Chapter 5

A stream babbled beside Kupper as it rolled down the hill he was strolling up. Weaving his way through the tall trees with their thin stalks– their thick bushy tops preventing most undergrowth– he paused and peered around curiously. He had not traveled this far north in at least three centuries.

Divine music filled the space between the trees. Perking, a giddy smile accompanied his quickened pace. Gladly, he followed the vivacious tune like a moth to flame.

Coming over the crest of the hill, he watched the scene before him in awe. An elven angel nimbly danced among the tall trees along the shore of a pool of water where it spilled down from a rock face. Rays of light streamed through the holes in the canopy, shining spotlights for the heavenly nymph to flirt with.

He could not help his feet, which drew him closer to her. Turning to him, she paused briefly to tilt her smiling face to him. Without hesitation, he leaned down to kiss her, only wishing she could keep playing while he did so. The soft touch of her lips made his hearts dance to a beat of their own.

With a coquettish wink, she spun away, her lively song continuing as she led the way through the trees. Her delightful voice joined the music, singing a jaunty elven tune.

A week ago, he had lived his life in empty silence. Now, he couldn’t remember how he had ever truly lived without such a brilliant companion. The roguish grin she occasionally flashed back at him set him on fire. Gladly, he had followed that grin into every kind of trouble with her, and among the humans, they had gotten into plenty of it.

First, Kupper had stepped forward to Zigz’s defense, but a stiff gust proved she didn’t need it. They had then indulged perhaps a little too much at the tavern. After being chased out, they had been caught in the rain and stumbled into a doorway, where Kupper pinned her to the wall, spread her wide, and sank her down his shaft. They had been a bit too careless with their sounds, easily frightening off the wide-eyed guard that discovered them. On their way out of town, they had made it a point to slip into the debauched mayor’s house, stealing his ornate cane and leaving a trail of handwritten letters from his mistresses down the street.

Their pockets were filled in the hamlet they had passed only a day ago, repaying the natives with a year’s worth of wood for the entire population. She had stared at him with lascivious intentions the entire time he had worked shirtless while she entertained the natives that hopped around her in their own dance. Pressing her head into the bed roll while he bounced off her ass was hardly enough to muffle her sounds by the time the evening chill had sent the natives to their homes.

Now the music stopped as she stood at the top of the other side of the hill. The holographic violin hung from her hand by its rings. He had learned it was relatively solid as long as those rings held the neck. When he strode up beside her, they looked down on yet another human settlement. Humans had expanded further than he had thought.

Peering at his companion from the corner of his eye, he saw she was smiling. “They’re having a festival!” She turned to him with that mischievous grin that made him happy to get into any sort of trouble with her. “I love festivals!”

Winking, she placed her violin back to her shoulder and headed down the hill. Like a leash, the music drew him after. As they emerged from the woods and made their way through the crop fields that ringed the town, he watched with hardly the ghost of a smile as people stopped in their tasks to stare with wide eyes at the odd couple that came into their town. A stoic, towering, black-eyed sentinel and his prancing, musical nymph. Truly no stranger could he imagine.

The sound of other musicians carried in the wind. She stepped so lightly through the crowd that hurriedly parted for him, following the music as her own song changed. By the time he rounded the corner to the town square after her, she had found the beat of the band and joined them effortlessly in their jaunty tune. Her steps and twirls were lissome and lively, flexing in ways that awed the masses. More people approached, not all of them human. They clapped along and many began to dance with her.

The band was gracious and accepted her input with enthusiasm. They already knew her name like the natives knew his. He heard them call her the Fairy of the Festival, an ageless wandering mongrel that graced gatherings and galas with her music. She never missed a beat, her skill far surpassing the humans.

When the song ended, she quickly stepped to the crowd’s side– a good head taller than most– and placed the chinrest under her arm so that she could lead the applause. The musicians insisted on her joining their bows, and though she resisted a little, she succumbed to the cheers with the well-practiced charm of centuries.

Kupper watched from the corner of a shop with the hint of an adoring smirk. Wary whispers around him made his face fall. That was how it always started. Next would be the dirty looks, the angry mutters, weapons being brandished. Eventually, the men would gather, goad him, taunt any woman that came near him. Things would get violent from there.

He felt the tension in his body, eyes darting about the crowd he towered over. None even reached his shoulders. Stepping deeper into the shadows, his thoughts wandered to how to avoid a mob in such a tight space.

An angelic face smiled lovingly up at him as a new song began. Lost in her eyes, all his thoughts and tension melted away. Zigz danced gracefully about him, and it drew him from the shadows without him even noticing. Winking at him with that grin that made his hearts thump, she moved along, engaging the crowd as she pranced from person to person.

Someone called him by his species. Head snapping to the side, a group of men fearlessly invited him to sit with them. A haze of smoke hung about them and one of the men held out a pipe for him. The distinct smell of roacus piqued his interest. It wasn’t the first time he had ever been invited to smoke. In his centuries, he had found not all humans feared him and those who shared so freely were at least decent to speak to.

The men offered him a crate to sit, the only thing strong enough to hold his weight, introducing themselves as he returned the courtesy. With eager generosity, the men offered all he could want. Soon, that pleasant tingle spread through his mind.

“Your companion, she’s quite the catch!” said the one who had called him over, watching her dance about.

“Indeed.” Had it ever really been this much of a struggle not to smile?

“You two have probably lived centuries!”

“Many,” he agreed.

“What brought you two out here?”

Pausing before he lit the pipe, Kupper turned his gaze to the human curiously. “Our feet.”

The men burst into laughter as though he had meant it as a joke. He did not bother to correct them.

A supple presence beside him made his hearts flutter. Still in harmony with the band as she smiled down at him, her song suddenly changed for a moment, and he knew in the sweet, sensual notes that it was a melody just for him. Every nerve in his body hummed along, the tune sending flashes of warmth to every cell in his brain. Not until he was lighting the pipe for her did he even realize he had moved.

Kissing the tip of his nose, she danced away in a trail of smoke, returning to the song she had been playing with the band without the slightest error or hesitation. Lost in her cloud for a second, Kupper crashed back to earth when he realized all male eyes had turned to him. Generally when this happened, it was time for him to leave. This time, though, the eyes turned away and no one came to chase him out of town.