------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey everybody, I'm back, enjoy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melania shifted on the saddle beneath her, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She could feel Gabriel's gaze on her back and was starting to feel a little bit self-conscious, something that she had never had a problem with before. She turned to look at him and he winked at her, making a blush creep its way onto her cheeks, something that Ivan, who was riding right next to her, noticed.
"Melania?" he asked softly, turning towards her slightly.
"Yes Ivan?" she returned, looking over at him as they rode at a medium pace.
"Did something happen?" he asked her, a slightly accusatory tone to his voice.
"I…well…uh…" she stuttered and he smirked, waiting for an answer.
"Maybe." Was the word that she was finally able to manage and he chuckled.
"What does that mean?" he asked her, not letting the subject drop, no matter how uncomfortable it made her.
"It means that it's none of your business, nosy." She stuck her tongue out at him in the spirit of their childhood days and he laughed aloud this time.
"Very well, maybe I should just ask Gabriel about it." He teased.
She looked scandalized, and her blush returned.
"Don't you dare." She warned him and he grinned at her.
"I don't know if I'll be able to resist, you're blushing."
"Shut up." She snapped.
"Melania, I've never seen you like this." He sounded slightly surprised and she couldn't stop the small giggle that escaped.
"Like what?"
"So happy." Was the simple explanation and her smile intensified.
"Maybe I've just never been this happy."
"Exactly my point, what happened?"
"Nothing at all."
She muttered a few words in Russian to Tamary and ushered the beautiful mare to trot faster, effectively separating herself from her brother.
Ivan watched her go and chuckled, his sister had always been very guarded with her heart.
----------------------------------------------------------------
"Is this it?" Carl questioned many hours later as they arrived in a clearing of the woods. Melania smiled slyly over her shoulder at him.
"Sure is, don't worry, she isn't as intimidating as her place is."
"She lives in there?" Gabriel appeared at her side, a small smile of his own gracing his features.
"Yeah, interesting isn't it?" questioned Ivan as they all surveyed the home in front of them.
The home itself was just a small shack, brown in color and wooden in material; it looked as though it were about to tumble down in ruin any moment, and was set on top chicken's legs, three at each corner and it looked as though it were spinning on them. It radiated the magic of the occupant within and the horses all seemed spooked, but kept going as the riders approached the fence that surrounded the house.
"Are those?" Gabriel trailed off; his stomach churning slightly at the sight.
"Human." Melania nodded as they each rode through the one whole in the fence of spikes with skulls set atop them; past victims of the witch that lived inside.
"Oh my." Carl muttered as he brought up the rear, Garm bounding in behind him.
Gabriel swung down from atop his perch on his horse when he reached the front door of the shack and gallantly offered a hand up to Melania. She blushed a slight crimson but took his hand anyway and let him help her down.
"Thank you." She whispered as they paused in front of the door, their hands still clasped.
"Of course." He nodded.
Ivan and Carl exchanged a significant look but neither said a word as Melania finally let go of Gabriel's hand to knock on Baba Yaga's door. She didn't get a chance. The door swung open without warning to reveal a frightening sight. The person standing before them was an elderly woman, her hair, salt and pepper grey, fell in smooth layers to her waist. She was slightly stooped, a gnarled wooden cane in her weathered hand. Her face was wrinkled and ancient looking, a wise light to her eyes. She smiled up at them and the teeth that were revealed were just as withered and gnarled as the rest of her was. Her long, dark red skirt and pale green peasant shirt old and moth eaten looked as though they hadn't been washed in decades.
"Melania." Even her voice was faded, a soft croak.
"Hello Baba Yaga." Melania acknowledged with a bow of her head, showing the proper respect for the elderly and powerful woman before her.
"Gabriel, Ivan, Carl." She greeted the rest of them and all looked slightly shocked, as the only one who had met her before was Melania.
"I wouldn't be a very good witch if I couldn't do something as simple as divine the future." She chuckled dryly at their surprised faces; ushering them in and when she finally saw Garm a small shriek escaped her wrinkled lips. She spun on Melania, a fire in her wise dark eyes.
"Who let him out?" she growled low, indicating the dog with a shaking finger, her earlier feebleness forgotten.
"We didn't, a woman named Elisabeth did, she killed Hel and stole Garm away from the gate, that's why we're here."
"You want to know his new keeper." It was a statement, not a question and the air in the room seemed to crackle with the magic that now radiated from Baba Yaga.
"Yes." Melania nodded, careful of her tone.
"And what do you propose to do if I tell you who the new keeper is?" she was curious now.
"Tell them and return Garm to the gate." Gabriel stepped in.
"Oh, I am afraid it is not that simple my dears, you see, only the dead can enter through the gate without a keeper to aid them." She chuckled again as she took a seat on a rickety chair that sat before the small fireplace against the far wall. She pulled a shawl from the back of the chair to wrap around her slim shoulders.
"What are you saying?" Melania asked.
Baba Yaga looked over her shoulder, a cold smile on thin wrinkled lips.
"The keeper must be dead to enter the gate."
"You want us to kill the new keeper?" asked Ivan, his mind making the connection.
"It is not what I want, it is what must be done to close the gate and return that filthy animal." She snapped in return and Melania placed a gentle hand on Ivan's arm to make sure her beloved brother kept his tone polite.
"Who is the new keeper?" she spoke the one question they needed an answer to.
"The new keeper, the new keeper." Baba Yaga stood once more, her cane in hand as she hobbled slowly over to the table set in the corner. It was covered with a simple black cloth and a slim, metallic vase stood in the middle, a single white rose placed delicately inside.
"How will you find them?" wondered Carl allowed as he watched the witch sit down.
"Scrying." She murmured, picking up a silver framed mirror and holding it until it caught the light of the fire and cast dancing beams along the wall.
"Death, your keeper is a woman, a woman who is already gone to the gate, but who cannot get in. She has floated in front of it, awaiting her destiny. Dark hair and eyes, a warrior like yourself Melania."
"Who is she Baba Yaga?" Melania leaned close to the elderly woman, a pleading look in her bright green eyes.
"Her name is Anna, Anna Valerious."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUM, BUM, BUM. Anna enters the picture once more. What shall our beloved Gabriel do when his old love comes back and his new love gets a little snippy? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.
Sorry for the long update.
Andrew's Slinky
