A pair of big blue eyes greeted her the next morning. Inches away from her face. Zaira froze. The fog of sleep drifted slowly from her mind. The pain in her face rudely grounded her in reality. Then it dawned on her. Those blue eyes belonged to the little spirit. Her body relaxed and she stretched out as much as her wounds would let her.  

The little one leaned back onto her heels, her eyes were teary, lips downturned. She looked to Zaira for reassurance. 

Zaira pulled herself into a sitting position, propping herself up on the headboard. Her body was incredibly stiff. The sheets slipped off her torso and down to her hip. As it grazed her burns, she noticed the relative lack of pain. They were sore, but she was pleased with the progress. Her face, on the other hand, felt about ready to fall apart. She had also carved into her arms and legs. Zaira took a deep breath. 

“I’m ok.”  

A big smile lit up the child’s face. The spirit jumped off the bed and ran down the hallway, the sounds cutting off abruptly. No change of direction or fading sounds. The demon snorted and dragged herself out of bed to commence her morning ritual. Her self-inflicted wounds were deeper than usual. She took out some adhesive stitches to help close them. She had covered her face, arms, legs, and torso in the blue cress. The bathroom, or she, had never smelt that strongly, thankfully it wasn’t pungent. Zaira felt like a glazed donut.  

She walked back into her bedroom. Exhausted despite having been in bed for over twelve hours. Sleep would be great right about now - if she wasn’t guaranteed to shred herself even more. Her bed didn’t look too inviting either, it was covered in dried blood. She resigned herself to being awake and set two goals for the day. Eat and do some laundry.  

----------------------------------------

“Hello dear!”  

Zaira deflated at the sound of her neighbor’s voice. She had been pleased with herself a few seconds ago, she had had a snack and was nearly done with her laundry. She had even forgiven herself for the time she had spent imitating a rug. An irritatingly happy neighbor was not what she needed right now. She threw up her glamours. 

Her shirt lay unfolded on the dryer as she walked to the front door. “Hi, Hannah.” Zaira cringed at the sounds of her own voice, the quiet solemn tone felt loud. 

“I brought you some apple crumble.” Hannah walked into the house. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”  

“Oh. Thank you?” Zaira looked curiously at the large casserole covered by a tea towel.  

“You’re welcome, dear.” Hannah set the platter on the stove, making a glass-on-glass noise. “It’s fresh out of the oven, I’d let it cool before putting it in the fridge.”  

“Of course.” Zaira flipped up the towel to see that not one piece of the apple crumble was missing from the 30x20cm pan. “Um, Hannah?” 

“Yes?” 

“You realize I am only one person?”  

“Oh, I made two pans,” Hannah said with a smile on her face.  

“Right.” Zaira went to get a plate out of the cupboard, after all, she had only eaten a snack earlier. “Do you want some?” She asked attempting to get rid of at least a piece or two. 

“No, thank you, dear, I’ve got some at home.” 

“Alright.” She served herself, then stood, shifting from foot to foot as Hannah made no move to leave. Zaira ground her teeth. She felt compelled to invite the woman. “Would you like some tea, or are you going home?”  

Hannah smiled a bit more brightly. “I would love a visit, dear.”  

Zaira prepped them something to drink. Hannah sat at the dining table, watching her.  

“If you don’t mind me asking, where have you been the last week? I came to visit a couple of times, but you weren’t there. One of those odd jobs?”   

“Yeah, actually, that landscaping lasted longer than expected.” 

“Landscaping? I didn’t know you did landscaping. Well, I’ll have to recruit you. I’ve been wanting to put in some flower beds. How about this weekend?” 

Zaira had no idea when the weekend was, but she knew she wouldn’t be ready to work. “I wouldn’t mind helping you, but maybe in one or two weeks? I injured myself at work and would like some time to recover.” 

“Zaira! I thought you were looking stiff. I hope it's nothing serious. What happened? Do you need help around the house?” 

Zaira waived her off. “Nothing serious, just stiff, like you said. It’ll be all better soon.” 

“Are you sure dear?” 

“Yes, I’m sure.” Unless I keep hurting myself to this degree. It should calm down. 

Zaira joined Hannah at the table and set the mugs down. 

“Oh. Dear, I meant to ask how did all that work out the other day?” 

“How did what work out?” 

“You know, all that Wicca,” Hannah whispered the word, “stuff.” 

“It went… Better than expected… I locked up the entity.” It had gone better than expected. She hadn’t really thought about it since the aftermath was so painful, but thinking about it now, she was surprised she hadn’t needed to try over several days. 

“You locked it up? You didn’t get rid of it?” 

“Yeah, that was difficult enough. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to get rid of it.”  

“I’m lost. So, you are just going to live with it?” 

Zaira shook her head. “I’ve asked my friend, who is better versed in these things to help.” 

“Help is good. Are you sure you don’t want me to send the priest over? He came yesterday, he was a lovely man.” 

“No! I mean, I’m sure he was lovely, but I’m fine thank you. On that note, how are things with your unwanted guest?”  

“Too early to tell.” Hannah shrugged. “It doesn’t normally make an appearance every day. So, we had to wait and see. But I have faith it will work.” 

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Hannah smiled, then leaned back as her lips pinched together. Zaira was scratching a claw against a wound on her thigh. Her poor attempts to turn the conversation had failed and she was waiting for Hannah to continue poking holes in her story. Zaira knew that even her safety being threatened could not stop her from answering Hannah’s questions. Or maybe if she were lucky, Hannah she would just leave, having decided that her suspicious neighbor was too risky for her to keep visiting. But Hannah didn’t leave, and Zaira managed to keep her nervous self seated.   

In fact, Hannah did not continue with her questions. She launched into dialogue. Zaira had no more to talk about, but she didn’t need to keep the conversation going. Hannah spoke enough for both of them, mostly of Ryan and what they had been doing at home the past few days, unnecessary details like what she had made them for breakfast. Zaira found out she didn’t mind. She let her mind wander and the elder’s voice became almost soothing. Zaira only made sure to acknowledge and agree in all the right places.  

“Dear?” The stop in the flow of conversation pulled Zaira away from her empty thoughts and she focused her eyes on Hannah once again. “I have been meaning to ask you. Where is your accent from?”  

“Um…” She ran both sets of claws down her tights. “It’s Allurian.”  

“Allurian? I’ve never heard of that.”  

“Yes... It is… Much like Hebrew?” 

“As in it sounds similar?”  

Zaira took a moment to think. She struggled to find a good explanation for the non-humans’, now sacred, language.  

“No. As in, it is a cultural and religious language. Legend has it that it was the first language ever created and has been kept nearly unchanged since then, only adding words as needed. It’s a simple language, made to be easy to learn and to be universal. To unite across time and space.” Zaira explained.  

“And does it?” Hannah looked contemplative.  

“Surprisingly well actually. I can go literally anywhere and can communicate with anyone who shares my religion.” Hannah looked at her surprised. “There are different accents of course, depending on what regional language they use.”  

“So, you would speak Allurian with an English accent?” 

“No.” Hannah raised an eyebrow, prompting her to continue. “English is a language I learned recently. My first language is…” 

“Is Allurian?” Hannah asked as Zaira stalled.  

“No, that’s my second language. My first language is,” Zaira proceeded to make a raspy set of sounds that Hannah could never even begin to imitate.  

Hannah openly stared. “What?” 

Zaira just shrugged her shoulders.  

“Where are you from?”  

Solum. “I recently came from Europa.” 

“I don’t know of any Europan language that sounds like that.” Hannah looked at Zaira like one would a lying child. 

Zaira was regretting answering honestly, bile rising in her throat.  

Hannah opened her mouth, probably to ask another question, but shut it suddenly in favor of raising an eyebrow at the sudden motion from Zaira. The Yulmuth had jumped when a tense Rushka appeared behind Hannah. Quickly Zaira covered it up by pretending to look at something on her lap. 

“My pager just buzzed. I’m sorry Hannah, but I have to go to work. Can you see yourself out? I need to get ready.” 

“Oh of course.”  

Zaira’s face must have reflected how urgent it was as Hannah stood immediately, but she did study Zaira’s face as she walked towards the exit. She passed through Rushka, not seeing them. Hannah stopped at the door, frowning. Zaira supposed the urgency was odd considering her earlier lie and very real injury. 

“Let me know if you need anything.” The elder said as she left.  

Zaira nodded to the human and immediately turned to the angel.  

“How bad is it?” Rushka didn’t usually come to fetch her personally. 

“Normal bad, I have need of your skills, I know you still have a day off, but can you come to work?” 

Zaira wanted to say no. But, how do you say no when you are the best equipped to save lives? 

“Yeah. I can do it.”  

“You aren’t convincing.” Rushka’s eyes looked her up and down. “That entity injured you more severely than I had imagined.”  

“I can do it.” She repeated louder. “Just give me some more time between this and my next job.” 

“I’ll give you an actual week of peace this time.” 

They scanned her once more and must have decided she was healthy enough to work. Yet she had to stifle a gasp as they picked her up.  

They took off, up through the roof of the house. She relaxed as much as possible in their arms as they flew to their destination. It didn't take much time to get there. She wasn't sure which direction they'd flown. The air had cooled. The landscape was white. They landed in mists of glaciers. A mountain peak could be seen in the near distance.  

“Two climbers fell down the glacier, into a crevasse.” They set her down gently. “There's a human rescue team coming, I'm going to delay them. I have reason to believe at least one person has survived, but they are too far down to be reached. Could you please bring them up? You see that cliff over there?” They pointed to an ice drop-off, about 40 feet in height. “Perhaps you can make it look like they fell from there?” 

“Consider it done.” She said with more confidence than she felt. 

Rushka took off and disappeared. Zaira’s posture drooped. She looked at the vast field of ice. There was a large trail moving down the slope into one of the glacier’s fissures.  

Zaira went to the tracks and crawled headfirst into the crevasse. Only a couple of feet in, the crevasse’s walls went from vertical to overhanging, then switched back to vertical further down. Preventing much of the bright sun from reaching the bottom. As her eyes adjusted, she heard a crack and a gasp. Chunks of ice fell further into the crevasse, and she spotted a man scooting away from the edge of the ledge he had fallen on. She threw up glamours that would allow her to blend in with the ice and snow and approached. There was a second man a little further down, unmoving.  

The mobile man was attempting to put his gear together. He had blood leaking out of his mouth, his hands were trembling, and one shoulder looked like it was barely mobile.  

Zaira watched him stand and start to screw into the ice wall. She eyed the wall one more time. She could help guide him up or she could knock him unconscious and pull him up, then set up the scene as if he had climbed by himself. She scuttled down further to the still man, all the while keeping an eye on the one who was starting to climb, and checked his pulse. He was dead. 

A long yell of pain rang out. The man had taken his first step up. She approached, close enough to catch him were he to fall. His breathing was heavy. He was trembling. But there was determination in his face. She would follow him up. Work did encourage them to let them rescue themselves if possible. Yet her stomach was in knots as she watched the painful journey up.  

He placed six screws into the ice before returning to remove the lower two to reuse them above. He had a limited supply of ice screws. She knew what to do. He now found himself with an unlimited supply of screws in his pocket. He didn’t seem to question it. Perhaps he thought he had forgotten about a stash. 

A third of the way up, he fell. She grabbed his harness to help cushion the fall. He yelled out his pain, over and over. He sobbed. But in what seemed like no time considering his levels of pain, he took a few deep breaths and he was moving again. This man was cut from a different cloth.

After every hoist, he would take a break. He was wet. Tears, drool, blood, and spit. On top of it all, the meltwater was raining down on top of them; courtesy of the afternoon sun.  

Hours later and he had made it to the overhang.  

Where was the human rescue? 

Surely Rushka wouldn’t hold them up this long. She didn’t know how much longer this man would hold out. Of course, she was there to save him if the worse happened, but still, they should be there by now.

Another fall. They were both crying now. Another fall. The overhang was making things harder. Another fall. Unconsciousness took him.  

Zaira thanked the gods; he wouldn’t have to suffer much more. She unhooked him and brought him to the top of the crevasse. Laying him far enough away that he would not fall back in if he rolled. She also made sure his efforts would be recognized. The man was tough. She placed his six ice screws at the top of the crevasse and made sure his rope was visible so his partner could be easily located.  

Her work finished; she also collapsed. She was panting heart racing. Clearly, she hadn’t recovered yet. And she had done next to nothing.   

“I made it. I made it.” A weak mantra could be heard on the quiet slope.  

Zaira turned her head to look at the man who was slowly sitting up, she smiled. His eyes were wide as he looked down at his hands. He looked to the blue sky above, lucky to be able to see it again.  

“Hey! Hello!” He yelled.  

Zaira looked around them. She couldn’t see anyone. 

Where was the rescue team?  

“Hello!”  

She needed to go look for help. She willed herself to stand and took off.  

Zaira circled the area, expanding her search every loop. The only thing breaking the ocean of white was an occasional exposed rock. Every time she saw one she hoped to see it move. She growled in frustration. Why was the mountain so empty?  

He spotted the two climbers before she did.  

Where the hell did they come from? 

Where had no importance. The strong-willed survivor was saved. She returned to the crevasse, laying in the snow not far from her protégée. She heard more cries and shouts, snow crushing, before the world went black.

Her foot was tapped by another’s some time later. She opened her eyes, but quickly shut them again. She didn't have time to spot the focuse on the creature, blinded by the sun's snowy reflection.

“What took you so long?” Zaira groaned.

“Avalanche. The human rescue team was rerouted.” She recognised the voice of Shahar.

“Ah.”  

Zaira turned onto her stomach, one foot planted, the another planted, then she was vertical . She swayed a little bit as she looked around. The living climber was nowhere to be seen and the grave marker was still in place.  

“Can I get a lift home please?”  

Shahar nodded. Their grasp was a little stiffer than Rushka’s and the ride a little less comfortable, but, gods, was she glad to be heading home. They let go of her midair not far from her destination, she shouted a thank you at the disappearing streak in the sky. 

 All she wanted to do now was curl up in bed, but it seemed the day’s adventures were not quite done. Zaira spotted Ryan walking down her driveway as she approached her backyard.  

Great, first Hannah, now Ryan. She would not be inviting him for a visit, not that he would want agree if she offered.   

She landed with a hard thud. She grunted and gritted her teeth. One more thing, just one more thing.  

Zaira put her glamours on and entered her house. Halfway through her living room, she heard a knock on the door. She stood there for a moment. Her body was heavy, her eyes burning. The floor was much more inviting than the door. Though, if she spoke to him now, hopefully, he wouldn't bother her tomorrow, then she could rest all day. 

She opened the door. 

“Good evening, Ryan.” 

“You look rougher than Hannah said you did.” 

Zaira leaned against the door frame. “Thanks.”  

“I have been thinking about your proposal. And I have decided to accept it.”  

“I'm sorry Ryan...” She lifted her hand to her forehead, then dropped it back down. “I've had a long week. What proposal was that?”  

“Are still interested in splitting a car?” 

Zaira’s eyebrows shot up. “Yes, absolutely. Let me know when you are ready to go to the dealership.” Her thoughts went to Hannah. She pictured the woman sitting at a table with a group of ladies around her age, gossiping away. 

“Well, I was originally thinking tomorrow but I see you are in desperate need of sleep.” 

“That is the plan for the next couple of days, yes. You've caught me at a bad time.” Zaira was about to say goodnight when a question came to mind. “I'm curious, what made you decide on the car?” 

Ryan’s lips pursed. “Vet’s meet.” 

The corner of her mouth briefly lifted into a smile. “That sounds like a plan. How about we go into town three days from now?” 

“See you then,” Ryan mumbled. 

He left, she closed the door. Zaira went to the kitchen to chug a tall glass of water and felt the need to watch the elder human walk home. She only went upstairs once she saw him safely close the door behind him. 

Zaira went to the washroom, stripped, and crawled into bed. 

Just as her eyes shut, the ceiling started shaking loudly, howling screams made her eardrums vibrate. She growled and covered her head with her pillow. Tears leaked from her eyes from sheer exhaustion.  

The bed dipped down. A little shape pressed itself to her back and quiet whimpering could be heard between the demonic wails.  

Perhaps she passed out, perhaps she had outlasted the onslaught, but the world did finally fade away.