The tunnel Sino took seemed innocent enough until the first dart blew past him. He twisted and covered the babe. That was when he noticed the pattern on the dusty floor. Symbols were etched into the stone. Once ensuring the infant was unharmed, he inched forward, careful not to touch what ended up being stone tile blocks.

He allowed his inner beast to come forward just a bit. It was feral after almost getting harmed. Sino tried to get it to focus. Smell it. He encouraged the beast. It paced in his head until finally taking a breath in. His senses were limited in his two-legged form, but his beast was a tracker. He could see scents like bursts of colors. It took time to focus the beast so that he could move and see the scents. Bursts of color hovered over certain tiles, and Sino knew this was the safe passage. Before he moved, he memorized the etchings and fought with his beast to move forward cautiously.

The child on his chest giggled when his beast rumbled in dissatisfaction. Sino smiled back at her and rubbed her hair before taking his first steps over the tiles. A few wobbled and broke off, but no darts flew past. When he got to the other side, he stepped forward to continue when he noticed more etchings on the walls. Looking closer, one side looked similar to the steps, so he slid past closely to that side, keeping his chest and the child towards the wall. Part of his foot slipped too close to the other side, and small stinging rocks pelted Sino’s back. He growled lowly.

The path seemed clear for a few steps until they reached a three-way tunnel. One looked like it was home to eight-legged vampire creatures whose webs of colors sparkled, taunting Sino, but he knew better. Those were dangerous nets. On the opposite side, rocks were filling most of the tunnel. They moved and skittered about, and Sino had no doubt it was home to rock goblins. Sino didn’t mind them, but they were very much like shifters who prefer to be left alone. That left the middle tunnel, which looked clear.

With his first step, he felt the air change. It was a sickly sweet, cloying breeze. He got excited when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Then he saw the first ears pop up near an outcropping of rocks. They were fuzzy round ears. Sino stopped. He heard a cooing noise from the boulders. The infant in his arms immediately responded in back. Little bear-like creatures walked out from behind three boulders. They looked at Sino with confusion. He moved slowly closer. The creature nearest him narrowed its eyes. Sino narrowed his eyes and growled back. The response was immediate. The closest creature jumped toward him with teeth out and small claws that sparkled in magick. Sino growled, moving his walking stick into a defensive position, and swatted the beast back. It stumbled back with a squawking sound. The two others attacked. Their small stature meant they were quick and agile. Sino had trouble keeping them back.

Sino’s hair flew forward with his step, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small tiny hand grab his locks. Pink and purple magick swirled around the hair, and moved up to his face, down his body, and to his stick. Sino felt a buzzing through his body. This time the swing pushed the beasts flying back into the stone walls. They grunted and crumbled. Sino walked past, eyeing for any more of those small beasts.

Coming out of the tunnel, the bright light of the day blinded Sino. He waited until his eyes adjusted before moving too far from the tunnel, but he also didn’t want to keep his back there in case those creatures got up and attacked him from behind. He scanned the area both for signs of danger and to get an assessment of where he stood. The sun was to his back, this much he could see through the large overhanging Ipso trees. They draped with swaying branchlike arms and danced in the breeze. He knew to stay far from its grasp. Rushing water was nearby, and he decided to follow the nearby river.

He looked down to check on the child. Her face was scrunched up in pain, and cried silent tears of pink magick. “Aww. Shh little one.” He felt her head. She was starting to get warm again. His decision made for him, he ran towards the sound of the rushing water. It wasn’t far, and he had to run past an Ipso branch, but he swatted its grip away using his staff. The river cut through the trees. It was fast-moving, but Sino found a section near a boulder which was a small pool of slow-moving water. Sino looked in for any danger in the water. He didn’t see anything. He stepped in, the water felt cool on his ankles. He untied the infant dipping her in the water. The pink bubbled around her legs. He used his hands to rub the water over her skin, and the blue from her chest lightened to a sky blue. He dunked the burning child again and again. The scales seemed to change to fur. Her hands and feet remained purple, as did her face. She looked similar to the fuzzy creatures in the tunnel.

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“You look closer to a pup now little one.” Sino said after the last dunk.

She smiled. She was bigger now. A toddler for sure. Sino allowed her to play in the water, holding her, so she didn’t float away. She squealed in delight.

He couldn’t help but smile. His own pup loved bathtime. He frowned. She seemed to notice and cocked her head to the side. Her green eyes glowed.

“Ok. Time to get out.”

She immediately pouted.

“You understand what I’m saying? Can you speak?” Sino asked.

The bright green eyes of the child went wide, looking over Sino’s shoulder. Sino looked behind him, his eyes narrowing on a pride of six sphinxes. Each sparkled in various shades of brown. Sino positioned himself in front of the child. One of the Sphinx’s golden eyes caught Sino’s. Its eyes narrowed. The pride suddenly turned direction. Knowing the strength of a Sphinx’s Magick Sino was puzzled by the action. Once satisfied they were gone, he turned back to the child.

“We should get going.”

The child nodded and wobbled to a standing position. Sino quickly washed the twine and cloth in the pink river, then stuffed it in his satchel. Their small, long fingers wrapped around Sino’s callous fat fingers. He was struck by how cold their fingers were on his, though wares did tend to run a higher body heat.

“Are you cold?” Sino asked.

She shook her head but didn’t speak. They began walking slowly. Sino kept his stride slow so that the child could keep up. Silence followed them, which Sino didn’t mind. The child was a quick study, learning balance and matching Sino’s quiet steps.

They followed the Magenta River taking no breaks, past a deep purple thicket until they finally came upon the sprawling estate. A pink moat protected the building, described as a tilted castle. Sino sighed, causing the child to look at him with wide green eyes.

“I’m not a fan of big groups,” He admitted. The child smiled at him and rubbed his forearm with their free hand. A calm wave grew from his arm to his body.

He smiled. “Thanks.”

They walked to the invisible bridge, but Sino could see it with his wolf senses. It was barely detectable in his two-legged form, but the jumbles of various colors danced in the wind. He could smell the traces of various fae who walked upon it, and it was like bits of breadcrumbs. The child hesitated its first step but trusted Sino, who walked confidently over the moat floating a few feet over its surface.

Passing through the gate, the inner courtyard was bustling with Fae. He watched her take in it all. A big burly rock giant-sized troll stomped passed then tiny house hobgoblins scurried past to go about their day. Some were looking through a market of sorts, while others were practicing with different types of weapons.

As they came closer to the actual castle steps, Sino noticed a shimmer of an invisible being. Its essence floated up the steps and opened the door for them. Then disappeared. The air inside was surprisingly warm, as was the gravel floor. He had only been here once cycles ago, but he still remembered where the main ballroom was where the Fae Council met, which was in the center of the castle. Using his sense of direction, they walked the various halls until they found the vast ballroom. It was strangely empty, but he expected that. How would they know visitors were on their way?

He took in the cream and orange pillars and the thirteen staircases leading to 13 wings of the castle. In the center of the room were 13 tiled circles making a larger circle. He felt the child squeeze his hand.

“They are going to ask your name. What would you like to be called?” Sino asked.

The child shrugged.

“Perpetua?” Sino suggested. The child scrunched their face. “Amorlil?” Another cringe. “Since you seem to be evolving, how about Evo?” The child tilted their head and gave a nod.

“Evo, it is.” Said a feminine voice behind them.

Sino whipped around, putting the child behind him growling. A short lanky house goblin smiled at them.

“My apologies, Lycan. My name is Macha. I am to be your escort. The Fae council isn’t meeting just yet. Guardian Jackson would like to invite you to join him in the library.”