The Many Adventures of Fay Fairburn - Flight
[This story is a continuation of Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI. You may want to read those first.
Since I stopped in the middle of events last time, brief recap: In order to pay Granny Peg for information about her father, Fay has to free Granny Peg’s captive sons from the Keeper’s Catch. But Fay begins unlocking all the cages with potentially disastrous results.]
* * * *
When she cut the lock on the next cage, Fay was knocked over as the leopard inside threw itself against the door. She pulled herself off the ground and looked up just in time to see a streak of spots flying across the stall. Not running away, but heading straight for the large hairy man, who had been set to guard the cages.
“Oh, no,” said Fay. “Oh, hell.”
The leopard’s face twisted into a snarl and it leapt into the air claws distended. The giant hairy man barely had a chance to open his eyes, before the cat was on him. He erupted into screams that certainly woke the rest of the guards and probably every tent in the near vicinity.
The hairy man and the leopard rolled in the dirt, a knot of fists and claws and feet and fur. A few guards stumbled out of the tents, pulling on clothing and armor and staring agog at the chaos of the stall. Newly freed creatures were either fleeing or fighting, as per their nature, and the guards launched themselves into the fray.
Many people from the neighboring stalls also came out, some to watch, others joining in, if only for the pleasure of being in a brawl. Granny Peg, watching from the shadows, cursed. “Let’s get in there before that girl gets my boys killed.”
The spider twitched its mandible in affirmation and stole out of the bushes with Granny Peg close behind. Granny dodged the stomping feet of a galloping antelope and the spider leapt upon Granny’s back to avoid being crushed by a beefy, drunken, laughing woman, who had been bowled over by a wayward punch.
“This is insane!” cried the little old woman, who nearly fell trying to avoid the drunk woman and propelled herself toward her sons.
Fay was briefly stunned into shock at the mess she’d created and stared blankly ahead at the scuffling of guards and prisoners, until she felt a tug at her skirt. She looked down into the anxious faces of Granny Peg’s two boys, each no taller than her knee. “Can we go now?” one asked.
Fay heaved a shaky breath and said, “Almost.” She turned back to the cages. They should run now, Fay knew, but there were only a dozen cages left. Only a dozen. Heart hammering in her chest, she cut lock after lock, not even stopping to see what was inside. Snick, open door, repeat. Snick, open door, repeat.
The hawk-eyed boy, crouched in his too small cage, was gripping the bars so tightly the iron wire was cutting into his palms. “Hold on,” she said, as she cut away the lock. It dropped to the ground and the door swung open. The boy watched her for a moment, before leaping from the cage. He never hit the ground. Instead, there was a flash of light, transforming him into a red-tailed hawk, and flew with a screech into the dark sky.
A hand wrapped around Fay’s arm and yanked her away from the cages. “Gotcha,” said the guard, dragging her some more. Looking up, she could see her own terrified reflection in his black eyes.
Fay pulled back, trying to jerk her arm free. She kicked and punched, her hands becoming bruised on the metal of his breast plate. The small boys, too, tried to fight, throwing their small fists at the guards shins and knees. The guard just kicked them away and dragged Fay toward an empty cage. She dug her heels again and strained with all her might, but her heels just made dual grooves in the ground.
She looked frantically about for help. The largest spider she had ever seen was scuttling toward them at full speed. Fay gasped and dropped down, as it bounded into the air with a flying leap. It cleared Fay by a few inches and landing smack in the middle of the guard’s face. The guard squealed and let go of Fay, desperately trying to peel the grasping, biting spider off his face.
Granny Peg, close behind, threw her arms around her boys and squeezed them tight. Tears blurred her vision, but she sucked in a breath, shoved them back, and said, “Enough of that. Let’s get out of here.”
“What about her?” asked one of the boys, pointing to Fay. “We can’t just leave her,” said the other.
Granny Peg scowled Fay. “Well? Are you about done, you damn foolish madcap girl?”
Fay nodded. “Just go. I’m fine. Be right behind.”
“Alright, then. You heard her.” Granny Peg called out to where the spider was still scuffling with the guard. “Let’s go, comrade. Time to run for it!”
“Hold tight boys.” The boys wrapped their arms around her waist. Granny Peg grabbed a cord on her pack and pulled. Gossamer wings woven of spider silk popped free of her pack and instantly unfolded. A moment later, the wings filled and carried Granny and her boys into the air. The spider cast a thread of it’s silk and Granny caught it, lifting the spider away from the groaning and puffy faced guard. Fay watched the four drift higher and higher, until they finally disappeared.
A chill brushed her skin. Fay ducked behind an empty cage, knowing without seeing that the icy pale man must be somewhere nearby. Peering through the bars of the cages, she saw him, striding through the chaos. Every person he grabbed a hold of instantly collapsed to the ground. It was definitely about time to run--
as soon as she opened on last cage. Constructed of thick iron bars, the cage hummed with magic. Inside a great hulk of a creature, so dark she couldn’t even tell what it was. A sliver of the black peeled back to reveal a red eye as large as her head. It stared at her, and though it said nothing, Fay could feel it’s waiting.
“Don’t.” Fay turned to she the hawk-eyed boy, who was apparently really a hawk, standing behind her. “Don’t let it out.”
“It’s okay,” said Fay, turning back to the black creature, her mouth dry, but her voice soothing. “It’s fine. You won’t kill us, will you? Not after we go to all the trouble of helping you, right? Right.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince the boy or the creature or herself. She reached for the lock.
The boy grasped her hand. “Fay.” He said her name soft, like he was sharing a secret. “Fay, don’t. He’s too dangerous. We should just run, Fay.”
At each repetition of her name, Fay felt a fluttering sensation, like butterflies were alighting her arm. It spread from where the boy held her hand, up her arm and across her chest. It was a warm feeling that made her stomach go topsy-turvy. She felt dreamy and weak at the knees. She wanted to do anything for him, anything for this boy, anything, anything at all.
“Come with me, Fay,” he said. “Just come with me.”
Burning. The twine of tree root Vervain had wrapped around her wrist was like hot coal. Fay cried out and tore her hand from the boy’s grip, shoving him away in the process. As the blazing feeling subsided, Fay realized understood why Bupkis had told her not to tell anyone her name. The hawk boy had tried to cast a spell on her, had tried to control her with her own name. It was only because of Vervain’s binding spell, which superseded his, that she had been able to break free.
“Fay…”
“Stop it! Don’t touch me,” she hissed. She spun around to the cage and grasped the lock with the wire cutters. At first the lock seemed too thick. Fay squeezed the wire cutters until her hands ached. Finally the lock broke free with loud snap. The hum of the cage went silent.
A rush of hot air hit her in the face as she swung the door open. The boy grabbed her around the waist and dragged her away.
She was about to shout at the boy to let her go, when the cage exploded outward in a spray of searing iron shards, knocking them both to the ground. The black hulk soared upward and blotted out the light of the moon. It reached its peak and unfurled, revealing hug leathery wings. Guards and escaping prisoners alike looked up to watch, shocked and horrified, as the giant black beast arced down toward the ground.
“A dragon. It was a dragon,” said Fay in wonder. “A real dragon.”
“Of course, it was a dragon,” said the boy.
The dragon opened its mouth and curls of flames poured out, containing all its vitriol and rage, the heart of its wrath clearly directed at the pale man who stood firm as others fled.
The boy dragged Fay to her feet. “RUN!”
She ran, following the boy through the turning, twisting back ways of the market, moving further and further away from the booths and stalls and tents and cages that had begun to burn under the dragon’s onslaught. They burst through a set of tents and into another aisle, where the night was dark free of flames, but just as frantic. Word of the dragon had spread quickly, and stall keepers and visitors were shoving their belongings together in order to make their escape.
“This way,” said the boy.
Fay pulled up short and scanned the horizon, finally catching sight of the tree near the center of the market. “No, this way.”
“We can get out of the market faster this way.” He stepped closer to her. “Fay.”
She slapped him before the fluttering feeling could pass over her again. “No! Don’t you ever use my name against me again. Not ever. You go do you want, but I have to go back. I don’t have much time. I have to go.” She rubbed her wrist, where the root still burned her.
The boy’s eyes flicked to her wristed and widened. “You… you’re bound? You set all of them free, when you yourself are bound?”
Fay turned away. The root let her stray a distance from the tree, but she didn’t like the idea of what would happen if Vervain left her entirely behind. “I have to go.”
She paused, observing the boy for one last moment. “Um, bye,” she said, then broke into a run.
The boy watched her go. He looked into the night sky, transformed and took flight.
Fay ran to the tree, breath heaving in her chest. The stall she had helped construct was gone, probably packed away. She pressed her hand against the bark and felt it shudder. The mangy bear from the stall across the aisle grunted at her and rambled away with his cart. Fay grabbed the rope and started to climb, just as the roots of the tree began to draw themselves from the earth. The tree swayed and Fay swung out on the rope then back again, slamming into the trunk. It knocked the wind from her and the rope started to slip from her grasp. She reached out and got hold of the lowest branch. She pulled herself up, then up to the next, while the tree rocked itself to a standing position, propped up with its roots.
Fay dragged herself through the open window and dropped in a heap on the floor.
“Vervain was looking for you.” Bupkis sat on a stool with his arms crossed, looking unimpressed by her entrance. “You’re in all kinds of trouble.”
‘Yeah, “said Fay. She didn’t want to move ever again. “Yeah, I know.”
* * * *
The pale man disentangled himself from the rubble and removes his scorched coat. The Catch was mostly empty now, a few guards led a few scraggly looking humans and a stone giant that had fallen asleep back into their cages. The market was mostly empty now, only the husks of tents abandoned in their rush to escape the dragon.
The pale man smoothed his hair back into place. He strolled over to the collapsed cages and picked up one of the locks. He twisted it in his hands, noticing the clean slice where it had been cut. He held it close to his nose and sniffs.
The big hairy man, raked with claw marks that still dripped blood, camed tentatively up behind the pale man. “Boss…”
The pale man stoond, cold radiating off him like a snow storm. When he spokes, his voice is calm. “What kind of guard lets a thief into it’s midst to simply set the merchandise free?”
“I -- ”
The pale man cut off the coming excuse by grasping his arm. The hairy man exhaled a cloud of frigid air and his lips turned blue. His cheeks hollowed out, his flesh withered away. He grew skeletal by the second, his skin turning an icy shade of grayish white, and frost laced the corners of his lips and eyes.
When the pale man released his hold, he was glowing pink with sudden and temporary warmth. The hairy man, now thinned to a slim shadow of himself, tipped over and shattered against the ground. The other guards turned back to the work, wiping the cold sweat from their brows.
The pale man wandered back to the center and sketched a series of circular symbols in the dirt, while whispering old, old words under his breath. The wood and wire and iron and locks of the cages began to crawl along the ground toward each other, where they twisted together forming long legs and thick arms. Metal and wood ground together as the assembled man slowly rose to its feet.
The pale man arched his neck and looked up to his creation’s great height. “Bring me back my property,” he said, “and fetch me whomever cut the locks.”
* * * *
[To read more Fay Fairburn stories click here.]
Since I stopped in the middle of events last time, brief recap: In order to pay Granny Peg for information about her father, Fay has to free Granny Peg’s captive sons from the Keeper’s Catch. But Fay begins unlocking all the cages with potentially disastrous results.]
* * * *
When she cut the lock on the next cage, Fay was knocked over as the leopard inside threw itself against the door. She pulled herself off the ground and looked up just in time to see a streak of spots flying across the stall. Not running away, but heading straight for the large hairy man, who had been set to guard the cages.
“Oh, no,” said Fay. “Oh, hell.”
The leopard’s face twisted into a snarl and it leapt into the air claws distended. The giant hairy man barely had a chance to open his eyes, before the cat was on him. He erupted into screams that certainly woke the rest of the guards and probably every tent in the near vicinity.
The hairy man and the leopard rolled in the dirt, a knot of fists and claws and feet and fur. A few guards stumbled out of the tents, pulling on clothing and armor and staring agog at the chaos of the stall. Newly freed creatures were either fleeing or fighting, as per their nature, and the guards launched themselves into the fray.
Many people from the neighboring stalls also came out, some to watch, others joining in, if only for the pleasure of being in a brawl. Granny Peg, watching from the shadows, cursed. “Let’s get in there before that girl gets my boys killed.”
The spider twitched its mandible in affirmation and stole out of the bushes with Granny Peg close behind. Granny dodged the stomping feet of a galloping antelope and the spider leapt upon Granny’s back to avoid being crushed by a beefy, drunken, laughing woman, who had been bowled over by a wayward punch.
“This is insane!” cried the little old woman, who nearly fell trying to avoid the drunk woman and propelled herself toward her sons.
Fay was briefly stunned into shock at the mess she’d created and stared blankly ahead at the scuffling of guards and prisoners, until she felt a tug at her skirt. She looked down into the anxious faces of Granny Peg’s two boys, each no taller than her knee. “Can we go now?” one asked.
Fay heaved a shaky breath and said, “Almost.” She turned back to the cages. They should run now, Fay knew, but there were only a dozen cages left. Only a dozen. Heart hammering in her chest, she cut lock after lock, not even stopping to see what was inside. Snick, open door, repeat. Snick, open door, repeat.
The hawk-eyed boy, crouched in his too small cage, was gripping the bars so tightly the iron wire was cutting into his palms. “Hold on,” she said, as she cut away the lock. It dropped to the ground and the door swung open. The boy watched her for a moment, before leaping from the cage. He never hit the ground. Instead, there was a flash of light, transforming him into a red-tailed hawk, and flew with a screech into the dark sky.
A hand wrapped around Fay’s arm and yanked her away from the cages. “Gotcha,” said the guard, dragging her some more. Looking up, she could see her own terrified reflection in his black eyes.
Fay pulled back, trying to jerk her arm free. She kicked and punched, her hands becoming bruised on the metal of his breast plate. The small boys, too, tried to fight, throwing their small fists at the guards shins and knees. The guard just kicked them away and dragged Fay toward an empty cage. She dug her heels again and strained with all her might, but her heels just made dual grooves in the ground.
She looked frantically about for help. The largest spider she had ever seen was scuttling toward them at full speed. Fay gasped and dropped down, as it bounded into the air with a flying leap. It cleared Fay by a few inches and landing smack in the middle of the guard’s face. The guard squealed and let go of Fay, desperately trying to peel the grasping, biting spider off his face.
Granny Peg, close behind, threw her arms around her boys and squeezed them tight. Tears blurred her vision, but she sucked in a breath, shoved them back, and said, “Enough of that. Let’s get out of here.”
“What about her?” asked one of the boys, pointing to Fay. “We can’t just leave her,” said the other.
Granny Peg scowled Fay. “Well? Are you about done, you damn foolish madcap girl?”
Fay nodded. “Just go. I’m fine. Be right behind.”
“Alright, then. You heard her.” Granny Peg called out to where the spider was still scuffling with the guard. “Let’s go, comrade. Time to run for it!”
“Hold tight boys.” The boys wrapped their arms around her waist. Granny Peg grabbed a cord on her pack and pulled. Gossamer wings woven of spider silk popped free of her pack and instantly unfolded. A moment later, the wings filled and carried Granny and her boys into the air. The spider cast a thread of it’s silk and Granny caught it, lifting the spider away from the groaning and puffy faced guard. Fay watched the four drift higher and higher, until they finally disappeared.
A chill brushed her skin. Fay ducked behind an empty cage, knowing without seeing that the icy pale man must be somewhere nearby. Peering through the bars of the cages, she saw him, striding through the chaos. Every person he grabbed a hold of instantly collapsed to the ground. It was definitely about time to run--
as soon as she opened on last cage. Constructed of thick iron bars, the cage hummed with magic. Inside a great hulk of a creature, so dark she couldn’t even tell what it was. A sliver of the black peeled back to reveal a red eye as large as her head. It stared at her, and though it said nothing, Fay could feel it’s waiting.
“Don’t.” Fay turned to she the hawk-eyed boy, who was apparently really a hawk, standing behind her. “Don’t let it out.”
“It’s okay,” said Fay, turning back to the black creature, her mouth dry, but her voice soothing. “It’s fine. You won’t kill us, will you? Not after we go to all the trouble of helping you, right? Right.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince the boy or the creature or herself. She reached for the lock.
The boy grasped her hand. “Fay.” He said her name soft, like he was sharing a secret. “Fay, don’t. He’s too dangerous. We should just run, Fay.”
At each repetition of her name, Fay felt a fluttering sensation, like butterflies were alighting her arm. It spread from where the boy held her hand, up her arm and across her chest. It was a warm feeling that made her stomach go topsy-turvy. She felt dreamy and weak at the knees. She wanted to do anything for him, anything for this boy, anything, anything at all.
“Come with me, Fay,” he said. “Just come with me.”
Burning. The twine of tree root Vervain had wrapped around her wrist was like hot coal. Fay cried out and tore her hand from the boy’s grip, shoving him away in the process. As the blazing feeling subsided, Fay realized understood why Bupkis had told her not to tell anyone her name. The hawk boy had tried to cast a spell on her, had tried to control her with her own name. It was only because of Vervain’s binding spell, which superseded his, that she had been able to break free.
“Fay…”
“Stop it! Don’t touch me,” she hissed. She spun around to the cage and grasped the lock with the wire cutters. At first the lock seemed too thick. Fay squeezed the wire cutters until her hands ached. Finally the lock broke free with loud snap. The hum of the cage went silent.
A rush of hot air hit her in the face as she swung the door open. The boy grabbed her around the waist and dragged her away.
She was about to shout at the boy to let her go, when the cage exploded outward in a spray of searing iron shards, knocking them both to the ground. The black hulk soared upward and blotted out the light of the moon. It reached its peak and unfurled, revealing hug leathery wings. Guards and escaping prisoners alike looked up to watch, shocked and horrified, as the giant black beast arced down toward the ground.
“A dragon. It was a dragon,” said Fay in wonder. “A real dragon.”
“Of course, it was a dragon,” said the boy.
The dragon opened its mouth and curls of flames poured out, containing all its vitriol and rage, the heart of its wrath clearly directed at the pale man who stood firm as others fled.
The boy dragged Fay to her feet. “RUN!”
She ran, following the boy through the turning, twisting back ways of the market, moving further and further away from the booths and stalls and tents and cages that had begun to burn under the dragon’s onslaught. They burst through a set of tents and into another aisle, where the night was dark free of flames, but just as frantic. Word of the dragon had spread quickly, and stall keepers and visitors were shoving their belongings together in order to make their escape.
“This way,” said the boy.
Fay pulled up short and scanned the horizon, finally catching sight of the tree near the center of the market. “No, this way.”
“We can get out of the market faster this way.” He stepped closer to her. “Fay.”
She slapped him before the fluttering feeling could pass over her again. “No! Don’t you ever use my name against me again. Not ever. You go do you want, but I have to go back. I don’t have much time. I have to go.” She rubbed her wrist, where the root still burned her.
The boy’s eyes flicked to her wristed and widened. “You… you’re bound? You set all of them free, when you yourself are bound?”
Fay turned away. The root let her stray a distance from the tree, but she didn’t like the idea of what would happen if Vervain left her entirely behind. “I have to go.”
She paused, observing the boy for one last moment. “Um, bye,” she said, then broke into a run.
The boy watched her go. He looked into the night sky, transformed and took flight.
Fay ran to the tree, breath heaving in her chest. The stall she had helped construct was gone, probably packed away. She pressed her hand against the bark and felt it shudder. The mangy bear from the stall across the aisle grunted at her and rambled away with his cart. Fay grabbed the rope and started to climb, just as the roots of the tree began to draw themselves from the earth. The tree swayed and Fay swung out on the rope then back again, slamming into the trunk. It knocked the wind from her and the rope started to slip from her grasp. She reached out and got hold of the lowest branch. She pulled herself up, then up to the next, while the tree rocked itself to a standing position, propped up with its roots.
Fay dragged herself through the open window and dropped in a heap on the floor.
“Vervain was looking for you.” Bupkis sat on a stool with his arms crossed, looking unimpressed by her entrance. “You’re in all kinds of trouble.”
‘Yeah, “said Fay. She didn’t want to move ever again. “Yeah, I know.”
* * * *
The pale man disentangled himself from the rubble and removes his scorched coat. The Catch was mostly empty now, a few guards led a few scraggly looking humans and a stone giant that had fallen asleep back into their cages. The market was mostly empty now, only the husks of tents abandoned in their rush to escape the dragon.
The pale man smoothed his hair back into place. He strolled over to the collapsed cages and picked up one of the locks. He twisted it in his hands, noticing the clean slice where it had been cut. He held it close to his nose and sniffs.
The big hairy man, raked with claw marks that still dripped blood, camed tentatively up behind the pale man. “Boss…”
The pale man stoond, cold radiating off him like a snow storm. When he spokes, his voice is calm. “What kind of guard lets a thief into it’s midst to simply set the merchandise free?”
“I -- ”
The pale man cut off the coming excuse by grasping his arm. The hairy man exhaled a cloud of frigid air and his lips turned blue. His cheeks hollowed out, his flesh withered away. He grew skeletal by the second, his skin turning an icy shade of grayish white, and frost laced the corners of his lips and eyes.
When the pale man released his hold, he was glowing pink with sudden and temporary warmth. The hairy man, now thinned to a slim shadow of himself, tipped over and shattered against the ground. The other guards turned back to the work, wiping the cold sweat from their brows.
The pale man wandered back to the center and sketched a series of circular symbols in the dirt, while whispering old, old words under his breath. The wood and wire and iron and locks of the cages began to crawl along the ground toward each other, where they twisted together forming long legs and thick arms. Metal and wood ground together as the assembled man slowly rose to its feet.
The pale man arched his neck and looked up to his creation’s great height. “Bring me back my property,” he said, “and fetch me whomever cut the locks.”
* * * *
[To read more Fay Fairburn stories click here.]