Chapter 4- Mates and bonding

Eli nodded slowly, then held up a hand as if to silently indicate for them to wait. They walked out into a denser patch of woodland, out of sight. Archer held up a hand, his fingers closing, counting down from five to one-

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Eli screeched into the woods, making Peggy startle. They quickly returned again, looking poised and graceful.

“Well, that certainly presents a problem,” they said. Peggy nodded, shell-shocked.

“I assume that people are looking for her?” Archer asked.

“Yes,” Peggy nodded. “Last seen somewhere east.”

“So you’re off to find her?” Eli asked.

“No,” Peggy shook her head. “I’m off to deliver a letter as a part of my Excursion.”

“Excur-?” Archer started.

“Royal things,” Eli said. Archer nodded, as if this were normal.

“I think Aurellia is onto something, though,” Peggy said. “She’s sending me to this sisterhood of priestesses who know about the stars. Apparently, her majesty said something about the stars before disappearing.”

“Ah! A lead!” Eli beamed.

A meaty thunk came from where Mikael was. Peggy went to turn to look, but Eli caught her head in their hands and forced her to look at them.

“You don’t want to know,” they said. “So, what did her majesty say?”

Peggy frowned.

“What is-”

“You don’t want to know!” Mikael called over to them. It sounded like he was digging now? Peggy let out an exasperated sigh.

“She said that the Stellar Lupis had moved,” Peggy said. Eli frowned.

“Well now, that is odd,” they murmured.

“Anyone want to fill me in?” Archer asked.

“You really haven’t been listening to Mikael, have you?” Eli sighed. “The Stellar Lupis, or the wolf star, it’s a constant star, like the North Star. It’s useful for travelers specifically because it doesn’t move.”

“Exactly,” Peggy said.

“So if it’s moved,” Archer said slowly.

“Then something is seriously fucked!” Mikael yelled as the sounds of digging continued.

“What my friend said,” Eli nodded.

“Hence the letter,” Peggy said.

“So, I guess we’re coming with you,” Eli said.

“Pardon?” Archer asked, frowning.

“Well, I’m not about to let my basically cousin walk into the woods and be eaten by a rogue!” Eli protested.

“We need to get to Lycan territory before-”

“She’s been there almost five years, Archer, a few more weeks won’t kill her!” Mikael said as he walked over. Eli glanced at the rogue and let go of Peggy’s face.

“You don’t know that,” Archer growled.

“I can scry on her if-” Eli started.

“No!” Archer shouted. “I’ve fucked this up enough already, I don’t want her to notice and think I’m some creep spying on her!”

“... Who?” Peggy asked.

Archer’s shoulders fell, and he sighed.

“Oh, here we go,” Mikael said, flopping onto the floor.

“Get ready for his traumatic backstory,” Eli said, patting Peggy on the shoulder and sitting next to Mikael.

“It is traumatic!” Archer protested.

“Ok, now I’m kinda invested,” Peggy said, sitting next to Eli.

“You are all impossible!” Archer shouted.

“Is she your sister, your mother-?” Peggy started asking.

“My mate!” Archer snapped.

“It’s a messy ex kinda situation,” Eli explained. Peggy nodded solemnly.

“It is not! The bond is still there!” Archer protested.

“She did the rejection ceremony,” Mikael pointed out.

“But it didn’t work!” Archer argued. Peggy was starting to think she had just stumbled into an ongoing thing for the group.

“I mean, you claim the mate string is there, but-” Eli started.

“You couldn’t see it even if it hadn’t almost been severed by a nine-foot-tall sword,” Archer huffed.

“He has a point,” Peggy nodded.

“Please don’t feed his delusions,” Mikael sighed.

“You’re the one apparently following him on a cross-country adventure,” Peggy said.

“He needs to, like, not die,” Mikael countered. “Besides, I need to find my mate.”

“Find her?” Peggy asked. Mikael nodded. 

“Yeah, she’s not at the pack, I’d have felt her already. So she’s out there, somewhere.”

“And you’re here because?” she asked Eli.

“I’m a cleric, and I’ve taken a vow of celibacy. So the whole mate thing isn’t happening for me, and again, these two idiots need to not die,” they explained. Peggy nods.

“Sounds like figuring out why this star is moving is pretty important,” Mikael said.

“Yeah,” Peggy sighed. “I need to head toward Lynata-”

“Oh, that’s over the mountains and a little way on right?” Eli asked.

“Right,” Peggy agreed.

“Isn’t that in the wrong direction for us?” Archer asked, folding his arms. Mikael nodded and pulled out a map.

“We came from the North West, Lynata is in the North East, and the Lycan territory is in the South East,” Mikael said, showing Peggy the map.

“Ah,” she said, her shoulders sinking.

“Buuut, but, but, but,” Eli said, holding up their hands, having had an idea. “The priestesses know some pretty strong magic if I remember right. Could we ask them to teleport us?”

“Teleportation is an option?” Archer asked, slightly glaring at Eli.

“It’s high-level stuff, ok! I haven’t learned it!” they protested.

“So you guys get me to Lynata, and I can help convince them all to teleport you,” Peggy offered. Archer scoffed.

“What could you have to offer them when you couldn’t even defend yourself from a rogue?” he huffed. Peggy shrank back, but Eli put a hand on her shoulder.

“Archer, I know you’re mad, but don’t take it out on Peggy,” Eli said firmly.

“I just…” Archer stuttered, gesturing wildly, before growling and storming off…

“He’s fine.” Mikael said, rolling his eyes.

“He just misses his mate,” Eli said with a soft smile.

Peggy nodded slowly. She couldn’t explain it, but it felt like there was a thread she needed to pull on here.

“What was his mate like?” she asked.

Mikael and Eli shared a concerned look before looking back at Peggy.

“Come on, let’s talk and get ready to bed down. You have a tent ready, right?” Eli asked. Peggy pointed to her tent.

It had collapsed again.

Mikael snorted.

“Let me show you how it’s done,” he said, rolling up his sleeves. Peggy watched for a moment. Her eyes drifted over to a pile of dirt that looked a bit more red than the rest of the dirt… But she remembered Eli’s words and looked away. Eli folded their arms and watched.

“So… Archer’s mate was Ariadne…” they said.