Faebreaker

24.2: Ettinsburgh PT 3

This can't be happening, Isla thought, backing away some more. She was going to be ratted out, hunted for the rest of her days. She defended herself—that's what she did when she was with Feena. But when she ambushed her husband? Was that Nevermore, or Nevermore turning her into the monster she never wanted to become in the first place?

Erik looked on at the old man, completely perplexed. Isla wondered what was going through his mind at that moment.

The old man looked down, leaning on his cane with both his hands. "I told her and MacGregor not to mind you, to simply let you go," he said, shaking his head. "But they wouldn't listen."

Isla looked back. He wasn't here to fight, or even accuse her, by the look of it. "What?"

"I've been alive for a long time," he said, straightening his back slightly. "I suppose you could tell that, turkey neck and all. Mortal man ages fast, and wizens all the more quickly for it."

"So what?" Isla said, letting her arms fall to her side. "Will you inform the church of me? Or other faebreakers that might pass by?"

The old man shook his head. "There's been a misunderstanding," he said simply.

"A misunderstanding?"

The man nodded. "I'm happy you killed that terrible man."

Isla gaped. "Sorry?"

"Charles never treated her right." He took a deep breath. "I told her so many times that he was trouble, but she didn't listen. She had this coming, one way or another. We all had this coming."

"What do you mean?"

"We've slowly been forgetting who the fairies truly are." His face sank. "We liken you all to demons, but I remember. All the older folk do. But I fear if we do not teach our children the Sunlight Church's beliefs, that we will all tried for heresy at some point. I fear that one day, one of my children will have a slip of the tongue, and everyone in Ettinsburgh will suffer the consequences for it."

"I didn't kill all those men in the forest," Isla said, trying to paint herself in a shade of gray.

"Oh, I know," the old man said. "I know what lurks there. I used to see the thing sometimes, looking at me in my younger days when I'd journey for water. We shared silent respect for one another as we went about our business."

"Half your town's men are now dead because of it," Isla said.

"I'm not sure what the lesser of two evils would have been. Offending the guardian, or offending the church. I am scared." The man let out a deep sigh, his hands trembling over the weight of his walking stick. "I'm scared that it will grow bold, come in the night, and take all our lives for what MacGregor did..."

"We're here to kill it," Erik said, finally speaking. "We'll get rid of it for you. I don't think it will be a problem. The people I'm with are good at this kind of thing, apparently."

"I only wish we could have settled this in some other way." The man shook his head. "Once the creature dies, so will our lake. It's kept our waters clean for years with its magic. We made a promise, but our children didn't care enough about it to keep it."

"So what about me?" Isla questioned.

"Feena was the light of my life, my granddaughter. So much, that I'd killed my own son, saving her life from his drunken hands one night," the old man said, starting to walk away. "I saw your burns, what she and MacGregor did to you, though you hide them now. I only ask that once you and your party are done here, you never, ever return again."

Isla nodded.

"Your business is clearly with the church, not us," the man continued. "Their knights came by a few times, asking questions about what the creature might be. There's been a vague bounty out for it for some time. Some think it's a kelpie. But I suppose we could only misdirect them for so long."

"We're going north," Erik said, taking a glance at Isla. "You won't see us ever again."

The old man nodded. "Good," he said, starting his walk back toward town. "I hold no grudges against you, fair one," he said lowly.

"But that doesn't mean I forgive you."

With that, he picked up the pace, his cane hitting the grass with tiny thumps.

Isla caught Erik staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing," the boy said, looking away.

"Do you hate me?"

Erik shook his head. "No..." he said, trailing off.

"Shut up," Isla said, walking off. "I am done playing your stupid game."

Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed the story!  

A/N: To my most recent readers, an important note in the changelog concerning the magic system has been added. (So...I encourage you to look at it. It fills up a plot hole in the interlude, which I describe there. It is dated for 9/23/2018)