by Lindsay Nall
“You called Leaf!?” He shrank a bit at her tone.
“He should be here anytime.” She jumped on him wrapping her arms around his neck and throwing him off balance so badly they fell backwards on the bed.
“Thank you.” She wasn’t angry as he thought she was, she seemed grateful and excited. “Wait…” Loosening her grip around his neck she leaned back from where she was now lying on top of him. “Since when are you two all buddy-buddy?”
“What do you mean?” He never thought he would hear the phrase buddy-buddy used in conjunction with Tadum in his life.
“Vander told me you called him when you went looking for me before…” Vander, that loudmouth.
“I did. I knew he would be my best bet at finding you and I know now, with everything going on and how stressed out you are you need him more than you need me.” It was not a pleasant statement to make but it was the truth. She didn’t need a lover right now she needed someone who knew her better than she knew herself, someone who knew her better than he knew her.
“Thank you. I know it bothers you.” He shook his head not wanting her to see the little bit of jealousy he still carried over her and Tadum’s friendship.
“It won’t bother me as long as you don’t kiss him again.” She giggled but then cleared her throat with a smile.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that, he wouldn’t let me now anyways.” Nyght cocked an eyebrow. “He values fidelity very highly; he would see it as me betraying you if I did.” He felt a little relieved at that but that nagging feeling was still in the pit of his stomach. As Mari got up to fix her hair he wondered if the bond he and her shared would ever be as deep as the one she and Tadum shared but the thought of that not happening seemed to feed his jealousy. He hated feeling this way but knew no matter what he did it wouldn’t go away… unless maybe Tadum got a new girlfriend. He laughed at that idea watching her straighten her clothes and check to make sure she was presentable fairly certain that according to Tadum no one could replace Mari.
It was nearly morning before Tadum arrived and Mari had been sitting at the bar to the inn waiting for him ever since finding out he would be arriving. She had fallen asleep with her elbows propped up on the counter and her hands cradling her face. He almost hated to wake her up but knew if he didn’t he would get scolded for not doing it and he would have to listen to her complain about her body hurting from the way she slept.
“Mari.” He whispered trying not to scare her awake. She made a little grunting noise in the back of her throat but didn’t stir other than that. “Mari.” He shook her shoulder lightly hoping she would wake up before her head fell out of her hands and crashed into the bar counter.
“Nerf?” She opened her eyes slowly stretching immediately and in the process nailed Tadum right in the face with her hand. “What the? Leaf!” Jumping down from the stool she bit her lip at the scold he gave her as he held his nose.
“I come all this way, leave my team and before you even set eyes on me you try to break my nose?” She lifted his hand and assessed the damage to his face.
“You’re not even bleeding you big baby.” She huffed. He wiggled his nose a few times then rubbed the tears from both of his eyes. Bleeding or not it still stung. “Besides it’s not the worst injury I’ve ever given you.” He couldn’t argue with that but unconsciously ran a finger over the scar under his eye. “I don’t know if Nyght’s sleeping or not so we might as well just stay down here unless you need to rest then I can wait.”
“You look like you need rest and why is Nyght sleeping in your room?” He followed her to the table narrowing his look on her when she blushed. “I see.”
“You don’t see anything!” Taking a seat next to her he took her hand in his.
“I see enough and I know he’s in your room so that’s all I need to know.”
“Our room and I’m up.” Nyght’s voice came from behind the two as he walked around to take a seat across from them. Tadum eyed him up and down then turned his attention back to Mari.
“Do you need to rest?” She shook her head. She didn’t want to rest she wanted him to know what was going on, wanted to know if maybe he knew something she didn’t and could fill in the blanks, but most importantly wanted to know how long he was going to be with them.
“My team understands that this is where I am needed.” Mari’s eyes went a bit wide at that statement. Micah and Nevelyn could easily handle their own but Tadum hadn’t left their sides since the day he had been assigned to them after he left the east district.
“You’re going with us?” He nodded, she squeezed his hand in worry. Had she just collected another sheep to lead to slaughter?
“Tell me what I need to know, Nyght said you were upset.” She chanced a glance at Nyght but he just nodded to reaffirm what he had said and slid his journal across the table to her. She told Tadum everything from the demon Muse to the Witcher to the tears and about Saran.
Everything just seemed to spill forth from her like a waterfall tinged with emotions of both pain and anger at all of the lies. As Tadum finished reading the prophecy he leaned back and closed his eyes.
“I can’t believe you would be so reckless.”
“Eh?” Mari stared at him wide-eyed and so did Nyght. Of everything she had told him, with everything she had been through he thought she was reckless?
“Do you have any idea how worried we were when you went off of the grid?” He breathed in through his nose and let out a long breath, a tell-tale sign to her that he was angry with her.
“If I had told you everything would either of you had let me go?” Both men shook their heads. “Then you know why I did what I did.”
“And you yelled at me for being reckless.”
“Not the same thing!” He gave her a look out of the corner of his eye then dropped the subject.
“So the quickest way there is by train?”
“Yeah…” She wondered if it would be worth it to see if they could hire Dantis to come with them. She had a decent stack of coins stashed away and wondered if it would be enough to get him out of his cave and to that field.
“What is going on in that brain of yours?” Nyght asked nudging her foot with his own to get her attention. She told them, she didn’t know why she told them but she did. The looks the two of them shot back at her told her all she needed to know, they both thought she was nuts.
“It may not be a bad idea.” Tadum surprised them both with his musings. “If the Witcher is there then he may be able to summon a different demon to make it tell us who this hierarchy demon is that has your name.” It made sense but with how many tears there were she wondered if Dantis would step foot in that field. Most Witchers, if discovered by other demons, were slaughtered.
“His hermitage is right outside of Ipsburg which is where the train runs anyways. I’m not sure we should all go trouncing into a Witchers cave though…”
“Only a few of us will go the rest will wait elsewhere. We will cement our plans on the train when everyone is present.” Tadum stated taking his hand from Mari’s and crossing his arms over his chest. He was thinking about how to go about planning and she knew it. Giving his shoulder a squeeze she stood and walked out onto the front porch of the Inn with a heavy mind. This group kept growing and now they were going to throw a Witcher into the mix. What would happen when the Witcher saw Nyght? Would he try to bind him? Or banish him? Could Nyght’s demon side be banished?
Nyght joined her on the porch after dealing with a few minutes of Tadum threatening to geld him if he hurt her. Sliding his arms around her waist he rested his chin on top of her head.
“What’s on your mind?” He seemed to be asking that question a lot lately.
“I have to ask you something.” She was picking at her nails again which made him worry. “Can your demon half be banished?”
“I don’t know.” No one had ever tried but quickly he saw where this conversation was going. “Don’t even think about it, I am going with
you whether it can or can’t.”
“Nyght…” She turned in his arms so she could put her arms around his neck. “I can’t let you get banished to purgatory.”
“You won’t, we’ll talk to the Witcher about this when we see him and we will get answers then. After that, you can try and feed me your ideas of why I shouldn’t go with you okay?” She nodded but her heart sank. Whether he could or couldn’t be banished she would be taking a huge risk in letting him waltz into the home of a Witcher. A risk she could not and would not take. No matter what he said or did he was going nowhere near that Witcher when they got to Ipsburg.
Twenty-five
“I’m going with you.”
“No, you’re not!” They had been going in circles for almost twenty minutes as they argued back and forth about whether or not Nyght would accompany them to the Witchers hermitage. Mari was defiant in the fact that she wanted him nowhere near the cave and he was just as defiant that one way or another he would meet this Witcher whether in his cave or in the field. “Dammit, Nyght I’m trying to protect you!”
“I’ll be fine.” His jaw had that set to it that told her he was not going to give in on this no matter what she said but she hoped her last resort would be enough to make him stay in town.
“I’m not losing you! Stay here or none of us are going!” It was a childish move but at the look he gave her she knew she had won this battle.
“You would rather not enlist his help at all than risk me meeting him?” She nodded.
“We don’t’ need him but it would be nice to have his help and until we have answers to the questions about your demon half I would feel better if you were nowhere near him. Witchers aren’t exactly known for being trustworthy but at realizing your half-demon he might run.” Nyght sat down on the front steps of a local shop where they had stopped for a few supplies. Everyone else had wandered off to let the two deal with this argument on their own.
“I don’t like it.”
“I know.”
“What will we do if I can be banished?” She had already gone over that scenario in her head. If it was a possibility that bringing the Witcher along with them would hurt Nyght then they wouldn’t bring him. She knew better than to hope Nyght would sit out this fight.
“Then we will not enlist his help and we will carry on with our original plan.” He nodded though his face was written with anger at having to stay behind.
“Are you two done yet?” Tadum came out of the shop stopping just behind Nyght with a brand new bag on his shoulder packed with new supplies.
“Yes, we are.” Nyght opened his mouth to say something but at a look from her promptly closed it. “Are you all set?” Tadum gave a sharp nodded then walked down the steps to stand next to her before handing her a small box of matches.
“Just in case, since he won’t be with us.” She nodded pocketing the matchbook and looking around for the others. Vander and Reagan had said something about going to find food and had obviously done so which was fine, they weren’t going to the cave. As they had ridden on the train out here they had decided that only her, Marinique and Tadum would be going to recruit the Witcher much to Nyght’s still obvious dismay. “Where is your two-bit uncle?”
“I don’t know… Marclay?” Marclay cocked her head then took to the air leading Mari down a side path between two buildings to where Marinique was sitting on a small stone dividing wall. He seemed lost in his thoughts making her worry about disturbing him, he had been lost in his thoughts a lot lately and had still barely spoken to her. She knew why she wasn’t an idiot she had seen his face when he saw the prophecy and when he had found out who her dream man had been. He knew something about her, he had answers to at least some of her questions but he refused to tell them to her and she didn’t force him about it. She wasn’t happy that he had secrets from her and possibly even lies but he was the only family she had left and she wasn’t going to burn that bridge unless necessary.
“Uncle?” He stiffened then looked up to her, he seemed so much older all of a sudden.
“Are we ready to go?”
“Yes.” He gave a nod then followed her back down the alley and back to where Nyght and Tadum remained. “Alright we’ll try to be back by nightfall but I can’t guarantee anything.” Nyght stood and took her hand in his as Tadum and Marinique started down the road.
“Please be careful.”
“I’ve dealt with this Witcher before, I know what to expect…. sort of.” She shrugged giving his hand a reassuring squeeze and starting after her two comrades. It wouldn’t be a long trip time-wise but as she glanced first to Tadum who was staring straight ahead and then to Marinique who was lost in his own little world she gave an inward sigh. This was going to be a long mental trip.
The three reached Dantis’ cave by noon. It looked the same, no markings to tell he lived here, still no sign proclaiming he was a Witcher, just a void in the mountain.
“Dantis!” Mari cupped her hands around her mouth as she yelled into the cave but no one answered. “You think maybe he’s not home?” The two men both shrugged. “Dantis!” There was a small rustle from inside the cave then a rat skittered out past them. “I’m not sure that’s a good sign.” She got five steps into the cave but as she went to take her sixth Tadum spoke up.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“In the cave.” He glared at her. “I’m not just going to stand here and yell into the mouth of the cave, I’m going to see if he’s in here now are you two coming or not?” She didn’t wait for them to answer and started down further into the cave. When they reached a point where daylight no longer spilled into the cavern she lit one of the matches Tadum had given her earlier and pulled the fire into her hand using her appendage as a makeshift torch. “Dantis?” They came to the chasm in the middle of the cave noting that none of the candles that had been burning when they were here before were lit but everything else was the same. The same straw and cloth littered the ground as makeshift seating, the same dead birds hung from a wire though there was one less now, the same odds and ends were shoved into the crevices of the walls of the cave. There was a horrible smell in the air though making her cover her nose and mouth with the handkerchief she kept in her pocket.
“I don’t like this.” Marinique whispered.
“I don’t either. What is that smell?” Mari agreed picking her way through the chasm to the small tunnel they had taken with Dantis that led deeper into the cave and to that small room where he had summoned the map. The smell worsened as they made their way down the tunnel only to discover the source. There on the floor surrounded by rats was the vessel Dantis had been using. “Well, I guess that explains a few things.” She whispered as Marinique bent down to take a closer look at the body.
“There’s no trauma, he’s found a new vessel.” Well crap! Now how were they supposed to find him?
“Think he’ll be coming back here?” Marinique shrugged.
“I have to imagine he would, all of his supplies are still here. We will wait outside away from the stench.” He turned on his heel not stopping to wait for the other two.
“Well then I guess that’s the new plan.” She followed in Marinique’s steps out to the front of the cave where they settled themselves under a nearby tree to wait. Mari took the few minutes they had to themselves to call Nyght and fill him in on what was going on.
“So I could have come with you.” She rolled her eyes at the voice Marclay was projecting.
“No, we’re still waiting for Dantis to come back.” He let out a quiet oath but said nothing else. “Did you find Vander and Reagan?”
“Yeah, they passed out in their rooms at the Inn after claiming they ate too much.” She laughed at that, Tadum rolled his eyes from where he sat next to her.
“Good, I’ll give you another update if need be, if not we’ll see you when we get back.” Nyght agreed to her plan and severed the connection.
“You two have gotten close quickly.” Tadum mused fr
om where he sat against the tree trunk next to her watching the leaves above them dance in the breeze.
“Yes, we have.” He made a noise in the back of his throat but said nothing else. “Do you not approve?” He turned his head to look at her but she was watching Marclay as she tried to catch a nearby bug.
“I approve to a point.”
“To a point? What does that mean?” He shrugged, she waited.
“It means there are things I don’t approve of.”
“Such as?”
“How fast you crawled into his bed.” She slapped his arm. “Alright, alright, none of my business, still…” There was a look on his face that told him he had a certain reserve about her and Nyght’s relationship and he wasn’t too keen on the fact that he had voiced anything about it. “What he is worries me.”
“His demon half?” Tadum nodded. “Why does that worry you?”
“Because I know what it can do.”
“Tadum!” Mariniques outcry from the other side of the tree made Mari jump.
“She deserves to know.”
“I know enough.” She whispered. “I know he’s afraid it will surface again but I also know I calm its whispers and if I can keep doing that then maybe someday it won’t be a constant battle for him to ignore it.”
“Tell her.” Marinique never moved from the other side of the tree but still, she could feel his emotions rolling off him, he seemed worried himself.
“Tell me what exactly?” Tadum let out a long sigh then sat up to face her.
“Three years ago, Nyght’s demon side surfaced at headquarters. He had been in some sort of argument with another Shadow that kept badgering him about what he was, and he snapped.” Mari bit her lip as Tadum spoke both wanting to know what had happened but at the same time afraid of what she was about to find out. “He has demonic powers that he suppresses but when his demon side came out they did too. He nearly killed that Shadow.”
“But they survived right?” Tadum nodded.
“Nyght locked himself in his room for three weeks after it happened. Half of headquarters wanted him locked up until The Fourteen were needed, the other half thought the other Shadow got what he deserved.”
