28 The Game Plan (1/2)

”Nothing's happening...” Ty commented. ”Are you asleep yet, Dean?”

”Shut up, Tyberius!” Arah hissed. ”He's trying to sleep.”

”I was just asking... It's not like we know what will happen...” Ty sighed.

They were sitting on the floor by the corner close to the door of my room waiting for me to drift off to sleep, a feat that was becoming increasingly difficult the more they whispered to each other.

”Can you guys shut up, please,” I whispered. ”I'm trying to sleep...”

”Sorry,” They both said at the same time right before Arah smacked Ty in the shoulder like it was all his fault.

This started a match of pushing each other around which was nowhere near the peace and quiet I needed.

I sighed. ”Fairies take me now...”

The last rays of sunlight had finally gone and the growing shadows were a welcome sign. It was time.

”Should we turn off the light?” Arah suggested. ”Might help you sleep.”

”Don't turn off the lights!” Ty begged. ”What if the fairies come out of the shadows and slit our throats for trying to get a peek at this super-secret ritual?”

Both Arah and I looked at him with our eyebrows furrowed.

”Dude,” I began. ”You have one active imagination, man...”

Arah smacked him in the shoulder again to shut him up.

I sighed before I finally lay flat on the bed and closed my eyes.

The light didn't need to be off. They didn't even need to be quiet. Apparently, it didn't matter what situation I was in because I would be called back to the Fayne no matter what. As soon as my eyes closed, drowsiness overtook me, and I felt the pull I'd been experiencing every night since I met Aura.

I wasn't sure what my friends saw—if they watched my body float past the ceiling or not—it didn't matter. I was gone up and past that threshold in the sky, and just as quickly, I was crashing back down onto the familiar dirt road of the alley of Broken Sellsword's Canyon where Aura and I were attacked.

I didn't expect the greeting I got immediately after my foot touched ground.

Boom!

A half-ogre sized fist smashed the canyon wall behind me, and in front of me, mere inches from my face, was a knotted browed Edo, his mouth bared in a snarl.

Sweat trickled down my face when I said, ”Use your words, big guy...”

”There aren't enough words in common, elvish, dwarvish, or ogrish for me to describe you right now, boy,” he grumbled.

There was only one reason why Edo was up in my face like this, and that meant something had happened to Aura.

My eyes darted past Edo to the other people in the narrow alley. Varda was there looking like she wasn't sure who to side with. Ashley stood beside her smirking at me. Then...

”Zarz!” my eyes zoned in on him. ”What happened after I was knocked out?”

Everyone turned to look at Zarz, even Edo and his semi-murderous glare, causing the gnome to clam up in fright. He was shaking in his boots.

I mustered as much courage as I could and pushed past Edo, shoving his arm away as I did. It wasn't easy. I'd seen Edo do too much damage to others not to be feeling my skin prickle as I turned my back on him and marched toward the frightened gnome. But it wasn't a time for fear. Now was a time for action.

I placed a gentle hand on Zarz shoulder. ”Don't mind the grumpy bodyguard... focus on me, Zarz. I need to know everything that happened after I blacked out.”

It took a couple of breaths for him to calm down but Zarz eventually told me what transpired after my fall.

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Three drows in black hoods were lying in wait for us. The biggest of them smacked my head with a round mace. The other two attacked Aura. She tried to fight them off while protecting my prone body and Zarz who'd only just regained consciousness at the time.

”She burned one of them badly with her staff and I think she recognized them,” he reported. ”But before she could do anything else, a fourth guy jumped down from above and hit her in the head too.”

Zarz rubbed his eye with the back of his hand.

”I couldn't see much as there was a swirl of colors blocking my view, and then they picked her up, unconscious as she was, and took off with her,” he continued. ”One of the guys remained to stab you with his sword, but by then you'd vanished with the dawn. He was so mad he kept stomping at the ground you vacated and called you an insolent reprobate... he was a lunatic, I tell you... and I skedaddled out of there as quick as I could.”

Zarz then went on to explain that he followed the instructions I'd given Aura. He went to Edo and Varda, told them what happened and they chased after our attackers but couldn't find any trace.

I turned my head to look at Ashley. ”So you're here because Zarz told you we needed help.”

Ashley shrugged. ”I said I would assist you once.”

”Thanks, we'll need all the help we can get,” I said gratefully. Despite her haughty attitude, I knew first-hand what she could do in a fight. ”I need information. What do the shieldmaidens know about the drow who live outside the city.”

”Not much,” Ashley shrugged. ”They don't come to worship, and the only time they ever enter the city gates is when they steal things or get back the things other fairies stole from them.”

There was a scowl on Ashley's face as she talked about them, and I couldn't help but be reminded about how I used to feel about fairies—how I still feel about most of them, present company excluded.

”All this talking won't help us get Aura back... or Luca,” Edo growled.

He was still pissed but a little more subdued now that he knew I was taking action. Despite his anger, Edo knew he could rely on me. I hoped.

”We need more information...” I glanced over at my team. ”I'll get that from the Auction House, but I need you guys to prepare a few things so we'll be ready to move out once I've acquired the intel.”

”What do you need, Commander?” Varda asked.

Contrary to how she was during our battle outside the canyon's gates, my unit's quartermaster exuded an air of confident capableness that was a jolt of relief to my worried mind. I could rely on her tonight.