Chapter 9: Chapter 9: Fray at the Fireworks Festival

Leir hadn’t been escorted anywhere by security in thirty years, and at the time he had not been taller than the adults in that situation. Walking into the squat stone building that served as the town center flanked by armed guards was the most embarrassing experience he’d had since arriving in this backwards world. All eyes were on Leir as he was brought before the graying man he’d seen the day before overseeing the setup of the fireworks display, who was now sitting behind a broad wooden desk in front of a stained glass window.

“My name is Uhtric,” the old man said, closing a book that he’d been writing in. “I am the clan leader of Beorward, and it is my responsibility to make sure that our customs are obeyed.”

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Leir insisted, folding his arms.

“Young lady—” Leir bit his tongue; he was wearing a dress, after all. “—this town is divided for a reason. Clan members expect a space that they can call their own after all the hard work we put in taking care of our visitors. By attempting to sneak past the guards, you’ve broken etiquette and shown your disrespect for our clan.”

Leir growled, “I’m trying to look for the people we’re tracking. Baldovin told you about them, didn’t he? We have to bring them to justice!”

The old man simply tittered before replying, “You, young lady, are only here on Baldovin’s good reputation among dwarfish communities. If not for that, you would have been escorted to the edge of town and banished permanently. It doesn’t matter to me what your reasons for being here are; as long as you are a visitor in Beorward, you ought to respect our customs. You don’t even bow your head before speaking to me.”

Leir was hardly a neophyte. He’d been to other countries in his time as a CEO and been taught how not to make a fool of himself. It also couldn’t be said that he didn’t understand the importance of hierarchy and respect. However, he was not some nobody and he was not going to let stupid local customs prevent him from getting back home!

Bowing his head a little, Leir explained, “The sooner we find Shadow Fang, the sooner I can get out of this town.”

“That’s no concern of mine,” Uhtric replied. “Until you and your friends leave town, you personally are restricted at the inn you’re staying at. You will not be allowed to wander the town any further.”

Leir curled his hands into fists and growled before spinning around and storming out. He wasn’t going to take this! How were they even going to stop him from walking around!? There were so many people in this town that—

Blinking, Leir glanced at the person who just passed by him. He’d had long arms with black feathers; Leir had seen plenty of spirits in his time in Beorward, but this man stuck out to him for some reason. He racked his brain, trying to remember if there had been a bird man in Shadow Fang’s group. There’d been one that wasn’t an animal, and maybe a frog?

There had! There had been a bird man! Had there? Leir was pretty sure! The only way he’d be able to know for sure if this was one of them was to tail him, though.

Leir waited a short distance from the front door of the building until the man emerged and started walking away. Tailing him, Leir was led to the river and had to duck behind a building when the spirit glanced around, looking again just in time to see him transform into a giant raven. The stranger flew over the private, resident-only side of town, heading southwest.

He wanted to follow, preparing to transform into a fox himself in order to swim across the river, but paused. A giant fox would have a much harder time passing through the private side of town unnoticed the way a bird might. The clan leader already knew that Leir was a fox spirit and would not hesitate to banish him and Baldovin’s troupe even without proof.

Turning, Leir jogged as fast as he could through the pain, bumping into a few dwarfs as he weaved around the crowds until he finally arrived back to the inn. He burst into his room first, but found nobody there, then burst into Melisende’s room and made her jump, but still found no members of Baldovin’s vigilantes. She picked herself up and glared at him while Leir started pacing and gnawing on his thumb.

“What are you doing?” Melisende demanded. “You scared me half to death.”

“I found one!” Leir hissed. “I mean, I don’t have proof, but I just know he’s one of them because he snuck into the private side of town. We have to alert the others immediately.”

“That’s great—I really want to go home as soon as possible—but we have no way to find them. There’s nothing to do but wait until they return.”

Leir whined and continued pacing until he got tired. He sat and tapped the ground, beating out a rhythm while staring at the door. Melisende finally offered him a book, but while Leir managed to get through a few chapters he wasn’t retaining any of it.

Baldovin was the first to return. Leir went to him and explained everything over again, going into as much detail as possible. When Leir was done, Baldovin agreed that something needed to be done and they’d have a meeting about it as soon as everyone had returned. They ended up dragging the table from one room into the other so everyone could eat while they discussed what to do.

“We’ll have to get into the residential side of town to investigate,” Burrow said. “Getting in will be the hard part, but once we’re there, sniffing out a group of spirits will be easier than if they were in a more diverse part of town.”

Baldovin added, “We don’t know that they’re aware of us, but we have to assume it to be true. That means there’s a chance they could be preparing to leave under the cover of darkness.”

“We don’t know for sure that this is who we’re looking for,” Lotus Dust reminded them.

Leir pouted, but Whisper said, “Why else would he sneak into a part of town he isn’t allowed into? And Leir has seen them up close in a way that we haven’t.”

“I agree,” Burrow replied. “We should do this tonight. As much as I wanted to see the fireworks display, they might use that as cover to escape.”

“And then we can go home,” Melisende mumbled from over her plate.

Leir’s heart was racing. This would all be over soon and he’d have his energy crystal back. Surely, he’d gained enough control over magic to activate it and get back home where he belonged, proving to everyone that he was indeed telling the truth.

Once dark had fallen and the town started gathering in the square for the fireworks display, Leir followed the rest of his group to the river and they waded across. Whisper led the group, using his illusion magic to protect the group from passing guards, as they headed into the southwest district. The group split up to make the search easier and Leir stuck close to Burrow and Whisper.

It was an arduous climb up a stone wall after Burrow, but Leir was determined not to show any weakness. He made it onto the roof, huffing and puffing, while the other two were already scanning for their targets. Leir followed suit, his own night vision straining to pick out anything in the deep shadows between the occasional lamp post or bright window.

“There,” Burrow whispered, pointing out what they’d seen for the others.

A figure, too tall to be a dwarf, was staring out of a dark window and scanning for something. Burrow raised a hand and started gesturing to another rooftop. After a moment, one of the haunched figures signaled something in return.

“Alright, we’re moving in,” Burrow said. “Leir, go back to the inn and wait for us.”

“But I haven’t done anything.”

“We just didn’t need you; it happens. Baldovin promised you wouldn’t get hurt. Go on, we’ll be back soon with results.”

Leir ground his teeth, but said nothing as Burrow started climbing down from the roof, Whisper floating down with them. Pouting, Leir started climbing down but had no intention of returning to the inn. Nobody was going to be hurt if he waited here for everything to be over so he could get his crystal back as soon as possible.

Everyone quickly agreed that they’d enter through the back door that led to the small garden between the houses. They climbed down the wall and gathered behind it, Burrow pulling a small bag of sand and salt out of their pocket and dusting a little bit on the lock. With a few honeyed words, their luck magic kicked in and the door unlocked silently.

They were after a bastet, an anura, an oread, an arana, and a tengu. Leir had ostensibly seen the tengu earlier that day, and Silken the arana had nearly been captured once before. Their biggest concern was the oread, since as a mountain spirit he was strong and in his element here.

Burrow pulled a small potion out of a pouch and drank the whole thing before putting the vial back. They waited a moment, shivering, for the potion to take effect, then swung the door open and charged in with their enhanced speed. As they did, Burrow raised their arms covered in stony scales to deflect any incoming projectiles.

There was immediate chaos. The room was blanketed in darkness as the oread smashed into Burrow with its own stone body, causing them to buckle under his strength. Everything grew very cold, but a bolt of lightning illuminated the room enough for a moment to reveal the lady with four spider legs coming from her back. Whisper threw all their targets against the wall with a large burst of wind, but it was clear that everyone was scrambling too fast to get out. The front door flew open and the fight poured into the street.

Leir had been watching from the shadows and saw the front door fling open before a frog lady fell out. She started running away from the house, but while Leir’s heart was pounding he didn’t go after her; she wasn’t his target. More people came out the door, some enemies and some friends, before finally Shadow Fang emerged with Baldovin on her tail. She raised her hands and sent Baldovin flying off to the side as gravity dragged him away from her.

Shadow Fang turned and started running and Leir’s breath caught in his throat. He couldn’t let her get away, no matter what! Leir ran out from his hiding place, body screaming in pain at the strain on his recovering muscles, and tried to intercept her by throwing a bolt of fire in her direction. Shadow Fang turned to see it at the very last second and used her magic again to pull herself out of the way before it landed.

Leir charged but was knocked out of the way by a shift of gravity. He managed to stay on his feet at first, but with another flick of her wrist he was thrown to the ground, crying out as the stitches broke. Shadow Fang easily sidestepped his next burst of fire before turning to run.

Everyone was scattering. Leir could hear shouting, but he was only focused on Shadow Fang. Flashes of light came from every direction and buildings were getting hit. In the far off distance, Leir started to hear the pop of fireworks as new colors of light were added to the fray.

Pulling himself to his feet and clutching at his shoulder wound, Leir stumbled after Shadow Fang while throwing another bolt of fire at her. It nicked her in the shoulder and she cried out in alarm as before stumbling forward a little. She turned, face contorted in a growl, and with a snap of her fingers Leir was thrown back into a wall with a grunt.

“Get back here,” he mumbled far too quietly for her to hear.

Leir aligned his focal energies and poured strength into his legs, charging at Shadow Fang with a few long strides. He rose one hand up to deliver an overpowered punch, but with a flick of her head she sent him toppling again as gravity shifted. Still, Leir refused to stay down.

“You can’t beat me,” Shadow Fang told him. “I remember you; you’re the girl from that village. I have so many more years of experience fighting than you, not to mention I’m a master of gravitational magic.” She flicked her wrist and Leir was dragged up into the air. “You have no hope of capturing me, whelp.”

There was a loud cry and Shadow Fang turned just in time to duck out of the way of the bird spirit, who was using wind to push himself away from Baldovin’s heavy blows. Shadow Fang dropped Leir and thrust her hand out at Baldovin, sending him back a few feet but not knocking him over, giving just enough time for the tengu to put some distance between them. Baldovin twisted his hand toward Shadow Fang and sparks jumped from his fingers, but Shadow Fang shifted into bobcat form just as it hit where her upper torso would have been.

“Leir!” Baldovin cried, turning his attention back to the retreating bird spirit. “Push yourself harder! I know that you can do it! Make me proud, boy!”

Leir nodded and turned to search for Shadow Fang, doing his best to ignore the wet blood trickling down his legs. He couldn’t see her anywhere, but nearby Lotus Dust and Burrow were fighting the spider and frog spirits. Stumbling over, Leir sent a fireball toward the anura, who summoned a wall of water with a swipe of their hand that turned to steam when they collided.

“Leir, stay back!” Lotus Dust commanded. “Get back to the inn! It’s not safe here!”

“I can take it!” Leir retorted.

They had turned to face him, so they didn’t see the spider lady stomp her foot and cause a line of icicles to burst from the ground in their direction. Lotus Dust spun around and raised their hands, but too late to avoid the icicles, which burst and sent her flying back.

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Burrow reached down and placed both hands on the ground, dislodging two large chunks of stone pavement when they stood up and throwing each at a different target. The frog lady dodged, but the arana took the hit to the gut and was sent toppling. The anura responded by sending a burst of water at Burrow, who waved a little burning stick and sent it wide with a distortion of gravity.

Leir tried to capitalize on the distraction by throwing a series of small fireballs at the spider woman while Lotus Dust picked themselves back up. The arana, climbing to her feet, took several hits and hissed in pain as her clothes lit up. She tried her best to pat out the flames, but a vine shot from Lotus Dust’s sleeve and wrapped itself around the lady’s throat.

“Get out of here!” they told Leir again.

“I’m helping!”

The frog woman ran forward and grabbed the vine, which began to grow black and deteriorate. Lotus Dust’s eyes opened wide and they severed the connection immediately.

Now free, both the villains turned and started running away.

“No!” Leir cried, running forward as fast as he could.

Lotus Dust shot out another vine, this one wrapping tightly around Leir and pinning him in place. As he shouted for them to free him, Burrow ran forward at an incredible speed before making a pulling gesture with his stick and the spider-legged woman was yanked back. Her companion glanced behind them only for a moment before continuing on.

Once again, Burrow reached down and pulled out part of the street before bringing it down on the fallen woman’s back, causing her to cry out in pain. He gestured to Lotus Dust, who sent out another couple of vines to bind her legs and hands. The prisoner screamed to be let go, thrashing wildly, but Lotus Dust did not yield, instead wrapping another vine around her mouth.

The sound of chaos and fireworks finally died down as Baldovin and Whisper approached the group. Leir looked around, but did not see Shadow Fang anywhere, nor any other prisoners. The street was torn up and walls were damaged and streetlights had been knocked over, but they’d only secured a single prisoner.

Lotus Dust chided Leir as they replaced his stitches, but he just rolled his eyes. Baldovin explained what happened to the city guards as they finished binding the prisoner to transport to the local jail. The clan leader, to Leir’s satisfaction, looked immensely flustered and weary about this whole thing.

In the morning, Leir and Melisende followed the group to the local jail where the captured prisoner had been locked up. It was a squat building with bars in the windows and barely any illumination inside. The guards were curt with Baldovin but let the group inside after a few minutes of quiet discussion.

“We only have the morning to get answers,” Baldovin explained to the others as they passed empty cells. “We’re officially banned from Beorward because of the collateral damage as well as for entering the restricted side of town. Clan Leader Uhtric was also not happy to learn that Leir had left the inn, despite being forbidden to.”

“Which Leir had conveniently forgotten to tell us,” Lotus Dust said, folding their arms and narrowing their eyes.

Leir just shrugged.

A dwarf was sitting on a stool outside the cell containing the spider lady, a small bed, and a metal bucket. The bars were covered in little paper tags, and seeing Leir’s confused face, Burrow explained that they were a little witchcraft trick to prevent the occupant from performing magic. Baldovin and Lotus Dust spoke quietly with the dwarf for a few moments while the prisoner glared at all of them.

“Alright,” the dwarf man said, sitting back down on the stool and facing the cell, “we’re going to get answers out of you, one way or another. I’m well versed in the knowledge domain of magic, so lying will be pointless.”

The spider lady didn’t respond.

“We need to know where your compatriots are heading,” Lotus Dust said.

“I have no idea where they’re headed. Shadow Fang never shared that with us.”

“She’s lying,” the dwarf man replied. He gestured at her with a finger. “Don’t lie again or it will cause you quite a bit of pain.”

“You don’t scare me,” the arana said, her spider legs flaring out in what Leir assumed was an intimidation tactic.

“Are they planning to stay within dwarf territory?” Baldovin asked.

The woman didn’t respond, though she did flinch and grunt in pain.

Lotus Dust added, “Do you have any allies who you were planning to meet?”

“Plenty,” the prisoner replied before closing her eyes and seething like she had a bad headache.

Melisende turned and started walking away.

“Where are you going?” Leir asked.

“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. “This is torture. I can’t watch this.”

She walked away and Leir rolled his eyes. It was hurting the woman, but it was necessary. He’d authorized all sorts of uncomfortable stuff when he was a CEO, but it was always necessary. Even if he had never seen it up close, he’d permitted much worse than this to protect Starfield Technologies when it was vulnerable.

The woman lied again and then doubled over in pain as she cried out, causing Leir to flinch.

“Fine!” the prisoner spat out, saliva dribbling from her mouth. “We were headed to Adalnard, hoping that a big enough city would be easy to get lost in and find a fence for our goods.”

“Stolen goods!” Leir hissed, but Burrow reached out a hand to prevent him from getting closer.

“Good,” Baldovin said, grinning and lowering his head menacingly. “Keep going.”

She explained that Shadow Fang had described a smuggling operation within the city where they could fence their goods, causing Leir’s stomach to bottom out. Shadow Fang had evidently played the fine details close to the chest, because even the dwarf interrogator wasn’t able to get many specifics from Silken. It was a tenuous lead and there was no guarantee that Shadow Fang’s plans wouldn’t change now that one of her own had been captured. Silken did not indicate any potential backup plans, though, so it was the only lead they had.

It was late in the morning by the time that the troupe finally returned to the inn. Leir only had a few things and was packed up quickly, so while the others finished loading the wagon, he sought out Wassa and found the dwarf lady manning the front desk. She smiled softly as he approached.

“Hello, young lady,” she said, causing Leir’s stomach to flip. “Can I help you with anything?”

“I just wanted to say thank you,” Leir replied, though he wrinkled his nose at how foreign those words felt in his mouth, “for the hospitality that you showed us. After being on the road for a while, it was a very welcome change of pace.”

“Of course, Dear. And if there’s anything that I can do before you leave, just let me know.”

Leir’s fox ears perked up as he asked, “Do you think I can get some warm food for the road?”

Wassa promised to make him something swiftly and departed, letting another dwarf take her place at the front desk. Leir leaned up against the wall to wait and thought about how good the food would taste. He turned his attention to Melisende when she approached him and frowned at the realization that she was scowling.

“I see what you’re doing, Leir,” she warned.

“Accepting an offer for food?” he asked. “We’re paying to stay here; it’s just part of the hospitality industry to serve guest requests.”

Melisende’s eye twitched and she said, “You’re taking advantage of these dwarfs’ admiration of us.”

“I am not!” Leir insisted, downright offended.

“You are. You ask for extra things that nobody else does, you shirk the rules because you know that they won’t punish you harshly, and I know you didn’t pay for that dress because you have no money.”

“It’s not my fault nobody else takes advantage of all the opportunities that come with staying as guests at an inn,” Leir retorted. “And I ignore the rules because they’re in the way, that’s all; successful people find workarounds to problems. And yes, I accepted a gift, but that’s not a crime, now, is it?”

Melisende just shook her head and walked away. Leir watched her go, then fumed quietly until Wassa returned with a small basket filled with warm food. He accepted it graciously but wondered if it would taste as good now as he’d imagined it would.

Once they were in the wagon and on the way out of town, Leir clutched the basket in his lap and turned what Melisende had said over in his head. He wasn’t like Shadow Fang, who took advantage of these people in order to further her own selfish agenda. The thought alone made him squirm; of course it couldn’t be true.

He thought back to the fight. It was clear that he wasn’t skilled enough yet to pose a real threat to anyone, let alone Shadow Fang, who had that unfair gravity magic on her side. Leir needed to know more domains of magic, but that would take time away from mastering the ones he already knew.

There had to be an inventive solution to this problem. Burrow was able to use more than one kind of magic at once because they practiced witchcraft, so perhaps Leir could learn to do so as well. It was worth investigating; Leir would never have gotten nearly as far as he did as a CEO if he did not stay open to new possibilities.

Satisfied, he smiled to himself and opened his basket to eat.