It was proving to be another cold night without the warmth of a fire. Rasp’s party had traveled until the sun was beyond the horizon before bunking down for the evening. Exhausted, Whisper had gone swiftly to sleep, leaving the others to settle. A lack of fire meant dinner was another cold meal of hard cheese, dried meat, and corn cakes. Not that Rasp was complaining. Food was one of the few things in his life that remained consistently good. The right handful of ingredients could temper moods, foster harmony, brighten the soul, and all without a single complaint.

Unlike Faris. Who took every opportunity to complain, which was a real feat considering his recent commitment to the silent treatment. If there was anyone who could manage such an undertaking, it was Faris, of course. He made his complaints known by sitting as far away as possible, refusing to share his dinner, and, worst of all, giving an irritated flap of his ear anytime Rasp attempted to contribute to the conversation.

It was around the fourth unnecessary ear flap that Rasp was finally bothered enough by it to say something. “Faris, are you still mad at me?”

Rasp received a breathy snort in response. While it may not have been words, It was enough to inform him that Faris was not only still mad from earlier, but positively fuming.

Oh boy, here goes. Rasp pulled a face, realizing the only thing left to do was utter all of the mushy stuff his former self would have kept mum even under the pain of torture. “I’m sorry for being an ass, Dingle. I won’t be so careless next time.”

Claiming he wouldn’t put Faris’s life in danger again was a promise both of them knew he wouldn’t be able to keep. This was a sort of halfway measure Rasp could at least try to stick by.

Faris uttered a single, gruff word. “And?”

“And I’ll be more considerate of your feelings next time.” That sounded like something an emotionally mature human would say. Gods, he was getting good at this. The saying part–not the turning words into actions bit. But there was plenty of time to work on that along the way. The important thing was that Faris now knew he was sorry and the obvious thing would be to put his grudge aside and just maybe share the rest of his cheese.

“And?” Faris repeated.

“...I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were scared of heights?”

“And?”

“Gods, what more do you want? Do you want me to get on my knees for you, Faris?” Rasp assumed the position with his hands flung out at his sides. He edged forward amongst the dried leaves and pine needles, snapping, “Grovel a little bit? Roll around in the dirt, maybe? I’m not a mind reader. Tell me what it is you want!”

After a moment of awkward silence, in which Rasp assumed everyone was staring at him with mixed expressions, Faris answered. “No, this is good. I just wanted to see how far I could push you.” To add insult to injury, the bastard reached out and patted Rasp’s head like an obedient dog. “Your groveling could use some work but, frankly, I’m impressed you got this far. Well done.”

“That’s it. You’re dead!” Rasp launched himself at Faris’s fuzzy shape. The faun went tumbling backwards into the dirt with Rasp scrambling over the top of him. Faris was quick to toss him aside, but Rasp was on his feet and hurtling back over him in no time at all. Grasping each other, they rolled across the leafy ground with neither seeming capable of getting the upper hand on the other. This was surprising, actually. Faris was normally a lot faster to put Rasp in his place.

“I don’t believe this! You’re out of shape.” Rasp laughed as he wriggled free of Faris’s grasp with relative ease. He switched positions before Faris could catch him, hooking the crook of his arm over the faun’s throat from behind. “Four months without me was all it took to turn you soft.”

“I’m not soft!” Faris managed to choke out between sputtered gasps for air.

“Gross. There’s such a thing as too much information, Dingle.”

Over the strained huffs and grunts of their very sad attempt at reconciliation, Rasp heard June’s voice announce to no one in particular. “You know, I’ve seen a thing or two about the birds and bees, but never anything quite like this. It’s like they’re trying to strangle each other with their love.”

Hop, per usual, was focused on the unimportant part of what June said. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret asking, but you’ve seen a thing or two?”

“Well yeah, sure. My home was in this secluded bit of forest just outside of Faris’s village. Aunty Dagmar hid our place real well using magic and whatnot. Very idyllic. Sort of became a secret nookie spot for all the local lovers.”

“Dear gods, there’s that regret. I feel it now.”

“Hey, if they wanted to keep it private, they wouldn’t have been doing it in my front yard,” June said. “Oddly, I only ever saw Faris there once.”

“No, no, no!” Faris sputtered from the ground, where Rasp was still trapping him in a headlock. “June, whatever you’re about to say next, just don’t.”

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“Relax, Faris. I’m not going to say anything scandalous. All I saw was you getting your heart broken by that Billings lad. Real tragic, actually. Was like watching someone’s soul wither and leave their body,” June said. “I suppose I should be congratulating you. It’s good to see you finally found your special someone. Would still prefer it if you two consecrated your love somewhere out of sight, though. Just saying. He is my brother. Feels weird.”

Rasp’s shoulders bristled at the implication. “We’re just friends!”

“Right,” June agreed, unconvinced.

“Tell her, Faris!”

“To be honest, I’m not even sure we’re friends anymore.” Faris panted as he tried to break free of the stranglehold Rasp had around his neck. “This is not how friends treat one another!”

“Agree to disagree.” Over the drumming of the heartbeat in his ears, Rasp could just barely pick out Father’s call in the distance. He ignored it, adjusting his stranglehold on Faris’s throat so that his friend could still breathe but not get away. This, after all, was far better than listening to his father gripe about Rasp scarfing down all of his dinner without sharing. “A true friend gives you the walloping you deserve. That’s how you know I’m a true friend, Faris. I don’t put on the kiddie gloves when it comes time to teach you a lesson!”

“I am not the one who needs to be taught a lesson!”

Croak!

“And yet, our circumstances would be switched if you were in better shape now, wouldn’t it? Consider this my way of encouraging you to do better.”

At last, Faris broke Rasp’s hold and rolled forward, flipping him over his shoulders and into the dirt with a slam. “I’m going to end you!”

The abrupt landing knocked the air from Rasp’s lungs. He managed a weak smile despite the sudden inability to catch his breath. “See? It’s working already.”

Rasp heard Faris’s hooves scrape against the ground as he lunged. Given the lack of light, Rasp couldn’t see the fucker coming but knew he was moments away from having his insides turned into outsides. Wind whipped between them a split second before Faris’s dark form descended, throwing the pair sprawling several feet in opposite directions.

Crap. They’d gone too far, apparently, and awoken the only slumbering member of the party. Rasp rolled onto his side and covered his head, waiting for the whirlwind of debris to run its course. Whisper didn’t have the energy necessary to maintain the torrent for long. As predicted, the gale died down shortly after.

Rasp kept his arms wrapped over his head in the event he provoked a second whirlwind. “Look, I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you, but you could have just used your words you know.”

Don’t speak.

Somebody was grumpier than usual.

Stop running your thoughts and listen. Your father’s mind is moving too rapidly for me to translate. Tell me what he is saying.

The soft pitter-patter of clawed feet hopped along the dirt beside Rasp, indicating that Father was no longer airborne. Rasp listened to the raven’s guttural clicks and caws before attempting to translate for the rest of the group. “He says–”

Using your thoughts, little bird. I fear there are others listening.

The dots within Rasp’s mind not only connected, but started to flash like giant beacons of fire. We’re being stalked, he translated. Father didn’t get an exact count, but they’ve got numbers on their side and they’re closing in. We need to move east before they surround us completely.

I will communicate this with the others. Please remain silent.

Rasp heard a muffled squeak across from him. It had come from June, the only one of the four that had not yet had the displeasure of having a second voice in their head. She was coping better than most though, managing to stifle her surprise.

Whisper had instructed Rasp to keep quiet, not still. He unwrapped his arms from around his head and used them to push his body into an upright position. Tilting his head side to side, Rasp strained to catch any signs of danger. He heard the rattle of the breeze blustering the treetops above and the harmonic songs of the frogs and crickets hidden amongst the undergrowth below, but nothing he deemed out of place.

Warmth rippled across his skin, warning him of a lurking presence that hadn’t been there before.

Drawing within himself, Rasp cut off the outside world and summoned his sixth sense. Due to that afternoon’s unexpected flying lesson, his powers had not yet fully returned. While this meant he didn’t have the reserves necessary to cause mass destruction, he had enough to investigate. Rasp unclenched his hand and his magic swept across the group. With his aura vision activated, he could pick out the individual signatures of the magically-gifted members of the group. Hop’s aura glowed pale purple, June’s was beside the faun, a lovely pulsing green, with Whisper’s sapphire energy glowing brighter than both of theirs combined.

The source of the additional presence was a little further away and…up? In the trees, likely, given its unusual proximity from the ground. It was small, too, and glowed with a green energy similar to June’s. Rasp wasn’t sure if any of the others were watching him, but he tried anyway. He lifted his finger, pointing in the direction of the unfamiliar aura.

Father provided the answer with a low hiss.

A…hawk? Rasp furrowed his brow, unsure of whether he’d heard right. That’s what was spying on them? Sure, he had ravens to do his spywork, but as far as he was concerned, that was an ability tied specifically to his people. Was that something other witches could do as well? Suddenly he wasn’t feeling so special.

Whisper’s voice rippled across his mind. A shapeshifter.

That explained why they had similar energy to June then. Also, fuck. Rasp suspected he knew the answer, but didn’t see the harm in allowing someone else to shatter his hopes for a successful escape. He channeled his thoughts to Whisper, asking, So if we run?

It will follow, Whisper confirmed. Alerting the others of our movement.

You got a plan then?

We kill it. And then we run like all of chaos is behind us.

Rasp’s mind was already scattering in several different directions when his sixth sense pinged stronger than before, alerting him of another magical presence. This one was larger, human-sized, judging from the shape of its glistening silver aura. The magical stranger strode boldly out from between the trees and called out in a nauseatingly familiar tone, “Good evening again, gents! And lady. And…” there was a noticeable pause as Rasp assumed the speaker’s stare settled on Whisper. “Whatever our fae friend goes by. I must say, it’s a relief to finally have all of you together at once. It’s going to make this so much easier for me.”