A day spent in town was nothing abnormal for Xeraphine, but it was abnormal for her to have Alex as a companion, even for a brief amount of time. She had always enjoyed his company and in the recent months, between her sickness and all the mess that her life had become, he had become someone she had come to find solace in. After the weekend spent at the cabin, her fondness for him and her trust in him had grown. It was strange to think that it had not always been so strong. She had known him for nearly ten years and yet she was only starting to truly know him.
The fact that he'd agreed to go to lunch with her had both shocked and amazed her. More than that it had made her happy. A feeling that Xera was not overly used to feeling. She wanted to hold on to it, even as the typically grumpy man had brought their journey to a halt. Ashildr, the woman that had been stabbed at the fayre stood strangely in the way and even Xera was put on edge, though not because of Ash but because of the way Alex reacted to her.
Xera had found herself behind Alex, hidden as best she could be, from view and it had worried her. She had not needed to be told twice. Alex had told her to do something and she'd taken the order as gospel and pulled her phone from her back pocket as she moved through the town. A text was sent to Mina, but it was too slow and so she'd called her as she reached the converted fire house.
Mina had picked up but the line had gone dead the second Xera started to speak. Alex sent me was as far as she got before the redhead was bursting through the front door and Xera was running after her.
"He's confronted Ashildr, she was... strange," Xera said as she caught up with her. "Alex sent me to get you. I don't..."
"Take me," Mina said.
There had been a time when that tone would have bristled Xera and made her balk but not this time. Not anymore. Xera understood Mina, now. Or at least enough not to be truly afraid of her.
Xera ran ahead, her Nikes hitting the pavement as she pushed herself to move. She was so glad her strength had returned after the breaking of the focus. She was alive and not dying. Her fire and air had returned and she was stronger. Healthy. It had been part of why she had asked Alex to go to lunch with her. She wanted to show him the change. To thank him for pushing her to follow this path and giving her the tools to push forward.
As they reached the area that she had last seen Alex a pit formed in her stomach and swallowed hard. "This is... He was right here."
Mina turned on the spot her eyes wandering over the area. Xera watched her as she tried to calm her breathing. The wood wasn't too far away but she had no idea if Alex would go that way, but something had caught Mina's eye in the trees and she's moved forward without a word. Xera, not wanting to leave Alex, went with.
What she saw shocked her in a way that should not have been possible for a witch. A tiny blue flame flicked in the air before Mina and Xera stared in silent awe. She knew what it was, she had never seen one, though.
The wisp beaconed the pair forward, moving at an alarming clip, forcing the pair to run through the rocky terrain. The noise that made on their assent masked much of the fight that played out high above them in the upper part of the mountain. Even the large wings that had spread out over the canopy went unnoticed.
They were too late, as the wisp stopped, Xera's breath caught at the sight before her. It took her a moment to process the scene before her and even then she couldn't do it. There was a large beast on the ground, the body of a horse and the trunk of something that looked less human but human-like. Ashildr stood before it, wings spread wide. A horrified look graced typically beautiful features. Xera looked around, her mind searching for Alex before she put it all together.
"No!" she cried out, her voice hoarse for the strangled scream that broke through her already breathless lungs. She didn't think, she just reacted. The ball of her foot pushed off the hard earth and she was moving past Mina. Past Ashildr. Straight to Alex. She had never known what he was, had never needed to. There were things in life that were important and things that were not, in the grand scheme, what a creature was was nothing compared to who they were. Alex had been a good guy. Decent and protective. To her, anyway. She had never needed to worry or wonder what he was.
Xera's knees hit the dirt as she came to rest in front of his lifeless form. He was not the handsome man she had known, but she didn't see the beast other's did. She pressed her forehead to his, tears running down her cheeks. Her apologies were swept away by the wind, but they were said nonetheless. She had failed him. She had failed to get Mina before something had happened and he had paid the ultimate price. All the apologies in the world could not bring him back. All the tears she shed would fall to the ground and disappear as though they had not been shed. She had not thought she would feel as much sorrow as she had when she'd been told of Amos' passing but the pain of Alex's death was worse. It sliced through her like a white hot lance, threatening to consume her.
The fire that burned through her veins licked at her mind and the wind swirled. Fingers slide through his mane, catching on the tangles. And her vision started to blur, blacking out at the corners.
She didn’t remember how she got down from the mountain or how she came to be in possession of a small ring that she had countless times seen on Alexie's finger, but as she stood outside her house, the ring hanging from her neck on a brand new chain, Xera took a deep breath. She was not going to do what she had done before. She would not let grief consume her the way she had with Amos and with Oliver. Alex had given his life to save the town, to save her. She had failed him, it was true, but he had made a choice to remove her from the situation. He had known the risks.
"Tara," Xera called out to her sister. "My flight leaves in a few hours, hurry up!" The duffel bag full of clothing had been loaded into the back of what was now her sister's purple Prius and her carry-on that housed her computer and a few books stood at her feet. She was ready to leave.
“We can start right now. Leave your things here, we won’t need them where we’re going.” Mina instructed before rising to her feet, “To the mountains we go.”
Mina drove them to the highest point where vehicles could reach, pulling over on the narrow dirt track. It was very rare that anyone came up here, the occasional ranger at best, but it was ideal for what they needed to do. This high up, the magic in the air was thick even though the air was thinner, it was dizzying to the uninitiated, but to Mina it only exhilarated her. Up here was far more home to her than down in the town itself.
She led Xera up through the trees, following no path but the red headed woman appeared to know exactly where she was going. From the corners of their vision, glimmers of blue would flicker; wisps that had come to see what was going on. Eventually, Mina came to a stop once she felt that they were far enough into the woods. She turned to face Xera and removed her jacket, “Anything that you don’t want to get burned I suggest taking off.” She advised, going to hang her jacket over a nearby tree limb.
“You need to cast a circle, I’ll help you seal it, your focus needs to be in the center.” Mina instructed as she rolled back her sleeves to her elbows.
Xera followed Mina silently up the mountain. There were nerves, of course, but it wasn’t the kind of nerves that belayed fear. She was not scared. She was anxious. She wanted this done so that she could find peace and quiet in her mind. Harmony screamed and raged in her mind, begging her not to do this, but Xera ignored it. She was not doing this as a punishment to Harmony, she was doing this to save herself. Her life was worth living. She had family and friends. She had reasons to keep going.
At Mina’s mention of taking off what she didn’t want to be burned, Xera removed the jacket she wore as well as the dress, leaving her in her underwear. She fiddled with the ring on her finger, the one that was her glamor and slipped it from her finger, as well as the rest of the bangles and the necklace Mathis, had loaned her. When the ring has been removed, the scars that littered her back appeared, Lines of healed skin crisscrossed over her back, some deep some shallow, all white and old. She dropped them on her clothing that she had folded neatly and placed at the stump of a tree.
“Okay,” she said with a nod. She began to cast the circle, creating the barrier around her. She was strong in her spell work, but even that was a struggle with how weak she had become from the sickness. With Mina’s help, though, she was able to focus herself enough to form a strong circle. “I think I’m ready.”
He nodded, understanding that. Alexei had no qualms with Harrison, Mina trusted him and that was enough for him. He was a good boss as well, certainly no complaints there. Although he could understand why Xera wouldn’t be so confident around him, he was a powerful man with a powerful history. The coven was certainly not one to be messed with. He nodded, “We can only hope,” Alex agreed, though he couldn’t help but wonder if they would be able to find out. He supposed he could say something, but truth be told going anywhere near cops is the last thing he wanted. He still had Lucien’s blood on his hands, a trail that had thankfully gone cold, and an admission of guilt that he wasn’t willing to make – not to them at least.
It made him think a moment, then furrow his brow, “Xera…” Mina and Tephra knew what he had done a year ago, he had felt it first hand what this entity could do, he was just damn lucky that he had survived – but how had he survived? That was the question, “You need to be careful. Once this thing has you… It doesn’t let go, and it doesn’t stop.”
The concern in his voice shocked her, but she brushed it off. It didn’t mean anything, though it made her happy to know that at least someone cared enough to tell her to be careful for her sake and not the sake of others. “I promise,” she said softly. “I’m not going to go looking for this thing.” She wanted to know more about it, but not that bad. “But...” she chewed her lip and considered his words. “If no one knows where it is, how do you guard yourself against the possibility of it getting you?”
Xera was frail and weak. She was dying. She was either completely prime for a possession like what he was talking about or she was all wrong because of how sick she was. There was no in between, but the question was, which was it? Was she truly in danger or not? If she wasn’t in danger of possession, what was to stop her from being one of the bystanders caught in the crosshairs?
Mina nodded, “The fact it was forced on you will, theoretically, make this a whole lot easier. Your body doesn’t want it, so severing the tie should hopefully be a shorter process.” It was the pain she worried about for Xera, already looking so frail. At her question, Mina exhaled slowly, “You have two options before you, more to do with your own comfort, both will result in the same end.” She started, pulling her mug closer to her.
“Option one is the traditional route. We call on a group of witches and together we help you break the focus. The group will contain any fallout, but also help provide you the strength in a power share to make it work. It just helps to reduce any risks. We can carry that out over in the Dragon’s Den.” She explained to her, before her gaze turned more enigmatic, “Or we take option two. Just you and me.”
Mina paused to let the idea sink in before she’d elaborate further, “I don’t know what rumours you may have heard recently, but it’s becoming increasingly common knowledge that I’m not, in fact, a witch. I told people I broke my focus, but the reality is that I never had one to begin with—” Her gaze met with Xera’s, “—I don’t need a coven to make sure your power is tempered in the process destroying your focus. I was born of fire, you can’t burn me. Nothing can.”
Xera listened, her fingers twisting the sunstone ring as Mina detailed her options. “I don’t want anyone there,” she told her honestly. Xera hadn’t ever felt like the coven of this town was for her and thus refused to have any of them around her while she was doing this. She could have opted to have her sister there, considering her sister had already withstood her fire once as a smile child, but no. It was better to do this on her own. Mina would get her through it, or she wouldn’t. Xera didn’t want Tara there if something bad happened. It was better to do this on her own. Alex trusted Mina so Xera would trust Mina.
“When do we start?” Xera asked, her hands dropping to her side in resolution and resolve. She was going to do this. She was done with this suffering.
“A lemure.” He repeated to her, even going so far as to spell it out for her. At her next question he could only shrug, “I guess, maybe? You’d have to try and see if you could find anyone else who lived in that era and see if they ever encountered one, see what they did to try and get rid of it.“ Hell, the fact that it had taken for Moira to describe it for Alex to even remember what it was said a lot for how little he recalled such creatures, "They never really bothered my kind.” He admitted, but there was no need for a human spirit to go haunting a beast, it was a bit besides the point.
He wet his lips, “I doubt going to the archives would help you, I mean, I highly doubt that anything like this has ever been in town before. Otherwise Mina would’ve known about it,” He perhaps let on a little too much there of the fire witch’s true age, but he didn’t seem to care, “Might be worth asking Harrison.” His gaze swept across the rolling hills in the sheltered shadow of the mountain towards the large manor house that overlooked the grounds, “His collection will go far beyond the archive. What Finnley takes care of is only local treasure."
Xera snorted softly and shook her head. “I think I’ll leave the guess work to the detectives, then.” What was the likelihood she’d find someone else in this town as old as Alex that was actually willing to say they were that old? He still wouldn’t tell her what he was, but his hints were getting more and more frequent. Perhaps she needed to stop and assess what he was for real rather than entertain the idea of one day doing it. She looked up, eyes suddenly sharp at the mention of mean knowing what it was if it had everˆbeen in town before but said nothing. Instead, she stored the key information away for later.
Her demeanor changed at the mention of the St. Clair coven leader and went just a little colder. “I don’t really feel the need to dig into this enough to talk to Mr. St. Clair,” she said quietly. That man scared her. There weren’t many in this town that truly bothered her, but Harrison was one of them. It was in his eyes. She could see the coldness. They looked at people like Thomas had looked at people. Calculating and manipulative. His was a path she would not willingly cross. “I’m sure the detectives will get to the bottom of this.
There was a small curl of her lip at Xera’s mother not approving, of course she wouldn’t, no mother would want to risk their child being consumed by their own power. But Mina always felt it worth checking, just in case things did go wrong. Breaking the focus for someone like her was easy, but it was how the witch themselves coped with the fallout that was the real risk. That would be where the challenge lie, “Understood.” She answered softly, “No, they don’t need to know.” It would either work or it wouldn’t, simple as that.
Mina did sense it in her though, even in the way that she carried herself she could Xera stood a little taller. Still unwell, but her confidence had built, and it was that confidence that they required in order for this to run smoothly. Mina led her back to her home where once they were inside, settled down with a cup of something warm and seated once again at the counter in her kitchen, Mina would lay out the facts to her.
“Your Focus is part of your soul, which unfortunately means that the destruction of it will hurt. The importance during this process is that you fix onto the need to get rid of it. Don’t let the pain overcome you and make you give in, that’s where focus breaking all goes wrong. You need to be so sure, so certain, that this is what you want. Absolutely any doubt cannot even enter into the fringes of your mind. Does that make sense?” Mina told her gravely as she set her mug of coffee aside.
Xera stood a little taller, shouldered squared back when she found out that her mother would have no say in this path. It was about time that Mauve Kamdyn was held at bay. Xera was her own person and was more than capable of making her own choices. She would not be run by the choices and desires of those around her. She was done with that. She was taking her life back or she was dying on her terms. The walk back to Mina’s place had only served to cement Xera’s resolve. She was going to make it through this. She was doing this her way and to hell with what anyone else thought.
She took her seat at the little bar, listening to Mina explain the focus and the pain that would come with breaking it. Xera nodded. “Pain isn’t a problem,” she said softly. “I don’t fear it.” She twisted the sunstone ring that hid the scars on her back and considered other parts of Mina’s words of caution. “This focus was never mine. It was forced upon me. It’s part of my soul but it doesn’t belong. I am sure that I want it gone.” There were plenty of things Xera didn’t know in this time, but this was not one of them. She would not let Thomas win. She would defeat this and remove him from her life.
Making hot cocoa together and cuddle up. (creative license was taken)
Their interactions had not started out the best. In truth, it was Xera’s fault that it had all started out so horribly. Mina terrified her, but not for the reasons most expected. The power the woman exuded, the flames that licked her tips, that didn’t bother Xera. She was used to that. Her magic did the same. Flame called out to flame, but it was the other parts of her strong personality that caused the issues. She knew Mina wasn’t Thomas. Knew she would not treat her the way Thomas had. That did not stop the fear from being there and so Xera reacted and put distance and walls up. She fought back when there was nothing and no one to fight. She had been wrong.
“I made cocoa,” she said softly as she moved from the kitchen to the open living room. She had been told to go home. They weren’t going to be training like they had planned. She had made a choice not to listen. Perhaps she was finally realizing that Mina was not Thomas.
Xera saw it, even if Mina didn’t think she did. There was hurt in the blue eyes. The fire that had burned through the junkyard and turned the air to ash in town was on everyone’s lips, but few understood just what kind of fire was needed to do the damage it had done. Xera did.
Mina looked up at her from the side of the couch she’d curled up on and stared blankly at her. “You’re still here, I thought I said we weren’t training.”
Xera didn’t pay attention to the tone, deciding that the far away look in normally sharp eyes trumped everything. “You did,” she said setting the cocoa on a coaster. “but you look like you could use a friend.” Not that Xera was Mina’s friend, but perhaps she could be.
A frown set deeply into his lips, “It was bleak.” He told her, but in truth he didn’t know the details himself. He shrugged, “My memory’s foggy, but it’s something to keep them at bay. I think you’d have to go read it up. I don’t know how much is written about them though, but I’m convinced that’s what this thing is. It fits the profile.” He explained with a heavy sigh, “You wanna drink or something?” Alex asked as he headed back towards the office cabin, it was a hot day and he was overly aware of Xera’s state of being.
Alex knew she wouldn’t let it go, so he continued to explain why he thought this thing was a lemure, “When the people who get possessed by this thing, their movements changed. They’re slow, like the world is too fast for them, that’s how the creature got its name. You seen those creatures in the zoo? Sloths and Lorises? They’re named for that.” The idea of Alex at a zoo was a peculiar one, but he was adamant that this was what it came down to.
Her lips twitched in worry for a second, her brows knitting together. “This whole town is starting to feel a bit bleak,” she said with a sigh. There was so much darkness in the town, she didn’t know how to handle it anymore. It darkened her thoughts and scared her in ways she didn’t want to think about. “What did you call it again?” Honestly, she might just go look it up. Perhaps the creepy woman at the library would know. Or better yet, Finn. She could ask him. Maybe he could help her.
His question caught her off guard, it was a such a shift in what they’d been talking about but she pushed off the stable wall where she’d paused and followed him. “Sure,” she said before the subject was changed back to their previous topic. It took her a moment to picture what he was talking about but she got it. It worried her that the only way to protect against it was a sacrifice. Though, perhaps it could be any kind of sacrifice. “Do you think this town knows how to deal with these things?” They were a town of supernaturals. Xera knew that Alex was not the only non-specified creature. There were others, perhaps they knew how to help?
It was a surprise to hear that she had been on her way to come and see her, and Mina’s thoughts suddenly honed in more on her and away from the troubles that the town was plagued with. The surprise was a pleasant one however, and she was relieved to hear that she felt that she was ready. A small smile crept across the witch’s lips, “I’m glad to hear that.” She told her sincerely before beckoning her to follow.
“Come, let’s return to my home and we can discuss this further. There’re things that you need to be aware of before we proceed. As you know this process is… Dangerous.” Mina knew exactly how to do it, and where they would need to go in order for this to succeed. But they needed to discuss this in the privacy of her home, and not in the open streets where anyone can hear. There was one question she needed to ask, however, “Does your family know that you’ve agreed to do this?”
She had done her research on the process, she knew the danger. At least some of it. The fire that had once burned in her veins could consume her, but at this point, she could take the risk and be consumed by the fire that she so desperately missed or she could be consumed by the poison that ran through her veins. Really, death was only a possibility in one of the choices. In the other it was absolute. She’d made up her mind the moment she put Amos’ memory to rest. She would not be seeing him again, not for a very long time. She had just needed to make that choice.
“Uh,” she said faltering a little, “no. My mother would not approve.” Xera had long ago stopped caring about what Mauve approved of, but that didn’t mean others followed in the same thinking. “She would prefer I let fate deal with this then take it into my own hands and break it.” Her mother was always about appearances. She had sent her daughter away in fear of retaliation from the mountain and the elders. It was no secret that those that exposed magic were dealt with in permanent terms. A fire witch with air as a secondary that could not control their power was a danger to the whole town, even at the age of five. Especially at the age of five. Her mother had had to deal with it. Xera’s fate had been sealed. “Must they know?”
Alexei pulled a face, “Moira was drawing bleak cards, but the worst was Mina’s.” He wasn’t entirely sure if he should be sharing that particular information, but Alex was never one who felt that some things needed to be kept secret. He was a keeper of secrets by nature, but even Xera deserved the truth on how grave things were looking at the moment. He finished scattering the straw in this stall and headed out, dusting off his hands as he leaned against the open stall.
He gave her a somber look, “It made you feel that way because it was a lemure,” Alex told her, “Moira sensed it, Mina told me and I elaborated. They’re from my time,” He explained with a sigh, which led him to feel even more grateful that he hadn’t been present this time around, “They’re malignant spirits that terrorised people in the Roman era and with them they bring dread. They never figured out how to dispel them, only how to ward them off,” He pinched his nose, “Something about an offering, it’s been a long time. I can’t remember exactly.” It was a very long time ago.
Xera bit her lip, concerned by what she was hearing. “What did Mina’s say?” She knew that if she was not invited to ask he would not have brought it up. He did not tell her things she was not allowed to know and she didn’t dig too deeply into things he didn’t want her to know. She still had no idea what he was, but she knew he didn’t want her to know and so never tried to puzzle it out, even if she had all the info needed.
A shiver ran down her spine at the memory of dread that had stolen her breath and threatened to unleash a beast from within her that was far worse than she wanted to admit. “An offering?” she asked softly. She didn’t say anything about the fact that he’d eluded to his time. She’d known he was old but Roman times? That was something to be examined in the privacy of her own home. Perhaps it was time she started piecing together the puzzle that was her friend.
Mina pursed her lips at her answer. No. Of course she wasn’t feeling any better. At the mention of herbs, her nose wrinkled, “Only a temporary fix though, isn’t it?” It wasn’t phrased as a question, there was an edge of accusation to it. It was almost frustrating to Mina, when she knew that she had the answer that Xera sought, but she wasn’t willing to take it yet.
Her eyes glanced away for a moment as she exhaled a breath, reflecting on the slight annoyance before she looked back towards her, “I have the answer, and you know that I do. My offer’s still open to you Xera, but I need to know that you’re ready for it.” To break someone’s focus was taboo, but in circumstances such as Xera’s it was one of the exceptions. The risks were great, hell Xera could potentially be consumed by her own flames, but it was a better chance than dying because her own focus was slowly poisoning her.
She nodded. “It lets me work instead of relying on my sister, but yes. It’s temporary.” As was everything she had. From the stones she wore and the wards she cast to the herbs she drank. It was all temporary and the only she used them the less they worked.
“I know,” she said looking up at Mina. “I was actually on my way to your place. I wanted to talk to you about everything. About getting help.” She was ready. She had had to get there, but she’d finally gotten then. Between Harmony’s plea to be let out at the fayre, the temptation that came with knowing that she would be safe with Harmony in charge, Xera knew it was time to find away to break free from all of this. She had finally put Amos and his memory to bed and now... Now she needed to live. “I’m ready. I just had a few things to work out with myself.”
Alex did always quietly appreciate people who treated the horses well, to talk to them properly and not as though they were dumb like children. They understood, they were much brighter, more intelligent creatures than many realised. He spread the straw in the stall, making it more comfortable for when the horse returned later after stretching its legs out in the field. He glanced back to her, “All the bad parts.” He admitted.
He straightened up, rolling up his sleeves before turning toward her, “That sense of dread, the bad omens in the readings the banshee was doing, the sword fight.” Alex replied. He had even had his own intervention at his home thanks to the river and tree nymphs who paid him a visit. But he didn’t regret not going down there, after hearing what happened to the earth spirit. He knew what happened. He knew what had possessed him. Alexei didn’t want to chance feeling that darkness first hand ever again.
She grimaced softly and looked off to the side. She was afraid that was all he had heard. Good things had happened, too. Gen was back and she made a beautiful queen. The young vampire that had been made king had been quite the looker as well, though she hadn’t interacted with him. She’d even got to feel a slightly cranky horse some oats. “I hadn’t heard about the omens,” she said honestly. She’d stayed away from the banshee’s booth. Not because she didn’t like the woman, but she had still been in mourning though she knew it was stupid and she’d decided that night as she was putting the black dress away that her mourning period was over. Amos was gone. She’d said her goodbyes and now it was time to focus on her. That of course had been after her panic had subsided.
“I left before Ashildr was attacked, but the feeling of dread...” she shivered against the memory and wrapped arms around her as though she were feeling it again. “It was awful,” there was no point in lying. “It felt like an icy hand reached through my chest and squeezed out the air in my lungs, but the memories it stirred were worse.” She didn’t really talk to people about her memories but that darkness that had descended upon them had pulled her under and dragged her back to a time when Harmony had truly been needed. Alex knew some of her past. She’d clued him into a little of it. “It’s good you weren’t there,” she said honestly. “It was terrible.” She had not come to talk to him about this but not that they were she was almost relieved to put it into words.
Mina’s brow furrowed, the last time she saw Xera was when she had shown up at her door asking for help. Mina had sent her off, she wasn’t ready for the next step yet, and that was when Alexei had stepped in to try and more gently guide Xera to a better understanding of her situation. She had heard nothing since, so she wasn’t entirely sure how successful he had been.
She tucked her tongue into the corner of her mouth as she cleared her throat, “Are you feeling any better?” She asked the young witch, knowing that the answer was likely no. Mina wondered if Xera had been able to feel the darkness that had befallen the fayre, or if her sister had experienced it. She didn’t remember seeing either of them there, in truth.
It had been a journey to get her in front of Mina like this and even now it hadn’t truly been by design. Perhaps that was for the better, though. Xera didn’t have time to psych herself out and give herself a panic attack. Which was a plus. She also pulled from her weekend with Alexei and reminded herself of his words. She could hear his smooth voice telling her to trust Mina. That she wasn’t as dangerous as Xera had built her up to be. This, above everything else, was what calmed her the most. Alexei didn’t like many and the fact that Mina was someone he trusted held a lot of weight.
She smiled softly and bowed her head, “you know I’m not,” she said gently. It was the truth. She was sure Mina knew that she was not feeling well. It clung to her bones and weighed her down. “This isn’t something I can will away, though Clara was helpful in giving me some herbs that give me a bit more strength.” Mathis has told her not to tell anyone about the death ward and so she left that out though it hung around her neck, the warmth of her skin warming the metal of the Ankh.
The summer was the time that the horses loved best, and Xera may note from the last time that she was here, that there was even a foal running around on the green now. Only a few weeks old, but already chasing the dandelions on the breeze in the paddock. Alex was inside with the ones who were due to be ridden today, patting the neck of a bay roan with a bale over his shoulder. The gelding nibbled at the edges, which only made Alex roll his eyes.
He looked up when he heard a familiar voice, a small quirk of a smile there, “Sure. No more for this one though, he’s had enough.” He flung a side-eye in the roan’s direction, the horse nickered and shook his head. Alex moved onto the next stall which was empty. He’d already mucked out that morning, it was just a matter of laying down fresh straw for them now. He flipped the bail over his shoulder onto the floor, “I uh. I heard about what happened at the fayre.” No escaping that conversation, even with her. So he figured they could just get it out of the way now.
Xera gave the horse a pout and patted his nose. “Sorry,” she told him, “he’s the boss. Gotta listen to him.” The horse huffed at her and she shrugged. She gave him a few more scratches on the nose before she leaned in, her cheek on the snout. “You’ll survive.” She moved away from the horse, following Alex to the next stall, which needed a bit of work. She wanted to ask about the foal, because she hadn’t seen it in the paddock, but she had been focusing on finding Alex, but her path of conversation had taken a different direction when Alex spoke.
A frown creased her eyebrows and she glanced over at him. “Which part?” She asked honestly. So much had happened, though she’d heard about Ashildr and Michael after the fact. The onset of the awful feeling had driven her from the fayre. She’d needed to put distance between it and herself as she had already been emotionally compromised for the day.
To say Mina was twitchy over what had happened at the fayre would be something of an understatement. First she had Quinton to worry about, but that coward still hadn’t shown his face since she had scared him off a couple months back. For all she knew she might have killed him, roasting him from the inside as she did, but Mina wasn’t convinced. Until she saw a body, she considered him to be a threat.
But then came the issue at the fayre. Mina had been following on the news stories of the random attacks that had been breaking out within town, of the murder-suicides that always ended up in a big mess. It had been something she’d been intending to look into, but her student came first. Lex still had a ways to go before she was ready to try using her magic again, and she was doing her best to try and figure out how to fix that block.
So bearing witness to the attack on Ashildr had been a wake up call. If Ash could be injured, the one whom Mina was sure was the strongest being that existed within town, perhaps even greater than herself, then she knew that something was terribly wrong. Alexei had weighed in to tell her that he was convinced that what drove Mike to hurt Ash was linked to what had happened to him last year, but that hardly filled her with hope.
Nonetheless, she still had a day job and that was what she was headed home from now. Hair tied back in a tidy bun and dressed in the black salon attire, though her name badge had been stashed away. Her skin smelled of rose oil from the massages, but at least that was a pleasant smell. As she walked, Mina was so tied up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even notice the collision she was about to cause.
She bumped into a woman, and immediately a curse an apology fell in quick succession from her lips, “Fuck, sorry. I was away with the faeri–” Mina looked up to the woman, “–Xera?”
With everything that had happened at the fayre; the terror, and panic that she had felt. The disassociative state she had found herself in after and the fact that Harmony growled and clawed to gain control of her mind, Xera knew she had to get ahold of this and she had to do it now. Her pride and her fear be damned. She needed to find Mina, but she still didn’t know how to face the woman. She needed to figure out how to get rid of Harmony and this curse and to break her focus.
That or she needed to give up, give Mathis back his charm that hung around her neck and let death come for her. It was a tempting offer, in all honesty. One she’d considered it a few times over the weekend while she sat in the dark of her house trying to calm herself down. The fear that had gripped her at the fayre had been nothing short of paralyzing. It had been this paralyzing feeling that had spurred her into action. Once she’d called down and could think straight.
The house had been empty all weekend, Tara had been... Xera didn’t even know. She had gone to the fayre with the Ayres boy and not come home, but Xera wasn’t worried. Tara could take care of herself. In any case, Xera was glad to be able to have her episode in private. So when it was finished and she’d gotten herself to at least closely resemble a presentable human in a lilac knee length sun dress, she’d decided to step out into the sun, grab a cup of coffee and maybe catch a movie in the park while she worked up the courage to seek out the one she truly needed.
Courage, however, would not be needed, but a steady hand was. Xera balanced the warm cup of coffee in her hand and her shoulder knocked into someone on their way by. She hadn’t been paying much attention, lost in the glare of her phone screen as a text came in from her sister who, as it turned out, had been with Roman all weekend.
“No it's,” she started before she glanced up and realized who it was that had run into her, “fine. Hi,” she said shocked to find that the one person she had been needing to talk to was exactly the one she’d accidentally found.
She hadn’t seen him at the Fayre, not this year anyway. She’d seen him other years, though, so she had hoped he would be there this year. It was a foolish hope, but Xera was no stranger to foolish hopes. This year's fayre had been an odd one, perhaps more odd than the fayre the year before. People had died both years which was... unheard of. She’d been going to these things for as long as she could remember and yet the last two years people had died... This town... Something was wrong with it. She wasn’t the only thing that was poisoned it seemed like.
She’d driven today, the tires of her deep purple Prius crunched on the gravel of the drive up to the ranch that Alexie called home. Once she was to her destination she put the car in park, turned off the ignition and got out. She wore a pare of skinny jeans and a black leather riding roots along with a simple pink shirt and lavender wind breaker. She knew the ranch like the back of her hand and had no issues traversing the different paths that would lead her to the man she was looking for.
Alexie was a man that by all rights Xera should find extremely intimidating and kind of frightening. He was gruff and snarky, but he had never been mean to her. She’d always felt so much more comfortable in his presence than in others presence. She’d never tried to figure it out, but she didn’t feel the need. She’d had a peaceful weekend at the cabin and he had been part of that peace. Her mind was quieter around him.
“There you are,” she said when she spotted him doling out hay for the horses. “Could I give you a hand with that?” She wasn’t very strong and lifting the bails of hay would be out of the question but she could take bits and feed the horses. She so loved the creatures.
Smoke curled into the air as Quinn stood next to his steed, watching the woman being as gentle as she could with the horse. Quinn often preferred the company of animals himself. Mostly because they didn’t force him to speak. There was a peaceful silence and Quinn had grown to enjoy. This instance, however, ended quickly with Urien snorting heavily, backpedalling suddenly out of the oat barrel. His eyes shift between his steed and Xera, reaching for Urien’s reigns. “No.” He didn’t, but his horse was reacting to something and he could feel the unease coming off both his steed and Xera. “Something’s wrong.” What exactly was, however, he had no idea.
She stepped back from the steed, eyes wide as she looked around the area. Nothing. She saw nothing. But she felt... Fear. Panic. Dread. Harmony woke in the back of her head, telling her to get out of there. Something was wrong. The words echoed in her head as the man that belonged to the horse spoke them. She knew this feeling. Suddenly she was a little girl hiding under the stairs hearing the boots of Thomas hitting the hard floor as he descended. Her pulse sped up and her mind raced. Harmony pushed forward, commanding Xera to let her out, but Xera refused. She would not let harmony have control. She did not know if she would be strong enough to get herself back if she did. The dread was only getting stronger. She spun the sunstone ring on her finger, trying to think. She couldn’t focus.
“Um,” she said struggling. “Something’s wrong. I don’t know what, but something bad is happening.” It was a struggle to get the words out. “I have to...” She glanced up at the man and back at the horse who wasn’t reacting as strongly as Xera but very clearly was reacting. “I need to go. It was... Thank you for letting me pet your horse. He is lovely.” She turned on her heel and rushed off to find someone that could help her. Someone she trusted. But... but who?
