I groaned and popped my back, letting the pack drop down to the ground with a thud. I'd been walking for almost a full day already, but I was finally to the fae clearing I'd told Ward about in the deep part of the woods; the place we'd be using as our base of operations for a while. I'd set up camp tonight and scout out the area tomorrow while Altina lead the others here. I'd rather be traveling with her, but it was a good idea to have someone familiar with the area mark the way and check out the campsite, and of course to plan out where we'd be exploring. If there were any problems, I'd head back and intercept them.
I started threading the blessed thread I'd bought around the trees, making sure to cross over all the paths and entrances I could. You could never be too careful with fae clearings, the physical location remained the same relative to where you entered from, but leaving it would take you miles away with a single step if you weren't careful, and of course they did attract the fae as well. The fairies were fine. I expected to run into some of my winter-time boarders while we were out here, most likely Stonelicker, who tended to keep to these parts of the woods, but the other fae... I'd already told Ward that if we saw even the slightest hint that a true fae or a fairy queen had been around, we'd be leaving for town at once. I did not want to deal with the curses or 'blessings' the larger fae tended to place on the non magical people they met.
Even 'nice' ones were often deadly, I'd spent over two weeks in the woods as a human child a few years ago because I foolishly explained my gender issues as 'wanting to be a girl' to a well-meaning fairy queen with a limited idea of personal identity. I'd barely made it out alive due to my sudden lack of claws, long teeth, and goblin sense of smell. Once I finally did get to town, I'd had to argue for hours with the sisters of Elmaem that I really did want the curse lifted. They couldn't imagine anyone wanting to be a goblin, and tried very hard to convince me that even if it meant being a child, living as a human was 'better'...
I didn't see any major signs of fae activity, just some faded runes and wine stains on the center stones, but the smell of the wine had faded, so the fae that had spilled it were likely days gone by now. If we had our camp set up and had the warding runes and thread up, they should leave us alone and not try to host a feast here, but there was always a chance one may swing by to use the clearing to travel. That was an acceptable risk though, and being in the woods was all about acceptable risks.
I unstrapped the top bundle from my pack and set it to the side; it was mostly food and toiletries, the tent and warding materials were the most important to get set up first, followed by the fire pit. Once I did that, I was going to find a fae path to a stream to get water and wash up, then I'd pass out in my tent until morning. It wasn't too different from how I lived back pre-treaty, except now I had a nicer tent, and I'd brought my food with me. It'd be a nice, nostalgic trip, assuming the others didn't ruin it.
I pulled the tent out and started hooking the rods into each other for the top bar, looking around for a good place to hang it up. I decided on a tree between the center stone and the edge of the clearing, away from the center, but not so far that I'd trigger a fae path by rolling over in my sleep. I hung the bar from a branch by some wire I'd brought, draping the tent over it and staking it to the ground in a classic 'tent' shape, making sure it'd be big enough for me and Altina to share. Now I'd just need the blankets, and my shelter was good to go; I turned back to my pack, and-
My food bag was wiggling.
I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, and walked over, already knowing what I'd find when I opened it up. I undid the string, finding it loose and ill-tied, and pulled it open to find... Eralia and Princa staring up at me guiltily. Eralia covered her face, as if that could hide her somehow, but Princa flew straight up at my face.
"We used to live out here you know, we're allowed to be here!" She said preemptively, her ams and legs flared.
"...I know, you're allowed to do whatever you want." I said, flatly. As much as I wished they'd stayed home for a lot of reasons, including their safety, they were allowed to come and go as they wanted. Still...
"It was stupid of you to hide in with my food though." I said, scooping Eralia out of the bag and setting her on my head.
"Oh... I was sure you'd look before you ate anything, do... do you think you'd have eaten us?..." Eralia said, shivering.
I snorted. "No, Lia, I wouldn't eat you. I have razors and soaps in there too, I can't just blindly grab food out and chow down. It's just dangerous to hide in a bag if someone doesn't know you're there. You could get crushed if I'd set something on top of it."
"Yeah, well. I'm not crushed, and we're at the party too, so whatever." Princa said, looking around. "Where is the party, anyway? This is just an empty wayplace."
"I don't really understand why Ward keeps talking about a party, I think he means like a hunting party? But I told him we wouldn't be hunting, so..." I said, shrugging. "I think you guys are just... in the woods now, no parties here."
"Well... I'll be anywhere if I get to spend time with you..." Eralia said "Even if I do miss my windowsill..."
"Ugh, damnit..." grumbled Princa "Well, hopefully it won't be too lame..."
"It's actually good that you two are here..." I said, thinking. "I haven't met the fairy Etheran is trying to use as a familiar yet, and I did want to vet her care of them, make sure she's doing a good job. You two can help with that, right?"
"Oh... She's a mean person..." Eralia said "I don't think she should be near fairies..."
"I don't either, which is why I'm willing to make sure she doesn't get the chance to be near fairies if she's treating her new friend poorly." I said, showing my teeth.
"Ohhh, are we gonna see violent Vervex again?" Princa said, clapping her hands "I love it when you get all violent!"
"Mm, maybe, we'll see." I said "For now though, I need to finish setting up camp. I've got a long day tomorrow. Here, you two help, ok?"
Princa moaned, but fluttered to my pack anyway, pulling random stuff out onto the ground to 'help'. Eralia fluttered off my head, and picked up some of the warding runes Princa had tossed on the ground, flying from tree to tree to stick them to protect the clearing from evil. Well, at least one of them was actually trying to help... I picked up my foldable shovel and started cleaning up the firepit for us to use. I didn't really mind them being here, it'd be a little help with the work, and while I didn't want them getting hurt, they should be safe while we explored as long as they stayed back. Tomorrow, I'd explain the ground rules while I searched the fae paths for a dungeon, just to make sure they knew to stay away during fights.
~~~
"...but I really think I could take it, honestly! I'd be so much help, you can't tell me I can't at least try." Princa said, flying in circles around my head.
"No, look, I know it's been a while since you've been out here, but the number one way you guys survive is by NOT fighting monsters." I said, glaring at her as I wound the blessed thread through the trees "If you try to dive bomb a tree walker or even a brush pig, you will get killed."
"Please don't try to fight, Princa..." Eralia said, hugging herself and flying closer to my chest "I'd miss your stories..."
"I can't tell cool stories if I don't do cool stuff!" Princa shouted "I will fight whatever the fuck we find, and you can't tell me I can't! You're not my mom, Vervex!"
I glared at her "No, but my job is to keep you safe, and right now you're being very, very stupid. Just drop it, and if we see something that needs fighting, just let the rest of us deal with it, ok?"
"You can't tell me what to do..." grumbled Princa, floating up higher where she thought I couldn't hear her.
"How much longer until we find the thing you're looking for?" Eralia asked "I'm getting sleepy, and we've been out here since breakfast..."
"Well, I want to find the perfect dungeon or mine or something for Ward to go into, he's... not super good at fighting so it needs to be just right." I said "It could take all day, even with the fae paths leading us there."
"But we found like, so many dungeons already, they're just holes in the ground!" Princa said "Why is Ward so picky about what holes he enters?"
"...Ah, ok." I thought about how to word it "It needs to be easy to go in and out of quickly, it needs to be free from any infestations, it can't smell too bad, and above all else, it needs to be big enough for the rest of his friends to enter at the same time as him."
Eralia wrinkled her nose "I think I lost the tread there for a second..."
I glanced down at the blessed thread in my hand keeping us connected to the clearing.
"No, I have it, it's fine."
"Hey, how about that big rock house?" Prica said from above me, pointing.
I put the spool in my teeth and climbed up onto a tree branch to see where she was pointing. Sure enough, a ways away through the woods was a large, mossy stone temple, old and crumbling, but still intact.
"Oh, that might be perfect, actually..." I said, hopping down. I jogged the rest of the way there and looked up at the elaborate entrance. It looked like it'd been abandoned years ago. Judging by the blast marks and giant slash marks on the sides of the building and the soot on the ceilings, I'd have guessed it had been cleared out by The Sisters of Elmaem during one of their crusades in the time of the twelve-wings. A shame, but the Sisters rarely looted, so there should still be a good amount of holy treasure inside if we explored. I didn't recognize the religion, but all religions had some kind of treasure, right?
The wide open door on the front was big enough for everyone, and the tall ceilings were more than enough for Altina to go under, so it should be a good fit for the group. I took a few steps inside, and threw a handful of sling stones into the darkness, hearing them clatter and skitter across the floor loudly. I backed up against the wall, listening hard for any buzzing, any signs of a nest, or worse, rumbling noises. I waited, and held my breath as the sound echoed away in the distance. I thought I heard a faint scraping noise, but straining my ears towards it revealed nothing further. I relaxed, and looked around the room.
The tapestries were long rotted and moldy from the damp forest, and the once shiny wall sconces and braziers were dull and rusted. They'd been abandoned so long even the enchantments were fading... Hopefully Etheran would be able to use some magic and get the internal flames at least smoldering again, but overall the place looked untouched. There were a few scattered sets of bones; gnomes, elves, and what looked like horned humans? Must be an extinct variant. In the center of the room was a large, stone chest, with carvings all over it, mostly of insects, but there were a few etches of wildlife as well. It was a smooth, light grey color, and it had two openings on top from what I could see, one that opened up from the front and opened up about 2/3 of the chest, and one that opened up from the right side, and opened the other third. It must have been an offering chest, I guessed the offerings would be put into the small opening, and taken out later through the big one, Ward would be very happy to loot it, I was sure. I left it alone for him to discover, and stepped outside again.
"Hey girls, this is it." I said, tying the blessed twine around a tree and twanging it "It's safe, it's mostly empty, and it's pretty likely that the treasure is still in it. It's the perfect place to start Ward off."
"Ha! I found the thing even when you couldn't!" Princa said, flapping her wings quickly. "This proves I'd be useful in a fight!"
"No?" I said, following the thread back the way we came "It just means you can see things from a higher height than me, just... please stop trying to fight stuff, this is a training mission for the others, ok?"
She made a thinking noise "Mmmm... Ok, so... you're saying that if I do help them fight, I'd ruin the mission, because I'd do the fight for them?"
I sighed. "Ok, yes, fine, you're so good at fighting, you can't help or it'd ruin the training, whatever."
"That makes total sense, got it. Yeah, I'll hang back until they need my skills, I can do that." Princa said, nodding knowingly.
"Um, Vervex?" Eralia whispered "I don't think she's really that strong, I don't think it'd be a big deal if-"
I put my finger over her mouth and shook my head. Her face crinkled up in confusion, but she nodded anyway.
As we approached the clearing again, I heard a buzzing noise, too loud to be a bug. I looked around, and whistled loudly, three short bursts.
"Geez 'vex, we're right here..." Princa said. "You can see us, you don't need to call-"
"....'lo miss 'vex" a gruff voice said behind me.
I turned to see Stonelicker, one of the fairies who stayed with me in the winter, holding a rock on his shoulder. He was unusual for a fairy, having fur covering most of his body instead of a shimmer. He was a rarer kind; I'd only seen a couple furred fairies in my time, but from what I'd heard, they had descended from some of the more animalistic true fae somehow.br>
"Ohh, Stony!" Eralia said, flying over to him. The loud, heavy buzz of his wings made it so she had to almost shout to be heard. "I love your brown fur! I've only seen it white before... It looks so pretty...."
"...Thank'ye" He said, nodding at her.
"So, were you following us?" I asked "Or did we just get lucky enough to run across you in the whole wide woods?"
"...Went t' th' camp to see if'n th' biguns left goodies. Saw yer stuff. Followed the string." He said, shifting the stone from one arm to another.
"We're having a party!" Princa said proudly "I get to save the day when the others show up and can't fight!"
"...well, might be good t' leave y' to it, then." Stonelicker said thoughtfully.
"What are you doing with that rock?..." Eralia asked, pointing.
"...fixin' m' house." He said.
"Oh, wow, I haven't been in an us-sized house in like, forever!" Princa said, bouncing up and down in the air. "Can we come see?"
"...If'n y' help me fix it, ye' kin stay for sup." He said, nodding.
"Oh, wow, perfect!" Princa said "Hey, 'vex, we're gonna go check out Stony's house! See you tomorrow!"
She grabbed Eralia's hand and pulled her as Stonelicker buzzed away, waving at me.
"...Well, it's just me then, I guess." I said, looking around. I'd see them tomorrow, it wasn't too big a deal. I'd really wanted them to help me with the fairy Etheran ordered, but it'd be ok, I could deal with it myself.
I kept down the path, picking my way across the path as it turned and moved without rhyme or reason until I heard talking in front of me. I perked up, they were early! It was only just after the hot part of the day, I hadn't expected them for another two hours at least. I picked up the pace and pushed my way into the clearing, smiling.
"...and that's why you don't let the godsdamned Sister of Elmaem be in charge of the water!" shouted Etheran.
My smile dropped. It was about what I expected. I walked up to the group and looked around. Brax was crying, her usually beaming face fallen and sad, Ward's lips were bright pink and he looked out of it, Etheran was furious, and Altina was frowning and holding a large watersack that was dripping a strange fluid.
"What's going on?" I asked Altina.
"This little airhead-" Etheran said before I smacked her thigh with my hand.
"Altina, what happened?" I repeated myself.
She poured some more of the liquid out of the sack onto the ground. "Brax was in charge of water, and she was trying to make sure she was doing a 'good job', so she mixed berries and her holy drink into our drinking water so it'd 'taste better' and 'heal us'." Altina said.
I looked at Ward. "He, uh, doesn't look healed."
"Yeah, that's because of her holy drink. What was it again?" Altina asked Brax
"I'm n-not allowed to s-say what it's made of, but it-it's c-called r-rootwine..." Brax choaked out, wiping her face "I d-didn't know it w-was b-bad for non believers, it's so, so good, and it m-makes me f-feel all warm..."
"Yeah, it's some kind of drugged wine. She put her entire daily ration into the pouch." Altina explained.
"At least we know why she's like that now..." Etheran grumbled.
"Well... Are the berries safe at least?" I asked
"They're just a minty pink sort of thing, I don't know what they are." Altina said, shrugging.
I sniffed at the waterskin and licked a drop of the liquid. I instantly shivered, a wave of colors and lights flashed over me, the world twisted and grew, all the trees and plants twisting off into the sky, off into eternity. I shook my head, and everything settled back to normal.
"Wow, that is strong" I said. "The berries aren't bad though. There's a water source not too far away, Brax, drink this whole waterskin, and then I'll show you and Altina where to go for water. We can boil the sack and re-fill it."
"I don't want to drink out of that if it did that to him!" Etheran said, pointing at Ward.
"Yeah, he took a couple big gulps before he noticed it tasted weird..." Altina said, shaking her head.
"I just... It's so much..." Ward mumbled, waving his hands at nothing.
"If he converts because of this, I'm telling the church about this." I said, handing Brax the waterskin.
"He... shouldn't?" She said, not sounding sure at all. "I don't think he'd survive conversion out here anyway, I'm not strong enough to help with conversions yet, and we need like, 6 sisters..."
"Chug." I said, pointing at the skin. She complied, sucking on the small spout and turning it up, her face wrinkling.
"Why can't we just dump it out?" Altina asked me.
I pointed to Ward. "I don't want that to happen to the nature here, or worse, getting into the water supply..."
She nodded and and I looked around again.
"Well... Anyway, welcome to the clearing! I should have lead with that, sorry. But you're here and I did find a place for us to explore, and... yeah! Altina, our tent is over there-" I pointed "and I'll help the rest of you get your tents set up too."
I showed Altina and Brax the path to go get more water, and set up the other two tents, one for Ward and Etheran, and one for Brax. I watched Etheran out of the corner of my eye as she unpacked the food and camping gear Altina had brought, and watched her lay it all out on the large stone table. Ward was starting to come around, but he was still mumbling about colors and lights, so once I finished getting the firepit set up and ready to light. I made him sit at the base of a tree in the clearing, where I could keep an eye on him, and headed over to Etheran at the table.
"So... I'm guessing your order arrived." I said, trying to keep my voice neutral.
"Maybe, maybe not." She said, sitting down on a stone beside the table.
"I'd like to get to meet them, I can't help but notice you have them stashed away somewhere, I just... want to make sure they're safe."
I had to try very, very hard not to lunge over the table and start tearing her clothes off looking for the fairy, but instead, I sat down across from her and folded my hands on the table.
"...It's safe, it's fine." She said, her lips thin and her arms crossed.
"Do they have a name?" I asked. She wouldn't know, she couldn't even hear them, I just needed her to admit it.
"It hasn't said..." She said, tilting her head and looking at me, her forehead creasing.
"I see, well, if you like, I could ask them about that." My voice was getting harder. Every second I waited to see that they were ok was another second I got closer to attacking her.
"..." Etheran looked like she was about to explode, her face screamed it "I think that may be an option, in the future."
"Why not right now? We're not doing anything." I asked, pushing the issue
"...Ok fine, GODS I admit it," Etheran yelled, throwing her hands up "I need your help, they ruined her before they sent her to me, She's missing parts, she's too scared to move, she just keeps screaming and for the life of me I can't fucking forge a bond, I don't understand..."
I was halfway out of my seat at 'missing parts', and I was on the table by 'screaming'
"Let me see her, right now." I said, my voice hard and sharp.
Etheran dug in her side satchel and pulled out a soft fuzzy leaf, wrapped around a small package. She set it on the table in front of me, and I lay down to see it better as she unfolded it. There, curled up in a ball in the center of the leaf, what what she ordered.
"They ruined her, see?" Etheran whined "They pulled out her antennae, they cut off her wings, they did something to her so she can't even look at people without screaming, it's a waste... They said it was to make her easier for food prep, but... ugh."
I stared at the tiny figure in shock. She was lacking antennae and wings, yes, but more pressing... Her ears pointed straight out instead of up and to the back, her nose was longer and thinner than the short button nose most fairies had, her eyes were wide with fear, revealing whites around her irises instead of the usual jet black, and most concerning of all, her skin was dull, without any shine at all.
"Oh, you poor thing..." I whispered to her "I'll help you, it's ok, I promise...."
"So you can fix her?" Etheran asked, peering at the small lady on the table.
"We're going to need to get her to the church as soon as possible when we get back, you've been ripped off." I said grimly
"Ripped off?" She asked, confused
"You mentioned that you couldn't form the bond needed to make her your familiar, right? Well that's because her mana container is complex, far more complex than yours. You can't bond with it if you can't get into it."
"But... fairies have simple mana containers, like goblins or dwarves, right?" She pointed out.
"Yeah, they do. This isn't a fairy. It looks like someone is cursing elves with shrinking spells and selling them to people who don't know better, pretending they're fairies, and you fell for it." I said, gently picking the terrified elf woman off the table and stroking her hair gently.
"A- wh- an ELF?!" Squealed Etheran "Oh gods, oh gods, that's so illegal, oh gods, I'm going to jail, oh fuck..."
"Just... let me take care of her, I'll watch her until we get back to the town, and we'll let the sisters remove the curse. No one is going to jail. Except the people who are doing this, of course."
"...Ok, yeah, I don't want the evidence anywhere near me, gods, that's disgusting that they'd do that to her... I can't believe I had an elf lady in my bag this whole time, I feel sick..."
"If only you could feel that sick when it really was a fairy..." I muttered.
I looked at the elf lady, she was still curled into a ball, shaking, her eyes were red with tears, and her teeth were clicking together, although, if it was because of the small scrap of cloth she was wearing, or because of her fear, I didn't know. I decided it'd be best to ere on the side of caution, and I draped a handkerchief around her.
"Hey..." I whispered to her "I'm a longears too, I know you probably haven't been able to communicate with anyone, but we can hear small creatures if they can talk, so when you're ready to talk about stuff, let me know, ok? I'll be able to understand you."
She nodded and pulled her new blanket around herself, covering her head with it.
"Hey ladies, did Etheran finally get her new friend out?" Ward said, walking up and sitting at the table. He was still swaying, but he was using full sentences now at least.
"...kinda." I said. "I'll be taking care of her for now."
"Ohhh, cool..." Ward said. He looked at Etheran "So what's her name?"
Etheran shuddered "I don't know, and I don't think I want to know..." She got up "I'm going to go lie down..."
As she walked away, Ward noticed the bundle of cloth in my hand "Oh, Jesus, is that the fairy? Can I see? I've been waiting so long for this..."
I winced "Well, meeting a fairy is gonna have to wait a bit longer, Ward..."
"Why? She's right there, I just want to say hi..." He said, dejected.
"I'll... explain when Altina and Brax get back with the water." I said "But this young lady is no fairy."
The downcast and confused look on Wards face made me wonder if I should try and get the actual fairies I'd been with earlier to meet him, but... it was getting dark, and I really didn't want to wander in the woods with my new charge until we'd had a chance to talk it out. He'd get to meet them tomorrow, I was sure.