The day was warm and bright with a refreshing October breeze keeping things just right, a perfect day to play. Lemon, nugget, Shriek and Banshee all napped in the partial shade, letting their pregnant bellies hang out in the warm sun. The boys were having their own fun playing a round of darts with a low hanging dart board nailed to a tree with a smarty splayed out on it. The smarty already had several darts sticking out of his belly, one eye and one in the shaft of his pathetic pecker writhed in agony as another one hit his left nut. They paused their game when Earl came from his workshop side door, drink in hand, with Sheriff Brody behind her and a boy, around fifteen and glued to a phone behind her.
âLook, I donât know what to tell you, Janice. I canât keep an eye on him, I got too much work to do. 'Sides heâs old enough to be solo for a few hours.â Taking a swig from his bottle. âWhereâs that deadbeat ex of yours? Isnât Tim supposed to be spending summer with his dad?â
âThe ass⌠(ahem). Ex. Is still in Europe with his new wife on his honeymoon and wont be back for two more weeks. Look I donât need you to watch him 24/7 just be in shouting distance. Youâre just going to be in your shop all day, right? Iâll wave the parking tickets.â
"Huff⌠Fffffine! Tim, come here⌠Hey! Head out of the phone! I will call you by your middle name, TODD! "
âOkay, Okay. Jeez.â Tim answered looking up. âWhat?â
âIâm giving you a heads up. See these fluffies behind me and the puffy-gryphs too? Theyâre engineered, they CAN and WILL hurt you if you give them reason so donât get any funny ideas. Goblin!â Taking another drink.
-Yes, Boss.- Stepping forward.
âThrow a dart at the target.â
Goblinâs horn lit up and a dart lifted free from his vest, this got the kids attention, turning around the dart followed. Taking careful aim the dart suddenly flew sailing right into the smartyâs other eye, burying it to past the grip.
âHoly shit!â
âTimothy!â
âSorry, mom.â
âAnd all four together can pick you up and throw you around so when I say play nice. Play nice. You know where the TV, kitchen and the shitter is, I got a shed full of torture fodder behind the shop if you wanna give it a shot and donât burn down my house. You cook anything you stay in the kitchen till itâs done. Anything I need to know?â
âI could use some help with my homework later. Iâm kinda failing physics.â
âFine. Now go play or something for now.â Turning to head back to his shop while taking another drink.
âBye sweety, Iâll be back before seven.â Heading for her patrol car.
âBye, mom.â He sighed back.
-Bye bye, Sheriff Brody!- Goblin shouted waiving a hoof.
Earl nearly did a spit take mid drink when he heard Goblin talk, it certainly got everyoneâs attention.
âOkay, so the kiddie shows are working.â Wiping his mustache. âNow say, pillow.â
-Piwwow.-
âHm, well itâs still progress.â Heading back to the workshop.
Tim headed to the back door and was almost bowled over by Odin in an all too thrilled to see you display of affectionate face licks, when he opened the door. Odin bolted into the yard grabbing the nearest rubber ball and brought it to Tim, dropping it at his feet and whined excitedly shuffling his front paws. Reaching for the ball it suddenly flew away and Odin was after it just as fast. The ball stopped mid-air next to Goblin with a sly smile that instantly changed to âoh shitâ panic as Odin collided with him going for the ball. Tim was having the same âoh shitâ moment thinking he just watched his uncleâs dog accidentally kill his experiment. Goblin simply got up, shook the dirt from his fluff and looked at Tim.
-You pwaying or what?- Levitating another nearby ball up to Tim close enough for him to grab.
What proceeded was a chaotic bout of the boys, Odin and Tim chasing each other around the yard with spontaneous games of tug-o-war and fetch. The girls looked up at the boys running around then at each other then laid back down, moving only enough to keep their bellies in the warm sun and their heads shaded. Rubber balls flew through the air and Odin was running himself to the point of just laying down and panting on the grass, a captured ball firmly between his teeth. Tim raided the fridge for an energy drink and snatched a few donuts as well before going out to sit on the porch and eat. The boys raided their troughs stuffing themselves then joined Odin on the grass who still guarded his ball knowing it could fly off at any second. Washing down the donuts with the last of the drink he crushed the can and tossed it on the back porch while digging his phone out of his pocket.
âAlright, so Iâm stuck at my uncleâs place but he like a full on hillbilly mad scientist and he made these guys here.â Broadcasting to a live stream. âHey Imp! Throw something!â
Impâs horn lit up and Odinâs ball lifted up and flew off with the dog running after it.
âAnd theyâre tough as hell, too. Theyâve been basically wrestling with my uncleâs husky-Shepard all morning.â
He kept filming as Odin ran by with his ball and Imp skidding across the dirt still holding onto the ball but was out muscled by the heavy dog. Tripping over an extra hard patch of dirt, Imp ate it face first but quickly got up, shook himself off and smiled with a mouthful of dirt and grass for Timâs viewers.
âSee that? Regular fluffs would be a bloody mess! Hey, what else can you guys do?â
Hob pointed a hoof to the houseâs second story roof with Gremlin standing on it waiving at him then jumped. Tim circled the house running to film Gremlin glide down, nearly tripping over a stray garden hose but caught the landing as the other three were helping each other up the roof. He filmed them taking turns jumping off the roof trying to do clumsy little stunts to show off, then Hob tried to do a loop-de-loop but was gliding far to slow to do it. His momentum stopped dead at the peak of the loop, upside down and he dropped flailing in panic. Imp and Goblin were still on the ground and their combined power was enough the slow Hob down enough to land with a hard but safe thud.
-OwwwwwwâŚâŚ- Hob groaned rolling onto his hooves and slowly folding up his wings -Hob done fwying for today.- Arching his back making loud pops with a groan.
-Head hurts after doing that. Thanks dummy.- Imp complained giving Hob the stink eye.
Hob slowly walked over to where the girls were and gently laid down next to Shriek who called him a âdummeh fow showing offâ then gave him loving lick on the cheek before scooching closer. Gremlin had landed by now and the mood seemed to have been almost ruined but Tim still wanted to get something really good on camera.
âYou guys wanna go wander the back woods and see if we canât find some ferals to harass?â
The boys looked at each other then back at Tim and nodded excitedly in unison except Hob.
-Hob just gonna stay here for now⌠Owwie. Take nap with Shriek.-
âAlright, letâs go.â Grabbing a hatchet from a nearby woodpile.
Setting off the three followed but Goblin paused and ran back into the house and moments later came back out. His work vest, full of daggers, draped loosely over his shoulders with two more floating over his head he tossed them to his brothers.
-Reawwy?- Gremlin raised an eyebrow.
âBoss say never weave home unarmed. We weaving, so we armed.-
The two rolled their eyes but took the vests, putting them on as they caught up with Tim and Odin as they reached the treeline taking a narrow grassy dirt trail. The first half hour was fruitless, Odin and the boys sniffing around didnât find much other than the odd racoon or squirrel. It took Tim wandering off the trail for a few dozen yards with Odin following for the dog to finally pick up a scent. The group waded deeper into the woods into areas where smaller things had an easier time navigating. Tim had to start ducking under branches from the towering pine trees, almost having to get down on all fours to keep up. After a frustrating couple of minutes the trees cleared into a wall of bramble bushes with a gap large enough for a small person to duck through. I was a small half acre space and it was full of fluffies, a rough count of twenty or thirty with a row of nests along one wall of hedges, many occupied with immobile mares ready to pop. The mood of the area changed when they arrived, the fluffies who were once happily playing had grown still looking at the five intruders.
-Nu am bwack shadow munstahs?- Asked a random blue mare.
-Wingie-pointy munstahs!- Screamed a yellow colt.
That was the cue Goblin needed as his horn lit up and a dagger lifted from his vest as the yellow colt skidded across the grass coming nose to nose with Goblin
-Bring Gobwin the smarty.- A wickedly deranged grin on his face.
-N-n-nu smawties hewe. Othew munstuhs num any f-f-wuffy dat cawws fwuffy s-s-smawty!-
Goblinâs face shifted into a surprisingly intimidating scowl as the coltâs face slammed into the ground crushing his face flat. He was finished off when Goblin crushed his head under hoof then sent his dagger flying randomly into the herd. With the shriek of a random fluffy getting stabbed the rest attacked, Tim punted a very pregnant green unicorn into a tree bursting open like a pinata full of beef stroganoff. Imp sent a dagger flying through the eye of a blue Pegasus while Gremlin used one to stab a green earthy closer to him then stomped his body to mush. Tim took the blunt end of the hatchet and brained every nesting mare with it after stomping out their entire litters in front of them. Goblin was having his own little meltdown without a smarty to take his conditioned hatred out on, he was just slamming any fluffy he could get his psychic mitts on into the ground as hard as he could. Imp started getting creative, impaling a fat red earthy through the jaw on a broken branch then slit him open from the tip of his pecker and up to the stick. Taking a length of intestine he wrapped it around a yellow mareâs neck who was begging him to stop hurting her special friend and strung her up next to him. Gremlin started force feeding colts and fillies small enough to the adults making sure they got lodged in their throats. He shoved them in ass end first so the stuck young-lingâs terrified shit would fill their lungs. Odin was having a blast snatching up any fluffy he could by the nape or limp and shook them like rag-dolls, often ripping off parts and sending fluffies flying mid shake.
The sun was starting to set by the time they had finished, loosing track of time entirely Tim had to turn on his phoneâs flashlight just to find the exit. Wiping the blood off the hatchet on a clean patch of grass he called for the boys who were collecting their daggers from the bodies.
âMomâs gonna be back soon to pick me up we better get back. Odin! Câmon! Home!â Tim whistled for the dog.
Odin stood frozen his hackles standing high as he let out a low threatening growl, eyes locked on a far corner of the massacre. In the shadows of the growing darkness something moved, it was the shadows themselves, twisting and flowing like a living ink rising from the ground. Several of these masses rose up forming red glowing faces like jack-o-lanterns and inspected the carnage.
âOurrrrrrrr caaaaattlllllllle.â Wailed one in an echoing tone.
âOurrrrrrr hhhhhaaaarrrvvveeeessst!â Shrieked another.
âRrrruuuiiinnnneeeddd!â A third seethed picking up a tattered fluffy corpse.
âTtthheyyyy diiiiid iiiiiittt!â Another pointed at the group.
âBiiiiigg flufffffffieeeessss!â One licked itâs lips âAaaannnnd mmmmooorrrreee.â Looking over the rest.
âMmmmmeeeaaaatt iiissss mmmmmeeeeaaaatt!â
Goblin wasnât going to wait any longer and sent a dagger flying through the air aimed between one of the creatures eyes. It passed through without harm and was caught by another behind it then their grins grew wider and everyone shit just a little.
-Run!- Goblin shouted, bolting for the opening.
Nobody needed to be told twice, Tim was halfway through with the boys crowding around getting wedged in between him and the bushes. They ignored the pain of getting scraped up from the branches and they all tumbled through with Odin leaping past them and vanishing into the night with a creature hot on his tail. Tim scrambled under the pine branches back the way he came with the boys psychically shoving him faster, almost knocking him face first into the grass. Something grabbed his leg and pulled so hard Tim couldnât adjust fast enough to smack his gut into the ground, winding him. Shining his phone light at his leg a creature shrieked letting go to shield itâs eyes then turned around flashing another in front of him, forcing it to back off. Goblin lit his horn up as bright as he could and the rest followed suit keeping the immediate area lit just enough to keep the things at bay. But they couldnât keep it up long, their heads already starting to develop a dull pulsating ache in their brains. Tim took his hatchet and hacked a branch off then tore off his shirt, wrapping it around the branch and stuffing it with dried leaves. Shacking hands fumbled through his pocket for the lighter he wasnât supposed to have and flicked the flint-wheel. The hungry flames caught quickly bathing the area in bright orange light sending the creatures scrambling back.
-Get back to house! Wots of wights!- Goblin shouted throwing a dagger at an off guard creature and managing to hit it.
The boys moved on his order and Tim didnât bother arguing he just tried to keep up with them and not put out the fire. Making it back to the main trail in record time the fire on the torch was starting to fade and were cut off by more of the creatures the flames light becoming more tolerable. Imp screamed as one scooped him up from behind itâs fingers wrapping around his neck his horn lit brightly and he was quickly dropped. Imp completely freaked out and started throwing daggers in every direction, hitting some, missing most. Tim brandished the dying torch in one hand, his phone in the other as they reached closer and closer. The boyâs horns were dimming, the strain on their panicked faces as they tried to throw daggers and keep their horns as bright as possible. The creatures slipped in between them trying to take swipes at them only to be driven off by light or dagger, Timâs torch smoldered out and a creature came flying at him and barely got his phone up in time. Thatâs when one snuck up behind him just as he turned around to see it coming, itâs face parting as a dagger passed through it headed right for his eye. He flinched too late but the dagger never came save for the brief, shrill shriek of metal on metal and when he opened his eyes he saw the dagger sticking out of Earlâs left hand.
Earl yanked the blade free then aimed his hand at the biggest group of creatures and a plume of fire and sparks erupted under his wrist. The creatures scattered as he shoved another dragon fire round into his elbow and aimed it at the closest one.
âThatâs enough!â
Surprisingly they listened.
âWe had an agreement! What the hell are you doing so close to my house and my nephew!?â
âWhaâŚ?â Tim stared slack-jawed
âKiiillled oouurrrr ffffffoooooooddd. Rrrrrruuuuuiiiinnnnneeeddd ooouuurrrr hhhhaaarrvveeesssstt! Wwwwaaannnntt ooouuurrr mmmeeeaaattt! Deeemmmaaanndd rrrreeessstiiiituuutttiiiooonnn!â Declared the creature holding itâs ground.
âI have what we agreed on right here.â Gesturing to medium sized pet carrier at his side guarded by Odin who quietly growled.
The creature lowered itself down and peaked inside, there were a dozen foals inside, all fillies save for one colt, shaking in fear at the sight of the creature.
âEach mare will birth a dozens foals easy and have four extra udders to feed them all and can be ready to breed in six months. Now take them and never come near anywhere thereâs people.â
âNot. Enough. Harvest. RUINED!â The lead creature growled making itâs words very clear.
Earl let out a frustrated breath through his nostrils and dug out his phone and pressed a few buttons. In the distance the house could be seen, some of the lights behind the workshop shut off.
âIn the shed behind my shop are twenty cages full of fluffies, take all of them and get the hell outta here.â
The sound of fluffies screaming in the dark could be heard as the lead creature scooped up the carrier, shot Tim one last dirty look and floated off into the dark.
âU-u-uncle Earl, w-w-what jus-just ha-â
âHouse. Now.â A controlled panic could be heard in his voice.
The march back was brisk, uncomfortably silent and Earl kept his hand on Timâs shoulder the whole way. He ordered the boys back to the corral and to keep the lights on all night, not that they had to be told that and took Tim inside. Turning on every light in the first floor he grabbed a first aid kit and fussed over Tim checking every scratch mumbling about how bad his sister was going to kill him.
âWhat the fuck happened out there?!â Tim finally snapped on the verge of crying. âWhat were those things?â
Earl sighed taking him to the kitchen and making him take a seat, then took a jug of chocolate milk and poured a large glass then added chocolate syrup as well. Stirring it up he handed it to Tim then grabbed a bottle of clear liquor and a shot glass for himself and sat across from Tim at the table.
âDrink it, itâll help you feel better.â Taking a shot.
âChocolate? What? Was it a dementor or some shit!?â
âIâm letting that slide because youâve been through some shit tonight. And no, theyâre much worse than those kids stories. Theyâre Draak, nasty things that used to eat folk till they found out fluffies tasted better. Drink your milk.â
Outside the boys slowly slunk to the corral, heads hung low, eyes droopy, scratched up with missing tufts of fluff and everyone had a nose bleed. They looked up and saw the latch in place and when Imp tried to use his powers to open it he fell to the ground holding his head while crying. Gremlin weakly knocked on the door and soon Hob appeared, still walking a little stiff but otherwise fine.
-Too many head owwies, wet us in, pwease.- Goblin groaned looking wobbly on his feet.
-What the fwuff happened to you?- Opening the door.
-Monsters. So many monsters.- Gremlin started to break down a little.
-Get Imp inside, brother, Gobwin need to way down.- Hobbling through the door.
Each one returned to their doghouses and turned on the inside lights, even Hob after being told what happened, waking their families who were startled to see them in such shape. They just silently curled up with their mates and went to sleep.
Inside Timâs mind was reeling about his uncleâs insane deal to keep a horrific evil out of town.
âSo all that crap on the internet saying that thing you killed being bullshit⌠was bullshit?â Tim asked after downing half the glass. âWhy donât you just kill them, too?â
âThink I havenât tried? Havenât found a way yet.â Taking a shot. â(Cough!) Best I can do is drive them off and keep âem at bay⌠an placate the damn things.â Pouring another. âYouâre a smart kid, figured youâd figure this out by yourself by now. I mean youâre named after two Robins.â Throwing a distraction into the conversation.
âWhat?â Stopping mid gulp of his chocolate milk.
âYeah, yer mom was a big Batman fan growing up. Think about it, Tim Drake and Jason Todd.â
âShe didnât.â Looking about as stunned as when he first saw the Draaks.
âThink about it.â
â⌠Sonuva bitch.â
âI could make a joke about that but youâve had enough tonight, letâs get you a shirt and weâll come up with something believable to tell your mother.â
ââŚI need a change of pants.â He said with a quiet shamed tone.
âRight, code brown wasnât unexpected, you know where the bathroom is, go get cleaned up and Iâll get ya a change of clothes.â
Janice was there shortly after Tim had gotten changed into some sweats and a t-shirt. Earl spun a BS line about the kid playing with fireworks and burning his clothes then got scratched up on a joyride through the woods on his ATV. Standard dumb teenage shenanigans that lead to hard lessons being learned that didnât require further discipline as Earl explained. Tim quietly got into his momâs car and they left and things seemed to return to normal. Dinner was made and ready as Carol returned home from work and the rest of the evening spent watching raunchy parody comedies in each otherâs arms. Later as they climbed into bed for the night Earlâs phone rang with Janice on the caller ID, he picked it up without thinking. She wasnât even on speaker mode but her voice could be heard across the room.
âWhat the hell did you tell my son about his name?!â