However, I just couldn't care enough, especially since Colin, Darion, and even Luna all looked the same --
All four of us? The same?
I turned slightly and bit Colin's thumb.
"Neko! Ow! What -- oh. Good work."
Colin slowly stood and shook his head as though to dislodge some unwanted thought. I did much the same but couldn't stay on my feet.
"Darion, Luna -- wake up," Colin ordered. He lifted his hand, and a spray of small pastel lights spread across the area.
I watched the lights, entranced by the pretty patterns they made. I slowly became aware of a change in my thoughts. With each breath, I became more awake and aware of how powerful a spell had dropped on us.
On the entire city, in fact. All the sounds of celebration we had heard a few minutes earlier were gone. Even with my little magic, I could sense the strands of magic reaching everywhere.
They were not Maude's work, though.
"What is going on?" Luna asked. She still sounded dazed.
"Strong magic," Colin replied. "Not Fae work."
"Not Maude, either," I added.
"Odd," Darion said. He pulled aside the dark blue cloth that served as a door to the tent.
Something moved there -- many things. One of them crossed to the edge of the light from the opening. I saw a furry head turn our way, and the eyes glittered with green light.
I also felt powerful magic, although I didn't understand this type of power. A couple more joined the first, mostly defined only by their green eyes. I thought I caught a hint of fur around the face. I also noted a familiar scent on the air, one so overlain with nature magic that I couldn't name it.
"You might as well join us and explain what is going on," Dorian said.
"Fae," one of them said, his voice showing surprise. He whispered to the others, and they moved off. I had the feeling of guards going back to their rounds.
The last one hurried toward us. I didn't see him clearly until he came inside.
Fox.
Foxes are tricky creatures. Yeah, and tricksters of the ancient type, as well. Most of my knowledge about them came from books, but a couple had wandered through town in the days before cars. We would talk late at night, me sitting in a window and them on the ground below. They had helped me get a bee hive removed.
We got along well, but I don't know if I trusted them.
This one was a young male with a bright red coat. He seemed a bit antsy as he danced from one foot to another. He glanced at the doorway as the cloth fell back into place. I couldn't tell if he liked it covered or not.
"Fae," he said with a fatalistic tone. "You gave us quite a scare when we realized the sleep spell hadn't taken here."
"It almost did," Colin said. "Neko just caught on in time to startle me back awake."
"Neko? The cat?"
"Yes, the cat," I replied with a bit of a snarl.
"Oh. Sorry. Didn't realize you talked, too. Okay." He danced a bit more, ready to charge out. Darion blocked the way. The fox sighed and sat down. "What do you want from me?"
"Telling us what is going on would be a good beginning," Colin replied.
The fox looked at him, startled. Then he glanced at Darion, Luna, Shosha (still asleep), and back to me.
"You aren't another fae group sent by your Queen to help, are you?" Fox asked.
"Sometimes it is hard to know," Colin admitted. "We turn up places, and we help fix things. But even if we weren't officially sent, that doesn't mean we won't try to help once we know what is going on."
That was a typical fae answer, and the fox nodded without question.
"Someone has opened the way for a band of the Forgotten. My fox clan guards the city on nights of the new moon when they find their way here. So far, we've held them off, but it is getting more difficult."
"What are the Forgotten?" Luna dared to ask.
"You are not Fae, but you have powers. What do you see?" Fox asked.
Luna started to say something, but instead, she looked at the cloth door as a breeze rippled through it. Then she blinked and continued to stare, her eyes narrowing and her face turning grim. Even Shosha woke up now and looked worried.
"I see crossroads and a long line of faceless people, none of them known, all of them lost. They never belonged here, but something happened. Something powerful that draws them back, and someone has tapped into that strength to make them self powerful. Go to your work friend fox. This is a night when all could fail."
"Not as optimistic as I had hoped," the fox replied, then turned and darted out of the tent.
"If there were people awake, the Forgotten would insinuate themselves into their thoughts and take them over." Colin picked me up. I could feel his worry. "And now here we are, ready for the taking."
"Maybe we should go back to sleep," Luna suggested. "Oh, but that would just postpone it until the next month, and I doubt we'd have a better plan."
"A better plan?" I said. "I didn't think we had any plan at all."
"Luna is still looking ahead," Colin said. "I have some thoughts on a plan, but I think Luna should --"
"Not sleep," Luna said with more conviction than usual. "You are going to need me."
"We are a team," I added. "So, share the plan."
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