Cassana PoV [https://i.imgur.com/6nvKwVL.jpg]

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Cassana snarled, raising her tensed shoulders and reflexively reaching for a phantom staff. Bonnie stepped back and Ashvell stepped forward shielding them behind.

"Relax, she's with me.." Minos uttered.

"My name is Lira," said the new arrival, trying her best to appear non-threatening.

"She will be joining us on our way to Soliton. And then from there to wherever," explained Minos.

"And who decided that?" asked Cassana.

"Me, of course."

"Don't fret, you wouldn't even notice that I'm there," added Lira.

"Lira is one of the best hunter-fighters from the Capital. She'll keep us safe."

Cassana remained still, looking back and forth between the young noble and the drow.

"You must be Cassana, the wizard?" Lira sauntered to the redhead, then stopped an arms length away with her hands on her hips. The two women sized each other up without any attempt to be subtle about it.

Cassana crossed her arms as Lira reached for a friendly gesture. She had always been weary of strangers, but working for an inn conditioned her to be friendly and convivial. Now that the inn was gone, that all seemed unnecessary.

She dismissed Lira's gesture and walked towards the kitchen to hide, but it was futile because the small hovel provided no division between the kitchen and the rest of the house. When she was at the inn and she started feeling overwhelmed, she would run towards a secluded corner and sulk. She couldn't do that anymore.

"Whatever, just..." she started, she reached for anything she could grab with her hands, something to make her look busy or sniffy, but there was nothing she could find. "Ashvell will be driving us, Robb is coming too. Get everything ready, we'll leave soon after I..."

...Bury Otheric. She choked up. Some things are too difficult to accept, and saying them out loud only makes them more real. She swallowed the words to stop herself from crying again. Not here, not in front of these people; Bonnie would be upset, Ashvell would panic and would try to calm her down, Robb shouldn't see her weak side; and Minos and Lira, they were strangers to her.

She turned around to face them as soon as she made sure her eyes were dry. Minos had moved close to the table, bumping elbows with Robb, while Lira was exchanging greetings with Ashvell and Bonnie. Turned out she succeeded in her attempt to disappear from their sight. Then, on a shelf across the side of the sink she saw a bottle of mead resting quietly. Finally, something she could grab. She picked it up and furtively walked towards the room where Rei was resting.

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The evening went by quietly, and Cassana finally had the rest she had been craving since the day before. She couldn't remember when she fell asleep, but she did remember resting her head on the bed after chugging half the bottle of mead. She awoke with her whole body sprawled on the straw mattress, with no Rei in sight. She panicked and jumped down, hurrying to the door.

The rest of the house was empty, aside from a kettle boiling on the clay stove. She stepped towards the door leading outside and heard Ashvell and his father casually chatting amidst the pounding of wood and hammer. She stepped back and headed instead towards the garden behind the house. There she found Rei, sitting cross-legged on a bed of greenery.

"How are you holding up?" She asked him, unsure if he could hear her.

"I couldn't sleep," he answered with his soft, high-pitched voice. Cassana somehow felt flattered that he was already willing to let her hear his voice.

"Werewolves are nocturnal creatures, so your body is adjusting," she answered.

"I have a question..."

"What about?"

"Is it safe for others to be around me? Am I dangerous? Contagious?"

"No. As long as you're in humanoid form, you shouldn't worry about hurting or infecting others. At least in theory."

"I see. I heard about your plan last night. I don't think it's a good idea."

"Why?"

"My life is not worth more than Ashvell's, or Robb's, or Minos'. I am not comfortable putting their lives in danger on this journey for my sake."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Noted. Unfortunately, it's not your choice to make."

"I know. I am thankful."

"Good. Now get your ass back on the bed and rest, alright?"

Cassana hopped over the garden fences and moved around the house to the street, carefully avoiding getting seen by anyone. Outside, she stole a glance of the front yard that Ashvell and his father turned into a makeshift workshop, building Otheric's coffin. She then quietly walked out and headed towards the mountain path back to the Manor.

The big house was quiet, contemplative, looking very innocent about the events that transpired the other night. Cassana stepped through the main door and cut across the debris and litter of the main hall. She entered the parlor and found the blackened scar she left on the carpeted floor with her Immolation Spell. She stood quietly, trying to remember if she left her father's box of notes inside or outside the arkogram that she drew.

She gave up trying to remember and headed towards the staircase leading upstairs. She climbed and entered Otheric's room. She glanced at the mess of his parent's bedroom as she passed by. A dead drow was laying on the floor, and the bed stink of dried blood and sweat. She went to the next room and head straight to Otheric's dresser. Cassana and opened it and started sifting through his tunics, cloaks and jackets. She grabbed one to smell, but it didn't remind him of his scent at all. Nevertheless, she took it off the rack and put it on herself. She also picked another set to dress him for his burial.

Just as she was stepping out, she remembered the root cause of everything that had happened here. She returned to the parlor to look for the painted box with the cursed bow but couldn't find it. She tried listing all the possible explanations of why it was missing, but part of her didn't really care, so she quickly gave up. Magical artifacts were fascinating, but she has had enough of those, part of being the daughter of somebody who was obsessed with them.

Cassana went back to the village feeling more relieved than yesterday. She needed that walk, and she needed that fresh air. Inside Trev's house, he already finished preparing Otheric's body. She approached them and handed the set of clothes he got from his room. Soon after, Ashvell entered as they were about to place his body in his coffin.

"There you are," Ashvell uttered in concern, "don't just disappear like that, you're getting us worried. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm okay. You don't have to worry about me." She answered. She watched over the whole procedure placing her hand over the wooden box afterwards.

"You wanna get one last look?" asked Bonnie, who Cassana didn't notice was also there. She shook her head and stepped back.

"Let's get this over with," she sighed.

The men lifted the coffin and placed it on the back of Ashvell's wagon. Cassana and Bonnie led the short procession towards the graveyard. A vicar officiated his last rites under the Church of Eirene, which was the only ceremony performed. Cassana refused to deliver a eulogy which cut the whole event short. After the burial, she opted to stay for a few minutes more and everyone else left her alone.

She returned to Trev's house to find Ashvell hard at work on replacing the wooden handle of his battle axe that got left to burn at the inn.

"You should get inside, they're having lunch," he told her.

"How about you?" she asked in return.

"I'm not hungry. I gotta finish this first before we leave."

"Okay. Hopefully, we won't need you to use it."

"True. But just in case, you know..."

"Ashvell, I..." Cassana started, not entirely sure if she knew what she wanted to say, "I really can't thank you enough..."

"You don't have to. You know I'd do anything for you."

"You are such a reliable friend, I want you to know that I'm really happy to have you in my life," saying these words, Cassana just realized how relieved it made her feel.

"I'm happy you're here too..." Ashvell replied. A moment of awkwardness lingered, and Cassana wasn't sure if she was supposed to hug him or not. It didn't feel right for her, but she also knew it was appropriate given the situation. So instead, she stepped to the side and gave him a light jab on his shoulder.

She joined the rest who were having lunch inside the cramped hovel, and ate her meal in silence. She would check on Rei every now and then to make sure he was conscious as he went through another bout of noon-fever.

The afternoon slipped in, and they all readied around the house. Bonnie packed Cassana some of her clothes, and Ashvell's father brought his. Lira hitched Mino's palfrey to the wagon for extra pull and Cassana prepared a side of the wagon for Rei to settle onto. Everything went by smoothly, and the sun was still high when by the time they had everything ready for departure.

"You take care, alright?" Bonnie said to Cassana and she gave her a warm, tight hug, "and take care of Ashvell," she whispered.

"I will. And once we return we will arrange your wedding," she joked.

"Don't say it like that, you'll jinx it."

"You know I don't believe in jinxes..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, just get back as soon as you can, okay?"

Cassana climbed up by the driver's seat beside Ashvell. Behind them, Robb and Minos were sitting comfortably together, and Rei was lying on his back on the other side. Lira was on horseback, galloping in front of them.

"I'll scout ahead and will wait for you all on the next mile-marker," she announced to the group before riding off on Rei's palfrey.

The wagon rolled off through the streets, and several onlookers waved to Cassana and Ashvell as they passed by. They continued towards the eastern exit, and headed out up the hills, on their way to Mugendale, where they will resupply before continuing to Soliton. As they rode off, a party of laundry-wives were walking back from the river, holding up buckets of clothings and blankets, humming a song.

Meet me by the river, come dance with me

The fireflies will lead our path

Join me in the summer, watch the sun smile

Come celebrate what we once had

A memory flashed through her head: of her and Otheric meeting by the river one summer she went home during a break from The Tower. They had already been writing back and forth by that time, and he had already confessed his feelings for her. After months of not understanding how she felt about him, he sang that song to her, and suddenly she felt an urge to kiss him. She followed her impulses, and she kissed him that afternoon, and Cassana finally admitted to herself what soon became an undeniable fact. She fell in love, the only thing she believed she wasn't capable of doing.