Before Daggeuro had turned around there was a squad of heavily-armed elves and dwarves forming a half-circle before the company, weapons held ready. A one-eyed dwarf, patch over his left orb, stepped forward, axe in hands, horned helm making him look cartoonish to Kathy. "Bragha utecka nox," he grunted at the kennin warrior. Daggeuro turned around and bowed low.
"Mekan, iffa utecka nebra tiche dahl," he replied. The dwarf's face remained stern, ready for battle, another few moments, ultimately drawing up into a broad, Santa Claus-smile of joy and chuckling. Daggeuro knelt down, and the two men embraced, laughing. The three kennin adolescents streamed forward, tackling the dwarf and joining in the laughter.
Kathy leaned close to Selena, whispering, "Family friend?"
"Urug Kitall," Selena whispered back. "Formerly Royal Guard, Daggeuro's longest-lasting friend here. Uncle Urug to the children." Kathy watched as the stout, stalwart man rose from the pile, the kids all crouched around him, jabbering in dwarvish with him. "Their exchange was, 'Your mother had the beard of a goat', to which Daggeuro responded, 'Ah, but your mother's was twice as glorious'. It is an honored greeting among peers in dwarvish."
Urug quickly waved the other guardsmen off, returning to their posts, half-hidden from the entrance arch. "Well, these would be the humes I've heard so much of," said Urug. "Commander, there's a guest awaiting you in your home here."
"Oh? Who?"
"Well, he was quite a surprise when he showed up, I'll tell you that, 'specially seein's we all thought the Spirit Plane was closed off to us." Kathy gasped, unable to hide a sile behind her hands. "Calls hisself Baron Dimanche."
When the company arrived at the brick house Daggeuro, Selena and their children usually called home, they found the front door and windows all sealed with powerful fairy magic, a group of five glowing green fairies hovering before the door. The shortest of them darted up to perch on the kennin warrior's snout.
"Commander Daggeuro, sir," the tiny woman trumpeted in her high but husky voice, saluting. Kathy almost squealed at how cute this tableau was.
"Sergeant Prinett, at ease," he replied, returning the salute, careful not to hit her with his hand. "What gives with all the seals?"
"Necessary, sir. The spirit inside is tricksy and unknown to us. Quite the talker too, until we downed him."
"You beat him up?"
"Only so much as was needed, sir." She hovered away from his snout as Daggeuro signaled for the door to be opened. The five fairies sent power at the door, undoing their seals. Kathy was struck once more by the imbalance of power, the wee folk each far more powerful than any large folk faerie she'd ever met outside of Luga.
Daggeuro led the way inside, the front door opening on a wide, homey living room. Here, his family lived well. On a magnificent sectional couch, dressed in a rumpled yellow suit with no shirt or shoes, lay a tall, angular black man, a yellow stovepipe hat covering his face. Kathy could hear snores.
Baron Dimanche was asleep.
Daggeuro put one finger to his lips, creeping forward, until he stood next to the Baron's head. He leaned back and let out a canine howl, which caused Dimanche to yelp and flail, falling off of the couch onto the slat wood floor. The children laughed first, which got Byron, Kathy and Selena going, all the while Dimanche getting up and dusting himself off, lips quirked in irritation.
"Ha ha, very funny, dog man," the Baron said, his Louisiana-style patois thick as ever. "Did it evah occur to you dat a man such as myself might need some sleep?"
"It did. I just figured we all needed a laugh," Daggeuro replied. "It is good to see you," he added, and the two men embraced, clapping each other roughly on the back. When Daggeuro stepped back, he motioned for his children to join him. "Baron, I don't believe you've ever met my children."
"Just Turot when he was a newborn," said Dimanche, smiling widely at them. It wasn't a warm smile at all; Kathy suspected sharks looked more cuddly before tearing people in half. "I remember dat name quite well. It's close to turoat, which in de spirit tongue loosely translates to 'slaughter'. Quite de omen, yes? Heh heh heh!" Selena frowned at him, then excused herself to the kitchen.
"Baron Dimanche, this is my son Turot, as you named, my daughter Marianna, and my youngest child, Rasmus." All three children bowed together. Dimanche's toothy smile faded a little, his lips covering his pearly whites as he stared at Rasmus. He folded his arms over his chest and made a 'hrm' sound in his throat. "Baron?"
"De young one tries to probe my mind," Dimanche said. Kathy peeked over at Rasmus from the corner of her eye, saw the veins in his forehead throbbing. "I should warn you, leetle one," Dimanche said, leaning toward the youngest kennin. His eyes goggled wide, bulging vulgarly out of his face. "You don't really want to go poking around in dese pahts," he rasped, tapping his own forehead, chuckling. Rasmus looked distressed, and something happened then that Kathy would not have ever thought she'd see.
Daggeuro punched Baron Dimanche in the jaw hard enough to send him flying across the room. Dimanche grunted as he crashed into the wall and landed in a heap, breaking a lamp table in the process. Dimanche tried to get up, lost his balance, slipped down to the floor again. He was muttering something, but the hodgepodge was garbled due to his jaw hanging open, broken. He finally got to his feet, leaning back against the wall as Daggeuro stomped over toward him, Boon unsheathed.
Dimanche put up one hand pleadingly, and the kennin warrior halted his advance. Dimanche brought his hand to his jaw, popping it shut with a horrid squelch. Kathy's stomach threatened a revolt, which she clamped down on.
"I beg forgiveness, friend Daggeuro," Dimanche said, his voice genuinely plaintive. "I just, I haven't been around people much lately. It's left me defensive and strange."
"Vipers don't get around civilized folk much either," Daggeuro snapped, sheathing Boon. "Try something like that with any of my children again, I'll castrate you and ship you back to Spirit Plane. Savvy?"
"Yes," Dimanche said, visibly sagging. "I savvy." He rubbed his jaw, put his hands up to his shoulders to show peace as he returned to the couch. "Young Rasmus, my apologies for counter-delving," he said as he sat down.
"Is that what that was," Rasmus asked, curious. "I have never felt another probing my own mind. You are fearful, but also extremely strong of will. Even catching you off-guard, I only sensed your emotions."
"So, your son has de High Mind," Dimanche said, trying to shrug off their awkwardness and hostility. "Impressive for one so young to be able to get even dat much from me."
"Rasmus, keep your mind from him," Daggeuro warned. "You three should all go get changed. Your mother will doubtless have lunch going soon." The children all headed off down a hallway then upstairs, where they thumped and thudded about. Daggeuro stood in the center of the room, glaring at the voodoo spirit. "Dimanche, what happened there?"
Rather than answer with words right off, the voodoo man reached under the couch, pulling out a long sword in a stylized black metal sheath. He tossed it lightly to Kathy, who reflexively caught it. She cocked her head at him, and he put his fists together, drawing them apart. Kathy did as he mimed, drawing the blade from its sheath, revealing a wickedly honed green blade with snake insignias in black etched upon the flat sides.
In that moment its tip came free, she scryed the blade.
Kathy heard a vortex whirling around her, though she was herself in pitch darkness. When finally she couldsssss see, she stood in an oddly-shaped earthen tunnel, Baron Dimanche just ahead. He held the blade before him, wielding it like a saber against four creatures that looked like a cross between a gorilla and a wolf, their brains oversized and exposed, pulsing.
One of the brains flared bright pink, and Dimanche was thrown by unseen power into the tunnel wall. He slashed out with the blade, but his arm immediately whipped back, hacking down into his own leg. He howled in agony until finally another tall, dark figure stepped out from the darkness, launching a wave of scouring green energy at the beasts, reducing them to pillars of salt.
Kathy dropped the sword and opened her eyes. "He's had a bad experience recently with powers like the High Mind," she choked out, reaching down and sheathing the blade quickly. She tossed it back to Dimanche. "Minata beasts, they're called in Spirit Plane. They almost killed you, until Baron Samedi stepped in. He used you as bait to lure them into the open."
"He figured they'd be so busy digging into my mind dat dey'd ovahlook him. He was correct," Dimanche said.
"Serpantus, the blade King Ovin gifted you after we defeated Luga's army," said Kathy. She licked her lips. "The, ah, wielder before you, I caught a whiff of his skill with it. He could have sparred even with Daggeuro here a while."
"You say true, Kathy," Daggeuro asked, curious for a change.
"Yeah."
"No matter. My apologies for treating rough, Baron, but my warning stands." Dimanche understood, and shortly they all made for the long dining room off of the kitchen for lunch. The air here was much more celebratory, an at-home atmosphere Kathy drank deep of.
She wouldn't feel it for long.
Croag and Maefus arrived at the red's cavern late in the afternoon, veering down into their preferred faerie forms once more in order to fit comfortably within. They walked along the dusty cave floor, casting about with their mundane and magical senses, seeing no sign of Dasren.
"Does he often go out and about," Croag asked, kicking at some small animal bones on the ground.
"No, but he does so without notice when he sees fit. I only hope he isn't off on a long tangent."
"And if he is?"
"I can summon him with a spell," said Maefus. "He bled some of his essence against that wall," he said, pointing to one side. "Enough to work with in a pinch." Croag made a hand twirling motion, a short 'get on with it' gesture that the red dragon took without rebuke. Maefus stalked over to the cavern wall, using several hand gestures and muttering in draconic over the stain Dasren had left behind.
The invocations grew louder, the gestures sharper, as a brownish mist rose up from the stain. On Maefus went, chanting and weaving glowing sigils in the air for another five minutes. Finally he clapped his hands together, causing the brown fog to swirl like a narrow tornado, wind howling for several seconds before the fog vanished, leaving Dasren standing where it had been.
He stumbled and cast about, confused. His yellow eye lights fell upon Maefus and contracted down to pinpricks. "Maefus?"
"The very same," said the morphed red dragon with a grin. "I'm sorry for taking you from whatever it was you were doing, but we bring you on an important matter."
"Your timing could have been better, but what is, is." Elsewhere, a small laboratory was soon to explode, since his newest alchemical concoction was left over an active burner. Such things happened. "What might you need me for, sire?"
"First and foremost, I need your word that you won't stray from our directions. In this, you will answer to myself and my companion here, Croag the green. I want your bond, shade," Maefus said gravely, left hand glowing softly with a golden light. Dasren's flat, featureless face seemed to squinch inward from that light.
"Is that really necessary? I can promise you I will break no command."
"Your bond, and nothing less," the red dragon said, taking one stride toward Dasren, glowing hand extended. Dasren sighed, sagging in place. He looked down and to one side, muttered something, then raised his own shadowy hand and clasped Maefus's.
"I give my bond to obey your and Croag's directions in this matter," the shade declared. The golden light shifted from Maefus's hand to the shade's, and he visibly flinched at this transfer. "I am at thy mercy for breakage of this bond." Maefus let him go, then quickly explained what he wanted from Dasren. The shade scoffed. "That's a simple thing, sire. Why the need of a bond?"
"Because you are hereby ordered to leave off of him and any of his companions. No retaliation for what the woman did to you," said Maefus. Dasren snarled, clenched his hands into claws. "I have your bond, don't forget."
"Of course not," Dasren grumped. "Shall we be off, then?"
After lunch, the young kennin ran off down the street to take leisure with friends they hadn't seen for almost two months, leaving the adults to converse over coffee (except for the Baron, equipped with a bottle of bourbon and a tumbler). For a change, it was Selena who led the discussion.
"We'd gone back to Celia when the time dilations began to equalize, an event we were informed of by the sage Aganum," she began. She had removed her metal arm, letting her shoulder stump air out. Kathy found her eyes returning there repeatedly, despite her efforts to not stare. "Daggeuro believed you two would be able to help us against the dragons, for the same sage had a vision of a human figure standing atop Mount Offan."
"That is a mountain in the far north which the dragons revere as the birthplace of their kind," Daggeuro added.
"You, miss Kathy, were the first person my husband thought of when the vision was shared with the Faded Army commanders." Selena sipped at her coffee, grimacing. She added in another cube of sugar, stirred, and sipped again, satisfied. "They did not all share his enthusiasm, but agreed that we should return to where you would most likely be brought through."
"That seems to make sense," Kathy said. "By the way, you guys never did tell me, when and how did my apartment connect directly to your front walk? The first time Dag and I crossed over from there, we were well away from the city."
"A simple ritual," Daggeuro explained. "I felt it best to keep your home close to our own." Kathy nodded, ever amazed by the fluidity of magic. She turned her attention momentarily to Byron, who had been uncharacteristically quiet since leaving Celia. The time spent traveling was understandable, with everyone staying on high alert for trouble. Yet even during rest periods and now that they were in a safe place, he seemed closed off, inaccessible. She didn't like it when he kept his own company or counsel for too long; he tended to behave erratically when left to his own devices for too long.
She made a mental note to broach the subject with him as soon as she could. Selena was continuing. "Daggeuro has informed me of where you would go, and while I don't like the notion, I agree that it's the most likely course of action. If King Ovin can be found and returned to us from the Destroyer's clutches, it may well be that some balance can be restored, the dragons negotiated with. If any can sue for peace with them, it is Ovin."
The group shared idle chit-chat, with Kathy taking Byron aside to the den so that the Baron could catch up with Daggeuro and Selena separately. When Byron sat stoically in an armchair near the fireplace, staring into the flames, Kathy tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"What's on your mind," she probed gently. His eyes were half-lidded, sleepy-looking, barely focused. "You haven't seemed like yourself lately." Byron turned to look back into the fire, cleared his throat.
"Got a bad feeling about all of this," he said quietly. "Ever since we hightailed it out of Celia, when I manifested those vampires. The dragon recognized my power. It was like he'd seen it before. I'm scared that maybe there's someone here who's like that Aspect you told me was created when you first touched Ether."
Kathy understood now. Byron's worries were perfectly natural, given what he was capable of when using the cards to manifest unreality. If the company might have to face down a darker version of Byron, his trepidation was prudent. With the right amount of imagination, they could be in major trouble.
"If that's the case, we'll deal with it as needed," Kathy said. "Is there anything else?"
"Yeah," Byron said, pulling out prescription bottle. There was only a week's supply left. "If we're here much more than another week, things are going to take a turn for the decidedly weird." Kathy could have brained herself. She knew there was something they should have done before coming over to Ether.
"How long does it take to work out of your system?"
"About forty-eight hours," Byron said. "I can stretch it out, take it every other day. It'll make me a little manic, but that's easier to deal with than me without anything." He looked up at Kathy. "And there's something else, too."
"What is it?"
"I get this feeling that no matter who all comes with us, someone in the group is going to die," Byron said. "And that's something I don't want to think about." Kathy leaned down and hugged him tightly, finally releasing him after a minute. She knelt down beside his chair, holding his hand.
"You don't know that for sure, Byron," she said. "If I take it rightly, then it's going to be you, me, Daggeuro and Baron Dimanche all going to rescue King Ovin. Every one of us is more than capable of facing down some scary shit and coming out the other end okay. So don't mope," she added jokingly, which got a grin out of him.
"Thanks."
"Never a problem." She gave him a kiss and took up the chair on the opposite side of the fireplace, enjoying quiet company with her loved one.