I'd found a possum in the woods, she'd been killed by something. In her pouch were babies, all but one of them passed. Holding it close, I fed it what I had with me, a bit of water and some things from my lunch. Snuggling it close in my hands, I laid down and whispered to it, keeping it warm and trying to think of a way to sneak it into my house and raise it without my papa finding out. He'd forbidden me to save another animal and bring it in our home, but I seemed to be drawn to animals in need. I wanted to help them all!
Jerking slightly, I opened my eyes and the light in the forest was dim now. I'd fallen asleep keeping my little charge warm. Opening my hands, I slumped, looking at it. Carefully and sadly, I returned him to his family in his mother's pouch, then hugged my knees and tried not to cry. It always hit me too hard when I couldn't save an animal, though I knew it was far too young and too far starved and thirsty to be brought out of it. Still, it crushed me every time.
A snap, then leaves crunching and another snap made me look up.
A man, incredibly tall and slender stopped, looking down at me in confusion. He was wearing a noble's military uniform, one of an honorary title and decorative rather than utilitarian. I'd heard about them, but never seen them until now. It was a crisp white with golden trim and braids and pins. Across the front, a long splatter of blood, and another across his cheek and in his pristine white hair. He was a young man, but his hair a pure white that looked unnatural.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded in a whisper, glancing behind him into the woods.
"I... fell asleep. This is my papa's land! I was looking for onions and found her," I told him fearfully, motioning towards the mother possum. "She had babies in her pouch and one was still alive..."
"Quiet," he whispered, turning again. Turning back, he started to walk again, then after several steps, he looked back at me. "You cannot stay here," he told me almost angrily. "Stay close or I will leave you behind."
"I can just go home?"
"No, it's too late for that. Hurry," he half whispered, then ducked under a branch and hurried away.
Torn, I looked back towards my home, then turned back and ran to catch up with the strange man. He was easy to spot in his bright white uniform.
It was dark and I was tired before we broke free of the woods and onto the path that led into the town from my village.
The man let out a shrill whistle back the way we had come, then turned and started up the road.
"Can I go back to my village now? My home?"
"Do you know what this day is?"
"Saintsday?"
"That too, but other than that, it is the striggae sabbath. Samhain. Do you know what that is?"
"No!"
"Did you not wonder why that animal's entrails had been pulled out, yet it was not eaten or chewed open by an animal? A clean cut with a knife and entrails pulled out. It is how striggae read omens and obscura. If any are left in your village, hope they are not found this night."
I looked back again, fearful now as we walked. Soon, a white shape seemed to form and move closer rapidly. "What is that?" I asked in a whisper, running up to the man's side.
"Niveus. Do not fear him, he comes for me."
I looked back and realized now that it was a horse. Pure white and pristine like the man. He came to a halt when he came abreast of the man and pranced slightly. The man vaulted onto him, then reigned in slightly.
"Find a place to hide, you might live this night."
"You aren't taking me with you?" I asked, terrified.
"Why should I? You are nothing to me, child. Go and hide."
"What if they find me?!?"
"Then you will die, so I would hurry if I were you."
"Why can you not take me with you?"
"I have no way to care for a child and you would hinder me if a striggae were to find me. Go hide, then go home tomorrow. See if anything can be salvaged."
"Please! I'll not be a hindrance! I'm afraid!"
He growled, his horse making a restless circle around me as the man looked down at me in irritation. He looked back down the road suddenly, then growled and reached down to yank me up by my dress. Tossing me over the horse in front of him, he took off at a run and I tried to hold on as best I could, watching the ground speed by beneath me. My hair was brushing dirt as I hung there, gripping the stirrup. It was an eternity before he slowed enough to pull me up to sit on the saddle in front of him properly. He moved up to a quick trot, looking behind us constantly. I didn't ask questions, I didn't want to distract him or make myself a nuisance. I was worried about my papa though, and hoped that he'd made it into the cellar to hide somehow. What was a striggae? Why was this man covered in blood?
Finally, the man slowed to a normal trot as he veered off the road and to a huge, dark, manorhouse made with stone so dark it blended with the night. He rode in as if he could see in the dark, though I could see nothing at all.
Reigning in suddenly, he vaulted off, then yanked me off as well. Dragging me along behind him by the arm, he opened a huge door and closed it, then called out.
"Usiah! Usiah, call to arms, now! There is an entire coven in the village south!"
A tall man in a servants uniform had stepped out, then ran as soon as the man had stopped speaking. Turning the other direction, the man turned and hurried to another room with a huge round table on it. On the table was what looked like a map, but there were actually little tiny trees and hills and tiny houses like it was an exact replica of the city and the outlying villages. It was a huge map and there were long sticks around the map that looked to be used to reach across the map.
The man in white looked over it a moment as he waited, then seemed to remember me. Turning to look down, he let me go and motioned to a chair. "Sit there and be quiet! I do not have time for you right now," he told me with a scowl as I regained my footing and turned back to him. His expression turned confused as he looked me over, then over again more carefully. "What age do I put to you, child?"
"20?"
"Not a child then, just small. I should have left you to fend for yourself," he scowled, then turned back to the map. He moved around it until he could glance up over it and see me, his look unsure.
Soon, a man all in black came in with the same sort of military uniform, but in black instead of white. His hair was also black, and longer and very curly. The man who followed him was in red, with short red hair. Moments later it was a man in yellow, his hair very blonde and yellow looking. What sort of men were these? A man in brown came next, with curly brown hair and smiling eyes. The only one so far that didn't have a serious expression. The last to come in was an older man with long, silver hair so straight and smooth it looked unreal. His uniform was also silver, though it was hard to see as his hair came down past his bottom.
"You are certain, Rhys?" the man in silver asked, looking at the man in white.
"Absolutely certain. I saw at least eleven with my own eyes and I am sure the other two were close. I dispatched four before they gathered to hunt me."
"What is this little imp, then?" the man in brown asked, looking over at me.
"A girl I came across in the forest, a halfling and she is blind to it. Her affinity is animals," Rhys answered.
What? I was what? "What's a striggae?" I demanded, standing up.
"Creatures, usually, women who take on the dark arts and transform into evil creatures that feed on humans and strife. This is their sabbath," the man in brown answered. "Yours too, I suppose, though yours would be very different. The enchantresses are the light to the darkness of the striggae. Your gift is light, not dark."
"I told you to sit and not interrupt!" Rhys admonished. He turned back to the silver man. "Alastor, we must signal! We can go after them while they are together! Take out the entire coven!"
"Are you certain they are still there?"
"They thought me alone and the spell keeps our fortress hidden. They cannot know how close we are! They assume they ran me off and they are feeding on an entire village!"
"Then we have little time!" the man in red spoke up. "Sound the call!"
Alastor nodded to the man in yellow and he hurried to the wall and an archway that was covered by odd, white stones. Tracing runes on the archway, chimes sounded with each one he traced, then the white stones began to glow, then a bright flash and they were gone. In their place was a dark hallway.
In moments, more men were pouring into the room from the hallway, all of them like the ones already here. Men in white, yellow, black, brown, silver and red. So many I began to feel claustrophobic, even in my chair.
There was shouting and I could Alastor speak over everyone. "We have mounts at the ready, Rhys will lead the way! We go now!"
The room slowly emptied into the main hall until I was left alone. I sat there in stunned silence, wondering what I should do.
The tall servant stepped in and gestured for me to follow him. I stood and hurried to catch up to him and he led me to a cheerful kitchen and women talking happily.
"What's this wee little blossom then?" a larger woman asked, looking me over with a pleasant smile.
"Foundling," the man told her.
"Well you sit her right down and we'll feed her!" the woman grinned, clasping her hands together joyfully.
The man took her literally and picked me up by my waist to put me up on a tall stool. I squeaked in shock and embarrassment, but the man said nothing as he left.
"I'm Jenny," the large woman told me, setting a cup of milk in front of me. How'd you come to find the fortress, then? Were ya led by your gift?"
"Ahh... no. No, I live in the village just south of here."
"That close then?!? And you never felt the pull?"
"I... don't know. I was always drawn to the woods this side of my village, but it was the animals that called to me."
"Oh, that's a lovely gift, that is! So how'd you end here then?"
"My village is being attacked by... a coven?"
"Striggae is it?" she asked sadly. "Well and good then that they didn't get hands on you to drain your gift. What's your name then, girl?"
"Ecowyn?"
"Lovely name isn't it? Tell me then, who found ya?"
"Rhys I think his name is? All in white?"
"Ahh, it would be him, wouldn't it?" she chuckled. "Lucky for you then, he wouldn't normally take the time to take in a stray, he is all duty, that one."
"What's going to happen to me?" I asked, hugging myself.
"Here now, eat up," she told me, setting a plate with bread and butter and jam on it. "It will be up to Venator Rhys, and that means you'd likely be sent on to a coven of light. Likely the one in Miovia. The one in Mareshomese is full and Lucana too far away."
"Likely but not certainly?" I asked, confused.
