Stepping out into rain hadn't been expected and her wings had moved automatically to shield her from it, leaving her to smirk at Daemon. Kai had huddled in beside her at one side with Uzo at the other. Jaia didn't seem to care but Daemon was glaring at them all resentfully that he was being left out.
At least there wasn't a lot of fabric to her outfit to get wet. Taking Kai's hand, they followed after a sullen demon and continued deeper into the dripping forest.
"Where are we?" Kai called out, sticking close to her side.
"Most of these places don't have names. But we are in the birthplace of the werewolves. The humans here don't speak Common so there's no point in trying to communicate with them. But they're an interesting looking bunch."
He wasn't wrong, and she had found herself distracted by the universal beauty of the humans. They had deep fawn coloured skin and dark eyes, dark hair and most of the men had facial hair. They wore bright colours, the woman in long flowing skirts that Etani immediately wanted.
"Are they aware of mythicals?" she asked as she watched a small village from the ridge above.
"Yes, mostly. I don't think they are that aware of the spectrum of species but they do know we exist,"
"Can I go down there?" she breathed, desperately wanting to see some of them up close.
"No, we're looking for a werewolf," Daemon said but she ignored him.
Flicking water off one wing at the demon, she leapt off the ridge and while she didn't fly, her wings stretched out and her fall was slow.
The people in the village saw her and their language was musical, animated.
She heard the growling and knew she was going to be in trouble, but she wanted to see. She mustn't have seen all that much of the human world, she had never seen anything except the soft whites and creams of the humans near and around Ayathian's continent.
But these humans looked entirely different, huddling under rooves or holding up little canes with a circular sheet on top to protect them from the easing rain.
Landing gently in the soft mud, she started towards the people and they for her, both as fascinated by the other.
When they touched her arm, she found them to be warm with rough hands and wide, white smiles.
Up close she was astonished to find such perfectly smooth skin with barely an imperfection amongst them. They spoke almost constantly in that musical language and Etani shook her head, not understanding.
Taking one young woman by the face, she studied the young beauty whose cheeks had turned red at the pleasure.
Slowly, she leant forward and pressed a kiss against the woman's forehead, and she giggled. At least that was a universal sound she could understand.
She lingered there with the humans for only thirty minutes or so, finally pointing to the skirt and then at herself and a small group of women left and returned with a pile of clothing. Etani was delighted and pulled the clothes on, twirling to feel her skirt fluttering up around her thighs.
Reaching up under her new skirt, she wriggled out of the metal skirt and offered the silver to them in exchange and they took it along with the fabric, chatting away happily at the precious metal.
Smiling, she waved goodbye to the humans and headed back out of the village and back up to the waiting vampires.
She rather liked the way her skirt moved around her calves, made of a large number of colourful strips of fabric stitched together and then attached to a wide belt that tied at her side. It moved beautifully around her and when are twirled, it formed a colourful circle around her. The colours were perfect, browns and deep greens interjected with a soft cream and dark red.
Her top only just reached below her ribcage, leaving her midriff bare but it was a rich brown colour and hung off her shoulders.
There was only Kai and Uzo remaining when she reached them and she tilted her head, curious.
"They went on," Kai said gently, staring at her new outfit with a slight smile. "It suites you," he said as he took her hand and they set off into the forest.
The rain picked up again as they travelled north, their fast pace allowing them to catch up with the others within an hour. Much to her surprise, a stranger was sitting with them and he beamed at their appearance.
"Is this her?" he asked cheerfully and Versalis nodded.
"Etani, this is Benjamin. He's graciously offered to share his magic with you."
Immediately she was suspicious, and she glanced at Kai who was staring at the man with narrowed eyes.
"Why?" Etani asked after a pause.
"In exchange for a future favour should I ever need one," Benjamin said.
She tilted her head and studied the man. He was a native, the same rich skin tone and warm smile, the same colourful clothing and yet he seemed hairier than the rest.
"You know I am not a Fae, you can't hold me to a deal," she said warily as she approached him.
"I know that. But you seem honourable,"
Daemon snorted and she shot him a glance, her eyes turning to Benjamin.
"That's all? A future favour if you ever need one?"
Benjamin nodded and she finally shrugged.
He smiled brightly and pushed himself to his feet, approaching her with arms outstretched.
Silently, she closed the distance to him, and his lips were warm on hers, soft and rough all at once.
She felt the gentle brush of fur on her soul and something settled deep inside her, warm and safe.
Nothing about her had changed, her mind didn't warp, and she felt oddly disappointed by that.
"What is that?" she asked after he had stepped back and she turned inwards to the shadowed thing.
Benjamin frowned, looking at her.
"You feel it? You feel the wolf?"
"Oh that could be bad..." Uzo said nervously. "When is the next full moon?"
"Two weeks," Benjamin said, his eyes both cautious and fascinated. "I've never met a female werewolf. I wonder what you would look like..."
She shivered as the beast gave an odd rumble at her touch, fur thick and soft, muscles tight and yet relaxed.
"I will turn into a wolf?" she asked, snapping back into the present as one large, vivid blue eye opened and she felt her mouth begin to water at the smell of the man in front of her. Watching him, his pupils dilated at something she couldn't understand, and he grinned at her.
"Careful, you'll wake her up. Vampires don't taste good," he laughed.
Shaking her head, she kept herself as far from the wolf as was possible within her own mind.
"What's up next for you?" he asked, and she inhaled sharply at a hypnotic scent that hit her body like a blow, the wolf lifting her head to sniff at the air.
Benjamin had a lascivious grin on his face, and she realised he had tapped into his wolf to release pheromones that her body reacted to, the sensations very similar to what she had felt with Mara.
Moving upwind of him, she glared, and he laughed.
Kai looked confused but she only shook her head at his questioning glance.
"Dragon. I can only hope it will be as easy as this."
"Take jewels. A large ruby or something," Benjamin offered, shifting until he was upwind of her and grinning widely.
It hit her again and she found herself suddenly struggling with the wolf, trying to force her back down again as she snapped at the shoving.
She had begun to pant softly, Daemon frowned and stepped between them, grabbing her arm and pressing a cloth against her mouth.
It didn't help and she threw him off her, her joints beginning to ache as though she had strained them all at the same time.
Someone swore and Benjamin grunted in pain, the scent washing away in an instant to leave her able to breathe.
"Etani? Listen to my voice and focus. You are not a wolf."
Looking up, she found Uzo in front of her, tapping her cheek to get her attention and the wolf snarled, her own lip curling in response.
"Come on, you know you're not. Just thinking about what is happening, you're not an animal."
Someone was laughing painfully, but she focused on Uzo and what he was saying, the wolf reluctantly pressing down into a crouch.
"I'm okay..." she breathed and Uzo smiled at her, pulling her into a tight hug.
"I'm sorry, okay? I wanted to see her change, I promise I won't do it again."
Etani turned at the voice, clutching a fistful of Uzo's shirt and pressing it to her nose.
Daemon had Benjamin in a headlock, his face red and clutching at his stomach where he had been hit. He was grinning at her with clear desire in his eyes.
"You can't deny she'd make a pretty wolf," he said.
Eventually the werewolf was let go and ordered to stay downwind of her at all times and the tension eased.