Lamia Cinus

Epilogue

I skip off to the markets. "I should buy some flowers for Wendy!" I exclaim to myself. Even though my daughter was in a coma. I was able to stay positive that one day she might awake. I planned to visit her that night when the hospital wasn't busy. First, I would stop and take a much-needed bath. I soon arrive at the bathhouse. I enter it calmly.

"Ahh mistress Cinus so glad to see you again." I notice the old man who runs the place. He was hunched over more than usual. "Have you come to pick up your share of what the house has made?" My husband owned several stores and businesses in this town. Even the hospital. It is one of the reasons why I brought Wendy here. Additionally, he was once a noble. He could have kept his noble title but he chose to wed me. As I was not a noble he would leave his nobility behind. It never seemed to bother him though and he was able to provide an income to raise Wendy.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I am your peer, please treat me like one. I shouldn't have even kept ownership of this place after my late husband departed." I reply.

"Yes, of course mis... Lamia." He smiles warmly at me. He has always been a very kind man.

"Now. I am going to use one of the facilities." I state.

"Very well. There is the one in the back. Be cautious, people have been known to scald their skin from the water."

"I will be careful. Thank you." I don't think being burned by the hot water would be the worst thing I would have experienced this week. I enter the room, it is a large, steaming bath. I gingerly place my toe in it to test the temperature. I then begin to peel my clothes off my sticky body. I soon splash into the water and sigh in the relief of the warmth. My tangled hair looked grey from the dirt in it. I submerge myself under the water running my hands through my hair to remove the sediment. I emerge from the water, my hair now cleaner than before. The same could not be said about the water. It was now a murky brown, even for such a larger bath like this one it still dyed the water. I decided to empty and then refill the bath. I submerge myself again, this time not to clean my hair, but just to feel the warm hug of the water.

It has been a long time since I have had a near functional family. Even my friends soon abandon me. Cassandra seems happier than when we started. I am glad that she is my sister. She is my family.

I once again emerge from the water, only to see another in the bath. A man in his late twenties. He had pale skin and deep-set blue eyes. What was most abnormal about him though was his hair, it was white. I mentally scream at the intrusion, however from the outside I appear calm.

"You do know that some may classify this as a crime." I comment. The man looks up, his eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh, I am sorry. I didn't know that this bath was being used. The man told me to use the one in the back." He utters.

"There are multiple ones out the back and several inside."

"I'm sorry, I will leave." He begins to stand only to rethink his decision. His cheeks go a hot pink.

"That is fine. I will leave, enjoy the bath. Just remember next time to check if it is occupied. Also, turn away will you." The stranger nods and moves his head out of peripheral vision. I climb out of the bath and change into a clean robe. I then exit the room. I decide to walk off to the gardens at the back of the bathhouse. I notice a dark shape almost blending in with the night sky. I click two time with my tongue and a raven flies down. I give it my arm to rest on.

"There you are. I was wondering when you might show up again. How is Cassie?" I make conversation with the small bird. In response it squawks and plucks a stray thread from my robe.

"Did she make it to an inn?" A chirp, imitating one of the birds in the Umbra forest.

"I am going to take that as a yes." I pause and look up at the night sky. "You know. It wouldn't be too sad to visit my childhood home. What do you think?" The raven whistles in response. It then picks at more threads on my robe.

"Do you want to come with me tonight? We can visit Wendy together." A croak this time.

"Okay then, we can leave soon." The raven takes flight again. I leave the gardens and go back inside.

"There you are. Did you enjoy your bath Misst... Lamia?" The old man asks as I move into his vision.

"I did until I was intruded. A tip may be to perhaps tell the customers which baths are being used." I reply.

"Yes, of course. Sorry for the inconvenience." He pauses and eyes my robe. He then turns and hands me back my old clothes. "I took the liberty of having them cleaned while you were bathing." I take the clothes back, enter the changing room and come back feeling clean. I thank the man and place 4 gold coins in his hand.

"I do hope you decide to come back to this little bathhouse." I leave the bathhouse with a bouquet of flowers I had picked up that afternoon. The raven circles above my head and then flies above me as I walk through the town. I skip through a crowd of people murmuring to each other. I take my time to listen to what they say.

"what about the patients? Where are they?"

"Dead I presume." Fear strikes me suddenly and my pace speeds up. Please do not be what I think it is. Oh divines. Please, no. I eventually reach the edge of the crowd only to have the horror of my prediction correct. It struck me like a claw to the heart. The hospital wing was crumbled, the roof was ashes. I scream and run to the ruins, desperately hoping to find Wendy. Inside my head Mortana is in shock

What? Is the only thing she manages to utter. I begin lifting broken stone, tears now pooling on the ground. My ears tuning out any sound except for my heartbeat. I feel the presence of another in the rubble. The being is searching as well. A man, the same white-haired man from before. He had a look of depression on his face. My ears soon regain their ability and I go back to my search. It takes all of ten minutes but I soon find her. My beloved daughter. I take her limp body in my arms, rocking back and forth, tears in my eyes. That is when I hear it. A voice. "Your life Mortana, is one that will end today! Say your prayers for you will not go to a pleasant afterlife." I look up to see a man, unlike the other man searching through the rubble, this one wore black, ragged robes, holes torn in places. However, what struck a chord in me were his eyes, crimson.

Mythrani. How is he alive?

His arms fly up in the air as if to cast a spell. Before, I can scream to the stranger in the rubble to get out, the stranger shifts, his body grows larger and fur appearing, before long he forms the terrifying form of an ice bear. At this moment the bystanders have fled and the only beings there were the ice bear, the wizard, Cassie's raven, Wendy and me. I sit there in shock, unable to move. The bear growls at the man and as if in response the attacker brings his arms down and utters "Fortaer." With that the snow bear, Wendy and I are all engulfed in flame. Had Cassie been listening she would have heard something that would have made her fearful:

A roar.