Her dragoturkey snorted. Elely let go of its foot, thankfully free of thorns she'd been worried about, then reached for the saddle.
When a small tofu perched on her shoulder, the iop girl ruffled his feathers before placing him in the bag.
"I don't like this" said Goultard, who was leaning against a tree, arms folded.
"I know, master. I'm sorry."
"Irresponsible" Adamai grumbled behind her. Wordlessly, Elely buckled the saddle.
"Ely, it's the most dangerous time for you-"
"I'll be back, I promise" she said, turning away from her dragoturkey for a moment to look Goultard in the eye.
Adamai sighed heavily.
"Impatient. Injudicious..."
"Hey, thesaurus! She's a iop" the shushu map chortled. Elely pushed it into the bag and pulled it closed.
"I won't leave them. Can't."
"I understand, but if Echo-"
"If she destroys the world in the meantime, that's kind of moot point, right?" She smiled at him, but Goultard shook his head mournfully.
"The sooner I leave, the sooner I can be back" Elely said and hopped into the saddle.
"You won't even notice me gone! Y-ha!"
Goultard and Adamai watched the red head sink into the dark greenery. The dragon sighed.
"She was our last hope."
The rustle of branches was slowly fading.
"No" Goultard whispered. "There is another."
Alibert laughed a little.
"Yes, yes, you're right. But I made a deal to keep the Empire away."
He pushed the door and motioned for his guests to enter the back dining room. It had a large window that looked at the forest. Against the green they saw a hulking armour of shiny brass.
"We will be honoured if you join us" said Yugo. Casually leaning against the wall stood the masqueraider, hand on the hilt of his sword. On both sides of the door waited both technomages and Imperial officers.
"They came before you" said Alibert under his breath. "I had no choice..."
"You had no..." Rule punched him right in the jaw. Metal boots stomped.
Bolts clinked, hinges moaned, a blade of light pierced the dark. Narrowing her eyes, Sparrow scrambled to catch the cra as he was thrown in through the door. He hung limp in her arms like a rag doll.
The light flickered when Alibert went in, two foggernauts flanking him.
"I just wanted to say-"
"Spare us" muttered Ruel. He was busy scratching the plaster off a wall, apparently a very absorbing task.
"Yugo'll let you out. He's not after you, he's after somebody called Elely!"
"A trap" hissed Sparrow "and we're the bait?"
"Nice to have a buddy you can count on" Ruel stood up, wiping the dust from his hands, and the innkeeper stepped back.
"I have an entire town to think of!" He was standing in the doorway, a dark figure surrounded by light, so like Yugo that Sparrow had to look away.
"We understand" she spat "don't we, Ruel?"
"We understand completely."
"They came before you. I had no choice." Alibert left. The foggernauts slammed the door closed.
The main hall of the inn was full of foggernauts, silently seated at the tables, not eating, not drinking, not playing dice. Doing nothing. Nellith had already dusted and tidied up every single decorative trinket, some of them thrice. Finally, she gave up and scuttled away to the kitchen.
In the back of the inn, in one of the small dining rooms, count Harebourg was finishing his tea, looking askance at the masqueraider, who was leaning against the wall, a picture of patience. Scum, the count thought with distaste. We don't need them.
Yugo, who had employed the bounty hunter, stood by the window, his hands behind his back, still like a statue, not even noticing the visibly sweating innkeeper. Harebourg almost felt sorry for the man.
He put down his cup. The bearded enutrof winced.
"More tea, sir?" he hurried to the table, but at the same moment the door opened, letting a foggernaut in.
"Lord" he said "the iop girl is close."
Yugo turned, cloak billowing.
"Excellent" he said and nodded at Harebourg, who pushed his chair aside.
"My payment?" the masqueraider demanded. The technomage spared him a glance.
"You shall have it shortly. Harebourg?"
The count bowed. He followed the foggernaut and cloak-wearing masqueraider out of the room. The innkeeper, temporarily forgotten, trotted after them.
The three prisoners stood in front of the inn, squinting, perfectly aware they were surrounded by a troop of foggernauts.
"Begin with the enutrof" Yugo's voice thundered.
"What?" both the innkeeper and the young osamoda cried.
"You may take him at once" said the foggernaut and the masqueraider nodded, hand on the hilt of his sword. Harebourg stepped forward.
"No!" the girl screamed.
"That wasn't the deal!" the innkeeper shouted.
The young cra could only look, eyes wide in terror, at the ice growing over Ruel's body, at the astonished expression freezing on enutrof's face. The osamoda sobbed.
Harebourg nodded. "Done."
"That wasn't the deal" the innkeeper repeated under his breath, but two foggernauts hoisted the crystal of ice onto a small cart and handed the drawbar to the masqueraider, who walked away with a nod.
"Now the cra."
"No!" howled the osamoda. Before she could tackle the Sufokian count, Alibert caught her and held her in his strong embrace.
"What happens to Sparrow?" he asked calmly.
"For now she will stay here, in Emelka" Yugo's voice was neutral, he could have been talking about the weather just as well. "You will be personally responsible for her."
"Flopin!" the girl called.
The cra smiled at her. Helpless, she watched this smile vanish under a glistening layer of ice.
The dragoturkey came to a sudden stop. From her saddle bag there was an indignant twitter and several short, but sharp curses, but Elely paid them no attention. She slipped down to the ground.
"Changed your mind, nutter?" Grufon squeaked.
"No, we're already there."
Az scrambled out of the bag and perched at the pommel, shaking his head.
They stood on top of a small hill, shadowed by the last trees of the Sadida forest. In front of them, soaked in the golden syrup of sunlight, a grassy plain spread, and there were pretty little houses all round, with white walls and blue roofs.
"So, what are you waiting for?" the shushu asked.
"Awfully empty" she muttered, shielding her eyes with her hand. She could see a large building with a tower and a huge wooden mug hanging from the wall, and further away, on the road to the sea, something shining in the sun. She ignored it. In front of the house with the tower there was a familiar glint of brass.
Sparrow tugged once more, before going limp in Alibert's arms when the ice crystal vanished behind the hill. Yugo had sent most of the foggernauts along with Harebourg and... Flopin... to his ship. Now he was standing, arms akimbo, his back to the leaden-hearted osamoda.
Suddenly dragoturkey paws thudded in the distance. Sparrow straightened.
"Elely! It's a trap!"
The iop leaped off her mount, landing in the grass, her sword pointed at the foggernaut's metal breast.
"En garde!" she yelled. Sparrow was shouting something, somewhere close. Elely blew her ginger fringe off her eye. The technomage barked a laugh, which sounded like a distant thunder.
"Inside" he ordered his soldiers. A blue wakfu sword glinted in his hand.
Elely charged at the brass goliath, but her strike was deflected, sent her reeling. The opponent just stood there. If he had a mouth, he'd be smirking, she was sure. She attacked, yelling. Yugo parried casually.
Inside the inn two foggernauts were trying to contain a struggling osamoda.
"Let go!" Sparrow kicked a metal shin. With a very loud clash. The other technomage let go of her arm so suddenly that Sparrow fell to the floor, and the foggernaut fell beside her.
"You okay?" Alibert adjusted his grip on the shovel before outstretching his free hand towards Sparrow. She stood up on her own, eyes firmly fixed on the man. She nudged the felled foggernaut with her foot.
"Nellith!"
The cat ran into the room, looked around and nodded.
Elely was spinning, dodging, leaping. Attacking her opponent. But the blue blade, seemingly immobile, kept appearing between her sword and the brass armour.
"Your master has taught you well" Yugo said off-handedly. Elely's heart burned with anger. She charged at the purple cloud.
Her sword flew out of her hand.
The iop jerked away. Her back hit the ground, beating the air out of her lungs.
She rolled, grabbed the sword, jumped upright. Spat out a strand of hair. The stasis in Yugo's head sparkled.
"Impressive. Most impressive."
"You ain't seen nothing yet" Elely grinned.
By the inn's window a saddled dragoturkey was shifting its weight. On it's head a small yellow tofu was hopping and twittering madly.
"Az!" Sparrow gathered her dress, but Nellith pushed a stool towards her. The osamoda shot her a suspicious look.
"Is this a trick?" she asked matter-of-factly. The ecaflip shrugged.
"The Empire was supposed to leave my village alone" said Alibert, walking up to them "if I turned you in."
Sparrow steadied herself on the sill. "And you believed them?"
The innkeeper took off his chief's hat and tossed it aside. Nellith handed him a bag.
One eye still on them, the osamoda clicked her tongue and leaned out of the window to grab at the dragoturkey's reins.
Elely backed out onto the verandah stairs. Wakfu sword swung inches from her stomach.
Wedged between the wall of the house and the railing, the foggernaut couldn't even turn, but he was walking towards the iop, step by thundering step.
Her back hit the wall. Wakfu glinted.
She parried and dashed aside, onto the railing. Before Yugo could react, she leaped up to the roof.
"Run!" Alibert yelled. From every house people emerged.
Something clinked under her foot and Elely felt herself sliding down the roof. In the last moment she caught at the ridge and hauled herself up, panting.
Corner of her eye, she saw a blue glint. A cold metal hand seized her arm, pulled her onto the chimney. She jerked, but the foggernaut was holding fast.
"You do not know your importance" Yugo rumbled. Elely froze.
"You can destroy Echo. She has foreseen this."
"Flattery will get you nowhere" hissed the iop.
"Join me" the foggernaut said, but she planted her feet on the ridge and yanked out of his grip.
"Never!"
"Elely..."
"Who do you think I am?" her short sword spun.
"The daughter of Tristepin, Tristepin whom his friends betrayed."
"Don't try these games" a tile wobbled underneath her foot. "I know you've killed him."
"Killed?" Yugo laughed, a short, bitter chuckle. "Is this what Goultard told you?"
Elely's mouth went very hard and thin. She was staring at the foggernaut, squinting.
"No, Elely. Your father, if he still lives, is trapped in Shukrute. And Goultard is the one to send him there."
"You're lying" she growled.
"I saw it happen."
"No!" she charged. There was a blue flash.
The inhabitants of Emelka crowded around the dragoturkey. Sparrow held the reins firmly, stroking the animal's neck and muttering soothing nonsense, but Nellith, who sat behind her, suddenly gasped.
"What? What's wrong?" The osamoda looked over her shoulder.
On the roof of the inn a small, slight, very red-headed iop rushed at a huge foggernaut. There was a blue flash. The iop swayed, fell onto her knees. Tiles slid off the roof.
Sparrow stood straight in the stirrups, closed her eyes, whispered a fervent prayer.
The wind kissed her cheek. Bird's screech cut through the air.
"Raven!" yelled Nellith. Sparrow opened her eyes. The black bird caught Elely and flew into the clouds. The osamoda pulled dragoturkey's reins.
"After him!" she moved through the crowd.
Sparks shot into the black sky when a tired cat-girl threw a rag into the fire.
Beside her, an osamoda looked up. The firelight drew deep, trembling shadows under her eyes.
With a nod, the ecaflip rose, wiping her hands. The osamoda took her place, kneeling by the provisional bed made of branches and vines. She stroked the hand of the person sleeping in the bed, a pale iop girl.
From the darkness, a huge moustachioed man emerged, carrying two pails of water. The ecaflip busied herself with a filled cauldron, hanging it over the fire.
Tied by the nearby tree, a dragoturkey roared sadly. Stars were twinkling above.