by Logan Jacobs
We passed through the city gates and back into the countryside. Merlin quickly shed his cat form and resumed his normal puca shape. I saw everyone stretch their muscles and relax in the warmth of the sun. Less than an hour later, Yvaine led us along a tree-lined avenue that curved along a slow-moving river. Eventually, the two parted ways, and we followed the avenue around one last bend, and found ourselves staring at a stately home. Back on earth, I would have said we’d wandered across one of the old southern plantations, complete with columns and porches, and Spanish moss hanging from the tree limbs.
“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” I blurted out.
“About what?” Maruk asked in a puzzled tone.
“I’ll explain later,” I replied. The rest of the party shrugged, and we trotted up the lane. As we neared the house, I could just see the tops of two hot-air balloons over the edge of the roofline. One was gray, the other a foxy red. I decided to take that as a good omen.
We were met out front by a small army of servants, who collected the horses and our bags, and scurried away before anyone could protest. A man and woman descended on us then, striding arm-and-arm towards us with near-maniacal smiles plastered on their faces.
“The Marquess of Tewksbury,” Yvaine whispered quickly, “And his wife Celia. Ignore the smiles, they’re really quite nice.”
The lord and lady of Tewksbury arrived in front of our group and stopped. Yvaine exchanged air kisses with both of them and then introduced our team. The strange smiles never left their faces, and I noticed that I wasn’t the only one who was shifting uncomfortably.
“It’s quite all right,” Yvaine said as she turned towards the pair, “They’re used to rude behavior.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” the Marquess sighed, and both he and his wife dropped their smiles. In truth, they were quite pleasant looking without the Joker-like grins.
“We’ve been practicing,” Celia sighed as she looked at the rest of us. “After the King of Ybarra said we were so dour looking. We’re not big party-goers, but we don’t want to end up on the do-not-invite list.”
“Maybe if you showed less teeth,” Aerin suggested. “And maybe add a little laugh.”
“We’ll try that,” the Marquess said heartily.
“I see the balloons are ready,” Yvaine pointed out.
“Had the fire mages out early this morning,” the Marquess agreed. “By the by, you mentioned you had a fire mage in your party.”
Emeline raised her hand as if she were back at the Academy.
“You should meet with our mages,” the Marquess declaimed. “They’ll show you how to safely fill the balloons for the return trip.”
“Oh,” Emeline replied uncertainly. She glanced at me, then back at the Marquess.
“They’re quite fabulous,” the Marquess exclaimed as he strode towards the side of the house, Yvaine and Celia each on an arm. “The views from above are remarkable.”
The rest of us fell in behind, and I made a point of sidling up next to Emeline.
“I’m sure you can handle this,” I told her. “The principles behind it are quite simple.”
She nodded, and I saw that she was chewing on her lip. I gave her hand a squeeze, and then we were behind the manor house, and staring at two hot air balloons. The staff were already loading our gear onboard, and the pilots were easy to spot - they wore scarves and heavy jackets, and kept checking the sky.
One was a human with curly brown hair and a beard that would be the envy of lumberjacks everywhere. He was of average height, but he was burly, and smiled easily, especially at the women. The other was an elf with long auburn hair, pulled back into a thick braid. He was taller than the human, and leaner, but I could see that he was muscled as well.
“Oof,” I heard Aerin exclaim quietly. She slipped around the local peerage and approached the two pilots, a sunny grin already lighting up her face. The two men returned her smile, and I was about to crack a joke, when I realized that Lena and Lavinia had joined her. I glanced at Maruk and Dehn, both of whom looked puzzled.
“They always go for pilots,” I sighed.
The Marquess had taken Emeline by the hand and was introducing her to a man and woman that I assumed were the fire mages. They nodded to whatever the Marquess was saying, then led Emeline to the balloons. The man started to point towards the top of the balloon, while the woman shook her head. I could see the two arguing, and poor Emeline looking back and forth between the two. I was about to swoop to her rescue, when Celia arrived. She waved off whatever the fire mages had said and started talking to Emeline. I saw both of the fire mages nod, and I decided Emeline was probably in good hands.
At last, our packs were loaded, the pilots seemed satisfied, and Emeline looked a little less confused, if not exactly confident. Yvaine and the Tewksburys exchanged another round of air kisses, and then we piled into the hot air balloons. Lavinia, Aerin, Lena, Emeline and Dehn ended up with the human pilot, while I found myself with Maruk, Yvaine, Merlin and the elf.
“That seems like a lot of people in one balloon,” I commented as I watched Lavinia push the halfling over the top of the basket.
“We tried to distribute the weight as evenly as possible,” our pilot replied as he slanted a look towards Maruk. Maruk harrumphed and pulled his cape tighter.
“I’m Yvaine, Marchioness of Constello,” Yvaine said politely as she held out a hand to the pilot.
“Griff,” the pilot replied and bowed slightly over her hand. “Bergen is the other pilot.”
“Maruk and Gabriel,” Yvaine introduced us.
Griff nodded to us, and we did likewise. The pilots both raised their hands and waved to the ground crews. The ropes were released, and the balloons began to lift into the sky.
“Whooooo!” I heard Dehn cry out from the other balloon.
The pilots pulled the ropes in quickly and coiled them into tightly packed piles. Griff and Bergen seemed to be having their own little race, and when Griff finished with the ropes first, I saw him smile and raise two fingers at the other balloon. Bergen gave him a friendly scowl, and then the two turned to the business at hand.
“Is there a way to talk to the people in the other balloon without shouting at them?” Yvaine asked.
“We carry flags,” Griff replied. “You can’t have a regular conversation, but we can signal if there’s danger or something.”
We were climbing rapidly, and the air quickly grew cooler. The sounds of the day fell away, and soon all we heard was just the wind and the burners. A large eagle soared by, eyeing us uncertainly, before it swooped back towards the ground below. Yvaine snuggled against me as we stood and watched the world go by, and Merlin wrapped himself around my shoulders. Maruk quickly forgot how incensed he felt, and he stood next to Griff, asking questions about the balloon and its operation. Griff turned out to be a cheerful elf, and he answered Maruk’s questions without hesitation.
“Wish we could stay like this,” Yvaine sighed.
“All we need is a bottle of wine,” I agreed.
By late afternoon, we were passing the foothills of the mountains, and the high peaks rose before us. Griff tensed, and Maruk went silent, watching as the pilot navigated the balloon between the stony giants. We were following a river bed far below, but we were still dangerously close to the mountains themselves. At one point, the gap narrowed so much that I thought I could lean out and touch the granite.
Yvaine was huddled in a corner with my bear fur cloak wrapped around her. Merlin’s ears peeked over the edge of the cloak, but other than that, there was no sign that he was even still on board. Yvaine cooed to him occasionally, and I could swear that she handed him a piece of dried apple at some point.
Maruk and I stood together, watching the mountains with trepidation and trying to stay out of Griff’s way. I glanced towards the other balloon and realized that everyone except Lena and Bergen must have sat down like Yvaine. Lena was watching the mountains glide past with a look of joy upon her face, and
she waved to me and Maruk when she realized we were still standing.
The sun had just reached the horizon when we cleared the last of the mountains, and I saw Griff wipe his brow in relief. He signalled Bergen, who signalled back, and then the two balloons began a slow, easy descent.
“There’s a field near here that we can use,” Griff explained. “A friend of the Marquess. He likes to go for rides in the balloons so we’ll probably have to take him up while you’re doing… whatever it is you’re doing.”
We settled gently into a grassy field as the last rays of the sun disappeared. Several people stood waiting in the field, and ran forward as the balloons touched earth.
“I thought that was you!” an elderly man chortled as he came forward. The others were already taking the ropes from Bergen and Griff and tying the balloons. “Getting a bit late in the day.”
“Late start this morning,” Griff replied with a smile. “And a bigger crowd than normal.”
The old man peered at us from under two very bushy eyebrows. In fact, it looked like all the hair from the top of his head had migrated downwards and taken up residence along his brow.
“Welch, this is the Marchioness of Constello,” Griff said. Yvaine leaned forward out of the balloon and shook hands with the old man. “And this is Maruk and Gabriel.”
“Welcome, welcome,” Welch said happily. “Any friend of the Tewksburys is a friend of mine.”
“Thank you,” Yvaine replied as Griff and Welch helped her from the basket. “Now, I understand that there’s a very nice inn near here.”
“Oh, stuff and nonsense,” Welch declared as he waggled his eyebrows at Yvaine. Griff quickly smothered a grin. “I have plenty of room. Heap of stones, and it can get a bit chilly at night, but the only cost to you will be spending some time with a lonely old man.”
Yvaine and Welch were walking away together, leaving Maruk and I with our pilot. Griff was tossing bags to the servants, and I watched the nearby cart fill up quickly with our gear.
“Who is this guy?” I finally asked Griff.
“He made a fortune selling armor made of dragon scale,” Griff replied. “Richest man on the planet, if you believe some of the rumors. He bought the castle a few years back, from some earl or such who’d fallen on hard times. He and the Tewksburys have been friends forever, as far as I can tell. When Barnaby bought the balloons, Welch bought this field, and set up a tower just to watch for our arrival.”
“Barnaby?” I asked.
“The Marquess,” Griff explained. “Anyway, it’s a pretty sweet gig. Welch always has us stay at the house, and it’s a lot nicer than he claims. He wasn’t kidding about keeping him company though. He’ll keep you up all night telling stories about yourself if you don’t watch it.”
“Charming,” Maruk sniffed.
“Tonight, at least, Bergen and I will get some rest,” Griff laughed. “Welch will want to talk the ears off the new people first.”
Welch was directing the rest of our group towards two carriages that had just arrived. Maruk and I joined the rest of the Shadow Foxes, and I found myself sitting in the second carriage with Maruk, Dehn and Aerin. Dehn looked a bit green, and I noticed Aerin made a point of sitting as far away from him as possible.
“Airsick?” I guessed.
“I wasted a ton of magic trying to keep him from throwing up on everything,” Aerin complained. “I’m glad we didn’t go by boat. I can’t imagine spending weeks cooped up with him.”
“Halflings weren’t meant to fly,” Dehn replied, then quickly clamped a hand over his mouth.
“At least, do it out the window if you must,” Maruk suggested as he pulled his cloak tighter around his body. “I just had these boots polished.”
“I’ll be fine now,” Dehn snapped. “I think that medicine Lena gave me is finally kicking in.”
“Great,” Aerin said with an eyeroll. “Now that we’re already back on the ground.”
“What color’s my hair?” Dehn asked as he ran a finger through it.
“I do see a bit of green,” Aerin replied as she peered at him.
“Uh, your skin is turning red,” I added. As I watched, Dehn’s color scheme changed dramatically. The slight tinge of green in his hair became a virulent shade of yellow-green, and his skin looked like something my mother would have described as puce purple.
“I refuse to ask,” Maruk sighed as he focused on the world outside the carriage.
“A side effect of Lena’s drug,” Aerin noted. “It’s supposed to wear off in an hour or so.”
“Wish I had a mirror,” Dehn chortled. “It must look awesome.”
Maruk finally looked at the halfling and sighed. “You look like a giant eggplant.”
“It’s not that bad,” I tried to reassure Dehn.
“It’s an improvement,” Aerin agreed with a smile.
Dehn smiled happily, and it appeared that whatever bit of airsickness he’d suffered had faded fast. Still, we made sure to give him a seat by the window, and the rest of us bunched up against the other side of the carriage.
The heap of stones turned out to be a sprawling structure that had clearly been added onto over the centuries. It was a bizarre mishmash of styles, with flying buttresses next to something that looked vaguely like a Japanese pagoda. And then there was the needle-like tower at the far end, with a bulbous roof that looked about three sizes too big for the tower. We were all staring, but then it would be hard not to.
Welch escorted us inside, still talking. He was explaining how the various sections of the castle had come about, and Yvaine, at least, managed to look interested. I wasn’t sure what to expect when we walked in, but I don’t think Frank Lloyd Wright would have been at the top of the list. Yet here it was, all clean lines and simple, repeating patterns.
I glanced at Maruk, who looked positively stunned. He turned around in a circle several times, as if confused about where he was. Lavinia grabbed his elbow and dragged him after Welch. I just shook my head and decided this was one of those times when you just had to go with it.
The pilots joined us for dinner, and Griff hadn’t been exaggerating when he said Welch would focus on us. The two airmen wolfed down their food, then quietly disappeared from the dining hall. I thought about slipping after them, but when Dehn, clearly of the same mind, tried to stand up, Welch turned his fuzzy gaze on the halfling and asked for a history of his time in the Ovrista city guard. I thought Dehn was about to make a run for it, but Maruk placed one large hand on the halfling’s shoulder, keeping him in place.
“I think you should meet some of the locals,” Welch declared sometime well after the last of the food had been consumed, and I suspected the staff had retired for the night. “They might be able to help you on this quest of yours.”
“You think they might know something?” I asked.
“Some of these families have been here for centuries,” Welch replied. “Now, me, I’m not really up on all the local lore. I only just heard about this Big Foot fella last month. But, I bet I can get a few of the old-timers to come over for some early dinner and a hand of cards. They can be a bit cagey, and they don’t always open up to strangers, but I’m sure you could find a way to weasel the information out of them.”
“It’s certainly worth a try,” Yvaine replied.
“Good,” Welch said. “I’ll talk to the cook in the morning, see what we can whip up. These old fogeys won’t need much notice as long as they think they’re getting a free meal.”
“Speaking of morning,” Aerin yawned. She stretched her arms out wide and then cast a sleepy stare at Welch. “My goodness, I’ll miss out on my beauty sleep if I don’t head to bed soon.”
Welch guffawed and waggled his eyebrows some more. At last, he stood up, still laughing.
“Well, personally, I don’t imagine you need beauty sleep,” Welch finally said, “But I can take a hint. Until tomorrow, then.”
We straggled back to our various bedrooms. Mine was on the third floor,
in a room overlooking a hedge maze. It was actually almost normal, with a good-sized bed, a chest of drawers, and an armoire. There was even a small writing table by the window, and a beautiful painting of a woman strolling through a field of flowers. There was also, for no apparent reason, a marble column smack in the middle of the room. I’d already walked into the wretched thing twice, causing Merlin to chortle with mischievous glee.
I fell into the bed and buried myself under the covers. They smelled vaguely of lavender and perhaps rosemary, though it was hard to tell after Merlin curled up next to me. He must have had fish for his dinner, because his breath smelled like a can of sardines. I turned to one side and pulled one of the pillows over my head. I was asleep a heartbeat later.
The sun was already up by the time I awoke. Merlin was still sprawled out next to me, and I pushed him aside as I scrambled out of bed. He sat up and blinked a few times, then scrubbed his face with his front paws. I managed to make myself presentable in near record time, and I bounded down the steps as quickly as I could. I had to stop on the first floor to try to remember where the dining hall was, but then I heard the clatter of dishes, and Lavinia’s voice. I straightened my shirt, and ran my hand through my tangled hair one more time, and then stepped into the dining room.
Lavinia and Lena were the only two in the room. They were leaning towards each other, deep in a quiet conversation. I coughed and both ladies sat back quickly.
“Anyone else up yet?” I asked as I made my way to the buffet that had been laid out.
“Welch is on his way back to the balloons, and Emeline is with him,” Lavinia replied. “He wants to go for a ride, and he insisted that the balloons inflate much quicker when there’s a fire mage than when you have to rely on what he called ‘that infernal machine’.”