Flash Fiction #636 -- Neko's Trip Home/16

 

 

 Hawks.

Five Hawks flew into our area. Four red-tailed hawks took positions at the cardinal points while the majestic white hawk landed on the fountain's edge.

Hawks belong to a realm where stubbornness is a virtue, and these birds have reached alpha status there. Once they have decided, getting them to change their decision is impossible. For instance why it would be a bad idea to try to eat you. Holding off a hawk while you attempt to get the window closed is no fun.

I tried to tunnel under the street again.

One of the hawks moved a step closer to me. I decided to become a rock.

"Fae," the hawk said in a tone that showed he was not happy. "Colin and Dorian."

"Kind of you to remember," Dorian said with a bow of his head. "And we remember you, of course, Lord Whitefeather."

"There. We have proved that our memories are all still good. So, I assume you two also remember the treaty."

"Word for word," Dorian replied.

"No doubt," the hawk said with a hint of snarkiness. "And you are still here interfering in my realm."

"You know the fae fight slavery everywhere."

"There are no slaves here."

"So, we should allow them to become slaves and then hope to rescue them," Colin replied. "Don't be pedantic with me."

The white hawk spread his wings and threw back his head in a show of dramatic aggression. From what I could tell, he hadn't impressed Colin.

I was fine until the other four hawks mimicked their leader's move. My legs twitched as I prepared to run. This was blind and instinctive fear. I saw nothing but predators around me.

But while I was blind, I was not deaf.

"Oh, do stop being so pretentious, Whitefeather," a familiar voice said. Avesa joined us from the alley to the right.

All of the hawks looked surprised and maybe embarrassed as they folded down their wings and bowed their heads to the lady.

Avesa surprised me by picking me up out of the hole. I wanted to protest, but suddenly, the hawks didn't seem so much like predators.

"Lady Avesa," Whitefeather said with a bit of a smirk despite his reaction to seeing her. "You haven't been around for quite a while."

"And you know why."

I was glad she handed me to Dorian. I didn't want to be too close to this disagreement. Even Colin backed away.

Not that it mattered since the two were not quiet. I was glad to see Luna had the children sitting down and silent.

Dorian had taken the guards and slavers in hand, but they looked restless.

"Dorian needs help," I whispered.

He looked back at the group, but I focused on Maude. She leaned against a wall and looked far too calm. She wasn't as powerful as she would be later, but the potential was there. So was the hatred and disdain for everyone else.

I was sure Avesa had not seen her. I didn't know if I wanted her to spot our mutual enemy. She was handling the hawks just now, and I didn't want them to go wild on us. They would and through no fault of their own. There was so much magic in the air -- and from different sources -- that it might short-circuit thought patterns. Some of us could be thrown back to our animal forms.

Let Avesa keep things under control.

I kept watch on Maude and her people. She was not in charge, but I knew she was the most dangerous of the group. In fact, I didn't like how quiet she'd been.

In all the time I had known Maude, she had never been quiet. Now, she stood by the ogre guards, looking no more interested than they were.

Looking at Maude, I was struck by how much she mimicked the ogres.

Like one of them in human skin.

Oh hell.

I admit that I panicked. "Where is Maude!"

"She's right there," Colin said. "Oh hell."

Before long, even the hawks were looking for our missing witch. She could look like anything, and by the time we found her, it turned out to be another fake. I studied everyone who came in sight, but before too long, I felt a wave of desperation, knowing Maude would get away and all we did here would gain us nothing.

I wanted to go home. I wanted to go to the beach, the mountains, the desert. I was beginning to feel trapped in this never-ending quest --

Trapped.

At first, I couldn't find Avesa. I had to fight my limbs to move so that I turned -- and found her sitting by the well, her head bowed into her hands and her breath coming in ragged gasps.   She was the perfect vision of despair.

I forced myself closer, each step like fighting through a storm. What could I do? Even the fae and ogres were affected by this woman's emotions. We had not broken her spell. She had brought it with her.

"Stop!" I gasped. In all my years of captivity, I had never felt such despair. It is an attack, I reminded myself. An attack.

I had no weapon to fight it. I didn't have enough magic.

But I did have very sharp teeth.

I bit her on the ankle.

Avesa's despair changed to rage, and she caught me by the front right leg and left me dangling as she stood. She was about to throw me when she suddenly swept me up, holding me tight. I could feel desperation coming back --

"Either you fight for control, or I'll bite you on the nose," I warned.

For a heartbeat, despair fought for control, even when the fae added his power to help destroy the spell.

"This despair is not you," Dorian said as he touched her forehead.

That was a mistake.

Flash Fiction #635 -- Neko's Trip Home/15

 

The fox came with us when we headed for the crossroads. He seemed overly enthusiastic about our agreement to take a look.

So he led us to a minor road, a bridge over a stream, and what seemed to be an alley crossing over the area.

"This was an important spot a few hundred years ago," Fox said. "There were fewer buildings, a lovely fountain, and statues of heroes."

I realized he'd been here and most likely knew more about the Forgotten than he had told us. I wanted to demand answers, but I worried that with so much magic about, such a demand might take on a different life than I had intended. This was not a night to take chances.

Have you ever walked down a street at night and thought someone followed you? Then, looking back, you see no one?

It was like that, but knowing something really was there.

Colin handed me to Luna, indicating the trouble was about to start. He and Darian slowed until they were behind Luna and me. Fox ran around us, kicking up almost visible traces of natural magic.

Shosha slept in Luna's pocket.

We were near the spot where the old fountain had been. It was easy to make out the circular pattern of old brick and the metal shield that now blocked off the system that had brought water to the surface.

And this was when something odd happened ... as if this midnight journey had been anything normal before now.

I heard children laughing. This wasn't anything I had expected. They were coming down the main road, swirling shapes that divided into individuals with discernible faces. Happy children. How could they be Forgotten?

"What happened here?" Colin asked.

"They were part of a refugee group," Fox said. "They were told to wait by the fountain."


The children's memory of the fountain, mixed with the wild magic in the air, made it real again. It did the same for the children.

"What happened here?" Darion asked, his voice as soft as a breeze.

"Slavers," the fox said with a snarl. "The children were traded for supplies to feed refugees on their way across the land. The slavers will arrive soon. They'll kill the youngest and the weakest of the group."

"No," Luna said. "We need to find a way to stop them!"

"No," Fox replied with a violent shake of his head. "We come here to ensure all goes as it did that night. Some have tried to change it, but it did not go well."

"No," Luna repeated. There was no arguing with her.

And I found I agreed with her anyway. The children were almost real already and I heard the sound of another group coming to the fountain.

They laughed.

I think the laughter upset the fae to a point beyond reason. I jumped from Colin's hold and almost landed in the water. Instead, I caught the sleeve of a young girl's shirt.

"Go!" I told her. "Gather them all and run!"

I hadn't considered the effect of a talking cat.

She screamed. I yowled. Luna came running to help, and beyond her, I could see the two slavers and their men arriving. The male slaver looked fat, scowling, and angry.

The woman was Maude.

The others might not have recognized her since she was so young. They didn't understand why I growled, leaped across the fountain, and charged toward her. Colin tried to use magic to hold me back, but my power surged through it.

I saw when she recognized me. I didn't expect her to scream in fear and shock.

"You can't be Neko! He's trapped!"

Colin, Dorian, and perhaps even Luna understood now. Shosha cried out and hid. I kept going because I had her at a disadvantage for once.

I never considered that her companions might also have magic. The stout leader spun on me with a curse and fire in his hands. I swerved in time, although I hated giving up my attack on Maude.

That's when I realized the guards all but glowed with magic. And despite how they looked, they were not human. They would be no help for me, and finding myself at their feet was a bad position.

Dart one way, slip the other, swipe at a reaching hand while avoiding the knife in the other. Magic didn't seem to give them extra speed or strength. It just made them human.

Outwitting humans was never that difficult. The guards were too close together, too. So I confused them, dancing around their legs and then down into a crevice at the edge of the street.

I had lost them, and it was even a few heartbeats before Maude began to yell.

"Where is he? Where did the cat go!"

"Damn the cat," the man snarled. "Get the children! If the guard comes along, we can't talk our way out of this!"

"That's why we have powers!"

"And if we use any more, we'll draw the watchers down on us. Grab the children."

"No," Dorian said. It was a simple word with a lot of power. "You will not take them."

"Fae," the man mumbled, and I could hear a hint of worry in his voice this time. "Maude --"

"I want the cat. Neko, come to me."

She had the power to call me. I had to put all my little strength into not moving so that I became almost as still as stone. Maude and her companions had limited time, and Maude wouldn't risk getting caught even to catch me. She was already siphoning off some of her magic to rope in the frightened children. Did they expect the fae to do nothing? The sudden surge of magic brightened the world. Maude yelled --

And then the watchers arrived with their own magic. I tried to tunnel my way into the ground. This was not good.

Flash Fiction #634 -- Neko's Trip Home/14

 

I was starting to get angry at Colin's disinterest in my observation. He used to take me seriously. If I'd had any energy, I would have stood and bit him on the nose.

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."

Flash Fiction #633 -- Neko's Trip Home/13

 

Colin let me play in the water while he dealt with Teeth. The creature was starting to make odd noises, and while his arms and head still moved, he was increasingly still as the water rose over his knees and to his waist. It remained no more than four inches high where I waited.

"There are two sides to fear. What we consider first is what scares us. But some take pleasure in creating fear. This creature is no more than sand and fear. Something else directs it."

I would have figured that out if I hadn't been so afraid.

"Does that mean it is close by?" I asked with a quick twitch of my head.

"Very likely."

"Oh." I went back to playing in the water. Who knew when I might get another chance to have fun? It also allowed me to twist, turn, and watch in other directions while Colin worked with the sand-turned-to-stone man. I think I presented a reasonable vision of a brainless cat.

So I was the one to see it first: a black dot bouncing toward us. Bounce, bounce, bounce.

"Colin, we have company."

Colin looked where I pointed. "Well, there is something you don't see every day."

I looked at the sandman, worried since Colin appeared to have lost all interest. It did seem to be stone now. However, I glanced that way now and then.

Bounce, Bounce, swish.

The bouncing ball had changed.

"A guy in a mouse suit? Is this supposed to scare me?"

The mouse leaned closer. It was no costume, and mice have impressive teeth, too.

"How about I chase you for a while, cat. Time to play!'

A giant paw struck me with enough force that I lifted off the ground and flew for a few yards. At least the dusty sand made a soft landing, and I was smart enough to tuck and roll.

Then, the mouse landed beside me, with a cloud of dust rising around us. He was not wearing a mouse suit. This was a giant, fat mouse with shiny black eyes and a tongue that flicked in my direction like a snake darting out of a cave.

It was hideous. And scary.

"Neko! Don't run!"

I was ready to sprint -- but that was prey behavior.   No matter how big and scary Mousie looked, he was still just a rodent. I spun and attacked.

Yes, it was crazy. Wouldn't you be by this point? I wanted food, rest, and time with my friends. These creatures were annoying me beyond reason. I heard Colin yell at me, but I had gone to my predator side, and I barely heard --

Mousie grabbed me by the neck. He began shaking me, but even that didn't stop me from trying to claw his face. Nothing could stop me --

Except her laughter.

Maude.

Mousie changed, the form going slimmer, the head human. Oh yes, it was her, and I cried out in despair this time.

Part of my brain held on to some logic. This was not Maude. I could even sense that truth. This was made to frighten me, and I hated that feeling.

I would not let something else rule over me.

"Begone, whatever you are!" I said and hissed, trying to swipe at the hand that held me. She blinked in a moment of surprise. "You will not have control over me or over my mind. I was tired of your stupid, cruel games long before we parted. In fact, trapping me in that building was the kindest thing you ever did for me."

This might not have been the true Maude, but she had enough of the witch's personality not to take that insult well.

Good.

When Maude got mad, she also got stupid. In this case, she began viciously shaking me -- and forgot Colin. I think the real Maude might not have been that stupid, but this worked for me. Colin grabbed me out of her hand and then shouted some fae words, while she screamed in anger --

And disappeared.

"We need to go now," Colin warned. He waved his arm in a circular motion, though the movement looked shaky. A portal opened, though. Darion stared at us --

"Pull us back," Colin said. "Fast."

Colin started to fall. I put what power I could into him, leaving me with spots in front of my eyes and Maude's laughter.

I nearly panicked, but I knew Darion had hold of us. I closed my eyes. I drifted away from the world that I knew. We were back at the festival. I could sense it all in waves of good and bad emotion. I could sense happiness and excitement all through the city, but I also found dark things moving along the edges of the light. Their emotions were more complex, and I lingered near one group, wondering if they were guards or enemies about to attack.

Then I heard Colin talking.

"Every time we defeat one of the minions, the base magic grows stronger and learns more of what we can do." He sounded weary and I realized I rested in his lap.

The others sat on the floor with us. Shosha slept somewhere nearby.

The dark things were nearby, too. I could hear music and laughter and felt them glide closer to our tent. I did not want them here.

Time to awaken and tell the others of this new danger.

Awaken.

Only I couldn't. I tried to open my eyes, but I saw something dark staring at me. Human, I thought. A lot of them, hidden in shadows.

"One sees us," a voice whispered in that darkness. "It will warn -- no. We're safe. It is just a cat.

Just a cat?

I woke with a soft growl. Colin looked down at me, surprised.

"Darkness outside," I whispered.

"It is night," he replied.

"Look in the shadows. Look now, or we are lost."

Flash Fiction #632 -- Neko's Trip Home/12

 

A true fanatic is something beyond wild. No matter what the species, they are beyond reason. The polite, tired man I faced changed in a heartbeat into a raving lunatic.

His face paled, and his eyes grew large. He lifted his hands, the fingers thin as claws as he swiped at me, but I had already moved out of the way. What had been a normal face elongated and opened, showing row upon row of dagger teeth.

I ran.

I knew I couldn't go far. My mouth had filled with white dust, and my legs began to cramp. I had only a small reserve of magic and felt no link back to my friends.

It would have had me if it hadn't laughed.

The sound brought me up short, and I tripped over my own legs. I hate when an enemy laughs at me. In a moment of Shosha-like rage, I spun to go after him.

The monster tripped over me.

"Nooooooo!"

It hit the ground in slow motion and dissolved into white dust.

He didn't reform. I stared for a long time, fighting the urge to laugh. That would hardly be appropriate considering my reaction to his laughter.

Besides, except for his disappearance, nothing had changed. White dust hung in the still air where not even a slight breeze gave respite from the sun and heat. The most I could hear was my own breathing.

Colin would be looking for me. So would Dorian, and even Luna in her own way. I only had to wait. And survive.

No, not wait. Sitting still was the best way to make myself a target. Other things might lurk not far away, white and invisible in this overwhelming light. If I sat still, I might hear them. When I tried that, all I could hear was My own breathing, which sounded like a roaring wind. I got up and started walking again, following my own footsteps back to where we began. I hoped it would be easier for Colin to find me if I was near where I'd been dropped in the first place. That started me wondering why he had not shown up yet. After all, he was getting a lot of practice at this work.

I found the end of the footsteps and saw nothing but my own prints. There was no sign of the creature with all the teeth. I tried to make myself believe that it wasn't real.

"Colin?"

Something moved, but it wasn't my fae friend. I saw something about the size of my hand stand up from the sand. It was a miniature of Mr. Teeth. When it came closer, I slapped it hard enough that it disintegrated back into the sand. That pleased me, so I did the same when a couple more appeared. Then, a few more seemed to join together and make a bigger version.

I wasn't quite so pleased now, but I could still get them hard enough to send them back into their sand base. Fortunately, there were not many of them, but some were getting large. Despite that I'd still had no relief from the heat and white dust, I managed to get to my feet and dash -- no, stager -- into them. It helped that they were coming at me, so I didn't have to move much. They annoyed me. None of them was the size that would scare me, so I took advantage of this stage as I danced around the little area, slapping, kicking, and biting. I didn't do that one again since it got me a mouthful of dust. Slap. That one didn't work, and it showed me they were getting stronger as they got larger. A distant part of my mind still hoped for rescue, but I had turned my own status to survival.

Plop.

Colin arrived. "What the hell?" he demanded and scrambled to his feet. "Ow!"

He shook one of the creatures free of his hand, and it disintegrated as it hit the ground.

"Well, that's better. The thing bit me. How many teeth does it have?"

"Welcome to my nightmare."  I coughed, my voice ragged. "You don't want ... want to meet the full version. Get me out of here."

"If we leave now, we'll have to come back and deal with this later." Colin grabbed up one by the arm and shook some sand from it. "You are a frightful little monster, aren't you? More of an annoyance than a danger, though."

"You haven't met the larger version."

Colin finally picked me up. I could feel his magic, which made me feel better -- until I saw the sand men joining into a form larger than the one that had faced me.

I expected Colin to take us away. Instead, he stared at the creature stomping its way to us.  

"Can we go now, Colin?"

"We need information. If you were made of sand, what would you fear?"

"Wind," I replied. "But that doesn't bother him. He just reforms. I might try rain."

"Water," Colin said with a nod. He knelt and put me down. "Don't panic. This won't take long."

Fae, being as old as the world and immortal, have an odd idea of time. Sometimes, I err in that way, too. This was not the time with my enemy only a few steps away. Could I bury myself in the sand?

I made one sad little hissing sound as the thing reached toward me --

Then, it pulled away in shock. My eyes blurred as I scrambled backward, but my legs didn't want to work. The ground pulled at me. I shivered --

Not fear. I was suddenly cool and unexpectedly found myself splashing in water.

Mister Teeth had begun splashing as well, but not with the joy I felt. The water was up to his knees, and he was not disintegrating. In fact, he looked more solid.

This was supposed to help?