July 2023 ver.

They had said their goodbyes to the arctic. Most of her and Avery’s additional layers were stashed with Rowan’s in his ‘super secret hiding spot’ as he put it. A storage chest shoved under an overhang of earth surrounded by precisely stacked rocks. It was in the middle of nowhere. The three walked to a creek a good distance away. It was still chilly up here, but not nearly as it was at the Katz’s.

Their cousin unrolled the map with the usual flick and they crowded him quickly, “We’ll just cut straight down.” He started tracing his finger around in an odd squiggle for his ‘straight’ path, “I haven’t hit these settlements here for a while. Then across. While we go we’ll keep our ears, uh,” Rowan glanced between his feline family members, “perked? For high paying jobs and other things of interest. We should still be able to safely burn a few weeks on whatever and arrive in time for the ceremonial event.” The siblings merely bobbed their heads to accept the plan.

x x x

They still hadn’t come across any particularly good rumors after days of travel. The three stared at a wall of bulletins on the side of a boxy building. This town was at a popular crossroads for several smaller villages. There was a plethora of postings to vouch to that fact.

“Oh! How about this one?” The brawler put a fingertip to one of the papers. Rowan slunk to read it. Then he ripped it right off the board.

Her brother added, “That should be way easier than the dire boar!”

Rowan grinned at her, “Good choice!”

Their cousin had said he favored the capture or kill quests. This one was for a particularly nasty bear. They went a village over to speak with an older man who made the request. Apparently it was in an inconvenient spot. One that kept getting people killed by it. Only two so far, but the span of time was short. The man’s daughter was one of the victims. He posted the job after hearing about a second death. Half revenge, half civic duty. Much like Oscar had been, this man was also rather concerned about Avery specifically being too young. They weren’t so concerned.

Rowan paused in his strolling, “I think this is about where he said his daughter was found.” It was a little out of their way, but they had plenty of time to spare. Their eyes roamed to take in the environment. Pretty standard deciduous woodland.

Avery scratched his ear with a cant of his head, “This road leads to a major one running to one of the sister cities?”

Their elder replied, “Yeah, the capital actually, Theresa.” He was rooting around in the shrubs for any suggestion of a trail. Devin and Avery mostly stayed out of his way and more broadly search. Her ears lifted as she noted some bent grass.

The brawler pointed, “How about that over there?” Rowan’s head popped out from behind a bush.

He went to investigate and soon beckoned for them to follow, “Not a bear trail, but this might be where the man wandered off the path.”

“I wonder why he went-.” Avery stopped short to say something else, “Is that a house?” They all squinted. If one peered just right, they could in fact make out what might have been the corner of a house. However, as they drew near it was quickly evident that it wasn’t a whole house. Half of it was collapsed.

Her ears twitched. A snorting sound tickled it. Rowan shirked off his bag and they did the same. He put a finger to his mouth as he tossed them one last glance before slinking across the clearing to the corner of the decimated home. The man dared a peek before looking back to his party.

He exclaimed quietly, “That’s not a fucking bear!” The mage double checked before continuing, “That’s a bandersnatch!”

Avery took a look in a spark of panic before also trying to not yelp loudly, “Those are like banshees, right?”

Devin proceeded to take a turn to cast eyes on the target, “How can you tell?” Luckily, it was really preoccupied with something on the other side of the clearing.

“Supposedly they vary wildly in appearance, but there’s usually three distinct features they all have. First, its head.” Rowan shuffled further back so they could examine it more thoroughly for the features he described, “It’s huge, the same thickness as its body. Second, the space between it and the air around it aren’t very well defined either. Like it’s not entirely physically there. Third, the back, it doesn’t have regular hair. It’s covered in quills like a porcupine.”

Rowan continued, “They’re also really angry. Existence is pain for them; an amalgamation of negative energy left behind by tortured animals. They’ll kill anything that happens by out of a sense of vengeance. They’re also insanely strong.” He tapped their shoulders so he could slip into the lead position again. “We’re going to have to be careful about this. Devin, you’re going to be on distraction duty. Use that doppelganger thing and the double speed. From there it doesn’t matter much what you do, just do not let it hit you. Avery, you prep-”

The beast snarled and Rowan stopped, peering from their hiding spot again.

An unfamiliar scream.

“Rowan!” Devin went to snatch his tunic, only to be left clawing air. What the fuck was he doing!? She stumbled into view after him.

The bandersnatch rose, standing on hind legs. The mage dropped from a full sprint to the ground, sliding between them. A massive paw swung down. She was frozen. What was she supposed to do against something like that? Why was he throwing himself in front of an attack? A barrier shimmered into existence. The swipe caught on it. The creature roared in aggravation. She could hear their cousin grunt under the impact. They couldn’t even tell what was happening from behind the mass of black fur.

Avery’s words cracked, “Wh-what do we do?”

“I don’t-. Do you know any spells that could make me stronger?” Her attention flicked briefly to her equally distressed brother. He frantically denied possessing the ability.

Vines burst from the ground. They wrapped around the forelegs of the bear-like poltergeist. It wouldn’t be able to strike the barrier again so easily. The abrupt pull had it toppling! A spike of earth shot up to meet it. She took a step forward in hope that Rowan had this on his own. The combination would be enough force that he’d skewer it with a killing blow in a mere second! Then the thing heaved against the vines with another vicious roar. ‘No!’ It found new footing. No more than the very tip of the attack stabbed into it.

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She latched onto her brother’s shoulder, “Avery. Can you cast something to force it down?”

“I-.” The boy’s face went straight. He ran two steps and threw out his left hand. A green light flashed on his finger. A gust of wind surged downward. The bandersnatch swiped at the air to bat it away, but it was no use. A full foot of the earthen spike pierced through the front of their foe’s core. The stone of Avery’s ring faded.

“That’s not enough to kill it!?” Devin went agape as the thing kept swinging its limbs. It was stuck for the time being. Rowan let his barrier drop. He was on his knees, panting. They could finally see two people on the ground behind him as well.

“That’s too ph-physical.” He was still trying to catch his breath. “We need to cast light magic to kill it.” The mage staggered to his feet and spread his hands out, palms up, from his sides, trying to focus.

She was the epitome of useless, “Avery, you can do that, right?”

The fledgling scholar nodded and steadied his breathing. These seconds were the slowest she’d experienced in a while. Then she shielded her eyes. A pillar of light encompassed the creature. It screeched as its body deteriorated under the assault, diffusing into it as if ink in water. And then it was gone.

She let herself breathe. But why? Her ears swiveled. Why did something still feel wrong? Hair raised. Very wrong. A chill gripped her spine. A small voice in her head pleaded, ‘Behind you!’

The feline pivoted, not knowing what to expect beyond her instincts telling her to attack. She threw a haphazard punch.

“Devin!” It was always Rowan calling her name.

Dread consumed her as her fist was caught at the wrist. A dark figure resembling a man loomed. Even without pupils or irises it stared with a hatred so strong it was paralyzing. All she could do was stare back. It’s grip twisted.

She shrieked as her arm snapped.

The girl went limp with pain. Her figure was lifted and slung away by the broken limb. She landed with a solid thud. Her body scored through the dirt as she slid to a halt. The tears flooded in quickly. She could barely register the bits of her skin that were scraped away as she curled around her forearm. She’d never been hurt like this.

But Rowan and Avery. She needed to pull it together, to push through. Devin forced herself to uncurl to see Rowan forming a new barrier. The thing’s fist slammed into it and the spell shattered in an instant. The force of the recoil sent him skipping across the earth. The girl pushed herself up by her good arm. He was already trying to haul himself up as well only to fall to a knee for another moment. Her eyes went to this new poltergeist variant.

It stepped closer to Avery and he cowered under its rage. Her heart raced. The pain numbed her mind. Devin stumbled to her feet. Her fingers flexed.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING TOUCH MY BROTHER!”

The world went black and white.

The brawler lunged forward, closing the distance at an unprecedented rate. Her muscles burned. Her blood screamed. She leaped. Her knee connected with the side of the thing’s head and it went hurtling to the ground with her.

Devin regrouped quickly, putting herself between it and Avery. She snarled like a beast herself. A pillar of light enveloped it like it had the other, but the thing recovered and dipped out of range with a wail. Only a sliver of its mass had been shaved away.

Her cousin spat, “Son of a whore! Stay still!” More vines, but it tore them from the ground with ease. They vanished as the spell was ripped apart by sheer physical prowess.

The brawler threw herself into a sprint again. This time she was the one sliding between her opponent’s stance. It didn’t seem to expect that. She stopped herself with a hand dragged through the dirt. Before it could react, another knee slammed into it. The creature fell forward and she jumped onto it to take it flat. Devin gripped it by the head, bashing it to the ground.

She yelled, “Now, Rowan!”

He protested, “You’re still-!”

She lifted its head again, “I said-” she slammed it, screeching the command, “do it!”

“…shit!”

Avery was the one to continue the argument, “It’ll hurt you too!”

The light washed over them. The dark being writhed in agony. Her rage and pain faded. Color briefly came back to her world. Her form wavered as a strange calm seeped in. She needed to move, but every second was a burden lifted from her shoulders. Was everything always so white? Arms looped around her waist.

Avery heaved and they both went tumbling. The girl simply stayed where and how she landed this time. Her view was on the sky. Blue hues leaked back into her white world, but she felt so tired. She fought to open her eyelids one more time, but in the end, they closed.

x x x

“Devin!” A hazy version of her brother’s face greeted her. “Rowan! She’s waking up!” They had propped her against the partially collapsed structure.

The brawler mumbled, “Did we win?” Then she squeaked as she was gripped quite tightly by one then the other. The boys both squeezed even more from there. “G-guys. Can’t… breathe.” Then pain shot through her, “O-ow!” Their elder loosened so her brother could put some distance between them too.

“Sorry!” Avery apologized for pressing too close.

Her head dipped to find that ‘bandage’ Rowan usually kept wrapped around his arm had been repurposed again into a sling for her broken one.

The young lady sneered at the sight, “Why didn’t you heal me?” Her glare slid to their cousin crouched at her side with a hand still on her shoulder.

“I did. It should be completely mended in two weeks.” He was still too busy brimming over with relief.

“Okay,” she snorted and gave him an even sassier tone, “Let me rephrase: Why didn’t you heal me completely?”

His hand went to his neck and he gave her a much weaker smile, “It’s better to let bones mend a little on their own. They’ll be stronger that way.”

She wasn’t happy about it, but she accepted and moved on, “What was that thing?”

“A revenant.” Both looked elsewhere and she followed their gazes to two mounds of freshly turned dirt. A man wept by one. His clothes were bloodied, but he didn’t seem to be hurt. At least not anymore. “We nearly hit the evil spirit trifecta. Banshees, bandersnatches, and revenants.” She now realized Rowan was smudged with earth. “All three manifestations of dark magic. Revenants, well, I don’t know how the hell you managed to take it head on like you did, especially injured. Physically, they’re the strongest.”

“Ask me again later and maybe I’ll be able to explain it when my head isn’t so cloudy.” Speaking of, she rubbed her eyes.

“Can you stand?” Devin nodded and they helped her up. Very carefully.

Avery sighed, “So much for being easier than the dire boar.”

She muttered agreement to the observation prior to asking, “Do all the jobs you take end up the opposite of what you expect?”

He chuckled, “Uh, no, that’s new to me too.” Rowan shrugged, “Guess we’re bad luck as a set, but hey, let’s stick together anyway.” They shared a slightly bittersweet moment. In all seriousness, the bad luck could stop any time it wanted and she’d be okay with that.

The brawler’s attention returned to the sobbing man, “The graves…” The girl frowned at them. “Who…?”

Her cousin sighed, “We didn’t make it in time to prevent victim number three. He and his wife stopped off here to rest. It must have been what the other two tried to do as well. The house might be wrecked, but it’s hard to tell from the road. It still offers a little shelter as is too.” That explained one. Then his arms crossed. “Given how poltergeists are made… Avery and I went digging.”

Her brother nodded at her other side. He was also smudged. His ears sagged, “We found someone’s remains under the rubble with what probably used to be a dog laying across his lap.” He had to stop talking to cover his mouth and close his eyes. For a second she thought he was going to puke from just remembering it.

Rowan held a palm out to the other grave, “So… we buried them together in the other one.”

A man holding his dog. Both suffered so horribly before their deaths that their emotions manifested into violent echoes of their spirits. What the hell happened here?