Page 21 of Claimed By Night

“Not much longer. The sooner we find Cambion, the better.”

Thoradin don’t say nothin’ else an’ I’m wonderin’ if maybe he’s as lost as I is ‘bout who this Cambion turd-for-brains is.

“We don’t have much longer, either,” Thoradin points out an’ Dragan nod real solemn-like.

“Fifty-seven minutes. I’m keeping track.”

“An’ then you gonna turn to stone?” I ask, lookin’ at both of ‘em.

“Yes,” Dragan answer without botherin’ to look at me.

In front o’ us be a dirt path leadin’ into a town o’ sorts. We be surrounded by big-ass flowers o’ every size an’ color you ever thought. The sound o’ soft music fill the air—like flutes or somethin’—an’ it smell like we jist walked into the middle o’ a rose. The darker it gets, the more I notice lil balls o’ light dancin’ in an’ ‘round the flowers.

I fly off the girl an’ start buzzin’ ‘round the flowers, an’ they smell even better up close. They so big, I can land on ‘em. Soze I do. Lotsa times. I jist float ‘round an’ land on flowers an’ then fly ta the next one like this was what I was meant ta do all my life.

An’ them balls of light? Pixies. Smaller than me, even. I’m finally a big ass sprite in a small ass faerie pond. An’ that be sayin’ somethin’.

“Sprite, stop fucking around,” Dragan grumble at me.

Dick.

We keep goin’ down the dirt path into a town. Glowin’ lanterns bob in the gentle breeze an’ light our path. Meanwhiles, these big ol’ fireflies buzz through the fields o’ flowers either side o’ us.

The town itself is full o’ little circular hut-like things made outta wood an’ topped with mossy roofs, an’ every one of ‘em has its own enclosed garden overflowin’ with flowers an’ bushes. I’m wonderin’ if Snow White live here ‘cause every woodland animal known to the forest is hangin’ out like they ain’t afraid o’ becomin’ dinner.

I spot some halflings an’ they’re bigger than me which sucks, but then I figures I’ll jist hang out with them pixies when I move in. It ain’t like the halflings arethatmuch bigger, anyways—they’s maybe three feet tall. A few more walk by an’ that’s when I notice the townfolk noticin’ us, an’ they looks a lil worried. Not that I blames ’em, ‘cause Dragan could pass for Satan any day o’ the week an’ Thoradin ain’t much better. If Dragan’s a ten on the scary-as-fuck meter, Thoradin’s like a seven. Maybe an eight.

“What business have you here? Your kind isn’t welcome.” I hear a voice an’ look down to see a real fat gnome blockin’ Dragan’s path. I didn’t even see where the gnome came from! I ain’t got no idea if one o’ them flowers jist burped him up, or maybe I jist weren’t payin’ attention an’ he been there the whole time?

“I ain’t with them,” I start to explain, but then Dragan smack me with the back side o’ his big-ass mitt o’ a hand an’ I go somersaultin’ over all them flowers. It take me a second to recover an’ then I got me a mean headache.

Dick.

Meanwhiles, a whole group o’ gnomes have piled theyselves up in front o’ Dragan an’ Thoradin. An’ they all look real pissed-off-like. The gnomes are a lil taller than the halflings, but not by much.

“We’re here to see Cambion. We wish you no harm,” Dragan say as the pixies start surroundin’ us. There’s, like, a hundred o’ ‘em all at once an’ they buzzin’ ’round our heads an’ I see a few o’ ‘em in the girl’s hair an’ under her blanket, probly tryin’ ta figure out if she got a giant lizard tail under there or somethin’.

Then, they all buzz off in a wave an’ we’re jist standin’ in the middle o’ this weird town, surrounded by unfriendly munchkins an’ I’m wonderin’ what the hell’s for dinner.

“Well, I’ll be damned.”

I hear a deep voice to the right, where the main road break off intos another one. I whirls ‘round to see a man—er, a faerie elf to be exact. He got a big owl sittin’ on one o’ his shoulders. An’ that owl’s makin’ me a might nervous, ‘cause owls gotta taste for fat, little sprites like me. ‘Course, the owl ain’t made no move ta eat any o’ them pixies so maybe it’s a vegetarianism.

I glance back at the guy with the owl on his shoulder an’ realize he got other fae standin’ jist behind him. Three of ‘em, an’ by the way’s they dressed an’ the weapons they’s holdin’, I think they’re fae militia. Two men fae with staffs an’ a lady fae with a crossbow. She look the meanest.

The head fae ain’t armed at all an’ he smilin’ at us—well, more at Dragan. But it’s a smile that be like for good manners. It ain’t a for-real smile ‘cause it’s too tight.

“Dragan. Welcome to Geldingstock, my barbarian friend,” he say an’ then gesture to the village behind him. “I must admit, I’m surprised to see you.” He pause for a few. “It’s been over a century?”

This guy be real tall but ain’t so tall as Dragan an’ although he definitively muscular, his muscles ain’t big an’ bulky like Dragan’s. His are more long an’ lean, like he been swimmin’ with the merfolk too much. His hair’s dark gold an’ his skin’s bronze. His eyes are amber an’ he might jist be as beautiful as the angel, but in like a more manly kinda way.

“Cambion,” Dragan say but he don’t sound too happy.

An’ I notice neither o’ ‘em offer to shake the others’ hand. Soze maybe they ain’t friends? ‘Course, Dragan came here ta see this guy so I dunno what ta make o’ the whole thing.

“Dismissed,” Cambion say to the elves behind him, an’ they turn ‘round an’ disappear down the path behind him.

Dragan an’ Cambion jist stand there, starin’ at each other. The owl look at Dragan with them weird owl eyes that always seems like they know too much. Cambion’s the first ta speak agin.

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