It occurred to Sol while she was eating breakfast that she had no idea how Magnus was going to transport her. Rose brought her a simple fare of eggs and mushrooms and she was sopping up the dripping yolk with a slice of bread. As it stood Sol still needed to be helped into a sitting position - reclaiming her dignity in being able to relieve herself without aid was a goal near the forefront of her mind - but it didn’t tell her how Magnus intended to walk about the district with two non-combatants in tow and arrive safely. Magnus could, of course, have some influence over the lycans and simply will them away but even as wonderful as that would be it was not a assumption she was willing to bet their lives on. Perhaps a gun then. They weren’t unheard of but if they did have such a thing wouldn’t she have heard it?
The door opened and Magnus stepped in. No longer in her casual clothes she now was dressed for the streets. There was stiffness under the leathers, it wasn’t form fitting but she was simply so large that the material had no other choice but to be. Sol looked at her appreciatively, with the hope of a cure in her heart there may yet be a chance for women to have this body type without fear of suspicion. It was too late for Magnus currently, the rest of her features gave that away, but maybe some of Sol’s Sisters would be able to go a single day without needing to be tested and examined to ensure that the level of purity hadn’t changed.
“We’ll be leaving here soon.” Magnus rumbled. “Make sure you’re ready.”
Sol stared at her, to her mostly finished plate, and back. The unspoken question hanging in the air between them.
“Just make sure that you’ve eaten all you’re gonna when Rose runs by.”
And just like that she was gone, leaving Sol alone with her breakfast. With a sigh she finished eating and set the plate on the small table next to her bed. It didn’t take long for Rose to poke her head in, glancing at Sol for only a moment before skittering in. Sol smiled at the young girl but she only looked away. Grabbing the plate and skittering back out into the hall. Sighing she looked out the window, there was only so long before she’d at least be permitted to look at something else. If she was lucky she could take a nap and if she was even luckier Magnus wouldn’t wake her up. Nestling into the pillows that had her propped up Sol laid back to at least try to nap.
She was awoken with Magnus attempting to move her from the bed and to what she could generously call a stretcher, to call it a gurney would be an insult to it. She jerked as she startled back awake, Magnus trying to correct for the motion before she just dropped her.
“Stop wigglin’,” Magnus said indignantly, “I’ll drop you.”
Sol was more than happy to comply, Magnus carefully laying her on the stretcher and near immediately she found herself in that twilight of sleep. The body was willing but the mind hadn’t quite let go just yet. Some part of her was thankful she wouldn’t be going on another hunt, this wasn’t nearly as restful as a proper sleep. She could hear Magnus’ lumbering steps go around towards Sol’s feet and felt the slight shifting of the stretcher as she grabbed it and readied herself.
“Alright Rose, on three. Ready?”
With a grunt from both they lifted and started carrying her off. Rose was clearly not that strong but if Magnus had an option other than her she likely would have been using them instead. It was a slow, arduous process of moving her through the home that they were using. Sol could hear Rose grunting and struggling to hold up her end of the stretcher, some part of her almost wished that it was the other way around. Even at her age Sol and Magnus wouldn’t have struggled at all to carry Rose down to wherever they were taking her. She could feel the gentle light of the moon as it slowly came across her body, The Mother’s gaze was never far and that much brought her comfort. Even if the place they were going was on the other side of the city none were able to escape Her watchful eye.
“Alright just hold on, we’re almost there.” Magnus tried to be reassuring, but poor Rose was at her limit. “Just, let me get the door open.”
She heard a slight clicking noise and in a swift motion the stretcher was swung out from one end and she was shoved inside. Briefly Sol opened her eyes to see what exactly they’d put her in. It didn’t take long for her eyes to adjust and then see Rose herself clambering in to sit next to Sol. She adjusted her dress and drew her knees in close to her chest. Staring at Sol.
“Its quite alright,” Sol said softly, “I won’t bite.”
“Good,” Magnus said with a huff as she handed Rose a duffle bag, “Cause iffen you did I’m leaving you to the ferals.”
Sol couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the threat and went back to trying to relax against now the only comfort she was likely to have for a bit. The pillow that one of them, she was inclined to think Rose, rested her head against. With that done Magnus closed the back hatch and moved around the side of what Sol was guessing was either a hearse or an ambulance.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“Have you ever ridden one of these?” Rose whispered, glancing around every now and again, never making direct eye contact with Sol.
“A horseless carriage?”
Rose nodded, bracing herself when it began to move. Strange, Sol couldn’t hear anything, but even lying down she could feel that they were moving now.
“A few times,” Sol spoke softly, the words barely passing her lips. The less noise they made the better. “Though normally its too risky for one to be used.”
“Why?”
“They’re too loud, the afflicted will hear.”
Sol fell silent, letting the carriage illustrate her point. Even if the roar of an engine was absent, it still was a fabrication of metal and wood. Clacking and clanking together as it wove through the streets of Trauquim. Rose nodded, realizing that Sol wasn’t likely to speak. She fidgeted as they rode, beginning to bite at her nails. Sol might be clumsy in her current state but she still had control over her arms at the very least. Reaching out to the girl and taking hold of her hand she looked suddenly, sharply at Sol.
“It will be alright,” Sol gently rubbed her thumb over Rose’s knuckles. “Your Father knows what is she doing, if she made it this deep into the district and you both still live then I have faith that she will at least be able to help us leave.”
She nodded slowly, but tried to hide her conflicted look from Sol. Even at the angle she was at on the floor of the carriage Sol could see it as if they were under a sunstone.
“What troubles you?”
Rose bit her lip, hunching her shoulders and trying to hide behind her knees. The fact that she didn’t let go of Sol’s hand was a win in her book. There were only so many things right now that could be bothering her, so giving Rose’s hand a gentle squeeze, which in her defense was likely the only kind of squeeze that Sol was capable of right now.
“Whatever dangers are outside, we will live to see the next night. Mother Moon will protect us.”
Sol looked back up at the roof of the carriage. The gentle swaying and rocking of it nearly lulling her to sleep if it didn’t also agitate her wounds. Sharp stinging lancing throughout her chest and her legs, perhaps she should have asked for some sleep aid. At least then she would have just been dunked into the void and her body would be left to ache with Magnus’ careful driving. She shuddered to think what speedy, reckless driving would look like. Sol looked out one of the windows to watch the buildings go by, occasionally she would see a Huntress and briefly wondered if Magnus knew that they were there. She wondered if her mother was there. She knew that those who preferred to post themselves in the rooftops tended to have rifles or crossbows, there wasn’t much other reason. Lycans climbed the rooftops of course but they weren’t exactly an arboreal kind. Humans didn’t have an easy time climbing the townhouses either, but the half-paws that lycan’s had only made climbing easy when there were more naturalistic features. Like sheds for them to jump upon and climb to the roof that way, or as Sol saw one Huntress suddenly turning to fire her rifle.
The noise must have spooked Magnus, as the carriage took off at a blistering speed, but Sol could still see the Huntress and the lycan that was trying to recover from the wound it already had taken. The woman stood uncertainly on the tile roof, holding the butt of the gun to her shoulder it barked again. Sol yanked Rose’s hand to pull her down onto her, crying out in pain as the startled girl landed hard onto her wounds. Biting back more Sol held Rose close to her chest so that the girl couldn’t look up to see what was happening. The lycan’s blood sprayed across the roof top, she could just barely see the muzzle flair. The Huntress hurriedly expelled the shell, pushing the lever back into place and firing again. She heard the crack of the rifle and saw the lycan’s head explode into shadowed mist. Crashing down onto the roof and sliding off. The Huntress took a deep breath and checked over her weapon. Good, one more sister that wouldn’t be lost to the whims of the night. At least not this night.
Sol loosened her grasp on Rose, the pain from both her bringing the poor girl down onto her chest and from Magnus’ new pace she was having trouble keeping herself from crying out.
“Oh no…” Rose’s voice quivered, her hands hovering over Sol’s chest. “I-I’m sorry.”
Sol tried to say something but just as she opened her mouth Magnus hit a bump in the road and all it earned her was a scream. She pressed her hand to the wound with tears pricking her eyes. Sol forced her mouth shut, gritting her teeth so hard that they might crack. That Huntress may have saved her own life, but she had almost certainly condemned theirs. The lycans would give chase, Magnus wouldn’t have a chance to slow down. Wherever they were going he was going to have to keep the throttle to the frame the rest of the way. With a strained smile Sol looked up at Rose, pain snaked through her expression as the child grew more and more distressed. Sol had seen that look many times in the infirmary, maybe she would get to die under the gaze of Mother Moon after all.
Magnus came to a stop that was far more careful than all driving that she’d done up to this point. Sol could hear her barking orders and the moon was once again hidden from her. Soft lights flickered in through the windows only to fly into blinding brilliance as the back hatch flew open. Distantly she could hear Rose stammering out something akin to an apology. Voices layered over Sol’s senses. She could pick out Magnus’ obsidian, but swiftly it was followed up by another’s in firecracker red. A muted cerulean. Even one she swore was a black opal. They layered together to create a cacophony of color and noise. The stretcher slid out of the carriage and she saw Magnus standing over her for only the briefest of moments before huffing with frustration.
“Can’t make nothin’ easy for me can you?” Her face screwed up into a scowl. “Take her to the Doc, the daft cunt tore her sutures somehow.”
The women that now carried Sol wasted no time, wherever the Doc was Sol hoped that the pain would stop soon. She felt being set down and then the two women carefully setting their hands on her. After a flash of color she was picked up again, sans stretcher this time, and set onto a table of some kind. She yelped in pain again, but one of the women grabbed her arm. Holding it down for her fellow they jabbed a needle into it. A flash of adrenaline raced through Sol, trying to fight them even as she felt her flesh tear from ripping the needle away from her in her frantic flailing. Both women held her down and some primal part of Sol screamed at her to start biting. But it was all in vain, darkness crept in from the edge of her vision. Strength leaving her with each twitch and jerk.
Before she knew it, Sol found herself in the restful oblivion once again.