Peter
"That's unfortunate..." Peter sat at the entrance of the tent and watched as a group of harpies cooked a thin soup over a fire. The food was poor, and their supplies urgently needed to be replenished. Luckily, a few new allies, elves, wanted to bring them bread, dried herbs, and apples. But the storm had prevented this so far. A harpy had successfully caught a scrawny hare, which she was now skinning.
There would be hardly any notice of the rabbit in the soup.
A few will-o'-the-wisps whizzed around between the tents. They lit up the camp like little lamps. The sky was dark. Clouds obscured the stars. Little fairies buzzed over the river, teasing the sirens and merpeople. He heard the tiny creatures giggle.
Cleo sat next to Peter, leaning against one shoulder. "We lost a lot of our supplies after the attack. Even allies. Luckily, Charlotte was able to recruit some elves for us. And others have also pledged to help."
"Others?"
"Hm." His half-sister yawned. "Elves from other villages. The elves risk a lot to help us. The 'travel ban'. But now that there are only a few soldiers patrolling, especially deep in the forests, they dare to go from village to village again and ask others for help for us."
"That's good."
In the meantime, the storm had subsided somewhat. Charlotte took care of a few injured people. One of the tents had collapsed due to the sharp wind. A few of the centaurs sitting inside had been injured by breaking beams. One had a concussion. Fiete, together with Pelle and Alwin, kept watch. Disguised as birds, they sat in the tall trees or flew over parts of the surrounding forest.
Until about an hour ago, they had planned with Jane, Rasmus, his two sons, Cedric and Caius, as well as two sirens named Cyrille and Coco, and a merfolk whose name Peter could not pronounce, what they were going to do in the event of another attack. Together, they had devised a new plan to further protect their camp.
But there wasn't much they could change.
The guards were now to change more often so that no one was tired. But most of all, they trusted in the three dragons, who kept watch at different, but overlapping, times. But they, too, had to sleep. Whenever one of the dragons slept, the guards were doubled. Peter looked at the sword he was now carrying. Cleo had given it to him. She didn't take no for an answer. Later, he was to practice handling the horrible thing with one of the harpies.
He didn't want to.
But suddenly he heard the loud cry of a bird. Strange and magical. Stunned, Peter blinked in amazement. "A phoenix?" Charlie had such a bird as, well, presumably friend suited best. The animal wasn’t a pet. Hadn't the bird stayed in the fairy forest? Or did it want to come here? Confused, Peter looked at Cleo.
"The bird is always nearby. But I've rarely seen it. We hear it, especially at night. It followed the boy. Charlie."
"Ah." He looked thoughtfully at the treetops. There was no sign of the phoenix. Instead, a will-o'-the-wisp flew right into his face and then began to pull on his hair. Fnips. "Hey!" The will-o'-the-wisp babbled in her chirping language. "What? Ouch!" But Fnips didn’t stop. "That's enough! Do you want me to come with you?" She nodded.
Amused, Cleo watched as Peter stood up as the will-o'-the-wisp tugged at his hair. "Ouch! Fnips! I'll come with you!" Fnips said something. She sounded very energetic. "Fine!"
Grumbling to himself, he followed the will-o'-the-wisp to the river. There, an extremely naked siren, Charlie, Joris, Ehlin, and a harpy were waiting for him. The extremely naked siren was, of course, none other than Nanno. The boy jumped happily waving when he saw Peter coming. All the jewelry he wore was bobbing. And also a certain part of his body between his legs. Peter didn't know where to look. The entire boy, everything about him, jumped. Peter's cheeks turned dark red. Trousers!!!! Why... But then he spotted a large, reddish bird that made him forget about the naked boy. The Phoenix. The beautiful animal landed on Charlie's shoulders.
"Well?" Charlie grinned at Peter with raised eyebrows. "Have you stared at my boyfriend long enough?"
"Oooooh. Well... Ouch! Fnips!" Peter tried to free his hair from the will-o'-the-wisp, as the little person was now pulling on it all the more vigorously. "Fnips! Stop it. Ouch! Please!" Fnips chuckled as Charlie raised his eyebrows in question. "I... Well... I am happily married! Very happy, thank you. My husband has one too, but it doesn't usually bounce... So..." That was probably the dumbest thing Peter could say. Inwardly, he slapped himself. Peter had stared at Nanno because he had been surprised, a little shocked, and he also had been a little amused by the bouncing sight. It had really jumped EVERYTHING. Ehlin and Joris laughed, while Nanno proudly presented himself. He grinned teasingly until Charlie pulled him to him and wrapped his arms around the cheeky siren.
Peter wanted to sink into a hole.
"Don't be upset, Charlie! It's only natural to look at a beautiful body! Beautiful and flexible!", the siren announced and tried unsuccessfully to jump into Charlie's arms. Charlie shook his head, grinning. "I'd like to have your self-confidence. Stop it. Poor Peter!"
"Kiss me and you will get it! My self-confidence!", replied Nanno. At the same time, the phoenix flapped its wings and nibbled at Charlie's hair, almost jostling. The animal was only satisfied when Charlie petted it with one hand. Instead of kissing his boyfriend. Fnips said something, she pointed to the magical bird, whereupon Nanno stuck his tongue out at her.
Peter sighed. "Why am I here?"
"To practice, of course!", replied the harpy. A muscular man with dark blue plumage. "I'm Archer. And you practice sword fighting with me!"
"We!" Ehlin pointed to themself and Nanno, "We are spectators. And Nanno won't fool around." Nanno stuck his tongue out at her.
"Ugh. Fine!" Peter sighed. Shit! He now noticed that Charlie and Joris were carrying a sword. Just like him. The harpy, however, had none. "And how... Archer? Can you fight with a sword?" That's what Peter wondered since Cleo had ordered him to learn sword fighting, at least rudimentarily, and told him that harpies were good training partners. But not a single birdman carried a sword.
Grinning, the harpy showed him his sharp claws. "Me? No. Joris and Charlie learned it from Cleo herself. While they're not perfect... You learn from them, and then you defend yourself against me. Easy. We're practicing all day today. With breaks, of course. But only briefly. No one gives you a break on the battlefield. So! Today it starts! Today and the next few days. Awesome, isn't it? Fighting is a joy!" He proudly announced this.
Peter blinked hopelessly and grimaced. He's serious. He's really serious!
"Joy? For you harpies, perhaps!", scolded Joris. "I'd rather we'd won a long time ago."
Pouting, Peter had to resign himself to his fate. Charlie and Joris practiced with him, and Peter found that he was more clumsy than Julia. Inwardly, he didn't stop sighing. And when the harpy deemed all three of them ready enough, they had to defend themselves against him together. No matter how. The main thing was that they won.
