*Angus' POV*

(~Earlier in the evening, just as Dusk began~)

I mused on my way to my shelter. Merry Willows was about five days away, headed West, four if we made excellent time. Though neither Alissa nor I were Night Fae, we could still make a little distance tonight before setting up camp.

Once I was home, I selected the smaller of my pre-packed rucksacks and grabbed a small messenger bag. I paused for just a tic. Times had been changing rapidly. I didn't want to alarm Ellen, but... I grabbed a scrap of parchment and scribbled out a lighthearted message:

'I'm off to Merry Willows, see you in a bit.
Love Always,
Your Dirty Devil'

I left it on the kitchen table. After further thought, I caved and decided to bring Hangover with me. Hopefully Ellen wouldn't notice it was gone, but knowing her, she'd check inside the bench as soon as she saw the note. Ugh.

I generally just brought a dagger, and left my old short sword at home, but... I had a feeling I’d need it. If Lemmy wanted an armed guard with me, I wanted to make myself as useful as possible, not just run around with my hands in the air like some wanker. I would do my best to give anyone who gave us any trouble quite the lasting headache.

---

Soon enough, I found myself rapping on the door to Elder Lemmy's office. Angela let me in, and as Lem rose to greet me, I saw Alissa was already there. Good.

"Angus! Thanks so much for accepting the call and all that!" He came round his desk and gave me a hearty backslap. "Have a seat, would ya like some, erm, water?"

I grinned. Lemmy had never really been able to comprehend why I wouldn't want to drink, been utterly mystified by the concept. He’d drink with the flies if he had no company. But, he'd always been respectful of my apparently bizarre preference. "Nah, man. Just hit me with what you've got, and I'll get it there for you all the sooner, yeah?"

Lemmy nodded and sat. "Right. So, here's the deal: I have a letter for Councilwoman Tarja, you know her?"

I nodded. I had been a lot of places, met many people, lots of pollys. Sometimes, after so long, it gets difficult to keep them all straight. But Tarja was damned hard to miss. She had to be almost seven foot tall, maybe more. Though many years back, I had seen her father and older brother a few times, and she was a shorty compared to both of them. I’d never met her mother, but I was willing to bet Tarja had her to thank for her rather lovely facial features.

But either way, aye, Tarja had strayed very far from the rest of her family, except her husband, I supposed. I wondered if anyone else in her family had turned their back on taking up arms to defend Merry Willows? Though even her husband was a Watchman, actually, now that I thought about it... I wondered if the whispers I heard about the Night Watch's new ward were true? If Andrew really had a hybrid Watchman as a warden, could she be Tarja’s daughter?

Lemmy leaned back in his chair, appraising me for a moment, then glanced at his Guard. "Angela, Alissa, would you leave Angus and I to have a word for a moment? I'll ring in a bit"

"Elder," they said in tandem before bowing their heads and leaving the room.

Lem looked at me. "I see them gears fuckin turnin', Ang! You and I are both two sour, old fucks-"

I chuckled. "-Watch who you call old now, Lem! I'm damned near a century younger than you, you bloody old cactus!"

Lemmy grinned widely. "Fucking bollocks, shut up and listen, Ang! What I'm saying is that you and I both know the shit's about to hit the fan in a big way. This letter has to do with when that happens. It’s part of our plan for afterwards, Ang. What we do then.” Lemmy leaned forward, now serious.

“If this letter gets damaged, the most important thing it says is that, if the Soul is destroyed, we have one new, albeit kinda shit and only temporary, final hope-" Kinda crap, eh? Well, leave it to Lemmy to be upfront.

"-We will need everything to defend it, because after that, there will be nothing we can do to save the Forest, Ang. All the water will go dry, all the plants will die, all the animals will dehydrate or starve. It will be over. As in, it will all be over, for everyone, for everything." Fuck me.So... We needed help!

Lemmy nodded. "Yeah, I see them gears keep turning. Tarja’s father was strong enough to hold hordes of enemies at bay for centuries. When his son was old enough to help him, they were almost unstoppable. It doesn't matter what Tarja’s reasons were for refusing to defend Merry Willows- cowardice, wanting acceptance, all of that will be totally irrelevant, if the Soul is lost or destroyed. Her father is dead, I don’t know where her brother is. That letter is telling Councilwoman Tarja that if the Soul falls, we will be sending for her to defend our last bastion of hope. If she wants a Council to be a part of, she'll come running if we call."

"But Lem, a Civilian? I-" Did Tarja even know how to use weapons, at all?

Lemmy shook his head. "You don't understand, Ang. If it comes to that, everyone who could stand will fight. Because if we lost, everyone would die. Every single Forest Fae alive would die, Ang. We don’t have the supplies to make it elsewhere, there would be wholesale slaughter fighting over them." I just looked at him for a moment, blinking. I had always known, in theory, the consequences of the loss of the Soul, but it had always been abstract…

"As you may have guessed, there's more to the message than that, but that is what you need to know.” Lemmy narrowed his eyes at me and leaned forward. "Ang, Tarja's father could rip a troll in half with his bare hands, I saw him do it." I couldn't stop my mouth from opening a little. I mean, shit, that was pretty motherfucking impressive! "Now can you see why it certainly wouldn't hurt to get his prissy daughter to fight for her life, for all life in the Forest, alongside the rest of us? We need all the souped-up Fae we can get, even if they are bureaucratic cunts, right? The fate of the entire Forest is at stake- play it smart, alright?"

I looked at Lem. I'd probably actually spoken with Tarja more than he had, which still wasn't too often. Something in my gut told me she wasn't all bad, per se. She just wasn't like us, anyway, not like the Wild Ones...

I wondered if there was more to the story. I wondered if the connection I was making in my head could be true? Could Tarja have actually exiled her own daughter? "Lem, you know I'm good at that kinda shit. Sympathetic ear, whatnot. I'll take care of it. I assume, if I'm mortally wounded, give Alissa the message to deliver?"

Lem frowned. "Well you're a fucking buzzkill, shit! Sure, I guess." Lemmy passed me a thick, formal envelope, signed and officially sealed with wax, before ringing the bell.

Angela and Alissa were back in the door almost immediately. "Alright you two, travel safe!”

I turned to leave, when Lem caught my shoulder. “Ah, I almost forgot- the brother I mentioned, Henry. See if Tarja knows where he is these days. Even as a young man he was an incredible fighter, though he had quite a temper, as I recall. He left the tribe he was originally exiled to, from Merry Willows, centuries ago; I couldn’t track him down.” Lemmy motioned at the messenger bag where I had put the envelope.

“That's all in the message too, but just in case it's damaged. Now get the fu-humm, have a, uh, fun journey!" I snickered as I waved at Lem on our way out. Funny how he was Elder but he had his balls busted by his own Guard!

Notes

*Slight time discontinuity so as to bring continuity of story*

->zing magic time warp<-