Masquerading

9. Butterflies and Twigs

HIDEOUS beasts in the Faladrine mountains he'd been able to deal with, but the small eeries called pecks, most of them no bigger than his arm, made his stomach turn. He'd never seen one before as there were no places for creatures made of wood to hide in his desert land. Their size wasn't much to fear, but Kyden knew that size was often irrelevant with eeries. These ones didn't look as harmless as the others said they were, with their beady black eyes blinking under bark-covered lids. If they had wanted to, they could have led him off a cliff to his death; they were hardly trustworthy, he thought.

"Where are the men you got these from?" Killi demanded to know of the longer, thinner peck. The eerie kept its mouth shut, sneering at the broad tattoo-swirled man. Kyden sighed; they were getting nowhere with their interrogation, despite the burning spear that Killi held up to the pecks.

Mounting his horse, Kyden took the smaller club-shaped peck from Leif and set them atop Tygo's head. After pulling Leif up onto the horse, he fixed the peck with a look that made the eerie squirm.

"Gwree, is it? We will not hurt you, despite my friend's misguided attempt at making you talk."

Annoyed, Killi snuffed the flame at the end of the spear and hopped on Frix, leaving the other peck to Tavis. Tightly holding the back of their neck, as if he were avoiding a repeat of the bite he'd already received, Tavis clambered onto Wella. He tucked the peck gently under the leather strap at the back of Wella's bridle before trotting her between the other two horses.

"You don't like us!" Kyden didn't know how he understood the words; they resembled language he could identify but were riddled with percussive noises and the high-pitched sounds of beetles boring into wood. Listening to the pecks would take some getting used to.

Careful of his words, he attempted not to offend the creature. "I have never seen your kind before—I admit, I find you a bit different to look at. But I do believe you pecks left me in a lapsa's web, so I think a little bit of dislike is understandable. Still, I wouldn't say I don't like you, more that I am weary."

Kyden felt Leif tense at hearing about the web, but he'd thankfully chosen to hold his tongue. His outburst would only have solidified Gwree's notion, especially when the eerie nodded at Leif and pointed at their companion, saying accusingly, "That one throwed Bwillok!"

"Really, Leif? No matter. I'm sure at the time it was warranted," Kyden reasoned, noting that Gwree hadn't acknowledged luring him away to steal his things. "Rough beginnings aside, I need to know where you got these."

Gwree watched as Kyden carefully picked up a silk butterfly.

"These came from the dress of Princess Leyva of Aradanas, and we seek to rescue her from the men who stole her."

Gwree's tiny wooden arm lashed out for the butterfly that Kyden held just out of reach. "Give it back, and I tell you." The creature's command, despite their small size, was endearing and Kyden smiled, feeling the peck's appearance growing on him, and he handed back the bit of silk.

Gwree joyfully cuddled it, before reverently replacing it into a crevice in their tunic. "Beautiful thing. What is it?"

"A butterfly. You've never seen one before?"

Gwree's head shook and eyes widened as Leif pulled more from the pack on his thigh and offered them to both pecks. Bwillok eyed Leif suspiciously, but eventually decided to take the offering, "What you want to know of other travellers?"

"Which way are they headed? Is the Princess well? How far ahead of us are they?"

Bwillok smoothed a crinkled butterfly out, tracing the details with tiny twiggy fingers. "Headed to White Wood, I say. You too, Gwree?"