Breaking a tale

Orion - Things get a little complicated

I pulled Theodore down a narrow alleyway out of the bustling streets. The city was a dangerous place, especially for fairies. I knew people here who would have had happily dismantled him for parts. I hadn't meant for us to end up in the City, after we got lost we had just followed a random path and before we had realised where we were we had been swept up in the crowd.

Theodore tapped me on the shoulder, causing me to jump and spin around in fright. "Are there usually dead bodies lying around here?"

I peered over his shoulder and surely enough there was a body there, lying in a pool of its own blood. I took a step closer and nudged it, making sure it was definitely dead. I recognised the face. He was a guy who we occasionally traded with when we wanted to get a particularly nasty item off our hands. He didn't ask questions so neither did we. We're not going to be making any trades with him anymore then.

"Why are you so close?" Theodore whispered from behind me. "That's a dead body for goodness sake!"

I shrugged and turned away from the body, being a tradesman was probably one of the most dangerous roles you could have in the tales, it wasn't the first time I'd faced death, and there were more important issues at hand, we were here to find Luna after all and whilst we were in the city I also had to make sure Theodore didn't end up as a novelty for sale on the black market. The sound of footsteps echoed around the alleyway, Theodore stared at me in panic, someone was coming.

It was easy for Theodore to hide, he simply flew up to the top of one on the buildings and perched on the roof but I had nowhere to go. I ran across to a nearby doorway and pressed myself up against the wall, hoping I would blend in with the shadows.

Two men walked around the corner carrying a large sack. They looked tough, with rough hands littered with scars to prove it. As they got closer I was able to listen in to their conversation.

"We'll just dump him in the river, there's no point in doing anything else is there?"

"Yeah, what did you think we were going to do? Dress him up in a Halloween outfit? I just cant get over the fact he was killed by a little girl."

"Trust me, she was no little girl, there was something odd about her I tell you, she was in league with a demon or something, did you see the knife, I swear black smoke was coming off it."

The man turned and looked straight at me and I froze in fear. He chuckled, still staring at me, "Come out kid, you know we can see you."

I winced and stepped out of the doorway back into the open. I realized I had nothing to defend myself with. I was trapped. The other man had turned to look at me as well. "You're Dianna's cub, aren't you? Dye your hair before you try to sneak around next time."

I sighed in relief, if they knew Dianna then they weren't going hurt me, at least not for now. I just wanted to get out of the situation.

"Hey," one of the men said "Why don't you do a little favour for us?"

I winced, whatever this "favour" was going to be, I had a feeling I was going to get into trouble.

"Why don't you get rid of this for us?" He continued, pointing at the dead body. "It's a done deal really, we don't have to deal with it anymore and you will be allowed to continue safely on your way without any punishment for spying on us."

I gulped, and nodded, there was nothing else I could really do.

"Right, we will be back in a few hours." The man said, cracking his knuckles. "If this body isn't shifted by then... well, I'm pretty sure you know what will happen..."

With that both men turned and walked out of the alley. Once they were gone Theodore flew back down and landed in front of me.

"You ok?" He asked, "how did you get them to leave?"

"Yeah..." I replied "We somehow need to shift this body now though."

"And how do you aim to do that?"

"Honestly, I have no idea..."