The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5

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>Adler: You set about rounding up some butterflies when a thought occurs to you... something Rebecca said about the effects of butterflies;

As I chased butterflies around inside the stone circle (they flitted through here more often than you might think), I remembered that Rebecca had said that when they flapped their wings they caused storms and hurricanes on the other side of the world. If I gathered too many of them together in one place, the storm they generated could be powerful enough to lay waste to the entire planet! But wait... that couldn't be right. I had frequently seen large swarms of butterflies. If the beating of their wings unleashed such destruction, then wouldn't the world already be annihilated? This implied that the cataclysmic weather effect must be a product of intention. The butterflies had to consciously will it to happen. Yes, that made sense. Going forward from that conclusion, it was clear that incorporating butterflies into my entrance would make me look even more powerful and awesome! How incredible, not only to tame the Raccoon Monster, but also to have an entire kaleidoscope of butterflies at my command! However, before I used these butterflies, I had to be sure.

>Adler: As a butterfly perches daintily on the tip of your finger, you glare at it and conjure up the most intimidating voice you can muster.

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"Listen up, butterfly," I said sternly in my most no-nonsense voice as one of them perched on my finger. "Let me make this perfectly clear: You don't cause any trouble and I won't cause any trouble for you. Cooperate, and I can make it worth your while. You understand?"

>Butterfly: You say nothing as you are a butterfly.
>An Ixie: You alert your sire that the coven is drawing near, he should take his place now. Also, what is he doing?
>Adler: You take the butterfly's silence for compliance.

The butterfly flexed its wings slowly as it considered my proposal, no doubt triggering monsoons somewhere far away.

"My assassin cloak got turned into this witch outfit," Burnside exclaimed as she dashed up to me, brandishing a machete. "It's a little raggedy. Reckon it's scary enough? I still think there oughta be some blood an' matted hair on this blade. If I'da known we was doin' this, I wouldn've cleaned it."

"Sire, the coven approacheth," an Ixie alerted me. "Time to take thy place and ... what art thou doing?"

"I'm just making sure we understand each other," I informed her. Turning back to the butterfly, I muttered, "I take your silence for a sign of assent. Let's do this."

>Adler: You gather everything you need and hop into your hiding place. You heart picks up, the last few times you tried making a grand entrance didn't work out so well. You need to make this one count. You steel your nerves and mentally prepare yourself as you hear them approach.

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I would have liked to gather more butterflies, but I was out of time. Five was still pretty impressive, especially considering how powerful they were. I pooked us all to the top of the dolmen and lay down in the grass up there.

"Busy busy busy," an Ixie declared as she flew past.

"We have much to do for our master," another Ixie proclaimed theatrically.

"Don't oversell it," I thought, then hunkered down out of sight in the concealing grass as I saw Burnside turn towards a rustling disturbance in the undergrowth.

>Adler: You have to stifle a laugh as you hear them collectively gasp at the sight of Burnside standing guard. She says her lines and you hear the coven nervously shuffle forward into the circle. So far so good...

"Enter these here sacred precincts," she intoned solemnly, "only if y'all are worthy an' brave enough."

Burnside was doing great! I could barely suppress a grin as I heard the witches gasp and then shuffle forward in awe.

"Intruders!" an Ixie shouted. "Interlopers! Begone! We've no time to deal with thee!"

"We are ever at work, doing the bidding of our mighty sire," another one shouted.

"Mayhap these be the guests we were told to expect," another Ixie theorized.

"These? Fie! Look they worthy, thinkest thou?"

Oh yes, this was going even better than I had dared to hope. I'd give them a few more seconds to take it all in, and then make my big appearance.

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And with that, it is time for me to disappear.

You see what day it is. Your stupid lowfolk holiday season starts tomorrow. You know who goes on the prowl looking for elves this time of year.

No way is mama Mavis' bright-eyed boy getting stuck making toys, no siree! So I'm going to shuffle off to an undisclosed location.

Someone will be here next week to continue the story while I'm away.