25.2: Vacancies

25.2

Hawthorne

Stellina brings Iridea and I into her room when we return to the palace. She collapses into a heap of pillows, already prepared at the foot of her bed. Her room is bigger than mine, but I suppose that’s to be expected. The bed squats in the middle of the room with lacy curtains rimming the air above it. White fur blankets, tossled and likely from a Yebai, cover the mattress and the pillows which make up Stellina’s pile. At one corner of the room is a shining bathtub with a pull string hanging from the wall. The corner across from it houses a reading and writing nook, although no books, papers, or quills are visible. Iridea takes a seat in the armchair by the window, looking down three tall stories to our training courtyard. I plunk down on the carpet, between the two of them, too awkward to sit on the bed. My jacket is back over my shoulders. Though it does nothing to help the stinging pain from my cheek, it is soothing. Stellina’s muffled voice crawls from the pillows,

“Why does he resist us?” Her mind must be on the King’s outburst. What Iridea said is true; we had little to no preparation going into the announcement, only that the Star Elf’s presence would be made known to the rest of Zyrona in order to solidify their alliance. But he hasn’t agreed to our alliance - so what does this mean? What was the point of showing her off if he might back out? Is it meant to ask as a threat to the Cursed One, an element of hope for Myan, or as a power show? And what was the reason for his outburst? General noncompliance? The wounds in my cheek scream an injustice. I hold a scrap of Stellina’s pristine dress to it; she ripped it off as if it were a rebellion. He can replace it.

“What happened out there was not your fault. The King’s just an insecure man baby, don’t worry about it,” Iridea shrugs off the event. The attack.

“It doesn’t matter if the king is an ‘insecure man baby’, he has the power and the forces we need. Unfortunately, the only opinion that matters here is his. Unless we plan to pull all of Myan to our side and overthrow him,” my voice is riddled with sarcasm but Iridea raises an eyebrow, “No.”

“I mean…”

“He’s clearly shown he’s not above physically hurting us. He could very easily kill us and convince everyone we deserted or defaulted to the Cursed One’s side.” The folded fabric pulls away from my cheek reluctantly. It is wet with blood. I replace it and let my thoughts wander, “If we want to get on his side, we have to work to his rules. We could straight up talk, but he seems like an unreasonable character. Plotting something to resolve doesn’t feel right. Stellina could show off her magic?” Stellina flips over in her nest with a pillow hugged to her chest. She stares at the ceiling.

“I do not know much spells.”

“You know more than him.”

“Could he not see that as a threat?” True, he needs to see that we would follow his orders. Showing off spells doesn’t present loyalty, just strength he doesn’t have. Iridea pushes off of the armchair and crouches my Stellina. She tears off more of the skirt and folds it around her hand carefully.

“We could work with his bounty?” she suggests.

“I thought we weren’t killing werewolves anymore.”

“D’yavolite, are werewolves all you think about? No, we find something animal that poses a threat to the surrounding villages.”

“Werewolves pose a threat to surrounding villages…”

“A good quarter of them probably come from those villages, focus.” Iridea takes my hand from my cheek and replaces it with her own, wrapped in cloth. Her hand is small and cold, soothing against the heat of the blood and stretching from just above my mouth to my eye. The casual manner in which she replaces my hand makes me want to believe it isn’t a big deal but my breath hitches and my cheeks flush. I hope she can’t feel the heat through the cloth. My eyes flit to her but she is lost in thought. She does not bring her hand away.

“What about Night Crawlers?” she suggests after a few moments in silence. She looks over at Stellina and I drop my gaze. “We’ve already killed one, that’s something your common hunter would never dream to do. We could find one and bring its head as evidence to the King. He may feel threated but he wouldn’t be able to deny Stellina’s power." Stellina nestles her chin into the pillow. She looks uncomfortable.

“We are intend to kill animal? That is against Zela’s code.” Iridea is silent, although I can’t tell if it’s out of respect or if she’s holding her tongue. She looks at me and, as if noticing her own hand, slips her palm out of the wrapped cloth leaving me to tend to my injuries. She stands up and paces to the far corner of the room which, I notice, is furthest from me. Despite her cold hands, my cheek feels empty without her palm there.

“We could sit this out, let Hyxver continue his progress through Zyrona until the King pulls himself together. Or we could pray for a moment to present itself where your power and loyalty can be proved. Right now, I’m not coming up with anything else,” Iridea sighs and kneads the bridge of her nose. Stellina is silent, her eyes cast to the carpet. After a minute, she nods.

“When would we do this?”

Since we’re sitting ducks until the King confirms his support, we plan our hunt for three days time. The two days leading up to then we collect information from local hunters on potential Night Crawler nests and disturbances in the ecosystems of local farms. We gain permission from the King’s second in command, Iridea’s uncle, to carry her aunt’s sword outside of the Castle grounds. Stellina negotiates a sword for herself and daggers for Iridea. On the third day, we begin the long trek down the mountain early in the morning. We wind down as the sun climbs the mountain’s slope like ice drifting in the sea.

Fortune is in our favour when a family traveling down the mountain offers a lift, making our journey twice as fast. Iridea hunches in one corner of the cart while Stellina and I entertain the family’s children. Stellina wins their favour with a magic trick by forming ice shapes out of thin air. I can’t help but ogle with them. The parents answer every question of hers with ‘yes, ma’am’ and ‘we’re sorry not to know, ma’am’. They are enamored with her presence. But eventually, the small tricks seem to drain her and I’m left on my own with the kids while she rests. They are thoroughly unimpressed with my lack of magic. Less than five minutes pass before they start bugging their parents, which I expect they had to put up with before they came across us.

We part ways at the bottom of the mountain. The hunters we talked to informed us of a town that has been losing cattle over the last few weeks to a mysterious creature. The locals are worried. It doesn’t take us long to reach the town on foot seeing as it’s a main resting point before traversing the mountain. Despite the lift we took and our early waking, it is late in the afternoon when we arrive. We ask some locals about the reports and they confirm our information. One farmer has taken the brunt of the attacks. They point us to his settlement, nestled in the west of the town between a square-cut field and a steady river. As we walk past homes and shops, eyes fix on Stellina and whispers follow our backs. Iridea hides in the middle but nothing can stop suspicious curiosity.

When questioned, the farmer goes on the defense immediately. He can’t say it’s a Night Crawler for sure, but, what else could attack that regularly? Wolves, maybe, but he hadn’t seen or heard any sight of it. Night Crawlers leave vacancies, not footprints or howls.

We debate on setting out but if we left now, we would be at the mercy of the forest at nightfall. If we waited out the night, we could find the Night Crawler when it’s vulnerable, although we’d risk another animal disappearance. Stellina suggests camping on the farmer’s field to keep watch but when she requests permission, he strongly declines; staring at Iridea and Stellina’s silver hair as he does. The sun falls faster than expected in the shadow of the mountain and our decision is made for us. We turn out our pockets in a tavern. It feels wrong to be under the King’s protection while in possession of a few meagre coins. Somehow, with the little amount that Iridea and I have, we choke up a small room and a dinner of stuffed turnips.

Back in our given room Stellina stares out the window, lit by the light of the waxing pink moon. The other two are soft crescents in the sky. Iridea practices containing her magic in a sphere between her hands. I watch the two of them with their calm dispositions as anxiety eats at my stomach. We’ve successfully escaped from a Night Crawler before, something I hadn’t known any adventurer to have done before, but the first time was drastic. We nearly died. We’ve had two weeks of training since but can that be reared against the might predator of the Finmork forest; a remnant of Fae magic? There may not be just one, but two - five. We seem to have made progress; we can’t let it all be swept away now.

We may feel prepared but we’re throwing ourselves into a kill or be killed situation. I should be used to this feeling - this was all I’ve put myself through in my year of hunting werewolves - yet there’s so much more riding on this than an insignificant immigrant boy and his personal vendetta. This is the Star Elf. Despite what she wants to be known as, Zyrona depends on the continuation of her life. It’s her, or it's the Cursed One.