“Suri! What the fuck are you?” I shouted back at the blue furred demon.

She takes my aura, places incompetent guards in my way, makes me kill someone I don’t know, and now sends a demon after me. The Mother in Red is doing everything in her power to not face me herself.

I smirked and readied myself to fight the monster she had sent in her place.

There was only one reason she had not come to face me herself.

Rhiannon fears me.

The feline demon’s tail swished violently. “What is your name?”

I reached for my aura. If I could pool just enough in my soles, I could throw it off the side of the bridge by the scruff of its neck. The demon was still a cat after all, even if it could summon lightning and had thunder for a voice.

Struggling to even grasp the small wisp of power inside me, the demon asked it’s question a third time.

“What is your name?”

I focused my will on the bristly fur behind the demon’s head and whipped my leg off the cobblestones.

The power that should have been the color of candy apples came to life on the demon’s scruff in a puff of iridescent dust.

My working had failed.

"I am left with no other choice," The demon growled and locked its deep blue eyes with mine. Its voice echoed off of itself, giving it the sound of two speakers pronouncing its words. “Dominus.”

“Let,” I spat, trying to struggle against the sudden power that had locked my body in place. “Me. Go!”

A blue black shadow darkened the city beyond the bridge. Pressure, like the air itself was trying to crush me into so much dust, kept me from even moving a finger. The taste of the dark haired man’s blood hung in my mouth, but I could not spit it out.

Thunder cracked against my ears and my eyes flinched closed at the violence of the sound.

Erosette receded, growing smaller and smaller until all that was left was a solid blue darkness that left me feeling cold. Whatever hold on me released and I dropped to the ground with my legs bent underneath me.

The demon folded out of the darkness at my feet, sitting as still as a corpse.

"What is your name?" It demanded.

“Suri.” I spat the blood in my mouth at my captor.

The pressure returned.

"You are in my domain. You will not so much as think without my explicit command," The demon growled, stalking towards me. "Your name is Autumn Aubrey. You are a underwitch of Zenithcidel. You were viewing memories in The Well and have lost yourself."

“I will not be refused. I must free him. I must save Patience!” I shouted.

The demon droned on, circling me and repeating his words every time he reached the spot directly in front of me. "You are in my domain. You will not so much as think without my explicit command. Your name is Autumn Aubrey. You are a underwitch of Zenithcidel. You were viewing memories in The Well and have lost yourself."

After the ninth time, he stopped.

"I am Samsara. I am your familiar. I am bound to serve you. What is your name?" His voice filled my mind, forcing me to struggle to have any thoughts outside of its words.

“Suri! The man I love has been taken and charmed by The Mother in Red! I will save him!” I screamed, unable to do anything else.

“Pain has not broken the hold,” The demon growled. Its blue eyes focused on the hand I had broken when I had struck the older guard where his legs met. “I am left with no other choice.”

The demon folded back into the blue black darkness, like he had never been there at all.

It’s hold on me vanished along with it. Slumped on the floor of whatever blue hell I had been dragged into, I tried to form a plan to escape. My captor, the darkness, the pressure, it could all be glamor and illusion. There were very few sorceresses that were gifted enough to create something as elaborate, but they did exist. Cai, The Mother in White’s partner could. I hoped it wasn’t, because if she was indeed behind the demon and the lightning, all hope was lost. Patience would live the rest of his life charmed into being unaware that he had been taken from me and I would be put back to sleep.

If it wasn’t her, there was a small hope that I could escape if I could bring my power back to myself.

The reason I had been sent to Don Viven, the reason I had met Patience, was because I had lost my color. My father had died suddenly, I had been there to see it. All that made my life colorful and full had gone along with him. Rhiannon had let me grieve. After months of being able to do little but get out of bed, Nocti had come and told me that I was needed in Don Viven. I had not wanted to go, but if The Mother in Red willed it, so it would be.

I sighed, remembering how cruel I had been to Patience the first year I had known him. He was a scholar assigned to help the sorceress from Zenithcidel navigate the near infinite halls of the loreium. Harsh words, threats, actual attacks, I tried everything to get him to leave me alone.

Patience, more than anyone I had ever met, was patient.

Time had passed and just as my love for him had, my color had returned slowly.

Where I had once sought out Rhiannon to accept me as her apprentice, to bring honor and glory to my father’s name, new passion had begun to burn within me. We spent several too short years collecting knowledge about a bloodline of people that could turn their bones to steel.

Something cool and wet touched my face and brought me out of my reminiscing. The attempt to remember my color back had not succeeded. I was just as empty and weak as I had been a moment ago.

I opened my eyes. Black mist fell all around me in the blue darkness. A figure, so obscured it was hardly a silhouette, stood in the distance.

“Face me, Cai!” I screamed. There was no part of me that wondered who was behind my imprisonment.

It has to be that bandage wrapped freak. There is no one else this skilled with glamor.

A sound, so inherently wrong that it made my skin crawl, came from behind me. It was low, harsh, and almost sounded like a laugh. Only almost because there was nothing in it, no lightness or joy. It was a sound of absence, void, and everything else a laugh shouldn’t be.

Deep down in the place inside me my aura should have been, I shivered from the cold that had taken root there.

The hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

Something was behind me.

I could not move.

In my peripheral, the white bones of a fleshless hand slowly crept into my sight.

“I have been watching you, child.” A voice, like broken hope and dying dream, breathed down my neck.

No. I thought, unable to speak the pitiful word.

The hand closed on my shoulder. I whipped my head around and screamed.

Nothing was there.

My scream died down. As the black mist continued to fall all around me, I took several heavy breaths and turned back around.

The something that had been behind me loomed in front of my face. Hollow eye sockets, skeletal teeth, a presence that threatened to swallow my life. It would swallow me, silently, and I would slip below its surface without anyone releasing that I was drowning.

The lich! The lich has come for me!

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My body snatched back and I kicked myself away from the lich as fast as I could.

“Leave me alone!” I screamed.

The lich rushed forward with another broken cackle. “I have been watching you, child.”

Anna. Where was Anna? The lich would take me and she would never know what had happened to me. My mother, Ms. Lao. . . Arthur.

A memory flashed in the front of my mind. Arthur’s eyes wide and white, the musky iron taste of his blood in my mouth, the feeling of him growing weak as I kicked out from under him. . .

“What did I do, what did I do, what did I do!” I cried, pressing my fists into the sides of my head. The stone hanging from the golden choker locked around my neck was covered in Arthur's blood. The collar of the red dress I was wearing was dark with the same.

The lich dissipated suddenly and the black mist ceased to fall.

In its place, taking slow and careful steps towards me, was Sam.

“What is your name?” He asked, looking like he would pounce if I did not provide the answer he seeked.

“Autumn Aubrey.” I whispered, my voice quavering between a sob and a scream.

It had happened again. I had lost myself in the memories of another. Suri, the same sorceress I had come back as on the night of the parade that marked the beginning of Erosette, had come out again. The unpleasant feelings at the mere mention of Patience’s name and the confused conflict I had been thrown into at the sight of him made sense. Already, moments after I had come back to myself in full, the memory of being her was already beginning to blur.

“Who is Autumn Aubrey?” Sam asked his second question.

"An underwitch of Zenithcidel. Daughter of Idensyn Aubrey. Thief and possessor of The Well. Debtor to The Circle of the Nine Mothers." I answered in a ragged sigh.

Arthur. I have to help Arthur.

"Who was Autumn Aubrey?" Sam spoke his final question, his tail swishing weakly behind.

"Suri. A former lover of Patience and one of The Mother in Red’s apprentices." I answered simply. That had been the truth, her mind would just not allow her to accept it. Patience had left her for. . .Rhiannon. . .and she had not been able to cope with the betrayal.

Sam relaxed and asked a question that I did not expect. “Are you well, my lady?”

“No. I hurt Arthur. Release me.” I whispered, a painful knot twisting my guts into agony.

“As you will it,” Sam agreed. “Laxo.”

Thunder filled my ears and I watched the blue darkness recede from where I sat on the ground. The bridge, the city, the night sky, all of it came rolling back in place of my familiar’s domain.

Without having to turn around, I learned of Arthur’s fate.

“What the fuck was that,” I heard the tall man shout. “That was badass, Sam! How did you do that?”

“The tall one does not seem injured to me.” My familiar said, coming and sitting next to where I had fallen on my side.

“Is it over? Is little Aubrey herself again?” Another voice said. It was Bool. I doubted I would ever forget his voice as long as my mind remained my own.

That’s alright, little Aubrey. Whatever you need to do. We all get sick sometimes. That was what he had told me after I had vomited all over him.

Tears flowed from my eyes and dropped to the cobblestones beneath me with a blood red tint. I could not face them. Whether I had been myself or not, the blurry memories of my assault against the guards and my attempted murder of Arthur were very real.

“Yes, mortal.” Sam answered Bool’s question.

“Sam,” I whispered, noticing just how large my familiar had become. “Why do you keep getting bigger?”

It was so much easier to focus on that small truth than it was to consider the aftermath of what I had just done.

“Because your need of me only grows larger. The tall one approaches.” He answered me simply, as if that answer was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Hey,” Arthur said softly, placing his hand on my shoulder. “You okay?”

Another set of footsteps sounded on the cobblestones behind me. “Ugi, we need to get her back home before someone sees. There is no use in making trouble.”

“Her hand is broken. You will be careful with her.” Sam warned, his tailing giving another violent swish.

“Shhh. I’m talking to her,” Arthur said, giving me a gentle shake. “Hey, you ready to go back? We’ve had a long night. I’ll carry you. Your legs are too short to keep up with me anyway.”

I pushed myself up and held my throbbing hand to my chest. Slowly, still terrified that I was imagining Arthur and he was actually dead on the cobblestones behind me, I turned myself around to look at him.

Arthur wore his usual smile despite the blood drying on his chest and shirt. The place I had tore his throat open had closed. All that was left as a marker was the small white scars where my teeth had punctured his skin.

“How can you possibly be smiling right now,” I asked, the words tasting sour in my mouth. “I almost killed you.”

Arthur shook his head. “That’s not how I see it. Whoever you thought you were tried to kill me, not you.”

“I’m sorry, little Aubrey, but we must return to the manor. You’re not safe out here.” Bool said apologetically.

“Safe? Why in the fuck are you worried about my safety? I wasn’t worried about yours,” I snapped, standing up and wincing at the pain in my hand. “Why are none of you mad at me?”

Arthur picked me up like I weighed no more than a feather and started walking back towards the manor. “I already told you. That wasn’t you. We know that. Right, Bool?”

“That’s right, Ugi.” Bool grunted.

“Put me down!” I yelled, struggling to free myself from Arthur’s grasp.

“No.” The tall man said simply, still swearing a smile on his face.

I hit him again. When there was no reaction to my strike, I gave up my struggle and let him carry me.

None of it made sense to me, the almost casual way the guards were treating my almost escape or the good humor my attempt on Arthur’s life had left him in. It was like none of them understood that I was a danger. I was a danger to everyone. Even though the memories of what had happened were becoming harder and harder for me to hold onto, I still had clear visions of the guards barely doing anything to stop me. How were they going to protect Erosette from me if they were not willing to use their weapons?

And Arthur. . .

How it had felt to rip my teeth into his flesh, the taste of his blood, the shock I had seen come into his eyes, all of it would fade with time. I could hardly recall when I had come back thinking I was a sorceress named Willa or the first time that I had been Suri. It all would blur and feel like nothing more than a particularly memorable dream.

The scar my teeth had left in his throat would not.

I had marked him the way the scars from my first punishment marked me.

No matter where his life led him, he would have a constant reminder of the time that a silly little girl who had lost her mind tried to kill him.

Sometime later, Arthur put me down on the stone floor of the manor and Bool pulled out a chair for me to sit.

“Now, I can’t heal you like Lady Aubrey could, but I know a thing or two about treating field wounds. Ugi, go find some of those bandages she has been wearing and bring me a wooden spoon.”

Sam and I silently watched the man wrap the spoon Arthur had brought back to my hand in a way that kept me from bending my wrist or fingers. It was bulky and uncomfortable, but I knew better than to try and pull it off. There was nothing I could do for it after all.

Later, after I had spent the better part of an hour washing Arthur’s blood off of me and changing into my night clothes, an ugly truth found its way to my mind.

I was hurt, I had hurt others, and the person that always found a way to make me feel better was gone.

I would be sleeping alone for the first time since I could remember.

Sleeping on her side of the bed was a small comfort, her pillow smelled faintly of her hair, but it was nothing compared to the real thing.

What would she have done if she had been here? Arthur had tried his best to talk me back into myself and I had nearly killed him for it. Would I have hurt Anna?

No. The answer came to me with speed and force.

She would have been able to bring me back to myself. I did not know how or why, but she had something that allowed her to speak directly to my soul. None of them had felt as strong as Suri did, but she had pieced me back together when I had thought the memories of multiple sorceresses were mine. Violent or not, she would have fixed me.

Every time my thoughts of her almost relaxed me enough to fall asleep, my hand would throb. When the pain in my hand would recede, I would remember one of my attacks on the guards. Thinking of the attacks would lead me to thinking of Arthur’s blood spilling into my mouth. Then, I would stare up at the dark canopy of my bed until the cycle started over. Sometime in that cycle, it could have been ten minutes just as easily as it could have been an hour, I drifted off.

Wild flowers lay all around me. A gentle breeze brought the scent of sun warmed grass and sea salt to my nose. A white boned hand reached out a billowing black sleeve and wrapped its fingers around my throat.

I screamed and shot up in my bed.

The door to my room swung open and a silhouette stood in my doorway.

The lich. I thought, my small aura lighting inside of me.

“Autumn?” The silhouette spoke.

Arthur.

“Sorry I think I was having a bad dream,” I sighed, wondering how he had heard my scream and ran upstairs before I could realize I was awake. “Were you already out there?”

“Yeah,” He raised his arm up and rubbed the back of his neck. I could not see his face, but I could tell by his tone he was smiling. “I just thought since I was the only one here and you’ve had such a long night that I should be close.”

“Oh, thank you. That isn’t weird.” I said, not understanding how he did not understand that I was not worth the effort he was putting forward.

His shape leaned against the door frame. “Your dream, was it that thing that Sam showed you in the blue place?”

How had he seen that?

“Yes.” I answered him.

“That thing is what sent the hand monsters. It’s what Anna saw in your bathroom back at the boarding house.” He said.

“Yes. It is a lich.” I said.

Arthur laughed. “I wouldn’t worry about it too much. As long as I’m around, I won’t let it hurt you.”

Everything the last several hours of my life had brought came crashing down on me at once. I cried properly and Arthur took up the place on my floor behind my closed door. He promised to keep watch so I would feel safe enough to sleep and I did not tell him no.

The tall man must have thought that I was crying out of fear.

After it all, he was willing to spend his time sitting on the floor of a dark room just so I could have a chance at restful sleep.

His efforts were not in vain. When the tears stopped and I wiped my face, I had become well and truly tired again. Just before sleep took me for the third time that night, I heard him speak.

“Goodnight, Autumn.”