My eyes went back and forth between Mist and Leafia, trying to figure out why Leafia was saying that Mist had her body. But the more I looked at the both of them, the more confused I became. Mist, who was still standing in Gray’s arms, had the same dark hair as Leafia. There was something very similar between their faces. It was as if Mist was a younger sister to Leafia.
Wait, Mist evolved due to the power that she got through Leafia’s blood? Then the body that Mist had also came from Leafia’s blood? Was Leafia right? Mist somehow got a younger version of Leafia’s body. Now what do I do? Leafia had every right to not want to expose her body in front of a bunch of men. But why should a spirit wear clothes? I looked at Mist. She looked rather pitiful, soaking wet huddling into Gray’s arms as her body started to shiver from the cold. Gray also was not sure what to do. It seemed that having a naked girl cuddle up to him for warmth had fried his brain. But why was she cold? Did that mortal blood really have that much power over her spirit?
“Mist, I think you might need a coat?” I hesitantly suggested.
“Yes,” Gray said loudly and hastily took off his coat to wrap it around Mist.
“I guess I do feel cold. I thought I was just shaking because I was not used to this body.” Mist firmly pulled the coat around herself. “It is itchier than I thought it would be.”
“Everything humans make with fur is itchy. I think it is because they do not have any of their own,” Faun replied full of sympathy. “I can’t wait until I can turn back into a deer, it will be so much warmer then.”
“Wait! You get cold?” I asked Faun in shock, “I thought you just liked being a deer.” How did I not know this?
“It won’t kill me, but I can feel everything the animals would. And let me tell you, the only time I would not want a fur coat is in the summer.”
“Can someone tell me what is going on here?” The captain of the guards called out, interrupting our conversation.
So much had just happened I forgot what was going on before that. I think I was talking to him.
What were we talking about… I really don’t remember, but let’s just try to get ourselves out of here without a fight. “Sorry for getting in your way,” I said to him a little more politely than I had been previously. I was feeling so much more relaxed now. Everyone was going to be alright. Mist was safe, Faun and Tide just needed to rest. Leafia was still hurt but she would live. “Thank you for offering to lend us your pot, but we will not need it any more since my friend is no longer confined to the water. We are in a bit of a hurry to get back to our camp so we will just see ourselves out.”
I gently scooped Leafia up and rose to my feet. My companions tried to do the same. Istan was carrying Tide, while Gray was struggling to pull Faun up, which was made difficult because Mist was still clinging to him. She was not willing to let go as she wobbled dangerously on her new legs.
“Wait, what is going on here, where did that girl come from?” The guard captain shifted a little and blocked our path. It was plain that he did not want to let us leave without some answers.
I tried my best to stifle the large sigh that I could feel coming and addressed the captain. I tried to remember how far I had gotten through my explanation before Mist’s spirit began to fluctuate. Since I did not remember much of anything I had to assume the captain didn’t either. “As Michael and I were saying, my friend Mist is... was a water sprite.” There was clearly a complete lack of understanding in his eyes. “A water sprite is a being made up of the spiritual power released from bodies of water.”
I paused for a moment to see if this was any better.… I guess this point was not really important for the conversation. Let's just move on. “After Maximum’s fight with us, Mist was able to absorb some of the extra energy and become a greater spirit… A spirit with a human looking body.”
The captain still seemed to be confused about how a human could just pop into existence. But I was not against using this confusion to my advantage. “Now I know you are busy taking care of the injured and cleaning up the damage to the yard, so we will get out of your way.” I was just about to walk around the guards when I realized that there were no plants for me to follow to find my way out of the maze of hallways. “We would be grateful if you could lend as a man to help us find our way out of this fortress. I would not want to get lost.”
It seemed like he was about to agree before realization flashed in his mind. “How did you even get here?”
I was hesitant on what to say but Michael spoke up for me. “They showed up at the gates saying they needed to meet with Maximus.”
“So you took them into this restricted courtyard?” The captain asked, sounding incredulous.
“Um. Well.” Michael was stuttering, not sure what to say.
“We forced him to, '' I said, coming to his rescue. “We overpowered him and made him take us to my friends.” I then briefly tried to explain the battle that happened inside the courtyard. The captain even called the archers that had been on the roof and they corroborated much of the story.
“So you agree that these men were killed by Maximus?” The captain asked the archer with frustration and some anger evident in his voice. The archer was too intimidated to answer out loud but nodded to the captain,
“What am I going to tell the lord?” The captain sighed looking around the courtyard. “He liked Maximus (not that I could understand why), and not only is he gone, but the fort is damaged and several guards are dead.”
I was starting to feel a little sorry for the captain. None of this was his fault but it seemed like he would be the one having to clean up from Maximus’s bad choices. “Blame us if you must. I will be more than content to stay in my woods until your grandchildren have grandchildren of their own. It doesn't matter to me if I am, what was your word for it, wanted for a few years.” I really just needed to get out of here at this point. What did a few years of inconvenience matter to me?
“But what do I tell him about how you even got in here?” The captain clearly liked the idea but still held some trepidation.
That was such a small issue. “Tide and I are both strong enough to tear this fort down if we wanted, it would not be hard for us to get in here.”
The captain looked into my eyes as if trying to see if I was telling the truth, but there was no way I would lose a staring contest with a mortal. Plants are really good and staying still. It did not take long before he either decided that I was telling the truth or gave up the contest as he broke eye contact and said, “But you didn’t. You just walked straight in the front door.”
Tide, who had now managed to sit up during the conversation spoke for the first time, “I could-”
“-Just say I let them in,” Michael quickly interrupted Tide to offer his own idea. “Maximus killed my sister, the only thing I had left in my life, and I am the one that let them in the gates.”
The captain looked at Tide and shuddered slightly but Tide did not seem to notice since she was glaring at Michael. I assume she was upset for being interrupted. She would just have to get used to it if she was going to be hanging around with mortals. Some days it felt like I never managed to get a full sentence out. Though maybe I was putting too much of my own feelings into her eyes. She might have just wanted to tear the fortress down.
The captain pulled his gaze away from Tide and looked at Michael with concern in his eyes. “The lord will have your head for that.”
Michael’s face was set. “Someone is going to have to take responsibility. It would be wrong to push it on someone else.”
There was silence as we were all struck at the weight of these words. But I had a better solution. “As I said earlier we do need someone to show us out of this fortress. I might not be as skilled as Leafia but I think I can point a knife at your back. And then to cover our tracks we’ll take you with us.”
“Really?” Michael looked at me in surprise, to which I nodded.
“You know you would not be able to ever come back to this kingdom? I can not say even the surrounding lands would be safe from bounty hunters,” the captain asked.
“I still think that would be better than losing my head,” Michael said with a bit of an awkward smile.
“You do have a point there.” For some reason both of the men laughed but I did not know what they found funny.
Can i claim first, and coookies
But they are all half eaten