A crash of thunder startled Lear awake, and he blinked groggily, trying to figure out where he was, and what was going on. There had been another noise just after the thunder, and it took him a brief, sleepy moment to realize that it had been a scream.
Winna?!
Leaping to his feet, he abandoned the book he’d fallen asleep reading on the couch, and threw himself down the hallway at top speed. Practically blasting her door off its hinges as he barged in, he looked around wildly, demanding, “What’s wrong?!”
Except there was no goblin with a knife. No ghostly Veris come back to haunt or kill them. No magic spell was affecting anything, either. His heat-sensitive eyes told him that only Winna and her cats were in the room.
Sniffles told him the young woman was crying. “S-sorry! I-I was startled awake. Th-that’s all.”
“Are you alright?” he drifted closer to the bed, concerned because she was clearly distraught. He'd sit, but wasn't sure if she wanted him to, given it was her bed.
Lightning flashed again before Winna could reply, lighting up her frightened face. As thunder crashed through the air once more. It was so loud that it sent the cottage trembling. The young human mage cowered, curling into herself.
Scared of storms? And it was a bad storm out there, too, the rain was lashing the roof in a torrential downpour.
Lear threw all caution into the wind, and took the liberty of going forward to sit beside her on the bed, then pulling her close. “It’s alright. It’s just a thunderstorm.”
“I-I know!” Winna sobbed, pressing against him. “B-but th-the thunder k-keeps sh-shaking the h-house! L-like an earthquake!”
“I’m sorry.” he murmured, hugging her tightly.
“M-my parents d-died because of an earthquake!” the young woman whimpered.
Oh, that's what it was. Not scared of storms, scared of earthquakes, and understandably so. The last two bursts of thunder had indeed made the house tremble.
Lear had never asked what had happened to her parents. She mentioned them often, and also that they were gone, but he didn't want to upset her by asking, in case it upset her. He knew she’d tell him in her own time, and it seemed like that time was now.
“Ah.” he sighed, “I’m so sorry, my love.”
“W-we survived th-the big one! I-it destroyed a lot of the village, b-but our cottage is well-built, s-so i-it didn’t fall! Th-the town w-wasn't so lucky. W-we went to help them, and th-things were much, much worse there. B-buildings had collapsed everywhere! S-so many people were trapped…wh-while we were there, there was an aftershock a-and part of a building fell on them a-as they were t-trying to help the people who were trapped!"
“Oh, Winna.” Lear murmured, shifting and pulling her onto his lap, and cradling her against his chest. Pulling for his magic, he released his wings, and brought them up around them like a fluffy cocoon. “I am so sorry.”
The woman he loved slipped her arms around his neck, buried her face into his shoulder and cried. Every time more thunder crashed, she flinched, and he squeezed her gently.
After a long while, the storm died down, and with it, her sobs slowed enough to sniffling, punctuated every so often by the jumpy staccato of hiccups as she tried to regulate her breathing.
Lear reached out and poured a cup of water from a carafe on the bedside table, then pushed it into her hands. “Drink.”
Winna took the cup, and drank obediently, then leaned back into him. “Th-thank you.”
He set the cup aside, and reached up to trail his fingers through her hair, telling her, “Now this is the part where I suggest I stay here to make sure you sleep, and accidentally-on-purpose fall asleep in the same bed, then we wake up later and make out or get up to more mischief. Or it would be, but I’m not going to take advantage of your sadness like that." he paused, then added, with a wink, "Not tonight, anyways.” Not that he would ever actually do that.
Winna pulled away slightly, blinking, then burst into giggles, which was what he’d been after.
The fey man smiled, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Maybe some other time.” he paused, then asked softly, “Are you alright?”
“Y-yeah.” she rubbed her eyes with her fists, and looked very young for a moment. “Thank you, Lear. N-normally I have to just sit here and cry and be scared.”
“Instead you can sit on me and cry and be scared.” he grinned wryly.
But she shook her head, “I-I wasn’t really scared once you were here, so it was much better.”
“Oh, well good.” Lear leaned down and kissed her gently and briefly. “I was serious about leaving though. If I stay much longer, I won’t have the willpower to leave at all. Will you be okay once I go back to my room?”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded, leaning forward for another smooch, “Thank you.”
The fey man smiled, reaching up to stroke her face, then stood. “Anytime, Winna. I love you. Goodnight.”
“I-I love you too.” she murmured.
Lear turned and forced his feet to take him from the room, pausing a moment to sigh once he was in the hallway. Every bit of him wanted to charge back into her room and draw her into his arms, kiss her with every ounce of passion in his fey body and -
He shook himself then. Thinking about it wouldn't make things any easier. It would, in fact, make it worse, and make it that much harder to not go back into Winna’s room. But she didn’t want that. She wasn’t there yet, and that was okay.
The fey man was dragging himself down the hallway, back to his own bedroom, when a noise outside caught his attention.
A horse was galloping at top-speed towards the cottage.
Frowning, Lear went to the living room area, flicked his second set of eyes open, and peered out into the rain, which had started to let up as the storm began to pass. Indeed a horse was approaching, though was starting to slow.
The fey man watched as the figure leapt off, and staggered up the front steps. Recognizing the visitor as Jedda with just his heat-vision, Lear flung open the door before the man could knock.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, readying himself to hear the worst. Jedda wouldn't have ridden so quickly to the cottage in the middle of the night, on the tail-end of a terrible storm if something very bad hadn't happened.
Jedda stumbled into the house, muddy and wet. “Get Winna and Diana!” he cried.
“Jedda, what’s wrong?” Lear helped steady him.
“There was a mudslide in the village! I was sent to get them so they could help! Lots of houses were destroyed! They must come quickly!” Jedda gasped.
There was a soft noise of a door opening, and Lear’s heart sank as Winna appeared in the opening of the hallway, wearing a robe and fluffy slippers. “Jedda?!” she murmured, frowning. “What’s wrong?!” Diana and Lou were on her heels.
“A mudslide in the village. They need help.” Lear told her, watching her closely, not sure how she'd take the news, given that her ability to heal others had been so significantly reduced very recently.
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Winna’s face paled, and her balance wavered.
Diana maowed softly.
“Oh gods!” the young woman whispered, sinking to the ground, hugging herself tightly.
Jedda was shaking his head, going over to the young woman, reaching out to help her up. “We don’t have time to wait, Winna. Please get Diana’s basket and let’s go!”
Lear darted forward, using his fey speed to make it to Winna before Jedda did. He knelt by her side, drawing her close. Thinking it would only upset Winna more to have to explain on her own, he said, “Diana has lost most of her power. She did so to protect us when we were attacked at the cottage. It’s…my fault, but…well, most of her power was used up, and won’t come back any time soon.”
Diana maowed softly, it sounded sad.
“I-I…I-I can’t do much to help!” Winna burst into new tears. “B-but I-I’ll still go! I-I have to!”
“I know. I’ll go too, but…they can’t expect too much. They rely so heavily on you, and you relied so heavily on Diana, I’m concerned they’ll be angry when you can’t live up to their expectations.” Lear said, looking up and frowning at Jedda. “It’s not fair if they blame her for not being able to help as well as she wishes she could.”
Jedda swiped his hand over his haggard face. “Ah lass…I’m sorry to hear it. But the villagers know you. They know you’re not as strong as you wish. I don’t think they’ll be angry.”
“I-I hope so! I-I’m so sorry!”
"It's alright, sweetie. But why didn't you say anything to anyone sooner?"
"I-I...I...I don't like being useless. It's...embarrassing. I-I'd hoped to figure out a solution before it became a problem! B-but now it is a-and I-I'm sorry!" she wept.
“You're not useless, and it’s not your fault.” Lear assured her, helping her stand. “You go with Jedda. Diana will stay here and watch the cottage and Lou.” At least it would give the proud, old familiar something to do in their absence, “and I’ll go into the forest and see if any fey folk with healing abilities are around, even weak ones, and will ask them to come help as well. Hell, I’ll ask any without healing abilities to come, we’re all pretty strong and fast, and that’ll help with rescue efforts.”
“Tark heard when they came to tell me. He was gathering some of his folk to head into town while I rode out here.” Jedda nodded.
“Alright. We have a plan.” Lear stepped back, but kept his hands on Winna’s shoulders. “Take a deep breath.”
She did so, and Jedda got her a glass of water, which she drank, murmuring, “Thank you.”
“Will you be okay without me?”
Winna smiled weakly, “I’ll be with Jedda. It’ll be fine. But I should get going. Even a weak healing ability is better than nothing, right now.”
“You’re right.” Jedda agreed.
Lear bent and kissed her gently, “Then go. I’ll be along as quickly as I manage, and will send along as many fey folk as I can.”
“I love you.” she whispered.
“I love you too.” he grinned, then darted out the door.
-
I paused to take a moment’s comfort from Diana and Lou, then stood and took a deep breath, “Alright, Jedda. Let’s go.”
We left hurriedly, and climbed onto Jedda’s horse. I rode behind him, clutching him tightly around the middle, and hoping my coat would be warm enough to last the long hours we’d be spending in town.
The rain was falling much more slowly now, but as the horse raced along, it hit my face like tiny, stinging pebbles, and I lowered my head so his shoulder shielded me a little.
The ride was silent, except the noise of the horse’s galloping hooves and the nightly noises.
Soon, the town came into view, and I choked back a sob, already able to see some of the damage. What seemed like a good portion of the face of the large, steep hill behind the village had slid away, crushing and destroying buildings in its path.
“It’ll be alright, lass.” Jedda told me quietly.
“I-I can only do so much!” I whimpered. “Th-this is terrible!” Because of course a tragedy would happen so shortly after I’d lost the largest part of my ability to help them.
We rode past buildings. The town was dark except for whatever lanterns and lights that people had scrounged up in the madness. That said, the town square was fairly well-lit, thankfully. There were lampposts placed evenly along the perimeter of the square, and I could tell that’s where Jedda was headed. Given it was the most well-lit area, at the moment, it was probably being used as a headquarters of sorts for the burgeoning relief efforts.
As we road into the square, Jedda checked his horse to a canter, then a walk, then stopped, and we swung down. Many villagers were gathered there.
“Winna!” someone shouted, and I heard several other folks crying my name, their voices relieved.
“She’s here!” someone called.
Full of devastation, I turned to face them, barely able to contain my tears. They’d started to gather around, all talking at once.
I motioned for them to quiet down. “P-please! I-I’ll do what I can.” I told them, then felt my face crumple as I continued, telling the full truth, “But I-I…Diana recently chose to sacrifice a-a good deal of her power to save my life recently. Sh-she…only has enough to keep herself alive anymore. I-I…I-I’ll do everything I can, but…I-I….” Tears coursed down my face, but managed to choke out, “Y-you all know I’m not very strong! I-I’m s-so, so sorry!”
Silence fell.
“So you’re useless now, huh?” A voice snapped.
It cut like a knife and I cringed. Lear was right. They were going to be angry, and I was going to have to deal with it.
“Now see here-” Jedda bristled.
I cut him off, “N-no, it’s true. I’m not nearly as helpful.” Taking a deep breath, I wiped my face, and looked out at them again. “But I’ll still do whatever I can to help. Because I can still do more than nothing, even without Diana's help."
This still didn’t pacify them, “Some healer you are!”
“Can’t do anything without that cat! Why did she even bother saving you?!” Another shouted.
Someone else began to berate me as well, “You just hide in your cottage and-”
But Bekka's voice sliced through the angry tirade. “Enough!” My former school-mate stomped forward to stand in front of me, whirling to face them all. “How dare you!” she hissed. She was covered in mud, and given that she seemed unhurt, except for a few scratches, I had a feeling she’d been helping already, probably since the mudslide had actually happened. “Winna was born here! She’s one of us! I went to school with her! A lot of you, or your children, went to school with her too! Her family has only ever done what they could to help us! Can’t you see she’s hurting right now too?!” The young woman glared at them, hands on her hips as she stood up for me. “She lost people she’s known her whole life today as well! And despite knowing that she’d lost a good deal of her ability to help us, she still came instead of hiding in her cottage, like you accuse her of! Don’t you remember how her parents died?! They were in this village, helping us then, too! And Winna was with them! She healed Mrs. Parsin, even after her parents had died in that aftershock that happened while they were trying to save her! Yes, she had Diana’s help then, but she was just a kid, she didn’t have to be here at all! But she was here. And she’s here again now! Even when she knows she can’t do much more than us, she still came! We are in no way entitled to her help or her gift, but she and her family have always shared it with us selflessly!”
Finally, looks of shame crossed their faces, and there were sheepish murmurs here and there.
I took another deep breath, gratefulness welling in my chest for Bekka. I’d told Lear that she wasn’t a close friend, but that would need to change now, given the way she’d just taken up for me. My voice wobbled again, but this time with tears of gratefulness. “It’s okay, Bekka. They’re just scared and worried, and hoped I could help. I’ll be okay.” Reaching out, I took her hand and squeezed it, “Thank you so, so much. And you’re right, I’m going to do what I can.” I looked out at the now more subdued group of villagers, and took a deep breath to calm myself. “Some of you have met, or have heard of Lear, the fey man who is currently my patient. He went to go search for fey folk who might be willing to help us, and then he’ll come to help as well. They’re strong, far stronger than us, and there may even be some with healing abilities as well, I don’t know, as I’ve always heard they’re somewhat rare. But that said, I’m sure at least a few will come, and those hands will be worth ten of our human ones, just by the nature of their strength. Some can even fly.”
“Tark and some of his firebug folk are already on their way.” Jedda interjected. “They can fly, and will be able to provide good lighting in the rest of the village, thanks to their flames.”
“O, that’s good, I never considered they could do that. But that's very good. That'll be extremely helpful.” I blinked.
It was quiet for a few moments.
I broke the silence, clapping my hands briskly and announcing, “Well, we don't have any time to waste! Let’s get going!"
At this, the group broke up, and we began to move quickly around the village, helping where we could.
I found the area where the survivors had been putting the most grievously injured folk, those who’d already been pulled free from the wreckage, anyways, and got to work.
Just as I was starting to get my first patient stable, I heard a buzzing noise, and looked back. A large group of lights were soaring through the sky.
“Tark!” Jedda, who was busy trying to lift a fallen piece of wall, called, sounding relieved. “Can we borrow some light over here? Wings would be helpful too!”
The firebugs had come, and in force. There were cries of surprise, alarm, and some in delight as the fey bugs began to dissipate throughout the town, each one cranking up the flames that leapt up from their backs in order to provide better lighting.
“Sorry it took so long, but we’re here now!” Tark cried as he flew up, immediately throwing himself into helping Jedda.
Despite the devastating circumstances, seeing the townsfolk accepting the help from the fey folk brought a little hope to my devastated heart. Maybe some kind of good would come of this terrible disaster after all.