The One... Or Two?

The Who Re-Huh

Bel Tine that night, Secily (horseless) attended the party. It was a shock to most, but her age group were all pleased. She wore a dress very similar to Egwene's. Pinks fading into purples into blues into greens, and a brown belt-corset donning her waist, binding it all together. Her pouch hung by the belt's laces. She wore brown leather boots which looked like pieces of leather tied together by the string at her ankle. But they had soles so her feet were thoroughly protected from the ground.

The town gathered along where the Two Rivers converged and scattered lanterns on slacks of tree.

Eyes heavy with water she'd never let fall, Secily knelt in her little nook, lighting her candle hidden in the lantern and setting it on the water. It drifted away and Secily watched, unblinking, while it disappeared when she tipped her head back. She took the tears back into herself and stood, sniffling. She reappeared in the town's center.

Marin stood on a stool, calling to the crowd, "Come on, now. If we want our loved ones' souls to make their way back here, we'd best show them something worth coming back for." She held her hand out to the musicians and they started playing an upbeat tune. The crowd cheered and a dance started of course.

Perrin held his wife, children played, Mat entertained his sisters, and Tom pulled Secily into the dance. The giggling girl laughed 'no' but was sufficiently swayed when her hands were taken and they formed two circles, dancing around. They threaded through the groups, clapped on a big downbeat, and Tom never let the young redhead stop smiling. He hopped back before falling forward, violently. She heard his scream despite his silence as he fell into her. She let out a shrill, gasping scream at the sound in her head and looked beneath her hand. The point of a weapon poked through his chest. She stumbled back and looked up. Tom fell limp to the ground. A monstrous creature, a few feet taller than Secily (who was pretty tall despite her small nature), towered over any human at the party.

Apparently, someone had heard her scream, looked at her, then seen the oncoming beast. They screamed in terror as well and the creature roared. That gathered the attention of the rest of the celebration and they all scattered, bumping into each other like mongrels.

The overlapping screams seized every single one of Secily's muscled to lock up. "No.." She shook her head, stumbling back. "No!" she whimpered before clamping her jaw shut. "No." This was an order. "Not again," she whispered, pulling a blade from her pouch at her waist. She blocked the massive bearing down on her. She ducked beneath another blow, stabbing the vulnerable flesh of the stomach. She was batted away with a backhand and flew across the square. She landed on the ground hard and the world spun in her eyes. She managed to pull herself up as she saw a horned beast running to her on his misshapen four legs. She fell over a stand for Bel Tine as she backed away. She knocked over a weapon's stand at the entrance of the village and picked up a spear. The creature jumped on her and she mostly just put the pointy end where he was gonna land. The spear did the rest.

She gasped as she was showered in blood, the creature's skull impaled on the weapon.

"Job well done," she muttered to herself. She went to duck behind the building the stand had been fronting. She found another creature running and dropped the spear. She picked up twin swords and nodded. She crouched a bit, letting the creature come to her, and stepped back twice, gauging the distance. It roared as it ran. Spinning her blade with her wrist, she screamed back. She stepped forward for the momentum and brought a sword up to slice at its wrist. She ducked an attack and swung a sword widely. It gashed the creature's stomach and another one ran at her from behind. She spun, swinging the clean blade as well, but this was jumped. She rolled along the ground, careful of her two swords, and she got back to her feet when it was twisted into nothing. More blood spattered her. She gazed behind the fallen corpse and witnessed the Sedai standing with her Warder, her hand held out to the torn beast. She nodded in thanks and followed the couple back into the thick of it.