Chapter V
Mariam stares at the stranger, her nerves going into overdrive. “I do know of you, actually, which is the scariest part of this whole thing.”
The Champion chuckles grimly. “I thought so. But, I do promise I’m not here to harm you nor your friend, Sable. Quite the opposite.”
“How do you know about that?” Mariam stares at her for a moment, but no reply comes. “I guess that’s a stupid question; you would have your ways, huh?” She grimaces, steps aside, and beckons her in with her hand. “Come in, I guess.”
“Thank you, Ms. Leaven.” The Champion steps over the threshold and into the little cottage. Mariam shuts and locks the door behind them, her eyes never leaving the stranger’s imposing form. “Ah, I hate to be rude, but I do need to speak to Sable first… alone.”
“You can speak her language?”
“Yes, easily. In fact, Faelish is one of the first languages I ever learned.” The Champion removes her left glove, revealing a pale hand. To Mariam’s surprise, the exposed skin looks no less human than her own. “I have much to discuss with you, too, of course. But, Sable first.”
Mariam’s stomach turns. Her skin prickles uneasily. “I don’t know you. Why should I trust you?”
“You don’t really have much of a choice, do you, young one?” The Champion murmurs, her expression unreadable behind her hood. “I have nothing to offer but words, and my word is good. I have no interest in you or your Faeral friend coming to harm.”
“I… okay. Fine. She’s just down the hall, in my room. You can probably see her.” Mariam moves to the couch again, then picks her journal back up. Her nerves are still on edge. “Should I be concerned?”
“A fascinating question. Yes and no. You do have something to be concerned about, but not me. Again, we’ll discuss in a bit.” The Champion nods to her, then quietly makes her way into the bedroom where Sable is sleeping and closes the bedroom door behind her.
~§~
Sable wakes the moment the door closes. Those amber eyes blink open, but she isn’t sure what wakes her…
not until she registers the raw power she feels emanating from somewhere near her.
An ancient, enormous magic, though it doesn’t feel hostile.
Yet. The closest point of comparison in her memory is a High Fae wizard she once met, but even she would be a candle flame next to this inferno.
Her stomach churns as she rolls over more quickly than she should, pulling herself up into a squatting position.
Pain racks her entire body with her every movement, but she shuts it out; survival takes over, and for the moment, the pain no longer exists.
Standing in front of the door is a cloaked figure with one gloved hand. Sable doesn’t recognize the scent, nor anything else about the stranger. All she can tell is that her scent is lying, human-like, but not quite. That puts her and her inner wolf on high alert. “Who the fuck are you?”
“You do not know of me, Sable, heart of a wolf, but I know you.” Sable stares as the stranger speaks her language. The human Mariam could not even begin to communicate with her. How the hell can this woman?
“You understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Where’s Mariam?” Sable snarls, her hackles rising.
“Safe, I assure you. She’s just in the living room.
If we both listen closely, I think we can hear her humming.
” The stranger goes silent, as does Sable, and sure enough, a familiar hummed tune is coming from somewhere beyond the door.
Sable doesn’t relax even slightly, but at least the human seems comfortable with the situation. She must know something Sable doesn’t.
“What do you want, then? Why are you here?”
“To give you a gift, for one. This is a hard world to be exiled to with no resources, and I understand that. I thought it might be prudent to offer you something to… get you started.”
“A gift?” Sable snorts. “What kind of gift would you have that would ever interest me? You aren’t High Fae; you can’t take me back.”
“You and I both know you don’t want to go back, Sable.
” The stranger’s words hit Sable like a hail of gravel.
She hates this whole conversation. “But the gift I offer is this: the ability to speak in the same language as your human companion out there. The human realm is large and diverse, and many languages are spoken here, but this one is currently the most common.”
Sable’s eyes widen slightly as she considers the stranger’s offer. The ability to actually converse with the little human who saved her… tempting. Very tempting. Much like the human herself. Sable considers the stranger again. “Prove that you can do this.” She holds out a hand.
“It will be slightly painful, as are all things worth having. Are you fine with that?”
“Yes.” Sable knows pain. That is one constant between the realms in her experience, at least.
As she watches, the stranger comes forward and lays her ungloved hand on Sable’s…
and then a powerful shot of magic rushes up Sable’s arm.
She feels it hit her brain. The pain is incredible, like a thunderclap, coursing through her arm into her cranium.
Gritting her teeth, she holds still the best she can.
When the stranger’s hand moves away, the stinging ceases…
and something new is in its place. Understanding.
Sable thinks back on the words Mariam has spoken over the last few days.
It was gibberish at the time, but now she remembers specific words and phrases, and she understands them.
Every word she has spoken to Sable, every conversation she has had on that weird device she carries (which Sable now somehow knows is called a “phone”), even what she told that man who delivers…
“mail”? What even is mail? “This is insanity,” she says.
“How can you do this? What the hell are you?”
“I am known as The Champion to my people, and to those of your people who have entered this realm.”
“Right. Interesting. Doesn’t answer my question.”
“I can’t tell you what I am, I’m afraid. That’s for me to know… and you to pray you never have to find out. But, there is more to discuss, wolf Sable. Like the danger the human is in from you being here.”
“What are you talking about? From my clan?” Sable’s stomach twists.
Have they really bothered to chase her here?
They must have assumed she would die from being thrown through the barrier…
It’s a miracle she didn’t. And even if they somehow know she survived, is it really worth it to them to come here?
They would need a High Fae sponsor to return, and they definitely don’t have that.
“No, thankfully. Your clan is still at home on the Plains. This threat is a new one, from this world, a hunter of Fae that felt you come over. And he is hunting you now as we speak.”
“I can handle a human hunter,” she snorts.
“Not a human. A Fae.”
“That doesn’t make a difference. I can handle a single Fae just as easily.”
“In a fair fight, I’m sure you’re correct, but he won’t make it fair. Are you completely sure that you can protect yourself, from all possible angles, at all times? And not just yourself, but the human? Because he isn’t just going to settle for you.”
“What do you want me to do?” Sable grimaces. She looks down, her eyes finding the plush rabbit. Her fist balls up as she stares at it, remembering how soft it was, but not willing to touch it and feel that softness again. “I didn’t ask her to help me.”
“But she did anyway. And she’s nursed you back to health. Do you truly feel no loyalty to her?”
“I didn’t say that, damn it.” Because in truth, Sable has been growing fond of the little human who flits in here with food for her and to tenderly touch her wounds. Far too fond of her. “What are you getting at?”
“I came to offer one other gift as well. I can bring you and Mariam to a safehouse while my men contend with the hunter.”
“And why would you offer that?” Sable’s suspicions rise. What could this unknown being get from helping her and the human? There’s got to be more. There’s always more.
“I will be honest with you,” The Champion says. “This hunter has killed five of my men, and I want him off the playing field. I hate losing my people. Do you understand that, Sable?”
“I do.” Sable sighs through her nose as she contemplates the offer. She hates this. All of this. “And the human will be with me?”
“Yes. You two won’t be separated; after all, she is still tending your wounds, and it seems you two have built a bond.” The stranger has a smile in her next words. “And now, you can actually speak to her, Sable.”
Her heart flutters in her chest at the very thought. “How will you convince her to come?”
“It will be less difficult than you may think.”
Sable considers. Then considers more. Despite herself, she knows this is the best way forward. If she’s honest with herself, without her powers—
Wait, her powers. Sable can feel them now, coursing through her veins again. The collaring spell her father placed on her shouldn’t have simply worn off. “Did you uncollar me?”
“Yes. The last gift I could offer, I’m afraid.”
“No, this is…” Sable laughs, not joyously, but at how ridiculous this whole thing is.
An unknown stranger comes, gives her everything she could want…
and without asking for more. Something’s up with this all, but I can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
Wait, what the fuck is a gift horse? She shakes off her confusion at the new idiom magically beamed into her brain.
“This is good. Really good. Did you also give me some knowledge of this world? I know… things I shouldn’t know. ”
“Some. You will need Mariam to teach you the rest.” The Champion claps her hands and a silvery ripple of magic runs over them.
An unfamiliar outfit of clothing appears from thin air in front of Sable, torn from the fabric of space itself.
“Get dressed, Sable. I have a conversation to have with young Mariam next.”
~§~
Mariam looks up from her journal as the bedroom door opens.
The Champion walks back into view, her frayed cloak oddly rigid around her form, as if even the air itself can’t touch her.
She turns her head to Mariam as she crosses the living room, taking a seat on the other end of the couch.
To Mariam’s surprise, she sees Sable come into the living room next, her black hair wild around her face, dressed in a dark blue long-sleeved T-shirt and black jeans with boots.
Mariam looks over Sable before turning her attention back to The Champion. “What’s going on? What is she wearing?”
The Champion sniffs. “I thought the outfit was… fitting.” She shakes her head, then seems to refocus.
“I have already told Sable, but it is time to tell you as well: a Fae hunter named Caedren is looking for Sable… and for you. Your assistance to Sable has left your scent everywhere she has been, and thus, he will not just stop at Sable. You are both in danger.”
Mariam stares at the woman, and feels her staring back despite her obscured face. Danger? For helping someone? “That’s—that’s insane.”
“Yes, he is quite insane. But I assure you he is real, and he is a threat to you.”
“He’s not shit, and if he actually comes at me, he’ll be fucking dead,” Sable practically hisses. But what amazes Mariam is that she can understand her! She has a thick accent, sounding not quite like any Mariam has ever heard. Maybe Greek? But she’s speaking English.
“You can speak English now?” Mariam exclaims, gazing from Sable to The Champion. “You can teach people languages? Just like that?”
The Champion half-nods. “Something like that.”
“So, what does this all mean? I mean, what do we… do?” Mariam feels her fear catching up to her, overshadowing the excitement. She is no fighter. She’s just an author… and a witch, not that any of her magic would be much help in a real fight.
The Champion hums softly. “I have offered a place for you and Sable, together, at one of my safehouses while my men hunt Caedren. You will have everything you need and whatever you want to take with you.”
Mariam considers her for a minute, then flicks her eyes over to Sable. Her gaze softens. “What do you think, Sable?” Over the past few days, Mariam has spoken to Sable like this many times, but there was never recognition. Never any understanding… until now.
“I agreed to go. I don’t want to take any chances with your life.” Sable looks away at that, and Mariam sees a new emotion she hasn’t seen on the woman’s face yet: concern.
“It is your choice, Mariam. Not to pressure you.” The Champion’s voice rings with sincerity; it is Mariam’s choice.
She feels her heart squeeze. She’ll be leaving her mother behind.
Her sister, Dotty. Leandra. Everything she knows…
And for all she knows, this is a trick, and this Caedren person doesn’t even exist. Yet, somehow she senses the truth in The Champion’s words.
If she’s right, the only choice to make now? Survival.
“How long will this take?” Mariam asks.
“I’m honestly not sure, Mariam,” The Champion says. “Less than a year, I’m sure. It could be over tomorrow. Rest assured, my men will bring it to an end as swiftly as possible.”
Mariam’s stomach flops at the thought of this going on for up to a year. “Will I be allowed to communicate with my family?”
The Champion hums. “I would prefer if you didn’t, but if you are gone longer than a few weeks, I will make… allowances.”
Mariam’s lips pull into a fine line. She hates it, but if there is a madman after her for helping Sable, she doesn’t have much of a choice. “Fine. When do we leave?”
“As soon as you pack your things. I’ll have more clothes made for Sable at the safehouse. I will warn you, you’ll be sharing the space with others, mostly Reapers.”
“Well… alright then.” Mariam just hopes they are the friendly sort.