Fantasy Primacy [Closed]

[cleopat]

Tamsin didn’t like how this was Varick’s first time encountering trouble like this, but it didn’t surprise her. It just made her sad at the life he must have lived with all the casual hatred directed toward him everywhere he went.

But life wasn’t pretty, as she has experienced. It was generally cruel and unfair to those undeserving of it, and yet those who were cruel themselves often experienced the best life had to offer. She remained optimistic and cheerful in order to survive it, and if she could help others forget about the trials life gave them through her music even for just a few minutes, then she would be happy.

But this woman was being difficult just because of Varick. Or maybe because of the snakes. Or both. And Tamsin wasn’t happy with that. She placed her hands on her hips and stared at the woman as if she wasn’t several inches shorter. “But you do have three stables?”

The stablehand faltered, and Tamsin continued before she could utter another poor excuse. “Well then, it shouldn’t be too hard to move one horse around, shouldn’t it? I will give you an extra coin if you do it without going back inside and telling on us.”

~~~

Drazhan was aware of Cherry stepping near him as he dealt with the annoying bartender, but he was surprised by the light gesture of her hand touching his arm. He hid his shock, easily guessing the role she was playing for the bartender.

At least he was responding to her better, even if it miffed him. Just another reminder of how much he merely tolerated humans for what they could potentially give him.

And the bartender easily discussed the festival with Cherry, divulging what was really going on behind the innocent-sounding name.

Apparently not that innocent.

Drazhan frowned and did all he could to hold his anger at bay. Just another reason to despise humans. A festival dedicated to hunting and killing elves? He had nothing more to say to the bartender, and when Cherry turned to leave, he grabbed the food, “Put it on our tab.”

Not that they had a tab, but the bartender wouldn’t realize that until after he had left with the wrapped food in hand. He easily caught back up with Cherry. “This festival is a new low.” He glanced around at the people buzzing with unbridled energy. Actual excitement over killing?

Drazhan never felt excitement over any of his kills, and he certainly never celebrated it.

 

[Lucyfer]

The lass seemed to consider the extra coin, and then sighed, “All right, all right, but we don’t have rooms for you.” That time, Varick had no doubt they had rooms, they were just being exclusionary. After all, she couldn’t go back in and tell on them. This was now a secret that they were even here.

“Fine. There’s other inns.” Varick grunted, and moved with his horse towards the stables. He’d find a place to stick Marzipan in while the other dealt with making room, and taking additional payment from Tamsin. He didn’t really like that, supposed he would owe her a bit for that kindness.

Later.

First things first – getting Marzipan comfortable and removing the snakes.

He ignored the stablehand except for acknowledging when a stall was opened for the snake. He hefted Marzipan’s snake into the stable, and then moved to get the other off of Luna, careful not to upset Luna much in the process, and trying not to be too apparent about his irritation. That was, naturally shot.

He'd roped someone else into this and they were charged for it.

That was upsetting. “I’ll pay you back for this,” he said, when the stablehand was gone, “once the snakes are sold.”

~***~

Kirsikka was about to tell Drazhan off, to go pack up the horse, before she caught his tone. ‘Ah.’ To think she was going to remind him that she wasn’t paying him for getting involved as she moved through the buzzing, excited crowd. People who didn’t see elves as anything more than foxes. Who though they should be hunted down and killed.

“This isn’t new.” Kirsikka said, too many years built up to even be disappointed any longer.

She was just angry.

She paused then, turned to Drazhan, briefly considered the people around them – then sighed, lifted a hand, “Jelecces aqesana bnesym,” well he was going to find out soon enough. The words were fae, a spell to confuse the language except to those exempted – in this case, Primals. Him. She returned to the common tongue. “They have the elves here somewhere. I’m certain of it. No point in a hunt if you don’t have a target.”

And who could say any elf would be near enough the village at this time of year? No elf would be that stupid. They must have been caught some time ago and kept just for this purpose.

A few people glanced over at them, but their look was confused. They heard the words as if they were spoken backwards, and had no idea what was actually being said.

“I should be able to manage an illusion and get them free, you can join if you want, not sure I have anything for you to do but you never know.” Shit could go very wrong in this kind of situation, and an angry Primal was a useful ally.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin huffed at the woman. There were enough rooms for them, but they were just being difficult. Now she knew which inn to keep away from in the future, to never try and perform there, or stay there.

There were plenty of other inns in the area, if they also wouldn’t insist that there’s no rooms for her and Varick.

But as promised, Tamsin begrudgingly handed over an extra copper coin that she had intended to use for food, but now she’ll have to make do without. Or get lucky with her next gig.

She moved Luna into the other empty stall while Varick dealt with his horse. When he joined them to remove the snake from Luna’s back, Tamsin gently stroked the mare’s nose to ensure she would remain calm through the process. Fortunately, Luna proved to be a trooper and offered Varick no trouble.

“Hmm?” she hummed, still stroking Luna when Varick spoke. “Oh, don’t worry about it, honestly. It’s the least I could do. Besides, it wasn’t that much.”

~~~

“Oh, I don’t doubt that this isn’t new.” Drazhan was all too familiar with the hatred toward Primals. The fae have been around much longer to live with the hatred from humans. It only took an excuse to tip that boiling point over and evolve into action.

How much longer until full-fledged genocide?

Cherry muttered words that were definitely not the common tongue. They were fae. He lifted one brow in surprise as another layer that was the mystery of Cherry was unfolded.

He was beginning to understand why she had many secrets.

“We’re gonna talk about that later,” he promised with a pointed finger at her. But that would be saved for later, when they had time. Like on the road. Now, they would focus on the elves that must be locked away somewhere, saving to be used as bait.

He sighed. This wasn’t on his agenda, exactly, but he also couldn’t leave the town, knowing the slaughter that will happen on innocent souls. Simply because they were elves. Drazhan could understand their plight to an extent. Fortunately, humans weren’t keen on actively killing him. As if they could.

“I’ll join you. You’ll most likely need backup, if things go awry.” Or rather, when things go awry. “Then, later, we are definitely talking about this mage business.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick grunted, but still fully intended to get coin back into Tamsin’s hand for what she had done to secure stables for them. He wasn’t the sort who needed it terribly. He could survive in the wilds quite well without needing a warm bed or a meal. He knew how to hunt for himself, after all. He didn’t think Tamsin quite had those skills.

In either case – he owed her.

“Well. You should go find an inn to rest in now,” he advised, “a place to play. Odds are you’ll have better luck without me at your back,” he noted, once the snake was in the other stall. “I’m going to go find out what rumors there are, and what shops are in the area that might be willing to pay for the snakes.” All sorts would find uses, from alchemical shops to armor.

Snakeskin as clothing, boots, or purses, was popular in some circles. All the better if the snake was more than a snake. One could probably mark up lindworm skin quite a bit. Not great for armor, but still, he supposed some people liked to look at it. Liked to brag about even being the one who killed it.

Even if it was a lie.

“I’ll be all right. I know how to sleep in trees if I need to,” it came with just a bit of humor. Just a slight smirk. He didn’t want Tamsin worrying about how he’d manage if he couldn’t get a room. It wasn’t the first time that had happened, either.

~***~

‘We are not going to talk about this later.’ Kirsikka had the urge to wave her hand through the air and try to make a spell of that desire to make him forgetful, but resisted. Memory tricks weren’t her area, even if she’d studied it. She’d studied plenty. Besides, they weren’t going to talk about it. Not in any way he would find satisfactory, at least.

It was better to let him believe they would, though. They didn’t need to argue about that right now when there were lives at stake. So she just nodded, snapped her wrist across the air and lowered it with the same words, reversed, “mysenB anasega seccelej.” The spell ended, their conversation would no longer be obscured.

“Thank you,” she turned away, and was about to try and look for some sort of dungeon or prison, before the crowd all began to move in one direction, and she could hear shouting. She groaned, but followed, assuming she might have better luck figuring things out if she understood what people were doing.

It turned out, they led her right to the elves in the town square.

A group of three, hands bound in a woven metal all too familiar to Kirsikka for preventing magic from being cast. It was also around their necks. “…and don’t let this rabbit fool you,” a portly man who had likely been rather well built in his youth was saying to the crowd, holding one who looked no older than a human’s fourteen years by the chin. “They may look like a child, but they’re far, far older, and far more vicious! Still, for their supposed youth, we’ll have to give them a thirty minute head start, rather than fifteen.”

Hissing.

Booing.

Laughing.

Kirsikka again touched Drazhan’s arm, to draw his attention only a moment, “I’ll be back.” She turned from the crowd, and sought refuge behind a building, still hearing what was going on.

“This one was found trying to steal from the governor’s wife!” And he roughly pushed away their chin as he went on to introduce the last of the three – they’d apparently missed the introduction of the first, the set-up for why they all deserved to be hunted.

‘That metal is going to ruin any of my illusions.’ Kirsikka clenched her fists. ‘Well, not all….’ Actually, she had an idea of what she could do to disburse some of the crowd, but she couldn’t hide the elves from sight as she had hoped.

As the speaker went on to start introducing the would-be hunters, she bent and plucked grass from the ground. She began to weave it into a form while speaking softly to it. “Knysah tyd diis ehlnasahdis, Tadunxiayc ad vmaldana, Lnaclana lunbina, Ad vmaldana yt esbaneis.”

She felt the grass bend with her command, and watched in her hands as it began to naturally grow and take a humanoid shape. She cloaked it in the illusion of an elf, and sent it out from behind the building before she focused on the rest of nature around her, on the growth she still felt brimming in her fingertips, and she lowered them to the ground.

And then an oversized beanstalk erupted through the stage, splintering it. Talk halted.

And Kirsikka threw her words into the straw-elf, her own voice having to whisper it, while it came as a shout from them, “LET THEM GO!” though of course, she knew that wouldn’t work. She just needed to draw them away. Draw them from the stage to make it easier.

 

[cleopat]

The sad reality was that she was indeed more likely to find a place to rest and play without a Primal standing next to her, and she didn’t like that. Damn people with their prejudices. Tamsin encountered some being a woman who traveled alone, but nothing to the extent she could imagine that Varick encountered all too often.

She frowned at the humor he tried to inject in his statement. Trees couldn’t be comfortable to sleep in, regardless of if he knew how to properly sleep in them. Everyone deserves a warm, comfortable bed! But she had a feeling she wasn’t going to convince him to accompany her. He had his own mission in mind now.

“If you’re sure,” Tamsin sighed, moving to unbuckle and untie her bag from Luna. Carefully, she shifted the bag onto her shoulder, mindful of the lute in its case still slung over her shoulder and laying across her back. “I hope that you find what you’re looking for.”

Even though they had just met, Tamsin felt some sadness at their parting. She couldn’t quite explain why, except for fascination. “I’ll see you around, Varick,” she lifted her hand in a parting wave and offered a friendly smile, but one she couldn’t quite feel in her soul. She left the stable, not making eye contact with the stablehand as she did so, and set down a road for another inn.

~~~

They followed the crowd, and Drazhan could hear the man talking about their rabbits for the hunt before they could see him. He scrunched his nose in disgust at the sight of the elves chained and being heckled at, the youngest no more than a mere child.

Humans may hire Drazhan to occasionally slay monsters, but sometimes, one had to wonder who was the true monster, and who was just trying to survive this harsh world.

Drazhan’s attention was torn away from the chained elves when Cherry touched his arm, and before he could say anything, she disappeared. He watched where she went, wondering what she had planned for this debacle. And now that he knew she was a mage, her plans could involve literally anything he couldn’t even begin to think of.

This should be interesting.

The townsfolk were too busy jeering and booing at the elves to pay Drazhan much attention. As he pushed forward through the crowd, some glanced up at his eyes, but there were no double takes or glares of hatred. All that energy was reserved for the elves.

Then chaos erupted.

An elf appeared from behind the building, just as a large beanstalk erupted through the stage, sending people fleeing in confused fear. Drazhan didn’t hesitate before he ran to the elves, drawing his sword to threaten anyone who dared to come for the elves in the chaos. “Follow me!” he urged, motioning them to follow him behind the building he saw Cherry disappear to.

He hoped her magic could remove the chains, for he was doubtful his sword would be of any use, especially with the chains around their necks.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick nodded his farewells to Tamsin, fairly certain it would be the last time he would see her. He did not end up in the same inn or tavern as her – did not end up in a tavern at all, but found the tailor willing enough to put him up in his home for the snakes. As well as a bit of additional payment. Varick wasn’t upset to find him, or to stay in a house.

He still left early that morning, though. Didn’t stay for breakfast or to bother anyone further. He did resupply in the market, rations for himself and a few extras that he had been running low on. It was in the market he overheard a few rumors as other people were shopping for supplies.

Ritherhithe. ‘Isn’t that where Tamsin said she was going next?’ He almost sighed, before he shook it off. Well, she said she would be here a couple of days. With any luck, he’d get there first, and have this issue checked on. It at least sounded like something more up his alley, if only because the creature being spoken of didn’t sound typical.

That usually meant curses were involved.

That, and the secrecy of it. Something in the sewers, luring women? Strange place to pick up women, let alone lure them. There was plenty fishy about it, enough that Varick figured he ought to investigate it a bit, and see if anyone was willing to pay to have it done. With the secrecy? Probably so.

Probably someone who wanted to keep it just as quiet.

With plans in mind, and some coin in his pocket, he returned to the stables, but made a stop at Luna’s first.

“Hm.”

No bags left. No place for him to slip the coins. He went to check the saddle just in case, but found nothing there, either. He sighed and checked himself for any spare bags, figuring he only needed a small one to drape over the horn of the saddle, but he found none in patting himself down and emptying out some of his pockets. “Damn.”

~***~

Kirsikka saw through the strawman’s eyes as Drazhan jumped on the stage, but she would not hinder his decision. The straw-elf led a few away on a chase, before it fell to pieces, far sooner than Kirsikka would have liked. The reason was fairly simple, and yet not what she expected – Drazhan had brought the elves around to where she was, and the presence of the metal dampened her magic. She lost her grip on the straw-elf and the illusion.

She cast a wild, angry gaze up at Drazhan, but snapped it away just as quick. He wouldn’t know – how could he know? Still, she walked forward, grabbed one of the elf’s chained hands, and lifted it, “This dampens magic, or they could save themselves.” She didn’t fully know if it was true, they might not be magicians themselves, but plenty were.

Some of the hunters did choose to follow Drazhan and the elves, and they found them just as Kirsikka let go of the woven metal. “All right then,” they weren’t getting out of this with an illusion, and all hopes of doing this peacefully through misdirection were officially off the table.

“All right Primal, you’ve had your fun – we’ll give you some more along with the elves. Never hunted a Primal before,” one of the hunters said, stepping forward as Kirsikka stepped back, several feet, until she felt the dampening wear off. “And you – not sure what your role in this is, miss, but—”

Kirsikka took the heat of the sun. The heat of the air. She did not bring it into herself, but forced it out, channeled it into a fireball that she held in her hand as she raised it. “I would reconsider,” she said lowly.

The elves, caught in the midst of it all, understood the protection. In truth, the child understood everything, so when one of the adults tried to move towards Kirsikka to get further behind, they gripped their own chains and held their ground. When the adult looked back, the child shook their head, but didn’t explain the need to keep distance from the mage right then, instead looking for some way to be more help than hindrance in the moment.

“Now, miss, you don’t want to be doing that.”

“No, what I’d really like to do would be to freeze the water in your blood and watch you die in agony, but I’m feeling generous today,” Kirsikka put on a very, obviously, fake smile. The manic gleam in her eyes was quite sincere. “What I would like to do would be to capture your children and let the elves hunt them for, oh, I don’t know, getting mud on my skirt. What I’d like to do, is leave this town in shambles, your heads on spikes, and your ears cut off, to send a message – but as I said. I’m feeling generous.”

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin ended up at an inn not terribly far from the stable that was fairly busy. Plenty of people to entertain, and they had an extra room for her. She bartered with the innkeeper, promising an evening of fabulous entertainment. The innkeeper wasn’t quite convinced, as he hadn't heard of her name before, but eventually offered a room for half-off and a hot meal in exchange for a performance. If he liked it enough.

She didn’t like that arrangement. He could easily take advantage and say he didn’t like it at all and not compensate for her performance at all, but she didn’t have much choice. She was low in coins, and her stomach growled in hunger. So she took the offer and entertained the people, plucking her lute and offering lively jigs on her fiddle.

Fortunately for her, the innkeeper enjoyed her performance, and she had her discounted room and hot meal. She wouldn’t be able to restock on some supplies with the coins she had left, but Ritherhithe offered greater opportunities for coins. Larger town, more people, more places.

And she definitely wasn’t bitter at the current town for denying her a chance to perform at the festival before the one in charge of entertainment even heard her. Leave the performances to the real musicians.

Tamsin wouldn’t let that get her down. She had the future to look forward to.

She returned to the stables, bag and instruments in tow, and she was pleasantly surprised, if not a bit confused, at the sight of Varick in Luna’a stall. “Well I didn’t expect to see you so soon.” She only showed mirth at his presence, no lingering effects of her disappointing time in the town. “Did you miss Luna that much?”

~~~

Drazhan knew he had fucked up somewhere before Cherry could even open her mouth. The angry, frenzied look in her eyes spoke all. Well excuse me for not understanding magic. He hadn’t much experience with it, having only encountered a handful of mages in the past, and none of which with magic-dampening chains.

But he didn’t respond to her before the hunters found them. “And there’s a reason you’ve never hunted a Primal before,” he growled, standing in front of the elves as a protective barrier between them and the hungry villagers.

Cherry seemed to have everything under control though. His grip remained tight on his sword, but he watched as the fireball formed in her hand. This was not a woman he ever wanted to piss off. He wondered why she even needed an escort into Pomachion. She seemed like she could take great care of herself.

Some of the hunters wanted to call her bluff. Her threats were harmless, they were sure of it, despite the fireball. Despite the grandiose display in the town square. “Only an animal would defend another animal,” one said, stepping forward with his weapon raised.

Drazhan readied his sword, but he didn’t attack just yet. His gaze flickered over to Cherry, curious to see her magic in action.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick hadn’t expected Tamsin to show up that morning, either, though he wasn’t too surprised. It was obvious Luna was more than just a pack animal to her. He grunted, shrugged, “I do like horses,” and Luna had helped out, “but no, that wasn’t my reason for coming by.”

He stepped forward to Tamsin, noted her bags, and reached to slip a silver into the pocket of one rather than hand it to her. She’d already denied it. That didn’t mean he wasn’t parting with it anyways. “For the help,” he said, before stepping by her and towards his own horse, “I’m on my way now. I got a lead on something going on in Ritherhithe. No use staying here any longer than necessary, now that I’ve unloaded the snakes.”

As proven by the empty stall between Marzipan and Luna.

He decided to add, for the faith in humanity bit, “A tailor let me stay in his house for the snakes. And added some coin.” They weren’t all bad. That didn’t mean as a rule he trusted most humans. But some weren’t terrible. As Tamsin didn’t seem to be, now that she’d had sleep, and recovery.

If she was going to show a new face that was cruel and ungrateful, now would have been the usual time – but she didn’t seem to be showing either. Nothing in her greeting suggested displeasure at seeing him. Or seeing him with her horse. He knew even nice people would have been suspicious about that.

~***~

Kirsikka didn’t really need a reason to act. In her mind, she had written every hunter off as despicable for what they were about to do. Yet, she waited for the excuse. She waited for the hunter to step forward with murderous intent, and she hurled a stream of fire at him with one hand. He thought to block it with a shield, raising it up quickly, but all it did was push his arm and shield back against his chest.

All it did was melt and crack the shield, and let the metal burn into his chest, burn over his arm, before the flames reached his beard, his face, his hair. His scream was pure anguish, but Kirsikka only let up both when she knew he would die, and when the others moved to run, or charge.

She dipped forward, low, hand still aflame, and when she rose with a swooping gesture of her hand, a wall of flame erupted between Drazhan and them – some ran into it, and ran out on the very wrong side. Kirsikka ignored them for the moment, launching fireballs instead at the backs of those fleeing.

They were scum, fleeing only because they were scared, not because they had learned anything that day. To leave them alive was to put an enemy at her back, and she had enough of those already.

Her breath steamed out. Her body was chilled as she drew on its heat, but her eyes kept that murderous flare in them as she stalked away, “I can find you. Tell me what your horse looks like and I’ll get it with mine.” Kirsikka said, deciding there was little need to keep playing. She could get through a town of farmers and hunters of rabbits just fine.

The town might not survive, but the town deserved everything if they continued to stand in her way.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin watched Varick step forward and slip a coin into her bag, though she didn’t immediately see how much it was. “I-wait, what?” she sputtered, looking down where he placed the coin and back up at Varick, eyes wide. She had already told him he didn’t have to do it, and yet he paid her back anyways.

Even though she wanted to argue against it, she wouldn’t, because she was in desperate need of some coins after the disaster of the town. Something to last her until Ritherhithe. “You know you didn’t have to, but thank you.”

And apparently Varick was headed in the same direction as she. “Oh? And what’s going on in Ritherhithe?” She stepped forward and started strapping her bags and instrument on Luna. “I just so happen to be headed that way today. I wouldn’t want to encounter another monster.” Tamsin reached inside her bag and pulled out an apple, feeding it to Luna as she stroked the horse’s neck.

“Oh, I’m glad you found somewhere to sleep last night! I admit, I was a little concerned that you never found anywhere to rest,” she confessed. After Luna chomped on the apple, Tamsin double checked all her bags, making sure everything was secure in its place. She bit her lip, considering for a second what she wanted to ask Varick next.

But if they were both headed in the same direction, perhaps it would make sense. “I suppose you don’t want any company on your journey to Ritherhithe, do you?”

~~~

If Drazhan had any ounce of empathy in his body, he may have felt some pity for the hunters going up in flames. Yet, he didn’t, not as they doubled down on their bigotry and tried to come after all of them for simply rescuing the elves.

He watched Cherry dole out the damage at them in an inferno of rage with fascination and genuine interest. Interest in what else Cherry could do, or what more she was hiding from him, and what power lingered beneath her skin. A reminder to never piss her off.

Maybe sleep in different beds. Maybe.

“He’s a dark brown horse, will sometimes react if you say his name, ‘Bear’,” Drazhan responded after a brief second of not recognizing that she said anything at all, his thoughts still processing what he just saw her do. His sword was still drawn, but most of the townsfolk were now running in the opposite direction, away from the rage of the mage.

“Before you go, do you know a way of removing the chains from them?” He motioned to the elves, who were still heavily defenseless. Without Drazhan or Cherry, they would be as good as dead.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick knew that he didn’t have to, according to Tamsin, but he couldn’t leave that hanging. It wasn’t her place to get involved on his behalf, and she had lost coin for it, not just something as ephemeral as reputation or dignity. Coin, at least, he could restore. Nonetheless, he said nothing more to it, not wanting to continue the conversation and risk having the coin returned. Best to leave it where it was.

“Not sure,” he answered the question of Ritherhithe instead, “something with sewers and missing women. I’d suggest not going down into any sewers, and you should be fine,” he gave a grin as he began to retack Marzipan, the horse patient, though perhaps a bit jealous of Luna’s apple. Varick offered her nothing additional; she had eaten in the stables, of course.

The lass didn’t neglect her, at any rate.

At the question, Varick hummed. He didn’t really travel with company. It didn’t usually go well. “If you can maintain my pace,” he said, “I don’t see a problem with it.” He knew he’d have to get off Marzipan and walk a few times. It wouldn’t actually be too hard. He wasn’t heading there at a gallop. Sure, there was a monster issue – but that was everywhere, really.

He didn’t see a need to treat this one as anymore unusual than all the others he’d gone to deal with. Even if the people in the situation might disagree.

~***~

Drazhan said not a thing about her actions. Nor did the elves murmur amongst themselves, so Kirsikka only took the information on ‘Bear’, and paused at the additional question. She glanced back, shrugged, “The key would be a good start,” not that she knew where that was. “Otherwise, lockpicking. With some lubrication you might slip their hands free, but I doubt their heads.”

It was problematic, but she didn’t feel terribly sorry about not knowing a way. It was better they were alive. Something could be figured out, assuming the elves didn’t run off to handle it themselves at some point down the line. The kid seemed to understand, obvious enough by his frown at her answer.

She wasn’t sure if the others did.

She let the flames fade in her hand, but didn’t fully put it out after she left Drazhan to figure out what to do. She only killed the flames when she stepped into the stables. The stablehand, unaware of anything going on, let her get her horse, and pick up Drazhan’s – he remembered which one was named Bear, and helped her go about tacking it all up. Ignorance was bliss. She tied a lead to Bear before mounting up Zephyr, and trying not to sway and fall off.

The chill set in. She felt heavy, the sort as if she’d just tired out all of her muscles in a winter storm. It wasn’t pleasant. ‘Just make it out of the town.’

“Caxiun bnesym,” she murmured under her breath, to track Drazhan by what he was – Primal. Always easy to track something when there wasn’t much of it around.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin chuckled, “Well there goes my usual pastime of scavenging the various sewers of different cities.” She had absolutely no reason to venture into the sewers of Ritherhithe, but now she knew if someone tried to lure her down there, to run and try and find Varick immediately.

She trusted herself to be smart enough to not follow someone she didn’t even know into some strange unknown area of a city she didn’t know.

Tamsin beamed as Varick agreed to travel together to Ritherhithe, as long as she could keep up with his pace. Unless he was galloping the entire way, she saw no issue with that. “I think I can maintain your pace.” She was too used to traveling, and being on the road, between towns, made her too nervous at times.

Bandits, monsters, anything could attack a defenseless woman.

~~~

Drazhan entertained the idea of simply ripping the metal open, but if it was magic proof, he didn’t think it would break through conventional means either. And he would need to be careful with the metal wrapped around their necks anyways.

Lockpicking would be easier to manage than hunting down something to lubricate their hands with while being hunted down themselves.

He couldn’t work on picking the locks there. People knew where they were, especially after the spectacle Cherry displayed. They would need to go somewhere else, while no one was chasing them, where he could safely focus on unlocking the chains.

“Follow me,” he whispered with a motion of his head. The youngest frowned, but whatever hesitation he held disappeared as he turned to the other elves and nodded. Drazhan was their only chance for escape right now.

No one noticed as Drazhan took them further away from the town square and down an alleyway. Now away from someone who could stumble upon them, although not completely with his guard down, Drazhan turned to the closest elf, the child, and pulled out a small knife that had been useful in the past for similar reasons.

By no means would this be the first lock he picked with that knife.

“Okay, let’s see what I can do,” he mumbled, starting his work on the chains wrapped around the elf’s tiny wrists.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick grunted, but grinned a little at her comment of the sewers as he finished tacking up Marzipan. He drew her out of her stable, nodded, “Well, if you do feel an urge to go around the sewers, have an escort,” he suggested, although he knew she had been kidding. Ideally, she wouldn’t be drawn in to begin with. It would be better if she just didn’t plan to go venturing to try and help, either. Or because of curiosity.

She certainly seemed the curious sort to be wandering as she did. Most people preferred to stay nearer to their homes, rather than go venturing far and wide with no guarantees. He doubted any of these places were near to her home.

He wasn’t sure where that was.

“Well, if you think so,” he would lead Marzipan out, but wait near the stable entrance for Tamsin, “Have you ever been to Ritherhithe before?” It wouldn’t be his first time, though it had been a few decades since the last visit.

~***~

For Kirsikka, a light led the way to where the Primal was, though no one else would see it. Thankfully, plenty had run off, many hiding from the elves they now assumed were free, others to regroup their forces and figure out a better plan of attack, and the rest went seeking Kirsikka, the elves, and Drazhan.

Drazhan had not left the town.

He hid in an alleyway, and seemed to be picking the lock with a knife. Kirsikka was able to discern that much from atop her horse, sighed, steam coming out, “This is your first rescue, isn’t it?” not that she knew how to pick locks better.

She slipped off Zephyr’s back, keeping a hand on him to keep herself steady. ‘That was a bit much with no preparation….’ She gave a dismissive wave with one hand, “Whatever, the horses are as good as any illusion,” she pulled Zephyr forward by the reins to help block the alleyway, and then went to move Bear around to block off the other side so he would at least be harder to see.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin began to untether Luna, who seemed grateful to finally be leaving the stable for their next adventure. “Maybe if I decide to go on a little adventure, I’ll just be sure to tell you.” Varick looked like he would be a great escort when faced with unknown monsters. Certainly better than the average townsfolk of Ritherhithe.

But she definitely did not fancy venturing down to the sewers. Sewers smell.

With her horse, Tamsin walked to the stable entrance, where Varick waited for her. It had been a long time since she traveled with another person, and Tamsin was actually a bit excited to finally have someone else to talk to, even if Varick didn’t seem like the one to talk too much. Or reveal much about himself.

Just as long as he didn’t mind her talking.

“I have, several years ago. I had some success there, so when I came back to this area, I figured, why not go back and see if I have the same successes?” Hopefully it would be some guaranteed coins, or at least room and food. “What about you?”

~~~

Drazhan heard Cherry and the beating of hooves against the ground before they showed up. He breathed a sigh of relief, partially because he didn’t have to remain on high alert while simultaneously focused on picking the complicated locks, and also because she returned without incident.

He completely freed the first elf as she spoke, and he bit back a groan at her question. He did shoot her a glare, though. Everyone is still alive, I think I am doing a good job. “I normally kill things, not save them.”

This was, in fact, his first rescue mission that involved an angry mob.

He was appreciative of Cherry maneuvering the horses to hide them from immediate view. He focused back on picking the locks, picking each successive one a bit faster now that he was familiar with the locking mechanics of those particular chains.

Magic blocking, they may be, but they were far from immune to anyone with lockpicking skills.

“And done,” Drazhan announced as he freed the last elf from the chains around her neck.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ritherhithe wouldn’t be too strange a place for either of them by the sounds of it. Varick wouldn’t mount up immediately as Tamsin joined him, just nod, and walk off, leading Marzipan along. No need to get up into the saddle until they were out of town. Navigating people and city streets was easier that way, he found. The less busy and crowded paths were better for just horseback.

“Mm. Last time was a while ago,” he left it vague; not everyone knew the lifespan of Primals. Hells, he didn’t know how long a Primal would live if it had a natural life. For all he knew, it was older than sorcerers. He didn’t think any Primal yet had ever died of old age. Best not to startle Tamsin too much. He knew the gray made him look old, but not over a century old.

He was still proud of that, too. A bit of vanity.

“They were dealing with a…heh,” he chuckled and shook his head, “not sure if you’ve ever heard of it, but a poroniec,” he said, sighed, as he remembered the difficulties of it. No one wanted to own up to it. Who did? Poroniecs were either stillborns, or unwanted children left exposed, who came to haunt near their place of birth.

He had narrowed it down, of course. “Not as happy a situation as your riches.” No one really wanted to pay for that kind of fixing, either. Especially in this case, where the child had been a shame, and deeply unwanted by all parties. They didn’t want to see the innocence of it, or its suffering.

~***~

Well, that confirmed that this was, indeed, among one of the few rescues Drazhan had done. Not surprising. Primals weren’t exactly hired for rescue missions. They were hired to kill things. So, Kirsikka led the horse around, and then stepped into the alley herself as the second was freed, and then the third, the chains still emanating with their power, but once they were left behind, it would be easier.

The last elf touched her neck, before letting out a sigh of relief, and then turning to the child among them, speaking.

“Thank them. And ask if they will help us on our way. We cannot get through here on our own. We need only make into Fateborne Woods.”

Kirsikka understood, but pretended she didn’t as the child looked to her, rather than Drazhan, “We thank you for the help, and ask more. We need to venture to Fateborne woods to return home.”

“Done,” Kirsikka said, “on the condition you broker safe passage for us through Elphyne.” There was an uneasy look, before he translated it back, and there was a bit of an argument, demands to know why they were going through Elphyne anyways, but again, Kirsikka pretended not to understand, until the child translated.

“We cannot guarantee, but we can promise to speak on your behalf.”

Kirsikka shrugged. “Good enough. Drazhan, can you go find me a mirror and break it into four shards? I can put an illusion to cloak our appearances until we get into the woods.” She could find a mirror herself, but she assumed it might be better to take up the ‘guard’ position of this alley for the moment.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin led her mare by the bridle, following right beside Varick, despite their difference in stride. She did a little hop over a puddle that was in the middle of her path. “I don’t think I’ve heard of a poroniec before.” Not that she was surprised. She didn’t know too much about monsters, though there were a few she heard of before, mainly as bedtime stories parents tell their kids to scare them.

But Tamsin wondered, what stories were true? And what were distorted as they were passed from person to person?

Maybe she could learn a little more about monsters from Varick on their journey together to Ritherhithe.

“So what is a poroniec?” she asked. “Are they anything big and scary like that snake you saved me from?” Tamsin was imagining a large creature with terrifying, pointed teeth and claws as sharp as knives.

“If Ritherhithe has a frequent history of monster encounters, then maybe I should reconsider going back.” She chuckled, largely just kidding, though some part of her did wonder at the actual safety of the city. Were monsters drawn to certain areas more than others? Or was it merely just coincidence?

~~~

Drazhan couldn’t understand what the elves were speaking to one another, but he kept his focus on their body language and their facial expressions to gauge what could possibly be spoken between them, especially as Cherry attempted to negotiate a trade of safe passage.

He only thought it was fair, after all, for saving them from certain doom. But he remained silent for the moment.

Until Cherry turned back to him for a small mission. Acquiring four mirror shards. He shrugged, “Sure, that’s easy enough to find.” Not really giving a shit about private propery, he was sure it would be easy to find a home that was empty due to the town’s ‘festivities,’ and breaking a window or opening a locked door was no challenge for him. All child’s play.

So he set off out of the alleyway and down the streets, casting his eyes slightly downward so as to not attract any attention to himself. A few from the incident may be able to identify him easily, but most won’t be able to unless they see the yellow of his eyes.

Down a quiet street, Drazhan noticed a window that was ajar. How lucky. Pausing outside the window, he listened for any stirring within the house, and fortunately for him, there was none. Only chattering from down the road. Casting a quick glance around, he opened the window further and slid onto the sill before throwing his legs over the edge and into the house.

Being such a small dwelling, it was easy to spot a small mirror hanging on the wall. Drazhan grabbed a blanket draped over a chair and wrapped it around his fist. Given his Primal abilities, the precaution may not have even been necessary, but small cuts could be annoying. The mirror easily shattered under his force, and Drazhan dropped the blanket to pick up the four larger pieces to pocket.

He didn’t wait another minute before making his way out of the house and back to Cherry and the elves, pulling out the pieces as he did so. “Here you go.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick made sure to keep his pace from being too fast, despite his statement earlier about Tamsin keeping up. She’d manage better on the horse, or at least, he assumed she would. ‘I’ll find out.’ Though he found he wasn’t really thinking of leaving her behind. Sure, there was something going on in Ritherhithe, but he didn’t know how much of an emergency it was. If it was a great one, someone would have already sought out another Primal.

Perhaps he’d find one there.

He never knew how many were alive at any given time. Not until he returned to Geot Draath and learned of news that had arrived in his absence of those who fell, or those who…left. That was never something Varick had considered even possible, until it happened.

He still didn’t think Drazhan had truly escaped. No Primal could.

And somehow, poroniec was a happier subject than Drazhan. “Poroniec are…well,” he sighed, still, in considering how to tell Tamsin in a way that wouldn’t scar her for life. “Some children are unwanted. Or wanted very dearly, but never arrive. In both cases, the parents don’t always go through the proper burial rites for them – mostly, giving them a name,” he said, “a poroniec is what comes of that, sometimes. It’s not very large, but it’s far more powerful than those snakes because of all the untapped potential of a life never lived.”

They were also quite tragic. All that potential, and nothing to put it towards, except anger, rage, confusion – no wonder they lashed out, they did not even know their name, or the hopes and dreams their parents may have had, the love they may have had.

“Not hard to rectify, the burial ceremony and naming can take place at any time, the problem is finding the parents to claim it. And if no one will, well…then it has to be put down for good.” And even he didn’t want to do that. He would, of course – but it was such a tragedy to show the child was unwanted twice over, to kill it twice over.

He grunted, “Enough nobles and rich merchants wanting women to seem virgins in Ritherhithe. It was bound to happen.” Virginity was such a stupid concept. His time in brothels when he needed a touch of comfort with no strings and little talking showed him an immense preference for those who knew what they were doing.

~***~

As Drazhan left, the elves again talked amongst themselves, with the child first explaining what was going on when Drazhan left, and then questions of what Kirsikka was going to do with the mirror. Which, again, she didn’t explain until it was expressed to her in the human tongue by the child.

“I have a mirror of my own,” she said, “I’m going to enchant the shards through it to reflect an image so we can walk out of the town,” she answered, as if it were such a simple thing. It was, to her, of course. Illusions had been her forte for ages. Literal ages.

Drazhan returned soon enough with what she asked for, and she took three from him, “Hold on to that,” she told him of his shard, before handing it out to the others, “look into the mirror. Capture in your mind an image of a normal human. Someone unremarkable.” She said, as she went to her horse and took the pocket mirror from inside one of her saddlebags, and walked back to them.

In the mirror, the image she saw was her real face.

Under a potion, it was the only face she could go back to – but for just getting out of the town, she didn’t think it would be a problem. It was unlikely any of them knew her face, and the red-hair would not become connected with the mage who had acted.

It would be fine.

“Eh ulimec saec di sidydis,” she murmured, and caught the look of surprise from all three elves, before their features became human, ears rounding, face rounding.

“You knew all along what we said!” The female accused, pointing at her as her form became her natural one.

Kirsikka shrugged, “Yes, I did. But he doesn’t understand.” She gestured back to Drazhan, though his form had changed to their eyes. “I learned from your kind. Shall we go?” And to Drazhan, she said, “Lead the way,” he was still her escort, so he could dictate how they moved out of here, and towards Elphyne. “I’ll break the spell when we get a bit out of town. Until then, put the glass in your pocket, and don’t break it.” She translated that back to the elves, as well, though they now looked at her with as much suspicion as a human did a primal.

Mages were not trusted when they knew their language, and for good reason. Much of their knowledge had been stolen, not given over freely.

“Who are you?” It was the child who asked her.

“My name is Kirsikka, of Mont Pellinor.” Once it had been Kheimon, but that was a long, long time ago, and fairly irrelevant compared to Mont Pellinor. She expected it would all sound like nonsense to Drazhan, so she didn’t consider him hearing it.

 

[cleopat]

Poroniecs weren’t the scary animalistic beasts that Tamsin had imagined in her mind, but rather the unwanted and the damned children whose greatest misfortunes in life happened upon their birth. “That’s just…tragic.” Tamsin couldn’t imagine the grief of the parents losing a wanted child, or the thought process of those casting away their unwanted newly born.

“I didn’t realize humans could create monsters.” And calling them a monster didn’t exactly sit right on her tongue. Not for these children of tragedy. But what other name could she call these poroniecs?

She wasn’t so starry-eyed that she was naive to the horrors of the world though. Tamsin knew the depravity of what humans were capable of. To children. To women. To anyone and everyone. She had experienced many cruelties that humans were capable of, but despite that, or maybe because of it, she refused to let the realities of their world to dampen her spirits.

“It seems that the nobles and rich merchants of Ritherhithe are no different than anywhere else,” Tamsin said, her demeanor dropping for a moment as she relived some unpleasant memories that weren’t as far in the past as she wanted. But there was no use in dwelling on the past. It only brought her mood down.

As the crowds lessened and the streets led them out of the city, Tamsin paused to mount her horse. Now she would have no issue of keeping up with Varick, unless he had significantly more stamina than she and didn’t need to stop to eat or sleep. Somehow, she didn’t think that was the case.

~~~

Drazhan kept his mirror shard, and as prompted, he looked into the mirror and imagined himself as an unremarkable human. Maybe someone he subconsciously remembered from a tavern in a previous town. Dark hair, darker skin tone, dark eyes, and a slightly softer figure. Just merely getting rid of the yellow eyes was an improvement to look more unremarkable.

Turning back to Cherry, Drazhan couldn’t help but to look for a few seconds longer than he should have. He was staring respectfully, yeah. That was it. He was admiring what this mage could do.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, and just in time to witness the exchange between Cherry and the elves. It didn’t take him long at all to understand what had happened. Somehow, his travel companion was a mage who could speak the language of the elves.

Every minute that passed, she became more and more interesting to Drazhan, and he will get his answers he sought.

He merely raised one brow at Cherry before turning to his horse, grabbing the straps and leading him, and the others, down the road and towards the safety of the wilderness.

How ironic.

“Maybe you should stop pulling out such surprises on me. You’re becoming far too fascinating,” he said to Cherry, the hint of an impish smile on his lips.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘Those monsters are my specialty.’ Varick thought to say, but didn’t. The cursed were what he preferred. He could save them. Sometimes. His lingering disdain towards humanity also played a role in it. Sometimes, humans just disturbed monsters for no reason, or wanted them dead for no reason other than their existence. Yet, he had to protect humanity. From the monsters. Even those of their own creation. And how humanity could curse!

Instead, he made a simple comment, “You’ve never met a pissed off mage, have you?” it was said with humor. Certainly, she heard stories of witches and warlocks cursing people to terrible fates. With the Council of Light, that was spreading. Of course, never about their members – anything they did was a miracle. But anyone who opposed them? Oh, they’d turn you to frogs, or worse.

They’d freeze you from the inside, out, if rumors of the Boreal Wind were real. Varick had never seen magic to that level, and still wasn’t sure if he believed it possible. Then again, magic was hard to understand the limits of.

Sometimes, it seemed the only limit was imagination.

At least, where it came to bards and propaganda.

He got into his own saddle as they left town, and though he put Marzipan to a bit more than a gentle trot, he still made sure that Tamsin was keeping up on her own mare. He could tell that she had experience with expectations of women. Not unexpected. “Sometimes seems like those of lower status are better off, doesn’t it?” Perhaps not with food, or riches, but with choice.

No one really cared what they did. How they loved. So long as they stayed in their place, their doings didn’t matter. “For the record, I don’t judge. I don’t care. Life’s hard enough.” He didn’t know why he said it, but he felt he ought. If they were going to travel together, she ought to know he really didn’t give a damn if she was a whore famous from one port to the next, or a lover of women exclusively.

“I only put judgment on monsters. That’s all that pays. And sometimes the pay isn’t worth it.”

~***~

Kirsikka took the reins of her own horse, intending to follow at the rear to keep the elves between herself and Drazhan. Of course, he had to pass with a comment, and though she rolled her eyes, she still felt the spike of cold terror. Did he understood what she said? Did he understand how interesting she was?

No, probably not. The elves didn’t appear to know the name off-hand, though she saw the quieter one mouthing ‘Mont Pellinor’ with recollection, and looking towards the female. ‘I need to keep the child from saying too much.’ As she took the reins, and they fell in step behind Drazhan, she spoke again.

“His name is Drazhan. He knows me as Cherry, not Kirsikka. Please don’t use that.”

The child nodded, though the other two didn’t seem to offer much of an answer. Likely, it didn’t matter. They didn’t seem to speak the human tongue. “You’re not one of the Council of Light mages, are you?”

“No.”

Not that it improved things much where she stood with them.

“Were you…were you at the battle?” the quieter man hesitated to ask. As he opened his mouth to speak the name of the place, Kirsikka gave him a dirty look, and he shut his mouth. The name on its own was the same in both langauges, after all. Even Cherry and Drazhan had been said as proper names. Drazhan might have caught his own. Might have caught Cherry. Which just made ‘Kirsikka’ another strange word in all of it.

“Yes.”

Simple answers as they moved through the town, no longer drawing attention from those they passed. Well – she got a few looks. Red-hair had that disadvantage, but she disregarded it, and none seemed willing enough to say or do anything while she was with the group.

Not gave her any familiar looks, at least.

But there were guards posted at the entries, and exits, of the town. “Halt,” they spoke to Drazhan now, of course. He was the apparent leader of their group, “We’re not to let anyone out until we find the rabbits and the interlopers. We’re sorry, but you and your family will have to stay a little longer.”

Kirsikka resisted the urge to laugh.

The elf child was quick to play along, though, and rushed to grab Drazhan’s hand as if he were a ‘son’, “But it’s so dangerous now, papa.” Yes, he’d been a clever thief, and a clever child.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin easily kept up on her horse with Varick’s and his mare’s trot. Later on, she may request a break for both herself and Luna, but for now, she could keep up with the pace without worry. “Pissed off mage?” she hummed. “Can’t say I have. Only met one before, and she complimented my singing.”

Of course, she’s heard stories of mages being as powerful as they are beautiful, and they cursed those who dare to cross them. There were even whispers of the Boreal Wind, but Tamsin wondered how many of the stories were simply just that, bedtime stories told by parents to their kids to teach them not to cross mages.

There was a lot out there that Tamsin was ignorant to, even with her travels.

“Maybe those of lower status are indeed better off,” she agreed. As long as they stayed out of the way and didn’t challenge the status quo, no one thought twice about the choices and decisions of those of lower status. Life was already hard enough without having to think about every little societal expectation.

Which is why Tamsin ignored it and did what she wanted. She just wanted to enjoy life!

Tamsin gave Varick an amused look. “I feel similar. Life is hard and short, so as long as you aren’t causing anyone harm, do what you want!” Sometimes this resulted in some people making false assumptions about her personal life and how often she preferred activities that warmed her back, but that was fortunately in the minority. A sometimes very loud minority.

“I’m curious, if you’ll humor me. What is normally the pay for slaying these monsters, or breaking their curse?”

~~~

As Drazhan didn’t speak the language of the elves, he didn’t bother to focus in on their conversation too much, as it would be futile. He did, however, manage to make out his own name, as well as Cherry’s. He glanced over at them with a lifted brow, but spoke no further on the matter.

He didn’t need to know what they were talking about at the moment (unless it involved an escape plan - that was important), and any further inquiries could wait until they were safely out of the city.

Which apparently may be easier said than done, as a guard stopped them at their exit. Drazhan sighed and knelt down to smooth back the hair of his ‘son.’ “I know it is, my child, but these men are just doing their job. If they say we must stay until these bandits are caught.”

He stood back up and faced the guard that spoke, a weary expression on his face. “I’m sorry. All of the turmoil today has frightened my son, and my pregnant wife,” he motioned to Cherry, “is beyond exhausted. We’re just trying to get home.” He brushed back the hair of the elf child to show his human-disguised ears. “Look, none of us are obviously these rabbits. We’re just a family of farmers who want to get home.”

He still clasped the child’s hand in his own, and placed his other hand on the child’s shoulder. “So can we please pass?” The clever child sniffled and let fat tears roll down his cheeks, ready to demonstrate how much a tired child can cry.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick snorted a bit at the comment about doing what one wants, but he couldn’t deny the allure. Of course, he was never certain precisely what he wanted. He couldn’t just go wandering off and be a bard. Or a carpenter. He’d considered it a few times, of course, just settling somewhere and living…normal.

What he was prevented that. There was nowhere in the world that would allow it easily. He’d bring trouble, wherever he was, in any town that actually did accept him. He’d never really get to do what he wanted in the same way as Tamsin. He had to hunt beasts to get his gold, so he could keep living.

Just…living.

He shrugged at her question. “Depends.” There was a much longer answer to it. It depended on his mood. It depended on the beast. It depended on who was asking, and why they were asking – if they had something to do with the curse, or the beast running rampant. It depended on their own wealth.

He decided to say, “I don’t charge a farmer as much as I charge a king, even if it’s the same sort of thing. Only thing with much of a steady going rate is dragons, and I don’t hunt those.” He probably could, but he saw no reason. Dragons were intelligent creatures, though few knew that. Dragons were smart enough not to make a habit of interacting with humans.

Although he heard rumor some learned to shapeshift to hide themselves.

He wouldn’t be surprised. He’d seen stranger things in the world.

~***~

While Kirsikka might be a little irked that Drazhan chose her as the wife, it was the only option that made sense. The other two didn’t understand the language, and couldn’t play a convincing role. She, however, could – and she could wear exhaustion easily before the guard lifted his head to look at her, a touch of anger in eyes that already bore dark circles from too much wakefulness. Last night’s sleep was indeed a rare treat for having a bed, let alone several hours of sleep. It didn’t erase the exhaustion of the journey so far.

And anger was to be expected of one expecting, who was not getting their way. A tired, exhausted anger, that anyone with a mother would have recognized, leveled at the guard who did indeed know the look of someone about to give up – but it promised nothing good for anyone when that happened.

And the child began to cry.

The guard looked hesitantly at the group, acknowledged there was no way they could be hiding anyone. There were no carriages or wagons in their entourage, just two horses, perhaps for the woman expecting and the child. The others in the party, he wasn’t sure how they fit into the family, but he was willing to overlook it with a sigh, “All right, all right, just be quick about it.” He gestured them on, stepping out of the way.

The child hiccupped in catching on his breath in fake-gratitude, and so didn’t say anything to that.

Kirsikka forced the “thank you” as she passed, tinged as it was will that lingering frustration this even had to be an issue to begin with. The other elves passed in silence, not willing to give themselves up with an accent or butchered word.

The child would wait until they were a bit further on, and then grin up at Drazhan, wiping away at the false tears, “Thank you,” that was quite sincere, of course. Drazhan had played along well.

 

[cleopat]

Tamsin was about to ask, depends on what? She was curious to learn more about him, and compare the facts to the fantastical and ridiculous stories she had heard about Primals over the years. She knew the rumors weren’t true. They never were. Maybe some were based on facts, but it was never the whole picture.

Humans had a knack for overemphasizing the details of a story. And this was coming from a bard!

“I guess the opportunity to earn gold would decrease if you charged everyone a king’s price,” she mused. She get it. Take every advantage you could to earn more coin. Tamsin knew that if she was presented with the opportunity to perform in a court again, she would see how high she could make her asking price.

Sure, she said she didn’t care much for coin or fame, but treating herself to a new dress to perform in, and finally being able to purchase an oud, would be nice.

“Really? Never hunt dragons?” Tales of fierce dragons and noble knights were part of her bedtime stories as a child, and in the stories, the dragons were always the same. Posing a grave threat to the city until the noble knight swooped in and saved them all by slaying the beast. Though, she hadn’t actually heard of dragons destroying cities in recent history. “What if one became troublesome for a city?”

~~~

Drazhan could’ve breathed a sigh of relief as the guard relented and allowed them passage out of the city. “Thank you, may the gods smile on you.” He wanted to spit out the bile that pooled in his mouth at the words he directed to the guard, but he maintained a pleasant face until they were out of eyesight and earshot of anyone that may be hunting them down.

His face softened with the elf child’s words. “You are a talented actor. Great quick thinking back there.” He sent a friendly wink in the elf’s direction before he straightened back up and looked over at the others. Still in disguise, which Drazhan would recommend until they were further away from the city.

The guards may send some people in the area to search just in case they figured that their friends slipped out somehow.

“So, Fateborne Woods was it?” They still had a deal, and Drazhan would be foolish to go back on their deal. He and Cherry would need that safe passage through Elphyne, though Drazhan was beginning to wonder why she hired him at all if she was capable of such powerful magic.

In the end, coin was coin.

If the sun was to his right, then they were facing north. They needed to head west. “I guess we shouldn’t waste anymore time, unless we want to risk the chance to see our friends again.” He walked up to his horse and grabbed the reins from Cherry.

 

[Lucyfer]

Varick snorted at the thought of a dragon posing a threat to a city. Not that it didn’t happen, but those were rare. People assumed a dragon was posing a threat if it was simply living in a mountain or a cave nearby. “They probably deserved it.” Which meant there could be some reasoning done with the dragon, rather than slaying.

Not that he was interested in either. A dragon in that situation was likely to spew fire upon anyone who approached in armor with a sword. And he wasn’t daft enough to leave either behind.

Then again, many of those cursed deserved their curse, as well. Not all – there were certainly innocents mixed up in all of this. He usually didn’t charge them nearly as much. Others, though, he was willing to charge quite a bit. Those who had lied and misled him about the cursed infant he certainly charged for.

It all could have been solved quickly if they’d been honest from the start.

“I suppose dragons being in the right don’t make for good songs, though.” Noble knights on their steadfast steeds were the good stories. Not the dragon wronged by humanity. Nor even the dragon who looked after humanity for a few sheep – no, that became extortion in a new generation, rather than genuine protection.

How quickly humans forgot.

~***~

‘I wouldn’t mind seeing our friends out here.’ Outside of a town, where Kirsikka could truly harm them without much regard for the structures of buildings or the lives of children. She wouldn’t say that, of course. Her temper had gotten her in trouble more than once, and she let Drazhan take the reins of his steed as the child explained what had happened to the other two elves with them.

And that they were continuing to Fateborne, of course.

One of the elves looked back to Kirsikka, “How much longer must we stay in these guises?”

“Until the woods, at least.” She answered, and saw the irritation. “Humans still walk these roads, and can cause a fuss.” So it would be better to stay like this…although as she thought it, she felt her heart sink. She was also more likely to run into trouble on the roads herself. It had been a stray party of mercenaries who identified her before she made it to town.

There could be others.

She’d pretend it wasn’t going to be an issue, though. Pretend it would be fine. The odds were still slim.

The child, meanwhile, briefly translated the discussion to Drazhan, “They’re talking about breaking the illusion, and when. Ki—Cherry says not until the woods.” He tried not to flush or show any hint of embarrassment.

And Kirsikka only gave him a mild glare to the back of his head.

 

[cleopat]

“No, I guess they don’t,” Tamsin shrugged. Songs were meant to be tales of romance, adventure, and great bravery, and dragons simply wanting to be left alone didn’t fit that narrative. Tragic, really, now that she had the chance to think about it.

“Or maybe it just takes the right bard to write an epic ballad about a dragon and how it saves a village from the real monsters. Or…something akin to that,” she continued with a shrug of her shoulders. If she could learn more about dragons, maybe even she would take on that challenge herself.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, as a question just came to her. “Have you ever been to Antalya? If so, did you ever come across a monster around that town?” Tamsin was merely curious about how close monsters have ventured to her hometown, if she would have ever seen one if she just so happened to walk outside the city gates one day.

She couldn’t recall any rumors or stories about monsters, but that hardly meant anything. Not since she was barely an adult when she left her home.

~~~

Of course, Drazhan wouldn’t mind seeing their friends outside of the town either. He had no qualms about a little bloodshed on those individuals deserving of it, which, in his cynical mind, many humans were deserving of it. Especially those rounding up innocent elves for summary execution all in the name of a festival.

The world was a vast place. Not ever coming back to this village wouldn’t hurt his gold potential in the least.

The elves spoke again, in the language Drazhan couldn’t understand. He was slightly annoyed, moreso at himself, that he couldn’t understand what they were saying. He hated being out of the loop, even though he didn't think they were discussing anything of importance, but fortunately the child elf gave him a brief summary of what they were discussing.

And Drazhan did notice the minor slipup.

He raised a brow, but said nothing in the moment. He glanced over at Cherry, then back at the child. If she had already fabricated a tale about who she was in the little time they’ve known one another, why wouldn’t she be hiding her name? Drazhan wouldn’t press for her true identity later. If she didn’t want to tell him, that wasn’t his business. His business with her was safe passage.

But that didn’t mean he may ask a question or two for curiosity.

“Thank you,” he said to the child. “And I agree. The woods would be safer. We don’t want to attract any trouble beforehand and suddenly have a mob on our ass.” Not that he didn’t think they couldn’t take out a mob, especially not with Cherry’s powers, but they needed to try and get to the woods as quickly and quietly as possible.

“I know it’s probably not the ideal situation, but,” he shrugged, “it’s the best one.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Again, Varick felt some amusement at Tamsin’s assessment that it just took the right bard to craft a story about a dragon. “Maybe.” He’d seen the way music could alter people’s opinions, mostly in the political realm. He supposed it could do something for a dragon’s reputation. “Bard would probably have to know a dragon, first.” It took a personal touch, from what he saw, whether hatred or love.

He didn’t think escorting Tamsin to meet a dragon would be a good idea, though.

Besides which, she didn’t have the gold for that kind of risk.

She mentioned a town and he hummed, thinking. “Probably before you were born, a couple of decades ago,” he didn’t know how close it was to her birth, had no idea the connections to it being only a few days afterwards. Of course, he didn’t know the exact date, either. It all blurred together. “There was a Despoina kidnapping infants. Wasn’t really willing to talk about it, either.” She wouldn’t be reasoned with. “Not that Baba Yaga sorts usually make for good deals.”

Many old witches that weren’t human he lumped into that category. Despoina was a kind of sea witch he put into that category, “So she had to be killed.” And the children returned. Thankfully, they were alive. “I haven’t heard anything about the town since then.”

~***~

The child burned under his guilt, noting Drazhan’s reaction, but he didn’t say anything to that. Clarifying would just make it worse, he knew that. So, he let Drazhan respond, and his agreement was passed on to the others as they made their way along the road, until eventually, they turned off into the woods.

It was after a few minutes of walking that Kirsikka finally called out, “Wait a moment,” and paused the group, “Give me your shards,” she said, extending her hand to collect them so she could erase the spell and revert everyone back to their natural forms, safely.

One by one, the elves gave her their shards. Once she had Drazhan’s, she took out her own mirror which she’d used to cast the spell, and once again spoke in Elvish to release it. The four shards she held brightened, the image reflected in them fading under the bright light they were emitting, until they went black all at once.

The spell released.

Their faces were back to normal – save Kirsikka who resumed her potion-created illusion, but no one needed to know it wasn’t natural. She dropped the blackened shards and crushed them under heel, causing one elf to flinch, “It can’t hurt you now.” It could have, if it had been cracked while the spell was active.

One of the elves then said, “Let us go ahead. We’ll inform others you are coming to broker safe passage.”

Kirsikka’s eyes narrowed, but the child interjected, first speaking in the common tongue, “We need to go ahead of you two. We’ll move faster on our own, and we won’t appear to be hostages to our people,” he looked from Kirsikka, to Drazhan, “I know it doesn’t seem ideal to humans. It seems we’d go ahead and betray you, or not offer our help, but we won’t. It’s a…cultural thing in these situations.”

Humans wanted the guarantee by having them present.

Elves wanted the guarantee by seeing their people show up free. “You know the way, right? If not, we can leave signs behind.”

 

[cleopat]

The bard would definitely have to know the dragon in order to compose the proper ballad about one first, and unfortunately for Tamsin, she didn’t know any dragons. Nor did she wish to experience how they reacted to humans who didn't immediately pose a threat.

But oh, if she could ever meet one!

The incident Varick described felt familiar to Tamsin. She scrunched her nose as she thought about why it did, when it finally clicked. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “I know what you’re talking about. If I remember the stories correctly, that only happened days after I was born.” Of course, being a baby of only a few days old, she didn’t remember the incident with the Despoina.

She only heard of stories the older villagers told over the years. She didn’t even know if she was one of the babies taken by the Despoina, but surely her parents would’ve told her if that had happened.

Tamsin looked back over at Varick, silently gauging his age. “That must have been early in your career as a Primal, was it?” She still had no clue about his real age, only a guess based on how he looked. And he looked like he wouldn’t have been that far into adulthood at the time of the Despoina incident.

~~~

Drazhan handed over the glass shard when prompted, happy to finally see his original self again. And he could imagine the elves felt similar - no longer in the bodies of the species that tried to kill them.

He didn’t think anything of the elves needing to go ahead to let their kind know of his and Cherry’s desire to broker safe passage through their land. It made sense to him. Let the others know so they won’t attack first and ask questions later. He would rather not have to defend himself against any creature he had no qualms with.

And while he wasn't terribly knowledgeable in elven custom, he had heard of that one before. Or, rather, something similar. To let others know of individuals that need their help. Spread the word so no one would mistake Drazhan or Cherry for intruders upon their lands.

“I know the way,” Drazhan confirmed. But he hesitated a moment. It was an area he knew how to navigate, but the opportunity to gain a little extra help presented itself. He couldn’t think of a reason why he may need some guidance, but he couldn’t help but to think, anything could happen.

So he continued, “But signs would be appreciated, thank you.”