7. Seir
Chapter 7
Seir
I had some of the dried meat in the pot simmering away with a handful of the small root vegetables I’d found near the cabin by the time her voice rang out.
“Seir?”
I jumped to my feet. “Coming!”
She was squatted down by the edge of the creek when I approached, a large frog cradled between her hands.
“What’s that you’ve got? An addition to our meal?”
She shook her head. “No, he’s not for eating. He was hurt.” The fat little creature hopped out of her palm and back into the shallows, promptly snatching up several bugs. Hailon rinsed her hands in the water and stood, a relaxed tilt to her full mouth.
“My mistake. Kind of you to fix him up.” My heartburn kicked up something powerful as she met my eye. The odd color variations of her irises packed a powerful punch in the late afternoon glow. The heel of my hand reflexively scrubbed at my chest to ease the ache as I tried to remember how to breathe. She was truly something else, and I wanted to understand better why she affected me so strongly. Perhaps it had something to do with her magic.
“I bought him a little time before he becomes something’s dinner, anyway.” Her eyes scanned my body, her foot lifting as she prepared to walk on the muddy bank. “It’s really not?—”
“It is.” I shook my head, hearing the protest before she could get the words out and striking it down. I turned my back to her, stepping as close to the water as I dared without getting my own boots wet. “Get on.”
“I am perfectly capable of walking, this feels silly.” She sighed, setting her hands on my shoulders.
“We’ve been over the reasons this makes sense. So you shouldn’t. Feel silly, I mean. I’m more than happy to be of service.” I reached back and gripped her thighs, giving her a boost up my back before hooking my arms around her legs. She was warm and soft, though her calves and ankles were shockingly cold from the water. She was stiff at first, but gradually allowed herself to lean comfortably against me. It made my heart thump happily behind my ribs.
Back at our simple camp, I set her down on a log before squatting near the low flames to tend the steaming pot, hoping my heartbeat wasn’t audible to her. The raging pulse in both my ears and my pants was very distracting, and it was my own fault.
Once her feet were thoroughly dry, Hailon put her boots back on and set up our meager bedrolls near the flames. We both curled up cross-legged on our blankets to eat, the little tin bowls cupped in our hands in the heavy quiet. Bugs trilled, frogs sang. The creek babbled gently in the distance. It was peaceful.
“I’ll wash up in the morning,” I offered.
Hailon nodded, her blinks slow and eyelids heavy.
Dark had fallen completely, and the stars were bright overhead. My brother Rylan was an expert at charting their movements and knew all the stories associated with them. I’d picked up plenty just being around him but was far from as knowledgeable due to how much time I spent in Hell.
“Do you have a favorite?” I asked, looking over at Hailon to find her gazing up at the sky as she shifted her bedding around so she could lie down. The little wooden horse was in her hand as she snuggled in. I was fairly certain she kept it in her pocket at all times. Her thumb rubbed along the gold-tipped ears.
“My Aunt Sal told me all about the stars. She has the cycles down to memory too. We plan a lot of our medicine making around the sky.”
“Your Aunt Sal sounds like a lot of the witches and mages I’ve met.” A faint lift to the corners of her mouth assured me that she wasn’t offended by my words. I wasn’t yet certain she was a witch, but one of the men had flung that word at her as a slur. “My brother has studied the stars for hundreds of years. He’s got an observatory at his school in Revalia, even. Fancy telescope and everything.”
“Wow, that’s …”
“Incredible,” I agreed with her unspoken awe. “It’s truly marvelous. He’s very dedicated.”
“Sounds like it.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“Six.”
“Are you all close?”
I started to nod, then shook my head. That still didn’t feel right, so I ended up shrugging. “We don’t spend much time together anymore. Everyone has their own adventures happening. Rylan and Vassago are here on Earth. Tap manages the crossroads. I’m here and there. Ipos, Bas and Sitri are more like me. Mainly in Hell, but they have their own places they venture off to as well.”
“I always wondered what it would be like to have a sibling.”
“For us, there was a lot of madness. But joy too. We get along well, when we see one another. You mentioned your Aunt Sal?”
“Yes, she’s my only family. I’ve lived with her since I was small.”
“Oh. Can I ask why?”
Hailon breathed in slowly through her nose. “I know what she told me, I know what I remember… and I know that neither of those are the whole truth.” She rubbed the smooth gold parts of her carved horse more intently. “I know that I had a mother, but I couldn’t tell you what she looked like or the sound of her voice. I don’t know anything about my father. I’ve been with Aunt Sal since I can remember, and she’s been a dedicated parent to me.”
“But?”
“But… I also get the feeling that she never wanted to be. That I’ve long overstayed my welcome, despite it being out of necessity.”
“Oh.”
“She and my mother were friends, so she’s not actually my blood relative. Something happened. I don’t know what exactly, but my mother left me in her charge and… that’s that. I appreciate all she’s done, but I worry my presence has stolen away the life she wanted for herself. She’s mentioned things, over the years…” She bit the inside of her cheek. “I try to be sure to give pieces of it back to her where I can. It’s probably not enough, though.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I kept my silence. Her worries weighed on me, as well.
“Do you have parents?” she asked. “Demons aren’t born, right? Not like people.”
“No. My brothers and I, we fell.”
“You were angels?” Her tone was curious, not surprised, which was intriguing.
“Once, yes.” I did not elaborate, and she did not press. Truth was, the years before the fall were becoming more faded all the time. I worried that soon I wouldn’t recall them at all.
“Is it difficult to be hundreds of years old?”
I barked a laugh at the unexpected question. “No. Not really. Time moves differently between the realms. It’s faster here than in Hell, for example. And slower here than in the fae world. I’ve seen many things, learned much, but still have infinite things to explore.”
“That’s a lovely way to look at life.”
“I agree.” My heart thudded behind my ribs. Sleepy introspective Hailon succeeded in winning my affection just as fiercely as her stubborn or violent sides. I settled for keeping my eye on her, but my fingers ached to curl around hers.
“Is there anything you’re not telling me about this summoner contract?” she asked, the question abrupt but her tone soft. I could understand why she’d be distrustful.
“I don’t believe so. You owe me nothing, if that’s what you mean. I’m here because you summoned me, though also because I want to be. Should you banish me back, I could return if I wanted and had the opportunity, but my duty to you would be considered fulfilled.”
“You don’t have a duty to me, as far as I’m concerned.”
“Be that as it may, that’s how summoning a demon works. There are certain rules. I agreed to help you. So I am.”
She sat thoughtfully for several minutes, gave a solemn nod, then rolled fully onto her back and raised an arm, pointing between several stars. “The Stallion. That’s the one that comes to mind as my favorite.”
It took me a moment to catch up to her topic shift, as I’d honestly forgotten I’d even asked her a question about the stars.
“Hmm. Tell me the story? I have a feeling your version of the tale is a little different than mine.”
“Maybe you should tell me instead. I think yours may be more accurate given how much older it likely is.”
“You first. Please?”
“Alright. The Stallion consists of those seven stars there, the ones that look like a winged horse if you squint just right. He was born a regular horse, in the wild lands. One day, the humans came and settled the area, and they captured all the beasts they could, him included. They tried to make him plow the fields. They tried to make him a war mount. They tried all the jobs for a horse there were, but none suited him. Until one day, a man needed to get an urgent message to his father. That day, they discovered he was best suited to run .”
“Yes, I like this one. Go on!” I propped my chin on my hands and watched her raptly.
A smile was evident in her voice as she continued with the story. “After that first time, they sent him short distances without a rider. He was even faster that way. They started to joke that he knew how to fly without wings. Also, money had a way of finding its way into his saddle bags, and when turned out to pasture, he found several caches of hidden treasure. For all those reasons, he became quite valued by the humans.”
“Wait,” I interrupted, “does your version have a tragic turn in it?”
She shook her head. “No. This one is a happy story.”
“Oh good.” I clapped just my fingertips together so there was very little noise from my cheerful applause and settled in to hear the rest.
“The stallion spent his years running messages back and forth from human settlements, accepting his pay in affectionate nose scratches, apples, and carrots. He was well loved and eventually partnered with a beautiful mare and sired several foals.”
“Naturally.”
“When he got to the end of his life, there was no other horse that could compare, though his children had all trained to take up for him after he was gone. Some went far and wide so that more settlements could benefit from their talent. When he died, as a gift for all his service, he was blessed with golden wings and asked to continue carrying messages through the heavens.”
“Does your version say that falling stars are him on a mission to make a delivery?”
“Yes.” I heard her smile again, and it warmed me to know retelling this had pleased her. “And also, that thunder is his hooves, strong winds the breeze from his wings, all that. If you hide any treasure, you’re supposed to ask him not to find it so that it’s still where you left it when you return to claim it. Yeah, I think that’s my favorite.”
“I like that one too.” I didn’t mention how that was the one I’d always identified most with, because that’s essentially what my job was. I was the messenger, the traveler. I was a demon version of a flying horse. I even had a trick to make money appear when I had none. The similarities were striking. But there was no family or retirement or heavenly reward waiting for me. Soon, there might not even be a messenger job.
“There’s a horse back home, his name is Jacks. I like to pretend he’s one of The Stallion’s descendants.”
“Why’s that?”
“He’s constantly causing trouble. Hates to be penned. Loves to run more than anything. Very fast too. He’s a handful.”
“Yours?”
“No, he belongs to a friend. But I like to bring him treats now and then.”
There were several long moments of silence, just the fire crackling and the night breathing around us.
“Hailon?”
There was no response. I propped myself up on my elbows and looked closer, finding her eyes closed and the hand holding the little wooden figure relaxed. Her chest rose and fell in a steady, slow cadence.
I quietly banked the fire and settled myself for sleep.
I’d have to tell her my favorite another day.