Page 36 of Ties of Bargains

“Scarecrow?” Harm dropped his voice to a whisper as well and reached for his sword. “I’m assuming you mean something different here in the Fae Realm than what we have in the Human Realm.”

“Here, scarecrows are very, very protective of their fields. They move about under their own power and are relentless in their attack. The only way to kill them is to burn them.” Val eased her knife from her sheath. “If that one spots us, it will be very angry to see strangers in its field.”

Harm would have drawn his sword, but it was an awkward movement to do while crouching, and he didn’t want to accidentally set the corn to rustling. Instead, he followed Val, both of them bent over. He tried to set his boots down carefully so his footfalls wouldn’t crunch on the fallen leaves scattered on the ground.

With a crashing bound, Daisy burst through the nearby cornstalks, growling and barking in the direction of the scarecrow.

“Daisy!” Val hissed, reaching for the dog.

All three heads in appearance, Daisy danced out of Val’s reach, still barking, her fur raised all along her back. Her hunting instincts had taken over, and there was no calling her back now.

Harm tensed, his hand tightening on his sword’s hilt.

Val straightened and peeked between the stalks. Then she grabbed Harm’s arm again. “Run!”

Harm caught a glimpse of the bundle of straw detaching first one arm, then the other from the pole before he was yanked forward. He broke into a sprint before he could be pulled off his feet. While he couldn’t draw his sword while running, his fingers itched for a weapon. Anything that made Val run instead of fight must be dangerous.

There was an even more uproarious rustling sound behind them, and Daisy’s barking intensified until it was shrill.

Harm glanced over his shoulder, then nearly tripped over his own feet.

The scarecrow ran after them with a lumbering but surprisingly swift gait for something made entirely of straw. Its straight legs covered yards with each lurching step while its vegetable head swayed back and forth on its body. Even though it lacked a throat or a mouth, it made a horrible screeching noise, like a wind shredding through a field of dead stalks.

Daisy leapt, sank her teeth into one of the scarecrow’s arms, and ripped the whole arm right off the body. The dog landed and shook the arm, tearing and shredding the straw.

The scarecrow gave its roar again and lifted its other arm to take aim at Daisy.

Val glanced over her shoulder, then muttered something under her breath. She halted, spun on a heel out of Harm’s way as he struggled to slow, and dug into her pocket. She withdrew a spear, cocked her arm back, and threw.

The spear took the scarecrow through the vegetablehead, the shaft sticking out of the creature’s forehead like a horn.

The scarecrow halted its swing at Daisy, and instead turned its head toward them. It didn’t have expressions, yet Harm felt a wave of pure malice wash over him. He drew his sword and braced himself.

The scarecrow charged them, raising its remaining arm, the spear still impaling its head.

Val drew a sword as well before she gave a yell and leapt for the creature. She sliced off its head. The vegetable made a hollowthunkwhen it hit the ground. But the scarecrow kept coming.

Harm chopped his sword at the creature’s arm. The sword bit partway through, and he hacked until the arm came off.

Val sliced sideways, chopping at the creature’s legs. She got one leg off just as Daisy pounced on the creature again, knocking it to the ground and tearing it apart.

Harm relaxed, lowering his sword as he caught his breath.

Yet even as he watched, some of the straw began moving along the ground toward the body. The head rolled back into place while the arms and legs re-formed.

With a whistle for Daisy, Val spun and broke into a run again. Harm adjusted his grip on his sword and ran to catch up before he could be yanked forward by the tether.

“So…” Harm gasped between breaths. “Burn it?”

“That’s a last resort.” Val didn’t sound nearly as outof breath as he was. She glanced over her shoulder, her jaw tightening, before she faced forward and kept sprinting. “We might set this whole field on fire if we did, and that would bring the nuckelavee down on us for sure. The scarecrow won’t chase us past the boundary of its assigned field.”

“And how far is that?” Harm’s glance showed that the scarecrow was trundling after them again.

“Don’t know.” Val sprinted as easily as walking, hefting her sword as she ran as if she wasn’t afraid of impaling herself if she tripped.

Or maybe that was just Harm’s worry. He had, after all, sliced himself once on this journey already.

With a louder growl, Daisy streaked along the path and leapt on the scarecrow again, the force of her blow knocking the scarecrow all the way to the ground. Two of her heads grabbed arms and ripped them off while the middle head and her paws attacked the vegetable head.

---