“Here it must be.” Tilly spoke. On the road between Oakham and Whitbury there was only a single inn and on this dark, rainy evening in November its lights were hardly to miss far and wide. The fourteen years old girl covered in a long brown hooded cloak rode a big black horse.

“About time!” the animal grumpily piped up with a dark voice “I can’t stand this pouring rain already.” Indeed, the stallion was no ordinary horse but an each-uisge, an actually highly dangerous, man-eating water horse that traveled around together with the young woman on his back for some mysterious reason.

The each-uisge who was called Domhnull had met Tilly for the first time a little more than three years ago. Back then the girl wasn’t much more than a haggard begging orphan. Somehow the child had melted the merciless heart of the water monster. Thus the steed had volunteered to bring her out of the wilderness and to the next settlement if she spread the legend of the each-uisge in return. They had reached their destination but didn’t part there; rather they continued their journey together from there on. Thanks to the stallion, the young woman had been doing much better ever since than during her begging days because he was able to provide money for her life. That enabled her and him to afford sufficient food, good clothes and a good saddle respectively – Domhnull had prohibited bridle and reins though – and lodgings. Rumors had that wherever they passed by time and time again the fat livers of fraudulent merchants, cruel bandits, and heartless moneylenders swam on the water in the morning, and the legend wanted to know that an oddly righteous each-uige had his hand in this.

With still some distance from the appealing tavern, Tilly descended from her mount that made use of the darkness of the night to take human shape with what he was skilled at as well. As such, an elegant black-haired young man of about twenty years whose hair and fine black garment were nonetheless as soaking wet as the fur of his horse shape strode alongside the girl.

Squealy the tavern’s door from oak planks opened. Each-uisge and human girl stepped into the flickering light of the chimney fire lighting up the main room. Now stepped out of the rain, Tilly threw back her hood and exposed a partly still girly, partly already feminine face with clear blue eyes whose brownish complexion bore witness of constant travels. Her long straw-blonde hair looked neat and was braided to a comely plait.

Domhnull for his part looked drenched but still with a certain grace as he let his dark eyes gaze through the taproom. The tavern was full of guests who had searched cover from the wet thunderstorm and were forced now to spend the night here. The town gates of Oakham and Whitbury were closed at this time anyway.

“What can I do for the gentleman and the young lady?” the innkeeper asked, a chubby, sturdy man with grey beard and bald head who dried his hands with a towel. He had apparently decided to greet the newly appeared guests because especially the appearance of Domhnull looked wealthy although a little watered.

“Food, drink, and a room for the night.” The each-uisge in human shape demanded with a deep voice.

“Very well, Sir.” the publican replied “How is a warm soup to warm your damp bones?”

The water monster nodded affirmatively. Thereupon, the landlord lead them to a table were there were still two free seats and then returned behind the counter to inform his wife that she should get two dishes of soup ready.

Soon afterwards, two plates with steaming vegetable soup and two mugs of mulled wine stood before them which they consumed quietly. Tilly and Domhnull conversed as little as possible in presence of other people because even if the water horse was able to take human shape, his monstrous origin could still be heard from his dark voice. Besides, their table companions, three heavily built and unrefined men, were loud enough already as they bawled how they would be rich and able to bath in beer every day soon.

At last, one of the boors took a look at Tilly. “Yer a pretty lass.” he spoke and burped complacently “Whaddaya say? Wanna sleep a night with me? I’m gonna show ye joys ye can’t even imagine.”

Disgusted, the girl jerked back.

“C’mon! No need to be shy!” the ruffian said without bothering about it and reached out to her with his chunky hand.

Then Domhnull grabbed the man at his wrist so that his bones cracked, and growled: “She doesn’t want to! Can’t you see it?”

The brute and his comrades regarded the black-haired young man who got in their way with rather unfriendly eyes but turned away from him and Tilly after all. The guy who had made approaches grimly rubbed his hurting wrist at the same time.

Later Tilly and Domhnull lay in their beds. They had gotten a small room with two beds but it had costed considerably. Three gold coins to be exact. Although this price seemed similar to highway robbery, but at a crowded evening like today a place to sleep was not easy to get, especially since they didn’t want to risk getting a community room together with those brutes. The girl surely shouldn’t lose her virginity to an obscure uncouth klutz.

So they lay on pricking straw mattresses in wooden bed frames, covered with bug-ridden wool blankets but that was better than nothing after all. Whereas gentle, even breaths could already be heard from the young woman’s bed, the each-uisge still lay awake, although with his eyes closed. He was afraid that their table companions could try to get revenge for the suffered disgrace under the cover of night.

And really the room door soon opened quietly. Domhnull stayed alert. Faint steps pattered over the floor and turned to his bed.

Suddenly something heavily pressed on his chest.

The water monster cast up his eyes and jumped out of the bed.

The noise made Tilly wake with a start. She looked around with blue eyes opened widely and asked: “What’s up?” When she rose, she only wore a modest but not unstylish brown dress embroidered with a hem of flowers that wasn’t able to completely hide her budding femininity.

“That’s up!” the each-uisge answered and pointed to a small figure rolling over the floor. The oil lamp lit shortly afterwards revealed the sight of a small, unspeakably ugly, grey-haired little man, barely taller than a human ankle, who was clad wholly in green. The attacker was not at all what the girl and the water horse turned human had expected. The midget pulled himself together again, flashed his eyes fiercely at the two others and shouted harshly: “Let them go, you scoundrels!”

“Let who go?” Tilly asked confused.

“Say, do you play dumb?” the old man asked snappily “I talk about the pixies that your three cronies have caught, of course. I’ve seen you eating together after all.”

Now the scales fell from the two’s eyes. It weren’t they at whom the tiny being’s wrath was directed but the three boors who had sat at the same table. Domhnull felt how the rage slowly boiled in him. He hadn’t to put up with something like this after all, especially when he was innocent.

The young woman, who realized how her companion felt, immediately tied his hands. The each-uisge’s rage was something she didn’t want to witness anymore if possible.

“Let me settle this.” she spoke. Consequently she explained the old man patiently how it really was. The grumpy midget initially didn’t want to believe her but was persuaded at last too.

“Sorry.” the elderly man reluctantly hissed with clenched teeth. Then he explained upon request that he was a spriggan. His name was Moriud. He worked as a bodyguard for a prestigious lineage of pixies like everyone in his venerable family. The seasoned bodyguard served the triplets Eldoc, Benli, and Categirn for some time. They had decided two days ago to jaunt to watch the hustle and bustle in the human towns. Moriud had pressingly discouraged them to do so, cautioned them against the viciousness and treachery of humans but they ignored his opinion and then they departed with the bodyguard in their wake – he couldn’t let them go alone after all. When the three cocky pixies explored a seemingly deserted camp they got caught and abducted by the same three scoundrels whom the spriggan had followed to this tavern. They planned to sell the three midgets to the highest-bidding noble, an audacity the old bodyguard had to prevent by all means.

Touched, Tilly decided that she wanted to help the poor little beings. Domhnull took the view that they and the old spriggan didn’t deserve this – “Pride comes before a fall.” he said – but he still backed down after Moriud had promised to reveal to them a treasure buried nearby, should they help him. Apart from being bodyguards spiggans in particular also were known as guardians of hidden treasures.

Shortly afterwards the young woman, her nonhuman companion and the pixies’ bodyguard stood in front of the three abductors’ room. That those three had rented their own room, they had learned so from the publican’s account books they secretly had gained access to. It was no wonder because flaunting the pixies in a community room was as good as shouting dozens of pilferers directly into the face that they carried the proverbial golden goose – although, during dinner they hadn’t quite stayed inconspicuous.

Domhnull kicked open the door of the room without much ado. He had to pick a bone with those three because of their advances on Tilly anyway.

Woken up by the noise, the ruffians immediately jumped at attention. The notorious rowdies were less than delighted that they were given an unexpected nightly visit. The water monster wasn’t bothered by neither the nasty looks and filthy insults nor the fierce threats or the angry fist attacks and knife assaults greeting him. He avoided the attacks masterfully.

One.

Two.

One of the pixies‘ abductors got the each-uisge’s fist in the stomach and crumpled moaning onto the floor. The monster’s fist admittedly was less hard than his hooves but there wasn’t much difference.

Three.

Four.

The smallest of the three men who appeared to make up for his lacking height with additional width – consisting solely of muscle mass – was lifted into the air by Domhnull at his brown-haired ponytail at the back of his head. He screamed in pain when the hair roots pulled at his scalp.

Five.

Six.

The man lifted at his hairs was hurled straight into the face of his last standing crony. Together they flew to the wall in the rear were they were left lying unconsciously.

“Young Master Eldoc! Young Master Benli! Young Master Categirn!“ Moriud shouted loudly. Thereupon, muffled but agitated voices rang out from beneath one of the beds. The spriggan rushed there immediately but had to find that the three pixies were captivated in a wicker birdcage.

Now it was Tilly’s turn. With her slim arm she caught under the bed, fetched the birdcage veiled with a dirty cloth, and liberated the captives from it. Those red-haired boys clad in green with the little red caps on their heads were not a bit taller than their bodyguard, rather they appeared even more delicate. They also had to put up with a well-deserved sermon from him. The three rowdy pixies gave Tilly their thanks quite well-behaved, their faces with the upturned nose and the pointed ears blushed with embarrassment, but they didn’t do so to Domhnull though, whom they seemed to fear. Indeed the triplets, who, like all of their kin, liked to go for a ride with other people’s horses at night, had once had negative experiences with a water horse, albeit a kelpie.

Still under the cover of night they all skulked off from the inn. The each-uisge and the girl had paid for their room beforehand anyway so that the innkeeper surely wouldn’t suffer a loss. Fortunately the rain had stopped in the meanwhile and even the waxing moon could be seen from between the clouds.

Like promised, Moriud showed his protégés’ saviors a treasure hidden nearby. In fact it was an old earthen pot full of copper and silver coins that was buried in between the roots of the old lime tree in front of the tavern. Eldoc, Benli and Categirn were very hurried to return home thereafter. The pixies likely had enough of adventures for the next time. Although the spriggan still grunted moodily, he also didn’t seem to be unhappy with the conclusion of the whole matter.

Despite the cold night, Tilly and Domhnull too weren’t unhappy, as they had made no insignificant sum of money after all – at the expense of their sleep and a warm lodging though. After Domhnull had taken his horse shape again he felt considerably more comfortable with, he and his rider trotted off to Whitbury that would open its gates for them in the morning.