L found herself sitting on the kerb by the side of the road, she didn't know how long she'd been there. She was still reeling from the revelation the Demon had uttered before he died. She had always assumed that once a Demon had been destroyed, it was gone, never to be seen or heard from again. Since no Keeper knowledge seemed to contradict that, she thought it to be true. Could the Demon have been lying? One final torturous act to mess with her?
Despite her deep need to believe that, L just couldn't accept that it was anything other than the chilling truth. She could feel that it was true, she couldn't explain how or why but something told her that Demons eventually did return. A shudder passed through her body, vibrating the sword that she still held in one hand. She forced herself to regain her thoughts long enough to send the sword back, before anyone missed it.
Now that she had a moment to think clearly, she was starting to see that the revelation didn't really change anything. There would always be Demons to fight, it would never stop, and there was no telling when they would return, anyway. She still needed to save her parents, and now there was a big bad something that was coming for her, she had to put that first. She composed herself and stood from the kerb, right now she needed to find Bryce, Robbie and Nyla.
She knew every inch of Edinburgh, but that wouldn't help if she didn't know where they were. She began to walk while forming a strategy, it would take far too long to comb the whole city. She thought about flying but she couldn't trust she wouldn't miss something. Not that she doubted her abilities, but a number of Supernatural reasons could hinder her search from up there, and she'd be too far away to realise.
L trusted her senses on the ground so much more and her first thought had her going back to where she'd seen the others last. She hoped they'd still be there, done with the fighting and waiting for her, but things never really went the way she wanted. She would just have to track their whereabouts from there, and hope they hadn't gone too far.
So many things had taken them off track recently, L had to wonder if something was working against her finding her parents. Whether that was fate, or somebody who held a grudge maybe, it wasn't clear. It would be nice if things could just run smoothly. She shook it off, nothing would stop her in the end, no matter how sidetracked she became. Finding the others was her first priority and after that, they would find Sully the Leprechaun, even if she had to put up wanted posters.
L smiled to herself and picked her pace up to a run, she could cover more ground and still look out just as easily. Passing through the streets of a random city was bringing back an abundance of memories, of the days before she had friends and family. The days of running from her latest foster home, sleeping on the streets or in fields in the middle of nowhere. L had never minded being on her own, it was all she'd known and she'd preferred it to the company of people who didn't understand her.
But that wasn't the case anymore, she had friends who understood her and more to the point, liked her exactly as she was. She still had no problem being on her own but she preferred to be with them. The thought spurred her on, focusing on reaching the street where the Krava had ambushed them, and of course, nobody was there when she arrived. The street was empty, undisturbed in appearance and L cursed under her breath.
She stretched her senses as far as she could in every direction, if they were close by she'd find them. In the silence of the city, she thought she could hear the sound of snarling. Could she smell the faint tinge of burning on the air? There was only one way to find out, she headed in the direction of both leads. Her Werewolf sense of smell was sensitive, she'd used it only a handful of times since learning and each time she'd smelled things she wished she hadn't. She was soon bombarded with scents, old and new, Supernatural and human.
It took several moments of walking before L could begin to differentiate between each of the odours. She didn't even want to think about some of the things she identified, but she soon managed to pick out Bryce, Robbie and Nyla. As well as the stench of Demons. She was able to follow their scents and attempted to ignore the others she came across. She followed her leads, hoping the three of them were alright.
If they were still fighting, they had to be wearing thin and that worried L. She sped up her efforts, following the smells and sounds down multiple streets and across fields. It was getting stronger which meant she was getting closer; L armed herself and charged ahead. The dark streets gave nothing away but she could hear the snarling and shouting more clearly, most of which were a string of Elven profanities.
L smiled briefly and ran towards the noise, following the scents all the while to be sure it wasn't another trick. She rounded the corner of the next street to find a terrifying scene; blast marks scorched the road and the walls of nearby houses, seemingly a mixture of magic and Dragon fire. Bryce was disheveled, sweating from head to toe, fighting what appeared to be the last Krava. Robbie was in Dragon form, trying to help but he didn't seem to want to move from where he was standing.
It became obvious why when he turned to lash his tail towards the Krava. Nyla was laying on the ground behind Robbie, she wasn't moving but L could make out the faintest of heartbeats. Nyla was unconscious and L could smell blood, this fight had taken many ugly turns. L charged in to help with the takedown of the last Krava. The relief on Bryce's face when he saw her made L's heart skip, she grinned over at him and conjured the long sword she'd used earlier.
She jumped and targeted the Krava from its other side, it was almost as tired as Bryce seemed to be. Black liquid was seeping from its disfigured body, though its limbs were still lashing out. L used her Dragon wings to hover over the Demon, she shot a fireball at the limb that darted out for her. The Krava screeched and withdrew the limb, all the while still trying to fight her and Bryce simultaneously.
But it was too much, it couldn't hold its focus on the both of them and L took advantage of its distracted attention. She saw her opening when it lunged two limbs at Bryce and brought the sword down with as much force as she could muster, piercing through its body and cleaving it in two. With a final shriek, the Demon exploded in a shower of black goo and ash. L descended towards Bryce and grabbed him just as he was about to fall, he smiled deliriously up at her.
"My hero," he chortled.
L rolled her eyes and helped him to stand, pulling one of his arms over her shoulders. She was happy to see he was in one piece, but her relief quickly dissipated when she turned to see Robbie transforming back. His face was a picture of worry, he raced to kneel by Nyla's side and L followed with Bryce. The reason for the smell of blood was immediately evident, a gash split Nyla's side, soaking her clothes and the ground beneath.
Robbie was trying to stop the bleeding but it seeped through his fingers. L placed Bryce down and kneeled next to Robbie, moving his hands so she could get a better look.
"Help her, L, please." Robbie whispered.
"I'll try, but I need to know what happened."
Robbie relayed the fight to L while she worked on Nyla. The Krava had herded them in the opposite direction, in an attempt to keep them from helping L. The three of them had fought a Krava each, it had been going well at first and Robbie had managed to take his Krava down first. He turned to help Nyla but his sudden aid had distracted her. The Krava struck Nyla with one of its limbs, slicing into her side and causing the gash. L nodded, she had expected it to be a Demon induced injury, it explained a lot of what she could see.
There was a fountain of knowledge in L's mind when it came to healing, but she hadn't used much of it or been shown how. The knowledge was useless without an understanding of how to apply the necessary abilities. Archie had shown her some basics however and she did what she could. She located the source of the bleeding using her finger, and with a touch of magical fire she managed to cauterise the internal bleeding.
"Shouldn't she be healing herself by now? What's happening?" Robbie fired out questions.
L knew he was worried but distracting her wasn't helping anyone, especially Nyla.
"Ordinarily yes, but the Krava laced her wound with something, it's coursing through her body and I'm not sure how to stop it. All I can do is keep her from bleeding out but I can't close the wound, we need to get her to someone who knows what they're doing."
For the first time in a long time, L felt useless; she cleaned the wound and covered it with the bandages she'd made from her old blouse. Her magic wouldn't stop the bleeding entirely, it needed a professional's touch.
"One of Edra's safe houses is nearby, let's go there." Bryce chimed in, his voice cracked in exhaustion.
"That might work, we'll just have to hope someone will be there to help. And then you can tell me what happened after Nyla was hurt."
Robbie stood up and took a few steps back to transform. He towered over them in Dragon form and reached out his large front leg towards Nyla. L moved back and watched him scoop Nyla up, cradling her as gently as he could in his large clawed foot.
"Are you okay to fly like that?" L asked him aloud while she turned to help Bryce.
"I'll be fine, tell Bryce to lead the way and I'll follow." He communicated to L.
She relayed his words to Bryce, who pointed in a north-easterly direction.
"That way." He muttered, his head drooped to rest on his chest.
Robbie lifted off, smoother than usual, being careful not to jostle Nyla. L began to run in the direction Bryce had gestured, though she had to pick him up after a few miles when he nearly tripped them both over in his exhaustion. L praised her Ogre strength in times like these, she would have found things a lot harder without it.
"So what happened after Nyla was hurt?" L asked Robbie.
She would have aimed her question at Bryce but he was making less sense as time went on.
"Bryce took over the fighting and I tried to help, but I didn't wanna leave Nyla unprotected. It was crazy but Bryce was like a force of nature, he darted everywhere at once, holding off both of the Demons and managed not to get hurt himself. He was impressive, L, I think he really wanted to finish up so he could go find you."
L glanced down at Bryce, his eyes were half closed and his hair was a mess. He was muttering in Elvish, although much of it was absolute nonsense.
"He's exhausted, we need to get them both some help."
L knew it wasn't good for Bryce, to be this exhausted meant he'd worn himself down to his core. As an Elf, that took a lot, more than he should endure after everything they'd faced recently.
L urged Bryce to explain to them where Edra's safe house was, just in case he passed out before they got there. It took some coaxing and a few taps to the face but he woke up enough to tell L. She knew the location and led the way, it wasn't far and they reached the street minutes later. Edra's safe house didn't stand out, there were no wards or signs of magic protecting it. There was nothing that made it any different to the other yellow bricked houses that lined the rest of the street. L furrowed her brow, had Bryce sent them to the wrong place in his delirious state?
L was about to question him when the front door of the centre house in the street opened, and a young woman ran out to them. Her bright eyes were wide, she had black hair in a ponytail and was wearing denim overalls. Her kind face was scrunched and she stared up and down the street before beckoning to them.
"Come inside, quickly now. Too many Demons about this night. L, Robert, Brycathlen and Nyla, I've been expecting you."
L was shocked to hear all of their names and she knew she should have found out more before they went further, but Nyla and Bryce couldn't wait. She kept her guard up and waited a moment for Robbie to land- to which the woman didn't find surprising in the slightest. Instead she rushed inside and waited by the door for them to come in. L carried Bryce in, followed closely by Robbie and Nyla. The woman slammed the door behind them and huffed before leading them down a wide, blue and white hallway.
She took them to the kitchen, which looked like it had jumped straight out of a catalogue. Modern furniture and appliances filled the room, every item or surface was either marble or gleamed in chrome. Four steaming cups were set out on the counter, a fifth had appeared in the woman's hands.
"What a night," she seemed to say to herself, in her thick Scottish accent.
"I'm sorry I have to ask, how did you know to expect us tonight? And who are you exactly?"
The woman blinked repeatedly at L then chuckled, gesturing towards a door on their right. She led them through to a brightly lit lounge, decorated in white and brown; bookcases and paintings adorned the walls, the light fixtures glowing warmly in their brackets. L was surprised to see one of the dark brown leather sofas had been pushed back to make room for two cot beds. Both of which were surrounded by medical equipment similar to those the bases used.
"Edra told me to expect the four of you some time this week, and when I sensed those Demons out there this night, I knew only a Keeper could bring around that much trouble."
"And the medical equipment?" Robbie asked, gently laying Nyla down on one of the cot beds.
"Demons, laddie, need I say more?"
"Not really," Robbie muttered and moved aside.
L laid Bryce down on the second cot bed and the woman got to work on the two patients.
"My name's Fiona, apprentice to the Grand High Witch and close, personal friend. You can check my credentials, I'm sure?" She motioned to L, but before L could even process what she meant, she started talking again. "Oh dear, this one is gonna take some fixing up, what godforsaken Demon did this to her?"
"A Krava," L responded when Robbie didn't. "Will she be alright? I couldn't stop whatever poison is circulating her body." L looked down at her hands.
"She'll survive, you did good. Few more seconds without your help and she wouldn't be here now. She'll make a full recovery with my assistance, but she'll be off her feet for a couple of days at least, and no travelling for a while after that."
L arched a brow, watching her ministrations over Nyla, she was glad Nyla was going to be okay but they didn't have days, or longer, to wait for her to be ready to travel. L glanced to Robbie but he hadn't taken his eyes off of Nyla, or Fiona.
"This one'll be right as rain with a little help and a good night's sleep." She gestured to Bryce and L felt relief flood through her. "As for you two, there's room on the sofas, or there are beds upstairs if you wanna grab some shut eye. Nothing much'll change until morning."
L and Robbie both shook their heads, "We'll be fine here, thank you."
"Suit yourselves, supper is still warm if you want any. You can sit in here so long as you don't distract me, or disturb my patients."
L and Robbie nodded in unison, however Robbie still hadn't looked away from Nyla.
L watched Fiona in silence for a while, attempting to decipher what magical methods of treatment she was using on Nyla. Bryce had fallen straight to sleep the moment his head had touched the cot bed. L suspected Fiona may have done something to help him along, she could sense how deep his sleep was and nothing short of cannon fire would bring him out before he was ready.
After nearly an hour, L finally moved to sit on the sofa nearest to the beds. She set her bag down and rubbed her shoulders, tiredness was starting to seep in and she leaned her head back. Sleep and hunger were vying for top position, she knew she'd sleep better if she ate but she didn't have the energy to move.
She was just considering conjuring some food, which was a risky business when she had no idea where to conjure it from, or what state it would be in, when a bowl appeared in front of her. Robbie also had a bowl hovering in front of him.
"How did you-" Robbie started but Fiona cut him off.
"I can hear both of your stomachs growling from here, yours is distracting." She pointed a bloodied hand at Robbie. "Eat and then sleep, I don't need you keeping watch, it's irritating. I'll wake you if there's any need."
For once, L and Robbie did as they were told. They ate the stew that the bowl contained, it was delicious and filled L to the point that she was almost drifting off before she'd finished. She quietly placed the bowl on a small side table and found herself getting comfortable on the sofa. The last thing she saw before drifting off was Fiona's hands glowing yellow while they glided over Nyla's torso.
L woke groggily, it took her a moment to realise where she was and remember what had led them there. She sat up, feeling her clothes peel away from the sofa and a blanket fall from her body. She blinked back the sleep and stared around the lounge, light was pouring in from outside but the scenery in the room hadn't changed much. Nyla and Bryce were still asleep on the cot beds, Nyla looked healthier than she had last night and a blanket covered her- the scene was void of any blood.
Robbie must have given up his watch because he too, had curled up on the other sofa and was snoozing peacefully. L could hear singing coming from the kitchen, a song L didn't personally know but recognised despite it being in Gaelic. She stood up silently from the sofa and walked over to the door, careful not to make too much noise on her way into the kitchen. Fiona turned to her and gestured at the counter top.
"Would you like some breakfast?"
L shook her head, she was still full from the stew. "I'm okay, but I would like to thank you for all the help you've given us."
Fiona waved her thanks aside, "It's no bother, I was grateful for something to do. It can get a wee bit slow around here, Edra says patience is a virtue all should master."
Fiona rolled her eyes and turned back to the kettle just as it clicked off. She poured water into five cups, each appeared to have a different smell and colour to them.
When Fiona noticed her gaze, she smiled a fraction. "Each of you needs something in particular right now, and each drink will help in its own way. I contacted Edra last night, she says she's glad to hear that you arrived here in one piece, more or less. She also told me to speak to you about your cups contents, before you drink it."
L smiled, "She would say that, so what is it you think I need?"
Fiona leaned over the counter towards L, cradling her cup. L could see wisdom in her eyes that far exceeded her outward age.
"Clarity, peace, someone to tell you you're on the right path. Most of all though, you need a calming cup of tea. Yours has nothing special except the moments peace it will provide before you make plans for your next move."
L raised her brow, she was surprised at the comfort Fiona's words gave her. She reached for her cup and held the warm porcelain in her hands. She raised the cup to her lips and breathed in the hot steam, her eyes closed automatically and she felt the moment of peace wash over her. She took a sip of the warm liquid and sighed, opening her eyes to see Fiona smiling at her.
"There, see, now don't you feel-"
A knock at the front door interrupted her and the two of them turned to stare. L could hear breathing and a heartbeat outside, but nothing that could tell them who it was.
"Were you expecting anyone else?" L asked.
Her moment of peace coming to an end when Fiona shook her head.
"No, just the four of you. Nobody else knows of this place, Edra made sure of it so I could study in peace. Don't worry, I'll take care of it."
Fiona set her cup down and walked down the hallway, L stood by the kitchen door and listened. She readied a few abilities, should any unwanted visitors be at the door and Fiona need her help.
Fiona opened the door, "Can I help you?" L heard her say.
"Yes, I'm looking for the Keeper, and I think she's looking for me, too." A light, jovial sounding voice in a thick, Irish accent responded from outside.
"She is? And who might you be?"
"I'm Sully."