ears, but couldn't hear any specific words.
After a little while, I saw several figures entering the tent, each carrying torches. The flames threw light on their faces, and I realized, with a jolt, that they weren’t circus employees, or indeed anyone I recognized. They were human men, and all bore some kind of weapon. One had a sword, one a bow and arrow, and yet another carried a very nasty looking mace.
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Alarmed to see that the intruders were armed, I shouted, “Hey! What do you want?!” I would not let anyone hurt my friends. Well, they were family, really. Calling them a found family wasn’t quite right, since we’d all been thrown together by being enslaved, but they were my family, nonetheless.
The men froze, looking up at me, seeming startled.
“A mermaid?!”
The men finally seemed to take a good look around the tent as the fey folk around them began to wake, thanks to my shout.
“Blimey! ‘S a bunch of fey in here!” One of the intruders yelped.
Charlie poked his head from his enormous cage and growled, and there was a flash of light as Irving changed suddenly into a troll to tower menacingly over the men.
The men shouted and swore practically falling all over themselves as they tried to get out of the tent.
The magical lights in the tent flared to life as everyone, or almost everyone, in the tent came fully awake. It was only almost everyone because Rowan could sleep through a battle if no one purposely roused him, as was the case now.
One of the goblins hurried over to the opening of the tent, and looked out. There was a brief pause, then he shouted, “They’re gone! Had dogs with them too…Very odd!”
There was another flash, and Irving resumed his elvish form. “Odd indeed,” he muttered.
Rowan shifted, muttering in his sleep, but didn’t wake.
“I see sleeping beauty there didn’t even bat an eye at all that.” Someone said wryly, meaning the centaur. What I wouldn't give to be able to sleep like the dead, at that moment. To be free from the pain from the burns and the beating I’d sustained, and just melt into blissful rest.
Although had I not been restless, in pain, and unable to sleep, I might not have been awake when the strange men had intruded on the tent. There was every chance they had some nefarious scheme, after all, the circus had a lot of money on hand from ticket sales on a given day, although they clearly hadn’t counted on the tent being full of fey folk.
If they’d had dogs, had they been searching for something? Or someone?
My mind drifted to the slight movement in the hay just before the strangers had arrived, but I pushed it away. It had probably just been the hay shifting in a stray breeze that had found its way into the tent.
Shaking myself I asked the goblin who’d reported that the intruders had left, “Crunch, did you happen to catch what they were doing here?”
“No, I didn’t. But like I said, they had dogs with them. I guess they were looking for someone.”
“I guess they must have been…Were they all carrying weapons? The ones that came in here were.”
“I think so.” Crunch nodded.
“Weird.” I frowned.
“Good thing you noticed them.” Serha said, shuddering a little, “I’d hate to think they were here to cause trouble!”
“We’re lucky they didn’t know we’re unable to hurt anyone.” Pippa said dryly, “Even in self-defense.”
“Yeah, for real.” I muttered.
“Thanks for raising the alarm.” Irving said, coming over and peering up at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah, other than my injuries, I’m fine. I think it was you and Charlie who definitely scared them away though.”
“I thought a troll might do the trick.” he nodded, smiling a little. “Having trouble sleeping again?”
I nodded, “Yeah, I woke up and couldn't get comfortable again.”
“Drink more booze.” he told me.
“I don’t really feel like it. Even with food it makes me dizzy. I’ll be alright.”
“I’d be happy to snuggle, if you think it’d help.” He flashed a roguish grin at me.
I rolled my eyes, “Shove it up your a-”
“What’s all this noise?!” Meeks demanded as he stormed in.
“Chill.” Irving sighed, stretching languidly. “Some men with weapons came in here. You’re lucky Marri was awake to raise the alarm or they might have murdered us all in our sleep. Then Bellows would have put one of these restraints on your sorry ass and made you turn into a cow a million times a day and night.”
Meeks’ face turned red, but then he seemed to pull himself together. “Weapons?”
“One had a sword, one had a bow, one had a mace.” I told him. “They had torches, and I think there were dogs too, but no dogs came in here.”
“Huh.” Meeks frowned, seeming just as confused as we were. “I’ll have to tell Bellows…But not tonight.”
“Yeah, better not interrupt his sleep.” Pippa muttered.
“He’s gotta have that beauty sleep.” Irving snorted.
“Not that it does him any good.” I replied dryly. “He could give someone a heart-attack with that face of his, if they’re not expecting it. Talk about a jump-scare.”
Meeks scowled at me. “Stop bad mouthing the boss!”
“Aww, do you have a little crush on him?” I giggled suggestively. “Meeks and Bellows, sitting in a tree!” I paused and threw my voice, continuing to chant though I was barely moving my lips, like someone outside the tent had picked up the well-known taunt. “K-i-s-s-i-”
“Just shut up and go back to sleep, all of you!” Meeks roared, then turned and stormed from the tent.
Everyone dissolved into giggles, except Rowan, who continued to sleep.
After the laughter had died down, Irving asked me, “Did they say anything?”
“Nah, they were just like ‘oh shit, fey!’ and then ran.” I shrugged, then grimaced because it really hurt to shrug at the moment.
“Huh.” Irving shrugged.
“They were all human though, I did manage to notice that.”
“I guessed as much, if they were that alarmed when they realized that we were all fey in here.”
“Of course.” I nodded.
There was a pause, “Well, try and get some sleep.”
“I will. You should do the same.”
“I don't know if I’ll be able to.” he shook his head. “I’m too wide awake now.”
“Well, I’m feeling a bit better now, I think I could manage a lullaby.” I looked around, raising my voice a little, “Anyone else up for a lullaby still? I know it’ll be hard to sleep after all that excitement.”
A chorus of “Yes!” and “Please!” met my ears.
“Alright, everyone get comfy.” I directed, smiling a little. After a few moments, I asked, “Everyone settled?”
Another affirmative chorus of voices.
“Alright.” I channeled magic into my voice, and began to sing.
The lullaby slowly filled the tent, weaving around each and every one of my compatriots. It was gentle and sweet, urging restful sleep and sweet dreams.
Gods, I wished I could be affected by my own singing, if only so I could lull myself to sleep as well.
I lay back down again, and tried to get comfortable.