Faebreaker

25: Plan of Attack

After the party's investigation at Ettinsburgh, It wasn't long before they were on the trail of the thing that lurked inside the Ettinsburgh loch, Isla having given a general direction of where she'd last seen the fairy beast. They'd left their horses behind, the townsfolk promising they'd keep them safe, but only for so long, and on the condition that Sorcha's party slew the fairy beast that had slaughtered their people.

The forest, mostly made of evergreen pines, and oaks who'd lost their leaves at the beginning of the cold season, was quite dense. Erik stepped over a fallen tree, looking to either side of him as he tried to take in the environment. If it wasn't for Sorcha and Hamish leading at the front, he was pretty certain he would have gotten lost already. The faintest shimmering of sunlight shined from the canopy, hinting at a clear day. Nothing was amiss, save for the occasional frightened, wild animal that sprinted by, and the unfortunate small rock Erik tripped on every so often.

"Watch your step," Alec said when Erik went stumbling into him once.

"Oh." Erik mentally struck himself for his clumsiness. "Sorry about that, just not used to walking long distances like this. Tough on the heels."

"It's all right." Alec paused for a moment. "Say, you feeling a bit better now?"

"Sorry?"

"I really don't mean to pry." Alec laughed a little bit. "Was just wondering if you'd managed to get whatever happened off your mind, that's all. You seem very quiet at times, not unlike myself, to be honest."

"Oh." Erik wasn't sure he'd ever hear the end of what happened at that point. "Thanks for checking, but I really am fine now. You know how it goes, I guess. Just need to move on."

"Glad to hear it."

Sorcha called for a swift halt as she put up an open hand.

Stopping suddenly, Erik felt a small body bump into him from behind. Turning his head around, Erik saw a dazed Lesie take a couple steps back.

"Sorry," she said, holding onto her greatsword. "My spacing's all messed up again."

"It's fine, I can relate," Erik said, smiling. "Say...don't you ever get tired of holding that?"

"Huh?" Lesie blinked. "Oh." Her grip tightened around her sword's pommel. "It kinda just rests on the shoulder. It's heavy, but, really not all that bad in the end."

"How long did you train with it?"

"Been training with swords ever since I was little—"

Before Lesie could finish, Sorcha shouted a command for everyone to come to her. "Everyone, here now!" she shouted, kneeling over something.

Going over to her, Erik saw what she was inspecting. The mangled corpse of one of the townsfolk, rib cage crushed in, and a pitchfork still locked into the firm grasp of his hand. His stomach churned inside him. So that's what wild fairies did, or at least what the one in question did. Sorcha offered for him to stay at the village, but he insisted he go along anyway incase anyone got hurt. Now though, he wasn't so sure. He felt afraid, his hands shaking ever so slightly as he tried to steel himself, taking a deep breath.

"Look familiar?" Sorcha asked, eying Isla who stood beside her.

"One of the villagers," Isla confirmed. "From the hunting party."

"They went out with bloody pitchforks," Hamish said, wheezing out a laugh of disbelief. "Did they really think—?"

"Doesn't matter," Alec said, holding onto his lute. "Can't think when you're dead, now can you?"

"But the families can. They'll remember what happened for generations," said a disheartened Lesie. "I want to stick it good to the thing that did this."

Hamish let out a whistle. "You sure went dark all of a sudden."

"Yeah, well," Lesie shook her head. "I don't need to have sympathy for monsters."

"Good lass."

"Let's not be too quick to judge," Isla said, sighing. "These people came together to hunt. It probably felt threatened."

"I don't know," Lesie said. "If it walks, talks, and has a conscience, then I'm not sure anything can justify this. It's not like a wild animal did this, it was one of the folk. Call it a 'wild' fairy if you want, but this is horrible."

"Enough," Alaric said. Having lagged behind the party for sometime, he came forward, walking between the two girls and acting as a barrier for their words. "Silence yourselves."

"Best course of action, Alaric?" asked Sorcha, who chose to keep herself professional.

"I will move on ahead," he said simply. "My hope is that I can speak with it long enough for you all to prepare a surprise assault."

"How do we know it simply won't attack ye?" she said, grimacing. "Ye may be a fae, but how do we know it won't treat ye any different than a human?"

Alaric paid her caution little mind, choosing not to answer. "You understand the consequences of slaying this beast?"

"I do. But if we don't kill it, others of our ilk will eventually, and the longer we wait, the bolder it may become."

"Consequences?" Lesie asked. "What do you mean?"

Sorcha waved Lesie off. "Nevermind it, lass."

"The creature keeps the waters pure," Isla said.

"And how would you know that?" Hamish said, eying the girl curiously.

Isla stayed silent.

"Hamish, I understand you might have certain reservations about her, but I don't think now is the time to express them," Alec spoke up.

"Then what time would be best for you?" Hamish said. "When you're dead and beyond the grave?"

"My daughter and I do not mean you any harm, if that is what you are concerned about," Alaric said, trying to put Hamish at ease. "We have the same objective for now, to kill the fairy beast lurking inside this forest. After that, we go north under your party's protection."

"I would have liked to talk about this more, Sorcha." Hamish shook his head. "I can take that you're in bondage to this Alaric, but if your bondage puts all of us under him as well, then how is that fair?"

"I'm not stopping ye from going yer own way, Hamish," Sorcha said, eying him keenly. "We need Alaric's help. I don't want anyone getting hurt. This is unlike anything we've fought before. We cannae do this by ourselves."

"I never said I was going to leave." He took another glance at Isla. "After we're done with this, I want us all to be frank with each other. No more hiding things."

At that, Isla's gaze shifted toward the ground slightly. Erik remembered what she'd said to him after little game of truths, after he'd mentioned his dream to her. He wouldn't say no to complete honesty, but he didn't want anyone hurting each other over what they came forward with either. And Isla, as withdrawn was she was, had a lot to hide, it seemed. Is she...a monster? Erik thought. He shook his head. No...she can't be.

"So what now, then?" Alec asked, holding tightly to his lute. "Do we search near the lake deeper in the woods?"

"Stay here for now," Alaric said. "My daughter shall lead me the rest of the way. Together, we will convene with the beast."

Isla's head snapped toward Alaric. "Father?"

"No questions," Alaric said simply.

"We leave now."

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