Daerick stopped, sniffing the air curiously. “There is paterlilly potion here.” Cillean and Daerick looked up and down the path, seeing only Darien`s presence.
The paterlilly potion, the bitter liquid that Darien had so innocently partook of earlier with the old man. Though Darien himself had had no idea of the significance of the brew, it was a symbol of friendship and fraternity among the Gold Wolves were tribe. The gold wolves, and their Alpha Degorrin, had concocted it so that it gave a special blend of healing and strengthening properties, as well as giving off a long lasting smell that other werewolves and the other creatures of magic with decent noses would be able to sniff out months after the bearer drank it.
“I think it`s our little friend here,” Cillean said in a very audible aside to Daerin. “I suppose we can forgive the naughty boy for his rude words with this,” he said. Darien frowned at the description of himself, but wisely said nothing, the memory of the painful light all too recent. He had been unaware that vampires were capable of casting any spells of their own, thinking that they relied on their speed in a fight to prevent their delicate bodies from being easily hit and broken, but this knowledge appeared to be wrong. Much of my knowledge about both worlds, in fact, seemed to be wrong or lacking, he thought grumpily.
“But what`s up with all that wolf hunter crap earlier,” Cillean was still discussing their latest captive with his friend. “He wouldn`t hunt the wolves if he had already been marked as a friend by them,” he pondered.
“A ruse,” Daerick responded with interest. They both inspected Darien more closely. He squirmed uncomfortably, the occasional drop of sweat now falling more thickly and in a faster sequence.
“Those who partake of the paterlilly potion are considered part of Degorrin`s pack. You are indeed the lowest form of coward if you would dare harm your own comrades,” Daerick spat. His eyes blazed as his sense of honor was clearly outraged.
“Hold your horses there,” his friend chipped in. “We`ve already batted him around a bit, so I don`t think he can take much more,” Cillean said, good humor restored after having vented out his anger. Darien blushed at the memory of his shameful failure as a spy. “Besides, he might have wanted to pass through without forcing the crows to pick up his mess of a corpse,” Darien blanched. “He might have thought that his lies would convince us to play nice.”
“I wasn`t thinking anything of the sort,” Darien grumbled the lie. “It`s my own damn choice what I say and to who, and it`s none of your business if what I say doesn`t make sense to you,” he continued with a haughty air of superiority. He had already jumped into his bluff, and it was extremely aggravating that they would have the nerve to call out his lie. Polite people would just run with it, he thought sulkily.
“Well, some beardless child like this,” Cillean chuckled, “wouldn`t understand that honesty is the best policy,” he said in a sing song voice. Daerin ribbed his friend, a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth that resembled a very restrained smile.
“What`s up with the beard,” Darien raved. “So what if I don`t have a beard? Is every damned person going to point to my face and be all, ‘he doesn`t have a beard, how childish, ha ha ha’ and chuckle like Butthead and Beavis? What`s wrong with all these people,” he ranted.
“No, of course not. They could also point to other areas of your person and call you a child. But I`m so considerate I didn`t mention it,” Cillean added with false modesty. Darien just glared at him, stomping along the road. The others just looked at him, then each other, and in silent accord they all started walking together.
“You would be wise be wise to avoid provoking strangers when you have little strength or cunning of your own,” Daerick cautioned.
His friend added, “Not all of the beings in this world are as forgiving as me, as absent minded as your scholars, nor as weak as the Mundanes I sense you now walk among.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Darien responded, now comfortable in his position among the party. “I know that already, okay? The old man said the same thing,” he grumbled.
“Degorrin is still the life of the party even in his ancientness,” Cillean whispered to his friend. Daerin smiled fondly in agreement.
“Anyways, I was just a little tired and hungry. It makes me get grumpy, `kay?” The other two chuckled good naturedly.
“That`s why everyone calls you beardless! You can`t read a situation and you get sulky just because you haven`t eaten in a few hours,” Cillean grinned.
“Yeah, well,” Darien responded unenthusiastically. “Anyways, I`m looking for a Nymph. She`s a dryad, auburn hair and green streaks, five foot four ish. Name of Jackie. Seen her around on this road,” he asked.
He paused to think. “There`s also another one. She`s kind of pale haired, and she has these blue streaks in her hair. Guess she`s a nyad. Don`t know how tall she is, but she`s shorter `n Jackie.” He sheepishly added, “I`m worried because they got lost. One of them`s like a sister to me. Well, I guess they`re both important anyways.”
Cillean and Daerick looked at each other, shocked. Then they looked at Darien in disbelief. “You mean you`ve been walking and talking with us for hours and you didn`t notice this freaking body?!,” Cillean asked incredulously, pointing at Jackie`s still inert form held firmly fireman style.
Darien just looked stunned. “Well, umm, we fought, and
