As they approached the town, a large man stepped into the middle of the path, blocking their way. He had richly colored skin that shone against the firelight and graying, curly hair.
“Who the fuck are you? And why do you have a Unipaca?” he grumbled with a deep, growly voice as they approached.
Vira and Sephyr shifted forms, and the man stepped back quickly, unsheathing his sword.
Benny gasped through ragged breaths, “Please, sir. We came to find our friend, Ojore, but my friend was stung by a giant mosquito on the way here. He needs help!”
The man watched them with narrowed eyes, turning his gaze to Askold on Aurora’s back. “Ojore, you say? Follow me.”
They followed the man into the village. Dozens of people were within, doing varying tasks to clean up the town. Benny also noticed that animals were helping amid the chaos.
Bears helped to lift heavy beams. Large, fluffy-looking wolves helped to pull heavy loads on carts. One wolf transformed into a human next to them and snarled as he watched them pass, his hands fisted alongside his nude body, mismatched colored eyes boring into them.
The man led them to a makeshift tent, where he opened the flap and called in, “We have another sting.” He looked back at them as he closed the flap and watched them, crossing his arms back over his chest.
Askold began to cough loudly. Benny felt his panic rise, and he looked at the man. “Will they be out soon?”
The flap opened to reveal a tall woman with long gray hair and mismatched eyes—one blue like the ocean in Umbrea, the other brown like the richness of the soil. When her eyes met Benny’s, they carried the weight of wise years long lived. He looked down to see a syringe in her hand, noticing a freshly inked black moth tattoo on her wrist.
“Who are you?” she asked with a thick accent that rolled off her tongue.
“Our friend, please. He was stung by a mosquito,” Benny pleaded, pointing to Aurora and Askold.
The woman’s wrinkled eyes shifted to Aurora, and she gasped, taking a step back. “Impossible,” she choked out.
Askold coughed once more, and the woman’s eyes moved to Aurora’s back. She took a hesitant step forward and asked Aurora, “May I approach, please?”
Aurora huffed loudly, flaring her nostrils, and the woman slowly walked to her side, peering at Askold. She looked at Benny. “I’ll need to inject him, and he’s going to pass out as a result. We’ll need to bring him into the tent after.”
Benny nodded before looking to Vira and Sephyr, who just watched the exchange.
The woman lifted Askold’s sleeve and plunged the needle into his shoulder. He let out a pain-filled scream and immediately blacked out, slowly slipping off Aurora’s back. Benny ran forward with Vira and Sephyr, and they caught him before his body slid to the ground.
They lifted him together and brought him into the tent. Benny looked over his shoulder at Aurora before the flap closed. “I’ll be back out in a minute.”
They set Askold on a makeshift cot of hay bales covered with a sheet. The woman placed her hand on Askold’s forehead and looked at them. “He’ll be okay. It’s going to take some time. You’re lucky you made it before his heart gave out.”
Benny felt exhaustion weigh down on him heavily, and he let out a ragged breath of relief. He sat down on the ground beside Askold, his arms resting over his knees, and ran his filthy hands over his face. He was covered in gore, and now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he could smell just how awful the mess was on his clothing and skin.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen Corvids and a human in Tuath. What brings you here?” the woman asked from the opposite side of the cot.
“We came to find our friend, Ojore. Is he here?” Benny asked, looking up at the woman.
“Aye, he’s here. You just met his cousin, Arzhel. I’m Yepa, pack leader of the Lycanthropes. Ojore had some friends arrive for him earlier today as well. Glad to see one of our own had fared so well living in Joro. We’ve heard awful things about that place.” Yepa watched them with a worried smile forming on her face as she looked back at the tent flap. “As you can see, we’ve had quite the run-in with the Jotnar. But now with the Fae’s help, we’ll have more support.”
Benny furrowed his brows. With the Fae’s help? How did they manage that? He glanced at Askold and saw that the swelling of his face was receding, and he was beginning to look more like himself.
“Your friend will be okay. Let’s get you to Ojore and check on your magnificent beast you have out there. May I ask, how did you befriend a Unipaca?” She looked back at Benny. “The Unipacas are very powerful, but they do not like mankind. They tend to stick to themselves.”
Benny pushed himself back onto his sore legs and shrugged. “She found us.”
Yepa walked to the flap and opened it, looking back at the others. “Coming?” she asked.
“I’ll stay here with Askold,” Vira said as she glanced back down at his sleeping form. “Sephyr will join you.”
Benny and Sephyr followed Yepa back outside the tent. Aurora stood outside, huffing and stomping her front foot at people who walked by and stared at her for too long.
Feisty thing, Benny thought as he neared.
