Chapter 4
Trewoofe
Trewoofe lingered a moment more. The sight of his little witch’s broad hips swaying from side-to-side as she departed sent a curl of desire through him.
He was always glad of Avice’s company. The midwife brought him cuttings from her garden and honey cakes.
He, in turn, would fill the leather bags she would bring, topping them up with the healing waters from the rivers that ran in the Underneath.
Something shifted from the mere admiration and fancy he had for her today.
Trewoofe saw her grim determination to save the baby he now held, and how she pushed through pain and battled elements to give the child some chance at life.
The Knucker also felt something stir beneath his scales as he watched Avice cradle and kiss the child.
A painful feeling he had tried to forget over the many turns of seasons he had lived – desire.
You are a Knucker, he chided himself. The furthest you should venture from a soul-bound of your own kind… is another type of Dragon. A human woman is simply out of the question.
Hope grizzled and his gaze softened as he studied her. He carefully folded his fingers and thumb over her, so she was safely tucked against his pad.
Trewoofe stole a final glance at Avice.
Part of him wished he had not.
He watched as the woman and Grim jumped down from the final flagstone onto the soft moss beyond.
As she landed, Avice’s generous rear rippled.
Trewoofe jolted at the sight. He felt his blood rush to the folded crest behind his horns.
It popped up, shaped and coloured like butterfly wings.
The white membrane flushed brightly like Spring flowers of pink and purple.
Of their own accord, the Knucker’s coils rippled and vibrated – the beginning of his kind’s courtship dance.
No.
Before Avice could turn back, Trewoofe turned tail and fled, bolting for his hole, running smoothly – even on three legs.
Hope was safely held in his paw, tucked against his lean chest as he plunged beneath the earth.
The cool dark helped calm his thundering heart.
The rush of blood to his crest waned, and it eventually folded seamlessly back against his neck.
Trewoofe let out a huff through his snout. I do not understand, I have not felt that way since… The Knucker shook his head from side to side. My little witch has entrusted me with an important task, and I must get on with it.
He sighed down at the river that ran next the bank he stood on.
He longed to swim, for the warm waters to soothe his reignited desire.
The river glowed, whisps of shimmer rode the current to where the Piskies dwelled.
The earthen walls were laden with a glistening rainbow of embedded crystals, each emitting a low hum, a sound like honey to his ears.
He had always known it meant that the magic here was deep and old, even more ancient than him.
He dashed through the tunnel. Usually, he enjoyed languid swims in the river, its current taking him to the various Faeries who dwelled with him beneath the earth.
But time was short. The healing properties of his saliva would not be enough to keep Hope alive indefinitely, only the transformation into Piskie would do that.
He had considered other Faeries that may take the child.
Many had not had children of their own for many generations; they had twisted into something other since joining his Kingdom.
The bitter sting of being driven out by the Cross God had changed them from playful and mischievous to downright dangerous.
The Piskies would do. Their migration to the Underneath was more recent; they had not been warped, and they still produced children of their own.
Hope will need playmates.
He caught the distinctive scent of Piskie-led.
The place in his Kingdom where Piskie-kind had settled when they had first asked for sanctuary from the world above.
Spring blossoms and rotting leaves invaded his nostrils, making him sneeze.
The jolt made Hope grizzle in his grasp, before she broke out into a wail.
“Hush, hush, now,” Trewoofe soothed. “Nearly there, little one.”
Then, there it was.
The shimmering, shifting river plummeted below. It tumbled into Piskie-led. A hole so deep it took Trewoofe many days to climb down, as unlike the Piskies, he did not have wings. Two guards lingered on the edge of plummet, and they stood to attention as he approached.
“Lord!” they exclaimed together, banging the butts of their spears against the soil with a dull thud, followed by a deep bow.
“You may look upon me,” Trewoofe shouted over the wail of the baby.
“How can we help you?” the female Piskie asked, taking a step forward on her bare feet.
She was undeniably beautiful: smooth, blue skin covered her long, thin limbs. Her dragonfly wings – translucent green – flicked in curiosity. She was nearly identical to the male that stood off to the side. Both guards left their chests uncovered and wore a wrap of lambskin around their hips.
“I know in the past, Piskie-kind has taken on the care of human children.”
“That is true, King, but it has been many turns of seasons since we have had a human child. Since we have taken sanctuary in the Underneath, under your care, we have not even a seen man, woman or child,” the male responded, taking a step forward. “Is the wailing why you ask?”
Trewoofe twitched the end of his rudder-like tail at the question.
It is not the baby’s fault she is distressed.
He opened his paw and lowered the child, so she was at eye-level with the Piskie guards.
“This is Hope. I ask that you raise her amongst your kind. She will not survive long in the world above.”
The female Piskie handed her spear to the male. With long, spindly fingers, she unwrapped the crusty blanket from the baby. She gasped. Her insect-like eyes widened at the sight of the external intestines now tangled with the umbilical cord and after birth.
“Poor child,” she cooed. “She will recover well with Piskie magic.”
“That was what I had expected when I brought her here.”
The female’s long hands wrapped around the baby, gently lifting Hope. The Faerie’s fingers felt hard and twig-like as they brushed against his scales, so different from the soft caress of the back of Avice’s hand.
“We will look after her, Lord,” the Piskie female promised, turning away from the Knucker.
“Wait!” Trewoofe ordered, stopping the Faerie in her tracks.
“Lord?” she questioned, a fearful look on her face.
“I wish to say goodbye to Hope,” the Knucker replied, lowering his head so the tip of his snout pressed against where Avice’s had kissed.
He felt the soft thrum of her pulse through her fontanelle.
They are so fragile, so delicate. He gave the tiniest flick of his forked tongue onto the very top of her head. “Farewell, little one.”
“Is it fine for me to fly down with her, Lord?” the Piskie female asked. “My brother will stand guard, and I will send another to join him in his watch.”
Trewoofe gave a final glance down to the child. “You may descend.”
“Thank you.”
The Knucker watched as the Piskie walked to the edge of the abyss, spread her wings, and jumped. He felt an envious twinge as she took flight, before beginning a slow descent. Trewoofe heard the echoing reverberations of her wings as he turned away.
Knuckers are Dragons of earth and water, he reminded himself, trying to ignore the jealously he felt. There is pride in being able to swim better than an otter and dig better than a fox.
Relief washed over him at the completed task.
Trewoofe stretched out the forelimb and paw that had clasped Hope to his chest, working out the stiffness.
He continued to straighten his long body, sending a roll down his coils, the lustre of them refracting the colours of the surrounding, humming crystals.
Avice will be happy.
The thought of his little witch sent a twitch of desire through him again. He ran his tongue over the roof of his mouth. He had wrapped it around her to aid in the recovery of her injured wrist. It had the unexpected, but welcome, outcome of leaving the taste of her on him – honey and lavender.
Trewoofe felt the blood begin to rush to his crest again, and a roll of craving travelled down his body.
Confused, he shook his head from side to side, before turning his attention to the river beside him.
He leapt, diving through the water as effortlessly as a fish.
The Knucker let the gentle current take him, excited for the next visit from his little witch.