Moon Witch Ch. 13

I wring my hands. I ball up some more linens and press it against Eryx's chest. The bleeding has slowed somewhat, but his chest is still actively oozing blood.

I've done all that I can think to do, and despite my efforts, despite all the spells I've whispered over him and all the potions I've tried to make him ingest while he's unconscious, nothing has worked. I'm just sitting in my workshop alone with a man who's dying.

A peal of hysteric laughter threatens to bubble up when I think about the first night that I met Eryx, when he was a mysterious Gra'marian general, just someone in need of help. I look at him. That night I remember thinking he looked so boyish and innocent while asleep, but now when I look at him I see the marks of pain etched deep into his face.

I sit down, looking at my workbench once more. I run through my lists of ingredients, the potions I've always relied on, but... Nothing seems like it works. Nothing seems like it would work.

There's nothing I can do. I'm out of my depth. I clench my fists in the linens I'm holding. Looking down at this man whose lifeblood is seeping out of an open wound from his chest, I feel unfairly confronted by my inadequacy. If only I had access to magic stronger than whatever that man had, I could probably have saved Eryx.

Stronger magic.

Something falls into place. In a hurry, I undo the buttons of my shirt and take up the necklace from my neck, the little red gem swinging back and forth in rhythm. When Re'aila told me that I could use this to communicate with her should the need to talk to her arise, I hadn't really taken her seriously.

The necklace sparkles in my hands. I can't hope too much. It probably won't work anyways, and there's no use getting worked up about something when it's likely it'll just disappoint me. But still that little voice at the back of my head whispers that it just might work, and that anything is worth a try. Right?

And so I clutch the gem tightly, whisper a prayer to the gods, and will Re'aila's presence around me. I brace myself, sure that nothing is going to happen after all. Through it all, though, I keep my eyes closed, scared of what I might find when I open them.

I almost scream when there's a voice right in front of me.

"Selene. How lovely of you to return to me."

"I didn't think-" I open my eyes, but stop talking when I realize I'm in Re'aila's little cove with the pond. "Am I back in Gra'marah? I can't be here-"

But Re'aila shushes me, gesturing downwards.

"Little one, it's just your soul that has been called into this place." And I understand what I'm supposed to be looking at. Though I feel the sensation of the water, see the glow of the mushrooms, and hear Re'aila's serene voice, I'm not here. There are no ripples in the water when I move, just as I observed for Re'aila when I was here last. As before, she indicates a place on the rock for me to sit. "It's good to see you again."

I sit down. And then take a deep breath. "I don't think I have much time, Queen Re'aila."

The queen sagely nods. "Yes. I can feel it. Your beloved, he is in danger."

I don't have the mental capacity to correct her calling Eryx my beloved but look at her quizzically regardless. "How do you know that?"

"I can feel his life energy, next to where your body is still. It is fading away."

"Right," I say. "Do you... Do you know of everything that happened?"

"I have a strong connection to you, as you are a child of mine. I did see some of it. And knowing what you encountered, I know what it is you must be facing."

"What I encountered? Does that mean you know what that man was?"

"Death augur," says Re'aila, nodding. "I heard of them back when I was alive, though I've never had the misfortune of meeting one. They're harbingers of death. It is said that if they are ever killed, they trade their life for death. The killer will be gripped by their own mortality. It is a fate that none can escape. That is how the legend goes, anyway."

"I tried everything I could think of to save him and I've had no luck. Queen Re'aila, according to legend, is there really nothing that can be done?"

"Like I said, it is supposedly a fate that is inevitable. There is only one thing I can think of."

I look into her face, with her deep brown eyes. "And what is that?"

"Life magic." Re'aila looks away. "You don't have much in you, but I have more than enough of my essence left in this world to pass onto you. I... I know the feeling of losing my beloved. So I regret having to put it this way. I was only planning on passing my life magic onto you if you agreed to correct my last regret in life."

"You don't mean..." I feel fragile, like I'm ready to crumble away at any moment.

"Yes, Selene. Take back the throne. I don't wish to force you to do anything while you're in such a vulnerable state, but there's no way around it. It's your destiny, and the only way that I can find eternal rest."

"Eternal rest?" I feel lost. I came to Re'aila as a last hope, and despite her giving me hope after all, her blackmail tastes bitter in the face of all of my loss.

Re'aila smiles. But it's a sad smile. "One of the things I've come to accept after death is that life is bigger than myself. I've been a lonely woman for a long time. It's time for me to let go of my attachment to this world and entrust my final will to someone else. Someone capable. Vengeance has kept me around thus far, but I need to let go of it so I can find peace with Maito."

"I don't know if I can do what you're asking me to, Queen Re'aila." I don't like anything that she's saying. My mind turns to the feelings of hope that I've had. Thinking that Era would be waiting for me at home. Or even just a couple hours ago, when Eryx told me that he would be by my side to search for Era. When I speak again, I can feel the emotions clouding my voice. "I have to find my sister. I have to take care of. And maybe, for the first time ever, I have... I feel like there's someone who wants to take care of me."

"Without my life magic, that someone won't be around to care for you." I can hear her own grief in her voice, but still I can tell that she's no closer to helping me without my vow.

"Can't you just give me enough for me to save him?" I feel tears well up, frustration and mild panic hitting me when I consider what I'll be left if I'm not able to save Eryx. It tears me up to think that I'll truly have no one left if he dies right in front of me, but it's just as upsetting to ask Re'aila to accommodate my most selfish desires considering what her life and then death was like.

"I waited for you for a long time. But time doesn't flow for me the same way it does in the world, Selene. I'm just a memory tethered to this little space. Once I release my life magic, I'll be gone. Don't think that I can run out of patience. It's not possible." Re'aila looks into my eyes unflinchingly. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

I'm quiet, looking down at the hands that staunched the flow of Eryx's lifeblood. There's rusty red crusted under my fingernails. I feel sick. Torn. But it's my decision to make.

---

I wake with a start, my heart racing. I'm taking in big gulps of air as an autonomic response, as if my body hasn't been taking in any oxygen.

"Eryx?" Comes a soft voice. My vision is fuzzy and dark, but I can just make out Selene's tear-stricken face as she launches herself towards me, wrapping her arms around my neck to embrace me.

"What happened?" My voice is all gravel. But she just starts bawling, much to my bewilderment. I'm still dealing with my body's physical stress with the heavy pounding in my chest, but the only thing I can do is to lift my lead-laden arms and wrap them around her torso, hoping that it's a comforting gesture. "It's okay," I say, which only sets off a round of coughing from my sore throat. Selene only cries harder in response.

It takes a long while, but eventually my body stabilizes, and so does Selene.

For a while she would quiet, her breath returning to normal, but then she would look at me and burst into tears all over again.

"I'm sorry," she would whisper every so often while wiping at her eyes. She finally does regain her composure somewhat, at least enough to explain to me what happened.

"I went to see Queen Re'aila again. The necklace, it- I guess it pulled my soul to her, when I wanted to try talking to her. The man that you killed, he's a bringer of death. She said that when someone kills it, they're cursed to die themselves. That there's nothing really that can stop that death from coming." Selene wipes the tears that are cascading down her cheeks, then points to my chest.

"Whoa." My robe has been undone and I see my chest is covered with blood. I rub at it and it flakes off, only to reveal smooth skin underneath. It reminds me too much of areana noressa's treatment of me, and the eeriness of it all gives me chills. Before I can ask what it is, Selene goes on.

"You were- there was something on your chest, like someone put a tattoo on you. But I think it was a mark. I undid your robe, and it just started-" Here, she takes in a shuddering breath as if she's remembering the very sight of what happened. "You just started to bleed. You were bleeding for so long, I really thought that you were going to die."

"But I'm not dead." Selene nods. "How?"

She chews her lip. "Queen Re'aila, she thought that life magic could help you. And she passed her power on to me. She was right."

"So you quite literally saved me from the clutches of death? Sounds like we're even, then." I try to make light of the situation, considering how Selene is still hiccupping and recovering from her sobbing. But she ignores my ribbing.

"There's something else, though."

I look at her. She breaks eye contact, looking elsewhere. I follow her gaze to see a great mess of bottles and ingredients strewn about. "Yes?"

Selene is silent. For a moment I wonder if she didn't hear me, and as I'm debating whether to prompt her for an answer she goes on. "I vowed to Re'aila that I would try to take back the throne in Gra'marah."

"Oh." That is not what I expected.

"Yeah. The throne... From Azrath."

I shut my eyes. "You don't have to specify."

She doesn't answer me.

"You vowed. How is that something that you vow? Can't you just live your life out and never talk to her again? It's not like you're going to be killed if you don't do it."

"Eryx-"

"No. Selene. You've been trying to get back home this whole time. And I- I have nowhere to go but to be with you. I can't go back to Gra'marah. I don't want to go back to Gra'marah." I can't explain why I feel so angry with her. I should be more grateful that she saved me, really, but I just have a sense of enmity from within me at this decision she made.

"I didn't have a choice!" She yells, and immediately my rancor cools into shame. "It was either accept Re'aila's terms or watch you bleed to death in front of me, and I've already had enough death in my life, okay? And no, I can't just run away from the vow I made. It was a magical vow. Your vows, you may make on your honor, out of a sense of duty, but this vow, it truly binds me to my word. Re'aila said that if I fail to make good on it... Just, my life is tied to me making good on it. Though at this point, I can't help but wonder if it would just be better for me to die. There's not a whole lot to live for."

"Don't say that."

"It's true." She shoots back. "I accepted it, and her terms, because I couldn't bear the thought of you dying. Right now, Eryx, apart from you, I have nothing. I can't help but question whether Era is even alive, let alone thinking of where she is."

"We'll find her. Everything will work out, I'm sure of it."

"I know you don't even think that she's alive. I can tell. And It makes me angry. But at the same time, I can't even get mad because I can't hold any hope for her being alive, either."

"Selene." I reach out and touch her arm. It almost feels like I'm looking at a feral animal; she's falling apart. "Listen. Let's go back. I still think that we should take the night to rest. I think you need rest. Tomorrow will be a new day. Let me take care of you tonight."

At my words, I see the high strung energy leave her, just a bit. "You're going to take care of me?"

"Yes." I stand up. Oddly enough, I don't feel tired at all. It's almost as if I never got sick in the first place. I suspect it might have something to do with the life magic that Selene used to pull me back from death's brink. I hold a hand out to her. She stares blankly at it for a second, then puts her hand in mine, allowing me to pull her up.

She looks at me, and I'm taken aback. Her eyes are so hollow. I pull her into a hug, and she doesn't protest, just limply allowing me to hold her. "Just so you know, Selene, it wouldn't be better for you to die. Thank you for what you did to save my life."

---

"Hold on, stay here." I signal Selene to stay back before jogging up to the house and entering. Very quickly I scan all the rooms, making sure that nothing is amiss. I go back outside to where Selene stands, hugging herself in the cold night air. "I'm going to check on the back, okay? You should be okay to go inside."

She nods, not saying a word, and slowly shuffles inside as I walk away.

I'm circling around the back of the property when I hear a bone chilling scream. It's a sound that pierces my eardrums and makes my stomach twist in adrenaline.

"Selene?" I call, running towards the source of the sound. It'd only been a few seconds since I left her alone. Quickly I find her just inside the door. She's sobbing, hands cradling her head while she's collapsed on the floor. It's not just the sight of Selene curled up on the floor that's odd, though.

The room is what can only be described as stormy. There's a wind circling around the perimeters of the space, not threatening, but not particularly gentle either. Items are displaced and crash down onto the floor or skid across their surfaces. It's also freezing in here, in stark contrast with the mild climate just outside the door.

I bend down. "What is it?" She doesn't seem to be wounded in any way, but she's barely comprehensible. It looks as if she's looking past me and far away, not quite seeing me. Fat tears are leaking down her face.

"Selene?" She doesn't answer me. I'm worried. "Please, Selene?"

It doesn't matter what I do to get her attention or soothe her, she's paralyzed in her state. I can't leave her like this - I scoop her prone figure up, shutting the door behind me, and set her down in the bed. She doesn't really seem to be calming, but is making less noise now, letting out whimpers as those tears fall from her eyes clenched shut. The wind seems to be getting wilder, now. I can't take my eyes off of her but I hear things crashing around me.

"What is it," I whisper, wiping away those tears that fall faster than I can keep up with. I sit on the bed, wishing so bad to soak up or mitigate only some of what's happening in her. I don't know what's happening and I'm scared that she's in mortal danger.

She doesn't answer, only curling in on herself tighter and thus coming closer to me, seemingly purely driven by instinct given the way she is right now. My heart clenches a bit as I look down at her vulnerable form.

I'm torn with the thought that I'm overstepping, but when I look at her tear-stricken face once more, I lean down and wrap my arms tightly around her, her body feeling cold and small against my chest. I feel her labored breathing against me and I fully cover her, hoping that I can at least give her something that she needs, even though I have no idea what it is.

As I'm laying down, pressing Selene into me, something odd happens to me. It feels like I'm not quite myself. I'm acutely aware of my heartbeat quickening and energy racing through my blood, almost as if I'm absorbing Selene and her panic. In the moment I start to feel like I'm losing myself, like I'm being pulled into another plane of existence.

I focus on slowing my breathing. There's not much I can do about slowing down my heartrate, but if I could will it to normalize I would. Despite everything in my body wanting me to do the opposite, I just pull oxygen in slowly like that would help Selene do so as well.

I don't say anything, just absentmindedly holding her and stroking her back. I can't say for how long I've got her clutched against me, but in what feels like a short amount of time, somewhat miraculously first the wind around us calms, then she settles some. That high strung feeling that I had before melts away, and soon it feels like I'm just holding Selene, albeit her still taking in shuddering breaths.

The vortex stops and it's once again quiet around us.

A muffled sound comes from between my arms.

I hadn't realized how tightly I was holding her and back up, releasing her. "What?"

"She's dead." Selene's voice is hollow and small, and what's even more haunting is how empty her eyes are.

"She's... Dead?"

I see fresh tears spring up in her eyes and she closes her eyes, letting out a deep breath. Her face is contorted in pain.

"Era is dead. I... I felt it. I feel it." Her eyes are still closed, like she's shutting things out.

I'm bewildered. I sit up and then help Selene up, as well. I don't press for details and she's silent for a long while, looking down at her lap. When she speaks again, her voice is a dry whisper.

"It stinks of death. But it's Era's life energy, it's still hanging around here. I- I don't know how I can tell, but I just can. It's because of Re'aila and what she's done... to me." I wait, but she's done talking.

There's something that bothers me, though. "You don't know how it happened," I say cautiously, not wanting to set her off again. I get up from my seat on the bed.

"No. I can only tell that she died here." She answers, her features clouded just a bit by confusion. I comb my way through the small home, opening spaces where there may be a dead body, or at least any hint of what took place. Selene said that it smells like death, but nothing about the space is giving me corpse-vibes.

It's eerie. There's no indication at all that anything unsavory happened. I slowly make my rounds, heading back to Selene where she's quiet on the bed, watching me move about with round eyes.

"Nothing at all. No signs of a struggle or anything."

"She died here," says Selene, morose.

"I'm not saying that she didn't," I say gently. "I'm just concerned with what happened. How it happened. Who did it. I don't know if it's good for us to stay here after all, if it's safe."

"I don't think I should be here, anyways." Her face is completely empty.

"What do you need to take from here? I know we just got here, but I think it's better for us to go back to your shed. We can stay for a couple days and regroup." She nods numbly, and then gets up.

"There's nothing. I just... I can't be here."

We make our way back slowly. Half in an effort to distract her and the other half in hopes of quelling some of my hunger, I ask Selene, "What do you usually do for food? Starting from tomorrow we'll have to figure something out."

"We used to keep a garden, but there's no way we... Um. Sometimes I would hunt. We had traps. Or if you go out you can find berries and nuts to forage." When she speaks her speech is halting, as if while she's talking she's getting distracted by her own thoughts.

I soften my voice as much as possible, sensing the unease in her right now. For now it seemed I'd have to give up on my mission to find food. "Do you want me to stay quiet? Or keep you talking?"

She's takes a while to answer. The only sound is the crunching of gravel and dirt underneath our feet. "I don't want to talk. But being in silence is worse."