He could breathe. That was Warren's first thought after the whirlpool died down to still water. There was moonlight sneaking in through a water sky. But nothing else. Warren was standing in a realm made of the lake. No bottom and no walls.
Who are you?
Nothing in the world could ever prepare anyone for how it felt when somebody else started speaking in your head. Warren looked over his shoulder for the source of the ghostly voice, but he couldn't find it. The Stranger tucked into his shirt wriggled back up to his shoulder.
"Warren Burgess," he said stoically. "Knight of the Dawn. I come searching for answers."
So I heard.
The Stranger pitterpatted on Warren's shoulder. How lovely. If there was a need to talk, Warren could speak with a miniscule mushroom person and a disembodied voice that talked all too much. The moonlit water shifted. His face relaxed into a scowl. Disembodied voices meant bad news more often than not. Take his first meeting with the witchy yellow eyes for example.
"Uh... How do I get those answers?"
You've already stated your intentions, Disembodied Voice paused. Look within yourself.
"Got an x-ray machine? Get the joke? No?"
Disembodied Voice went quiet again. Warren wondered how often it heard a joke or met a person who had such a lack of respect. He cupped a hand over the Stranger on his shoulder to keep it calm, "Sorry, I didn't mean disrespect."
I shake with laughter, though Disembodied Voice sounded completely devoid of humor. The water shifted again, Get the joke? No? It's because I wasn't really laughing. I was telling a joke.
Warren cracked a grin, "A magic lake with a sense of humor, now, if only I could get you to help me."
Look within yourself.
"Yeah, uh, how?"
Look within yourself.
"It's really not that easy."
To get the past, he had to look inside himself. Waren frowned, and racked his brain for anything remotely clever. However, the clever side of his head had been cleared out much like Christmas decorations in the middle of February. Look within. Look within.
"Are my intentions good?"
You tell me.
So Disembodied voice was telepathic, but not psychic. Good, there'd been enough experiences with rogue psychics plowing through brains. "I don't mean to do anything wrong with the information I want."
What you want is not what you need.
"Then show me what I need to see."
As you wish. Disembodied Voice paused. May I come with you?
"Only if you tell me a name, I can't call you Disembodied Voice, it's weird," Warren told the darkness. The current tugged at his ankles.
Call me... Crow. The creature you carry and I shall share a form while you travel.
"Did you ask the little guy's permission?"
The Stranger scampered down Warren's arm, and held out a proud thumbs up.
I do believe that's a sign of approval from where you come from.
"Alright Crow," his voice was tired to his own ears. "Show me what I need to see."
The lake water began to surge and crash about Warren. The Stranger, newly christened Crow, clung onto his shirt neckline, as if it would fly off. Ever so slowly, Warren and Crow began to sink lower and lower in the lake. Where the moon had lit the realm, there was only darkness as Warren and his trusty companion sank.
Brace yourself my friend, the world you will see is vastly different from what you are used to.
And with those eerie words, the dark lake water washed away to reveal a wind beaten village.
Warren pressed a hand to the side of his head as he gathered the details and pieced a patchwork picture together. Long black dresses. White bonnets. Pilgrim hats. Weary men in patched clothing. The burning gallows were surrounded by rickety buildings. One building stood prouder than the rest, all painted with whitewash and glistening with brand new windows.
A gallows used for hanging people was on fire. Three ghostly nooses swayed in the wind, fire licked the stormy grey sky.
It dawned on Warren that he shouldn't be asking himself where he was.
He needed to be asking himself when he was.
"Can these people see m-" Warren began, but his question was answered when a man with a little girl on his hip walked through him. "Never mind. They can't hear me though, can they?"
Crow shifted his tiny body on Warren's shoulder, They cannot see you nor hear you, we're simply spectators enjoying history as it unfurls before us like a picture show.
"Any information I need to know?"
The year is 1666. We are here in Oakford, Connecticut. Save questions for the end of the ride, I do not show you this lightly. Watch the man who carries his daughter.
Lifting his tiny finger, Crow pointed to the man who'd brushed through Warren. He stood beside a little woman. The man shielded the child, his daughter, from the burning gallows. Like the others, he couldn't look away. Crow motioned for Warren to step nearer to the little woman.
Sounds of conversation drowned out crackling fire. The crowd of villagers around the burning gallows were murmuring, but not the woman. She stood hunched over in her dark dress, a white cloth tied beneath her chin. Her eyes reflected the firelight. Off in the distance, a blood curdling shriek cut its way through the air.
"Goody Sayre had something to do with this," hissed the stalwart young man next to the old woman. "She's going to reveal us all. We're going to-"
"Not so loud, boy," The woman chided. "We've stayed hidden long enough, Goody Sayre thinks us as odd, but she's unaware of our heritage and I don't mind that. Besides, knowing the cleric, he'll blame the devil and we'll all be off on our merry ways by next week."
Crow scampered across Warren's shoulders. Tiny mushroom hands glided down Warren's arm as Crow slid to his knuckles. Even though he could see Crow, Warren didn't feel any weight from him. He leaned out as far as he could from Warren's knuckle, a tiny mushroom hand served as a visor. Crow was staring off into the distance. Warren paid him no mind.
There was one tiny detail that seemed to have slipped away from recognition. Who was Goody Sayre? Warren waited patiently for the old woman to speak, but he doubted she'd reveal herself out loud surrounded by villagers. The little girl in her father's arms squirmed as she tried to see the fire, however, a gentle correcting hand pushed her head back against a loving shoulder.
"They're not like us," the young man whispered. "We have to leave here. I don't think the cleric will blame the devil, he'll look to blame witches."
"Learn to relax boy," chided the old woman. "Your behavior is a bad example to your child."
The little girl coughed, "But I quite prefer papa the way he is."
The source of the screaming soon rumbled into view. A stricken man furiously snapped the reins as he rode into the village circle in a wagon. He wasn't alone, a woman sat in the back, rocking back and forth. A shaking child violently thrashed in her arms. The villagers moved away from the seizing girl and her family. The father jumped down from his wagon and called for the village doctor.
"Gabriel," the old woman said quietly, tugging on her companion's shirt sleeve. "Don't be so afraid."
The young man, Gabriel, shook his head, "We. Have. To. Leave."
A stray blue flame leapt out at the villagers, many of whom cried out and backed away. The little girl cowered into her father's shoulder. Gabriel looked at the old woman as he too stepped back with the crowd. There was something unearthly and uncomfortably familiar about the old woman's calm manner. She only backed away when Gabriel tugged her back to safety.
Blue flames. Some bits of purple danced with the embers as well. The fire devouring the gallows was no ordinary fire. Gabriel had been right to worry about Goody Sayre if she was responsible for the burning. The fire was of magic origin. Warren had too many experiences with enchanted fire to ever forget the colors and the heat. Enchanted fire didn't just turn up randomly out of thin air.
"The fire scares me Papa," the little girl squeaked. She looked away from the fire. "I would prefer to go home."
"Listen to the child," the old woman chuckled. "She's very wise."
"We must keep up our appearances."
For the first time since Warren had seen the old woman, she looked up, and stared right at Gabriel. The firelight still flickered in her warm April eyes. She smiled a soft, springtime grin, as if she knew the outcome of what was to happen. The old woman patted Gabriel's shoulder, "We'll discuss this at home, there are unfriendly ears here."
"But-"
"If you're so concerned, consult with the nixies, but I will stay right here. My feet are planted."
"Something must be done about Goody Sayre!"
"And something must be done for your sisters at the lake! You bother me, child."
Gabriel frowned, but he didn't argue with the old woman again. In fact, he managed to stay quiet as the fire died down. The seizing girl had long since been carried into a quaint little building assumed to be where the village doctor did his work. Warren surveyed the rest of the scene, trying to pick out little tiny details. He wasn't quite sure what to look for.
The mother of the seizing girl stepped out of the quaint little building, her sleeve pressed to her eyes. Gabriel tensed up. "Goody Sayre will get our people killed."
"Goody Sayre doesn't have very powerful magic, I would know, there's nothing to fear," insisted the old woman. "Leave her be. Let her be with her friends, those who have no magic. They will be good for her."
"I quite like Goody Sayre," piped the little girl, who couldn't have been older than seven or eight, she stuck her thumb in her mouth. "She promised me a frog. A special frog."
"It's too cold for frogs this time of year," Gabriel countered, but the old woman proclaimed that frogs could be found whenever they were needed. But only when they were needed.
"When will Goody Sayre visit me again?"
Gabriel and the old woman exchanged a look, "Not for a while, Goody Sayre has other duties she must tend to."
"Papa," the girl coughed again. "I would prefer to see Goody Sayre again."
"And I would prefer that you didn't, Mina mine."
The young man was Gabriel, presumed father of Mina the little coughing girl. Mina was the old woman's granddaughter, which meant Gabriel was her son. Warren glanced over his shoulder, eager to share his findings, but he was alone save for Crow clinging to his shoulder. It was hard to understand why he needed to see a man arguing with his family while gallows burned and little girls went into seizures.
"Goody Sayre is kind to me," Mina insisted.
All Warren had seen was several Puritan families struggling for survival, and a fire caused by magic. As far as he knew, there wasn't a lake anywhere near the town, and no magical creatures had made their presence known. How did the layout before him tie into what Crow thought he needed to see?
The villagers and the fire froze in mid motion. Cool water washed over Warren's eyes and body. There was never any drowning sensations, only floating. Water began pulling away as quickly as it had come. Warren was standing in a new place now with Crow clinging to Warren's wrist for dear life. The burning gallows and murmuring crowd had been traded for something much different.
The sky had cleared, suggesting that some time had passed since Warren and Crow watched the enchanted fire devour the wooden gallows. Gabriel carried a yoke on his shoulders up to a small wooden house from the larger barn several yards away. Milk splashed out of the buckets onto the ripe spring earth. He passed several gourds on his way up to the house, many had faces carved into them like jack-o-lanterns. Mina and her Grandmother sat on the house's wooden porch.
Warren sat down beside them both. Their hands both twirled string around a stick. Spider fingers. Not one person Warren knew could encase a twig with twine that quickly.
"I would prefer to make a totem for my friends," Mina said as she positioned a cloth covered ball on one end of the stick. "To keep them safe."
"A totem takes concentration," Grandmother countered. She'd set several cloth and twine dolls by her side.
"Well, yes, but-" the cloth and twine doll lying in Mina's hand was nearly complete, "I'm a quick learner."
Gabriel set down the yoke, "What have you made there?"
"Grandmother is trying to teach me the old ways, but I'm too quick for that! Would you like to see it?"
Mina handed Gabriel the doll when he didn't answer right away. What Warren was dealing with was a puzzle. He'd dealt with many puzzles before. Except this puzzle didn't have all the pieces. Most pieces were lost and Warren barely had a corner piece. More pieces were unveiling themselves as time passed.
But Warren wasn't quite known for his patience.
The small family Warren had been watching were connected to magic somehow. No demons were in sight, there was no sign of any form of blood magic. Or necromancy. Gabriel and his family had to be some different kind of magic all together. Old magic.
Extinct magic.
There were types of extinct magic. Cases were uncommon, but not rare enough to be completely mysterious. Warren had recently read a book about certain humanoid species that had gone extinct. Come to think about it, there was something about the book he'd read that tickled his memory.
"Dear me, you're very talented, aren't you?" Gabriel chuckled, he tugged on one of Mina's braids hanging down from her white cap. "If you continue learning this quickly, we'll run out of things to teach."
"I'll say," another cloth doll joined Grandmother's ever growing pile. She began a new one, "She's learned a new trick, one neither you nor I taught her. Go on, show your father what you've shown me already."
"Yes, Grandmother." Mina nodded. She fished around in her apron pocket for something. With an acorn lying flat in her palm, Mina crouched to scoop up a handful of rich earth. She covered the acorn in soil.
There were some perks to being invisible. Warren inched as close as he could to Mina and her dirt covered fingers. He wished he had one of his friends with him. Somebody with a better eye at spotting different magics. Bracken would've been best, though Warren wondered if Bracken was even aware of the events that happened in 1666. The chances that he'd been trapped at Living Mirage were high.
"What flower would you prefer, Grandmother?"
"Ah," there was a pause as Grandmother's eyes drifted shut. "A tulip, like those the Danish trader has two cities over."
"Mina don't push yourself-"
"It's alright father, I've practiced," Mina clamped a hand over the soil covered acorn. She inhaled loud enough for Warren to hear.
Green sprouts pushed through Mina's fingers. She pulled her hand away, and a tulip as green and new as a tadpole pushed its way closer to the sun. Pink petals unfurled. Roots dangled over Mina's child hands. Pride lingered in Mina's broad smile. The acorn turned tulip rested in her palm.
There was a familiar emotion in Gabriel's eyes. Warren had seen that look too many times on the face of his father. Pride. And lingering sadness. The first time Warren had seen his father look like that was when he'd picked up a sword at age nine and did his best to use it. Warren only ever understood his father as eternally disappointed.
Mina's smile faltered when she realized that Gabriel wasn't overjoyed. The flower lowered, "I can do a harder plant if that would be enough."
"No, no," Gabriel shook his head. He set a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I can't be any more proud of you."
"You're growing up, he doesn't like it," snipped Grandmother.
"This means you're too strong for my magic now," explained Gabriel. The flower swayed in the slight spring breeze. "Here, let's sit here Mina mine There's much to discuss. I've told you of your aunts and uncles?"
"Oh yes, the ones who've never married and travel the world?" The flower took its place on the earth.
Gabriel nodded, "Those aunts and uncles. It's time you've met them, they... They've access to power much stronger than what I have. I never expected you to have such abilities, I gave away mine long ago. That flower you summoned means that it's time for you to learn more. It's- it's astounding."
"There are others like us?" Mina asked, her chubby child cheeks spread into another smile. "We're not alone?"
"You'd like to meet them?"
"Oh yes, yes, yes, yes!"
Water began to rush around Warren's ankles. The house washed away along with Gabriel's family. Laughter sang through the warm night air. Strangers, not unlike Crow, ran as fast as their little legs would carry them. Several of them glowed with neon blue light. On his shoulder, Crow sank down. Did mushroom creatures feel left out?
"You can go with them if you want to," Warren said. He picked up Crow from off of his shoulder.
I couldn't. I fear you'd be left behind and I would have to find you. Do not worry, solitude does nothing to my spirits. I have long since grown used to it. Crow stared at the fleeing Strangers. Besides, they would be unable to see or hear me.
"You sure?" Despite claims, nobody ever really grew accustomed to being alone. Warren of all people could attest to that. He didn't like to think of his time with Bubda in the backpack, but he knew that without the hermit troll, he would've gone insane. Screaming, frothing at the mouth insane. "I'll stay here and wait for you. Not like I've got anybody to meet anyways. There's time."
Mina will be here soon... Those who teach her will pass through this way. You'll have many questions for me, I dare not leave you alone. Unless you think you'd be able to understand the events at hand, that is.
"My mom taught me to never lie, so I'm not gonna say anything about that."
A wise choice, I admire your ability to be honest with yourself, A flood of giddiness filled the air. Crow was laughing at Warren.
"You wouldn't admire my ability to get myself nearly killed every time I left my house."
True, there is not one being here at the lake who doesn't know who you are and what you do. Many of the others hope you'll bring back a dear friend of ours.
A dear friend. Images of Ophelia's cracked face were the first thing that emerged when Warren thought of friends to the lake. The uncomfortable switch in the back of Warren's mind balanced between off and on. He wanted to trust Crow, he wanted to trust in the lake. But he'd received enough burns from alse allies to always be wary.
"Which dear friend?" He asked cautiously, keeping his eyes trained on the woods for any sign of Mina and her teachers. A firefly lazily wove through the distant thickets.
You know whom I speak of, Crow shook his tiny mushroom head. You are wise to be wary, but foolish. I advise you not to go swimming during the chimes of midnight ever again.
"Maybe I like seeing demented versions of my girlfriend."
You saw your who now?
"I saw Ophelia Scott, a girl very special to me.."
Interesting. And stupid. You've done something stupid in acknowledging who you saw.
Warren never ever did anything stupid. Ever. He always made the best choices, obviously.
A chuckle graced Warren's lips, a warning like that was pointless. Stupid choices were Warren's speciality. That and tripping over thin air. And getting himself injured. Faint scars criss crossed his body as a testament to that, most of which came from his days before the Revenant. Having healers on hand was a luxury.
Though if a healer had been with him months ago, he never would have met Ophelia.
He couldn't remember why he'd wound up in the hospital. The memories came in bits and flashes. Christmas lights hanging from a diner roof. Runaway motorcycle. Lots of pain and a snapping sound. Kendra crying. Bracken trying to heal somebody. Warren would later learn that a rogue blix had been targeting Bracken, but being the kind of man that he was, Warren shoved him out of the way and broke his back.
His spinal cord had been severed from the impact later at the hospital. Magic brought the cut nerves back together. Ophelia brought him a rainbow of jellos. She'd set a hand on his forehead. Miracle recovery. Was that a puzzle piece too?
Missing pieces really made Warren despise puzzles.
Excuse my interruption, but I do believe Mina and her tutors have finally come to us. See the lights? Those are Witcher Lanterns. Crow said, once again using his teeny tiny hands to look out on the horizon. Lanterns of all colors appeared like gemstones in the twilight.
Laughter continued to sing through the forest, humanoid figures burst through the trees with wreaths of spring on their heads. There were 13 in all; 6 were male, 6 were female. One was made up of a tree trunk and branch limbs. The males were tall and muscular, dressed in tunics that would surely hide them from human sight in an instant. The females wore much more humble clothes, all were dressed in calf-length feather gowns.
And then there was the tree being hiding in the back with October gold eyes.
Autumn Yellow eyes.
Witchy gold eyes.
A puzzle piece had just unveiled itself.
"Who are these creatures?" Warren asked in a hushed voice, he knew they couldn't be human. No human could have such sharply pointed ears sticking far out from their hair.
The 12 are related to Gabriel Van Helsing, Mina's father. The being made of wood is... I cannot say, it is a story for another time.
"Shall we hide ourselves?" Asked one of the women in white. "She caught us all the last time, I don't like losing at hide and go seek."
"Be thankful she's been the seeker each time, I fear we'd all go mad," laughed a man with a crown of eucalyptus leaves.
"You take your men and hide in the trees," The woman gestured to the forest around her.
The crowned man grinned, "And I suppose the six of you will become toadstools?"
"Ah Puck, don't be so foolish. We'll disguise ourselves as swans of course."
"If that's what you want, my dear," the crowned man, Puck, winked at the woman he'd been speaking to.
One by one, the women turned into swans with grace unprecedented. However, the woman who'd spoken to Puck, froze. "What are we to do with the...," she nodded her head towards the tree being.
"Oh don't mind him, he doesn't like games."
"Shut up then! The girl comes quickly!"
Puck's magic encased him like ivy leaves until the place where he'd stood bore a tall willow tree. Just as the woman predicted, Mina came plodding into the clearing. She shut her eyes, and a moon colored aura encased her two hands. One of the swan women honked in dismay as the magic sought her out and turned her back into the willowy humanoid of before.
"Found you Auntie Loom!" Mina exclaimed, throwing her arms around the woman.
A smile broke out on Warren's face, Auntie Loom smiled too. She patted Mina's head, "Oh Mina mine, you've become very good with your magic! Can you find anyone else?"
"Two uncles are over there," the moon magic changed the two men back into humanoids.
"There's another auntie right there." The aunt became a woman again.
Mina bit her lip, her eyes once again clenched shut, "Four aunties are hiding on a log, another uncle is an oak tree. Another uncle has become a fern."
"And where is Puck and Fae?" Asked Auntie Loom, the others all leaned in ready to listen. Warren did too. He wished- and not for the last time- that he had somebody else with him to ask questions. Crow didn't count. The tree being slumped their shoulders.
A giggle left Mina's smile, "They're not anywhere near here. Don't let the tree fool you. I think they'll be back in perhaps a half hour."
"And we all know what they're doing," Auntie Loom rolled her eyes. A snicker passed through the group of aunts and uncles, Mina didn't seem to get the joke. "Fae and Puck aside, we feel as a group that you're ready to see something very special."
The tree being shuffled forwards and held out a branchy hand to Loom, who drew her hand in a circular motion. Blue smoke followed her fingertips, and before Warren had time to take another breath, a fat leather book sat in the tree being's hand. From where Warren stood, he couldn't see much, save for the age-old leather spine embellished with gold and ivy leaves.
Crow pointed to the book, Go. Look at it. I must see the book.
"If it eats me I'm giving you a bad review on Yelp," Warren grumbled as he inched closer towards the golden eyed tree being and their book. "I can't read anything on there. It's got to be some kind of fairy language."
That wasn't all. The front of the book was covered in ever changing leaves and constantly blooming flowers. Words circled around a covered sphere in the center of the book. A five fingered indentation pointed towards the blooming flowers below the sphere. Five fingers pointed downwards above the sphere.
"What's with the handprints-"
Hush, listen to Loom.
Right. Warren smacked a hand to his forehead. He was participating in a documentary that had no rewind button. Auntie Loom had already begun speaking again when Mina too came to look at the book.
"- And you must never tell anybody of this book," Loom was saying. "It is very sacred to us, to our people. Anyone who is part of our court will know to only speak of the book with Puck's permission. Do you understand?"
Mina nodded. Loom continued, "This book contains words of immeasurable power. This book is our pride, it is what will help you as you grow older. It tells of our choice to mingle with the humans, to guide and to guard. And one day, when you are old enough, you may try to open it?"
"Our people? Who are you? Who am I?"
"You my dear," another feather wearing woman stepped forwards, and touched a hand to Mina's shoulder. "Will know in due time."
Finally! A major puzzle piece! Warren leaned in with excitement. Loom patted the tree being's cheek. The book vanished with a flash of blue smoke.
Lake water crashed in over the scene, washing Warren and Crow away to their next destination. A train of swear words struggled to leave Warren's mouth, but the water cleansed away his vulgar language.
"Damn!" Snapped Warren as he found himself standing in a wood completely different from the grove where Mina had been practicing her magic.
There was something sparking in the air. The kind of spark that came when danger lurked behind a person. Warren and Crow stood in the middle of a majestic forest. The creatures Warren had missed seeing before now danced about. Fairies lounged as usual, and a trio of satyrs flipped pages in a book. The sky was clear, whereas the sky had been drab and dreary when Warren saw the burning gallows, and sprinkled with fireflies when Mina first saw the mysterious book. It was early evening. Not a human soul was to be found. Save for Mina. She was far from Warren, but close enough to be seen. Something hummed at his hand. Crow jumped up and down, pointing towards Mina.
Follow the girl before she gets too far away, Crow ordered, once again clinging to Warren's wrist as they set off at a brisk walk towards Mina.
"And one day, I will have a gown of white feathers," Mina burst out to the forest. "And I will have a great house for my father and for everyone in the village. We'll sleep in a great hall with warm fires and food. There'll be cakes and sweets and warm blankets. Soft blankets, not scratchy wool blankets. Oh, and shoes. Not the kind that I have to wear. Soft fabric shoes. With heels. I'll share them with everyone in my house.
"But what do you know, little mouse in my pocket? Do you have shoes? What about bonnets? I can't stand bonnets. They hurt my neck and fall off when I don't tie them tight enough. But Grandmother insists I wear one, so I do."
A holed cloak draped over Mina's shoulders. Her grandmother must have told her to wear a bonnet, as a white cap was pressed down over Mina's braided brown hair. She carried a basket of something, Warren wasn't quite sure what as the contents were covered in a white sheet. Just as she'd said, a mouse poked its pink nose from her pocket before vanishing again.
The brown hairy creature that had accompanied Ophelia to the lake escorted Mina through the woods. It hinged on with its double jointed legs. Once or twice it held up a perfect blade of grass to Mina, who in turn stuck it in her pocket that held the mouse. Mina dug around in the basket. A pale piece of cheese soared several feet in front of her. The hairy little beast sprinted after it.
"It's not much farther to the house, would you like to climb onto my shoulder?" Mina asked. She scooped up the hairy beast before it could decline her offer. "Thank you for coming with me. These woods scare me, but I dare not tell father or he wouldn't allow me to go to Goody Sayre's house."
It will be hard to watch these events, Crow piped up. He scrambled backup to Warren's shoulder as they followed Mina. It will be harder still knowing that there isn't anything you can do to help.
"What disturbing words," Warren snipped back. It wasn't like he hadn't experienced the self loathing that came when there was nothing he could do to help. He knew what he could handle, and he was constantly pushing that limit. But everyone was different. Not everyone could shove their black hole memories into boxes never to be opened.
Mina and her companions continued their trek through the woods. She exclaimed in excitement when her shoes audibly met with gravel. Crisp stones curled into a path leading to the front door. Warren half expected the house at the end of the path to be made of candy. But to his growing frustration, the house was not made of candy. It stood tall with windows like perfect white teeth. The walls were painted purely from starlight.
If anything, the comparisons could be switched and the house would still be grand and beautiful. The house. It stood like starlight with windows painted clear and tall. The walls were painted like perfect white teeth.
"I've come to see you Goody Sayre!" Mina called as she knocked on the home's beautiful door.
Dark liquid seeped into the grass below the porch.
"Mina!" Replied a voice, presumably the infamous Goody Sayre. Crow froze where he stood. The door opened, but Goody Sayre was nowhere to be seen. "I hope you don't mind, but I have visitors today, please come meet them!'
The liquid was flooding the grass.
A rusty odor lingered in the air.
Crow was right. The rusty dark liquid was a substance all too familiar to Warren Burgess. He couldn't watch this. This horrible deed that was somehow going to involve an innocent little girl.
But still he soldiered on into the white house.
The puzzle pieces had to be found.
They had to be put together.
And so the puzzle pieces slowly begin to come together. Special thank you to Fairygirl22! She's commented on every chapter and has been nothing but supportive. I highly recommend showing her two published stories some love too! You're a good gal! I hope you continue to read, though this next section of chapters will be considerably dark. And as for my plot twist, I doubt I could ever have the writing capacity to pull something off like THAT ENDING IN DRAGONWATCH 2. Back to the dark stuff, I'm putting a warning on the next few chapters. Ah, and Picklequeen76, you do have the choice not to read it. I'll make sure to avoid making Ophelia a Mary Sue, and I'll get you a Vanessa appearance soon. I'm sorry you find my story confusing, I suppose Swan Song can be compared to chocolate milk. It's not everyone's cup of tea. Swan Song is as Swan Song does.
I'll warn you, I've only known Crow for a week and I already adore him with every fiber of my being. Will we ever know more about him? How are the witchy yellow eyes related to the tree being? Is something bad going to happen to Mina? Who the heck is Goody Sayre?! Have you guys connected Gabriel to the author of a certain book mentioned in a previous chapter yet? Oops, accidentally spoiled that. Will I ever figure out my subplots?! (Probably not)
Anyways, leave a review or two. They really help out. It may motivate me to write the next chapter faster so we can get back to the juicy stuff with the other characters. Hope you all stay tuned for the next chapter!
-Nacho
