crossed lines

	The first arrows were already flying when Linus reached the top of the wall.  It was only an eight foot affair, hardly a proper defensive fortification, but it was enough to overcome a casual attempt at surmounting it.  The platform was only four feet deep and was clearly ad hoc, Linus noted.  It was held up with rough, untreated wood stakes in spots, and was barely more than two inches thick.  Not exactly enough to have a skirmish on.

	Still, it was better than nothing, and the gate had thick, solid steel hinges and bars.  Linus got up on the platform beside the gate and strung his bow.  “All right, what are they sending in first?” he asked the people around him.

	One of the guards saluted.  “Sir!  The scouts are falling back, and there’s a big dust cloud to the northeast.”

	“The main stair down the edge of the cliffs?” Linus asked.

	“Well, we think so, uh, sir,” the guard said awkwardly.  “I’m not sending anybody out there to find out, though.”

	“Mmm.”  Linus shielded his eyes and squinted.  “Sure looks like movement.”

	The guard cleared his throat.  “Er, Knight Vorth, do you think we’re going to win this battle?”

	“Hells yeah we are, soldier,” Linus said confidently.  “The question is whether we can keep them out of the temple.  Number for number, we’ve got this.  The problem is that this isn’t a siege, it’s a game of keep-away.  We have to keep the jackalweres away from the rectory and shrine.”

	The guard looked back at the stone building as Linus continued.  “We keep the rectory, the townsfolk survive.  We keep the shrine, our bond to our patron stays intact, and he may favor our arms in battle,” Linus explained.  “We let the innocents die, or fail our master, we lose.  That simple, really,” he said.  He sighed.  “I know, it’s not comforting.  For what it’s worth, I think we can do it.  We just can’t let them get the upper hand for too long, or force us to abandon the walls.  I don’t think it’s dawned on them that we can replenish our food sources with magic pretty much indefinitely, so if they try to cut off all exit, we can outlast them.”

	The guard nodded.  “I understand, Knight.  Thank you.”

	“Sure thing.”  Linus set a hand on his shoulder to reassure him.  “Trust in your training and Torm, soldier.  One way or another, this will be over soon.”


	Lumira yawned broadly as she trudged along in Viri’s wake.  A quick visit to the Prime was what she needed to break the routine in the home flock, probably, but the Prime was so boring most of the time.  She was following Viri through the mossy pathway from the Near Green to the village of Conyberry, wondering idly how long she would be here this time.  Maybe just long enough to visit Viri’s friend?  Who knew?

	The young satyress rolled her shoulders and muffled another yawn as they walked.  A few hunters watched in terrified awe as the two young fey forded the river and waded out the other side, walking towards Conyberry.  Viri had a pouch on with a few pieces of gold she had bartered for on the Feywild, which she figured would at least be enough for a meal or two while she caught up with Linus.

	Lumira spoke Common and Elvish while Viri didn’t, so she had to take point if they spoke to anybody along the way.  The two hunters, both young human males, slowly backed up from the trail as Viri and Lumira strode past them.  Both gulped as Lumira suddenly snapped her fingers and turned back.  “Hey, you human-folk, the village is this way, right?” she asked, in slightly accented Common.

	“Y-yes,” one stammered.  Lumira sniggered to her self when his eyes darted down to her naked body and then fixed resolutely on her eyes.  A virgin, how cute.  She toyed with the idea of toying with them a bit more, but a cross stare from Viri made her sigh.

	“Yeah, thanks,” she said, and turned back to the path.  “No fun,” she muttered in Sylvan.

	“I know, sister, but the last thing we need around here is another satyr going rogue,” Viri said unhappily.

	Lumira glared half-heartedly at her.  “You really think the Dance Lord is a criminal or something, now?”

	Viri looked away.  “Not at first, but… we never did find Capricorn.”

	“I doubt Gillint had anything to do with that,” Lumira said automatically.

	Viri stayed silent, and they walked in the quiet for a while.  Fauns lived on the move, setting a pace was easy, but after a few hours, Lumira was having trouble keeping the pace.  She raised a hand as the pair of them rounded a bend in the path.  “Okay, okay, Viri, can we rest for a moment?” she asked.  She wiped sweat from her brow and leaned on a tree.  “Bless your souls, I don’t know how you fauns do it,” she said.  Their two species looked so alike, but were so different.

	Viri waited or her friend to recover.  Lumira eyed her as she leaned against the tree, catching her breath.  “So… what do you hope… to find in this village?” she asked, panting.

	“Oh, my friend.  Linus.  I want to catch up, talk to him,” Viri said.  “And to ask if the Countess has been found.”

	Lumira finally got her wind back and tiredly resumed walking.  “And how long do you plan to stay?”

	“As long as our money holds out,” Viri said.  “If he’s not here, well… a holiday never hurt anybody.”

	Lumira rolled her eyes.  A holiday for Viri was more work for her.  Most nights in the flock, she was just hunting game with the others or leading revels.  The two of them trooped southeast in silence, one anticipatory, the other sullen.


	Slicce watched them go from high tree cover with astonishment and glee.  It was Lumiradell and Viridian!  Back from the Feywild and unguarded!  She could have sung with joy.  She waited until they were out of earshot, then slunk down the tree and took off.  What a present!  Gillint had to be told.


	By the next morning, the walls of Conyberry were coming into view.  Both Viri and Slicce slowed to gawk at the sight.  Hundreds of tree stumps remained where once a forest had stoon, between the Neverwinter River and the little village.  All around them, they could see spots where the soil was disturbed by replantings, but the wood from the old trees was all gone.

	There was no question as to where it had gone, either.  The village hadn’t had walls at all when last the pair of the fey had seen it.  Now, there were slabs of wood, bound and cornered with stone, standing fifteen feet high and ringing the village.

	“Wow, humans build fast,” Viri said.  “These poor trees, though.”

	Lumira sighed heavily.  This was not helping her mood.  “Ughhh… alright.  Let’s get this over with.”


	The guard at the gate watched with mounting surprise as two naked women with the legs of forest animals emerged from the stump forest and walked straight to him.  He had seen them before, however, or at least the faun, so he managed to keep most of his composure.  He coughed nervously as they approached.  “Er, yes, hello?” he asked.

	The satyress smiled wearily, in a rather forced way to the guard’s mind, revealing her razor incisors.  “Hello,” she said in Common.  “Is Linus Vorth here?”

	The guard blinked.  “Er, no, er, madam, he’s off on a mission,” he said.

	Lumira’s shoulders slumped.  “Oh.”  She turned to Viri and switched to Sylvan.  “He’s not here.  He’s working.”

	Viri looked crestfallen.  The guard’s heart softened at the sight of the adorable faun so upset, and hastened to assure them.  “Oh, he’ll be back, I’m sure, just not right away.”

	Lumira relayed that, and Viri’s reply.  “So how long can we stay at the inn with this?” she asked, hefting the bag of money.

	The guard peered at it.  “Er… probably a week, but I caution you that you’ll probably be a bit bored if you’re waiting the whole time,” he said.  “There’s not much to do yet in town.”

	Lumira told that to Viri.  Viri asked a question in return.  “Is there a way to contact him?” she asked.

	In due time, the guard replied.  “Uh… possibly, now that you ask,” he said.  “I could ask the Farview team here to send him a message with magic.  Do you… have a minute?” he asked awkwardly.  “You can wait inside the walls.”

	Lumira peered into the village and saw the teeming masses of people and construction devices.  “We’ll wait here.”

	“Okay… I’ll be right back,” the guard said, and he jogged off, tagging in another guard to watch while he ran.


	Ten minutes later, he returned with Erastus, the ceric of the Farview team.  The cleric raised an eyebrow at the two fey’s appearance, but didn’t say anything until Lumira spoke.  “Hello, adventurer,” Lumira said with all the politeness she could muster in her mood.  “Would you be willing to send a message to Linus Vorth for us?”

	“Uh, sure,” Erastus said.  “What kind of message?”

	“Just let him know that one of his friends from the Feywild is here to see him, whenever he can get free,” Lumira said.

	Erastus shrugged.  “Very well.  I’ll let him know.”  He went quiet for a few seconds, then muttered the message.