“You have a bunny rabbit on your shoulder.” Berber Snake sat at the table with a bowl. I could not recognize what it contained, but I did see that it was not watermelon. I was surprised and amused.
“Why yes. Yes, I do. Do you recognize it?” The black bunny was indistinct, as if made from smoke. But under my hand, it felt solid. The bunny’s black eyes gave Snake stink-eye and was rewarded for its insolence with an unkind cheek-pinch from me. It squeaked an apology (for being caught) and compressed itself against my shoulder.
Snake smiled and made a show of counting invisible things around me. “And bunbun makes seven. But why a rabbit?”
“Smile for the nice man.”, I commanded the rabbit. It lifted its head and did just that, showing sharp carnivore teeth, and front teeth that started out needle tipped but grew serrated towards to the gums. When Snake’s smile only deepened, the wounded rabbit buried its face against me and pouted. “I think, because at the time it decided to specialize I was considerably more anxious than usual. I had seen a multitude of rabbits as calming pets, so it decided to be my calming pet. It was a visual trick, I knew it’s one of my minions, but petting it worked in calming me. So it kept the form. However, nothing in my hands remains innocent for long, so I now have a cute, shadowy bunny of devouring doom.” I smiled and shrugged. “And to be truthful, Snake, I like that.”
Snake laughed. Bunbun squeaked. Six shadowy wisps played around me. “You managed to keep them from spawning more.”
“Yea. I’m Queen Bitch here.” I laughed. “The number is going to remain at seven for the foreseeable future.”
“Speaking of bitchcraft…” He stood up. “There are things I have to take care of, so you’ll be running around the realms without my controlling glare keeping you in place. Do try not to set fire to anything important tonight.”
Two of the minions burst into laughter. I smiled in revelry. “Don’t torch anything. ‘Anything’ is singular. Therefore, make sure I torch at least two things, the more the better. Gotcha.”
He rolled his emerald eyes and deeply sighed. “Nice to see you, too.” He left, but not before I heard him chuckling.
It was nice to relax and idly pet the bunny. The others weren’t jealous, and had seemed to accept that this was the specialized role of that particular minion. To help keep me calm when there is no reason to be anxious.
I wanted to stay in the lair all night, because it’s been a long time since I had a cuddling pet, real or otherwise, but there were leftover agendas from the night before to take care of. I needed to talk to Esse about a few things. The prospect of walking into his realms did not sit well with me. Oh well. I’ve walked into worse encounters. And I need to get past this paranoia somehow. I packed up my gear, along with a few bribes for the passage, and left for the Forest of Shadows.
It was late spring in the forest, and it had been a wet one. Marks of flooding was everywhere. But after the floods came unusual heat. The exposed ground was cracked and shattered. The Shambling hives would not have their expected amount of food by now. The floods would have chased out whatever didn’t drown, and the unexpected drought would have kept them away.
I came to my favorite hive, those that shared their dreaming with me. The ground around the stump was dry and hard. I wondered if they had gone into famine mode already. Instead of leaving my offerings on the stump, I cleared away some light debris and laid the meats on the ground directly. Sides of dried beef and hanks of cured ham were pulled from my satchel. A few dried salmon were placed as a special treat as that fish is unknown in these parts. I saw a few tendrils of fungus reach up where the meats touched the ground, but otherwise there was no response.
The satchel appears bottomless to those that would be watching me. It’s not. It’s just connected with the shelves and certain stores in the lair. I tapped into one of those stores, guessing that the forest would be dry, and began pumping water from a prepared barrel over the meats. As the water ran off the offering, the forest floor under me began to ripple. More fungus tendrils reached up from the ground, tasting the water, the meats, and my shod feet.
Oh yea, new boots. They won’t recognize the taste. I placed my hands in the puddling water and was immediately covered in tendrils.
“Friend.” The Shamblings drank greedily of the water and rose from the floor in short heaps. “We have not forgotten you.”
“Nor have I forgotten you, my friends. To make up for my absence, I bring you meat and water. Forgive me?”
“What is there to forgive? Have you wounded us? Do we fear you? You bring comfort when you come. If not food, then stories.” The hive soaked up the water as fast as I was pumping it out. Only when the water began to spread beyond the shallow around the stump did I stop. They turned their attention to the meats and began pulling it apart. I knew they would eat some now, but the bulk of it would be brought to the depths of the hive, far from the reach of scavengers. Because it is dried, they can reserve it for the leaner times ahead and allow themselves to gorge on what they can catch during the autumn season.
“I wish I could stick around and slip into mudform with you, but I am only passing through today. I have errands elsewhere, but it would be very poor form of me not to stop and say ‘Hello’ in words and deed.” I watched as the hive inspected my boots, learning every taste and slip of them. “I’ve missed you.”
Muddy debris crawling with roaches and worms wrapped gently around me and squeezed. It is a show of trust from me, as my instinct was screaming to get away from the devouring decay. But it was also a show of trust from them, as the fires I can summon with a thought can utterly destroy the hive in seconds.
I note the parallels between the Shamblings and Esse. How both could destroy me, yet neither has. If I can get over my innate fear of decay and embrace the Shamblings, I can get past my paranoia and work with Esse. I think.
I hope.
I don’t know.
Paranoia is a bitch.
I hear some clunks and see they have pulled the bones out of the meats and have piled them on the stump. Bait. Why stalk your prey when you can entice your prey to come to you. The unwary will see a pile of apparently discarded bones on a stump in a small clearing. If they are hungry or foolish enough, they’ll come straight to it. And walk right into the middle of the waiting hive.
I leave the Shamblings and their feast. Without the need to keep a form for me to talk to, the squat forms fold themselves over the meat. Five steps away from the hive, I look back. There are the bones and scraps on the stump. The forest floor has settled debris around it. To the unwary, no one has been here for days. I smile and continue on towards the boulder that serves as the gateway to Esse’s realm.
The trees of the Forest of Shadows are already blight-stricken and twisted. But in the areas around the boulder, they have been turned to stone. The Forest of Shadows became the Stone Silent Forest. There was accumulations of dirt blown in from elsewhere, but no fresh leaves fell. The ground was pebbly and sterile. Everything was cold stone. There was rumor of a basilisk being used as a guardian to the svartalfr’s realms, but no one has been able to confirm or deny.
The last time I came this way, I was attacked and restrained. This time, I would not be so easy a target. I changed form into the tall pale alfr that I had been given for traversing the Nine Worlds. If a basilisk was patrolling the area, it would not be able to focus on me as my form was part shadow. As I continued the walk to the boulder, I did see something moving among the trees, and smelled something like rank fowl, but the something never came close enough for me to identify. If anything, it moved as if it was trying to remain clear of me.
I knew if I did spy the creature in the face, and if it was a basilisk (or a cockatrice), that my curiosity would turn me to stone on sight despite my shadowy form. I took a cloth and bound my eyes. I did not need eyes to see after all. I smirked when I realized I was wondering if I looked ‘cool’ with the binding.
I heard voices as I came closer to the boulder. “There’s no one out here! You heard your stomach!” “I’m telling you, I heard footsteps! Now shut up! You’re giving us away!” “We’re breathing! That gives us away! There is nothing here but that damn thing and stone and us and your loud stomach that you keep feeding!” “Last time you said that, a human almost snuck past us.” “How you didn’t smell that human from far off, I don’t know. Oh, wait. I do know. You were eating.” “And you were giving me shit for it and I didn’t hear it until… what’s that?” The voices silenced and metal slid against stone.
I stepped in the shadow of a stone tree. As long as I didn’t move, I was invisible to human and most alfar. Two dark-skinned alfar moved through the silent forest warily. They happened to pass on either side of me. I stood with my back to the tree, ready to strike if necessary. They brought no fire with them, being able to see in the dark. One looked through me to his fellow. He furrowed his brow, not trusting his sight.
His fellow’s stomach suddenly rumbled. The first scrunched his face in anger and looked away. They continued past me, daggers drawn, slowly stepping further into the darkness. If I move, I’ll give myself away. If I stay here, I’ll never reach Esse. Time to push my luck.
“A human would have heard that stomach a league away. And heard your bickering for twice as far!” I stepped out of the shadows behind them. I stood as if I was their commander, and allowed my facial expression to judge them severely. “As if that wasn’t bad enough, you know what patrols these woods and have taken no means to protect yourself in your search for glory!”
The two alfar whirled around as if to attack me, but when I did not flinch nor show signs of wavering, they looked at each other in confusion.
“Are you two so full of each other’s semen that you do not recognize your superior! Or did you think that action went unnoticed as well!” It was wild speculation on my part. I noted their bickering was of the type that close couples engage in. There are no homophobic taboos among the svartalfar. Stuck in a remote outpost, babysitting a door that no one would be able to reach, and having long boring days really drags on any sentient mind. Somehow I don’t think they played pick-up-sticks to pass the time.
My speculation struck true. They turned a deeper shade and snapped to attention. “Sir!”
“Report!”
“We heard… that is… There was a noise!“
“You heard me giving you a custom invitation to investigate and prove yourselves proper, and instead you argue about lunch.”
“Um… Yes, Sir.”
“I would feed you to the forest beyond the stone, but you’ll only give it indigestion and then I’ll have to deal with a double dose of worms! I’ll have you know, I spied a human in the forest beyond. Maybe the forest will eat him, maybe not. But the way you two have been acting, that human is sure to know you are here. If he comes close…”
“We’ll take care of him, Sir!”
“You better. I go to see the Commander. When he comes to investigate my report, it would be best if you proved my report wrong. Understand?” Even though my eyes were bound, I still gave the motions of glaring intensely at the two alfar. They saluted me and promised to prove themselves proper.
“Continue your patrol. And eat only when safe to, and only one at a time. And drink semen on your off time, not while on duty, or I shall begin a collection of phalluses.” I did not wait for an answer from them, but whirled around and strode with quiet purpose towards the boulder. How I kept a straight face, I do not know. They saluted the wake of my passing in vain.
“Shit. We’re in such deep shit.” “I know.” “What do we do? What will he tell the Commander?” “Everything, of course. Which means we better make sure that human is nowhere near, or if he is, that he stops being.” “Yea. Okay. Wait. We don’t need to blindfold ourselves. We can turn to stone!” “Yea, we do. Because it can turn us into other things.” “Oh, yea. We’re in such deep shit.” “Yea.”
If it can turn svartalfar into something other than stone, then it is not a basilisk. It’s much more dangerous. Good to know. I should find out what its favorite snack is and bring it some with my scent on it. I continued striding with purpose, never running, until I came to the large boulder that was out of place in the forest. The forest came first. Esse had placed the boulder here for me to have quick access to his realms in case of an emergency. For a long time, the boulder was simply overgrown with moss. One day, the creature came and petrified the area around the boulder. It has been guarded since then. I do not always have access.
I wiped windblown dust and dirt off the boulder. I do today.
Looking back, the two guards are far beyond my senses. The creature, however, is nearby. Just on the edge of my hearing. And moving deliberately so I would hear it. I turned my head towards its direction and spoke softly. “Good evening, guard. You have done well. I wish I knew how to honor you for your vigilance and your discretion.” The creature huffed quietly and moved out of my hearing. I smirked and opened the portal to Esse’s realm. Still in my alfr form, I stepped into the boulder and left the forest.
The chamber had runes and bindrunes carved into the lintel over the door. Other carvings were along the tops of the walls. They glowed softly blue to my bound alfr eyes. A table stood in the middle of the room. Esse sat on the other side of it, pouring mead into a horn and holding it out to me.
“Well done, Commander.”
I snapped to attention and saluted Esse in the same manner the two guards had saluted me. “Commander Esse! I wish to make a report!”
“If it’s about those two scrapings, don’t bother. I keep them there for amusement, as you just enjoyed. Now sit down, Wolf. You have earned the respite.”
I took the horn and saluted him. “Should I drop the alfr form, or do I get to mindfuck with others?”
“Keep it. Your presence will shake up those under me. And keep your eyes bound, they’ll give you away.”
I sat down and drank from the horn. He watched impassively.
“You did not check the mead?”
“Paranoia does not serve me well among those that are not my enemy.”
“But I am not your friend. You have said as such.”
I winced. “I’m trying to learn, Esse. It’s a hard lesson. Trust.”
“It is. Which is why I have done nothing to the mead.”
“That, and rules of hospitality?”
“I never invited you in, you know. Those rules do not apply. Intruder.”
“Oh hell. Don’t gank me today.”
“I won’t. This time. I know what it cost you to come here. You abuse yourself far better than I could.”
I glared at him evilly but only finished off the horn. “Seriously, though. Those two shits are in need of corrective action.”
“You think that little of them?”
I placed the horn in the stand. “Quite.” I told him of how I was able to get past them. “And if they suspected I was not alfr, they never betrayed that. I was never challenged. I scared the hell out of them like a visiting superior officer and waltzed right on in.”
“And my… pet?”
“Dogged me to the stone, but allowed me passage.”
“I see why your opinion of them is so low. But I have my reasons for placing them there.”
“Okay. Your regiment. Your decision.”
He filled my horn with more mead. “You didn’t come here to test my defenses.”
“No, I came to test mine. And to seek advice. And to remind myself why I called you friend before.” I raised the horn in salute and sipped it.
A knowing smirk twisted his face. I felt my fear and paranoia try to surge at it. I swallowed the irrational response back down by chasing it with mead. He waited until I had recovered myself. “Your defenses are in need of overhauling. We’ll work on that, while you tell me what pushed you to brave entry.”
I spoke to him about my concern. Someone in the Waking has been used to send a message along to me and I was none too happy about the treatment of her headspace. But before I race off headlong into a personal response and possible trap, I wanted to confer with someone that could see behind the illusions.
He listened to the rendition and asked pointed questions. On the fourth horn, he made his pronouncement. “You are correct to suspect that is a personalized trap. You are correct to suspect the one attempting to portray [that person] is not. The location hinted by the message, have you been there since?”
“I’m intentionally avoiding it. As I worry that merely by investigating in person, I’m going to set off some shit.”
“Good. Continue to avoid it. I shall send my own investigators there.” He chuckled. “Of a better caliber than the guards, I assure you.”
“What’s your game, Esse?” The mead was finally making me warm.
“Game?”
“You don’t dedicate resources without a payoff to be had. This is very much a Weaver problem. You don’t have to investigate.”
“It is, as you say, a game.” He raised his horn. “I could use the amusement.”
I rolled my eyes. “Ass.”
He smiled, a genuine gesture. “Yes.”
There was a knock on the door. A messenger came in, with a report from the two guards in the Stone Forest. “There are reports of an imposter infiltrating the grounds, Sir!” I kept my back to the messenger while holding my tongue and my humor.
“The description of this imposter?”
“A Ljósálfar [light elf], Sir! Attempting to appear as a cave-dweller! He used his brilliance to chase away the guardian of the Stone Forest Gate and throw confusion on the guards!” Still facing Esse, I gripped the horn with both hands to keep from falling apart in giggles.
“Is that so. How may this imposter be quickly known, then? How did the guards determine the ruse?”
“The imposter cast no shadow!”
“Ah. I see. Who else has this report been submitted to?”
“None but you, Sir!”
“Then submit it to no others. If any should ask, tell them I have been notified, and I am investigating the claim. Oh. And send a message to the guards. Tell them, ‘They are messy eaters.’. Dismissed.”
The messenger left, closing the door behind him. My lips were tightly pressed in humor, but I kept quiet. “Breathe, Wolf. Or you’ll pass out.”
I allowed myself to spill into barely muffled giggles. “I’m a light-elf, now, eh?”
“Yes. One that casts no shadow.”
“Holy fuck, Esse. Why do you keep them there?”
“Entertainment.” His stoic demeanor failed him and he chuckled along with me. “I may have need of your mercenary services, Wolf. That is, if you trust me to scratch that itch for violence you have.”
My humor fled. “Depends. What kind of services?”
“If all goes well, it shall be a display of force. A psychological assault.”
“And if it does not go well?”
“I would like forces that can deliver as promised. If you require an excuse to indulge, I shall remind you that you are an intruder here. You owe me, should I choose to enforce the debt.”
“Don’t make me kiss you.”
“I don’t hate you that much.”
“‘That much’? Gee, thanks.” I gave him stink-eye while he sat back and gloated over me. “I’m in.”
“If I have need of you, I shall summon you. Otherwise, I have no further excuse for tolerating a stinky light-elf in my presence.”
“Stinky?!”
“You smell of [Shamblings]. Reek of them, actually.”
“Oh. Yea. I did visit them on the way in. Oh, for fuck’s sake, Esse, how did they not pick up on that?”
“Like I said, I keep them there for a purpose.”
I placed the horn back in the stand and stood up. “Thank you, Esse, for tolerating me. And for listening to me. And for advising me. I hope to pay my debt with honor.”
He stood as well. “You are welcome, Wolf. As your soul heals, you will understand more. And you always pay your debts to me with honor. I never doubt that.”
“You’re still not going to give me the doll back, are you.”
“Nope.”
“Ass.”
“Bitch.”
We smiled and laughed like we did years ago, as friends. I held my arm out. He looked at it for awhile, long enough to chill me, then grasped it. “Remember this.”, he said quietly.
“I’ll try.”
“Dismissed. Commander Wolf.” I did a half-ass salute and left his chambers. Instead of appearing deeper in his realms, or back at the Stone Forest Gate, I emerged from the forest just beyond my lair. I saw a familiar landmark in the distance and reflected on the trap I had avoided. If I can jump by associations, then so can others. Yes. It’s best if I avoided all reflections of that place until Esse gives me the all clear.
I dropped the alfr form and started past the edge of the forest when three shades came from the shadows cast by my lair’s fire. I stopped and braced for combat.
“[Weaver], [redacted], [Drummer]. We greet you.” The three shades appeared as classic phantoms. Tall individuals draped in shadow. They appeared solid from the torso up, but faded to floating nothing as you looked down. They approached me but kept a respectable distance, and bowed.
“That’s an interesting name you gave me there. Who am I greeting in kind?”
“Those of your realm would call us ‘demons’.”
“You three are neither infernal, nor individual. But are three emanations of one will. The English word ‘demon’ that you used, however, could mean many things depending on context and understanding. Help me understand.”
“We come not for harm, but to create. We ask your help. We ask you drum for us in the manner you know best.”
“Oh. Those kind of demons. It’s a misnomer, really. The meaning has been twisted by a few millennia of intentional malignment of certain cultural views.” It sunk in what they were asking of me. “I’m not… I couldn’t. I mean, I’m not… knowingly… capable.” I looked at the phantasms in askance. “But then, it wouldn’t be me, would it. It would be [redacted]. Okay. How can I help?”
They asked me to put away all unnecessary items, and to bring only a certain handdrum. I entered the lair, locked the minions away, and came out in only a certain skirt and drum. The phantasm ‘demons’ poured over me and much of what followed could not be processed later, much less written and explained.
I opened my eyes to find I was in the lair once more. Fifty feet of silent concern was coiled around me. I looked up to see Snake’s large serpent head regarding me cooly.
“In my defense, your Honor, I did not set fire to a damn thing. Not even with the so-called demons.”
He did not answer.
“What was my condition when you found me?”
“Naked. Muddy with fine black dirt. I washed you off in the River, and where the dirt trailed away, algae blooms followed.”
“As if the dirt was the seed of life and just needed water?”
“Now that you mention it, yes.”
“I thought you sent them to me.”
“Who?”
I told Snake of the three phantasm ‘demons’ and what I was able to remember of what happened. He settled his head on my chest as if to keep me from leaving ever again.
“No. I did not send them.” The tone of his short answer betrayed he had many more questions. He spoke none of them.
We stayed in that embrace for some time. I had almost dozed off into deeper sleep when I felt a familiar pull on my soul, and a familiar shifting of the skin on my back. “Move, lughead, I gotta go to work.”
“Esse.”
“Yup.”
“What did you promise him, this time?”
“Well you know how I have a bad habit of barging into places?”
Snakes tail rattled, shaking the bones in my chest. He was not pleased.
“You said, not to burn anything down. You said nothing about meeting an old friend and asking advice about some shit. This is his payment. Being a merc.”
“Payment, or excuse?”
“Let’s not allow facts to get in the way of wild supposition and angry indignity, shall we?” I slipped out from under his weight with some effort. I took the shield off the wall and the trollkona face-shield as well. “Besides. Better I be that here, than in the Waking, don’t you think?”
Snake grunted and coiled himself into a tighter knot of disagreement.
“Yea, fuck you, too. Any souvenirs? Where ever I’m headed, it’s going to be Nine Worlds related.”
“Yea. You. Without a meltdown. And in full grasp of your mental faculties.”
I laughed. “I’ll try. But I think sanity sold out a few decades ago. Would you like the low-calorie version?”
He sighed. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
The feather cloak shifted into the shaggy hide. I was definitely under Esse’s influence. I tucked the axe in the belt loop and hefted the shield. “Please do.”
To my surprise, I did not lose awareness on entering Esse’s camp. There were many warriors assembled there, from many different ethnicities and eras. I reported to Esse at once.
“You came quickly.”
“I have a debt to pay.”
“How is your dear guardian?”
“Sulking, of course. What’s the plan and how do I break it?”
“You realize I’m not going to tell you the entire thing, because of your habit of breaking things.” I laughed. He smiled. “I want you up front, right in the middle of the line. Do you have your black axe? Of course you do. The rest of the forces will be arranged behind you in a wedge formation with you at the tip. Do not hide your face. Do not hide who you are. Be the Wolf.”
“I have a reputation?”
“You have many reputations. I’m just borrowing one that you have earned. Merciful viciousness. You are known to give second and third chances to those that don’t deserve it. But once you are done, you destroy the culprit utterly. Everyone that I have hired to stand behind you are quiet and deadly. They will not attack until you have thrown the first blow.”
“And what will be my signal to pour out destruction?”
“When the fools have tried to hit you first.”
I smirked. “And what shall we be doing until then?”
“You have your shield? Of course you do. You wouldn’t dare appear before me without it. Here is what you are going to do with it while I send my courier across the field…” Esse told me of his plan as we left for the field of battle.
The courier appears as a young boy. To my living eye, he is lovely and soft. To my dead eye, he is a shapeshifting wight. Esse is not expecting a civil conversation. He looked up at me and smiled disarmingly. “I’m the wrong person to charm, troll.” His smile fell. “Save it for them. And be ready to run.” He nodded.
I alone escorted the courier through the forests to the edge of a large valley where the trees gave way to grasses and wildflowers. Clouds hung low in the sky with the teasing promise of rain. The earth smelled of warm dirt and cool grass. What a lovely place for a massacre. All I need is a lone flute player. The courier advanced forward, I marched beside. Halfway across the valley, I stopped at the creek that attempted to assert itself, and stood silently as the courier continued across and disappeared in a barely seen encampment. I started counting time in my head.
I waited the hour as Esse bid me. The courier had not appeared. I pulled my axe and shifted my shield forward. I slapped the shield with the head of the axe. It was a simple sound. -thunk- I waited about a minute and slapped the shield again. -thunk- I waited another minute and slapped the shield. -thunk-
The sound was thunderous in my ears, but I knew it was barely heard across the valley. Twenty shield strikes later, two other mercenaries came out from the forests behind me. They marched forward and took up positions on either side of me, slightly behind. They slapped their shields in tandem with my strikes. -thunk-
Twenty shield strikes later, I heard more mercenaries march out. I knew this time, four was being added to our number. I saw some movement across the valley. Eight mercenaries added to our number. Every twenty strikes, more forces came out and the number was doubled. Every twenty strikes, the sound of the shield strikes rolled across the valley in increasing volume.
…
“You see the courier. You know him for what he is. I will not risk anyone that can be wounded in this role. I do not trust them. They have violated many treaties and agreements already.”
“Then why not just roll their asses over and be done with it? Why this performance?”
“Because they think all is done for their amusement. I aim to make an example of them, but not to whoever survives them.”
“Game pieces on a field moved for the sake of the spectators.”
“Isn’t it always, Wolf?”
“Always, Esse.”
“You’ll know when the number is complete. When it does, and the courier has not emerged, be silent. Then proceed.”
…
Our number was completed. I stopped striking the shield. I was not surprised to hear the men behind me also cease. We were individuals, but we were a unit. Then proceed.
I began a solo march across the rest of the valley. The other men closed up in a wedge formation behind me but remained still. I and I alone would go to the enemy encampment and “ask politely” for the return of the courier. I would not be wearing Esse’s colors, though. I would be going as the Wolf.
…
“Don’t hide your eyes. Neither your living eye, nor your dead eye. Let them see you, Weaver Wolfhide. Go with all your teeth baring, but speak in a voice so soft, their sex grows jealous.”
…
The shield held in the left hand, the black axe plainly seen in the right hand, I went up to the enemy to just beyond the swing of their swords. “Excuse me. Have you seen a little courier boy running around? He’s in a tan shift and bears no colors or markings. He stands so high.” I gestured with the axe. “And he’s all soft and smiles. I have to take him back now, as his time is done.” I smiled warm enough to proof bread.
The men looked at each other warily. “I don’t know his name, everyone called him ‘Boy’, and so do I. But I escorted him out here, and I can’t leave without him. Would you mind calling for him? I’ll wait.” They looked me over, and whispered about my eyes amongst themselves. They were all watching me so closely, none noticed the spread of mist across the valley.
“I got’cher boy right here!” One of the soldiers crudely gestured. Many of them laughed.
“Oh, I doubt that. See, the testicles of my courier have descended. Yours are still considering the trip.” Many of the guards snickered beside themselves. The solder that harassed me cursed at me. I continued speaking without acknowledging the harasser. “The boy is two thirds the height of him, and much more mannered. If you see him, do tell him the Wolf is waiting at the door.”
The guards all stopped laughing. The mist dissipated behind me. The entire company of Esse’s mercenaries were present. I smiled sweetly. The company remained stoic.
…
“If they yield then, which I expect they won’t unless there has been treason and sense within their ranks, accept their surrender. Touch not a hair on any of them, and only use force if necessary.”
“Otherwise, allow them to strike first?”
“Yes.”
“You’re asking me to take a hit.”
“Yes.”
“Esse. I’m a berserker.”
“I know, Wolfhide. I’m counting on that. You keep your viciousness tied up far too well. There is a time for polite diplomacy, and a time to stretch out the skin of your enemy across your shield. If it helps, remember that I saved violence for the means of last resort.”
“Hmph. And the courier?”
“He is what he is. He’ll be fine. You may see him before the carnage starts. He likes you.”
…
A black crow, cawwing loudly, flew through the enemy encampment and made a tight turn in the airspace directly over me. It settled on my shoulder and nuzzled me gently behind the ear.
“There you are, Boy! Did you quit your role with honor?”
The crow, actually the shapeshifted troll, sneezed and fluffed his feathers proudly. I turned my head to look at him, knowing what was coming and accepting it with cold anticipation and delight.
The punch to my jaw should have felled me. It should have snapped my head further to the side if not breaking my neck entirely. I felt my jawbone reverberate from the blow, deciding if to break or not, and choosing to remain whole. The pain from the strike opened my pupils making the overcast world unnaturally bright.
I felt myself smiling as I began to turn my head back towards the front. The crow was cawwing in loud laughter in my ear but the sound felt so far away. Time was slowing down. A second took twenty to pass. I heard the sound of weapons being gripped behind me. The enemy soldier that dared to make the strike stood there in a posture ready to follow through with another blow but stunned into impotence by the sight of me continuing to stand after such an intense welcome.
My awareness was on a knife’s edge. The pain continued to bloom. The crow’s cawwing was calling something from deep within. I had a desire for blood, and not my own. The pain transformed from physical texture to a ringing in my ears. It was beautiful. I wanted to hear a symphony of such instruments.
I blinked, and in the time of that blinking I saw just how violent and malicious I could be. I saw what was holding me back in this world and the others. I saw how delicate was the control I had over myself, and why I raged so damn easy in the Waking.
Wolfhide smiled, and shown all her pretty sharp teeth. “As you wish.”, said Wolfhide. Her laughter joined with the crow’s as the black axe fed.
…
“Should I be concerned that it took you soaking in the River for an hour before all the blood washed away?”
“I didn’t track any in here, did I?”
“No.”
“And the goodie-bag I brought the minions didn’t leak, did it?”
“No.”
“Then, no. You should not be concerned.”
I lay on the pelts and wondered why I haven’t carved a hot springs into one of the side rooms. My jaw hurt, as did most of my body. Berber Snake knelt beside me, documenting fading bruises and healing gashes.
“You came in chipper. That worried me.”
I opened an eye as best as the bruise would allow. “Why?” He did not answer. “Dammit, Snake. You of all people… er… entities… should know my nature by now. I am not a gentle person. I am gratuitously violent, a bit of a masochist, and quite the sadist. Sometimes, I really wonder how I wound up tied to you instead of to Esse. Don’t worry, my self-loathing will kick in once I realize how far from the ideal human I am. At least, until I realize how far the ideal human is from reality!” I laughed and regretted the action.
“You are a gentle person. And you are a violent person. I just don’t want you thinking you have to be either or. You are both, and more. Close your eyes.” I did as instructed. He laid something cool and green like leaves on them. My eyes felt much better at the touch.
“So why are you bothered about me coming from Esse’s little game whistling after feeding the wolves and giving the Valkyries some work to do?”
“Because… this.” He nudged me. I lifted the cool relief in silent complaint to see what he had. A cloth he was using to wipe my wounds had blood on it. “This isn’t yours. Back to the River, you. And don’t come back out until you’ve cleaned yourself completely! Don’t bring in a single drop of someone else’s viscera! When you get that happy, you get careless! Earn the mirth! Out!”
Snake shooed me back to the River. I took the eye relief with me and razzed him the entire way. I went waist deep in the River then confronted him. “You know, if you’re that worried about it, you can stay out here with me and help me.”
“You just want me to suffer the cold water with you.”
“Yea, that too.”
“Okay. But only because I want to make sure you’re clean before going back in!”
He came to the shore and started to undress. The moment he turned his head, I rushed out of the River and tackled him. Before he could ask what illness had struck me, I threw him into the River.
Before I could jump in after him, fifty feet of very angry serpent struck out, coiled around me, and pulled me to the bottom of the River. Good thing I learned how to let go of the mammalian breathing reflex. He let me go long enough to throw his drenched and muddied Berber linens onto the shore, then tied me in pretty knots and held me underwater until I remembered that I could change shape too and escaped him.
The night ended in play. I woke up a bit tired, but at peace with myself and my actions.