Fang & Bone: “14. Adventures and Babysitting”

This is the fourteenth chapter of the Fang & Bone serial; click here to visit the previous installment of Fang of Triseria. Please share your thoughts on the story in the comments, or visit the project hub for more information.

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The presence of the young serving girl standing at the stable was alarming to say the least. Erryl had stepped out at first light to piss away the night’s drinking behind the building before checking in on his companion, but the presence of the girl changed everything. Within mere moments, he’d drawn his rapier and positioned himself between her and the stable doors, his blade outstretched to the crack between the wood and his free hand nudging her away. He locked his eyes on the stable, wary of movement.

“Erryl. We have a guest. She offered us a job.” Fang’s voice, as low and monotone as it could sometimes sound, was more complex when one spoke with him enough. Fang’s tone, here, was amusement.

Erryl sighed and stuck the rapier back into his belt loop, and glanced back at the child as the morning light began to illuminate the town.

“You’re lucky, little one. You do know that wolves find children delicious, yes?”

“She’s a little small for me,” Fang added. “Doubt she would feed me past midday.”

The girl frowned and marched back toward the stable door. She pointed at the lock.

“Let him out, Sir. He promised to help me find my brother.”

There was a whine within the stable, “I promise nothing.”

“He already accepted my payment.”

“I accept nothing.”

Erryl’s head pounded at the back and forth between the Wolf and the girl. He shook off what he could and pinched at the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes.

“Someone, preferably an adult, please explain what happened.”

“A wandering child shoved a coin into the shed. The child wants us to find her brother.”

The girl looked at Erryl and nodded, slapping at the door with her palms. Fang roared in response, and the girl stood straight, clearly alarmed. Erryl clumsily searched his person for the key, but finding it was not on him, excused himself from the scene, promising to be right back down.

…

Erryl stumbled out of the back of the inn minutes later, still a bit hungover. He made his way back to the stable, where he observed the child arguing some point he didn’t care to hear while Fang remained silent inside.

Erryl placed his palm on the door to steady himself. He rocked slightly as he fished the key from under his shirt, pulling the string necklace over his head.

“You wouldn’t believe it, friend. Had the thing on me the whole time.”

A sharp bark shot out from within the shed: “Open the godsdamned fucking door you sodden shite.”

He glanced down to his left and watched as the child grabbed the key from his light grip. She quickly unlocked the chains and pulled them out of the door loops. They clattered noisily to the ground. She tugged the leftmost stable door outward, nearly stubbing Erryl’s toe in the process. She bent down and scooped up something from the wooden door frame, which he recognized as a coin. Then, with tremendous force, or as much as a starving girl could muster, she hurled it at Fang, who was still chained up within one of the stalls. The coin slammed into his snout, and he began to bark in response, rattling his bindings against the wooden supports.

“There’s your godsdamn coin, Wolf, you’ve accepted it!”

Fang continued to bark. Soon, the girl entered, staring him down. Erryl watched, unblinking, as he swung the right door open and then leaned against the door frame, watching the wolf argue with some waif.

“It’s too early in the morning for this horse shit,” he said to nobody.

After a few more moments of unsettling bickering between an adult werewolf and the young girl, Erryl sighed and strode toward them, snatching the key away from her and settling down to one knee to unlock the chains. Before he put the key in the lock, he glared at Fang. Erryl’s face screwed up into a questioning pout as Fang simply glanced over, wolfen eyes wide, and shook his snout toward the girl, signaling that she had started whatever this was.

“Unbelievable” was all Erryl said. 

He loosened the lock and cleared one of the links from the metal rod and rose to his feet, slipping Fang the key between two of his enormous, pinched fingers. Erryl took several swerving steps back and, upon bumping a barrel with his rear, hopped onto it, sitting – observing.

The girl stood in front of the Wolf, tapping her feet as he sat there, doing nothing. After a moment, he huffed out air from his snout and began to rise, unsettlingly slowly, clearly savoring the tension. He rose to a crouch and unbound his left manacle, rolled the free wrist around, and slipped the key into the now free hand. He made quick work of the second manacle and then flicked his arms, dropping the heavy iron bracelets to the floor and rattling the chains as he began to rise to his feet. In moments, he was at his usual height – his poorly disguised hunch meant to not draw attention to himself, though at his dimensions, it most certainly did not help. 

The girl took a few steps back, suddenly aware of the size of the thing before her.

The wolf snorted and then began to straighten his back. Hunched over, he was well above six feet. Now he seemed to grow taller, straighter, and fully stood over seven feet tall, glancing down upon the girl who took further steps back, nearly at the door of the stable. For emphasis, his head was back, snout pointed to the sky. Then, with a sudden jerk, he cast a wicked, wolfish smile at the child, his face pointed down toward her. She yelped.

Then Fang began to laugh. It was a horrific noise, and one that Erryl had never gotten used to in their travels. A laughing dog was surely some ill omen.

“You can stop scaring the child, Fang. You’ve made your point. You’re very frightening.”

The Wolf settled down back into a hunch, his arms hanging limply down, simian-like. He looked over to Erryl. 

“Just needed a reminder.” He glanced toward the doorway at the girl and continued, “This little shit is stubborn. And foolish.”

At that, the girl strode further into the shed. “You’re a bully.”

Fang pointed a clawed finger at her, inches from her face. She came to a stop. Then, with a flourish, he apparated the gold coin between the tip of his index claw and thumb claw, brandishing it before her.

“You’re a bully for throwing this at my nose, child. Away with you. I’m done.”

The girl stood there, defiant, and now it was Erryl’s turn to become involved. He drew his rapier and swished it absentmindedly, making every motion audible. He paused with a flourish and turned his gaze to her with a sudden jerk; she had failed to notice, still staring at Fang.

He sighed. “Young lady? Your name, please?”

“Corea Gorse.”

Fang snorted at Erryl and cast a dark glare. Erryl understood what the Wolf suggested through his yellow eyes, but Erryl was a creature of curiosity and curiosity compelled further inquiry.

“I see, and what deal have you made with my hirsute friend, Miss Gorse?”

Fang growled for a moment and then, seemingly acknowledging defeat, stepped back into the stall and leaned back against the wall, arms crossed, sulking. The wooden beams creaked under his weight, as did most wood in this town, it seemed.

Corea watched the Wolf slink off into the rear of the stable and turned her attention to Erryl, who continued to flick and swish his thin blade.

“I hired you two to help me find my brother. I’ve heard roadmen do their business passing through, and I know that one gold coin is more than enough to search out someone nearby. You gave me this last night as a tip, and I am sure you’ll be wanting it back as nobody tips gold. Nobody but drunks and bad men, and I don’t think you’re a bad man.”

She held the coin forward in the palm of her hand – her palm was rough and scarred from daily chores – and rocked the coin back and forth, the coin catching a glint of early light.

“I can’t say as much about the Wolf,” she added.

Fang growled again… or was it a chuckle? How odd, Erryl thought, and I’ve fought wizards.

“Well, I am afraid, my dear, that all negotiations must go through me.”

Erryl slipped off the barrel and threw the flat of the rapier over his shoulder, aiming for dapper, but stumbling slightly, came off as very much hungover.

He coughed slightly and stared down at the coin in her hand, and then glanced at Fang. Fang eyed him carefully, his gaze unsettling and predatory by the nature of his affliction, but his uncrossed arm and a sweep of his hand boded Erryl to pursue the conversation. Ever unsettling the sprinkles of humanity from that which was inhuman in most senses.

“Alright, Miss Gorse, what exactly can you tell me?”

…

Fang arrived a few moments after Corea had told her story and laid out the facts as she knew them. Erryl pondered what he had heard, and the Wolf distributed the potatoes from the kitchen; they had been quickly fired over coals with a light sprinkling of oil and dusting of salt and local herbs. He dropped one into the hands of the girl who winced that they were still very much hot. She bounced the potato between her hands until she scooped up part of her morning gown to catch it. Fang tossed a potato to Erryl, who grimaced a bit at the heat but quickly began gnawing away at it, the starchy pulp softened just enough by the simple cook.

The remaining three were for Fang as he sat down on the dirt and straw-covered floor. The girl had commandeered his stall, cloak, and blankets. He glanced at her, annoyed, chewing on one of his potatoes. She didn’t notice. Instead, Erryl could feel her eyes boring into him as he continued to chew.

If he didn’t answer her soon, he feared, her eyes would bore a hole into his skull and cook his brains.

He finished his potato and turned his attention to Corea, who sat comfortably among Fang’s things. He scraped some leftover oil from his mustache and nodded to her.

“Alright, based on what you’ve told me and my companion, it is more than likely, I am afraid, that your brother may be either dead or possibly hidden in the old village. If he hasn’t made his way home yet, he, being a smart lad, as you suggest, probably is waiting for an opportunity to escape.”

His face soured and his brow furrowed.

“But, that is the best possible case I can consider. It’s been four nights now. Time is running short. If we do this, Fang and I must leave, now, especially as Umbra is at its zenith and moonlight will be our enemy.”

Fang shoved another potato into his mouth as he watched Corea rise to her feet. As she passed in front of the Wolf, he handed her the third potato in passing, which she tucked into the nook of a shawl. Fang glanced at his palm, then back to her, and then back to his palm. He snorted.

Erryl stood still a moment, dumbfounded, and she reached the threshold of the stable door without so much as a word.

“And where are you heading off to? We need to negotiate the price and establish terms.”

Corea Gorse stepped out the door and looked back at Erryl. “I accept. I’ll be packing my gear. We’ll leave in an hour!”

The girl darted out of sight, and Erryl glanced back at Fang, dumbfounded. The tremendous creature rose to his feet, approached him, and dropped the gold coin onto the barrel lid next to Erryl. He placed a heavy, hairy paw on his shoulder and shook his head.

“Payment was rendered,” he said. “She slipped it into my hand as I gave her that godsdamned potato.”

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