54 A Soldiers Oath (1/2)

The Mccord twins protested the fact that they were getting Qwipps as a contractor and not Aura who they assumed was going to be their new bestie. No such luck for them. Aura's contracts were a premium reserved only for the very best.

At least, that's how I justified it. In all truthfulness, I just didn't want to share her with anyone. Besides, Qwipps wasn't a bad fairy to contract. sure, he had lots of unpleasant quirks, but he was a fun guy to have around. Plus, he was loyal. One couldn't ask for more in a contractor. At the very least, they were guaranteed Qwipps wouldn't be as abusive as whoever they had before him. I hoped.

The ritual they would undergo to create a new contract with Qwipps was similar to the one I performed with Aura back in that time I first summoned her to Mudgard. The one difference was that instead of the Elfwood Forest Circle Stones, the twins had to make do with makeshift boulders Shaqs and Edo lugged into position far away from where we parked the wagons.

Luca and Donar came over to watch after they'd followed my orders and secured the other prisoners inside their wagon so that they couldn't sneak a peek at what was transpiring. I even had Donar cast a silence spell over the wagon to block out any sound from reaching prying ears.  It was the best way to ensure the anonymity of my newly acquired spies.

”Alright... let's get this mud show over with,” Qwipps said dejectedly.

I once remembered him saying that he only wanted to contract beautiful Mudgardian women. The two sweaty, dirt-streaked teenage boys were definitely a far cry from his requirement. Nonetheless, he faithfully accepted my request—in exchange for a few hundred gold Leprechauns, of course.

The twins looked just as dejected as Qwipps with their fate. Connor even asked one last time, ”You sure we can't get her, instead?”

The fact that he didn't say the P-word in front of the gathering crowd meant that he and his brother might just make good spies after all.

Under the light of the golden moon, the twins pricked their thumbs with a needle Qwipps gave them and sprinkled a few drops of blood on the golden Leprechauns I gave them to use for the ritual. As they didn't have anything to offer their contractor, the incentive of blood would make it so the gold was now theirs to give.

In exchange for the gold coins, Qwipps clipped off all the excess fingernails on his left hand and dropped the clippings on Connor's open palm. I'm pretty sure he enjoyed the horrified look plastered on Connor's face.

Qwipps dropped the clippings from his right hand onto Collin's open palm next, and the look of revulsion in Collin's eyes was hilarious to me. Southie's were such prudes. It was just fingernails.

Now, while Qwipps gave the Mccord boys their disgusting gifts, he gave them each a similar spiel to the one Aura granted me.

”I give you a piece of me as proof of our bond,” Qwipps said while repressing his own laughter at the sight of both boys holding onto his nail clippings. ”Do you accept?”

It was hard not to feel pity for the Southside rich kids but I managed it somewhat. Beside me, Luca was trying very hard not to grin.

His rivalry with the Southside Basketball Team was almost legendary. Luca debuted to a highlight of twenty-three points, fifteen assists, seven steals, and five rebounds during his first game against them. It goes without saying that they considered him the devil over there.

”Do we really have to?” Collin asked depressedly.

”Unless you prefer Edo slice and dice you,” I answered from the sidelines.

Both of the Mccords sighed.

Seeing the two southside boys tough it out must have been cathartic for my little brother. You could see it in the twinkle in his eyes. And I was glad he was so entertained.

Meanwhile, Varda, standing on the other side of Luca, looked like she was getting ready to reprimand Qwipps for not taking this ritual seriously.

After both Collin and Connor accepted the gift, Qwipps raised the two coins to his chest and said, ”And I accept your gift, even if it's a few hundred gold short,” at this, Qwipps sent me a raised eyebrow as if to remind me what I promised, ”as proof that you are now viseres of the Trickster Pavilion.”

What happened next was a little unexpected.

You see, I never experienced any sort of arcane effect after Aura and I made our pact. There wasn't a veil that had finally lifted and given me the knowledge of the universe or anything like that. Nope. The only weird thing about that night was flying up into the sky and getting tossed into the Fayne. So you could imagine my surprise when the air above Connor and Collin flared suddenly with a crimson light.

Like twins beacons from a lighthouse, a red blaze shot out of the space at the top of their heads and formed into the unmistakable vision of two red moons with each sitting atop two grey clouds. It was unmistakably the symbol for the Scarlet Moon Clan.

All gazes were turned on these glowing crowns atop the heads of the two clueless boys who couldn't look up to see what we all could.

The red glow began to dim and we saw the symbol form cracks and shatter like ice which dissipated in the wind like they were nothing.

Both the Mccord boys fell to their knees, their faces reddening. They were obviously in pain but no one could come close to them as none of us were sure if any interference would make things worse.

The waiting was agonizing. I didn't know them well but they were humans like me and Luca and they'd accepted my bargain with the promise that I would keep them alive. I wasn't sure I could do that now. I wasn't sure the arcane powers governing the Fayne would let me. Then I remembered The Rule of Equivalent Trade .

My hand reached out for Aura's as she stood beside me watching with bated breath. I felt her hand grasp mine.

”Aura... how does equivalent trade play out in this scenario? Are we breaking any rules?” I asked.

”No,” Aura shook her head. ”Unless... unless there's something specific that they promised their contractor besides promising to work for him or her.”

”Like you and me, you mean? Our promise to claim the iron throne and claim a wish for Luca...”

”Yes...”

”If they don't have anything like that?”

”Then they'll be fine... the pain is just a reminder of breaking their oath... but if the oath they offered Qwipps is similar, there is a chance their new pledge will cancel out the old one...”