“No.”

“Look, Gus. It’s not that I don’t think Angie isn’t attractive, I mean, she’s a total milf. I just, it would be weird, you seem to be quite fond of her, and I mean, Cynthia is okay with me fucking other girls but I don’t know to which extent. And then even if I liked it, I can’t just throw everything I have away because you let me fuck a redheaded beauty. Artemis gave me my pets, they helped me get to where I am now, you know?” John tried to rationalize to the Wild Hunt Alpha.

Gus simply shook his head. “Well, I am not giving up either. Listen, John. I won’t **** you to join us. But, you have not experienced all we get to offer yet either. I know you, wait, Cynthia? She’s your squeeze?” Gus stopped halfway through his sentence, looking incredulously at him. “JOHN! Absolute madlad!” he laughed at the top of his lungs. Startling the nearby Wild Hunt members for a moment. “So this geek rolls into the forest, gets attacked, and by the end of the week, he just manages to snag himself the precious daughter of Miranda. You really are full of surprises.” Gus nudged him between his ribs causing John to double over slightly and cough.

“I… Thanks?” John asked, a tad confused. “I take it Cynthia is special then?”

“Oh, you know, she’s just the boss’ daughter, by some around here thought to be a full blown rugmuncher, yet you just happen to change that before you even got your first steps into the Abyss.” Gus then pulled him in conspiringly. “Everything you show me makes me want to have you join us even more, buddy. Your dedication to your group, letting your second brain do the thinking, are you sure you’re not more the mount kind of guy?”

“Actually, I got one of those too…” John mumbled, “Nightmare foal.”

“Get. The fuck. Out.” Gus pushed him away and aimed his blunderbuss at him. “No fucking way are you a new member of the Abyss. You have done shit in your first week some of us don’t even do in a lifetime.” The smirk on Gus’ face never wavered, though, even when he pointed his weapon at John. A second later he slung it over his shoulder again and just laughed at him. “You’re a lucky bastard. And ok. What was it you said before I got distracted? With me being fond of her it would be weird to fuck her?”

Gus set his weapons down for a second, looking into John’s eyes as he placed his hand on his shoulder. “Listen, John. Have you ever considered that I like to see my girl have fun? You can consider me a swinger of sorts. I like to fuck other girls, it’s only fair that when a guy or gal catches my lover’s eye that she gets to play too, right? So, if you can think of it like that, it’s only fair that I get cute guys to fuck her, right?” he explained.

John didn’t exactly know if that was what swingers were, but Gus did make a valid point, only to Gus it up when the redhead opened his mouth again.

“Oh, and I got this **** fetish and you look old enough to be her son, so that would be hot too. But that’s beside the point.”

Shaking his head, John started to digest the information he had just gotten from Gus. For once, Gus let him think as he led him up to the giant tree. It was an incredulous sight when the bark split in front of them and a pair of small tendrils formed an arrow, indicating where they had to go.

“The Mother Tree only allows those in that she deems allies or to be harmless to enter. Most of our fawns are in here, they seem to like being so close to a great source of mana. Plus, she grows smaller leaves just for them,” Gus explained as he placed his weapons down against a wall they passed, the wood surrounding them, and soon they seemed to be absorbed into the wooden interior of the place.

The air inside here was fresh, fresher than he’d expected from a fully enclosed environment. The temperature itself was a bit lower. Paired with a higher humidity, he felt like he was walking through a cool but livable mansion with different tints of brown all around them. The wood moved, changing the textures every so often.

“There are only two constants in the tree, the heart, which is where I think we are going, and the outer appearance. The tree is very much alive, controlled by our Daughter of Cernunnos,” Gus told John as he saw him look and reach out to touch the floor. “My home is in here, too, somewhere. I don’t dare ask why, but the tree loves to play around with it, make me go to sleep at the bottom and wake up near the top or vice versa. I guess, if you are half fae, some fluffing about is needed?”

John nodded at the answer to the question he hadn’t asked but was very grateful to know. “Ever since I joined the Abyss, I keep seeing strange things left and right. I mean, thanks for explaining,” he gratefully told Gus.

“No problem, when I signed up I was just like you, only less coveted… damnit, boy.” He laughed, nudging him in the side before turning serious again. “John, I know I fuck about, and I am not like Miranda. However, I want you to seriously consider joining up with us. As you see, the world out there is dangerous, they even attacked one of our fucking demigods. They almost succeeded in capturing her if it wasn’t for you interfering. The Hunters are good and all. But with us, you actually stand a chance to survive. We look after our own. I have all these people I need to worry about, and I need someone like you to help me. You’re not all that yet, I know, but when push comes to shove, we need people like you to step up to the plate and knock the big bads down. I don’t know if it’s luck, destiny or something else that you showed up just before the attacks started, but I’ll be damned if I don’t try to do right by my people and get you with us.”

John sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes with his hands for a moment. “Gus, first of all. I really appreciate what you are trying to do. I know shit is hectic right now. I mean, I’ve barely sat down since last week, but I want you to know this. As far as I know, the Hunters and the Wild Hunt are allies. You sit together in the council, right? If you guys need their help, I will come too. I don’t know about the entire policy principle of the Abyss, if it’s quid pro quo or whatever. I will promise you this. If you guys need help, I will be there. You’re a rowdy bunch, yes; doesn’t mean you’re not one of the nicer guys I met in the Abyss so far.” John gave a tired smile at the guy. John didn’t understand why Miranda didn’t like him. Yes, Gus was rough around the edges, but he did show that he cared, in an odd way.

“I’ll keep you to that, John,” Gus said as he extended his hand. Then he pulled something out of his back pocket. “The Wild Hunt will not abandon its allies. We are not that kind of group. Now, I do think it’s time we stop making the ladies wait for us. If you ever need to talk, about anything, you know, mano a mano, give me a call. The Hunters don’t always know how it is to be a younger guy, but I sure remember it.” He slipped a business card into John’s hand, then knocked on the floor, and a set of stairs formed out of the wood, spiralling down deeper into the tree.

John pocketed the sleekly designed business card that read: “Gus Jones. Entrepreneur.” with a phone number underneath it in fat black font. After putting it away, he got up and followed Gus one more time, this time down the stairs. It took them a good five minutes of walking in silence to get to the heart of the tree. A room filled with green, pulsing light, almost like a heartbeat. In the middle of the room, three individuals were seated conversing as the green light swirled around one of their bodies.