Tina squinted her eyes as soon as she opened them, attempting to adjust to the light that fell directly on her face. She groaned and rolled over out of the beam.
"Another morning with a splitting headache," she thought angrily. "I guess it's good that I don't work for the DMLE. I can't seem to handle stress anymore."
Tina threw her legs over the side of the bed and sat up slowly. She groggily rubbed at her eyes before they shot open once she smelled smoke. Throwing on a robe, she ran over to the balcony of the loft and looked down to try to locate what was burning.
"Oh, morning," Newt gave her a sheepish grin. He was next to the open window with a throw pillow, trying to fan out the smoke that billowed up from what used to be breakfast. "I'd offer you some eggs but I don't imagine this to be a particularly tasty batch."
"Let me come down and help. Please tell me there's coffee," Tina said and started to climb down the ladder.
"There's a mug under a stasis charm by the sofa for you, love," Newt said while vanishing the catastrophe he created from the pan on the stove. Tina groaned heavily as she sat down and inhaled the steam coming from her mug.
"I swear I exist because of coffee lately," Tina said as she clenched the bridge of her nose between her fingers.
"Headache again, love?" Newt asked as he discreetly accio'd a vial out of his case and levitated it in front of Tina's closed eyes.
"Yeah, I - oh," Tina opened her eyes to the vial of medicine floating in front of her. "Thank you," she smiled sweetly at Newt before tipping the swirling liquid over her lips.
"You have to market that, it's amazing," Tina said as she walked up to Newt's side, waving her wand to siphon the smoke out the window. "Now how about I take over with breakfast?"
"Oh, thank Merlin," Newt sighed happily. "I really tried, I am just so distracted." He plopped down heavily on the sofa, spreading his arms out along the back of it and bringing one leg up to cross his ankle over his knee. Newt leaned his head back and closed his eyes as the delicious smell of Tina's cooking filled the small cottage.
"I was working on that tracking charm I told everyone about, but it doesn't seem to be working for the Wendigo." Newt inhaled the thick smell of bacon. "Maybe it's the species, the specific carbon-based protein it draws from the blood,or it's a mutation of a subgroup of a genus that is making it so difficult," Newt looked over at Tina who was staring at him and appearing more confused by the second. "Basically, I'm at a standstill."
"If you have any literature on it, I'll be glad to help research," Tina offered as she put their breakfast on plates and levitated them to the table in front of the sofa.
"I was scouring my library all last night and couldn't find a thing." Newt said as he sat up and and clapped his hands together, attempting to decide what food to devour first.
"I'd say let's go check out the library in town but if we never go back, it would be too soon." Tina poked at her eggs distractedly.
"I want to take up council with Sahale and see if his magic can come up with a solution, but I didn't know if it would be an appropriate time." Newt hungrily tore into his plate having been let down by his own cooking.
"He might welcome the distraction. Besides, we need to drop in and check on Sahale and Pules anyway." Tina said as she nibbled on her toast.
"We'll finish up then pop on over to the village after breakfast," Newt decided while scooping up the last of his eggs.
"I'm going to get changed. Thank you for breakfast, Newt." Tina gave him a kiss on the cheek then started up towards the loft.
"You've barely ate a thing. Are you feeling unwell?" Newt asked as a spot of worry began to creep up inside him.
"I'm fine," Tina called down from the loft. "I woke up feeling full. That feast in the village yesterday really did the job." Tina tossed on a sleeveless button up shirt and a pair of olive green slacks before charming her hair in a simple French twist and heading back down for her boots and a coat.
"That's a nasty looking gash, Tina," Newt pointed towards a wound on the underside of her upper arm. "When did you get that?"
"Must have happened while rescuing Sahale," Tina guessed.
"Looks like it happened before yesterday, it doesn't seem old enough," Newt questioned aloud as he procured some Murtlap essence to heal her arm.
"I guess I'm a quick healer. Thank you," she said as Newt finished spreading the salve on the deep cut.
"Anytime, love." Newt smiled brightly and took the plates to the kitchenette where he waved his wand, cleaning them before they floated to stack in the cabinet.
Tina sat on the sofa to lace her boots while Newt latched his case and grabbed both of their coats. He set his case down and made sure that the wards were in place around the cottage. Handing Tina her coat, Newt pulled the crystal out of her pocket and held his hand out. Tina bypassed his hand and snuggled against his chest, tilting her head up to look into his eyes. Newt placed a soft kiss to her lips then whispered "olibamkanni", their lips meeting once more as they faded away to the village.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
A sharp scream rang through the street. People were running past the man who was standing in the middle of the road; some rushing to the site of the sound and some fleeing away to supposed safety.
"He's taken him! My boy!" The woman continued to scream as a few men pushed through the crowd to get to her side, some entering her home to observe the chaos left behind.
"That Indian bastard!"
"Crazy fuck killed the wrong one!"
"We aren't even safe in our own homes," multiple voices cried out from the crowd the had begun to form around the scene of the crime.
"Charles, go get the chief!" one of them demanded, knocking the man who stood in the middle of the road out of a contemplative trance.
"Right," said Charles, turning to go to the enforcement office. He lowered his head into the wind and began to shuffle off but was stopped short by something shiny caught in the mud. Bending down, he pulled a short chain out of the mud. Charles wiped off the pendant to reveal a moderately sized ruby. "I don't picture Sahale to wear a ruby necklace," Charles thought as he stepped in to the privacy of an alley. "Aliquis quaerere" he said as he traced his wand over the piece of jewelry causing it to float in to the air and transform. The necklace seemed to break apart as each piece formed a part of a shimmering golden horse. The golden horse reared back on it's hind legs and took off in to the forest.
"Accio Cleansweep," Charles summoned his broom from the DMLE and sped off after the horse in search of the owner of the ruby necklace.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
There was a small gathering of people sat underneath what had been deemed 'The Chogan Tree', chatting amicably and passing bits of vegetables to the white raven that had taken up residence there. Spirits seemed to have lifted since the crushing blow that the village had taken from losing such a beloved member. They had continued sharing stories of Chogan's life and relishing on the beauty of his spirit acceptance the past day.
"What's that?" Mika drew the attention of the group as she pointed towards a golden form approaching the group.
"I thought nothing could find the village," Hassun turned a worried expression to Sahale who had stood up from their circle on the ground.
"Nothing can, we won't be seen if anyone approaches." Sahale calmed his friends.
"It's a horse!" Tina exclaimed excitedly.
The shimmering stallion trotted closer and then slowed to a walk as it neared the group. Coming to a stop in front of Tina, the horse began to drag its front hoof across the ground. It nickered and stepped towards her, pushing its head into her shoulder.
"I thought you said it couldn't find us," Tina backed up hesitantly.
"People can't, but maybe magic can still find you," Istas said and reached out for the horse.
The stallion lifted its head high in the air and neighed loudly as if to call to someone in the distance. It continued to paw at the ground with its hoof in front of Tina.
"Everybody quiet, somebody's coming," Rowtag told the group.
"They won't be able to hear us, it's okay," Sahale answered.
Charles came in to view riding on his broom. He dismounted at the sight of the golden horse standing still next to a large oak tree.
"There's nobody out here for miles," Charles said as he stepped up to the stallion. "Come on, you have to find out who dropped the ruby pendant."
Tina reached up to feel that her necklace was missing and turned around to flash a worried expression to Newt and Sahale.
The horse continued to hold it's ground, dragging its hoof through the dirt.
"Homenum revelio" Charles said as he jutted his wand into the air.
"Bollocks," Newt muttered under his breath.
"Look, I know you're out there. That spell I just used let me know there's a few of you right here and even more a couple hundred yards back." Charles waved his wand over the horse, transforming it back into the necklace. He reached out and grabbed the ruby out of the air.
"I found this in town this morning," Charles shouted as he held up the necklace. "There's been another attack. A little boy this time, only twelve. Now, I know all that mess about arresting Sahale was fueled by Ernest's jealousy, but I also know that you have information to help find the attacker. I'm sorry about what Ernest did to that poor boy but -"
At that moment, Sahale separated himself from the wards protecting the village and lunged towards Charles, his fingers sprouting falcon's talons from their tips.
"Don't you dare talk about my brother!" Sahale screamed as he grabbed Charles' throat, a single drop of blood dropped down from the end of one of Sahale's talons.
"Sahale, stop!" Machk threw off the wards and rushed to stop his friend from acting in anger.
Charles began to sob softly. "I tried to help. I had him locked up for what he did to you. He must have escaped in the explosion that freed you." Sahale retracted his talons until it was just his hand around Charles' throat. "I didn't want anybody to get hurt. I came here to help you stop the monster, I know you all are on its trail."
"Sahale," Rowtag whispered quietly as he placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the man to drop his grasp and back away.
"How did you find me?" Tina asked as she reached out for her necklace. "I must have lost this while fighting in the pasture."
"Here," Charles handed her the ruby pendant and rubbed at the small cut left on his neck. "A charm the chief taught us a while back. Most crimes in a small town are just people losing things, so he developed a spell to find the owner of a discovered object."
"That's actually brilliant," Newt stepped out of the wards and began to examine the necklace. "How did you connect to her patronus?"
"Patro-what? It's a different animal every time, Chief doesn't know why." Charles answered.
"There aren't dementors here so most people don't learn the patronus charm," said Tina. "One of the girls in my dorm at Ilvermorny taught us."
"Incredible!" Newt beamed. "He was able to develop the spell without even understanding its origin. You have to teach me the incantation somet-"
"Forget the stupid spell," Hassun snapped. "What are you doing here? Haven't your people caused us enough harm?"
"Hassun, he tells the truth." Sahale had calmed down and was able to recognize Charles from his time spent imprisoned in town. "This man saved me from Chogan's killer and tried to have him locked away for his crimes. It is not his fault that the madman escaped."
"I'm sorry, Sahale. I should have done more." Charles lowered his eyes to the ground, ashamed.
"You should have killed that crazy bastard when you had the chance!" Hassun lunged towards Charles, shaking with rage.
The stark white raven emerged from the canopy of the large oak tree and swooped down between the two, landing in front of Charles as if to protect him from Hassun.
"Hassun, that's enough," Mika shouted at her friend.
Hassun looked from the stranger to the raven then stomped off into the woods, turning one of his fists into stone and almost punching straight through a tree on his way. The white bird flew off after him as they both disappeared in to the trees.
"You said the wendigo attacked again?" Machk asked, attempting to draw attention away from the hot headed teenager.
"Yes, a young boy was taken from his bed. The mother woke to his room covered in blood." Charles nodded sadly. "I can't allow this thing to terrorize my home anymore and I know you all can help."
"I've reached a snag in the development of my own tracking spell, but perhaps I could draw elements from your patronus-like charm to reform my own." Newt began to think aloud. "Just watch." Newt made very specific movements with his wand as he muttered a long incantation that only fizzled a light blue spark that dropped to the ground from his wand.
"When I used that same spell to track the Billywigs, the spark zipped a trail through the air straight to their colony. Maybe it can't pick up on hibernating creatures since the Wendigo only attacks at night." Newt said, looking discouraged.
"Looks overly complicated," Charles shied away when Tina flashed him an angry glare. "I just meant maybe if you simplified the incantation you could better direct it, is all."
"Let's take this to my house for lunch. My mother will be thrilled to have more people to cook for again." Sahale glanced wistfully at The Chogan Tree before leading the group in to the village.
Rowtag and Istas bickered jovially back and forth while Sahale chatted with Mika about Chogan. Machk and Tina were discussing how her magic was affected by her ruby necklace as Newt walked with Charles to talk about their different spells.
"Thank you for returning Tina's necklace. It was the last gift her parents were able to give her." Newt watched the woman in appreciation. "She wouldn't have forgiven herself for losing it in that field."
"It wasn't in the field," Charles said, snapping Newt's attention back. "I found it in front of the house where that boy was taken."
"I suppose a guard had found it in the escape and dropped it there. Must have." Newt let his gaze drift back to the women smiling brightly as they walked deeper in to the village.
