Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 63: Calm Before the Storm

CW: monster hunters

"The hunters are what?!" Logan shouted, making Virgil flinch.

Roman hugged the fairy tighter. They were sitting on the couch in the Miller's house now, Logan, Remus, and Janus were the only ones standing. Remy and Emile sat together on one end of the couch, and Roman and Virgil were sitting on the other side. Virgil leaned against Roman to stay sitting up, trying to keep up with the conversation.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller, along with some others, were trying to find a place for the other magical creatures that had shown up with Remy and Emile. The town was starting to be very packed, and it was getting harder to care for everyone.

"Well we track monster hunter movements to avoid them, and we had noticed that a lot had gathered at one base," Emile explained. "We suspected that they're trying to find out how to stop you guys. Ever since that paper was released, several other towns started hating monster hunters. They've become sympathetic to your cause. So the monster hunters are going to retaliate."

Roman could feel anxiety coming from Virgil, becoming worse and worse. He was supposed to be resting, he shouldn't be here for this conversation right now! It's only going to make his recovery worse!

Then again, what else would they have done? Lied to him and told him that everything was okay and they were all safe while a bunch of monster hunters were coming their way?

"So let me get this straight," Remus asked, laughing a bit. "You all figured that the monster hunters are going to come here to fight us or some shit, and you decided to come here anyway? What's in it for you? You could lose a lot of people."

"We figured that if your little town can win this fight, it'll weaken the monster hunters," Remy told him. "It'll also show other towns and magical creatures it's possible to beat those jackasses. It'll give people morale! Motivation to fight back! So are you going to accept our help or what, babes?"

"Of course we're going to accept any help we can get," Patton answered. "But... we're going to end up running low on food. We're not sure if we're going to be able to feed everyone."

"Oh don't worry about that, we brought our own food. Plus, half of us are vampires," Emile said. "The other half are werewolves. We're technically two colonies merged together. We help each other out, vampires help hunt and the werewolves make sure to save some blood."

"Lovely," Logan mumbled.

"I didn't know two colonies of different species could come together in one," Janus commented.

"Oh yeah, it's actually quite common," Remus told him. "Even animals do it! Wolves and ravens work together."

"Ca-can we g-g-go ba-back to th-the hu-hun..." Virgil tried asking, sighing in frustration at his stutter. "Hunt-ters." He hated how his hands were shaking and he tried holding them closer to his body to hide it. But all this talk about monster hunters was making him way too nervous, no doubt Roman felt it.

"Yes, we need to plan," Logan agreed. Virgil kept his eyes on him, ignoring the pitying stares from everyone else. He could feel it coming from all of them, but at least Logan, Remus and Janus, did their best to not show it.

"Well, while you guys do that, I'm going to find Kayden," Remus said. "Just to annoy him if nothing else."

"This hunter talk has you worried, doesn't it?" Janus asked, barely looking over to his boyfriend.

The witch's face turned red. "No! I just want to see him!"

"Let's just go find our son." The gorgon took Remus's hand and walked towards the door. "Have fun planning, we'll make sure everyone else is doing okay."

"Have fun," Roman told them, slightly teasing since his brother's face was only getting redder.

Closing the door behind them, Janus took Remus to the edge of town where a camp was set up for the magical creatures. Everyone in town made sure they were all comfortable, giving food and firewood, any extra pillows and blankets, and a tent for all of them. It was really nice to see a human town caring so much about them, a giant surprise but a welcomed one.

The vampires and werewolves were setting up camp themselves, apparently nomads much like Remus and Janus. They already had camping supplies, and only really needed firewood, so that seemed to be a relief to everyone. Of course, others still insisted on helping them to unpack, and Kayden had asked to do that.

Elliot offered to watch over him as they talked with the head vampire and werewolf, so that put Remus at ease. But the idea of monster hunters taking Kayden away again while they weren't there scared him. It had happened to Roman, or more specifically Virgil.

So seeing Kayden helping Elliot set up a tent as a werewolf and vampire set up a fireplace made him calm down. He quickly made his way over, taking the lead from Janus as they ran over to their son.

The centaur looked up when he heard the fast footsteps, his face brightening. He stood up from where he finished putting the last nail into the ground, readjusting his prosthetic before rushing over.

"Dads!" he shouted, pulling Remus and Janus into a giant hug. The gorgon tensed up, but the witch instantly hugged back.

"Hey bud! How has construction been?" Remus asked. "Have people been nice? Was anyone mean?"

"No, everyone's been really nice! I was able to help a lot!"

"Well don't forget to eat, okay? Let's find some food."

"Oh, um there's... There's some food but..."

Remus frowned at Kayden's anxious behavior. "Is something wrong?"

"It's the humans," Elliot answered, dusting their hands as they walked over. "Everyone's been antsy about them, even though they're trying to help. The Millers have some food set up for everyone, but not many have gone to get some since they're too scared."

"Oh, I see..."

"You do know that no one here will hurt you, right?" Janus asked Kayden.

"I-I know but... wh-what if they do?" the centaur asked, his tail flicking in anxiety.

"We won't let them, if you feel like you're in danger you just come to us, okay?" Remus reassured him.

"O-okay..."

"Now let's get you something to eat. We'll go with you to show you that it's safe."

~~~

Cynthia and Griffin were walking the edge of the camp, making sure everything was okay. There were already so many helping hands that not everyone had something to do, but they were ready to help. Plus, after being locked up for so long, walking in the sun was really nice. It was refreshing.

Although Cynthia couldn't talk, Griffin always seemed to understand her. And since she still had her magic, she understood him. They were close after spending all that time in captivity together.

Another thing about griffins, since they have the head of an eagle their eye was really sharp. So when he froze and looked off in the distance with a small growl, so did Cynthia. She looked out to where a forest lined some fields. She frowned, noticing a glint of sunlight bouncing off of something.

She took a step forward to get a better view, only for Griffin to growl louder and bite her shirt, pulling her back. Only then did she realize what it was. Looking around the forest more, she could see more sunlight bouncing off of things. They were surrounded by monster hunters.