Curled Horns

30. The Pixie

The streets of their town were ghostly silent. That morning, the news about San's accident had spread its word amongst the town folk's mouths. In horror and shock, they had retreated into their houses, hiding away shivering behind closed doors. The attack had been no more but half an hour's ride away from their safe haven. The pixies moved right among them, brushing through the alleys invisibly and bringing dread and sorrow upon the people.

Nobody dared to go out. The vendors had taken a day off to show their respect to San, and only the occasional hooded figure dashed between the houses.

Uncomfortable with the emptiness of the streets and the many barricaded shutters, Mingi rode down the street. Seonghwa's store was also locked, the curtains closed and the inside dark. Mingi glanced at the stony guard when he tied his horse to the same spot he had occupied last time. It wouldn't bother anyone today.

Pondering the lack of guards given the newest developments, Mingi wandered into the alley left of Seonghwa's building. He knew the man was in; he lived above the atelier, after all. But even as Mingi rapped his knuckles against the backdoor, no answer from inside came.

Frowning, Mingi glanced up at the windows on the second floor. Seonghwa knew he would drop by, so he likely expected him. Or had he left the town impromptu to visit his parents in the southern kingdom?

With a grumble, Mingi returned to the front door and knocked there, too. He couldn't peek through the curtains, but nothing moved inside.

The guard threw him a funny gaze. Mingi smiled awkwardly.

"I'm not here to make trouble. I wanted to visit my friend, but he seems unavailable."

The jarring crunch of metal plates followed the nod of the man's head.

"I saw you around, yes. The tailor said nothing about leaving. I didn't see him go since yesterday." His voice was lighter than Mingi expected, relieving the servant massively. Together, they glanced up at the windows. All were shut, the curtains closed. Mingi eyed the ground for a suitable stone he could throw. Not that Seonghwa would react to those. They were the oldest trick suitors used to get his attention.

Before he could bend over to pick one up and annoy Seonghwa as long as needed for him to show up, a crash sounded from inside the shop. Frozen, Mingi's eyes widened in the middle of his movement.

The doors were still closed. Nothing to see.

The guard and Mingi exchanged a stare that silently asked for agreement whether they had heard the same just now. They couldn't both have mistaken it.

Mingi peered at his horse, trying to find an incentive whether it had kicked the wall or something like that.

Then they heard something else. A muffled yell, followed by a softer thud than before.

The guard was faster than Mingi. With one step, he reached the door. The back of his halberd came down in a brutal strike poised at the lock of the door, shattering the iron. The bent bolt slipped from its fixture and the door swung open to the inside.

Years of clumsiness and practising how to preserve the people around him from said clumsiness had Mingi duck to the side when something whizzed at them. A body met the guard behind him, going down with him in a fight. Mingi only glimpsed at the flashes of black armour and a long black cloak that wrapped around a body much smaller than that of the knight. The halberd was useless in close combat like this, but the demon held up.

Not wasting any more time, Mingi dashed inside of the shop to check on Seonghwa. And again, it was only after he had entered the dim room that he remembered the pixie was by no means alone.