Cerberus Rex, Nameless

Lady Of Versitude, 31

Feri hopped down the street in her gnome disguise between Asinis and Silas on the city streets. They passed shops, playing children, and an assortment of delicious smelling food. Feri slowed to enjoy the mix of salts, meats, and desserts. Every lagged step drew her away from Silas and Asinis, who had fallen into a conversation about magic and didn't notice her slipping away. She marched as if keeping up until her nose twitched at the hard candies being shaped behind a window. She paused to watch a woman sculpt sugar into a butterfly. The lady caught Feri's eye and smiled before resuming her work.

Feri peeked to her left and right. She'd lost Silas and Asinis. A smile crept onto her lips. The woman looked up. This time, no Feri greeted her with sparkling, mesmerized eyes. Instead, Feri lurked under the woman's workbench where she had slipped like a ghost through the shop's cobblestone exterior. The shadows drew around Feri, merging her into the seam work as she scooted around the sugar sculptor into the gray-toned pastel shop. White and silver accented the blue walls, inviting in sunlight that brightened the glass jars and shone through the clear boxes of sugar candies. Every prism color had taken on the form of flavors and sweets. But that light and color kept the shadows at bay.

Feri pouted.

Let's see how creative you can be, little one, a voice lilted into her mind.

Feri's frown swept away. Her heart fluttered. She looked around, making no sound. She knew that voice. She hadn't heard it since the moon well's destruction. Excitement trilled through her, and she narrowed her eyes in concentration. She didn't have to go far to cause mischief.

The sugar sculptor's shoulders rolled and shifted as she kneaded the dough-like substance and then start to shape it. She already had several wrapped around wooden sticks in a jar. A goldfish, dog, rabbit, bird. Feri crept up further to the wall and then traced her hand over the shadow the workbench cast underneath it. A small dog, a bird, and a cat ripped from the darkened edge and climbed up its side. Feri kept one eye on the sugar sculptor and the other on her shadows. They headed for the sticks of candy gathered in jars to keep them upright. The dog reached them first and, using its mouth, bit down on the flower-shaped sugar and tugged. The purple painted flower slid up but rocked against the jar. The stick was too long. Feri bit her lip and flicked a finger. The dog scuttled further back to drag the sucker out. The bird and rabbit passed it to do the same.

The young woman beside them hummed as she worked, but then the bird lost its grip on the sun it had. The candy fell back into the jar, rocking it and making a loud clang. Feri winced, and her shaped shadows froze on the wall. The sugar sculptor jumped and looked at the shattered candy before she saw the animal silhouettes. She gasped and then screamed when the cat scratched itself. The dog's mouth opened and shut as if barking but didn't make a sound. The bird swooped in circles on the wall, and the cat trotted to the jar of candy and pushed. It tipped over. The sugar sculptor jumped off her stool. It clattered onto its sides behind her, and the shopkeeper shouted in alarm as Feri held out her hands. The jar of candies tipped over the workbench, sending the suckers into her grasp. The woman gawked at her, and Feri, making eye contact for a moment, somersaulted backward and through the wall.

Shouts raised from within the shop. Feri's shaped shadows bounded across the walls. Others split from nooks and crannies to join their dance. The sugar sculptor, shopkeeper, and a few patrons huddled in the center and watched the silhouettes skip until faded under the lights. Feri ducked below the window, hands full, and dashed into the crowd just before the door banged open.

"Thief!" the mustached shopkeeper shouted. He must have realized the woodland creatures were harmless. Passersby looked the way he pointed, but Feri had long disappeared into the thick of them, her treasure tucked in her pockets and a man's jovial laughter roaring in her head.