Mild Warning; Slight mention of how Boyd died in Rán's old life and physical harm done to Rán.

We passed through the gates a bit easier this time, though some of the guards still chuckled and muttered to each other when they saw me. Though a few made a wide berth to avoid Arc. Boyd stared at them, tail flicking with his usual agitation.

“Taking that stubborn beast with you, huh?” Jacobs asked as the gate swung open.

“Yeah.”

“Good luck taming it, it knocked seven men out last week.” Gretchen ignored her uncle and flicked the reins. The oxen moved with a lumbering gait, steam expelling from their breath as we headed down the pathway, the sky was starting to darken again and rain getting heavier. We neared the bridge and Gretchen repeated the ritual again, handing me the dagger.

I did my best to ignore the prickling sensation on the back of my neck as I hopped back onto the cart. We made just past the other side when there was a rumbling sound, the ground shaking as if something was being dragged or an earthquake was happening.

I turned back and saw a creature crawling from underneath the bridge, skin stoney and moss covered while raindrops bounced off. It was tall, almost as tall as the trees nearby with horns shooting up in a sort of halo. Gretchen looked paler than she usually was, hands clenching around the reins. Its mouth opened and it exhaled.

“Smell, god-blood.” The base made my bones rattle. Lightning flashed, the eyes reflecting the flash as they focused on me. Two pairs, with a with nose shaped like a goat's. There was a distinct pit opening in my stomach, one I recognized as magic similar to how Belgio worked his metals but rougher.

“A while, since I’ve tasted one so young.” It slowly stood, swaying on it’s feet before slamming a hand down-I could feel the coil of magic burst upon contact with the ground-a shockwave jostling everything and Gretchen didn’t have to slap the reins before the oxen bolted, the cart jostling even more as the creature-troll, my mind added-took off on all fours after us. I gripped the seat only to get knocked off and hearing Gretchen crying out for me. I almost sat up only to get knocked into a thicket of some kind of plant by a swinging limb. I tumbled, mind swirling with pain and adrenaline as I heard a guffawing laugh from the trees.

“Silly thing, small enough to eat in one bite.” I was picked up by a leg and the world became upside down, blood rushing to my head making it throb, rain falling into my nose. It grabbed my arm and turned me sideways. I reached to grab the bit of antler Vervain gave me before remembering he was most likely busy. The troll’s mouth clamped on my leg. I felt the pain of skin splitting, nerves overloading-muscles tearing as it felt like it was chewing its way into my flesh. I screamed.

Silence was the only thing that.

A sonic boom blew out my ears and I was thrown while the troll roared in pain and anger, a smoldering, scorched mark on half its face. It met my gaze and roared again, the sound muffled as it charged at me. I managed to roll away and it crashed into a tree, the ground thudding from it crashing down. I gingerly touched the bite mark, it covered the entire length of my thigh and I was sure I had felt a bone snap. I pulled away, the rain already washing the dark blood coating my palm. Wasn’t there a difference in the color if different veins were broken? I gritted and sat up, the blood flowing heavily. I stared, breathing slow as my vision started going fuzzy. Sound was still muffled but I could hear the troll screaming and felt the ground thudding as it made a circle around me. There was an answering roar and a dark shape leaped from the shadows, feline in form with a bit of blue fire at the end of it's tail. It circled me and gave an affectionate nip to my hand, the same spot Boyd liked to bite.

“Boyd.” I breathed. So this was what a cat sith looked like. He chirped only to jerk his head towards his left and growled. My gaze followed him as he bolted towards a hurdling shape from the woods. I watched as Boyd leapt, clawing at the skin, barely leaving a mark before the troll pulled him from its shoulder and threw him to the ground. It slammed its fists into his body and I felt my body go cold. Boyd laid motionless, just like last time. My kitten, he died trying to protect me like before. It was raining that day too, only I was inside the barn, the gunshot nearly masked by thunder had my father not had a gut feeling and came by.

Anger flared white hot in me, my breathing rapid as I shakily stood, staring down the troll and did my best to ignore the pain flaring from the bite wound it gave. I could feel the broken bone shift and stumbled from the pain. My skin buzzed and I swore I saw lightning spark from my fingers. A bolt flashed again above me and I was reminded of my science class as a child, learning about the wonders of lightning. How it reached the ground in beautiful arcs of light and what metals were conductive of it.

My eyes widened and I reached for my knife, scrambling to dodge a swipe from the troll out of sheer gut instinct. I ran towards Boyd and scooped him up, he was in his smaller form, I used my cloak as a quick sling, feeling the rain drench me in seconds.

“God-blood, I’ll use your bones as picks for my teeth.” It hissed. Thunder boomed and it jerked, looking up towards the sky and I bolted, running as best I could. I threw myself through a patch of thicket and tumbled a few times, breathing heavy as I looked around, why’d the place look familiar? I shook my head, needing to focus. Boyd was placed under a patch of twisting roots, safe from the rain so I could bury him. I stood up and backed up as the troll broke through the clearing, a cracking sound like glass breaking echoing around us, steam expelled from its mouth. I dug my free hand into my pouch, feeling the hard surface of the coins and worked the knot loose.

I held the knife up and glared. “Come and get me.” I mouthed. It roared, fingers digging into the ground to propel itself at me. I bolted at it, ducking when it leapt and swung myself around to jump. I scrambled onto the hard, water slickened surface of its back with my freed hand, knife and unbitten leg, my other leg already numb. It jerked from side to side, trying to dislodge me but I raised my knife up and shoved it into the creature’s head while holding onto a horn, I looked to the sky hoping it wouldn’t hurt too badly afterwards. My fist dove into my pouch, gripping the edge of the frayed knot. I blinked the rain out of my eyes as the clouds themselves seemed to understand what I wanted when a surge of lightning zapped through the air towards us, I flung my other hand out, the coins catching the light and gleamed beautifully.

It’s final roar was blocked by the boom of thunder as light flashed around us. The body slumped forward, pitching me to the ground and I landed hard. I breathed heavily, staring up at the sky and watching the rain pelt around me as the fuzziness grew. A figure crept in the edge, greyed out and features distorted.

“Well, well, well. So this is the morsel she sought to hide away.” Something gripped my throat. I blinked, trying to focus. High nasal ridge, exposed teeth, it smelled rottenly sweet.

“You’ll taste wonderful.” There was a faint shout in the distance, the grip loosening as the figure snarled.

“Seems your father cares for you too much still.” The figure disappeared and I closed my eyes, just wanting to sleep, a silent snort escaped me.

My father? He was gone. Everyone was.

Darkness faded into a familiar memory, my childhood bedroom invading my vision, with the soft green walls and childish drawings. A copper colored hand, palms a pale hue covered my eyes, no doubt checking my temperature.

“Little fawn, you must rest.” His voice was tired, but a bit of mirth sprinkled in. It was my dad, I looked at him, seeing him kneel at the side of my bed as he carefully measured out some medicine. The door opened and I saw my mother peek her head in. Yeah, old memory. She smiled at me, walking inside and kneeled on the other side of my bed.

“Baby, sleep. You have something important to do.” She insisted, kissing my brow and hummed something under her breath, occasionally speaking to my father. Their voices swirled around me and I yawned.

***

I woke up to the smell of herbs and slowly sat up, having a bit of warm cloth fall from my forehead. Hands gently pushed me back down and I looked blearily up, seeing Teague. He smiled and replaced the cloth with a cooler one.

“You hurt yourself real bad with that troll, broken bones, struck by lightning and stitches. The Highkin was beside himself when he saw the state you were in.” Vervain?  My hands were wrapped, all the way to my shoulders.

“You definitely have your father's wit, using metal to encourage the lightning to strike you.” My head snapped up, shocked.

“What?” He sat on a stool, looking at me with a soft smile.

“It took me a bit to realize who you were, Rán, and I’m sorry. I almost broke the promise I made with your pa.” I stared at him dumbly.

“Thank the stars his raven decided to stay by you all these years huh.” I continued staring.

“Teague.” I spelled out his name. He watched my fingers,

“Please elaborate the nonsense you're saying.” I wrote out slowly, mouthing the words out.

“I knew your father, a good man, wise. He'd be proud to see the woman you became.”

“Not, helping. Who even is my father?!” My hands fluttered rapidly, my breath quickening as tears burned tdown my face. 

“Did you know my mother too?!” He paused and sighed.

“I wanted to keep it secret, out of their wishes. But your mother was an Elrod and your father was a Ginevau. They wanted to keep you safe and away from the issues going on up north.” The first I recognized, the second not so much.

“Am I, the actual daughter of the general queen then?”

“No, Cassia was from a side branch, she wasn't affected by the greed that most of her family had and was often overshadowed by the main daughters.” I stared at my hands.

“The Ginevau line was to take over after the Elrod line but you know they refused to give up their political power.” I sat, trying my best to remain calm. “The Ginevau line, is what a lot of people associate with Northern blood. Though the divine marks came from your mother, she was blessed by an earth deity. Your father's bloodline was nearly hunted to extinction, fueled by years of claims and rumors of them collaborating with dark forces by the Elrod lineage-" I waved my hands, cutting him off from his rambling and just wanting a minute of silence.

“I don't get to choose, do I?” His mouth opened and he closed it, looking away.

“It, it's really up to you. But if someone had the power to stop something terrible from happening, wouldn't they use it?” He stated simply. Teague stood, dusting off his pants. “I need to head back but you will get visitors though for the rest of the day.” He stepped out. A familiar shape materialized out of the shadows and Boyd launched himself into my lap, the sudden weight on my injury making me clench my teeth from the sharpness of his nails digging into my skin through the layers of cloth on my hip. He went to work making biscuits, purring so hard he nearly vibrated out of my lap.

Alive.

He was alive. I was left with Boyd for company for a while, Teague was kind enough to give me some books to entertain myself after checking in on me.

Gretchen and Alex came in, the former hugging me tightly, crying non stop and apologizing through snot and tears. Alex squeezed my cheeks and stared into my eyes.

“You gotta stop endangering yourself, please.” Their voice wavered a bit at the end. I lowered my gaze, it wasn't like I tried half the time. They gave me a hug that lasted for a solid minute.

“Your heart stopped for almost a minute, kid. You owe the Highkin so much.” I clung to them as a sense of unease ran down my spine.

Would he be angry? I didn't mean to basically die and Gretchen, I know she would not have wanted to have leave me there! I know trolls were dangerous! There was barely any literature on how to defeat them unless you were, a God. My arms slid from Alex's back and I pulled at the bandages. White-silver scarring spider webbed across my skin, I stared at my arms. Did a, god help?

Who?

“Rán.” My head shot up and I saw Vervain's eyes first before he stepped into the light. A deep inhale, eyes closing as he rubbed his brow.

“I want to ask something of you.”