Free Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free by Randy Henderson Page A

and nobody will be harmed.”
    Three men and one woman stepped into the clearing and spread out to form a half circle between the feybloods and the forest. Enforcers from the Department of Feyblood Management. They wore padded tactical gear and heavy boots that shifted color to camouflage them, and protective helmets with shaded visors no doubt enchanted to protect against psychic attacks, stone gazes, and more. One man wore a Fu Manchu–style moustache with silver beads woven into the dangling ends. The woman and, I was surprised to see, two of the men had instead two small braids with the same style beads dangling from behind their ears, visible beneath the edge of their helmets. And they all held telescoping batons that glowed blue like lightsabers.
    The dwarf’s obsidian eyes flashed at me. “You lie. You come for us.”
    â€œI didn’t, I swear.” I raised my empty hands to show both the dwarf and the enforcers I wasn’t a threat. Beside me, Sal fluffed up, and I saw Challa do the same. The water nymphs slipped quietly into the river and were gone.
    The dwarf shouted, “Dunngo do nothing wrong!”
    Silene raised her own hands. “Everyone, just stay rooted. We have our rights. They cannot take us away without good cause.”
    The woman enforcer said, “Actually, we have good cause, and I think you know it.” To the crowd, she shouted, “I’m Knight-Captain Reyes, here to bring in four suspects for questioning. If those involved in the attack on the alchemist will just step forward, we can make this quick and easy.” She looked at me. “Gramaraye, please step away from the feybloods.”
    â€œGramaraye?” Challa demanded, and a ripple of unhappy sounds passed through the crowd.
    The waerfox looked to her fellow feybloods and said, “He wants to make us his slave!”
    â€œRomey, don’t—” Silene began.
    â€œDunngo not be slave!” the dwarf said, and surged toward me on a wave of dirt, stony fists raised.
    Oh crap. It was clobberin’ time! And I was the one about to be clobberin’ed.
    â€œStop!” Silene shouted.
    I turned and ran. I had nothing that could stop a charging dwarf.
    I corrected my direction for the space between two of the enforcers so they didn’t think I charged at them.
    I could hear the rumble and grinding of earth and rocks growing close behind me. Sweat sprang up cool and sudden on my arms and forehead.
    The nearest enforcer closed the distance to me, dropped to his knee and slammed the butt end of his glowing baton against the ground as if spiking a football. The grass and moss rippled out from his strike like water from a dropped stone.
    I was thrown forward to the wet earth, and as I tumbled I saw Dunngo’s waist crumble out from beneath him, sending his upper body rolling across the grass.
    â€œEnough!” Knight-Captain Reyes shouted.
    The dwarf righted himself, and earth mounded up beneath him to form a new waist.
    â€œDunngo, stop!” Silene said. “Think of our clan, our cause.”
    Dunngo raised his fists again, and leaned in my direction.
    â€œPlease,” Silene pleaded. “You won’t avenge your son by dying.”
    The dwarf turned his obsidian eyes from me to Silene and back, and lowered his fists. “Dunngo say all arcana badbright mud-hearts.”
    â€œDuly noted,” Reyes said drily. She raised her voice again. “For those four feybloods involved in the attack on the alchemist, this is your last chance to submit yourself for voluntary questioning as subjects of the Silver Court. Otherwise, we will identify and arrest you as enemy combatants.”
    Romey, the waerfox, shouted, “Did you arrest the alchemist for questioning, too?”
    â€œThat isn’t your concern,” Reyes responded.
    â€œOf course not,” Romey said.
    A wave of grumbling and restless stirring swept over the feybloods, like news spreading