To Minx's dismay, there were more guards. A whole pride of Plurn had been stationed within the building, heavily armed as the outdoor guards had been. They were positioned around the space, mostly keeping to the cages, and dissuaded buyers from peeking with the threat of violence.
Are you here, Mau? asked Minx as she scanned the row of covered cages. If you're here, please let me know. I've come for you, Mau. Don't be afraid.
No reply came from any of the covered cages, however.
“Can you reach out to your friend?” asked Kaleb quietly. “Telepathically, I mean.”
She shook her head. “I'm not getting anything. It's possible she can't speak right now, or that she isn't here after all. I'd need to start looking in the cages to find out for sure...”
“The time for that will come,” said the dragon shifter. “For now, we should try to blend in. If the auction starts and they reveal Mau in one of those cages, we'll break her out. Otherwise, it's better not to cause an unnecessary stir.”
Kaleb's plan was reasonable, but it didn't stop her from wanting to inspect the cages immediately. I guess we can wait for the auction, but time is of the essence. Every minute spent looking in the wrong places is another minute that Mau remains missing. We should just start pulling these covers off and seeing what's inside. None of these guards can stop us. We'd crush them in an instant if they put their hands on us.
Unable to sate her curiosity and itching to find Mau, Minx started across the room toward the nearest cage. She didn't make any overt moves at it, not wanting to alert the Plurn standing guard close-by, but studied its dimensions and wondered what—or who—might be stashed behind the veil. There were over a dozen such cages, all old, and the sounds escaping certain cells promised just about anything but a Faelyr. She walked slowly past the succession of cages, listening closely for familiar noises and attempting, from time to time, to reach out telepathically. It's me, Mau. If you're here, say something. Tell me where you are.
Moments after she'd finished her second trip around the cages, she noticed one of the Plurn guards had eyes on her. She lowered her gaze, letting the cowl cover more of her face, but this move only made her seem more suspicious. “Hey,” uttered the beastly guard. “You there.”
Minx shot him a withering glance from beneath the edge of the cowl. “Who, me?” she asked, affecting a deeper voice than usual.
The guard stepped away from his post, striding toward her purposefully with axe in hand. “Yeah, you. What's your name?”
She tensed. She was on the verge of being found out. “My name?”
Another guard, stationed nearby, pointed at her with the tip of his axe. “Remove that hood immediately.”
“What's your name?” demanded the first guard, growing impatient now. He stood over Minx and dared to grasp her cowl. Pulling it down forcefully, he studied the Fae's fair features and suddenly doubled back. “You... you're the...”
From behind the Plurn came a flash of fire-yellow eyes. “That's Minx, a Royal Fae, you've got there.” Kaleb had come up behind the guard, and was now speaking directly into his pointed ear. The dragon shifter had grasped the Plurn's axe-wielding arm and was now twisting it violently behind his back. The Plurn were powerful warriors, noted for their immense physical strength, but compared to the strength of a Royal Dragon this Plurn foot soldier was powerless. “I suggest you unhand her,” warned Kaleb as the guard's weapon struck the stone floor.
“It's her!” barked one of the other guards. “The Fae hunter! She's here!”
“Who let her in?” spat another of the Plurn, leaving his post with axe held aloft.
The assembled buyers staggered away from the pair as guards from all around the room descended upon them. Five, then eight, then ten armed Plurn rushed to meet them at room's center. Within a moment, Minx and Kaleb were surrounded.
“That's the one who's been looking for the Faelyr,” said one of the guards. “Don't let her leave here!”
Kaleb did not let go of the guard's arm, but now lifted him off the ground by it, the Plurn's joints cracking in the process. As though the guard were weightless, Kaleb tossed him backward. The stunned Plurn crashed into one of the veiled cages with such violence that the bars were forced out of shape and the cover fell away, revealing some terrifying barking creature. No sooner had the dragon shifter moved there were three axe blades trained upon him.
Minx tore the cloak from her body, tossing it in the face of an advancing guard, and then rolled to her right, narrowly avoiding the business-end of a swinging axe. The weapon cleaved through the air with great force and its blade met the stone floor, where it abruptly shattered on impact.
“So,” said Kaleb, catching the handle of an approaching axe and wrenching it from the guard's furry grasp, “I guess this means we won't get to stick around for the auction?” Wielding the axe, he blocked a furious blow from one of the other guards, steel ringing against steel. “That's kind of unfair, isn't it? We bought tickets, after all!”
The Plurn warriors fell into a fury of snarls and roars. Other ticket-holders began rushing toward the doors, and from the exits additional guards began arriving. There would soon be more Plurn in the building than auction buyers. Those fleeing did so to the sounds of crashing furniture and smashing glass; murmurs, gasps
