Other pots of stew and various spits were set up and smelled almost ready. As it was, a few elves were coming out of the wolf drawn wagons, rubbing their eyes and looking ready to take over some of the cooking tasks. All of them stopped and stared at the pot, ears twitching and turning as if checking if it was real. Enoki stifled a laugh. Well, at least someone in this place felt a fraction of the confusion ze felt. 

Soon the elves went over and started taking out the pieces of crow feet. They had a nice and subtle scent, overwhelmed by the overly spicy scent of the mashed and warmed sauce. Even the air felt sticky from the awaiting flavor. Pieces were once again quickly mixed with the star filled hands before being placed on cooking sticks and put by the separated cooking coals. The juices and sauce occasionally mixed and hit the coals with a brilliant sizzle. Enoki was struggling not to drool as some green tubers that had been cooked in the skin were handed out to all of the elves. 

Mo’ton smiled a bit. “This is better with butter and some k’potin. But this is one of my favorites. It’s sweet then sour.”

“Huh..” A careful sniff only showed some sweetness. Enoki quickly took a bite. Sure enough the fluffy texture gave a caramel like sweetness. Ze puffed a few times trying to cool it in hir mouth before feeling the sour melt into the back of hir throat. It reminded hir of a key lime. Not too sour, just a hint to really wake you up. 

A large grin crossed hir face as ze looked up “This is amazing! I’ve never had anything like this back home.”

Morton was biting into his as well. For a moment the perfect teeth seemed to disappear into more jagged ones. “Mmm. It’s worth having them. The feet will be ready in a moment.”

“Oh good.” Ze looked at the other food being prepared. “I wish I had room to try everything. I need to get my notebook so I can write this all down.”

Enoki trailed off realizing the notebook wasn’t here. Hell, hir biological gendered organs weren’t here anymore. The years of collected recipes in old composition books were back at hir old apartment. Hir brother would probably take and keep them. He always wanted to become a chef. Ze hoped it gave him the start he wanted. Maybe he’d find the set ze started to copy for him.

A gentle yet heavy hand landed on hir shoulder. Enoki looked up, only just starting to realize how close to tears ze was. Mo’ton looked a little sad. “It is alright. Later you can tell me what happened to your book.”

Before ze could answer, Enoki was given a large digit. The still sizzling, crispy, sticky layer that coated the outside of it made hir glad ze was wearing gloves. It probably saved some burns, even if it seemed ze healed pretty quickly. Looking between the two foods, Mo’ton let out a chuckle. 

“Bite some of the crow and then the siftra. It’ll taste best that way.” He demonstrated, tearing a piece of the meat with his own teeth.

Enoki nodded and followed suit. The sweet and salty nature of the meat, with the sticky and spicy all came together in the buttery soft bite. If it wasn’t for the slight crunch of the exterior, Enoki would have believed that ze hadn’t taken a bite at all. It was so tender, it seemed to only be staying on the bone with the strength of its scent. As the spicy started to fill hir head, ze took a bite of the tuber again. The sweetness from the meat brought the citrus like flavor to the front. Along with a small hint of a pecan—like flavor. Enoki quickly went between the two, taking bigger and bigger bites. It was nothing quite like anything at home. Ze was glad ze wouldn’t have to explain this to hir vlog fans. 

Ze was already sucking the last of the meat off the bone before realizing it had gotten very quiet save for the fire’s roar and the light sizzling and bubbling of cooking. Enoki looked around, pulling out the bone. The same bone that had been almost half the length of hir arm. That had just been almost entirely in hir mouth.

Enoki awkwardly looked at the bone and to the frozen elves. “Boy that uh, that was finger lickin’ good for sure.” Ze gave an awkward laugh as Li’tiana slowly raised her left arm, revealing black runes that had been hidden. 

“Enclose!” A single high note rang out from her mouth as Mo’ton shouted something, grabbing onto Enoki. At least 8 more high notes rang out suddenly creating a wall of stars on every side. The sounds so loud ze couldn’t make out what he was trying to shout. 

Suddenly, it was silent. Hir body was still standing on the ground, but it was silent. Not even hir own footsteps could be felt. Ze started to reach out to find the barrier to this place when Mo’ton pulled hir back close. 

“Don’t reach out. I don’t know what will happen if you do it,” came the softest of whispers. “It’s to take away your glamor.”

“I, do I have one?”

“No. I am a story keeper. I know what you are. The others assume you are something evil trying to deceive. How young of a chick are you?”

Was this world obsessed with bird imagery? Maybe it was a translation issue. Enoki carefully spoke a bit louder. “I got kicked outta the sky this morning. I’ve been learning everything on the fly”

“Poor chick.” He gave a gentle pat on the head, “You barely know then. No wonder you are shape shifting without thinking. In a moment I want you to sing loudly. The note that resonates with your heart the most.”

“I—” Enoki’s brows furrowed, trying to make sense of all of this, “what will that do?”

“Remove all glamor, including ours. Keep your eyes closed. We can be rather frightening when they are completely gone.”

“Why is that? I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

“It’s because we were made in the Gods’ image. A pale one, but gazing upon them shows you the horrible and beautiful truth of creation. We are only a bit less maddening.” As Mo’ton spoke, the stars in the enclosure started leaving the wall, vibrating and creating a hum. It felt like the rumbling felt only that morning. 

Part of Enoki wanted to curl up and scream. It felt so wrong, like something wanted to tear off hir skin. Once again, Mo’ton was shouting at someone but the words evaporated into the vacuum of this imaginary galaxy. Taking a few deep breaths, Enoki thought of home. Of family.

Of what bullshit this entire situation was.

Ze didn’t do anything wrong. Or anything right. Ze was just a person in a dumbass situation because of an allergy no one could have seen coming. These elves didn’t even seem to know that if ze died the gods were going to possibly murder everyone because they were hangry.

With all that emotion settling deep in hir chest, Enoki let out a note. It wasn’t high. It wasn’t low. But it was steady and growing louder. Ze looked long enough to see the stars changing color and starting to back up. Hir hands became tight fist and ze kept holding the note. It felt like it had been both moments and hours. Before ze could look to Mo’ton to see what was happening, a hand suddenly covered hir eyes.

“Remember what I said chick, close your eyes. I will tell you when to stop. Just step with me for now and keep singing.”

Enoki carefully turned around and started walking forward. The ground was still there. It hadn’t disappeared. Soon the warmth from the fire returned. The sounds of cooking and the smell of smoke and spices filled the air again. Mo’ton carefully guided hir around it, putting hir hands on the metal pot. It disappeared, causing still warm liquid to go around hir shoes and the smell of wine disappearing around them. 

“Can you make one of those an enchanted helmet?”

Ze shrugged and focused on doing so. Mo’ton let go for a moment before putting it over hir head. “The magic is almost done. You will feel like you need to gasp for air. Take a deep breath in and then out before opening your eyes.”

As he spoke, the reminder of the need for air made Enoki want to start gasping. It was a struggle to hold onto the note much longer, the sound wavering. The only comfort was the elves around hir sounded the same. The last one.

Ze just had to be the last one.

One more moment.

Suddenly Li’tiana could be heard shouting. “Mo’ton how dare you?! We need to interrogate that thing!”

“AH!” Enoki ended the note on a near scream before taking the breath like ze was told. Ze looked to the other elves, realizing there was a bit of glass on the helmet that was putting an almost overlay on the elves. 

“I—” Enoki gave a small gasp for air. Little gasps continued as ze spoke, “I would like some more food. And maybe, less, send me to space magic please. And someone to tell me. What I did wrong.”