CHAPTER 153: FREAK SHOW

[ ... continued ( Old World - Market place) ]

The singular word that had caught their attention was the mention of the name , "Skathheim! "

And then the first thing Kieran noticed was the music...twangy, disjointed, and absolutely disturbing. More noise than music anyway!

But the lot looked nothing like Skathheim men.

Upon careful inspection,they realised that they were looking straight at a party of travelling freak shows, bouncing their way towards the Skarthheim borders.

Which was weird.Skathheim pack never allowed outsiders, unless the matter was life or death.

And surely it was.

They learnt that someone was very sick. Probably a wannabe mate for the Alpha himself. He was leaving no stone unturned to cheer her up."Lucky bitch!" Was the uproar.

But this was the perfect opportunity for our Alphas and they singularly focused on what mattered... leaving the gossip out entirely.

A twelve legged donkey hybrid led the parade.

Behind it, a stilt walking troll juggled small lizards. And somewhere near the rear, a heavily bearded woman was arguing with a man covered entirely in feathers.

Kieran blinked.

Velor, beside him, grinned ear to ear like a child spotting a birthday cake they could smear.

"Oh no," Kieran muttered. "No. No, no, no...whatever is percolating in your dark, slimy head, the answer is NO ."

Velor didn’t answer. Just slowly turned to him, eyes glowing with glee.

He wiggled his eyebrows.

Kieran sighed. "Of course. Of course you are going to drag me into that..."

Later, like an hour or so, after Velor sweet talked his way into the freak caravan, it was time to step up their game... and make it believable.

Kieran stood like a statue, arms folded, wearing what could only be described as a glitter splattered cloak that looked like it had been vomited by a disco ball.

His shirt was gone. His boots had bells sewn into them.

He was, to his absolute horror, looking like an actual clown.

"I will kill you," he said, voice dead flat.

Velor, now dressed in a robe with actual snake skin sewn on it, complete with a turban far too large for his head, ignored him as he painted a mustache on with coal ash.

"No, no, no. You can’t kill me. And you can’t talk either, are you dumb? Yes you are. You are a mute fire breather, remember?" Velor grinned. "You are our glorious mute fire eater...breather...whatever. " He gestured grandly towards a soot stained torch Kieran would later try to choke himself with.

Kieran’s glare could peel paint. "Why the fuck am I mute and you get to talk???"

"So you don’t open that stupid mouth of yours and scream ’Autumn!’ the moment you see her...or better still blurt a few curses if someone slaps you..." Velor rolled his eyes.

" Slap me?!"

" Yeah! If they don’t like your performance, mate!" Velor patted Kieran’s shoulder thrice. "And also, because I enjoy watching you suffer."

Kieran stopped short of strangling Velor when they reached the Skarthheim borders and their flag came into view.

The freak show was ushered in under wary stares. Guards inspected crates, sniffed suspicious liquids, and poked everything that jiggled.

Kieran was trying not to kill anyone. Or breathe too hard. And look like he belonged.

He could feel her...Autumn... not their bond... nothing of that sort... but it was like that tickle, that earthy rush before the rain, that tells you monsoon is near... it was that intuition that screamed ’she is breathing the same fucking air... she was somewhere near’.Somewhere beyond those stone walls.

His blood burned like it had been lit, but he kept his head low. He even smiled when a guard poked his chest with the hilt of a spear and said, "You got a name, dumb fool?"

Kieran nodded slowly. Then pointed at his throat with a pout.

"Can’t talk, eh? Good. Less screaming when they feed ya to the wolves." The guard cackled.

Velor stepped in, voice honeyed. "He is very obedient. Bit slow, but eats fire like it’s breakfast."

Another guard snorted. "We will see about that."

The performance was supposed to happen in the evening. In the meanwhile, they were all huddled in the outer courtyard... for a little rest and rehearsals.

The performers were herded into a corner to warm up first.

Jugglers juggled. A woman in a cat costume attempted seductive flips but landed on her face. A dwarf swallowed three swords and nearly lost an eyebrow as the fourth one slipped from his hand.

Velor was charming the heck out of a snake he had drugged, speaking in loud, dramatic whispers like,"Yes, Anastasia! Dance! Dance for the mighty Skarthheim lords!"

Meanwhile, Kieran sat with his torch, hating his life, hating this plan, and hating Velor with the intensity of a thousand suns burning one spot.

All he wanted to do was comb every room, every house, every dungeon until he found her... until she was in his arms.

A group of guards gathered, curious.

"Do it!" one yelled. "Let’s see the fire boy!"

Velor whispered behind him. "Kieran. Just pretend. Pretend, I said..."

But the smirking guard made the mistake of flicking Kieran’s ear.

Something in him... snapped.

WHOOMPH!

A sudden, but brilliant burst of fire exploded from Kieran’s mouth.

It was massive.

It singed a poor juggler’s pants, startled the twelve legged donkey thing into screaming, and sent three guards diving for cover. One of the kids rolled under a table and refused to come out.

Velor froze, trying to gauze the damage.

"...Well," he said eventually. "I did say he eats fire for breakfast."

One guard stood up, coughing. "That wasn’t fire eating! That was... That was like a bloody dragon belch!But great! Good work! Alpha will love that one..."

Another narrowed his eyes at Kieran. "Where did you learn that, freak?"

Kieran shrugged and mimed burning his own foot. Then clutched his stomach. Then pretended to fart smoke.

It was a whole mime sequence. Glorious.

Velor tried not to laugh while interpreting. "Ah yes... tragic. Fire in the gut. Runs in his family."

The suspicious guard looked at Kieran. Then Velor. Then sighed. "Whatever. As long as he can pull it off in front the Alpha,he’s good."

Kieran nodded solemnly.

And quietly smirked.

After a little while, when everyone had dozed off for the afternoon and inharmonious snoring filled all the makeshift tents, Kieran ripped the glittery cloak off. "I hate you." Only he knew how much strength it required to not strangle Velor on the spot.

Velor winked. "You are welcome. And... you were glorious. That fart smoke mime? Truly inspirational.I should have an elaborate one for my next party."

But Kieran wasn’t listening.

His eyes were searching.

He looked up at the darkening towers of the Skarthheim chambers... logic said Autumn ought to be in the dungeon but his heart was pulling him there... the chambers beyond their tents.

He clenched his jaw.

"Autumn is in there. I know it."

Velor placed a hand on his shoulder. "Then you better make sure your next fire show brings down the entire kingdom...we need enough distraction to barge in there..." After a pause he added. " ...and make sure you don’t fart fire in front of Autumn after you find her. "

"I am going to kill you for this," he muttered,almost laughing for the first time.

"You already tried. Twice," Velor replied cheerfully. "I am still here. "

" Why the hell do I need to wear this glittery thing while you are wearing... well, something more... normal?! "

Velor scoffed, suddenly the gloom lifted from their faces. "You will get used to that look. It suits you."

" I would rather fight blind than be mute ever again! "

A small creature scurried across the stones just then, hissing as it ran away from them.

Both ignored because they were aware of the strange creatures in this strange land.

"So," Velor finally asked as they stood up and walked, voice quiet low, "what are you going to do when you find her?"

" I..." Kieran started.But then he stopped. He had a million doable things running through his head but..., " It depends on how I find her... I hope Autumn is... "

"I meant the girl," Velor murmured, clarifying. "The one who reached into you. She might not know what she did. Binding links don’t usually talk back like that.You need to find her and unbind her too. It will be risky if she tries reaching out to you again...especially here.You know what I mean..." Then suddenly, Velor paused. He turned all the way around to face Kieran. "...we are close, buddy. I can smell Autumn!"