Too Cool to Die
I woke slowly, my cold body stinging with pain. I groaned, folding in on myself in a futile attempt to relieve it.
A dull voice came from my right. “Sorry kid,” it said, the words garbled as if the speaker had something in their mouth, “that’s all I can do for you right now. I’m all out of magic, I’m afraid.”
I pried open my frozen eyelids, stifling a pained cry as the sensitive skin tore open. Blood dripped into my eyes, obscuring my vision. Not that there was much to see, as the room was a murky grey, the light of the moon streaming through the windows and casting the once familiar layout into shadows.
I reached up a hand to wipe my eyes, wincing as I gingerly touched the narrow gashes. I drew back, cold blood trickling down my face. “Eda…?” I murmured wobbly, “What’s going on? Are we dead?”
It was silent for a moment, then she spoke up again. “No, Luz. I stabilized it before it could blow up.” There was a pause. “You did good, kid. We did it. It’s done.”
I sat up, twitching my head to shake the blood from my eyes as I tried to look around. “Oh, thank fuck,” I sighed in relief, “let’s never do that ever again.”
There was a sound of confirmation from Eda, but nothing else.
I dug through the pockets of my sweatpants, searching hopefully for some paper. There was nothing. Grumbling, I got to my feet to search blindly the end table, where I vaguely remembered leaving writing supplies. Walking was torturous. Every step caused frigid needles to shoot up my legs, racking me with shivers once again. The wounds on my eyes were excruciatingly annoying; blood trickled down in a steady stream, forcing me to stop every step to wipe my eyes clear. It was so fucking unfair how much blinking hurt.
Finally, I made it, running directly into the table and nearly tumbling over it. I caught myself on the flat surface, the jolt jarring my stiff arms. I gasped as a wave of intense pain traveled up from my fingertips, a deep, aching throb springing up wherever it went.
I ordered my body to stand upright, holding back a whimper as my spine crackled at the simple movement. Picking up a pencil with an unsteady hand, I drew a shaky light glyph, feeling my way through the shape with my other hand.
Sharp relief coursed through me as the paper crumbled into a sphere of light, plunging the dark room into sudden light. I cupped it in my hands, dimly noting the trembling sheen of red and blue coating my icy skin.
I turned back towards Eda, focusing on my socked feet as I staggered my way back towards her. Drawing near, I looked up at her. “Eda, I- Mierda!” I stumbled back in surprise, falling flat on my ass. Adrenaline seared through me, and I scooted backwards, shaking away the blood in my eyes as I struggled to keep sight of the thing in front of me.
It wasn’t particularly tall; maybe just a few inches taller than me. But covering it was a large, thick coat of grey feathers, the ones tracing its spine darker than those on its front. Long, pale ears stuck out of the feathery mane, twitching back and forth to catch the soft nighttime sounds. Jagged fangs poked out of the sides of its mouth, and familiar golden eyes stared into mine, spots of black slowly swelling across the irises.
“Eda…” I breathed out. My leaden heart dropped through my chest as I took in her new appearance. “Is-” I swallowed back a whimper rising in my throat. “Is that you?”
It nodded slightly, reaching out a clawed hand towards me. “Luz,” Eda’s voice came from it, distorted by the long teeth, “I-” Her voice broke as I flinched away from her, and she drew back her proffered hand to cradle it against her chest. She looked away with a low growl. “I’m sorry,” Eda whispered regretfully, “I was planning on telling you before this happened.”
I didn’t know what to say. My mouth gaped open like a fish’s, and my mind felt as frozen as the rest of me.
Eda closed her eyes and took a deep, shuttering breath. Then she opened them again, her blackening eyes boring into mine. “Luz, I don’t have much time,” she told me sternly, “Run. Go get King, he knows what to do.”
I couldn’t move. All I wanted was to curl up in a ball and cry. There was no part of me that wanted to deal with Eda’s vague warnings.
Eda’s claws flexed, and she took a shambling step towards me, her body shuttering as she visibly fought with herself. Her plumage bristled, and her lips curled back, exposing a row of lengthening incisors. Black gunk oozed past her teeth as they grew. “Go!” Eda snarled viciously, shrinking in on herself as she covered her face with her hands.
The snarl snapped me out of my trance, and I stumbled to my feet, taking off in a stilted, painful run towards the stairs. Behind me, a shrill wail pierced the air, warbling into an agonized shriek.
I took the stairs three at a time, struggling to keep my balanced as blood continued to pool in my eyes, eclipsing my already hindered vision. I skidded at the turn, then burst into my room, spinning to slam the door firmly shut behind me. I leaned heavily against the door as I tried to control my racing heart. As my terror subsided, misery swarmed to take its place, and I slid down to sit huddled on the floor. A sob built in my throat, and I put my head in my hands, shaking with nerves and cold.
King’s voice floated towards me from the bed. “Was that Eda?” he asked worriedly, his drowsy squeak filled with dread.
Sniffling, I nodded. I rubbed my eyes, grimacing as the tender wounds protested and flicking globs of blood away. There was a rush of wings, then Tenebris landed on my knee, peeping in concern as she shoved her face into mine. I blinked blurrily as I tried to focus on her, reaching up a pale, shaking blue hand to pet her soft chest.
“Hey, carino,” I murmured quietly to her, smiling unsteadily as she butted her head into my hand. She climbed onto my arm, scaling it like a ladder until she was perched on my shoulder, where she began to gently preen her beak through my hair. My scalp was so cold I could barely feel it. Using the floor to brace myself, I got to my feet and stumbled through the dark to my bed, collapsing against the headboard so that I was sitting upright. King promptly clambered onto my lap, staring up at me anxiously.
“Are you okay?” He asked, grabbing one of my hands and examining it carefully. “Do you humans often turn blue?”
I gently pulled my hand away from him, wrapping my arms around my midsection as I shivered. Whatever Eda had done to warm me up was fading rapidly, and I could feel the bitter chill returning to my bones. At least the wounds on my eyelids were freezing closed, I could finally see again as the trickle of blood slowed to a stop. “N-no,” I chattered, “it’s fr-frostbite. It happens when our bodies get too c-cold. Very d-dangerous.” This should have worried me, but I didn’t feel very concerned. Dimly, I wondered if that was a bad thing. After the night I’ve had, I couldn’t tell anymore.
King, however, looked like he was about to go into a full-scale panic. “Oh geez,” he squeaked, eyes wide as he wrung his paws together fretfully, “this is not good.” He squirmed his way under my arms, hugging me in a desperate attempt to help thaw me. “You’re so cold…” he said faintly, tilting up his hand to gaze up at me. His fangs poked into my chest, reminding me uncomfortably of the ones Eda had grown.
“Wh-what’s happening to Eda?” I mumbled lowly, shrinking as I huddled myself around King’s warmth.
“She’s-” King hesitated, fear swarming into his worried eyes. “She’s cursed,” he finished quickly, “she doesn’t know why or how it happened, but every so often she changes into this: the Owlbeast. In this form she’s basically an ultra-aggressive predator who’d kill us without remorse.”
Yikes. “She just transforms, like, randomly?” I asked, wincing as my chapped lips split open. The taste of iron filled my mouth.
He shook his head, fangs digging a trench in my skin. “Whenever Eda uses more magic than what she has energy for,” he elaborated, “She has an elixir that’s supposed to prevent it, but it hasn’t seemed to work for years now. Eda’s been holding herself together with binding spells, but every so often…” King shrugged helplessly.
There was a scraping sound outside my door, as if something huge was dragging itself past. All three of us watched the door in wary silence until the sound faded as the Owlbeast continued down the hallway.
I sat there quietly, still except for the tremors racking my body as I thought through what the demon had told me. I was so tired. It would be easy to just let myself drift off into nothingness… to lose all my hurts and fears.
“Luz?” King prompted quietly, “Are you okay?”
I shook my head lightly, dismissing the alluring notion of sleep. Eda needed me; I couldn’t give up now. “How do we get her back?”
King was watching me worriedly, but responded to my question nonetheless. “I don’t know,” he admitted reluctantly, “I always hide and wait for her to change back on her own. It used to only take a few hours, but now it takes days or weeks.” He looked me up and down. “Eda made me a little cabinet to wait it out in, but I don’t think you would fit. It’s pretty small.”
Now I was feeling nervous. I’m just contrary like that; frostbite doesn’t faze me, but Eda turning in to a bloodthirsty monster? No thanks. I tried to come up with some creative solution that would solve everything, but nothing came to mind. “Can we leave?” I inquired desperately, “Just hightail it outta here and come back once she’s better?”
King shook his head sadly. “Eda told me to never leave the house when she’s in the Owlbeast form. This is its nest, and it hates trespassers. If we leave, it will hunt us down and vivisect us as soon as it’s dark enough for it to follow.”
I straightened, latching onto the last couple words. “‘As soon as it’s dark enough?’” I repeated hopefully. “What does that mean?”
“The Owlbeast is nocturnal,” King told me, “it can stay awake during the day, but its eyes are so light-sensitive that it can’t go outside.”
I blinked slowly, the gears in my brain whirling as I tried to think of something. An idea finally occurred to me, and I tried my head to look at Tenebris, who was huddled comfortingly against my neck like a little, feathery heater. “Tenebris, can you go get help?” I pleaded, “You’re small enough to escape without Eda noticing.”
She stared at me, her yellow eyes wide with concern. She peeped once, somehow managing to convey all her doubts and reserves in that one sound.
I smiled shakily at her. “Don’t worry,” I said, trying to soothe the worried hawk, “I’ll be fine. King and I will hide right here until you get back.” I hope, I added internally.
She shifted from foot to foot uncertainly, then bobbed her head slowly in a nod.
“Thank you,” I breathed in relief. “Be careful.”
She wiped her beak on my face lovingly, then took off out the window on silent wings. After a few moments, she was gone.
I turned back to King with a sigh. The air wafting in through the open window was hot as it hit my skin, a fact that was mildly concerning since it was almost winter. I had never been this cold in my entire eighteen years of life. My eyes were drifting closed. “I’m so tired,” I mumbled weakly to King, “So cold…”
“Hey, none of that!” King protested, slapping me to wake me up. “C’mon Luz!” he cried, anxiety seeping into his squeaky voice, “It’s not safe to stay here. And if you die on me… I swear to titan I will never forgive you!”
I smiled softly, cracking open my aching eyes to stare fondly at the little demon. “I’ll be okay, King,” I soothed, “I just need to sleep for a bit.”
He didn’t look convinced. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” he whined, “you might not wake up again.”
I shrugged. With how frigid my stinging body was, I didn’t really care about little details such as my probable demise. “Just five minutes,” I slurred feebly, my eyes closing again. King’s panicked voice echoed through my head as I drifted off to sleep.
I have to say, sleeping while on the brink of death does not produce pleasant dreams. I was standing in the middle of a frozen tundra, the deep snow stretching infinitely in every direction. It was midday, but even though the sun was directly overhead, it offered me no warmth. I turned in circles, shivering as I searched desperately the distant horizon for something-anything that could help me.
A flicker of light appeared in the corner of my eye, and I spun around to see an orange glow in the distance, maybe a couple miles away. Maybe it’s a fire, I thought to myself hopefully, or a minifridge filled with hot chocolate. That decided it. I set off towards the faint light, trudging through the knee-deep snow. It was slow, tedious work, although I didn’t seem to be tiring.
Time passed me by, I had no clue how long I’d been walking for. It could have been minutes, hours, or even days. Yet the sun stayed fixed above my head, seemingly following me across the tundra. I swung my arms wide in boredom, noting curiously that the blue creeping up my arms was darkening now. That probably wasn’t good.
Walking must have generated some body heat, because I felt as if I was thawing again. Smarting barbs traveled up my body with every little movement, radiating from my hands and feet and weaving up my spine as they traveled to my head.
Cold tears trailed down my cheeks, splattering onto the snow as I walked and staining the pristine white a dark red. Red? I frowned. I wiped the tears away, drawing back my hands to find them dripping with blood. Dream-me decided that that wasn’t a cause for concern and lumbered on. In the back of my mind, I began to dimly wonder if I was dead. More blood began to ooze from my cracked lips, joining the steady trickle of blood from my eyes in its journey to the ground.
I glanced up from my snow ladened feet, scanning for the glow for the hundredth time. I come to a halt, gawking in my surprise. A campfire crackled merrily just in front of me, the snow around it untarnished by its warmth.
I hurriedly threw myself towards it, collapsing on top of it in my overwhelming desire for warmth. Somehow, it did not burn me nor light me into a screaming ball of fire. Instead, it sent heat rocketing through my frozen body, thawing me rapidly without any throbbing pain.
It was wonderful. I sighed in bliss, closing my eyes and relaxing into the cozy flames. My body sank into it as the snow surrounding me began to melt away, simply disappearing as if it had never even existed to begin with. The wind picked up, tousling my hair and whispering indistinctly.
The whispers slowly began to take form, shifting from the sighing of the wind to a voice of a familiar cadence. My sluggish mind couldn’t identify who it belonged to, but as it grew louder and louder in my ears, I had a hazy feeling that it was calling my name. Quite insistently too. The voice began to lift me of the ground, pulling me in a whirl of wind up into the sky. I clung tightly to the flames, afraid of letting go and becoming cold again. The wind howled, yanking me sharply upwards as it tried to dislodge me.
Beneath me, the fire shuddered and growled, another voice speaking up from it. “Leave her alone!” it snapped, sounding quite angry. The wind faded, and the fire spoke again. This time, its voice was much kinder. “Luz, wake the fuck up,” it told me firmly.
“Fire?” I mumbled, my fuzzy brain struggling to make sense of what was happening. “Nice fire…” I said softly, voice muffled by the flames as I snuggled deeper into them. The fire flinched. This struck me as odd. Wait, I asked myself perplexedly, does fire talk? I was pretty sure it didn’t.
I frowned. No, I distinctly remembered that fire definitely could not speak. I cracked open my eyes, blinking in confusion as I realized I wasn’t lying on a campfire. Instead, my face was pressed into soft fabric that rose and fell as it breathed, a heartbeat hammering through to reach my ears.
I scrunched up my nose. “Wha-?” I creaked out in a voice as rough as sandpaper. I cleared my throat and tried again. This time, it was audible. “What’s going on?”
A shrill squeal sounded right beside my ear, making me wince and recoil away from it. “Luz!” I now recognized the voice as King’s. “You’re finally awake! I thought you were dead, asshole!” Something punched my side, and I groaned in pain as the impact traveled up my tender nerves, closing my eyes tightly against the wave of pain.
My pillow shifted. “Knock it off, Pipsqueak,” it hissed, presumably at King. Warmth seared through me again, and the ache faded into a memory. I was lifted up and down as my pillow sighed heavily. “How are you feeling?” It asked me gently, the words vibrating through my body.
“Stiff,” I ground out slowly, my voice still husky, “Dead.”
There was a low chuckle. “You’re not dead,” it told me with amusement. Its feminine voice was very familiar, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint where I’d heard it before. I furrowed my brow in concentration, but I just could not think of who it belonged to. Giving up, I opened my eyes blearily, tipping up my chin to gaze up at the face of the person I was laying on. Golden eyes met mine, and Amity smiled softly down at me. Upon her head, Tenebris was perched, staring down at me in concern.
“Amity…? What are you doing here? Tenebris is on your head?” I realized I was laying halfway up her torso, my arms wrapped tightly around her and our legs tangled together. “We’re cuddling,” I stated dumbly, “Why are we cuddling?”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Your bird brought me here,” she grumbled exasperatedly, glaring up at Tenebris, “She wouldn’t leave me alone until I followed her. As for the other thing…” Amity’s ears went down, and she looked away as her face flushed. “I sat down next to you to heal you, ‘cause it works better with physical contact,” she explained awkwardly, “And you just… clambered on top of me and latched on.”
Oh, I thought. Heat rose to my cheeks, a welcome change from the cold. That’s embarrassing. I pulled my arms out from under her, making Amity squirm uncomfortably. “Sorry about that,” I huffed, rolling off of her to lean on the headboard next to her.
Amity shook her head. “It’s fine,” she told me, though I saw her sag in relief. She looked down at me worriedly. “You were almost dead, Luz,” she said gently, “I practically had to restart your heart, and you were literally frozen… What did you do to get yourself in that state?”
King climbed over Amity and onto my chest, making her scowl in irritation. “I haven’t told her anything,” King informed me, returning the witch’s glare. “I wanted to make sure she didn’t kill you first. And I still don’t trust you!” He added wrathfully, pointing an accusing claw at Amity.
I patted his head softly to calm him down, waiting until he curled up before turning back to Amity. “Sorry,” I muttered, gesturing to King, “he’s… rambunctious.”
She cracked a small smile, though she still looked aggravated. Then her expression turned serious again. “The one thing he did say was that I had to be quiet, or else we’d all die an ‘excruciatingly gruesome death that would kill us real dead,’” she quoted, looking only mildly perturbed at the thought.
I winced, remembering that I too had to be quiet, or else Eda would slaughter us. “Right,” I sighed, “We have some problems right now.”
Amity sighed heavily, her eyes going sharp with frustration. “Please just tell me,” she growled, “After getting harassed by Tenebris and bringing you back to life, I deserve some answers.”
I sucked in a slow breath through clenched teeth, unsure if I should tell her about Eda and I’s less-than-legal activity. “Weeeell,” I dragged out guiltily.
Luckily, Amity seemed to get it. “I think we’ve already established that I’m not going to arrest you,” she said drily, rolling her eyes at my avoidance, “Just say it.”
I shrugged. “Okay, but I’m gonna hold you to that,” I informed her, causing the witch to scoff delicately in response. “Eda and I were brewing up an, um,” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “A petram,” I finished in a small voice.
Amity’s eyes widened. “Are you insane?!” she hissed loudly, glowering at me as she hit my shoulder. “Do you know how dangerous that is! You could have killed everyone!”
I flinched, rubbing my shoulder with a pout. “Ow?!” I protested, narrowing my eyes at her judgmentally.
She glared at me in return, her ears fully pinned down in anger. “Well you deserve it,” she scolded, scowling irately, “Of all the stupid things you could have done… no wonder you were almost dead! That kind of magic is banned for a reason, Luz!!”
Now it was my turn to look away, guilt bubbling up in me as I folded my arms protectively across my chest. “I didn’t know,” I said softly, the concept of my own mortality finally sinking in. “Eda told me it was dangerous, but I didn’t know-” my voice broke with a sob, and I closed my eyes tightly as I fought to keep from crying.
“Luz…” Amity’s voice was much more gentle now, and she placed a hand on my shoulder, turning me towards herself.
I reluctantly opened my eyes, tears spilling out as I did. I quickly wiped them away, half worried I’d find my hand covered in blood again. Well, fresh blood, anyways. To my relief, only dried blood stained my skin, though the sheer quantity of it startled me. I sniffled, staring down in horror at my red, trembling hands. “Oh,” I sighed, my breathing growing rapidly as panic festered in me. Pale hands grabbed onto my red ones, obscuring them from my sight.
“Luz,” Amity said again, this time sounding worried. “It’s okay,” she reassured me, “We’ll get you cleaned off.”
I sniffled. “It’s not that,” I told her brokenly, “It’s Eda. She’s…”
A snarl outside my door cut me off, and I flinched in fear. Amity whirled around to stare at the door, dislodging Tenebris from her head with a squawk. The hawk hopped down to land on my shoulder, glaring at the door as she fluffed up protectively over me. On my lap, King stirred, snapping to attention and diving to hide behind Amity. Snuffling continued behind the door, the wood creaking as something pushed down on it.
“That’s Eda,” I finished in a small voice. “She’s currently trying to kill us.”
Amity’s eyes widened in realization, and she whipped her head around to glare down at King. “You could have just said Eda was in her Owlbeast form!” she snapped.
King didn’t reply, instead shrinking further behind the witch for safety.
My jaw dropped. “You knew about this?” I asked her in disbelief.
Amity rolled her eyes. “Of course,” she told me, “Everyone does. Eda had a rather… public transformation a few years back.” She hesitated, then patted my leg softly. “Stay here,” she ordered kindly, “I’ll take care of it.”
My eyes widened, and I grabbed onto Amity’s arm to stop her. “You’re gonna kill her?!” I squeaked, my voice an octave higher than usual.
“You really think I would- No!” Amity objected indignantly, yanking her arm away from me, “Of course not! I’m just gonna tie her up so that we don’t die.” Amity shook her head at me and climbed off the bed, walking slowly towards the door.
“Oh,” I relaxed, then sprang up to follow her, Tenebris digging her claws into me to keep her balance.
Amity’s ears twitched as the mattress groaned, and she turned back to narrow her eyes suspiciously at me. “Just what do you think you’re doing?” She asked, her voice deceptively pleasant.
I paused, standing awkwardly with my hands folded innocently behind my back. “Following you!” I told her with a shaky grin.
Amity huffed irritably, then marched back to me, coming to a halt a foot in front of me and placing her hands on my shoulders. “Luz, no.” She said firmly, her eyes boring into mine. “You’ve already nearly died once tonight. Also, I’m not that great of a healer, so you need to sit down and rest.” She shoved me gently backwards, and I landed heavily on the edge of the bed, bouncing slightly as I pouted up at her.
Unfortunately, my sorrow did nothing to sway Amity, and she spun back around and walked quietly to the door, where the grating sound of talons carving through wood could be heard. Readying a spell circle in her right hand, Amity yanked opened the door with her left, admitting the Owlbeast, who promptly barreled towards me with a ghastly shriek.
I stood frozen in terror, my mouth gaped open and my eyes wide as I stared blankly at the eight-foot bloodthirsty bundle of feathers that was charging to eat me. Her mouth was open in preparation, grey tongue lolling out and the sharp rows of teeth already smeared with blood. I wondered faintly what she had eaten. On my shoulder, Tenebris flared her wings threateningly and loosed a piercing battle cry, launching herself towards the Owlbeast’s face to attack.
Owl-Eda was only five feet away when her limbs suddenly snapped together, bound tightly by the pink lines of Amity’s magic. The abrupt appearance of the restraints caused the Owlbeast to trip, her momentum sending her flying on top me. I grunted in pain as I was knocked flat by the thousand-pound feathery mass that was Eda. She shrieked in rage and writhed on top of me, alternating between trying to shred me with her talons to trying to shred me with her teeth.
In a miraculous stroke of luck, neither could reach me with how she was tied. Though I did get drooled on quite a bit, the fat drops of bloody saliva dripping down my face. “Ooo groos!” I groaned in disgust, my complaints muffled by the feathers in my mouth.
Then the deadweight was lifted off of me, and I rolled on my side to hack up feathers and owl-spit. Shudders rolled up and down my body as I tried to expel the awful taste from my mouth. It didn’t work, sadly. I was pretty sure I had swallowed some on accident too. King crawled over to pat my back sympathetically, and Amity appeared by my side. I glared at her accusingly. “See? I would have been safer next to you after all!” I told her grouchily, “Instead, I’m now covered in fucking drool.”
“Sorry, Luz,” she apologized, not looking very sorry at all as she used my arm to pull me upright. “I thought she’d go for me, not you.”
I squinted up at her suspiciously. Her eyes were amused, and she was fighting back a small smile. “Sorry my ass! You totally knew!” I concluded dramatically, my mouth dropping open at the betrayal. “You used me as bait! Why does everyone use me as bait?!”
Amity gave up on her attempt to keep a straight face, laughing softly as she shook her head at me. “What can I say, you’re just a natural target,” she told me, her eyes crinkling with mirth.
I huffed, rolling my eyes. Then I got an idea, and I grinned devilishly at the smug witch, stalking toward until we were face to face. Relatively, anyways. The fact that I was a couple inches shorter than her probably reduced the effectiveness of my menacing posturing, but nevertheless Amity still took a small step back, her ears twitching down as uncertainty flashed across her face.
I grabbed hold of her elbows, yanking her towards me and holding her there as I shook my head vigorously, splattering bloody spittle everywhere- and most importantly, all over Amity. She let out a petulant cry of disgust, placing her hands on my chest as she tried to shove me away. I cackled with glee as I held tight, making sure to douse the witch with as much of the sticky, smelly substance as I could. After another moment of torture, Amity broke my hold and stumbled backwards, using one hand to wipe her glistening, wrathful face while the one stayed stretched out to keep me away from her.
I howled in laughter at her disgusted expression, clenching my sides as they protested. “You should have seen your face!” I cackled, gasping for breath as my laughter subsided.
Amity glared daggers at me, still swiping globs of spit off herself. “I’m gonna fucking kill you for that,” she snarled lowly, prowling forward as she drew a spell circle by her side.
My eyes widened, and I took that as my cue to run. I darted past her, Tenebris helpfully swooping in Amity’s face to distract her as I made my escape. I passed the gift-wrapped Owlbeast, who growled lowly at me, and shot out the door, turning sharply down the hall and into the bathroom, where I closed and locked the door firmly behind me. I stood still for a few moments, listening intently for any sign of my pursuer. There was nothing. I grinned, figuring Tenebris had managed to pacify the vengeful witch.
I turned to mirror and had to stifle a scream. I looked absolutely horrifying. There were lines of dried blood trailing down my face from my eyes and mouth, extending past my neck and pooling at the collar of my shirt. My hair was gelled up into crazed spikes from the slobber, and my eyes had the wild look of someone who technically should be dead. I grimaced, which made my reflection look even more ghastly. I shuddered and turned my back to the mirror, quickly stripping out of my bloodied and spit-soaked clothes before hopping in the shower. I cranked the water as hot as it would go, relaxing with a content sigh as it pounded onto my face.
I worked quickly, hyperaware that the first person I had crushed on in four years was probably waiting for me. Well, that or she had already unbound Eda and left me to be brutally disemboweled. Given what I had done to her, either was a possibility.
It took a lot of scrubbing to get all the encrusted blood off, but eventually I succeeded, reluctantly stepping out of the shower squeaky-clean. “Oh mierda,” I cursed in realization, “I didn’t bring any clothes.”
With a groan of self-hatred, I wrapped the towel firmly around myself and trudged back to my room for more embarrassment. Because apparently, I haven’t had enough already tonight.
I walked through the door, keeping my eyes focused on the floor to avoid seeing Amity’s horrified expression. “I’m sorry,” I sighed out, “I forgot clothes.” When I made it all the way to my dresser without comment, I figured it was safe and looked up. In the second-most miraculous event of the night, my room was completely empty, excluding me. “Oh, thank fuck!” I said gratefully, sagging in relief, “that’s a mercy I wasn’t expecting.” I selected clothes at random, desperate to get dressed before my luck finally ran short.
I hummed softly to myself, pulling on a bra and underwear before lifting up the pants I have grabbed. They were the gray jeans I’d been wearing when I first stumbled into the Isles, the rip at the knee still lined with a faint red stain, commemorating the joyful time I had fallen and bashed my knee against a sharp rock. I made a face, wondering if wearing the Pants of Pain would cause me to get hurt again.
After a moment of indecisiveness, I shrugged and put them on anyways. I’d already nearly died twice in the last twelve hours, what’s a couple more times?
“I really should burn these after tonight,” I grumbled to myself as I reached for a shirt.
A voice piped up from the door. “Who are you talking to?” It asked curiously.
I flinched in surprise, spinning around to see Amity standing at the door, looking equally shocked. Her hand gripped the door frame as her reddening ears pinned down. Her wide eyes looked me up and down for one nerve-wracking moment before she tore them away, promptly turning back around and walking swiftly down the hall.
“Fuck,” I muttered. I knew something like that was bound to happen. My luck never lasts for very long. I groaned, hitting my head against the wall in misery. “Fuck,” I repeated. This always happened to me; I’d start a prospective friendship and everything would go well for a week or two, then I’d do something weird or stupid and drive them running away screaming. Like forgetting to close the door when I’m getting dressed. Maldito idiota, I chided myself, blinking back a sudden wave of tears. Why couldn’t I just be normal? Maybe then I wouldn’t be such a fucking screwup.
The familiar weight of depression crept through me, whispering hatefully about everything I’ve ever regretted. You think she would ever like you? It sneered cruelly. Nobody likes you.
“Shut up,” I growled lowly, shoving back the onslaught. I took in a deep, shuddering breath, then pushed myself off the wall. I looked down at the shirt I held. As if to complete my mortification, it was a homemade Azura shirt I’d drawn five or six years ago. I sighed, at this point seriously considering just sticking my head in Eda’s maw and letting her chomp it right off. I’d have no more problems.
Unfortunately for me, some buried part of myself shot down that idea. I threw the shirt back into the drawer, letting out all my frustration into that arcing motion. I pulled on a plain black sweater instead, letting the angsty outfit reflect my darkened mood.
There was a peep at the door, and I turned just in time for Tenebris to land on my shoulder, looking up at me worriedly, as if she could sense my mood. Which she probably could, as that seems like a fairly reasonable thing for a magic bird to be able to do.
I smiled at her reassuringly, wiping the misery from my face in an attempt to pacify her. She merely narrowed her eyes at me, letting me know it didn’t work, and telling me off for even trying.
I huffed. “Sorry, Tenebris,” I told her, stroking her chest fondly, “just problems with my stupid, teenage heart.”
She nuzzled against me, trying to comfort me in her own special way. Surprisingly, it actually worked.
“Where are the others?” I asked her, walking out the door and looking back and forth down the hall. She twisted her head to the left, and off we went, Tenebris guiding me to the threshold Eda’s room.
I stopped there, sucking in a breath and I prepared myself. “I can do this,” I muttered lowly, “Just get it over with, Noceda.” My hawk peeped as if repeating the sentiment, then through the door we went.
The scene on the other side was… unusual. Owlbeast-Eda paced in circles around her nest, tinted pink by the magic barrier enclosing the nest on all sides and stretching up to the high ceiling. Amity was crouched on the floor nearby, talking animatedly with King, who was holding a spherical orange vial in his paws. Honestly, the fact that they were getting along was the most astonishing thing.
Tenebris announced our presence with a raucous caw, her narrowed yellow eyes fixed on Amity warningly. Not gonna lie, I was touched by her protectiveness.
Amity straightened to face me, her face completely neutral. She had apparently recovered just fine from our unexpected encounter. “We have a plan,” she told me seriously, gesturing back towards King. “That elixir Eda drinks to control her curse is useless. It’s so watered down that it would only help cure the simplest of curses, and Eda’s is anything but that.” She scowled dangerously. “Technically they’re not even allowed to sell that low of a concentrate, I’ll have a word with the shopkeeper on my next market shift.”
“Oh,” I said eloquently, “Well, that would explain it then.” I frowned in thought. “Can we get a stronger potion for Eda?”
Amity nodded. “That’s the plan,” she told me.
I rolled my eyes at her lack of elaboration. “How, exactly?” I prompted the tight-lipped witch.
She grimaced. “I’ll call in a favor with an acquaintance of mine,” she said grumpily. “But first, I need a shower,” she said, glaring at me, “Since someone drenched me in drool.”
I smiled at her sheepishly. Oh dear.