𝔇𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔪𝔴𝔞𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔯 | ᴋᴀᴍ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄ

1

𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔪𝔢 𝔪𝔢,
𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢 𝔪𝔞𝔡𝔢 𝔪𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔞𝔷𝔶,
ℑ𝔣 𝔦𝔱 𝔡𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔶𝔬𝔲 '𝔞𝔦𝔫𝔱 𝔡𝔬𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔦𝔱 𝔯𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱.

"Ugh, Hunkyhair! Care to explain why is everything so obnoxiously sparkly with you elves?" Whined Ro; Keefe's ogre bodyguard. Keefe shot her a venomous glare, not wanting to be overheard. It was frustratingly hard enough to sneak around with an eleven-foot-tall ogre sporting a giant metal diaper paired with a matching breastplate, let alone while Ro was threatening to smash something or another every few minutes.

Keefe was at Everglen, trying- and failing -to sneak up to Fitz's room. Keefe had the prank of the century planned. Well, apart from the great gulon incident ..not that Keefe had anything to do with that, of course. Keefe clutched the bucket of selkie skin tightly. It wouldn't do if he spilled any, for liquefied selkie skin was infamous for its distinctively horrifying "fragrance".

After ten or so more minutes of creeping through Everglen's ridiculously long hallways (not that Candleshade was any better), Keefe finally found the familiar teal door that he'd been looking for. Fitz's room. He adjusted his grip on the bucket, and pressed an ear against the door. He could hear the faint rustling of fabric on the other side. Keefe took that to mean that Fitz was, as he'd hoped, in his room.

Keefe spun round to face Ro, pressing a finger his lips in the universal 'shhh!' sign. Ro was grinning devilishly, obviously ready to see the Fitzter get a face-full of Selkie skin. Keefe shared her enthusiasm. He turned back on his heel to the door, holding the bucket in a ready position. The rustling fabric was getting louder, and Keefe frowned. It sounded like Fitz wasn't alone in his room after all.

Ro evidently ran out of patience, because she yanked the door open, making Keefe panic and blindly throw the contents of the bucket into Fitz's room.

A terrible 'SPLAT!' followed.

All over two teenagers who had clearly been making out on Fitz's bed. It seemed Fitz had indeed not been alone in his room, and the surprised selkie-skin-soaked girl in his arms was Sophie Foster. 

Suddenly, the joke didn't seem quite so funny. Keefe was given a grim reminder that he was just an irresponsible little boy who had nothing better to do than hide muskogs behind doors and rig rooms with unpleasant-smelling odors. But Keefe was too focused on the sight of Fitz and Sophie to care. The black goop that covered Fitz's once immaculate room was bubbling angrily, rising in thick smoky wisps. Soon, the 'selkie skin' was hovering above the two teenagers in an angry cloud.

Keefe noticed that the floor beneath his feet was oddly soft, and he looked down with a surprised start, to see that the floorboards were slowly sagging into themselves, bringing Keefe down with them. He tried to move away, turning to Ro for help, only to find that she was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the whole of Fitz's room was disappearing before Keefe's eyes. 

As he stumbled through the confusing darkness, he became aware of ice cold tendrils curling around his arms and legs. Struggling to shake them off, Keefe let out a desperate plea for help, thrashing and screaming when the cold shadows tightened around his ankles. He felt the creature pulling him backwards into the darkness, dragging him through the shadows and into the deep depths of something horrible that he didn't want to know. 

*****

Elwin Heslege was jerked awake by a piercing scream cutting through the healing center. He tore out of bed dazedly, snapping his fingers and conjuring a ball of light to illuminate the room. Elwin didn't have time to notice that he'd fallen asleep in his own office-- he was too busy rushing over to Keefe's side. 

The blonde boy was thrashing violently, screaming in a way that Elwin could only describe as pure anguish. Feeling chilled to the bone, Elwin whipped out his spectacles and sparked a blood red ball of light. He squinted through the lenses, searching desperately for the source of Keefe's screams. 

His efforts were in vain, however, and every passing moment Keefe's thrashing became more and more urgent. Elwin's heart sank when he noticed that Bullhorn's beady purple eyes were fixed on Keefe, filled with morbid interest. Desperate, Elwin turned to his imparter, raising it to his lips and whispering shakily;
"Show me Tam Song." 

Elwin closed his eyes, praying to Kenric that Tam Song slept with his imparter on hand.

*****

"Tam!"
Tam started into consciousness, jerking upright and staring up at the figure towering over him. Quan Song cleared his throat impatiently, holding up Tam's flashing imparter with one eyebrow raised. Tam stared daggers at his father, standing up and slowly taking the glowing gadget from his father. 

Wondering who would call him at this time of night, Tam answered the call, and was immediately greeted with the foxfire physician's sigh of relief. Tam stared at Elwin, mystified and more than a little disgruntled. "What in the name of king Enki's shaved cheeks do you want?" he whisper-hissed, trying not to wake up his sleeping sister.
If only his father had extended him the same courtesy. 

*****

Tam was hurriedly pulling on a simple grey shirt-- plain and devoid of sparkles or pizazz. He needed to get to foxfire as soon as possible. His father, who had evidently been listening through the door, stepped in front of Tam, blocking his path. The dark-haired man watched his son silently.

He raised his hand to stop his son from making any cold remarks, and pulled a pathfinder out of his tailored dressing-gown. As Quan held the wandlike crystal out to his son, his eyes, although as hard as ice, held a sort of warmth that Tam had only seen when his father looked at his mother. It was almost unnoticeable, but it was there nonetheless. 

Tam gave a curt nod and reached out to take the pathfinder, fumbling with the crystal until he  eventually found the right faucet. Quan watched him disapprovingly, but bit back any criticism that may have hung on the tip of his tongue. Tam held the crystal up, casting a faint beam of light and stepping forward without looking at his father. He didn't have time for sentiment.

*****

Tam rushed into the healing center, and was met with the unmistakable screech of Bullhorn the banshee. Blood running cold, he shot to Keefe's side and stared down at the boy's features; twisted with horror and covered in a thin layer of sweat. Elwin came to stand beside him, looking a little more composed than he had when he had hailed Tam.

One look at Keefe and Tam understood Elwin's panic. 

Elwin didn't need to explain to Tam what to do, as he'd tried something similar with Sophie and Fitz when they had been attacked by the late Umber; former shade of the Neverseen. Tam tried not to think about the reason Keefe was lying in the healing center in the first place and bent forward, resting his fingers on either side of Keefe's temples.