["Well, they're creepy!"] Blaine told Kurt through his magic. He turned, schooling his features. "Hello, I am Blaine," he introduced himself.
The guard on the left replied, "I am Felven, and this is Cloven. We are guards of our fair city." His giant, wide smile didn't change as he swept his hand behind him at the impressive silhouette.
"It's beautiful," Kurt answered, noticing the tall, well-kept buildings and clean streets beyond the gates. He also noticed how quiet the town seemed, especially for mid-morning.
"So far, it's a very cheerful place," Blaine noticed somewhat sarcastically. If the guards detected the emotion, they didn't react to it.
"Is there a particular reason you are visiting?" Cloven asked, still grinning. "Not that we don't have passersby. I just ask because I'd be more than happy to help if I can."
"We're looking for someone, though we aren't exactly sure who," Blaine answered cautiously, not wanting to give too much of their plan away. His intuition was yelling at him that it wasn't sure these two could be trusted.
"Hopefully, whoever you are looking for is still here," Felven replied, grin never faltering. "There was a group of about 100 people who left in a caravan not four days ago. They were planning to attend the last few days of the Festival of Clane."
Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and had a silent conversation about whether or not they should tell these guards what had happened. Blaine imperceptibly shook his head, "no."
"You might check with the senator of the city at Peterfax Mansion to see if he can help you find who you are looking for," Cloven offered, still smiling. He pointed toward a building in the distance though offered no direction. "He knows everyone in town, and if there is any information you can give him, he would be the one most likely to help track down whoever it is."
"We will do just that," Blaine answered, not knowing how the guards would respond if he disagreed with them. "Thank you for your assistance, gentlemen."
After they were out of earshot of the guards, Kurt got a little closer to Blaine to avoid anyone else hearing and asked, "Could you do that telepathic spell? I have a feeling we are going to need it."
"Good idea," Blaine answered.
Kurt led them toward what he assumed was Peterfax Mansion while Blaine took his time to prepare the spell. As they were walking, Kurt noticed that every single person they came across had the same kind of smile that the guards had. Each resident of the city gawked at them as they walked past, grins pulling the corners of their mouths toward their ears.
["We're good to go now,"] Blaine telepathically said to Kurt. ["The spell will only last for an hour before I will have to recast it, so we will just need to keep an eye on the time."]
["Everybody has that same creepy smile. Even the kids I've seen,"] Kurt said. "I think that's the place we're looking for," Kurt said aloud, pointing toward an enormous house with ornate carvings on the pillars at the front.
["I wonder what's causing the smiles?"] Blaine asked. ["They aren't natural, that's for sure."]
They approached the mansion, and Kurt knocked on the door.
"May I help you?" a man dressed as a butler asked with the same abnormal smile the boys were becoming accustomed to.
"We're passing through the city, looking for someone along the way, and the guards told us that the senator would be the best person to help us find them," Kurt explained as Blaine took in their surroundings.
"The senator isn't in," the butler answered. "His wife is if you'd like to speak with her, however."
"Will he be available tomorrow?" Blaine asked, telling Kurt, ["I'm not getting good feelings from this house."]
"As far as I know, he will be available after breakfast," the butler stated.
"We will try again then if you don't mind," Blaine answered.
"I will look for you mid-morning then," the butler responded cheerily and closed the door without another word.
"Let's find someplace to stay tonight. Then, I can see if there is a being or a place in this town that isn't affected by whatever is going on," Blaine said as the boys headed down the steps and away from the Peterfax Mansion.
The Stately Shark Inn was easy to find as the city wasn't terribly big, and most of the businesses seemed to be in one central area. Once they had a room, paid for using the money they found in Sitroll Mord's chambers, Blaine sat down and tried to sense if there was a gap in the magical energy of this town. He detected that there was one area in the very northwest corner of the city that seemed to have little to no magical signal coming from it.
"I think I might have found a place where we could get answers," Blaine told Kurt excitedly.
"Lead the way," Kurt stated. "I want to find whoever it is we're supposed to and get the hell out of here. This place gives me chills."
"Me too," Blaine replied with a shudder.
The boys walked toward the area with no magic and came to a small book shop. Inside, they saw an older human man with long, wavy, gray hair and suntanned brown skin who appeared to be missing an ear. He looked up from the counter when the two walked into his shop.
"Hello, gentlemen," the man said. "How can I help you?"
"We just got into town today, and I can't help but notice that you don't have a smile on your face like the others do," Blaine observed.
"I was out of town when...something...happened to them," the man replied. "They've been like this since I returned three days ago. Only one other strange event has happened, and it's more disturbing than the smiles."
"Forgive me for not introducing myself properly. My name is Blaine, and this is my travel companion, Kurt. We were actually sent to Frosa to find another companion, and now I feel Fate might have had an additional reason to send us here." He wanted to ask what other strange thing was happening, but the man seemed like he might want to keep it a secret.
"It is very nice you meet you both. My name is Oliver Duststone, and I've lived in Frosa all of my life. I've never seen anything like what's going on right now," he explained. "Right after I returned, I noticed the smiles. How could I not? They're not exactly subtle. What's really worrisome, though, is the kids disappearing each night."
"Kids are disappearing?" Kurt asked, horrified and trying to not let his mind wander to his own childhood when everyone was taken from his life.
"Yes. A boy and a girl from the local orphanage have disappeared each night, and nobody can find them," Oliver stated.
"Blaine, we need to find them," Kurt pleaded.
"Is there any other information you can give us?" Blaine asked. He'd been watching the bookseller who seemed to be studying them carefully. He felt that Oliver was just being careful; nothing seemed off about him.
"I wish I could," Oliver replied regretfully. "There is a young, blue dragonborn over at the monastery that just arrived yesterday. Like me, he is the only other one I have come across not affected by whatever the majority of the town has. He might be able to help you, because, let's face it, I'm not as young as I once was," he joked dryly.
"You've been very helpful and informative, and for that, we thank you very much!" Kurt expressed.
"I hope to come back and look through your store before we leave town," Blaine said before walking toward the door. "I am very fond of books, and I can already see some that I haven't read before."
"If you can find the kids, you can take whatever you want as payment," Oliver replied.
"I am happy to pay," Blaine assured him. "We can discuss it after we find those kids, though."
"Have fun storming the castle," Oliver called out.
Blaine recognized the line from one of his favorite novels, The Prince Groom, and chuckled as he walked outside to catch up with Kurt.
"Did I hear him quote The Prince Groom?" Kurt asked as he stared at the towering structure in front of him, taking in the beauty that was the monastery.
Blaine chuckled again, "Yes, you sure did."
"That's my favorite book," Kurt said, looking at Blaine to see his reaction to that.
"Mine too," Blaine answered. He wanted to elaborate but now didn't seem to be the right time.
Kurt turned back to the monastery and asked, "How are we supposed to find him, the blue dragonborn?"
The monastery itself was very simple, which was the very thing that made it beautiful. There was a grand archway leading into the main sanctuary and a massive belfry that dominated the focus once inside.
"I'm not sure...Maybe we could just ask someone we come across," Blaine answered.
About that time, they saw who they were looking for walking up to the altar. He had piercing blue eyes and various shades of blue scales covering his body. His nails on his hands and feet were large but didn't look like they would hinder him in daily tasks. This dragonborn was not like the other dragonborn's either of them had ever seen before. He had a tail and digitigrade legs, looking more like an actual dragon than a humanoid. From what Blaine had read about and encountered, it was fairly rare for dragonborn's to have digitigrade legs or a tail, and unheard of for one to have both. The dragonborn was also wearing what looked like leather armor.
"I wonder why he looks different than other dragonborns..." Blaine mused quietly.
"It might be a sensitive subject," Kurt pondered. "Maybe we will let him bring it up and not mention it."
"I agree," Blaine replied. "Let's go meet him."
Blaine walked up to their companion and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. When the dragonborn turned toward him, his eyes were glazed over, similarly to Master Alin when he foretold the prophecy, and he spoke in a monotone voice. "The next one will be in Zhallas. Look for one like me, yet different." He shook his head, like he was trying to shake away a headache or fogginess, and noticed the two strangers standing in front of him.
"Hey dudes! I'm Finn!"
Blaine side-eyed Kurt with a look that conveyed, ["I think we found our guy,"] and responded, "I'm Blaine, and this is Kurt. How long have you been in Frosa?"
"Just a couple of days. I started heading this way from the south when this thing showed up on my hand." He lifted his recently marked hand and waved it at the boys. "It almost felt like I was being pulled here for something. Hey, you have one too," Finn exclaimed when he saw Kurt's tattoo.
"Yes, I do. So does Blaine," Kurt replied quietly. "We can explain this to you in more detail later. Just know, we are all meant to travel together."
"As much as I'd prefer to leave this place right away," Blaine said, "we have a little rescue mission here in town first."
"Cool," Finn said, excited to proceed forward with these two and see where their adventures would take them. He had a good feeling about Kurt and Blaine. Since Finn had just arrived at the monastery, he didn't really have much to pack back up. He went to his room and grabbed his belongings, his weapons chief among them. For some reason, he felt like he would need them. Finn told the head clergyman that he was leaving and thanked him for his hospitality.
The trio set off toward the orphanage, explaining to Finn that they would fill him in later, to see if they could learn anything new. They didn't. The headmistress told them precisely what Oliver had, that a boy and a girl had gone missing each night for the last four nights. Since the orphanage was on the edge of town, the boys decide that instead of staying at the inn, Blaine would put up the hut. They would stay close to the orphanage that night so that if anyone left, they would hear it.
Blaine and Kurt explained what little they had learned about the orphanage and the smiles while they ate an early supper. Knowing that their sleep would likely be disrupted, the boys all went to bed early after having a quick meal at the inn. Right after midnight, they were awoken by giggling. They peered through the walls of the hut and watched as a boy and a girl walked past them as if in a trance. None of the boys could see who the children were following, though it was clear they were following someone or something.
"I don't have any kind of magic that will cloak us; but I will bond our minds, so we don't have to talk aloud," Blaine told his two companions before stepping out of the hut. "We need to be as quiet as possible so that we can follow the kids to wherever they are being led."
"No problem here," Kurt replied.
"I'll do my best," Finn nervously stated, knowing he wasn't the most agile of creatures.
The boys were able to make it to a nearby shed undetected, though from there, they didn't see anywhere they could proceed. Finn had tripped over a rock right before the children reached the shed, and the three of them had lost sight of the children just long enough for them to disappear. Kurt looked closely around and found a trap door in the floor. "Shall we go in?" he asked. Everyone shrugged. They had nothing better to try, so he threw it open, revealing an expanse of blackness below. They followed the darkness and found themselves on the inside of a tree trunk, a wooden door straight ahead, lit only by the bits of light coming from the cracks around the door. Before opening it, they listened and could hear the familiar voice of the headmistress of the orphanage. She was talking to someone named Artin about the newcomers who came asking about the missing children.
"If they keep poking around, we'll have to eliminate them," the headmistress said. "I won't have anyone discovering that what we are doing with the children is what is keeping the town under our control." Her voice was nasally and deep, rather unpleasant to listen to.
"Yes, mistress," Artin cowered.
["Weapons ready, fellas,"] Blaine said. ["Let me try to talk to her first before any damage is dealt."]
["You got it, boss,"] Finn replied as he pulled out his scimitar and readied his shield, in complete awe of the ability to communicate this way.
Kurt nodded in agreement as he drew his bow, and Blaine opened the door. What they saw was disturbing to them all. Several children were sitting in a circle on hard wooden chairs, their tiny bodies limp and leaning awkwardly, their eyes staring vacantly at one another. They looked like shells of what they should have been. After the door was open, Blaine immediately knew something was not right with the headmistress. His senses were screaming the alarm.
["Something is not right with her,"] Blaine told the others. ["Can you sense it?"]
["I can,"] Kurt and Finn responded at the same time.
"I should have known you would have followed this dimwitted fool here," the headmistress sneered, casting a disgruntled look toward Artin. "He's such an idiot, and I will deal with him after I take care of you three."
"Why must you respond immediately with violence?" Blaine asked, trying to buy them some time to figure out what was going on with the children. Deciding it was worth a shot, he asked, "What are you doing with all of these kids?"
At that moment, the headmistress decided that she had had enough and lunged at Blaine since he was closest to her. As she got closer, Blaine could sense that she was not what she appeared to be. Someone had used magic to make themselves look like the headmistress. ["Knock Artin out so we can see what we are really dealing with; I think he's masking her true identity somehow, and I need him to break his concentration,"] Blaine said to Kurt and Finn as one of the headmistress's claws slashed across his arm.
Kurt and Finn moved toward Artin as they communicated their attack plan. ["I will sweep his legs, and you hold him down with your shield,"] Kurt advised. ["If we need to, knock him over the head with the butt of your sword."] Finn nodded, and they executed their plan perfectly. The tall, burly man hit the floor with a loud thud, his head slamming against the solid wood of the wall, knocking him out.
As soon as Artin lost consciousness, the spell he was using to mask the headmistress faded, and the creature's true identity was revealed. Blaine communicated with them almost immediately. ["It's a shadow demon! We're going to have to do this all at once and hope it works. They're hard to destroy! On the count of three, Finn, you hit it with your scimitar, and Kurt, you shoot it with an arrow. I have a spell I know it's vulnerable to. Hopefully, that will take care of it. If it doesn't, watch out for its claws. They will do more than just scratch you. One, two…"]
Before Blaine could say three, the demon took a swipe at Finn and, luckily, missed his skin, hitting his armor.
"THREE!" Blaine said out loud. All at once, Finn swung his sword and sliced through the demon, Kurt shot an arrow through its head, and Blaine cast a spell [Sickening Radiance]. Green-tinted light spread around the beast; Blaine having centered the spell in a way that would not affect anybody but the demon. It bellowed into the night and came right at Blaine.
Already having been attacked by the demon, Blaine was able to move out of the way to avoid her lunge. The demon fell forward onto it's head. It sat up, dazed, for just a moment before turning around, angry and spitting, ready to attack. Kurt and Finn were watching as the sequence seemed to happen in slow motion in front of them.
"AGAIN," Blaine yelled. Kurt's arrow hit the demon in its chest this time, and it bellowed into the air once more. Blaine saw Finn get ready to run toward it to catch it and told him, ["Don't get close. The spell will hurt you if you get near the demon."]
"You got it, B," Finn replied, and he changed course, going toward Artin to make sure he stayed down. From there, he could make sure that none of the kids ventured toward the battle area.
Since the demon missed Blaine, and he had yet to dismiss the green spell, it continued to inflict damage. As the light passed through and around the demon, it screamed and then collapsed onto the ground and vanished.
Blaine dismissed the spell and turned to his two companions. He didn't really notice how badly his arm was hurt due to the adrenaline rush of the fight. "Are you both ok?" he asked, panting.
Kurt stopped himself from running over to hug Blaine, thankful that he didn't get more than one scratch. He nodded that yes, he was ok. He knew that if he talked, his voice would betray his feelings at the moment.
"I'm good, dude." Finn jerked his thumb toward Artin. "This guy is starting to come to."
Blaine walked over toward Artin as he opened his eyes. He appeared startled to see that the demon was gone, and the kids all seemed to be asleep. "Why were you helping that demon? What did you owe it?" Blaine demanded loudly.
Artin sat up, rubbing his head, and looked ashamed. He told Blaine, "Late one night, right before the town went weird with smiles, this demon approached me. Said it needed me to help it. I refused at first, but then it told me I could either help it or die. So, I helped it to save my own life. It never revealed its full plans to me. All I had to do was keep up the illusion charm so that nobody could see what it really was." By this time, Artin was in tears. He was so ashamed of himself for helping the demon and putting the kids' lives in danger. "I'm so sorry," he kept repeating over and over again.
"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed after finally catching a glimpse of Blaine's arm and willing himself to be strong at the moment without breaking down. "You're hurt!"
"It's not as bad as it looks, Kurt," Blaine assured him, knowing how much worse it could have been. "The claw's weren't the demon's only power. They also can cause psychic damage as well. Luckily, I had read about them and knew it was coming. I was able to resist it."
Blaine could see tears forming in Kurt's eyes. ["I'm ok, Kurt. I promise,"] he earnestly communicated through their telepathic bond. "We need to get these kids back to the orphanage and take Artin somewhere safe. Then, I need to get this wound cleaned and bandaged."
After everybody was returned to their rightful places, the boys all went to the inn. Finn got his own room, on the house as a thank you from the owners for breaking the spell. When Kurt asked for medical supplies to clean Blaine's wounds, he heard some of the villager's talking.
"Did you feel like you had to do what you've always done and not deviate from it?" one man asked his friend.
"Yeah," the friend answered. "It felt like no matter how bad I wanted to change directions, I couldn't."
Blaine knew he was falling for Kurt. There was something about the elf that was pulling him in, something that made him feel more connected to him than he'd ever felt to another soul in his life. He felt like Kurt maybe had feelings for him as well.
Kurt was very gentle as he washed Blaine's wound and bandaged him up gently. He kept telling Blaine how glad he was that he hadn't been seriously injured. After Kurt pressed the bandage snuggly over the scratch, they caught eyes and leaned in toward each other.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! "Dudes, it's me!" Finn said. "Can I come in?"
A/N: I don't own "The Princess Bride" or any of its brilliance.