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The two were quiet for a minute.
“Deep talk for Friday morning, buddy,” Rollo finally quipped.
Dax laughed. “You know the irony is that Fae Crossing is considered this sacred energy vortex for the fae. Sure is a lot of drama for a supposedly sacred area.”
“Well, the vortex doesn’t create the drama. It’s all the people it attracts. The place is like one of those California gold rush towns.”
“True enough, and without it, we would have never even met,” he pointed out.
Plenty of shifters had been drawn to the area along with the rest back in the day. There was ample opportunity to make some money in any number of businesses and miles and miles of open land for the taking. Of course, this was all right under the noses of the humans who were moving into the area as well, for the most part totally in the dark about the popularity of the area amongst the supernatural types.
Dax pointed to the framed old time picture of the town on the wall. It had been taken right at the four corners. That same row of old buildings on the left still stood. The Witch’s Curio shop, aptly named Curioser and Curioser, was there. And of course The Tree stood tall off to the right. A motley crew of hard looking folks dotted the scene.
“Could you imagine being around when the founders got together to form our pack. Must have been nuts.”
Just like in any old west town, the lawlessness soon became an issue, and it wasn’t long before the shifters and the fae struck up an agreement to set up the Tribunal’s base right here in Fae Crossing.
It was centrally located for the region, and probably the most in need of a firm hand, so voilà, the Tribunal was established, and the Fae Crossing pack coalesced as the call for solid lawmen spread.
“If you think we have trouble hashing out our differences now, can you imagine what it must have been like back then?” Rollo mused, still looking at the old black and white picture.
There were stories from back in the beginning about the growing pains of the pack learning how to work with the fae authorities and the witches. Over the years, though, the centuries, really, they had forged something of a working relationship. Other than a few blow ups from time to time, by all accounts they had made it work to the benefit of all involved.
“Well, I don’t think we have to imagine. Sometime we could go dig in the archives. Maybe read up on all that shit that went down back then when the fae cast out King Firo. I guess he was as dirty as they come,” Dax said.
That had almost torn them all apart and tested the bond between the different peoples.
But they had made it through, and it had ultimately solidified the Tribunal’s place as they had stood by the current King Tarragon.
In fact, that whole episode had kind of cemented the formation of the Fae Crossing Pack. And even though that had gone down more than a century ago, the king had never forgotten the shifters’ support.
“Just as soon as we have a day off, I’ll get right on that,” Rollo joked.
“Yeah, I hear you. Good talk, man. Sometimes it’s good to remind ourselves of our mission. Of the history here. Otherwise I swear, at times I feel like I could lose it. At least we have the Grizzly Den to retreat to.”
Rollo laughed. “And you always have us to bitch too.”
Dax joined him in the laugh, “One of the side benefits of being the Alpha.”
He continued, feeling a little refreshed after venting. “Like you said, this town ain’t boring, and at the end of the day, it’s home.”
“And you gotta admit the fae and the witches come in pretty handy at times. Good friends to have in a pinch,” Rollo added.
“True enough. A little whammie from a fae keeps the doctor away for sure,” he laughed.
The fae and witches were particularly useful when humans saw or otherwise learned a little too much about the true nature of what they likely just considered to be their eccentric neighbors.
Still, he would prefer the company of a shifter any time to a fae or witch. It wasn’t that they were bad or had anything wrong with them. It was just that shifters were easy to understand for him. Someone pissed you off, you let them know, and you settled it right there and then. A few cuts, maybe a broken limb or two, and everything was right as rain.
But with their elemental magic, the Fae freaked him out. And the witches were even worse, always mumbling something just out of earshot and pulling dried plants and shit out of their pockets.No, thanks. Give me a shifter any day.
“Okay, time to get serious here. I have things to handle today,” Dax finally said.
“And I need to finish up and get out of here,” Rollo said as sat back at his desk.
Dax took a seat at his own desk as well.
Dammit.He knew why he had been all too happy to just vent for a while. But there was no way to avoid it.No way to avoidher, you mean.
