Emony

The knight commander personally led the pair to their tent after their conversation, with assurances that they would not be disturbed in the night unless it were necessary. Their place of sleep was somewhat distant from the rest of the soldiers’ tents. Emony couldn’t really complain about that – only that he was expected to share a space with Tiphaine. Sleeping next to her was always a dreadful experience. Whether she only wrapped herself around him to get warm and ended up breaking his bones or also turned him into a rock, he just couldn’t win.

Her sleeping face was stupidly cute, though. And after some initial panic, he could sleep just fine while being a statue.

A trio of torches illuminated the area surrounding the tent, apparently for her benefit, but likely to actually make it easier for the soldiers watching them to track their movements. The soldiers were sitting around fires all around the encampment, keeping warm with their weapons in their scabbards. Some were staring at him and Tiphaine, while others gazed nervously into the darkness under the trees surrounding the camp.

Though he couldn’t smell their fear, not being a werewolf at the moment, he could tell they were all very anxious. Perhaps the men of the lake were really more dangerous than he’d thought.

He and Tiphaine entered their medium-sized tent. It was a simple one, with a big pile of straw and blankets in the center of it and a small table at the side. A waterskin lay on the table, beside a silver chalice that would normally burn Emony if he touched it. The stale air was illuminated somewhat by the light of the torches outside.

I miss being a werewolf, he thought, poking at the silver and feeling nothing.

“I trust you haven’t really put your faith in that man?” he asked Tiphaine. It was nice that she was appeasing him and letting him do most of the talking, but he couldn’t have her thinking anything foolish. In this situation, he wasn’t sure how well he could protect the two of them what with his supernatural strength, speed and ferocity being replaced by the unreliable powers of a half-fish. After his embarrassing experiment back in the commander’s tent, he’d surmised he could only use his siren power when he had a tail. When he was a female.

His body shook at the thought.

“Tiphaine, how about we go meet your friend? he asked.

“What?” she asked, “What do you mean? We have to stay in here, didn’t you hear the commander? The men of the lake may come tonight.”

“Do you mean to take orders from the humans? We don’t even know for sure that those undead are our enemies if your friend is in the lake among them. I think we should leave, Tiphaine. Either that, or you stay up all night, turning anyone that comes too close into a rock. We can’t trust these people not to murder us in our sleep.”

“You’re always far too paranoid about humans, Emony. You just want to do the opposite of what they say. Look, the knight commander said the men of the lake swarm the whole forest when they attack.”

“It’s not paranoia if they are actually out to get you, Tiphaine. Anyway, you’re right, the human did say that, but there is also something he failed to explain. Did you notice? Don’t you find it strange that all of the soldiers are still here? The village they’re supposed to protect, right next to the lake, has been left defenseless, while all these soldiers are just sitting around on top of this hill. Don’t you find that weird? It’s just a guess but… what if the men of the lake, if they really do exist, are going to come straight here? That would explain why they’ve built up all these nice walls and left the people they’re supposed to be protecting to fend for themselves, don’t you think?”

“I’m not so sure…”

“Neither am I. But I think it’s either that, or there are no men of the lake, and after spinning that web of lies, they’re grouping up because they plan on killing us tonight, so it makes sense that they should all be present. Either way, I think we should leave.”

“I don’t know, Emony. I don’t think that man was lying. The magic in the air is getting really thick, and it’s all black. No, really, I’m serious. All of it is black.”

“Is it that bad? I wish I could still smell it, myself. Then… do you think we should run away? Not to the lake, in the opposite direction?”

Tiphaine nodded. “That might be a good idea. I’d rather not leave all these people to die, but… but if we do, then let’s leave now, before it starts raining. I don’t want to have to drag a mermaid around a forest while it rains.”

Emony stuck his head out of the tent and looked at the sky.

“Then we don’t have long. Let’s go.”