"Did she get cursed by a Hag?" The sorceress' gaze, burning with an inner light, scanned Mathias like a cheap piece of meat. "As her Knight, is there a reason why Evee's horizontal, and you're still upright?"
Mathias met the girl's burning eyes and felt his Radiance quake. Gwen Song! From the International Inter-University Competition; Elvia's "Mate" and her long-distance Message-pal. Here was a woman-shaped Thunder Tyrant Rex. The controller of Caliban! Mistress of Ariel! Tamer of Golos!
The Devourer of Shenyang!
And now, she was accusing him of dereliction of duty!
A burst of bile threatened to spill from Mathias' throat. Misunderstandings were dangerous, especially when one side held a Mithril Badge. Sponsorship from three Magisters was the bare minimum required for such freedom. But as a Class VI asset, who had the clout to stomach the uproar when the girl misstepped? The only Mage Mathias knew to possess the clout was Grand Master Errol and Emily's father, the reputable Duke Rothwell.
"Yes, I am her Knight." Mathias kept his face stoic. "And NO, Miss Elvia is not injured. She overtaxed herself from saving those who had been caught up by the Beast Tide. I assure you, not a hair has been harmed on her head."
"A Beast Tide? Of course." The girl's reply was churlish and provincial, indicating a lower-class upbringing. "Evee— can you hear me?"
Elvia moaned, deaf to the world.
Something wiggled under the healer's shirt. A little bulbous head peeked out, its short limbs waddling as it emerged. "Kiki?"
"Kiki!" the girl squealed. "Long time no see, buddy. How's Evee?"
"Kiki! Kiki!! Ki!"
"I don't speak Kikish." The girl waved her hand. "One second, Ariel!"
Clonk! Clonk!
A shimmering pony knocked on the door, then entered the inn, sending the dozen or so Mages in the dining section scrambling.
Both Mathias and Hanford fought to keep their cool. A Kirin! Their minds reeled. A real-life Kirin! Look at its horns! Its hooves! Its rainbow-hued coat! The blasted thing glowed! As with many Magical Beasts of the upper-tier, it was the unique presence that made them larger than life.
"EE! EE!"
"Kikiki!"
"EE?"
"Kikiki-ki!"
"EE-EE!"
"EE-EE-ee-EE!" Gwen's Kirin gestured with its horns toward Mathias.
Mathias put a stout oak table between himself and those horns.
"I see." The girl shot Mathias a glare that made him place a hand on the pommel of his Spellsword. "We'll see what happens when Evee wakes. For now... hop on."
Mathias moved to intervene. He knew next to nothing about the Void Sorceress' abilities other than the fact that she could clear a District without breaking a sweat.
"Ki-ki!"
When the Alraune leapt into Gwen's hands, Mathias slowed. He couldn't swat the willing creature out of the sorceress' palms. Her Kirin looked mighty dangerous, not to mention she still had "Caliban" hidden in a pocket dimension.
Beside him, Hanford leaned over Mathias' shoulder with a face full of wonder. "My word, that IS Druidic Essence!"
"Drink up." The sorceress glowed.
In the dim light of the room, a viridescent puddle of sloshing, viscous liquid, brimming with life, pooled in between the palms of Gwen's hands.
"Kiki!" The Alraune danced in the manna and began to absorb the elixir at an alarming rate, growing glossier and more globular by the second. Atop Kiki's head, a tropical lily bloomed out of season.
Hanford's eyes wandered toward the girl's ears. Thankfully, her well-rounded lobes were entirely human.
A minute later, Kiki had soaked up every drop. Now appearing the size of an infant, it leapt onto Elvia's chest, then slipped a hollow, tentacle-like tendril in between the healer's lip. Through his well-trained senses, Mathias felt his Cleric's hollowed-out conduits infuse with raw, unadulterated vitality. As Kiki transferred the viridescent energy, Ariel stood guard, licking the flower Sprite's bulbous body.
"What now?" Mathias stood sideways from the Kirin; its hind-legs looked like they packed a wallop.
"Well." Magister Hanford's eyes darted between the smartly attired War Mage and the sweating Knight Protector from St Michael's. "While we wait for Miss Lindholm, would Miss Song care to answer a few questions?"
"Sure." The girl appeared to relax, or so Mathias hoped. "Besides, I want answers too."
[https://imgur.com/Ys9pKEb.jpg]
Before the fall of Sydney and its horrific revelations, Debora was the companion that Elvia admired the most. Out of all their friends, it was her vivacious confidence that made Elvia feel the rare bite of jealousy. At first, she had felt astounded by the audacity exhibited by "Debbie". Though all of them were equal friends, that Debora would so brazenly declare her worst intentions had made Elvia feel ill. Not only was the bronze-skinned Transmuter unafraid of ostracisation or rejection; she revelled in Gwen's distress.
Inevitably, the corresponding recall would remind Elvia that their friend had long been an inhuman Void spawn. What Faceless had wanted was for Gwen to join its crusade against the world— and failing that, it would assimilate Gwen into itself.
And if Faceless had succeeded?
Elvia shuddered every time the possibility of losing her friend crossed her mind. Seeing Gwen's exquisite face morph from adoration to sadism, love to hunger was a sure recipe for insomnia.
Presently, however, the healer's consciousness was consigned to the void. Such deep, self-induced meditation was a known phenomenon. During periods of extended duress, a Mage may continue to tax their mental and physical reserves, using their body as fuel. For a Void Mage, the process was par for the course, but for a healer, the occurrence was rare indeed.
And so, caught in the undertow of self-restorative slumber, Elvia dreamt the strangest dream.
[https://imgur.com/Ys9pKEb.jpg]
"Evee!" someone shouted.
Elvia's eyes shunted open.
She wasn't on her gurney; instead, she sat on loose straw over powdery clay. The air was impossibly dry, her tongue felt like sand, and dust invaded every fissure. Squinting, she saw that over the ochre landscape, a sinking sun warped the horizon with heat.
Beside Elvia sat Gwen, grinning with her teeth showing, puckering her lips. When Elvia's eyes wandered across her friend's figure, her complexion turned scarlet.
"Why— why are you in the nuddy?!" Elvia blurted out. "F-for shame!"
Gwen laughed; her skin glistened, reflecting the slick patterns of ochre, obsidian and sunburst adorning her torso. Likewise, ghostly handprints covered the canvas of her body. Elvia recognised the five-fingered contours. Some of them belonged to Yue, and more than a few belonged to herself.
Her friend pointed to Elvia's right. "Evee, Look!"
Elvia followed Gwen's finger.
They were languishing in the shadow of a colossal landmark, too famous not to be recognised.
Ulu—ULURU?! Elvia's heart seized. Why were they in Uluru? Wasn't she in England?
A dream, Elvia pinched herself.
Gwen stood.
OH MY GOD, Elvia's mind rioted. She was in a VERY realistic dream.
"Kapi!" Gwen clapped, extending a hand in invitation.
Not knowing what else to do, Elvia took it.
With a strength that betrayed her litheness, her friend lifted Elvia to her feet so that she fell against her bosoms.
OHMYGODOHMYGODFORGIVEMEFORMYSINS— Elvia felt Gwen's heart pounding against her cheek. An inch from her nose was Gwennie's—
Thump! Thump! Thump! Gwen's heart thundered. On cue, there came a crash of thunder; then the sky began to pour. A cloudburst fell in pailfuls, a near-solid wall of water bucketing from the blue.
Arm in arm, their skin as slick as eels, the girls looked up at the red stone of Uluru, where snail-trails of white water turned into wine.
"The Rainbow - the rainbow comes from the earth and returns here," Gwen spoke beside Elvia's ear.
The temperature fell, but she didn't feel cold at all. Gwen's body was a furnace, and presently, their shared warmth permeated everything, the muddy earth, the cloudless sky, the plunging deluge.
"Haha, Almudj is proper cheeky." Gwen's arms crossed over Elvia's shoulders. With one hand, she pointed to the sacred stone.
"My kin lives here— she has a long beard and sharp teeth. She does not need men or women. She dreams, requiring no ceremonies. Very rarely does she wake— but when she does, Almudj is proper cranky."
Elvia opened her mouth, her thirst quenched by the downpour.
In gulps, she swallowed, her body filling with the waters of life.
Gwen regarded her with a broad grin, her pink lips curling at either edge.
"Remember, Evee, the Snake. She will attack invaders. If someone bullies you, it will return their body to their ancestors. No matter how many of them. No matter where—"
CRACK—BOOM!
An ear-splitting cry of thunder shook Elvia's world.
The sky! It was opening up! She could see a fracture across the infinite space of the horizon. All around her, the ground shifted and moved and shook. Atop the stump that was Uluru, an immense shape began to slither and meander, emerging from the interior of the stone.
"We're kin, Evee. Mayhap more, but never less. I've always wanted to share with you Almudj's Song. The Song of the Pintupi, the Singing from a time when the world was young."
A flash of quicksilver ignited the sky.
The dream world crumbled. Elvia fought against her friend's embrace, but Gwen held her fast. In tune with the supernatural fulmination, their hearts beat in twain.
Gwen began to clap.
"Kapi! Kapi! Kapi!" Came another earth-shattering reverberation from the apex of Uluru, the serpent that birthed the world swam for the sky. Water, the colour and texture of blood, flooded the desert, restoring the soil's fecundity, bringing to bloom a million wildflowers. "Come on, Evee!"
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Elvia joined her friend, her hands slapping the water.
A rainbow appeared, linking the horizon from ocean to ocean.
Unbidden, Elvia wept, for here was where every river in the world begun.
[https://imgur.com/Ys9pKEb.jpg]
Soft as feathers, Elvia's long blonde lashes fluttered open.
"Too dangerous, the Trolls have warrens here— here— and here—" Half a room away, the harsh tone of Magister Hanford quarrelling with Mathias was as familiar to Elvia as a lullaby. "You can't be thinking of taking them alone? That's stupidity!"
"Kiki!" Her Alraune Sprite prodded her cheeks, its adorable bulb wadding left and right. "Ki-ki!"
"A friend?" Elvia's gaze lingered on the blooming Alraune with confusion, finding herself exhausted beyond belief. "Who is it?"
"EE! EE!" answered a triumphant thrill, followed by a cold nose touching her neck. A wet tongue, sticky and smelling faintly of rain, licked her lips.
Instantly, her brain fired up to wakefulness. "A-ARIEL?"
The argument from the map-table ceased at once.
"EVEE!" an all too familiar voice rocked the inn, displacing the dust from the ceiling. "Thank God, you're awake!"
A pair of arms soon enveloped her torso. A familiar silhouette kissed her left cheek, once more on the other, then again on her forehead.
"Gwen?" Elvia fought her irresponsive extremities, her mind struggling to connect the dots. "What's happened? Why are you here?"
Her assailant pulled back.
Her friend looked older. That was Elvia's first impression. Gone was the puppy fat once adorning her friend's cheeks, giving her an elfin visage. Gwen's eyes as well, once so glistening with insecurity, were sharp and focused, almost frightfully so. She appeared taller too, the confidence she now exuded was practically tangible.
"O, you heart-breaker, you!"
Another round of uninvited kisses showered Elvia.
But why was Gwen in Merthyr Tydfil? Her mind was only now registering the reality in front of her. All those months without contact; week after weeks of watching Gwen slog through the IIUC, fighting rogues, Trolls and then Undead, and now her friend was here?
"Ah—" Elvia tried to speak, but what emerged instead was a choking cry of insurgent emotions. Her eyes misted over, growing damp with feelings impossible to keep in check. There was so much she wanted to say, so much pent up stress that needed to be released. "G-Gwennie… I missed you so much."
"I know… I know…" Gwen held her tight. "It's okay, Evee. I am here."
Behind her friend, Mathias wore an unreadable expression. But that was no different from how Mathias usually acted. Elvia felt she could barely read Mathias anyway and had long since given up trying.
But, none of that mattered now.
"Ow—"
When Gwen attempted to lift her from the gurney, her muscles throbbed with protest.
"What's wrong?" Gwen's face twisted with concern.
"I am aching all over." Elvia wondered if it was because of the dream she had endured. Did Gwen have anything to do with it? She would have to ask her about that. Almudj felt far too real to be a hallucination. "Can you put me into a chair? I don't think I can stand right now, not until I get some more mana in me."
"Aww, you poor thing," Gwen cooed. In the next instant, her eyes lit up. "You know what? I've got just the thing. Stay here; I'll make you a nice tonic that'll fix you right up."
Under the watch of both her Knight and Major Hanford, Gwen Mage Handed a table close to the gurney. Then, she produced a nephrite bottle of what looked like rice wine as well as a vibrant jadeite container.
That looks expensive, Elvia innately appraised the object. Not even in the home of Lady Astor had she seen such exotic Magic Items.
"For this, I am going to need Cali's help," Gwen said to Elvia, then addressed the two men. "Magister, Mattie, please step back. Caliban isn't nearly so friendly as Ariel."
Obediently, the Mages heeded the Void Sorceress' advice.
"Caliban, come forth!" Gwen twirled her fingers, coaxing her monster to existence.
A pinpoint opening tore the fabric of space and time. Elvia had seen it a hundred times before, but for the others, they had only seen it once or twice and then only via vid-casts. An illusory Caliban was terrifying enough. Now, in real-time and vis-a-vis, they felt the bone-chilling, gut-churning vertigo characteristic of Void Magic.
"Shaa! Shaa!"
"Cali!" Elvia squealed.
"SHAA?! SHAA!" The endearing Void fiend stood two meters tall when fully erect. With a tentacled tongue, it rubbed Elvia's head.
"Wow, you're so big!" Elvia did her best to pet the faceless boa. "It's been a while. Thanks for looking out for Gwen, Cali."
"Shaa!" Caliban nuzzled the healer with its carapaced head, much like a cat reclaiming an old acquittance.
A table away, Mathias' eyes strained, his fingers flexing and unflexing.
"Cali, keep an eye on our root vegetable." Gwen tapped the box, unsealing its wards. "If it runs, drag it back."
"Shaa!"
Gwen opened the box.
Her audiences' eyes went wide.
"KIKI?" Her Alraune looked inside with a bulb full of curiosity.
"Kii?" a soft groan emanated from the jadeite preserver. A Ginseng! Elvia cooed. And a Spirit at a that. Unfortunately, it looked as though the Spirit was injured. From its humanoid likeness, the Spirit was missing both its lower limbs, most of its tendrils, and a portion of an arm. Instantly, her heart filled with sorrow and empathy for the poor thing. What horrid suffering had the poor plant endured? How lonely must it be to slumber in the darkness alone?
Groggily, the Ginseng turned to look at Gwen.
"KIIIIIII—!" it began to keen. Elvia felt her chest constrict. The poor baby!
"SHAA!" Caliban yelled it into silence.
"This won't hurt a bit." Gwen reached for the Ginseng.
"KIKI?" Her Spirit leapt in front of her friend. Elvia winced; a string of gut-churning emotions translated by her Alraune flooded her constricting bosoms.
GWEN WAS GOING TO EAT IT? Elvia comprehended Kiki's warning at once. "Gwen, NO! No eating! That's a Spirit!"
Gwen paused, a sliver of Void circulating about her fingertips. "Don't worry, Evee— this thing is cultivated. It's domesticated and reared explicitly for this purpose, no different to a delicious lamb chop."
"NO, NO, NO!"
"KII! KII! KII!"
"KIIIIIII—"
"SHAA! SHAA!" Caliban howled, spraying Elvia, Kiki and the Ginseng with grey goo.
Elvia clammed up, as did the root, a pulsating, purple-fleshed Caliban was pretty much the stuff of nightmares.
"KI—KI!" Her Alraune was the hero Elvia often aspired to be. "KII!"
"But we need it to heal Evee." Gwen's brows furrowed. "I suppose your master could stuff the whole thing down her gullet, but then she'll erupt with vitality."
Someone coughed.
"If I may, Miss Song— I don't think you should be eating that." Magister Hanford's voice drifted across from the other side of the room. "Not in public, I mean."
"We diced one up for Chinese New Years…" Gwen recollected Ayxin's gift to Jun's parents, which they shared with friends and family. "It was older than this one."
"May Christ have mercy for us all," Mathias swore, marking a cross across his forehead and his chest. "You Orientals will eat anything…"
"Gwennie, please?"
"Fine." Gwen withdrew her Void scalpel.
Elvia exhaled.
"KII—KII!" Kiki slapped Gwen's hand with a tendril. Like Sufina, its island sister, the Alraune was fearless.
"Shaa!" Caliban licked its chops, issuing a warning.
Disregarding the serpent, Kiki reached into the box, then helped the Ginseng to its feet— or more correctly, its stumps.
"Gwen, how could you," Elvia chided her heartless friend, staring at the stumbling Ginseng with moist eyes. "Was Sen-sen who you were eating in the competition?"
"Sen-sen? Eating that root vegetable pulled me through quite the pickle, possibly gave Allie a baby, and added twenty years to Gramp's life!" Gwen cocked her head. "But, what's done is done. Now, do you want it?"
Elvia's reply caught in her throat. A Spirit? One that knew pain and could beg to be spared? How many CCs could it be worth? "I… can't. It's far too expensive."
"Kii!" Kiki glared at Gwen, stomped the table angrily, then passed a tendril toward the Ginseng. A dribble of Gwen's viridescent Essence infused the root vegetable.
"Sen?" The Ginseng shuddered, then gestured wildly to itself. "Sen-Sen! Sen-sen!"
"Look at it," Elvia begged, feeling another stab of empathy striking her heart. "Can you heal it? With your Druidic Essence?"
"Heal it?" Gwen looked from her friend to the Ginseng. "It's supposed to be providing nourishment for us, not the other way around. I mean, if you want it, that's another thing. If not, I'll box it for another day—"
"I'll keep Sen-sen!" Elvia announced. Kiki's emphatically-linked demands were tearing her heart out. "Don't worry, Kiki, we'll save him yet."
"Fine. Kiki, move aside," Gwen commanded the Alraune.
Warily, the flower Sprite shifted to one side.
Elvia watched as her friend uprooted the feeble Ginseng by its leafless head, then laid it flat on the palm of one hand. Again, Gwen's audience bore witness to the spectacle of Druidic Essence oozing from a human sorceress.
Bathed in the elixir of life, the Gingseng Spirit sprouted hundredsof tiny tendrils that, once interwoven, began to resemble a pair of stubby legs. Its missing arm as well grew hundreds of whiskery beards that soon resembled a limb. Atop its head, leaves began to sprout, first a few petals, then a whole bushel of "hair" emerged, transforming the deformed Ginseng into a textbook Mandrake.
By the time the Spirit could move on its own, Gwen was breathing heavily.
"Sorry," Elvia apologised. "I didn't know it was that hard."
"Anything for you, Evee." Gwen gave the Ginseng a flick on the knob. "Here, your new pet, 'Sen-Sen' sans three limbs but otherwise as good as new."
"Kiki!" The Alraune hugged the Ginseng.
"Sen!" The Ginseng, having escaped the chopping block, embraced the Alraune.
"Aww," the girls cooed.
"Shaa!" Caliban salivated.
"Kiki!" Kiki directed the Ginseng toward Elvia.
"Sen!" The Ginseng ran toward Elvia on its new legs, then performed a kowtow by throwing itself on all fours.
Kiki's pantomimed Sen's intent.
"It wants me… as its Master?" Elvia didn't understand Fae, but Kiki was a champion at charades. "But I've got you already, Kiki."
"Miss Elvia—" It was Mathias who interjected. "Perhaps it is best to donate the Mandrake to the Tower? A friendly, sapient Spirit is worth a great deal of CCs. Think about the other Healers who could use it to bolster their craft. The favours you could curry..."
"NO." Gwen wagged a finger. "That root vegetable is Mine. I gave it to Evee, and I reserve the right to prevent it from falling into anyone else's hands. Either she keeps it on her person, or I mash it for Maotai. There is no recourse."
"Miss Song." Mathias grew radiant. "Please be reasonable. You'll be entering society soon, I wager."
"I am reasonable, 'Mattie'." Gwen's acerbic defiance gave Elvia an indescribable thrill. "You want a Ginseng, ride your ass up to Huangshan and rip it out of the Yinglong's garden. Otherwise, keep your advice to yourself."
Mathias' jaws clenched. Elvia gulped.
"Why are YOU upset?" Gwen snorted. "Look at the state I found Elvia in, 'Knight Protector'. Got a complaint? Go fish. I welcome any grievances, large or small, lodged against my person. If anything, you should ask the Duke of Norfolk's office to process the claim. Old Dickie's out on a limb to see me fail."
"This incivility isn't becoming of you, Miss Song," Mathias replied with a measured tone, though Elvia could sense her Knight's heart rate elevating to new heights. "I would have imagined Elvia's companion possessing more class."
"I hail from the industrial district of Forrestville, from Frontier Sydney." Elvia noticed that Gwen's lips sneered whenever she enabled her first-class bitchface. "This is how us plebs speak."
"Mattie, Gwen doesn't mean to be rude." Elvia felt her heart simmering at her throat. She did not desire conflict between her Knight and her best friend. Besides, Mathias was strong, but Gwen was lethal. "Please, we'll discuss this later, okay?"
"You! Ginseng!" Gwen snapped at her dietary supplement.
"Sen!" The Ginseng snapped to attention.
"Leave Elvia, and you're soup." Gwen patted Caliban on the head.
"SHAA!"
"EE!" Ariel added its two cents.
With an air of fatalism, the Ginseng approached its new Master.
"Kiki!" With a shuddering wince, Sen-sen tore out one of its leaves and placed it against Elvia's hand.
"For me?"
"Sen!"
Elvia placed the green growth under her nose. The magical salad smelled strongly of soil, and also something far older.
Gwen nodded. "Eat it, Evee. I should tell you that this is a five-hundred-year-old Ginseng cultivated by Golos' brother, Ryxi the White Serpent, in the secret valley of the Yinglong's Mythic-class abode. I'd wager its got quite the kick."
The two men opened their mouths. Mathias maintained a stiff upper lip.
A little nervously, Elvia chewed the leaf.
"MMPH!" Her eyes sparkled. The taste was bitter beyond belief. The energy, the vitality, the mana contained therein, however, was unlike anything she had ever imbibed, not that a pleb like herself had access to ultra-rare Wildland ingredients in the first place.
"Take it slow…" Gwen advised. "Circulate your mana, allow the Essence to infuse your body."
"Essence?" Elvia blinked.
"Draconic-Essence." Gwen grinned. "Yinglong's dragon juice tends to infuse everything. Don't worry, Sen's safe to eat. No one at the banquet exploded. I think."
Elvia closed her eyes, allowing the vitality to infuse her body.
The fatigue in her limbs melted away.
Her mind, so murky a moment ago, felt crystalline with cloudless clarity. Gradually, the earthen taste in her mouth turned to mint, reinvigorating every cell in her exhausted body.
Elvia burped.
"Evee." Gwen studied Elvia's new Ginseng friend. "I gotta ask, as my memory isn't great. Is Kiki a Familiar?"
"Nup." Elvia shook her head. "She's a freely contracted Spirit. I've never performed the Familiar ritual."
"That's, unfortunately, fortunate—" Gwen cocked a brow. "Good news. Now you have room for a bonded Familiar."
"Miss Song, I cannot advise…" Mathias interjected. "Such a waste..."
Elvia too felt overwhelmed by the excess. A Spirit replaced one's Familiar. She had never heard of someone with a Spirit contracting a whole other Spirit through Summon Familiar. Theoretically, both could co-exist, but Mathias was right. What a waste! No matter how good she became, she couldn't perform the job of TWO Spirit Healers.
"So? Its HER Spirit to waste." Gwen shrugged. "What's so unique about a Spirit Ginseng? I wager there's two-dozen more on Huangshan. It's no biggie, Evee. If this limp-limbed bugger doesn't yield..."
Gwen shook the bottle of Maotai, looking every inch the tyrant.
"KIII!" The Ginseng kowtowed wholeheartedly, looking like it was doing push-ups. "Sen-sen! Sen!"
"Smart plant." Gwen packed away the booze. "How are you feeling now, Evee? Come off the bed, let's see how you are."
Elvia nodded. Slipping from the thick, goose-down sheets, she landed on her dainty little feet.
Her friend, however, felt her hands, paused, then glared at her fingers.
"What's wrong?" Elvia asked, puzzled by Gwen's steely expression.
"A small Storage Ring?" Gwen blurted in disbelief. "Evee, where's your Contingency Ring?"
Elvia cocked her head. Was it so strange that she didn't have a Contingency Ring? Those cost at a minimum, thousands of HDMs. A good one that came with guarantees for sanctuary, healing, and safe delivery ran into tens of thousands. Even after all her sanitarium work, once her tuition and lodging was paid, she had a few hundred HDMs to her name. Most of her quests that Mathias took were voluntary work. "Erm... I don't have one. It's too expensive..."
"I see." Her protector's eyes trained onto Mathias.
The glowering storm outside continued its pitter-patter, growing louder until a stone-splitting roar rattled the windows.
"'Mattie'." Gwen's accusation sizzled like a branding iron. "Why are you so useless?"