A Strange Town

“What the hell,” Blue said under her breath as they walked through the streets of Transben City. “I don't think I've seen this much stupid in one place.”

Every house sported a banner. Some of them simply read “Lord Detraf” but others said things like “Detraf Is Our Savior” and “Detraf For Change.” The banners were brightly colored, displayed with pride. Every yard was neatly kept, if a tad dreary. Children played outside and the schoolhouse stood empty.

It was unlike many cities and towns they'd visited in their travels. Transben City was not downtrodden, there were no shuttered windows and falling down fences, no holes in the pavement, no dirty children begging food. It felt a bit like they'd wandered into a different dimension on accident, for this was not how they were used to seeing the realm.

While many in their party were simply fascinated with their surroundings, some found it more unsettling. Artemis had drawn her hood over her face, hiding her emotions. A few steps behind her, Alaster had turned very white, and his eyes flitted from side to side nervously.

“Where's the market, then?” Zi spoke up, attempting to be cheerful. Since they were here and they needed supplies, she figured that they might as well have a good attitude about it. Was it strange that this city apparently worshiped Lord Detraf? Yes, it was strange, but not necessarily cause for alarm.

“Are you mad?” Alaster spoke up. “We shouldn't be here. We need to leave!”

“We can't, we're nearly out of food,” said Blue, ever the voice of reason. “There's not another town for days.”

Despite Alaster's objections, they made their way to the center of the city where the local market was located. People milled about, buying from stalls and trading their goods, and everywhere they looked, there were more of the garish banners of support for Lord Detraf.

Artemis was guarded, keeping an eye on the group as best she could. Gwuryn and Borli split off to buy kebabs at a stall selling food and Artemis frowned. She agreed with Alaster, it was dangerous to stay in this place. Although the city seemed full of life, and the people seemed happy, she could feel darkness all around them. If she told anyone, she wondered if they would listen to her. Perhaps Kniles would take her seriously.

Their group was tired and hungry, in need of a good night's rest and a hot meal. Artemis wanted to urge them onward but she knew they couldn't keep going at their current pace. If they kept their heads down, it would probably be fine.

However, Detraf was not a man to be taken lightly. Most of Artemis' companions seemed to think he was a joke, but Artemis was more wary. The rest of them didn't understand that Detraf wasn't calling all the shots, that the man who controlled him was their true enemy, but even so, they didn't really fear Detraf and that was a mistake.

Well, the fairy man, Alaster, seemed to understand. The longer they stayed, the more agitated he seemed to become. Artemis watched him, curious. She knew that Vana Vale, Alaster's home, had been pledged to the service of Lord Detraf for many years. The fairies mostly served him without question. Perhaps Alaster had seen enough of Detraf to know what Artemis knew – that he was dangerous.

“All hail Lord Detraf!” declared Sir Gwuryn loudly upon tasting the kebab he'd ordered.

Artemis saw the fairy flinch and her eyes narrowed. She drifted closer to him and drew down her hood.

“I agree with you that we shouldn't be here,” she murmured, catching Alaster's attention without anyone else overhearing.

“You... do?” Alaster looked up at her, surprised. He wasn't used to the other members of the party speaking to him like this. So far they had seemed to mostly distrust him, not that he could blame them for that. Artemis never spoke to him at all.

The hunter nodded, her expression severe. “The rest of them will want to stay the night. They're tired. You and I will have to be on guard.”

Well, that sounded like a fucking stupid plan to Alaster. Detraf's name was literally hanging off of every building here, and the idiots wanted to stay overnight? Truly, their collective stupidity knew no limits. They were all going to get themselves killed, and Alaster was likely to get killed himself in the process. The last thing he wanted was to run into Lord Detraf. The man gave Alaster the creeps, and just being in this city that was singing his praises was putting Alaster in a foul mood.

“If he's here, we're fucked,” he told her, scowling. “We should have turned around as soon as we saw those banners. Everyone in this city could be waiting to ambush us, and you want to stay the night?”

“No, I don't want to,” Artemis growled, irritated. She wasn't sure why she had expected the fairy to be reasonable about this. Nothing she'd learned about him so far indicated that he was possessed of a level head. “But convincing the rest of them is going to be next to impossible. Or do you want to leave them here and travel on without them?”

Alaster looked taken aback by this suggestion and he squared his shoulders and turned up his nose. “Whatever you might think about me, wench, I've no plans to abandon them. We're all part of this bloody quest nonsense, and that includes you.”

So their mutual vision suggested, Artemis could admit, and it still made no sense to her. She was not a hero, as she'd told them all several times now. None of them understood, not really. She couldn't explain it to them. As much as she didn't want to admit it, being part of this group, being their friend, was something she had come to value.

It seemed that the same was true of Alaster. Though he professed to loathe this entire quest, he took offense at the suggestion that he would jump ship. Artemis could not help but marvel at this change of heart. She was not the only one who'd had misgivings about bringing the fairy with them. Fae had argued his case out of a sense of responsibility to her sibling, and Fae was to be respected. She had a good heart. She was pure. Artemis envied her.

On the other hand, Artemis thought she probably had more in common with Alaster. He was a jerk, that was true, but more importantly, he wasn't a hero either. Artemis felt sure that Alaster wasn't staying with them because he believed they were destined to save the realm. He probably felt like she did, that it was important to Zi and Fae and the others, and so even if Artemis and Alaster thought it was crazy, they were going to hang in there for the people who mattered to them.

“I agree that we shouldn't abandon them,” she placated, holding up her hands. “You and I need rest as well. We don't have much of a choice.”

Alaster relaxed a little but he looked worried.

“At the first sign of trouble, we should leave,” he insisted. “I'm still not happy about it but if everyone else wants to stay, there's nothing I can bloody well do about it.”

As evening settled on the city, the ragtag party found their supplies well stocked and their bellies full of good food and ale from a local tavern. The rooms to let were at a good rate and most members of the party now took the opportunity to relax from the harrowing journey they had been on thus far. As was their tradition, a tavern with good ale meant they spent the evening gathered round a table, drinking and talking well into the night.

Having had one too many drinks, Blue grabbed the sleeve of the serving maid as the girl passed their table and said, “Excuse me, miss, my friends and I wondered if you could tell us about all these weird banners all over the city?”

It was not that Blue took this whole quest lightly, mind you. Part of her knew that Detraf wasn't as much of an idiot as he pretended to be. It was just such a convincing act. Later, she would regret writing off the risk he posed to their party. For now, she was intoxicated and in an exceedingly good mood.

“They are for our lord who delivers us from our sorrows,” the maid replied. “Everything we have here is thanks to Lord Detraf.”

“Really, though, he's a bit of a rotter,” spoke up Kniles, who had also had more ale than was his custom. “I mean, he says some terrible things.”

“He tells it like it is,” said the maid, turning up her nose at them. She flounced away, clearly unimpressed with Kniles' criticism of Lord Detraf.

“Incredible,” said Gwuryn. “They really seem to like the bastard.”

"Maybe they like his tiny hands," remarked Blue. For a sorcerer, he really did have petite hands. It was almost funny watching him cast magic, or would have been funny if her life hadn't been in imminent danger every time she'd seen the evil lord cast magic.

Alaster slouched down in his chair, keeping a nervous eye on all inhabitants of the tavern. What if Detraf was in disguise? He hardly touched his ale. Every time he picked up his mug, he thought about trying to fight that son of a bitch while drunk and he put it back down.

It came as a relief to him when the others finally decided it was time to retire for the night. In their rented rooms, they were at least somewhat low profile. He made up his mind, however, that he would stay up the whole night, just in case. He wasn't much use in a battle, and he knew that. At least this way, he could wake the others if something went wrong.

--

Despite his plans, as soon as Alaster's head touched the pillow on his bed, he was dead to the world. It had been too long since he'd last slept in a proper bed. He'd gotten used to the hard ground and resting his head on his pack, not that he'd ever admit to the others that it was all but normal to him now to sleep in the dirt or on the floor. Not so very long ago, he'd had the best of everything. He missed his goose feather pillows and expertly woven blankets, but the dusty hotel room bed was even better than he remembered his nice bedclothes being after so long on the road.

If only his sleep had been dreamless, but that had not been true for nearly as long as it had been since he last slept on a goose feather pillow. He still felt he should probably tell one of the others about his disturbing dreams, but hadn't mustered up the courage to do so. They already thought him a useless weakling and the last thing he wanted was to have them all taunting him for being scared of nightmares.

He wasn't scared of his dreams anyway, or at least he told himself that he wasn't. Mostly they were just confusing. Some nights he dreamed of mundane things, like family dinners he'd never had with his own family, full of the smell of good food he'd never tasted. Other times he dreamed of a presence at the edge of a deep forest, watching him and calling to him without sound, a terrifying pull in his heart that he thought might lead him to madness. And yet other times, he dreamed he was the presence in the woods himself, scenting blood, driving prey through the trees and feeling the earth through the bare pads of his four feet.

Some of these dreams, he thought perhaps were just the dreams of his companions that he'd picked up on in his sleep on accident. For instance, it was easy enough to tell that the dream in which he had paws and walked on four legs belonged to Shadow. Though this one bothered him a bit, as he'd never been able to pick up on Shadow's waking thoughts. Perhaps her desires were more tangible when she was in a relaxed state. It made sense that in her sleep, her thoughts would be consumed with memories of a time when she'd been happy. Alaster could understand that. He knew a little of what it was like to be displaced, out of his element, and to reminisce fondly of days when things had been easier.

Some of the dreams, though they were mundane enough, seemed to belong to no one at all. These were dreams he seldom remembered in the morning, though he'd tried to hold onto them and analyze them. There was something familiar about them but he was certain they were not based on his own memories.

But that dream about the presence in the woods, the one that called to him, that was the one he worried about the most. He was starting to think that dream belonged to Artemis, which brought him a little relief because if it was her dream, he could feel more at ease about himself. However, having had the dream several times now, he wondered if the human ever dreamed of anything else and what possible reason she could have for this recurring nightmare.

On this night, the dream started out as one of those strange, fuzzy memories that didn't belong to him. He thought it was about a woman this time, which was no surprise, considering the number of females in their party. He tried, but he couldn't quite make out her features. Her face was a blur to him, though he at least gathered that her hair was a pleasant chestnut brown in color. She was saying something but he couldn't make out the words. It was as though she was trying to speak to him, he realized with a jolt. He was not used to being spoken to in the dreams.

Her face became a little clearer, enough that he realized she looked like someone he knew. In fact, she looked a bit like Fae with lighter hair. He could see her lips moving but the sound was still muffled. What was she saying? He'd never had a dream quite like this one before. The woman's face looked angry. On second thought, no, it wasn't anger, but fear that he could see playing out across her delicate features. She seemed frustrated, as though she knew that Alaster couldn't hear her and she was trying to tell him something important.

All at once, her voice came to him as clear as day.

“Alex! You idiot, run!”

Just as suddenly, the dream changed and the woman was gone. Alaster was plunged into a suffocating darkness and he found himself struggling to breathe. The darkness had an oppressive weight to it and he fought it, trying to move but finding his limbs too heavy to move. His heart pounded in his chest as though it wanted to burst free and flee on its own. He tried, but mostly failed, to calm himself down.

There was another voice now, one that Alaster knew too well. He shrank away from the sound of it as best he could but it echoed all around him.

“The little psychic,” murmured Detraf in his oily tone, and his image appeared in front of Alaster, observing him with an amused expression. “In my own city, no less. No, don't bother to deny it, you could not be anywhere else or I would not have found your sleeping mind with such ease. You are like a beacon, Mr. Gwillemin, calling me to your location. Did you want me to find you, pet?”

“Like hell!” Alaster snarled in return. Fear, though he hated to admit it, had become a normal feeling to him since his sister and the nelf kidnapped him from Vana Vale. However, there was nothing else he feared like he feared this man. Detraf was too powerful and Alaster had always known instinctively that he was no match for the man. That they seemed to share the same ability only made this worse.

The image of Detraf circled around him. Alaster tried not to panic and kept himself still, knowing that he couldn't fight the darkness that had left him immobile. He thought of the woman in his dream, who'd told him to run. No, not him, he remembered, but someone else. Someone named Alex.

“You've been talking with Trenace.” A sinister grin spread across Detraf's face. “I didn't think the witch would be able to contact you. At least, not so soon. Then again, wearing that amulet helps, I should think. I can feel the residue of her powers here in your mind. What has she been telling you? Oh, never mind, don't tell me. I'd prefer to see for myself.”

Detraf reached out and there was nothing Alaster could do to keep the man's hand from being pressed to his head. Alaster regulated his breathing and tried not to feel sick.

After a moment, the sorcerer drew back his hand, looking disappointed. “You're still too dense to understand much of what she says, it seems. That's a shame. She tried to warn you that I was coming, but not soon enough. She must hate that. Too late again, my lady.”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” Alaster couldn't do anything else but if he had to listen to this slimy bastard talk, he at least wanted some answers. “Who is Trenace?”

“It hardly matters,” said Detraf with a shrug. “She's been dead for a very long time now.”

This did not help clear things up in the slightest. How and why was a dead person trying to talk to Alaster in his dreams? Had all of those fuzzy, incomprehensible dreams been from Trenace? Whoever she was, Alaster didn't see what she had to do with him, and he'd just as soon not have a dead person in his head in addition to all the living people he still couldn't keep out.

“You do favor her a great deal,” the evil lord continued thoughtfully. “Of course, that is why I've kept an eye on you. I've been watching since you were born but it took so long for you to come into your psychic abilities that I'd decided you were a failure. It's a shame those silly rebels found you before I could take you under my wing and train you. If you are truly Trenace's heir, you've inherited a great deal of power and you've no idea what to do with it.”

“Do you have any idea how fucking creepy you are?” Alaster replied. He didn't like the idea of Detraf watching his entire life, like he was some sort of experiment. Then again, the more Detraf talked, the more Alaster wanted to know about this Trenace woman. His curiosity was almost enough to make him forget how dangerous it was to have Detraf in his mind.

But he remembered that Detraf knew where they were. He did not doubt that the sorcerer had spoken the truth about knowing their location, and Alaster could not help but feel a little vindicated. He'd told the others that staying in this town was a bad idea. Now that Detraf knew, they were all in danger.

“Quite right,” said Detraf in answer to Alaster's thoughts. “If only you could warn your companions. I'm afraid I'll have to keep you here instead. Your foolish friends are all asleep, with no way of protecting themselves. I'll slaughter them all and take the amulets for myself. Perhaps I'll spare you if you pledge yourself to my service. What do you say?”

Anger surged through him. Did everyone in the bloody realm think that Alaster was so willing to sell out his friends? He was doing his part, damn it, and trying to understand why he was part of this quest in the first place. His own doubts were quite enough without Lord Detraf adding to them. Alaster wanted the man out of his mind. He wanted all of them out of his mind, he wanted his thoughts to be his own again.

“You're insane if you think I'd betray them for you,” he spat. “Why would I ever serve you?”

“Didn't I just tell you that I've been keeping an eye on you?” Detraf chuckled. “I know everything about you, pet. You wouldn't do it for me, you'd do it for yourself. You don't want to die for their cause. You were happy before they came along. What loyalty should you have to the people who kidnapped you from your home and forced you to join them on this suicide mission? Come to me, and I'll see to it that you have everything you could ever want. You could be a lord with a mansion, fine clothes, good food, all of that just for serving me when I need you. Or you could die with them. I'll let you choose.”

It was true that Alaster missed Vana Vale. He missed being treated like he was important. He missed his nice clothes and his fiance. But if it meant serving Detraf, he was certain he'd rather die. Nothing in him wanted to consider the sorcerer's offer, and if he could have walked away, he'd have done so already. Unfortunately, he was trapped inside this nightmare with the man.

According to the vision, Alaster was supposed to be powerful. Maybe even more powerful than Detraf, and the amulet he wore was supposed to help. No matter how he'd tried, Alaster had not been able to master his abilities. He was helpless to stop Detraf and save the others, and the knowledge burned in his chest. There had to be something, anything, to give him a fighting chance against the sorcerer. Even Detraf himself had said that Alaster was the heir to a great deal of power, from Trenace, whoever the hell she was. If that was true, why couldn't Alaster use it?

He clenched his eyes shut and tried to will himself into waking, but to no avail. Damn it! If Trenace really was trying to contact him, now would be a good time to let him know what the secret to unlocking his powers was. If Alaster didn't wake up to warn the others, they would all be vulnerable. Detraf would kill everyone he'd come to think of as friends. Fae would die, and the nelfkin too, and the wolves and Zi and Artemis and her brother. The worst part was, he was certain none of them would be surprised that he'd let them down. They didn't expect more than this from him.

“Oh, don't look so sad,” said Detraf with a chuckle. “If I'd gotten to you first, you'd already know how to use those impressive powers of yours. You'd be powerful enough to protect yourself and anyone close to you. All this time, what have you been doing? Spying on others' thoughts for your own amusement? I admit, I expected more from you. It's too easy to keep you trapped here. Trenace must be disappointed in you.”

“Tell me who she is!” Alaster glared at the sorcerer. If he really was stuck here, maybe he could at least keep Detraf talking for a while.

“Stalling me?” Detraf asked. “Really, pet, you know I can hear your thoughts. I'll indulge you for a moment, however. Talking to you while I send my men for your friends won't cost me anything. You want to know about Trenace. I'm surprised you don't know about her already. You're a direct descendant of her twin brother, Alexander. That was no guarantee that you would be her heir, of course, but when you and your sister were born, I had a suspicion. Trenace was always stronger with Alexander at her side. That's why I had your father dispose of your sister, Alexandriana. Too bad he didn't finish the job as he was instructed, but he's always been a bit of a disappointment to me, if I'm being honest.”

“You... You're the reason they treated her like a slave?” Alaster could feel his nails biting into his palms as he clenched his hands. It was strange that he could feel that, even though he was stuck in this dream. “You bastard! This is all your fault!”

The sorcerer wagged a finger at Alaster in reproach. “Now, now. As much as I'd like to take the credit, I haven't been around nearly long enough for that. I just know the history behind those mysterious necklaces you're all wearing. You're not the first ones to wear them, didn't you know? And Trenace, well, there's still part of her trapped inside your amulet. That's why I left it for you to find in Vana Vale. I knew that when your abilities started to manifest, she would not be able to resist calling out to you. Your troublesome sister interfered at a critical moment. I had hoped to recruit you as soon as your abilities manifested. That would have saved us all a little trouble.”

Blood dripped from Alaster's clenched hands. He focused on the pain, letting it ground him. If he had any way of communicating with his physical body at present, maybe it was like this. It was a long shot but he was grasping at straws by now.

He wanted to rip Detraf apart. All of the pain Fae had suffered was because of this man. Asther had cast aside his own daughter on Detraf's orders. Alaster had grown up treating his sister like she was less than him. What gave Detraf the right to meddle in their lives like this?

“I never liked you,” Alaster muttered. “Even when I was a kid, you gave me the creeps.”

“Sticks and stones, pet.” Detraf didn't seem bothered by Alaster's dislike of him. “You should be thanking me. Here we are, having a nice conversation, and your alternative would be... Hmm, let's see. Oh, yes! Tonight your little hunter friend is having a nightmare. Something in the woods, I believe. You, of course, would have a front row seat to it, since you haven't learned to protect your mind when you sleep. How you get any rest at all is beyond me. Now tell me, isn't this more fun than another nightmare?”

“This is a nightmare!” Alaster exclaimed, but something Detraf had said caught his attention. If it hadn't been for this, Alaster would be sharing Artemis' dream again. He shuddered at the thought because he hated that dream, but he wondered if this meant he had some sort of connection to the hunter's mind at present. He didn't really know how it all worked, but if he could hear others' thoughts, even experience their dreams, couldn't he project his thoughts in return?

“Oh, you could,” said the evil lord, looking mildly impressed, “but you'd have to know how. Which you don't. Isn't that convenient?”

Well, Alaster thought, it couldn't be that hard. After all, Detraf had learned how to do it, and so had this Trenace person. If Trenace was his ancestor or something, Alaster supposed that meant he had some innate talent. For that matter, Detraf had said that Trenace was more powerful when she was with her twin. Alaster's twin was a couple doors down the hall. How close did Fae need to be to help Alaster use his abilities?

He saw a scowl spread across Detraf's face and he couldn't hold back a smirk. So it was possible. If he tried hard enough, he could communicate with the wench and hopefully warn all of them. Detraf wouldn't catch them off guard. There was a way out of this.

First, he tried reaching out to the nightmare he would have been enjoying alongside Artemis if Detraf hadn't interrupted. While he'd tried reaching out to other people with his mind before, he'd never done so while he was asleep. In this dream state, it was much easier. The heavy darkness faded and gave way to the familiar dream.

He found himself standing a few yards away from the treeline, where he knew the mysterious presence lurked. Looking around, he didn't see Detraf. Perhaps it would take him a moment to catch up. If so, Alaster needed to act fast and take advantage of it. He supposed the logical next step was to find Artemis, but he'd never seen her in this dream. Under normal circumstances, he only saw the dream through what he supposed were her eyes. She was often standing out here, resisting the pull to the treeline, fearful of the creature in the forest. However, glancing around, he didn't see her.

He tried to remember the dream. How did it go? The treeline often grew closer without Artemis moving toward it. Alaster had never seen past the treeline. Whatever was out there, Artemis was afraid of it. Yet, she also felt a kinship with it. She feared the pull that it had on her, she feared becoming like the thing in the trees.

And just like that, he knew where he would find her. He headed for the treeline at a run, casting furtive glances over his shoulder, expecting Detraf to turn up at any moment. Fuck, he really hoped this worked. If not, they were all dead.

“Wench!” he yelled when he hit the treeline. The moonlight was blotted out by the thick, tangled trees almost instantly. Fear crawled up his spine even though he knew it was a dream. What was it the wench thought was out here, anyway? He could feel eyes on him, but whatever it was still hid in the shadows.

He turned around in a circle, spreading his arms wide. “I know you're in here! You don't have to come out, just let me know that you hear me. It's Detraf, he knows where we are and he's sent people after us. He's in my mind, wench! I don't know how much time I have.”

A branch snapped as the thing in the trees moved closer to him. Alaster took a deep breath and reminded himself that it was just a dream. 

“Please,” he said, starting to feel desperate. “Just let me know you understand and you'll warn them.”

She didn't say a word but he knew she was there, just like the presence always was. After all, the only thing Artemis had to fear in the woods... was herself.

“I know you want to protect them too,” Alaster continued. “Wench. Artemis. I know you're here, just... He's going to catch up with me and he's too strong. You have to warn them, I can't do it. Please, I know you didn't ask for any of this. I didn't either, but we're in it and we have to fight. Bloody hell, I can't believe I'm saying this. Look, we're friends, right? I'm asking you as your friend, save them. My sister and the nelfkin, the others, please.”

Some months prior, when he was still living his cushy life in Vana Vale, he could never have known to what lengths he'd be willing to go to protect his friends. Indeed, back then – and it seemed like a lifetime ago now – he'd have scoffed at the notion of having “friends” in the first place. It wasn't that Alaster had been lonely before. He'd never much thought about it. In Vana Vale, he was an important person, the son of the high regent. People bowed to him in the streets, but they didn't sit with him at dinner and tell him grand stories. They didn't share the last of their ale with him. Not the first person had ever taken the time to get to know him. And he hadn't minded that, but now that he knew what it was like to be surrounded by people he cared for, and who cared for him in return, he knew he couldn't go back to how it used to be.

It wasn't that he wasn't selfish anymore. Quite the contrary, it was for mostly selfish reasons that he wanted to save his friends. If there was an ounce of him capable of selflessness, however, it was the part of him that made him want to reach out to Artemis. Perhaps he'd known upon their first meeting, in the back of his mind, that they were the same. Then again, maybe it wasn't so selfless after all. What he saw in Artemis was what he saw in himself. He wanted to believe that Artemis was a good person, even a hero, because if there was hope for her then maybe there was hope for him too.

“What are you doing in my dream?” Artemis' voice drifted out to him from the darkness, but it was a mockery of itself, a rasping snarl unlike her usual deep but fair tones. “Little fairy man...”

“Don't call me that,” Alaster snapped without thinking. He took a deep breath, screwing up his courage because the his friend's voice alone made him want to run and hide. He'd always known that Artemis was dangerous but he'd also hoped that there was more to her. “Listen here, you need to wake up right now! This dream you're having, it's not real and it never was. You're not some mindless beast! You're a good person, no matter what you think, so do the right thing.”

A long silence answered him and for a moment, Alaster feared that Artemis was ignoring him. But then the ground beneath his feet started to shift as the dream melted away. Artemis was waking herself up. She'd heard him after all. Alaster breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that he'd accomplished his goal. Artemis would warn the others. They were safe.

It was only when the oppressive nothingness from before reappeared around him that his relief faded and he remembered who he was trapped with once again.

–

Artemis woke slowly to find herself staring at floorboards. She'd fallen asleep beside the window of the room she shared with Shadow and Kael, despite her plans to remain vigilant. As usual, she'd had an old nightmare. It was one that always started the same way, with her cowering away from the presence in the woods, terrified to discover its true identity. If she didn't wake up, it only got worse. The forest drew her closer and closer until she was trapped inside it, still fearful of the evil that lurked there, and somehow knowing that it truly lurked in her own heart.

But this time had been different. Trapped in the dark tangle of trees, she'd been alone at first until someone else ventured into the thicket. There was never another person in this dream, but besides the incongruity of it, it just felt wrong, somehow unnatural. She hadn't dared show her face, at first because she was not sure of the figure invading her nightmare. When she realized it was Alaster, that had only made her want to stay hidden all the more. She had never seen herself in this dream but she knew she was grotesque. Even Alaster, who seemed so forgiving of Artemis' darker nature, would have taken one look at her and run.

She could only assume that Alaster had communicated with her via his psychic abilities, though as far as she knew, he hadn't been able to do so before. In fact, Alaster's inability to control his own powers were source of concern to Artemis. She knew better than most that a weakness like that could be exploited. Alaster was vulnerable in the first place, a fairy with no fighting skills to speak of, who couldn't even light a fire or kill a rabbit, who would have starved by now if he'd been on his own, or perhaps killed by bandits or wolves. That he was possessed of psychic abilities that he did not understand only made him an easier target to someone like Lord Detraf.

Going to Shadow's bedside, she roused the other woman by giving her shoulder a gentle shake. The wolf's yellow eyes snapped open to peer at her in question and Artemis murmured, “I believe we may soon be under attack. We should wake the others and leave, quietly if possible, so as not to draw attention to ourselves.”

Luckily, Shadow wasn't prone to asking too many questions. She took Artemis' warning at face value and woke her sibling, quickly gathering her scant gear. Together, they left their room with hardly a sound, three hunters skilled at hiding their tracks. There was no sign of any disturbance in the hall, but Artemis believed Alaster's warning. He was useless but he wasn't a liar.

Sending Shadow to wake Zi, Blue and Fae, she herself headed to the room that the men were sharing. First, she roused her brother, silencing him with a finger to her lips. Kniles nodded, though he looked confused, and rose from his bed while Artemis went to wake Sir Gwuryn and Alaster. She'd half-expected to find Alaster awake, but the fairy was in a deep sleep.

After failing to wake Alaster, she shook the good knight awake, and he came to awareness rather more noisily than the others. Upon seeing Artemis' face hovering above his own, the knight let out a delighted gasp and threw himself into an upright position.

“My lady huntress, you have answered my dreams! Are you cold? Quick, join me beneath this coverlet and we shall warm each other!”

Artemis spared a moment to slap the man across the face, her own expression hard and unforgiving. While others among them seemed to find Gwuryn's perverted attempts at seduction to be somewhat amusing, Artemis had little patience for him at the best of times.

“Quiet, fool, do you want to wake the entire inn?” she demanded in a strained whisper. Then she returned her attention to Alaster, who was still unconscious. She checked his pulse, which was normal, and then peeled back his eyelids. This seemed to have no affect on him. He was alive and healthy, as far as she could tell, but even roughly shaking his shoulders did not make him stir.

“Kniles,” she said to her brother, “can you and Sir Gwuryn carry him as far as the stable? Once there, we can make Clarabelle carry him. We need to get out of this town as soon as possible.”

Her brother nodded again but he caught her by the arm. “Artemis, what is going on? Why are we leaving?”

“Spoilsport,” grumbled Gwuryn, who was still rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him.

“It is difficult to explain, but Alaster contacted me telepathically, I believe.” Artemis would have preferred to explain when they were safe from attack. “He says that Lord Detraf has sent men to capture us. I believe he is at present being held hostage inside his own mind and that is why he will not wake. I do not know what can be done for him, but at the very least, we must protect ourselves and leave while we still can.”

She felt sympathy for the fairy, though she did not have time to worry about saving him at present. Alaster had not asked her for help for himself, he had only begged her to warn the others. It was her intention to respect that request first and foremost, and then she would see to doing what she could for her friend.

Out in the hall, Shadow had gathered the others. Zi was still blinking sleep from her eyes and Blue looked especially cross at having been woken. The nelfkin had dark bags under her eyes from too little sleep as it was. Fae was alert, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword, and her usual serene smile gave away nothing of what she was thinking.

When Kniles and Gwuryn stepped out of the room carrying Alaster between them, Blue's frown deepened and Fae's smile slipped. Artemis put up a hand to keep them from asking questions and motioned for them to follow her. She could understand there concern but it had to wait for now.

They made it out of the inn without incident and headed for the stable behind it, where Borli had chosen to sleep in the presence of his beloved Clarabelle. They found the dwarf propped against a bale of hay, loudly snoring. Gwuryn casually kicked him to wake him up and Borli lurched forward, eyes opening wide.

“What the devil?” the dwarf snarled, leaping to his feet and reaching for his ax before he realized who they were. “It's the dead of night, lads! Don't tell me ye mean ta depart already!”

“We have to leave now,” said Artemis. Glancing back at the inn, she noticed a squadron of armed men approaching it and realized that these must be the men Detraf had sent for them. “Out the back now, or we'll be seen. Otherwise we'll have a fight on our hands and I'm not certain that we would win.”

“It's been too long since I tested my metal in battle,” complained Gwuryn while he helped Kniles secure Alaster's unconscious body to Clarabelle's back. The donkey whinnied, her eyes folding back against her head in apparent distress.

“If you wish to stay and risk your life, be my guest,” Artemis replied, for she had little fondness for him anyway. Sure, he'd proven loyal enough in a pinch, but she wasn't going to waste her energy trying to keep him from doing something foolish. “The quest is more important and we cannot put it in jeopardy for our own ends. The rest of us are getting out of here, and let us not waste any more time than we have already.”

Despite his objection, Gwuryn fell silent and followed her lead.

It wasn't until they'd made it to the edge of town that Artemis looked back at those following her and realized that they were letting her lead them. She'd never dared to take control like this before, had feared that the others still didn't trust her. She didn't trust herself, so it stood to reason. And yet, here they all were, looking to her for guidance. Her heart skipped a beat. How could they be so ready to follow her? What had she done to deserve it?

She looked to her brother and Kniles smiled back at her. He had always believed in her, she mused. Even though he knew better than anyone else the part of her that was not worthy of such devotion, he had never once lost faith in her.

Perhaps she could do this after all.

- Rachel