The Silmane Haunt

[thelisan]

 

29 Hazemoon-13 Harvestmoon, 2E 222

I hear the familiar staccato of one of my crows pecking at the door, punctuated by their call. I had put out food for them already, even though they rarely need the help, so this must be something else. I open the door to find Mercurio, with a small scroll case secured to his left leg, the unharmed one, which I open for my delivery. Taking the scroll in hand, I hand him a small piece of rose quartz as a gift, which he takes happily before flying off to rest and play.

The first thing I see is an elaborate wax seal, one I instantly recognize. A missive from Stormhaven, bearing the Countess's seal? That's rather a long trek; to call me instead of someone closer means there must be something important. I unroll the delicate parchment and begin to read as I hear movement behind me.

"Oh, was there a delivery?" Lucinda asks.

"Mm. One moment, dear," I hum, scanning the scroll quickly. "Yes, a missive from Countess Stormhaven herself. There's trouble in Stormhaven, lingering ephemera. Vengeful, but not murderous."

"That sounds strange," Lucinda replies.

"It is," I affirm. "And if she personally sent for me, and it seems for a second witch as well, there is likely more to this. So I suppose we're off to Stormhaven. Melina, dear, make ready for travel. We have time to get to Silveroak by nightfall if we leave soon."

"May I join you?" Lucinda asks sweetly.

"Of course," I reply, perhaps too quickly. "Your senses could be helpful, and I think it would be good for you to get out of the woods more often," I add, hoping to distract from my haste but why

This time, Melina has packed lighter than me, to no great surprise. I had to prepare tools for an unknown scenario, while she only needed comfort items - clothes, supplemental food, a bedroll, and something to do during downtime. Lucinda has a few books poking out of her pack, mostly casual reading material but I do spot a tome on herbology. I think I see a whittling knife in Melina's pack.

Normally it would take closer to a tenday to reach Stormhaven from our home, but we keep a faster pace due to the unknown circumstances, arriving two days ahead of schedule. The wargs have mostly recovered from that... unfortunate event with the razorbeak. My heart still catches in my throat thinking about it, though. We still must deal with that nest. And the wolves appreciate the exercise. Both Melina's and Lucinda's have taken a liking to their riders as well; mine is less affectionate, but we have an understanding, and when we camp at night he sleeps next to me.

Our arrival in Stormhaven merits little attention from passersby, to no great surprise. The city is after all run by a vampire, which I'm reasonably certain everyone knows and politely ignores. Some fear her, but most, even those afraid of her, know that she is ultimately- harmless isn't the word, but she has their interests at heart.

We check in at the stables and rent room for the wargs for the duration of our visit. We will, in all likelihood, scarcely be more than a day, but I pay for five simply to avoid worrying over the matter. Mere minutes afterward, we are approached by one of the Countess's personal guards, who wear bright red surcoats under their breastplate to distinguish from the town guard's yellow. "Lady Suncrest, you are faster than we had expected," he says, looking over our group.

"You'd have not called two witches from out of town if it was unimportant, so we kept a brisk pace," I reply. "This is my apprentice, Melina," I say, gesturing to the albino girl on my left, "and my- friend Lucinda," I continue, half-choking on a word while introducing the vampire.

"Well met," the guard says politely. "Are they here to assist, or simply as travel companions?"

"This is a teaching opportunity," I say, rejecting both options. "Lucinda has expressed an interest in understanding the craft, and though my apprentice is talented, she still has much to learn."

"Understood," he replies, turning and leading us through the town. "This site has been a... problem for us, even before the haunt." There's history here? That may make my work easier. It also may make it harder, though.

We're led to where a home once stood. No one has to tell me that; whoever handled the cleanup did admirable work, but there is a conspicuous absence that, by itself, tells a tale. No city has a uniform layout, but you develop a feel for how things are usually arranged.

And then I see her. Blonde hair, brown coat, engraved sword at her back. I feel a headache coming on already, and I sip from my water flask to give myself time to not scream.

She turns toward us. "Morgan." She doesn't feign any geniality, keeping her tone neutral and professional. "And. Hm. I see." The woman next to her follows, and I realize that it's the Countess. I ought to have noticed sooner, Cerise is very... distinctive. Skin the color of coffee, hair tightly curled and dyed tomato red, a similarly-bright luxurious red coat, and bright red eyes. She has a theme going, consciously I believe.

"Lady Suncrest, it's good to see you," Cerise says. Her tone is basically welcoming, but she is clearly focused on the task at hand. "You brought help?" she asks, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"I brought students," I politely correct. "There is no substitute for lessons learned in the field."

Cerise nods approvingly. "I agree. My finest guards are the ones who have been in a true battle, after all."

"I would know more of the situation," I say, choosing my words with some caution. "I did read the missive, of course, but since it seems Maryse has already begun her investigation, I thought there may be new information."

"You likely could guess, but there was once a home here," Cerise begins, confirming my suspicions. "Arson. Retaliation against another citizen for intervening to stop harassment. The perpetrators have already been exiled, but this..." She trails off as a rock clatters against a window, thrown by an unseen hand. "This didn't start until some days after the exile."

Another rock. And another. The haunt seems agitated, or possibly encouraged, by our presence. "Curious..." I mutter, surveying the situation. The window struck by a stone appears undamaged. Another window on the same house is cracked, but still held intact. "It's. Hm."

"Do you have something?" Cerise asks, impatience in her tone.

"The haunt isn't... there's a damaged window that should be in reach," I explain, fumbling for the words for a moment. "But this haunt isn't attacking it."

"It was before," Maryse says. "I didn't think about the change, though."

"So it chose not to..." I say, trailing off again. "Grant me a moment's space," I instruct, gesturing for the others to clear away from me. They do so, and I stretch my senses to perceive the ephemera. There is precious little there, however, not enough to ascertain what exactly I'm dealing with. I fish an engraved clear quartz pendulum from my pack, attuned to ambient anima and dynamis. For a minute, nothing happens, but just before I give up and put it away, I feel a tug.

"That's unusual," I say, more on reflex than thought. All heads turn to me, and I realize I need to explain. "I was expecting light movement or discoloration that could narrow down our options. Instead, our haunt pulled directly on the pendulum - not for long, but enough to get the message."

"And the message is?" Cerise asks. I fear I may be testing her patience, but if so, she does not understand the work.

"They're trying to get our attention," I say with gradually-increasing certainty. "Something here was very important to someone. Was it the house?"

"I had already thought of that," Maryse replies. "A woodworker should be by soon with a replica."

I nod approval. "Won't be enough to calm them, but it will be enough to see if that's the problem."

True to her word, the craftsman arrives not overlong after. Cerise guides him to the center of where the home once stood, and he places it on the ground. This seems to agitate the haunt, which turns its attention to the miniature replica with all the force it can muster, splintering and eventually smashing the tiny construction. The craftsman's eyes sink, crestfallen.

"I'm sorry, I thought it would work," Maryse says, taking silver from her purse. "It's not your fault, though. Here, take a little extra, you earned it."

"It did work, in a way," Melina corrects.

"We now know that the loss of the home isn't why the haunt lingers," I agree, nodding approval. Melina is proving to be a very fast learner. The woodworker's eyes light up again; he is clearly still hurt by the destruction of his work, but at least it wasn't a waste. "Did the fire take anyone?" I ask, turning my attention to the Countess.

"Thankfully, no," Cerise replies. I can hear in her voice that she truly is grateful for that. "The girl that lived there wasn't at home when it happened. She was instead recovering from a vicious beating by the people who would go on to set the fire."

"That's- that's horrible!" Lucinda exclaims.

"Rarely is there a monster greater than man," I nod. I can see out of the corner of my eye that Maryse doesn't quite agree, but under the circumstances she knows she can't object. "I see two likely scenarios here, then. One is that the haunt is worried for the survivor. The other is that it's worried for the exiles. Who lives in the house that's been getting stoned?"

"Formerly, one of the arsonists," Cerise says. "Currently there's a local musician, unconnected to the incident."

"Mm. That doesn't help much, but I truly hope it's not the exiles," Maryse says. On that, we fully agree.

"Do you have the means to find the survivor?" I ask.

"I may," Cerise says with surprising trepidation. "I have messenger birds that know the face of a friend, Luna. She seems to have taken the girl in."

"I'm glad she found someone," Maryse says, oblivious to the irony.

"... hold. Luna, you say?" I repeat. Cerise nods. "The girl, then. Dark hair, scarred face, dark eyes? Named Raven?"

"That... yes, that's the one," Cerise confirms. "You know them?"

"I met them in passing en route," I say. "They were headed toward the Spires."

"Good, not too far a trip for my larks," Cerise says, audibly relieved. "I will send for her immediately. It may take a few days for her to arrive, so I will make arrangements for lodging. Did you have mounts?"

"Three wargs," I reply.

"And one stelze," Maryse adds. Naturally she'd want something meek, submissive.

"I will make arrangements for them as well," Cerise says, gesturing for one of her guards. "You are free to enjoy the city as you like until their return."

"Thank you for your generosity, Countess," Maryse says, with practiced formality. She walks over toward us, and I hear her whisper, "Can we talk? I promise, it is important."

I hate when she says that. But I nod assent, and gesture for Melina and Lucinda to carry on without us. There's a quiet alley nearby, shaded but not dark and visibly uninhabited, so we go there for our conversation.

"You're courting another vampire?" she asks. There's that headache again.

"I am helping her recover from a grievous wound of the heart," I 'correct'.

"Is that what you call it?" Maryse challenges.

"What else could it be?" I no longer know if I'm feigning obliviousness because I distrust Maryse or if I'm simply in denial.

Maryse sighs, apparently she has the nerve to be frustrated with me. Unbelievable. "Whether or not you actually believe that, it was obvious that day at Norvanfeld that you're quite taken with the girl."

Hm. Something catching in my throat again. "It doesn't matter," I say. First with anger, then with bitter resignation, "It doesn't matter..."

"Why?"

"Because I- I can't, Maryse," I say, letting some sadness into my tone - why bother to hide what she clearly already knows? "She came to me for help, to get past a very dark part of her life. I can't betray that trust."

"When?"

"I want to say..." I trail off in thought, realizing it's been longer than I realized. "Hm. More than three moons ago."

"By the flame, Morgan, how dense do you get?" Maryse says, exasperated. Before I can defend myself, she raises a finger to stop me. "She came to you a quarter year ago and still lives with you, still is a part of your life. She's a Palemoon, even if she was disinherited, she has plenty of money. She could leave the instant she wanted to. She hasn't. She doesn't. She won't."

"What are you saying?" I know, in truth, but my mind is refusing to accept it.

"I'm saying that the two of you are fools in love. Take that fire, that courage, and use it to admit your feelings so the two of you can finally quit being so stupid about this."

"And why should I trust any of this after what you said to Vincent, to Alesia? I have never seen either of them since those two horrid nights,  you know. Why should I ever trust-"

She cuts me off before the word fully leaves my mouth. "Because I was wrong!" she shouts. My anger withers and dies on my tongue; I never expected this. "I've been trying to- I know there's nothing I can do to truly make things right, Morgan, but... I want us to be friends again, and I know I was wrong, that I hurt two innocent people. I should've trusted your judgment."

"Then what do you propose I do?" I ask. For a moment, it feels like I'm just going through the motions, observing the forms without any emotional involvement. I am not numb, but I am... muddled.

"Tell her, Morgan. Before that girl Raven gets back. The sooner, the better, though," Maryse says, and it feels like I did truly need the nudge.

"Yes. Yes, of course. You're right." I nod, taking a breath to collect myself. "This time," I hastily add when I realize what I said. "I... had actually wanted to ask a favor. We're having an issue back home."

"What kind of problem?" Maryse asks. Her tone seems softer than I expected.

"There's a razorbeak nest somewhere in the woods. They took two of my wargs. It's only going to get worse until they're removed."

"They did? I'm truly sorry to hear it, I know how close you are." I can tell in her voice that she means it; for all her flaws, Maryse has never been a liar. "Yes, I can help with that. I could use some of their scales, in fact."

We catch up with Melina and Lucinda before long. Maryse decides her verbal nudges weren't enough, and bodily pushes me toward her. Lucinda giggles at the absurdity of the scene, and with that sound all my anxieties disappear for a brief moment. They then return twofold. "Is aught amiss, Lady Suncrest?" she asks, with unexpected formality.

"I... Yes. Could we talk? Privately?" I ask, forcing myself through the words, fully expecting Maryse to hold this over me in the future. But she's... I can't keep bottling this up. Lucinda shows me to a small garden nearby where local wildflowers grow, and we sit at a bench together. In silence for a time, as I search for the courage to speak.

And as I search, and as I search.

She looks at me with a gentle smile and takes my hand. If anything, this makes me even more anxious; I should have gotten past this stage, I'm acting like a child. She giggles softly, briefly breaking the hold my anxiety has, and slowly leans in. Just before our lips meet, she whispers, "I already know, it's okay." When she pulls away, an instant and an eternity later, she adds, "And I feel the same."

A relief, of a magnitude impossible to describe, but I still feel like a fool for not being able to say it.

As expected, several days pass before Raven's return, though I find little trouble passing the time. Additional lessons for Melina, small requests from the locals, tending to the animals in the stables, and time with Lucinda of course. In truth, I miss living among people, but the craft is my calling.

We're near the gate when they arrive, and Luna brings Raven over to us. Raven is well-dressed but humble, in a simple but well-crafted tunic of russet color, with a pair of unadorned handaxes at her sides. Luna is once again garbed in a humble purple dress, but I know she's hiding knives in it. "Morgan. Before we go any further, why did Cerise call us back? What's going on?" Luna demands.

"I like her," Maryse says with a smirk. Oh, if only she knew.

"There's a haunt," I explain, leading them toward the site of Raven's former home. "We think it's connected to Raven."

"I didn't do anything!" Raven protests, stopping in her tracks.

"I should have been more clear," I say apologetically. "My working theory is that the haunt is worried for you and has been trying to get our attention to that end."

"Is it- is it my parents?" Raven asks in a near-whisper.

"I have no way to know, I'm sorry." I glance back and see Luna's arm around Raven to comfort her. "There isn't a visible manifestation, they're limited to moving objects, making noise that way." By the time we reach the site of the haunt, Cerise has already arrived. Her guards must have told her when Raven got here. Rocks are still being thrown, with what sounds like increased agitation since we got here those five days ago.

"So, um. How do we do this?" Raven asks.

"Hmm. Still throwing, I see," I mutter, looking out over the scene. Though the site was cleared out before our previous investigations, presumably by Cerise or her guards, now the rocks alone give people reason enough to keep well clear.

"If-" Melina begins. I gesture for her to continue. "If they're so focused on the rocks, then- then Raven, you should throw some, that'll get their attention."

I nod agreement. "The logic tracks; the rocks are their medium for interaction, so interact as they do. You have a real talent for this, Melina." My apprentice smiles at the praise. Luna hands Raven a large rock and Raven hurls it at the same building. It misses the window, thankfully, but seems to get the haunt's attention. A rock flies toward us, tumbling to a stop near Raven's feet. She picks it up, and skips it across the cobblestone streets. Her and the haunt seem to make a small game of it, but after about ten minutes, the rock sits idle, the haunt no longer responding to Raven, or indeed to anything.

"I think it's gone," Maryse says hesitantly.

"Good, and a job well done to both of you," Cerise says, gesturing for a guard. "I will arrange for your payment to be sent to your rooms at the inn. I will also cover an additional two days of lodging for you. One to make sure the haunt is quelled, and one for rest. You've helped my people several times since you arrived, and I'll not leave that unrewarded."

"Thank you," I reply quickly. "Should I be needed again, I can be reached the same way."

We walk off together as a group; I'm still struggling to readjust to including Maryse in that.  "By the way, Lucy, Melina, Maryse is going to be accompanying us on the journey back. She has agreed to help with our razorbeak problem." Melina raises an eyebrow in skepticism, familiar enough with our history, but Lucinda is visibly relieved.

We return to the site the next day to ascertain the haunt's status. We putter around the square for the duration of the morning, moving objects around to get its attention, but as I had- as we had thought, it has been granted peace. No more do rocks rain down upon the neighbor's windows. It may seem like a small thing, but haunts of this sort can become dangerous, even if vengeance isn't on their minds. This one only wanted attention, but if property damage hadn't proven fruitful, it could very easily have escalated.