The Fox’s Tale

Once we were through Lucas took charge again. “Shifters, pair up with one of the humans or an elfling. Quinn, you take the giant, and the lead. I will pair up with Alexander. We’ll bring up the rear.

"The path is not wide, so we’ll travel in pairs. Alternate which side of the path the weak points are on, so none of them are side by side. Don’t touch anything except each other and the path.”

“Who are you calling a weak point?” demanded Ryan.

“You. Come on man.” Matt had paired himself with Ryan and was already regretting it. “You aren’t normally this stupid.”

“Stupid! So fucking stupid,” I groaned in dismay.

“Hey! I am not stupid!” protested Ryan. “I have one of the highest gpas in my grade!”

“Not you dumbass, me! I forgot the word safe. I asked for passage through her estate, but forgot the word safe.”

“Well shit.” Quinn summed up what everyone was thinking. Then he sighed. “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”

Lucas grabbed my arm and hauled me along. “Let’s get moving. The longer we stand still the worse your chances of not surviving become.”

We set off at a steady jog, with Lucas calling out directions whenever the path split. We’d been running for about five minutes when the humans started to whine that they needed a break.

Lucas wanted to keep pressing on, but Lee pointed out that he wasn’t going to carry anyone who dropped from exhaustion, so we stopped.

Andy, Sam, Ryan, Dylan, Chris and our other human teammate, Carter, doubled over, resting their hands on their knees as they gulped for air.

Quinn voiced his concern.“Lucas, we’ve gotta do something or they aren’t gonna last. I could probably carry one of the humans,” he said, “and I know you could carry at least one of the others, but ain’t no way we can carry Jolly Green over here.”

“Thanks,” griped Andy. “It’s not like we didn’t just play a double overtime game, or survive a bus crash, or run for our lives already tonight.”

“Not a criticism, dude. Just an observation. You don’t want to get left in this place, I can tell you that.”

Lucas looked at Grant who immediately began shaking his head no. “Uh-uh. No way. Not unless they’re unconscious or injured.” Lucas turned to Lee and Scott who responded in unison.

“What he said.”

Lucas rolled his eyes in frustration and then sighed. “No, you’re right; it still wouldn’t help with the giant spawn.”

Andy looked affronted. “Come on, man, I’m standing right here.”

“Can we please get going?” Matt asked. “Ellery’s in trouble and my dad’s been shot-”

His tirade was cut off as a vine twined around his ankle and jerked him off his feet. Something about hearing his friend scream like he was being murdered knocked some sense into Ryan because he dove forward and grabbed Matt’s outstretched hand.

Unfortunately, whatever had a hold of Matt was up to the task as it began to pull both of them through the grass, which cut them both. Grant dove onto Ryan, slowing their progress, as Lucas, Quinn, and I raced forward.

“Fucking shit!” screamed Matt as another vine shot out and grabbed his other leg. I took a leap and shifted, my boxers falling off instead of splitting while the jacket conformed to my new shape, and pounced on one of the vines.

I bit clean through it as Lucas ripped the other one apart. Quinn hauled Matt up and everyone scrambled back to the path as we heard a shrieking sound from a clearing just off to the left.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked as I pulled my shorts back on.

“Yes, so let’s not linger here any longer. Unless any of you fancy becoming dinner for a giant Venus Fly-Trap?” When no one responded to Lucas’s questions he smirked. “That’s what I thought.”

We resumed our run after checking that Matt and Ryan weren’t injured beyond a few cuts and made it at least another mile, passing pitcher plants the size of an adult human man and a weeping willow that was actually weeping, before we stopped to rest at the next gate.

“At this rate we will not make it out of here in time,” Lucas said in an undertone.

“What do you mean?” I asked as I unlocked the gate. It was at the top of a hill and no one could see far enough into the murk to see what was ahead. Quinn went through first to assess the situation before we plunged in blindly.

“Time moves differently for humans in the faerie realms. Because you are the Crown Princess’s Other your human, and mostly human, companions have been given a modicum of protection. I just don’t know how much protection.

“Minutes might be passing in the human realm, or hours, or days. We won’t know until we get out. The longer they’re in here, the greater the chance of a massive time jump occurring. Not to mention the greater the risk of someone perishing or being trapped for eternity.”

Quinn came barreling back to the gate. “How good are you guys at holding your breath?”

“Why? What did you see?” demanded Lucas.

“Jimson weed. But all faerified. I’m talking huge, motherfucking blossoms.”

“Jimson weed? What’s that do?” asked Scott.

“Ordinarily, the blossoms don’t do anything, but here? In this realm?” Quinn grimaced. “It’s bad, man.”

“Are you familiar with the Lotus Eaters in the Odyssey?” asked Lucas. Several of the guys nodded and he continued. “Well, it’s like that, only if you breathe in the scent of the flowers you’ll most likely be what is eaten. You’ll lose all self agency and be put in a trancelike state that you may never recover from.”

The guys all whimpered, but a potential solution occurred to me.

“How much distance do we have to cover?” I asked Quinn.

“Maybe fifty yards? Maybe a little bit more if the wind is blowing.”

“Will the scent affect animals?” I asked Lucas.

He grinned. “It shouldn’t affect animals of the supernatural variety. Especially if you run.”

“What about giants?”

“I have no idea.”

I knew Lucas and Quinn didn’t need to breathe. “How much can you guys lift and how fast can you run?”

Quinn’s grin mirrored the one Lucas was sporting. “Fast enough, but even together I doubt we can carry Andy.”

I nodded. “Right. Guys, it’s time to put dignity aside.” I took the tie off of Scott. “Is this precious to you?”

“No, but what-”

“Nick, shift and then spray this with your cat stink.”

“Dude!” Nick was mortified. “That’s nasty.”

“Do it and do it now, Nick.” I threw the tie on the ground. “I’m sorry, Andy, you’re in for a smelly run, but the scent will keep you from inhaling deeply, which will hopefully get you past the blooms.” I pointed at Lee, Scott, and Grant.

“Pick which of our teammates you’re going to carry. Nick, Matt, and I are too small in our shifted forms or we’d be doing it too. As it is, Quinn and Lucas will have to transport the other two. Time is wasting.”

Everyone begrudgingly followed my directions. Before he transformed Grant told Chris, “if you say anything about riding me to anyone I will come and trample your face while you sleep.”

“Relax, he won’t remember any of this,” laughed Quinn.

“We should all be so lucky” grumbled Lee.