Travels With a Fairytale Monster

by Elizabeth Gannon

  Dressed all in black, from his tunic and large brimmed hat to the tops of his heavy boots, there wasn’t a man in any army or kingdom who didn’t recognize that monster.

  Stendec.

  The man was a mercenary, a bounty hunter, and a killer. He was the hired muscle brought in to do the kinds of things that would horrify trained soldiers and disgust anyone with a soul. But Stendec had no allegiance to anyone, least of all any king or god which could make demands on his behavior. He served the highest bidder; loyal only to the coin. He was vicious, resourceful, and at one time or another, he’d been paid to kill every kind of thing that had ever been killed. And he’d done it all with a level head, a cold heart, and with consummate ease.

  If there was one thing in all the known kingdoms that everyone hated and feared more than Goldilocks, it was Stendec the Ghostmaker.

  The man ran his finger through the ash covered ground, peering at the grains of sand like they told him something. “That way.” He pointed away from the road and towards the mountains. “A girl… a man… and an ogre.” His voice was soft and gravelly. “A day ahead.”

  “What kind of lunatic would head into the Felony Forest?” Buggane wondered aloud.

  “A smart one.” Stendec answered calmly, rising to his feet.

  “It’s what I’d do.” The Golden Bitch agreed, smiling slightly. “I like this girl.” She whirled around. “You!” She pointed at Buggane. “Now is the time for you to prove your worth to our Great King.” She gestured down the path. “Fetch!”

  His eyes narrowed in fury and his plans for the girl’s future got darker still. He’d fuck that bitch into the ground, literally and figuratively. She’d beg to die when he was done with her and he’d relish every one of her screams as he was inside her tight muscular little body. He’d show her that no matter how tough she thought she was, or how many lesser men she’d somehow bested, she still had a body designed for a single purpose: to pleasure cocks. That was it. And he intended to use his to cause her unimaginable pain.

  “You killed them!” Someone shouted from the debris which surrounded them, distracting Buggane from his happy thoughts. “They’re all dead!”

  A human scarecrow crawled from the wreckage; a dirty, twisted shell of a man. He stumbled towards them, the broken remains of a sword clutched in his hand. “Your army killed everyone! I’ll kill you!” He weakly raised the weapon. “I’ll kill you for…”

  Whatever else the creature had been about to say was cut off as Stendec calmly put an arrow through the man’s head with a crossbow, then returned the weapon to his side. “I’ll add that one to my fee.” He told his boss, his voice a dispassionate whisper. He bent down and yanked the arrow free of the man’s skull, then began using a small knife to cut the man’s wedding ring off his finger. He tossed away the severed digit in disinterest and added the pilfered golden band to a large collection of similar rings which already adorned a necklace he was wearing. He flipped the man over to look for anything else he could add to the collection of bracelets and jeweled cuffs he’d stolen from his victims, which ran all the way up his left arm. Not finding anything, the Ghostmaker returned to his boss’ side and waited to be given the order to murder something else.

  Goldilocks swore and pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation again, then pointed at Buggane. “They’re your soldiers, so you will retrieve them. Meanwhile, my army will move on the capital and…”

  “Commander!” Another soldier raced towards them, panting like he’d been running full out for miles. “Commander, our Great King orders His Golden Fist home. The Bearskin has returned and is laying waste to your armies in the Thrushland Fields.”

  The Golden Bitch swore savagely. “General Sunderland was supposed to hold the line in the south in my absence!” She swore again. “A thousand curses upon that man’s head!”

  “That will not be difficult,” the soldier panted, “seeing as how The Bearskin sent the general’s head to your father a week ago.”

  “Leaving now would be a mistake.” She told the man seriously, as if arguing with herself and trying to rationalize it to him. “The situation is not secure yet and it would be folly to leave the field before victory is in hand. The army is still needed here.”

  The soldier paled, looking absolutely horrified. “Y-y-you are refusing to…”

  “Alright.” She cut him off, evidently not liking the thought of going against Midas’ orders either. “Send word to our Great King that His will is my action. I will return to the south with His army at once.” She turned to look at the general standing next to her. “But I will leave you with a division of men, General Reinert. That should be more than enough to finish up operations in this kingdom and secure the capital.” She whirled to face Buggane, her glittering slightly metallic curls swinging behind her. “You will lead the remainder of your men in pursuit of my stolen property and your deserters.”

  “But my men are still part of the Cormoran army.” Buggane argued. “How can they…”

  She held up a hand, cutting him off. “I don’t care if you have to entice them to join us with wine and sloppy kisses, just get them here!” She turned to look at Stendec. “And you’re going to go with him to make sure he doesn’t fuck it up, like we both know he will.” She poked him in the chest with one golden fingernail. “I want that ogre delivered to Reinert in the capital, mercenary. I don’t care about anything or anyone else in this entire kingdom. It’s all expendable. Just get him there!”

  “What if the Cormoranian is determined to fuck it up?” The Ghostmaker calmly gestured at Buggane with a gloved hand. “He doesn’t strike me as someone fit for this kind of work.”

  “If he becomes an obstacle, string him up with his men.” The Golden Bitch sounded utterly dismissive. “I don’t care.”

  Stendec considered that for a moment, his face hidden in shadow. “And my payment?”

  “Twice what we agreed upon.”

  “Triple.” He countered in his soft-spoken voice, somehow managing to sound terrifying despite the even tone. “You’ll pay me triple my usual rate for this job.”

  “Fine.” She quickly agreed, like money was no object to her. “I don’t care, just so long as it gets done.” She started to storm from the scene. “My Great King wants that ogre at the capital! Get him there!”

  Stendec turned to look at Buggane and a smirk crossed the man’s weathered face. “I look forward to working with you.” He tilted his head back so that the shadows created by the huge brim of his hat cleared and Buggane could see his eyes clearly for the first time. To his shock, the man had two irises and cornea in his left eye, creating a horrifyingly inhuman image which made Buggane’s skin crawl. The mercenary’s steely eyes watched him for a moment, squinting in the setting sunlight, then fell into shadow again as he glanced down at the ring on Buggane’s hand. “I love meeting new people.”

  Buggane automatically covered the trinket before Stendec decided to add it to his collection.

  The human monster ignored the action and coolly began to shuffle off down the road, tracking his quarry towards the mountains like some kind of bloodhound, the macabre golden trophies he wore around his neck making a soft jingling sound with each step.

  Buggane let the man get several paces ahead of him… just in case.

  Normally, he hated waiting, but in this case, it was probably for the best. He didn’t want that vicious demented man any closer than necessary. But either way, Buggane would kill him with everyone else who was trying to stop him from achieving his glory. He’d take his rightful place as emperor of this land and all the others, then spend the rest of his days drinking expensive wine and raping Taylor and that Golden Bitch.

  Yes, that was a dream worth waiting for.

  ******

  “What are we waiting for?” Dom asked yet again.

  “I told you,” Taylor casually sat down on a stump, stretching her legs out in front of her. “We have to wait until Uriah is ready to go.”

  H
e made an unconvinced sound, not at all happy with the situation. “I’m not at all happy with this situation.” He informed her again, not feeling the need to lie to his mate. “This is a mistake.”

  “Oh, stop worrying.” She waved off his very valid concerns with the flip of one graceful hand. “We need to get to the capital and Uriah has more experience with crime than we do. Thus, he’s the perfect choice.”

  “Pirates are never the perfect choice for anything.” He leaned against the side of the building, but then quickly stood straight again when the entire frame of the structure shifted due to his weight. “He will take our money, then kill us. They can’t be trusted.”

  “Well, seeing as how we’re planning on double-crossing him, I don’t think we can really go throwing stones on that front, now can we?”

  “I can.” He assured her. “Big stones and a lot of them.” He shook his head again. “This is a mistake.”

  “It’s the only way we can make it to the capital.” She reminded him. “The only way you’ll have your freedom and the only way I can save my kingdom.”

  He made another unconvinced sound. “I still do not like it.”

  “I know.” She took a bite of some of the food the pirates had been able to find for her. “But it’ll be fine. Trust me. I can play these guys until we get to where we’re going. I know what I’m doing.”

  He’d known the girl for a very short time, but he was already beginning to suspect that her entire life was simply a series of very dangerous and incredibly foolhardy actions, none of which had much chance of success but which she still threw herself into wholeheartedly.

  It was a wonder she had survived as long as she had.

  It must be the Mountain protecting her.

  It was the only explanation.

  “I just don’t want to see anything happen to you.” He cautioned, trying to understate the matter as much as he could, so that he didn’t frighten her. “It’s… very important that you survive.”

  “Oh, that’s sweet.” She held her hand over her chest, as if truly moved. “But I’ve instructed Ryle on all the finer points of the plan…”

  “There are finer points to it now?” Dom interrupted. “Do I know them?”

  She ignored that. “…so even if something were to happen to me, you’d still be able to make it to the capital and get your freedom back.”

  He watched her for a long moment, looking into her beautiful emerald eyes. “Without you, I wouldn’t even want it.”

  She looked touched again, but then the expression faded. “Stupid wand.” She finally said under her breath. “It’s really messing this up.”

  “Huh?” He frowned in confusion. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Good.” She nodded sharply and rose to her feet. “Because you’re not allowed to talk about it anyway.”

  “Again, I still have no idea which topics are permitted and which are forbidden.” He reminded her. “No one has told me and I once again object.”

  “Well, it’s safer.” She looked around. “This place has ears.”

  “Yes, I’m sure it does.” He agreed. “But it would be nice to know what they think I know, so that I could be sure not to tell them.”

  “No!” She shook her head vehemently. “It’s very important that you not talk about the thing we’re not talking about. In fact, don’t even talk about it with me. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Very well.” He sighed, feeling very tired of human logic. “If that is your wish, I will refrain from discussing the mystery topic. It should be fairly easy, since I don’t know which topic it even is.”

  “Good.” She glanced around again. “Otherwise, someone might overhear.”

  “’Overhear’ what?” Uriah asked, bounding down the stairs as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “I can assure you, unless money or desserts are somehow involved, I almost certainly don’t care.”

  “What is taking so long?” She demanded, ignoring his question. “Is there a reason why we’ve had to stand out here for an hour waiting for you?”

  “That’s really one of the downsides of being a prisoner, isn’t it?” Uriah strolled out into the street. “It makes managing your own schedule ever so problematic.”

  “If I’m a prisoner, then I’m not paying you.” She declared. “Prisoners get transported for free. It’s really the only benefit of captivity.”

  “Prisoners, treasured friends…” Uriah shrugged disinterestedly. “I’m a pirate; there’s very little difference there.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Speaking of which, you’d better free Ransom when all of this is over.” She pointed at him, her voice utterly serious. “I mean it. That’s not negotiable as far as I’m concerned.”

  Uriah frowned in confusion. “Huh?”

  “You need to free Ransom.” She repeated. “At the end of this, you have to set her free or this deal’s off.”

  “Well of course I’ll free her.” Uriah held out his hands like she was being crazy. “What else would I do?”

  “You’d better.” She warned again. “Because killing you will take time I don’t have. We need to get moving if we’re going to get to the capital first.”

  He pressed a hand over his heart. “And I so want to see that you get there.” He glanced down the pathway. “Not that I don’t adore having you as guests in my home, but— and you’ll have to forgive me for my candor— I find that your company begins to irritate and now I simply want you gone.”

  Dom’s eyes narrowed, unhappy that someone would insult his mate to her face like that. “Tay-Lore will be welcomed wherever she wants to go.”

  “Will she now?” Uriah asked with mock interest. “How lucky for her. And it certainly makes the army chasing her so much more curious and unanticipated. Perhaps the Baselanders are simply trying to whisk her back to their homeland because her company is so very pleasant and they wish to keep it for themselves.”

  “If you don’t like Tay-Lore in ‘your home’ then maybe I should just take it from you and then you won’t be so inconvenienced.” Dom threatened. “It’s only ‘your home’ because I allow it.”

  Uriah turned to look at him, an almost amused expression on his human features. He pointed at him. “You threaten violence a lot, don’t you?” He inquired calmly. “And you’re mean. And overprotective. And you have no hesitation before escalating petty disagreements into life and death struggles.” He nodded. “Oh, yes. You definitely remind me of me.” He smiled. “I think we’re friends now.”

  Oddly, Dom was fairly certain that the man had somehow meant that as an insult. And odder still… that’s exactly how Dom took it.

  “Now, now,” Taylor reassured, “there’s no need to fight, boys. We can all get along for a few days, can’t we?”

  “No.” Dom said unemotionally.

  “Probably not.” Uriah agreed. “Frankly, this is now already one of the longest friendships I’ve ever had.”

  “Just think of all the gold you’ll be getting at the end of this trip, Uriah.” She tried. “Think of the gold and leave Dom alone.”

  “And if at the end of all this, you can’t pay me, I’ll just sell you to the Baselanders.” Uriah smiled wider, as if that was the cheeriest news he could have given. “So, it’s win-win for everyone!”

  Before she could respond to that, a muscular bald man arrived on the scene, leading a horse which was carrying several large packs.

  “Ah, excellent.” Uriah spread his arms wide. “Good morning, Dobbs.”

  “The crew is ready, sir.” The bald man assured his boss. “Everything is set.”

  Uriah casually patted the horse on its nose. “Oh, Horse has been ready for hours, haven’t you?” He cooed at the animal. “It’s not fair that Dobbs was slowing her down so. Horse wants to go!”

  Dom slowly looked at Tay-Lore, calling attention to the man’s insanity and how much Dom was being asked to endure.

  “I know.” She mouthed. “But you have to expect him to be a little… o
dd. He is a pirate, after all.”

  “He’s a lunatic.” Dom corrected. “And now he holds our lives in his hands.” He let out a long breath. “I’m not questioning your plan, but I just think…”

  “We only have to put up with him for a few days.” She whispered, interrupting his complaint. “We can endure his eccentricities for a few days, can’t we?”

  The man in question stopped cooing at the horse and turned to look around the clearing. “Where is Ransom?” He asked, his head whipping around the area, searching for his captive. He raised his voice. “RANSOOOOM!” He bellowed.

  Dom looked down at Tay-Lore again. “Can I kill him once we get to the Crossroads?” He asked hopefully. “Please?”

  “Ransom!” The man yelled again. “Where are you!?!”

  “Probably.” Tay-Lore assured him.

  The human girl with the scars on her face arrived in the clearing a moment later, guided through the underbrush by Rai-El. The boy was holding out his arm so that the woman could find her way.

  Uriah watched the scene silently for a moment. “Oh, she can do it.” He finally spat out, sounding annoyed for some reason. He rolled his eyes as if the situation were ridiculous. “She’s blind, you idiot, not an infant.” He flipped his hands several times, shooing Ryle away. “She doesn’t need you hovering.” He pointed to a cluster of trees. “Just go stand over there or something.” He glared at the scarred woman. “And you can stop milking this for all it’s worth. I don’t know what you’re up to, but I see you over there, ‘poor little blind girl’, deliberately trying to act all helpless to get his sympathy. You’re embarrassing yourself right now, Ransom. Truly.” He slapped the reigns into her hand and pointed down the road. “Get moving.”

  Taylor’s eyes narrowed in fury as the girl shuffled down the rocky path, feeling her way along with a thin wooden cane. “There’s no shame in her asking for help if she needs it.” She informed the pirate, her temper on the verge of snapping. “Especially not after the nightmarish situation you’ve placed her in. Honestly, it’s amazing she’s not in a corner crying somewhere, you sick bastard.”