Li’tiana’s silver gaze eyed Enoki’s gloves. They still had some of the sticky coating from earlier. Briskly walking over, she grabbed a hand and turned it over, seeing the silver looking plates had returned to the palm of hir gloves. “You will answer our questions in a warded tent. We will allow you some additional food.”

A quick wave of her hand and other elves went to work. Save for Mo’ton who was calmly walking over. “I will question hir Li—”

“You will not! I will question hir and you shall stay out of this entirely.”

Enoki pulled the captured hand away, rubbing hir wrist by instinct more than any real pain. “I want Mo’ton there. He believed I wasn’t causing harm.”

“You must have enchanted him!”

“How?” Hir voice started to ring over the sounds of the fire. “I was around you more than him! And if this is to prove if I’m innocent or guilty of something I should have someone to help me on my side.”

Mo’ton put a gentle hand on Li’tiana’s own. “We can be in there together. As a future leader this is a story you will need to hear eventually anyway.”

Her lips went into a small snarl. The enchantment on the helmet seemed to be having some trouble keeping up with the overlay, causing the mouth to look like it was stretching too far to one side. Enoki suppressed a slight shiver. So much for elves always looking perfect and beautiful.

One of the taller elves walked over with a bowl of the spicy smelling stew made from the breast meat and some vegetables. Enoki wasn’t even sure what they were other than all the colors of the rainbow. When ze started to take the bowl, the elf held onto it tight and whispered. “You, you blessed the meat. It was safe from disease and illness being passed to us. Do— do you want to bless this bowl?” Their eyes darted to the side, seeming to check if anyone was looking. “The stew. . .  wasn’t made for most.”

Before Enoki could answer Mo’ton gently took the bowl. “It will be fine. Don’t worry. Enoki will be fine and you will not be at fault.”

The elf glanced between the two before hurrying off. As he handed the bowl to hir properly, ze couldn’t help but look at it again. How would ze even know if it had been poisoned? Ze certainly didn’t know about the goat issue. That goat died just to send hir to another world and start a quest.

“It’s not poisoned. And nothing can poison you if I am correct. Come on. The tent will be safe. It will simply keep all of us inside until none of us have questions left we wish to ask.” While Mo’ton appeared calm on the surface, the sharp glances he gave anyone that even appeared to be reaching for a weapon told a different story. 

Maybe that tent will be a safer place to eat the stew than out here anyway. Ze thought as they carefully stepped inside. 

Li’tiana was sitting on a small red cushion. She motioned to two blue ones near the edge of the tan canvas tent. It took a moment for Enoki to get seated without spilling the stew on the brown tarp below. It was quiet as Enoki ate a bit, glancing around as the flap closed. After a moment the stars came out again, an ethereal voice softly humming as they did.

“We are now in a holy spot where the Great Song can reach us. Here the truth can only be spoke—” She shot a look at Enoki who was trying to politely eat more of the stew as Li’tiana spoke, puffing as a piece of meat nearly burned hir tongue. “Are you really going to keep eating in here? Your life could be on the line.”

“Sorry.” Enoki talked around a piece of the sweet and sour tuber from before. Normally ze’d swallow first but something made hir answer faster. “I didn’t get to eat all day. I’m really hungry.”

“It is no surprise ze is hungry with even the magic we’ve seen used so far. Let hir eat this much at least.” Mo’ton folded his arms. “Not to mention the fact we saw the Cycle’s blessing on the meat. This one is not an agent of chaos.”

“I will decide that. Where do you truly come from?” 

As the elven leader stared hir down in the darkness, her eyes turning black in the low light, Enoki struggled to find the true answer. “Yesterday I would have said I was born overseas in Italy while my Mom and Dad were on a business trip. Today I’m not sure how to answer that.”

“And why is that?”

“I died eating a goat and some hangry gods took my soul and gave me this body. Even some memories and stuff. So I don’t know if it’s so I have a convincing cover story or if some family somewhere is convinced their kid is out wandering the world or some shit.” Ze brought the bowl to hir lips and quickly drank the broth. It was so intense for such a short cooking time. “Hey can I have the recipe for this later? I want to make this sometime.”

The stars around Li’tiana glowed. She looked annoyed and confused as she quickly responded. “Yes of course. But how can you force a question on me? What are you?”

“I um. I have no fuckin clue. But I’m a shapeshifter. I think. Maybe. I think I’m a human shapeshifter.” Enoki could only shrug as ze got a few more bites in. This seemed like a situation where someone would throw something and it sure as hell wasn’t gonna be this amazing, possibly poisoned, soup.

Mo’ton chuckled. “I am glad you are enjoying the food. But I can better answer. First, you are neither human nor shapeshifter. Nor man nor woman nor beast.”

“Oh! The pissed off orange mist said that.”

“You saw—”  Li’tiana paused as if reconsidering if she wanted to know the truth of that question. After a moment she switched her plan, the expression softening. “What was your plan coming to our camp?”

“Oh, no plan really. I nearly got shot by an arrow and fell. I was trying to fly because this blue phoenix kinda ‘kicked me out’ of the nest, I guess. I had to figure out how to shapeshift and fly real quick.”

 Li’tiana’s eyes went wide, showing only the tiniest bit of white around the black of the pupil. “You saw the Cycle?!”

“I—I want to say yes but I don’t know if that’s what any of them were called. So, again. Maybe.” Enoki looked at hir almost empty bowl with disappointment. “So can one of you tell me what is going on?”

Now the stars shone around Mo’ton. He looked a bit more serious. “Well. Simply put, you are going to save as many of us as possible with the Godly Feast. Do you have the list?”

“Yeah it’s in my bag. Lemme just finish this.” Putting the wooden bowl to hir lips, ze quickly finished the soup, coughing a bit at the end. 

As the bowl was lowered, Li’tiana’s skin was looking more golden. Her hands were shaking. “That bowl will kill hir and ze is to save us all? Great Song, what have I done!?”

With a scoff, he spoke up again. “Nothing, you did nothing. Nothing can kill a shapeshifter permanently. There was only one thing and that was the last feast.” He looked back to Enoki as ze quickly got the backpack off. “The gods are far too smart to make it easy for this chick to fail with so much at risk. It is within the dark promise tales.”

He waved his hands, having the stars make the form of a table. “A few times in the existence of a world, comes the Godly Feast. None know what it is other than the gods demand it. The Great Cycle helps to present the gifts to the chosen one. They take the form of a being that the Cycle believes will best serve on that world for the tasks needed. With some adjustments to their life essence to ensure that effort is made.”

“So, I’m a dead race?” Enoki interrupted, starting to feel a bit more hopeful. “And there was another feast? That might make it easy then! I mean if everyone knows what can happen—”

“You are a dead race. We all know what happened to the race, but the exact reason is not known by the common people of any race. Because of the madness that would come from it.” Mo’ton waved his hand again, showing what Enoki assumed were shapeshifters.

 Li’tiana’s color was starting to return as she softly spoke. “All shapeshifters were individuals yet one. A terrible illness called The Rot swept through like wildfire. Within a month, all were dead. All assumed it was the Gods’ will, that they committed a terrible sin. The few that tried to help them would rot themselves and become permanently damaged.”

Mo’ton nodded. “This was because their meal was not satisfactorily prepared. If everyone knew this was the possibility of their race from the failure of one lone chef, there is no telling how everyone would react.” The stars now showed infighting and war amongst the races as they fought for control of an egg in the middle.

“Then, I can’t get any help?” A pit was forming in hir stomach, the stew no longer pleasantly warming it. 

“You can but there is another issue. Please, if you feel you can, show Li’tiana the list.”