There came a moment in every adventure when you forgot all about the dangers you had faced, and you just breathed in the sweetness of life. Few things did the trick like being saved from the brink on the last second and after that… it felt like you could do anything.

Which was why she had agreed to her prince’s plan.

Fleeing the village of the damned would have been the safest option but her prince had never been able to ignore such a glaring evil. Cobbler’s Hold had become a cancerous growth that had to be cut out before it spread even further. So, when the sun was up and the forces of darkness at their weakest, the master vampire’s son drove them back to his home village.

It was worrying how much she enjoyed driving.

Car… as the prince had called it was a marvelous invention. It had taken her and Little Ant almost a week to walk to the vampire nest, but the fox prince and Nuncio had covered the same ground in less than a day with this metal apparatus.

The Path of Civilization was indeed insidious.

In return for your freedom and your children’s freedom, you would receive miracles like cars. Just by pushing a pedal and turning a wheel, you could move faster than any horse. She just wished it hadn’t been spewing such noxious, foul-smelling smoke.

She sat in the backseat with Little Ant who could barely contain her excitement while the scenery flew past them. Badger took the moment to enjoy the sun and the wind blowing through her hair. The fight wasn’t over yet. The vampire still had hostages they would have to save. The bear prince was still out there but for now… she would enjoy this moment.

“Can’t you go a bit faster? I know you can go a bit faster.” The fox prince said in the front seat.

“I’m going as fast as I can.” Nuncio said.

“Liar. The liar lies. I can run faster than this.” The fox prince said and perked up at his own words: “We should do a race in The Wyrding. Hey, love. Who do you think is faster? His Savage Highness or a car?”

Old Badger smiled.

“You are the fastest skin-changer in the Wyrding.”

Little Ant glanced at her and then snickered. Even Nuncio, who was a solemn young man, snorted.

“If you were anyone else… I’d take umbrage with that. I take my time where it counts.” The fox prince said.

“I remember.” Old Badger said.

Little Ant stopped snickering and suddenly Nuncio had very little reason to chuckle. The two of them glanced at each other like they were trapped in the car with her and the fox prince.

Finally, they arrived at the edge of the vampire village and even in daylight it looked sinister. Nuncio had to lean against the car for support when he stared forlorn at his hometown. He chewed on his lips so hard Old Badger worried he would bite right through it.

The fox prince put his hand on Nuncio’s shoulder.

“You okay?”

Nuncio shivered when a cold wind only he could feel blew past them.

“I… it’s just… it looks so… rotten.”

The fox prince nodded.

“It will be over soon and the people there… can rest.” The fox prince said and then stared at the house on the hill: “You’re right. He set up an altar there.”

“You can feel it?” Old Badger said.

“Faintly. I lose my powers quickly outside The Wyrding but… I can feel it.”

Little Ant gripped her spear.

“Now what?” The young goblin asked.

In response Nuncio opened the trunk of the car and took out cannisters of gasoline.

“We burn it.” Nuncio said and glanced at the village: “We… burn it all.”

“How are we on gas?” The fox prince asked.

“We can spare three cannisters and still make it back to Leoden. If we dose the right houses… it will burn everything.” Nuncio said.

The fox prince nodded.

“Then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll go and…”

“No.” Little Ant said.

The fox prince turned to look at Little Ant slowly.

“No?”

“No.” Little Ant said again: “I’m the best at sneaking around. We only get one shot at this so I’m our best bet.”

“Ant…” Old Badger sighed.

“Am I wrong, grandmother?” Little Ant asked.

Old Badger scratched her brow and then shook her head.

“You’re not wrong.”

“Didn’t you… almost die in there?” Nuncio said.

Little Ant looked at the village again and squeezed her spear until her knuckles were white.

“I haven’t forgotten.”

The fox prince had become very quiet but finally he kneeled in front of Little Ant so they could see eye to eye.

“Such a daring girl. Such a daring Little Ant. Promise me you’ll come back. Don’t go breaking your grandmother’s heart. Or mine. I still owe you.”

Taken aback, Little Ant hesitated for a moment before looking the fox prince in his deep, blue eyes.

“Your Savage Highness…”

“Yeah?”

“Sparrow… him dying wasn’t your fault. Thank you… for helping us avenge him."

“Helping your people is my duty and pleasure.” The fox prince said.

Little Ant took the cannisters and snuck into the village quiet as only a goblin could. Nuncio watched her go and his worry for her was touching. And admirable. His monstrous father had not been able to kill his caring heart.

“Are you sure it’s safe for her to go alone?” Nuncio said.

“She worships the Quiet. She won’t be noticed.” Old Badger said.

Nuncio bit his lip again and then sat behind the wheel of his car.

“Could I… be alone for a moment?”

“Sure. Call us if anything happens.” The fox prince said and then offered Old Badger his hand.

Old Badger looked at the fox prince’s human hand and then took it. The brown skin was warm, and his palm was calloused. The long fingers were strong but tender. His human form was so young… even younger than Nuncio but his eyes remained the same. They walked away hand in hand to give Nuncio his privacy, but they did not go far. She didn’t want to miss Little Ant’s big moment.

“You’ve raised a brave goblin.” Her prince said when they walked hand in hand.

“I did less than you think. It takes a tribe to raise a child.” Old Badger said.

“If you say so. Her teacher’s name was… Sparrow? Was he from the Bone Flock Tribe?”

“Yes. When a goblin leaves their tribe, they always seem to find their way to the Hillside Tribe.” Old Badger said.

“They know you wouldn’t turn them away. Have you heard from our friends in the Bone Flock?”

“Not as much as I’d like but you know them. Quiet even for goblins.” Old Badger said.

The fox prince nodded and then stroked his beard.

“Badger…”

“Yes?”

“Why didn’t you come to me for help when His Terrible Highness threatened you?”

Old Badger scratched her brow before answering.

“You struggled against the kelpie.”

The fox prince flinched at the mention of the kelpie and rubbed his side where Old Badger knew a large bruise was growing.

“That was…”

“And Little Ant told me how a minor skin-changer bear knocked you off your feet.”

A man’s pride was prickly. A prince’s even more so but the pride of a god was the prickliest of them all.

“I was careless. Nothing more.”

“You’re not as powerful as you used to be. You have lived too long as a human. It has made you tame.” Old Badger said and then looked the fox prince in the eyes: “My prince, promise me that you won’t challenge the master vampire. You can’t beat him.”

“Badger…”

Old Badger’s grip on her prince’s hand became tighter.

“Promise me.”

The fox prince fell silent and then relented.

“I promise.”

“Good.” Old Badger said and then stood on her toes to kiss his cheek: “I’m getting too old to drag you back to life.”

The fox prince leaned down to kiss the crown of her head and then whispered in her ear.

“You could be young again. It’s not too late. You could still live forever.”

She knew. Shew knew all too well. She could still remember what it was like when she could just run from the sheer joy of running. Climb any tree she came across. She remembered and missed not waking up with an aching back. Or having to ask for the name of strangers three times before they stuck. She still remembered the freedom of youth and she knew the pain of your body becoming a shackle. Only when you were old you understood what a luxury time was.

But she knew the price as well and it was too steep for more time.

“In a sea of souls inside a skin-changer. My prince… my soul is my own.” Old Badger said and smiled at him: “Blessing of the Quiet upon you, my prince.”

The fox prince rubbed the corner of his eye.

“And… blessing of the Wild upon you, my princess.”

Her prince sighed and then sat under two trees that had entwined together. Separating them would now be impossible and if one of the trees died, the other would carry the pain with it forever. Old Badger sat next to him and rested her head against his chest. For a moment she felt like a young woman again.

Happy.

In love.

With days stretching on to eternity.

A moment that was over too soon.

Standing up reminded her that she was an old woman with more days behind her than ahead her.

But she still had her prince to lean on.

“I never stopped loving you.” Her prince said: “There never was a day that I didn’t think of you.”

“I know, my love.” Old Badger said.

When they returned to the car, they found that Little Ant had beaten them to it. The cannisters were empty and her hands smelled of gasoline. Nuncio was still sitting in the car, dead to the world.

“It is done.” Little Ant said.

The fox prince lit a torch and offered it to Old Badger.

“Do you want the honor?”

Before she could accept or decline, Nuncio took the torch.

“I’ll do it. This was my home once.” Nuncio said.

After taking one last look at his home, Nuncio threw the torch at the closest house doused with gasoline. Long dead things burned easily, and Old Badger wondered if they’d even needed to use the petrol. The fire spread fast like the spirit of the village itself was fanning the flames. In front of their eyes Cobbler’s Hold became the largest funeral pyre any of them had ever seen. The house on the hill and the evil that had been growing inside it for years was quickly lost in a sea of flames.

The fox prince spread his arms like he was embracing the heat.

“I dedicate this fire to my divine mother! Her Savage Majesty! The ruler of all foxes! Queen of the Wild! I dedicate this fire to my human father! Aaron Torrini! Hero of the Twelve-Year-War! The Romani King of Garuccia!”

Grey ash rained down on them like hot snow while tears ran down Nuncio’s face. He bit his lips hard enough to spill blood when the hill house caught fire and Old Badger hoped the poor boy found some closure. She hoped that the fire could be seen so far and wide that all evil would know that they would never be safe.

Blessing of the Quiet upon you all, Old Badger thought. May your spirits find their way to the Green Lands.

Little Ant hugged her spear while the hill house burned.

“Do you think he felt it?”

A demonic howl erupted from the flames that sent shivers down Old Badger’s spine. She could almost make out the master vampire’s face in the flames when the altar he had sacrificed so much was cleansed by fire. The pain had to be too much for words.

The fox prince smirked.

“Oh, yeah. He felt it.”

The fire raged on for hours, but the time flew by them. None of them even thought about leaving until Cobbler’s Hold was reduced to ash and cinder. Finally, the village was no more.

When it was done, Nuncio had to lean on her prince for support and the fox prince walked him to the car. He helped Nuncio on the back seat and snatched the car keys from him.

“I’m driving.” The fox prince said.