A Mischievous Tale of Magical Mayhem

4 | Down the Dark Well

When Tallon excused himself and left the wagon, Ben smiled and relaxed. Alone with the wolf, he could sense the creature's nature free of distraction, and perceived it had a good heart. In the tangles of his hair, Sprout squeaked impatiently and tugged on a curl, making Ben wince and pull the little sproutling free.

"Ow! Sprout, stop that. Now, this is..." He met the wolf's strange eyes and blinked. "Well, what shall I call you? What about... Fann? He's the god of the hunt, at least in Ardenia. Do you like it?"

Wulfy thumped his tail enthusiastically, and Ben laughed. "Fann it is, then. Now, you rest while—"

A soft thud outside the wagon interrupted him. At the same time, the warm purple light that had surrounded him like a soft cloud, and of which he'd been only peripherally aware, went out like a snuffed candle.

"Tallon?" Ben called. Getting no answer, he pulled aside the flap at the back of the wagon and peered out into the drizzling mist and rain. "Tallon? Where..."

A pair of boots lay in the mud. Hopping down to investigate, Ben discovered them attached to a pair of legs, which were attached to the rest of Tallon, who lay face down in a puddle, unmoving.

Gasping, Ben fell at his side, calling his name and slapping the side of his face, but to no avail.

Panic gripped him. With all the rain and the mud, he couldn't tell if Tallon was breathing.

Lifting his eyes, he scanned the surrounding grayness, but saw no sign of their third party.

"Maisie! Maisie, help!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as the rain intensified, and a moment later, Maisie appeared, red curls damp and skirts hitched high.

"Lords almighty. Now what did ye do?"

"Nothing!" Ben lightly shoved her shoulder as she knelt at his side. "I found him this way. I can't rouse him."

"Alright, alright. Help me turn him over."

They rolled Tallon onto his back, and Maisie bent low, setting her ear to his breast.

"He's alive, at least," she declared. "C'mon—let's get him up. This house here still has part of a roof and a fireplace. Won't keep the drafts out, but we'll be warm and dry, and there's more room than the wagon, which—thanks to you—is full of wolf at the moment."

Not daring to argue with her, Ben took Tallon's shoulders while Maisie took his feet, and together they carried him across the rubble-strewn ground and into the husk of the dilapidated house, where Maisie had already cleared the debris from the hearth and started a fire.

The home had only two rooms: a large, multipurpose space and a bedroom.

Water leaked through the roof in several places, rotting the wood floor. Insects had chewed at the rafters and beams. A table had somehow survived, mostly intact though warped by the elements. Unfortunately, the chairs were in no condition to bear weight, and a pack of mice made the bed unusable.

With Tallon inside, Maisie went to the wagon and unhitched the horse, moving Starlight to a covered awning where a tether hook had withstood the test of time. Then she went back to the cart and retrieved her cooking gear, making several trips.

Next came the bedrolls and anything else they might need. By the time she shut the door behind her, her dress was soaked through, clinging to her legs as water pooled at her feet.

Wiping sopping hair from her forehead, she glared at Ben, intending to tell him off for leaving her to do the work alone, but stopped.

The sweet faeling only had eyes for his elf lord, cradling the silver headed man in his lap.