"I found it." Sylas comes barreling into the cabin, holding the jar up high. My tears fall faster. If I could have just kept him alive a little bit longer…
It was his time to go, Leilah. Don't let that stop you. Starshadow risks being seen by slithering around my neck. He sneaks under my scarf to give me a snakey hug. His scales bring me so much more comfort than I thought possible. I wrap my arms around him and bend over, hugging him in my own way without anyone the wiser. Everything remains silent while Vannis processes that his partner is dead. I close my eyes, crying over my failure.
"What took you so long?" The mageseeker snarls. I pop my head up.
"It's not… his fault." I gasp. Vannis walks over to me and slaps me across the face.
"Shut up!"
"Do not blame her for speaking the truth. He was too far gone." The farmer chastises the man. He turns to me. "Thank you for making his passing peaceful." Vannis steps away from the body and sits down on a pallet.
"The cur is the reason we're here." Vannis sneers. I glare at him and force myself to stand between Sylas and him. I feel Sylas clutch my clothes. "He's one of them, you know. Pretending to be normal."
"Your friend didn't believe so." The farmer tries to calm down the enraged mageseeker. "Honor that memory."
"What is your issue with mages anyway?" I demand. Vannis looks away from the body. He looks around to carving tools and wooden figures. I tense. Starshadow feels it and he crawls his way down to my right arm. If necessary, I'd throw Starshadow at Vannis. It won't hurt him, but maybe Starshadow can frighten the man enough to leave the farmer alone.
Or we just run.
He's going crazy. I'm sure you can sense it. Sylas doesn't deserve to get Vannis' rage.
...Why do I get stuck with one of the most selfless, death-happy people?
Because I was your only option?
I'm sure time would find me a better one.
Then you'd be stuck in the stars. Face it, Starshadow, I was your only candidate.
… Shut up.
"He was a young fool who felt things far too deeply." Vannis finally speaks. He quiets after that. The silence waiting for his response is uneasy. I feel Sylas shift closer to me. Starshadow tenses as well.
"So it'll be two of us hunting the beast, then?" Vannis asks, standing up.
"It's not necessary." The farmer refuses. "Tend to your friend. I have a wagon. It's yours."
"Doesn't seem proper to leave you here… alone. I'd be abandoning a brother." Vannis' tone does nothing to calm me down. I feel a small burst of energy. I realize that Starshadow shared his magic with me so at least I could protect myself, though he can't easily wrap himself around my wrist anymore.
"I'll manage. Been doing so since my days wearing the blue." The farmer tries to ease the clearly agitated man.
"Of course." Vannis smiles. I don't even have a chance to react when he leaps forward and pins the farmer to the wall. I keep Sylas behind me when I spot the dagger at the farmer's throat. "Where is it?"
"What?" The farmer sounds so confused. I see his hand tremble.
"Your beast?" Vannis asks mockingly.
"I-i-it's in the woods."
"Does it bed down in your cabin at night?" Vannis snarls.
"What?" Panic starts to build in the man's voice.
"Leave him alone! He tried to help you!" I snap, stepping forward. Vannis glares at me. I step back a bit. Sylas's hand holds onto my dress, trembling as he does so.
"Your hammock." Vannis remarks casually, like I didn't speak. The knife briefly points to the hanging bed. "Spend enough time on campaign and it becomes your best friend. So," Vannis presses the dagger into the farmer's flesh. "Why the cot?"
"It… belonged to my daughter." The farmer confesses. I notice him flick his eyes over to Sylas. I glance back briefly to see Sylas pale.
How much do you wanna bet that his daughter is in the barn? Starshadow asks.
Only a fool would take that bet.
Well, it's a good thing you're foolish enough to get us into this mess. Starshadow snaps.
Not the time, Starshadow. I chastise.
"She passed last winter." The farmer continues. I close my eyes, seeing too much of a girl's toys displayed around the cabin. Too many toys for him to be telling the truth. I figure it out then. The girl's alive, and he's keeping her safe from the law. The reason why he's doing so is obvious. The girl's a mage. And everything in this situation just screams horrible. Vannis is unhinged. All I can do is try to keep everyone alive.
"Let's visit her grave." Vannis comments lightly.
"We can't." The farmer looks away, ashamed. "The beast took her."
"Like it took your cattle? I wager carefully enough we'll find it on your farm."
"Leave him alone." I snap. Vannis glares at me. I refuse to look away.
"There's nothing here." Sylas tries. "We should go."
"What do you see on that table, boy?" Vannis snarls. I feel Sylas look at Marsino. I know he sees the death in his body, the tendrils that took his life. I block his view to the best of my ability. "What do you see!"
"You'd make a child stare at death?" I snap.
"Marsino… I see Marsino." Sylas chokes his words out.
"A mageseeker, boy. One of my own." I sense Vannis is definitely going mad. He's furious and almost spitting. "What is he to you?" Vannis demands.
"He was my friend." Sylas whispers.
"Aye… and he was killed by a mage." Vannis snarls. "This man hides one from us. A dangerous one."
"A daughter?" I demand. "How old would she be?" I ask the farmer. He jerks at my briskness.
"Less than ten years." He tells me.
"A little girl, a dangerous mage? Don't you know magic at all? Don't you know that magic is specialized? Just like people?" Vannis whirls on me and slams the butt of his dagger into my temple. I crumple to the ground, stunned.
"Tie her up!" Vannis shouts. I feel ropes come back around my wrists. The magic I once felt is sucked away. Starshadow grunts in my mind and pulls the bound magic into himself. He easily wraps around my wrist a few times. "What do we do?" Vannis sounds insane. I shake off the dizziness and sit up. Even if I'm bound, I try to stay between a young boy and a crazed madman. "We keep the order. We uphold the law." He spits. I glare as his entire face turns mad. Vannis forces all three of us outside with his staff. He smacks the back of my knees. Thanks to training with Govos and Yone, I go down on my knees without bruising them. Vannis jabs the farmer with a stave.
"Call your daughter." Vannis demands.
"She's not here." He winces from the hit. "She's gone."
"We'll see." Vannis mutters. The farmer looks to Sylas, the only one of us that could be considered free. Even that is a loose term for him.
"I'll search the barn." Sylas offers.
"No!" Vannis snaps. 'No. Let her come to us." Vannis snarls. I make my way to the farmer, prepared to defend him.
Don't Leilah. You're too valuable! Starshadow cries out. I ignore his cries and kneel between Vannis and the farmer. The farmer looks at me in awe and fear.
"Get out of the way." Vannis snarls. I stare back stoically.
"Would Marsino want this?" I ask him. He swings his staff into my ribs. I grunt from the impact. My ribs feel broken, but he didn't kill me. He's too mad at the farmer to listen.
I doubt he was ever going to listen anyway. Starshadow remarks with a groan. He uses a bit of magic to fix my ribs. They feel a bit tender, but Starshadow can't afford to give me any more magic. Not without risking making us unable to defend ourselves.
"Thanks, Starshadow." I barely whisper before I hear the farmer scream. I snap up to see that Vannis has cut the man's fingers off. Get these bindings off me. NOW! I yell at Starshadow. He slithers to my restraint and starts to pull at the rope.
"What are you doing?" Sylas asks, so scared at seeing the mageseeker like this.
"What needs to be done." Vannis snarls. I can see his grief through his anger. The barn door creaks. "That's right, come on." Vannis sounds maniacal now.
Almost there, Leilah. Just a few more… I feel my bonds loosen and I slip them off my wrists. I stand up, holding my arm to my ribs. I stumble over to them.
"Papa?" I hear a little girl ask. I snap my head around to see her crying, staring at the sight before her.
"It's alright. Papa's just talking to these people." the farmer stammers. I turn to Sylas. He looks so scared. I wrap my remaining arm around his shoulders. He looks up at me, terrified. I give him a smile and a squeeze. Sylas' gaze hardens. He looks back at the girl and rolls his shoulders back.
"She's...normal." Sylas says.
"Are you sure? Look again!" Vannis actually spits.
"You were wrong. We should go." Sylas presses. The mage seeker refuses to move and pulls out his stone.
"We'll see if she passes the trials." Vannis says sinisterly. I step away from Sylas. He reaches for me, but misses. I step in the middle of everyone.
"She's a child!" I protest. Vannis snarls and goes to punch me with a stone. The stone glows so brightly Vannis flinches away. The farmer sees this as his chance to save his daughter.
"Run, child! Run!" The farmer screams as he tackles Vannis. Vannis snarls and lands a blow on the man's midsection. As the man tries to recover, Vannis tries to slam the stave on his head.
"NO!" I yell and hold a shield over the farmer's head. It saves the farmer from death by bludegeoning, but the girl sees someone attacking her Father and screams. Lightening pours from her fingertips. I pant from all the magic I just used. I need more. If I can keep everyone alive, I need more.
Starshadow, I may need some more magic.
It's not like I have endless reserves! Starshadow protests, but I can feel my body lighten again at the same time Sarshadow's barely big enough to wrap around my finger.
Thanks, Starshadow. We'll rest after all this, I promise.
Might I remind you that on Runeterra, I rely on you to stay here, not the other way around. Starshadow grumbles. I see Vannis turn away from the farmer and move to attack the girl.
"NO!" I scream. Sylas refuses to let the girl die by staff either. I see him touch her, then light envelopes him. "Sylas!" I yelp as I conjure a shadow shield in front of us. It cracks, but holds. When the light finally dies down, I open my eyes.
Vannis, the girl, and the farmer are all just burning husks. I go to the farmer. He died reaching for his daughter. He was a good Father. I know my Father would do the same for me. I also know my Father would want me to be in his arms if we both died. He'd want to protect me in death. I go over to the site of the explosion. Only one person is breathing. Sylas. I walk over to the girl's corpse, still reaching for her Father. I bite my lips and pick her corpse up. I hear a groan as I stand.
"What are you doing?" Sylas asks groggily.
"Letting the dead be at peace." I whisper as I move the girl over to her Father. I tuck her into his embrace. "They may have died in fear, but in death they can be together." I hear him sniff. I turn around when I've arranged the man's arms to wrap around his daughter. Sylas starts to walk away.
"Where are you going?" I call out. He keeps walking, never turning back. I know that he won't forget it though. I still remember Bilgewater and it's horrors. It's worse for Sylas because in one day, he lost everyone. I stand up and walk into the empty cabin. I lift Masino and pull him outside. I lay his to rest under his brother's feet before I move the standing man into a lying position. I go into the barn and look for a shovel. Once I find it, I start my task of creating three graves. One for the small family to rest with each other, one for Marsino, and one next to him for Vannis. Vannis will be buried with his staff, a warrior to the end. Marsino with flowers, for his kindness. Daylight rises overhead by the time I'm done digging their graves. I pull them into their designate spots. I tried to use my magic, but they don't seem to work on corpses. The day is almost over when I finally bury them. "May you find the peace that you could never have in life." I murmur.
What now? Starshadow pokes his tiny head out. I look around. The magic outburst from Sylas has destroyed almost everything. I sigh.
"We stay here. We train." I state. Starshadow pulls himself back a little bit.
Train what?
"I think I could have healed Marsino."
How do you know you can? You don't have any magical maladies to heal.
"I'm sure I can do it, I just need to meet with him again."
Don't you remember what happened last time?
"Of course I do. Doesn't mean I can't try again."
You were nearly corrupted. If I wasn't there, you would be in deep shit.
"Details." I wave off.
No, not details! As I have said, I am entirely reliant on you! You need to survive! You're the Aspect of Hope now! You can't risk yourself as much! Starshadow protests.
"I'm still Leilah! I can't sit by and watch everything happen! That's not good for anyone!"
You have to survive. I can't live without you.
"And that's why I have to talk with him. I can't sit on the side and watch people die! Not anymore. They didn't deserve to die. And as you said, you need my magic. If I can make it stronger, then you won't be in risky situations trying to keep up with my demands. We need to know what that magic is capable of."
Ok. It takes a moment before I realize that Starshadow has agreed to my request.
"What?"
Ok. You're right. Holding you back until you are forced to deal with something terrible could get you killed. You need to know that magic, otherwise you would definitely die.
"I'm not that bad!"
SAYS THE ONE THAT VOLUNTEERED HERSELF AS A MAGE TO PEOPLE WHO WOULD ARREST OR KILL THEM! I wince at that.
"They didn't kill me."
They definitely could have. Vannis was not sane.
"Ok, ok, I get it. Listen to the celestial when it comes to my safety, ignore the snake when he insists I sit on the sidelines."
That is not the moral of this story. It should be listen to the all-knowing celestial at all times.
" Agree to disagree. So, how do we start?"
It's not going to be fun.
"Come on, what's the worst that could happen?"
...We are going to be having words as to what you should and should not say…
Since it is a holiday, I thought I'd treat you guys to two chapters in one day! Like I said earlier, Happy Thanksgiving! Let it be as extraordinary as you guys are!