Submission (#4460) Approved

Fiery colors formed rings circling around wide pupils glinting with mischief. Evening had begun to set and so, so very soon Mordred would be able to have his fun. He looked behind him to the prize he had unearthed with much work from the desert sands and set about finishing his grand plan. 

Crawling under the heavy speckled tan fabric he had used as camouflage to hide his trap along the roadside he set about his final touches. Bangles clinked together along paws with fur mimicking the patterns of the flames he lit in twin lanterns. With the unfurling of transparent light wings he lifted airborne, one lantern in his front paws and one grasped by the handle with the forked end of his tail. Pushing aside the black, red, and orange braid that floated into his face he set about fixing the pale green lanterns into their planned alcoves. 

He set a fire in a pit below him, dung low enough that the flames were not immediately visible as more than a dim glow. Copper salts gave the flame a greenish tinge and, while not a perfect match, fit well enough together with the soft light from above. Over the fire set a large kettle boiling away and filling the space around him with trapped steam. It was hot and uncomfortably sticky in the humid air as sand particles matted to the damp black fur along his underbelly. The effect would be well worth it.  

Floating back he took measure of the eerie light as it cast shadows in just the right ways. Perfect, he thought. Peeking beneath the edge of the tarp he caught sight of the dots and shapes up the road signaling the approach of the caravan coming into view down the road as they made their way toward the oasis camp a few miles along the path that snaked past his hidden position. The failing sunlight should work nicely in his favor by the time they reached his location. 

With patience that surprised even himself, Mordred waited. Still and silent with paws grasping the edge of the fabric as he hid behind his carefully made project. Even his wings stilled their regular twitching and he willed his long whip like tail flat along the cooling sand. A painfully great many moments later he heard the first faint sounds of merry chatter and the soft crunch of the road beneath the feet and wagon wheel alike. Let most of them pass, that was the plan. Lie still and pick the ones trailing at the back. 

When the final cart came into view he quietly slipped the cloth free of the horns that had been creating the tented area around him. The skull he had dug free of the sand looking menacing in the long shadows. The lanterns formed haunting lights as eyes in empty sockets. Thick steam filtered out between teeth and through nasal cavities. The sudden light glow in their periphery caused a few of the straggling merchants to turn his way only for Mordred to take the opportunity to blow into the long pipe he had brought to create a low moaning sound for effect.           

The other poor elnin screamed with a start and bolted as fast as they could back into the safety of the caravan at large, stammering about ghosts and monsters out in the dunes. He stifled his laughter until the last frightened passersby was out of safely out of ear shot before rolling in the now chilled sand, tears of mirth prickling at the corners of his eyes. How gullible they were. He would have to tell Senna all about this little venture next time he saw him though he doubted the other nin would approve of his means of enjoyment.