Between

Episode 39

Episode 39

A tiny buzzing form flitted with the utmost care through enemy territory. It was an indistinct blur as it moved. In those brief moments that it became stationary, it looked like a small man dressed in snug black clothing with a dull sheen and drab-gray butterfly wings. He wore what could have been a simple button on a thread around his neck, but close inspection would reveal incredibly intricate and complex engravings.

He darted from dark corner to unseen rooftop, pausing only long enough to get his bearings and pick his next hiding place. There was a nervous tension, yet an unquestionable competence to his motions. He was aware of the danger but trained to handle it. This was Shard. Upper Shard, in fact. It was no place for a fairy or any other living thing that valued its liberty. But worse, for a representative of New Allimiss, it was nothing less than enemy territory. Each barely visible shift in position brought him closer to the palace, home to every single resident of this blighted land who might be able to detect him, but also the most likely home to the one bit of information he'd been sent to retrieve. The location of a human named Philo. They had no samples to guide their spotters to find him, so spying was the only option.

The creature hooked around the edge of the drifting spike of stone and into a cranny on Shard's outer wall. The very moment he arrived, he knew he couldn't risk lingering in any one spot for more than a moment or two. He could feel the prying minds of the castle's many mystics and seers on his skin, like the snuffling snouts of a pack of hungry wolves. They'd not detected him, but an innate curiosity and sensitivity drew their attentions toward him. Most of them had their arcane gaze pointed outward, seeking the next victim they would snare for this evil place. Though he wept for any unlucky enough to be seen by them, right now the vigil in search of them would keep him largely unnoticed, at least with any degree of certainty.

He worked his way upward. The Overseer, a dark, demonic being no doubt, could only be found in the highest tower. Such were the minds of madmen and tyrants. They were nothing like the benevolent Kintalla, who freely walked among her people. No. This Overseer would surely be the sort who would take up a position to look down upon his people.

He'd not made it halfway to the window at the apex of the palace when he became certain he was correct. A furious anger, felt in his mind and almost against his skin as a sort of smoldering heat, radiated out from what must have been the throne room. A few moments later he could hear a pair of voices ring out.

"Look, Boss. I know just how ya feel," said the first voice.

The tone was familiar to the fairy, a Shard fetcher who had more than once successfully kidnapped fellow New Allimiss citizens. They called him Mr. Stubbs.

"Ya told me to stick around and keep this place safe," Stubbs continued. "And what did I do? I went wandering off."

"You did precisely that. Yes..." creaked a second voice.

The fairy raised an eyebrow, then took a steadying breath and flitted up just long enough to peek through the window. He saw nothing but the back of a massive throne. Hidden behind that disgustingly intimidating slab of carved stone was the vile Overseer, enemy to all he and his people stood for.

"I can see how that's liable to get ya upset, boss," Stubbs said. "I do it a few more times and I'll be as bad as Duke and Brankle, am I right? Those two are always wandering off."

"They are disobedient. Yes. And they shall be dealt with. But their misbehavior does not relieve you of your punishment."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Wouldn't dream of it," Stubbs said. "But, ya know, seems like maybe a fellow in yer position ought to punish the folk who are still defying yer orders, eh? Duke's here, but where's Brankle? Those two being practically the same person, seems like the bug not coming back is just about the same as Duke not coming back."