Brise’s dance circled closer and closer to the center as the ribbon descended.  They reached the center at the same time, and Brise wrapped the ribbon around himself in a distinctly sensual manner.  He began to ascend the ribbon, displaying incredible strength and agility as he danced with the ribbon in the air.  The audience became totally silent, enraptured.

Harou had to smile at the sylph’s ability to perform.  Everyone could see the ribbon holding his weight, so it was clear he wasn’t using his powers.  This was all purely his artistry, which was a magic all its own.

Brise’s legs wound through the ribbon as he bent backwards with his arms outstretched.  The move pulled his leotard tight over his muscular chest, and Harou nearly drooled at the sight.  The ribbon spun and swayed on its own as it was twisted and contorted under the sylph’s moves.  Just as the music informed Brise’s dance, and the dance informed the music, so too did Brise and the ribbon inform each other’s movements.  No two performances would ever be the same, no matter how they were rehearsed, because the ribbon’s uncontrolled movement added an element of randomness that could never be duplicated.

The sylph twisted himself up in the ribbon so it wrapped around his chest, crossing between his pecs and spiraling down his abs to his waist.  He freed his legs and held himself impressively horizontal, his arms outstretched for balance, as his legs twisted back and up, until his feet were above his own head.  He twisted his feet up in the ribbon, and with truly impressive speed, freed his chest from the ribbon and twisted upwards, to catch the ribbon in his hands above his feet.  With the ribbon wrapped only around his hands, the sylph’s legs came forward, his abs flexing as he used the strength of his core to swing his legs up above his head, catching the ribbon between his legs as he went.

Harou’s mouth went dry and he swallowed hard at the sight.  He felt himself growing hard, unable to stop his mind from straying into wild fantasies about the sylph’s legs wrapped around him in such ways.

Brise twisted his ankles in the ribbon and released his hands.  Somehow, he managed to separate his legs without freeing his ankles, and curled his arms into loops above and below his body, making him look like a human pair of scissors.  Harou was again impressed by the powerful core strength the sylph displayed. Brise slowly shifted from horizontal to vertical, his arms gracefully twisting as his body flowed upward.  He grabbed the ribbon above his head with one arm, and freed his feet, doing an impressive split, his weight supported by the one arm gripping the ribbon.  His other hand grasped the ribbon below the first as his body twisted upward until he was head-down, all his weight on his arms in a beautiful display of balance as the ribbon shook and swayed.

The sylph undulated his body, winding it around the ribbon until the shimmering coil spiraled around him, and wrapped tightly around his feet.  His body swayed, and he began to unwrap himself by twisting and swinging, his arms moving gracefully in pattern with his movements.  He swung deliberately wide, making the ribbon swing and sway ever more violently.  When he was finally unwound all but his feet, the ribbon had been twisted up so much that it began to spin as it unwound itself.  The sylph was spun around, fast at first and then slower, his body and arms turning and lifting up and down in a complicated pattern as he was swung in a wide circle.  Before the ribbon slowed to a stop, he pulled his body outward with momentum, and freed his feet so he was flung into the air to the gasp of the audience.

Harou’s heart jumped, even though he knew the sylph was in no danger.  Indeed, Brise came to a stop in midair at the climax of the leap.  The sylph then began a slow descent in a spiral from the edge of the ring inward towards the ribbon.  As he descended, he performed a beautiful and complex ballet, each move blending into the next seamlessly.  Harou admitted to himself that it was probably easy to make no missteps when one’s feet were not on the ground, but there was still no denying the beauty and skill of the sylph’s dance.  He didn’t make it look easy, though it still seemed effortless for him.

As soon as Brise reached the ground by the ribbon, his glow and the ribbon’s glow faded to darkness in time with the music coming to an end.

When the tent’s lights came back on, Brise was gone, and the audience, including Harou, jumped to their feet with thunderous applause.  Judging by this and the earlier performance, Harou had no doubt that every performance the sylph gave was met with a standing ovation.  The lycan found himself just as impressed this time as the first, and he doubted he would ever feel bored by the sylph’s dancing.  He managed to calm himself down before leaving the private box, grateful for the measure of privacy it afforded him.

Harou watched from the stairs as the excited, noisy crowd of spectators filed out of the tent.  He had no interest in trying to fight the flow of traffic with his bad leg.  It took a while for everyone to file out.  Harou’s sharp lycan hearing told him when the tent was completely empty.  He heard only the sounds of his own heartbeat and breathing as he left the stairs and made his way towards the back.

On his way, the goblin ringmaster stomped past him, shoulder checking him roughly.  The goblin paused to eye Harou.  The lycan took the opportunity to take a better look at the fey creature.  Harou was a good two feet taller than the goblin.  Overall, he looked like pretty much any other goblin.  He was a bit shorter than the average human, like a dwarf, but rail thin with whipcord muscles bulging beneath sandy, brown-gray skin.  He had large, black eyes and a wide face on a head noticeably, but not dramatically, larger than a human’s head.  He had long, thin, pointed ears that swept back, much like an elf’s, but longer.  His wide mouth was split into a snarl, revealing long, sharply pointed teeth below a thin but prominent nose.  His long, dark brown hair was combed neatly back and secured in a fishtail plait.  He wore a red, split-tailed coat over a white shirt and black cumberbund, and pale tan pants a slightly lighter color than his skin that were right at the ankles and slightly puffed at his hips, and finally, tall black boots with red soles and tall heels.  A long, thin tail tipped with long, feathery fur stretched out behind him.  His oversized hands were tipped in black claws that had been trimmed blunt.  Between his well-groomed appearance and the obvious high quality of his costume, he gave a strong impression of wealth, affirmed by the arrogance of his expression.

The goblin composed himself and flashed Harou a toothy smile and spoke in a friendly tone.

“Hello spectator!  Did you enjoy the show?”

Harou didn’t respond at first, observing how the smile didn’t touch the goblin’s cold, cruel eyes that belied the cordial tone.

“I did,” the lycan said cautiously, “the sylph is a very skilled dancer.”

“Indeed,” the goblin said, puffing out his chest and taking the compliment for himself.  “I hope you’ll see other shows while you shop in my market.”

“Your market?” Harou asked, feigning surprise at this news.

“Yes, yes, the name’s Sangrasp, and I own this market!  I love the stage, so I like to call my best acts myself.  I’m on my way to another tent to call my best djinn’s fire dancing performance.  Perhaps you’ll come see it.”  The goblin swept an elegant bow and turned away from Harou, ignoring the lycan any further as he marched out.

Harou found himself perplexed by the exchange, since the goblin hadn’t asked why he was still there, or heading away from the exits.