Adept Paws 3: Faerrets!
#4 of Adept Paws
The villagers ride out to rescue the adepts. What dangers await our vixen hero and the others?
Adept Paws 3 - Faerrets!
by Tempe O'Kun
The townsfolk rally to go after the abducted druid adepts. Have fun!
Updated: 3-10-10
The porch outside the inn ran the entire front of the building. Most nights, it held a scattering of merrymakers. Tonight, it held tense silence, interrupted only by the clatter of two constables cinching Toskun into his armor. The others guarded the walls, bows at the ready.
Rea stood at the end of the porch, knife dancing between her fingers. Her parents had gone home, but the hunger for information would keep her awake just as much in bed as it did here. In the dark, few gave a first glance to another figure milling about by the inn. Beyond that, she couldn't bring herself to just leave Jax's parents sitting here alone. To the old, they were still new. Even after the rumors had spread from the Sanctum, they still considered her closer than most. She stood a respectful distance back, but not so far away that her tail tip didn't occasionally brush theirs.
A call rose up from the wall. "She's returned!" The heavy mechanisms holding the gate clanked to life.
Rin ducked under the opening gate, her spotted fur shining in the torchlight. Her stride ran even, but her breaths drew ragged. "They were too swift." She gasped, leaning against a carved beam of the porch. "I sent the faerrets after them."
The faerrets might catch them, but were creatures of trickery, not war. Just how they could stop the bats, Rea didn't know.
From the shadows, the local wolf matriarch shuffled to eye level with the leopardess. "Which direction?"
Rin looked up, her eyeshine glowing in the inn's lantern light. "North."
The white-muzzle nodded and a half dozen of her kind loped off, melting into the dark through the gate. She watched them go with pride. "If anybody is going to catch them, it'll be my hunters."
"Good." Constable Toskun stepped forward, his armor creaking. "Even if they only manage to slow them up, we can--?"
"Hold off." The old wolf hit him in the breastplate with her rawhide chew. "They could mean to draw the strongest of us away, so they can attack the village."
The constable growled. "Are you saying we shouldn't go after them?"
"My grandson was taken." She growled back. "I'm saying we find them and shred them to bits for the trouble. But it's no reason to lose all caution."
They stared each other down. Such is the custom in a village of headstrong fools. Might have gone on forever had not one of Toskun's constables passed him his sword belt. He cinched it on and nodded. The badger placed a paw on Rin's back. "Can you ride?"
Another breath and she straightened. "I will."
He nodded, a glimmer of pride in his eyes. Adjusting his armor, he turned back to the other constables. "The ponies."
His underlings slipped off to the stables. Grabbing a spare sword from the equipment spread on the porch, he strode up and held it before Jax's parents. The cats looked up, startled that they'd become the focus of attention.
Toskun grunted. "You coming?"
"Us?" Jax's father gripped his wife's shoulder. "Of course, but why us? We're just--"
"They took your son. And you are familiar with the cities to the North."
Terse words later, Jax's father belted the sword to his hip, gripping the hilt hard, like it might fly away. His mother would stay behind and mind the shop. Rin had recovered her breath and prowled up beside her boss, her footsteps silent in the night. Together, they walked toward the gate.
Stepping in his path, Rea placed a paw on the cold metal of Toskun's armor. "You're taking me with you."
The old badger narrowed his eyes. "Take your paws off me."
For an instant, Rea felt very small, as if she were a kit again. She let go. Toskun had been old before her parents were born. He had been alive before the village was founded. And every moment of those years showed in his green eyes.
Still, that didn't mean he could just boss her around. She stretched up tall as she could, level with the old badger's nose. "I'm going with you."
He studied her with his ageless eyes. "Have your parents consented to this, Rea?"
Her ears swept back. "I am a grown woman and don't need their permission!"
A rumble rose in Toskun's chest, radiating outward. Not a growl, but the prelude to one. Still, it made her tremble a little inside, but she threw her shoulders back and glared up at him, though it felt like staring up at an avalanche.
"This is just my thought, boss..." The leopardess cooed, tail coiling in an amused way. "But I say we take her."
The badger lost his glower, confusion filling his face. "What? You can't be serious."
"Why not, Toskun? She's a determined little thing. Besides..." The leopard winked at Rea. "Who knows? We may need to gut a fish."
Grumbling, Rea fell in line behind the rest and tried to ignore the badger's chuckles. She knew her mother would make an incredible fuss for her even asking to go. Better for her to swallow her pride and quietly accompany them before the older vixen caught wind of the idea. Even when supposedly asleep, mothers had a tendency to hear things.
At the gate they met the ponies, saddled and ready, as well as a lone druid, already on her mount. Her floppy ears blew in the soft breeze, her white robes almost glowing in the dim light.
"Tara." The constable nodded in salute.
"Toskun." The canine druidess watched them mount up, her robe's hem swaying in the breeze. Her eyes lingered on Rea longer than the others, though she said nothing. The constables watching the gate lit and offered torches, but the druid waved them away. She rode up to each of them, her paws dancing in a rapid cat's cradle of gestures, and tied a newly woven spell to each of them in turn.
The instant the magic settled over Rea's face, the forest leapt to light and color, the torch beside her a searing brightness. The young vixen gripped her saddle, disoriented.
"You alright, foxling?" Rin smiled from beside her.
"Fine." She blinked, instinct yelling for her to shake her head, but reason telling her that might dislodge the spell.
"Good." Toskun gripped his reins and stirred his pony to swiftness in the night. "We ride."
* * * * *
The small party rode at a swift pace, no one uttering a sound. The vision charm kept them on the trail, though the woods glowed through it with unnatural light. Rea felt very small and gripped the edge of her saddle, doing her best to keep up. The druidess must have placed charms on the horses too, since they showed no fear at racing through the night.
Deep into the forest they rode, past the pits and defenses of the village and into the overgrown ruins of some forgotten city. Forgotten to mortals, anyway-- it belonged to the faerrets now. Rea wondered if the sprites had caught up with the kidnapping bats.
With Rin taking up the rear behind her, Rea bit back her fear. These ruins were the furthest she'd even been from the village. At another time, in the light of day, it might be exciting, but one thought of Jax tied up in a sack chased all delight from the experience. Was he okay? Would she ever even find him?
A roar shattered her thoughts.
She turned. Through the surreal glow of the charm, she could see logs crushed and hurled aside. Metal jaws gleamed in the night. A steel beast.
Rea yelped in terror.
The leopardess grabbed her reins, kicking her own shrieking pony to a gallop. "Keep going!"
The tarnished plates of its back squealed as it ran. Great clods of earth tore loose under its flashing hooves. The young fox climbed forward in her saddle. Her tail curled around her in fear. The gap between them closed.
Ahead of them, the druidess spun around on her pony, paws dancing. "Rin! Catch!" She threw a faint web of magic back toward the leopardess.
The vixen ducked, ears flat. Whatever the spell was, better to let Rin have it.
The leopard constable scrambled to stand in her saddle, catching the spell against her shoulder. The glowing threads wove and tangled around her, her golden fur alight. The pony leapt over some brush, the standing rider crouching fast to avoid falling.
The steel beast snapped and slathered, thundering closer. Twice the size of a pony, it didn't hunt for prey, but, with the way it pursued any intruders, it might as well be.
Drawing her blade, Rin leapt off the back of her pony, straight at it.
Snapping jaws missed her. The leopardess drove her sword between its eyes. The blade glanced off in a scream of metal. Rin's enchanted body hit the creature's armored face.
Blinded and angry, the beast shook its great head, trying to dislodge her. Snarling back at it, she slashed her sword against its flank, catching it between plates.
Frigid howls cut through the night, causing Rea to duck still lower in her saddle. Ahead, Toskun wheeled his pony around, fighting against its instinct to flee.
Behind her the battle continued. Paying no heed to its gnashing steel teeth, the leopardess swung back, hanging on the creature's many horns, and drove one of her daggers deep into its neck. The beast thrashed, then crashed down atop her.
"Rin!" Rea squeezed her eyes so tight, unable to watch. She opened them just in time to avoid ramming her pony into Tara's.
The others slowed their mounts as well, looking back at the beast. Jax's father pulled a bow from the long holster in his saddle, though Rea wasn't sure what good it would do against a monster encased in steel.
A great keening wail arose from the beast. It collapsed, hinged jaws grinding together. Dark sand spilled from the cut on its neck, pooling on the forest floor. It gave one final shudder before its metal joints froze up forever.
The young fox looked on in shock. The others gathered gathered around the beast in a loose semi-circle. Toskun leapt from his pony and hurried to the still twitching beast. His scars glowed green through the gaps in his armor as he heaved it aside with a clamor. "Rin!"
"Right here, boss." The leopardess was halfway buried in the soft earth. The badger pulled her to her feet. The spell on her still shone, the forest floor awash with her golden light, the spell hanging around her like a tattered mantle. She rose unscathed, hardly even a patch of fur out of place. "I'm fine."
Toskun gripped her paw longer than necessary. "You're sure?"
Brushing some of the dirt from her fur, she eyed the beast, then retrieved her weapons from its bulk. "Yeah, boss. A little sore, but that'll pass."
The druidess checked her over, then climbed back on her pony. "She's well and whole. Just needed a new vision charm. The steel beast's territory must have shifted to include the road."
The young fox wiped the tears from her eyes. Half her vision went dark. She gasped, looking down at the glowing fragments of spell on her paws.
"Calm down, my dear." Tara rode up, touching the vixen's shoulder. Her floppy ears swung with the pony's every movement. "You've half-wrecked your charm too. Hold still. There's a good girl." A quiet mantra and some quick movements: the robed canine restored the charm, illuminating the forest to Rea once again.
While they all caught their breath, Jax's father glanced around, an arrow nocked in his bow. No other monsters came crashing out of the woods, but a faint light caught Rea's eye. Blinking at the contrast shown by her repaired charm, she spotted a little mote of light racing toward them. It wove and bobbed through the trees, almost serpentine in its movements. She pointed. "What's that?!"
Scarcely were the words out of her mouth when the being was hovering before her. She jumped back and struggled to stay in her saddle. About a foot long, the creature's long body had two fluttery wings that kept him aloft. A faerret! She had seen them before, when they reported to the constables, but never this close. Its body shimmered from teal to maroon in turns.
Wings beating, the faerret clucked and wiggled in mid-air. "Hello, giants. Crashing about, as usual?"
"What...?" Rea stammered. "Who...?"
The color-shifting being tilted his head in interest at her. "My-my-my! Inquisitive little fox-giant, aren't you? My what is royal messenger, my who is Chib-bIB: "
Toskun strode closer, unfazed by the dialect of wood-sprites. "What news from your master?"
The faerret buzzed over to him, curling and twirling around the badger's head a moment before hovering before his face. "Continue on this road North! No time to waste, no-no-no!"
The constable considered the fluttering teal being with serious regard. "Will you be able to find us again?"
The faerret chittered and did a back flip, catching its own back paws before coming right-side up again. "Of course, of course! You giants are easy to find. I'll summon his lordship, the Grand Stoat!"
And with that the faerret skittered off, back into the trees.
For a moment, all were silent.
"Stoat?" Jax's father put away his bow. "I thought they were called faerrets."
Rin sheathed the last of her blades. "They change names whenever they change color."
The older cat looked ready to remark on this, but then simply spurred his pony on. "We'd best meet him. Now."
Toskun nodded and helped Rin back into her saddle. Once they were all back on their mounts, they continued.
Moments later, a cluster of lights snaked through the woods, coming up alongside them. Five fluttering faerrets, each about a foot long- three with festive banners, two with tiny silver trumpets. They hovered beside the group, playing a tittering tune of announcement, their coats pulsing in color in time with the music. This all announced the arrival of a sixth faerret. This latecomer had deep purple fur and his tubular body extended beyond seeing into the woods, like a noodle of infinite length. Such was the way of faerrets, gaining and losing length as they saw fit. His wings shone silver and shed sparks of magic as they beat, somehow keeping his entire length aloft.
Chib-bib reappeared, spiraling around his master's long body in an aerobatic display. "Announcing his Majesty, Grand Stoat Bartle-bit, Supreme Ruler of All Faerretkind!"
The unending, purple faerret nodded to the badger, with whom he had taken a parallel course. Steepling his little paws, the Grand Stoat spoke with surprising poise: "Constable Toskun, are you quite well? I'm told one of the beasts attacked you."
"Nothing my lieutenant couldn't handle." The badger nodded back to Rin, not slowing his mount. "What of our children?"
"Your wolves have not caught up with them, since they are flying and leave little scent." An enterprising trumpeter began toodling a solo, but the Grand Stoat hushed him with the wave of a paw. "I've had my two nieces carry my tail end in pursuit, which is why I cannot be here in my entirety."
"Excellent." Toskun nodded. "How far are they?"
The Grand Stoat turned and tugged at his purple body, observing the tension. "I must be at least six miles long now, not counting the tangle through the trees."
The fuzzy length of the noble faerret's body brushed past Rea's cheek. She nudged it aside, feeling it lengthen under her paw. Somehow, it stayed just as wide as the other faerrets. Her touch lingered a bit too long however, and one of the escorts cracked her on the knuckle with a teaspoon-sized silver trumpet. She yipped, then batted at the creature, which dodged out of her reach, dooking and wriggling. It tapped her on the ear and she swiped again, missing again.
"Oh, stop pestering her." Rin rode up beside the vixen.
The trumpeter made a rude face and summersaulted away.
"Don't mind these sprites, foxling." The leopardess cooed. "Are you well?"
"Am I well? What about you!" Rea's tail bristled. "A steel beast just stomped you into the dirt."
"Tara's spell protected me just fine. This is my task in the village, remember? Or did you think I spent all my time keeping young lovers apart?"
Rea blushed, finding no words.
"We'll find your kitty. Those bats went through a lot of trouble to get our adepts. I doubt they just wanted..." Rin cleared her throat of the unpleasant idea. Everyone knew what some bats had a taste for. "No matter what, we will get them back. They have to land sometime."
"What if they meet up with more bats?"
The leopardess untied a long dagger from her belt and handed it to her. "All the better. Those who survive will spread word of what happens to those who cross the village of Lagan."
Editing by: SillyNeko & Vendetta
Not commenting makes faerrets sad. ;_;
-Tempo