Following the Scent of Trouble

    Sean and Flick found themselves caught up in a flurry of activity, as the courtyard transformed from a lunch party to a search party. Colm, the innkeeper, had emerged from his lair in the kitchen to organize any townsfolk within bellowing range. Which, for Colm, was quite a distance.

    Sean winced a little as the man shouted, his voice booming across the village center. “All you layabouts get up off your arses and into groups of four, there’s work to be done! Colin here’s lost his wee ones and they need finding.”

    The bear of a man bent slightly towards Colin, who was standing with his wife by the inkeeper’s side. “Where do they usually go picking berries, Colin?” He asked, mercifully using a more normal volume.

    “They liked the bilberries that grow at the edge of the bog, so probably near the western edge of the forest.” Solin shook his head, “We’ve warned them before not to go into the bog proper. They know the mud could suck them in and drown them, so I can’t believe they’d have ventured too deep.”

    Colm gave the man a pat on his back and relayed the information to the crowd. “And none of you go too deep either! That bog can swallow a grown man just as easily as a child, and we won’t be in as much a hurry to pull your clumsy arses out!”

    No one paid any mind to the two strangers in the rush, but Sean felt like he should still do something to help. Beyond it being common decency, these would be his first subjects if all went according to plan. If they thought that he’d stood by and let two children die when he might have helped, his rule would be precarious at best.

    He motioned to Flick to follow. “Let’s get moving, if we follow the crowd out we can search on our own. That’ll let us leverage your nose and Corvane’s eyes without anyone asking awkward questions.”

    “Aye, and if you come to the rescue you’ll have them eating out of the palm of your hand, no doubt.” She replied with a grin.

    Sean couldn’t help but offer a small smile back. “That’s not the primary reason, but I’d be lying if it hadn’t crossed my mind. Now let’s get out there and help.”

    They slipped into the stream of people heading out of the inn’s courtyard and towards the forest. The guard on duty didn’t seem to notice them leave, simply wishing the search party good luck in their hunt.

    As the various hunting groups began to split off on their search, Sean and Flick drifted in their own direction and were met at the tree line by Corvane.

    “I am aware of the cause of the commotion, Successor, what would you have me do?” He asked.

    “I’d like you to fly over and around the bog, Corvane, and see if you can find any traces of the kids. You can get around more easily than we can on foot, especially if the kids did go in too deep.” Sean replied. The raven dipped its head and launched back into the air.

    A wisp of mist passed in front of Sean as he turned to find Flick had already transformed into a fox. “I can smell best in this form,” she said, “but I don’t have anything to use to mark the scent. What’s your plan?”

    “I thought about that while we were walking. Instead of sniffing after the kids themselves, what if we look for something we know they were carrying? Do you know what bilberries smell like?”

    “Of course, I eat them too whenever they’re in season, but there are a lot of bilberry bushes in this part of the forest, lad.”

    “True, but not all of them have just been picked by two clumsy kids. Instead of looking for just the plant, could you track a trail that had the smell of both humans and bilberries mixed together?”

    Flick nodded after a brief hesitation. “Aye, that should work so long as the other hunters don’t stop for a berry snack on their way. Follow me, we’ll start combing the area.”

    The two began to canvas the forest at a brisk pace with Flick concentrating on the ground and Sean following, keeping an eye out for any easy to spot signs of passage above the dirt. He wasn’t confident in his ability to notice anything of consequence, but he figured another set of eyes couldn’t hurt.

    Around them they could hear voices calling for Owen and Caitlin in the woods. Flick made sure to steer them away from the other search parties, winding through the forest to dodge them as they approached. Here and there she paused, sniffing at the earth, before moving on. Eventually, though, she stopped, her tail going straight up.

    “Sean, I think I’ve got them. There’s bilberries and sweat here, moving towards the bog. Should I follow?”

    Sean nodded. “Do your thing, Flick.”

    The fox took off at a brisk trot, dashing through the underbrush. She occasionally had to wait for Sean to catch up, the dense bushes proving more of an impediment to his size. As the trail snaked through the trees, even Sean began to catch the trail. Here and there were tufts of fabric hanging on brambles, strands of hair caught on low hanging branches, all pointing to a couple of children moving carefully – if clumsily – through the forest.

    The bog stink grew stronger as they followed the path the children had broken through the brush. It smelled like damp earth mixed with wet fur, alongside a touch of rotten eggs. Spotting Corvane flying through the trees towards them, Sean raised his arm to give him a place to land and let Flick range ahead.

    “There was no visible sign of the children, Successor.” The raven began, settling on the offered perch. “However, I did hear something odd near the center of the bog. It sounded as if there were children singing faintly somewhere in the vicinity. Given that human children are not naturally gifted with invisibility, I must assume they were underground.”

    “Good work, Corvane. With Flick’s help I’m following their trail now.”

    “Sean! Over here!” Flick called. “I’ve found something you’re not going to like.”

    Corvane moving to his shoulder, Sean made his way up to his companion. The dense pack of trees thinned as the forest gave way to the mire. The fog hovering over the muddy expanse prevented him from seeing very far, but that wasn’t his focus. Flick was standing at the edge of a pool, her fur puffed out, and next to her were two small wicker baskets of bilberries.

    “Well, that’s not good. You’re right Flick, I don’t love what this suggests.”

    The fox transformed back into a woman, who shook her head. “Aye, the children went into the bog alright, but that’s not the half of it. Here at the edge I caught a third scent, one that I haven’t smelled in a very long time.”

    “What was it?” Sean asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

    “Hot grave dirt and tallow – the reek of a will-o-wisp. They used to be the real reason the folk around here avoided the bogs, but they haven’t been around for a few generations now.”

    “Why do you think there’s one here now then?”

    Flick shrugged. “One wisp, two, could be a dozen. Why they’re back though I couldn’t say.”

    “I believe the answer may lie within you, Successor.” Corvane offered. “Or more accurately it did lie within you.”

    Sean winced, “You think the magic the Goddesses siphoned out of me is the cause? It somehow brought these will-o-wisps back?”

    “Indeed.” The raven confirmed darkly. “Aiane may be about to remember it has heroes, but it’ is already remembering it has monsters.”