Emily (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2024-07-01 09:52 am
iluvroadrunner6) wrote2024-07-01 09:52 am
Entry tags:
- canon: teen wolf,
- prompts: get your words out,
- ship: allison/derek,
- ship: boyd/erica,
- ship: laura/parrish,
- ship: lydia/scott,
- teen wolf: allison argent,
- teen wolf: derek hale,
- teen wolf: erica reyes,
- teen wolf: jordan parrish,
- teen wolf: laura hale,
- teen wolf: lydia martin,
- teen wolf: scott mccall,
- teen wolf: vernon boyd,
- verse: d&d au
row g
g1 (damsel in distress) | i think it's time for you to come inside ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,070
It’s not every day that Laura opens her front door to the local sheriff.
It’s not that she doesn’t welcome the interruption. One downside of being the local alpha is that you often have to be present on your territory, as the seat of power for your pack. The opportunity to adventure is something not open to her, so while on the one hand, she winds up getting the massive house to herself more often than not, she can’t set off on her own adventures either. And that she sometimes regrets.
All that to say, she’s fairly certain that she’s not the reason for their visit. But she’s almost certain she knows who is.
“What did Malia do now?”
Sheriff Stilinski quickly holds up his hands, almost as though to reassure her that the solemn expression on his face has nothing to do with one of her siblings or her cousin. “Nothing, nothing. We’re not here about Malia—or Cora.”
If those are the first two that come to mind, she can probably be grateful that Derek’s been well-behaved as of late.
“Then why—?”
“A local girl from town has gone missing, and we believe she might have wandered into your family grove. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?”
“Not recently,” she frowns, but she’s already reaching back in her power, letting the tendrils of her bond with the land and see if there have been any unfamiliar footsteps on it. The nematon would have told her if there was a threat, but it might hide someone who it thinks needs protection. For now, there’s nothing. “Why do you think she might be here?”
“Her parents say she was a budding druid. That she might be drawn to a land tended by one,” Stilinski gives her a look that says he knows the argument is thin, but he’s out of leads and it’s worth a shot to at least ask Laura to look. She can’t say she blames him.
She nods. “I can search the glades, see if the nematon might hide her—but I’m not sensing her right now.”
“Do you mind if I leave Parrish here while you look? I should get back to town and coordinate the efforts there.” The sheriff gestures to the paladin behind him and, for the first time, she gets a good look at him. Dark hair, broad shoulders—certainly her type. But this is a serious situation, so she restrains the urge to flirt and nods in agreement.
“Fine with me,” Laura smiles as she gestures for him to come in. “Shortens the chain of communication on my end.”
“Good.” The sheriff smiles, clapping the paladin on the shoulder as he pushes him inside. Now that she’s getting a better look at his face, she notices that he almost seems … uncomfortable being here alone with her. That strikes her as curious, but she doesn’t force the issue. Instead, she offers the sheriff a smile before closing the door behind him as heads back into town.
A silence sweeps over the foyer before Laura glances up at him and extends a hand. “Laura Hale. Since the sheriff didn’t properly introduce us.”
He eyes her curiously, before nodding and shaking her hand. “Jordan Parrish.”
“Are you new to Beacon Hills?”
He nods. “I … yeah. I moved here a few months ago.”
Laura nods, tipping her head to the side curiously. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, Deputy Parrish, but you seem very uncomfortable right now. Is it something I said?”
“What?” He blinks, almost as though the question has distracted him. He seems confused, then shakes his head. “No, sorry. It’s not you. It’s … the woods.”
“The woods?”
“It’s just this … feeling. Like it wants me to come to it and I’ve been on enough adventures to know that when something is beckoning you inside, there’s probably something in there that wants to eat you.”
Oh. That’s interesting.
Laura turns her attention back to the woods, following his eyeline curiously. She knows that most average, everyday people don’t feel the nematon’s pull. It’s a sinking sensation from a possibly sentient tree that wants you to do its bidding. Laura feels it as an alpha, the call to protect it and care for it, but it’s rare that people who haven’t had exposure to it in the past feel it.
“If it makes you feel better,” she says gently. “Last I checked, there’s nothing in those woods that are going to eat you. Unless you count a bear.”
He laughs. “I don’t count bears, but good to know.”
“What’s her name?”
He blinks, surprised again. “Who?”
“The girl we’re looking for?”
“Oh.” He ducks his head bashfully. “Right. Meredith. Meredith Walker.”
Laura’s face falls briefly because she knows the Walker family. “Was it her mother who insisted that she’d be found here?”
“Grandmother, actually.” Parrish tips his head to the side curiously. “Why?”
“I think I know where she is.” She gestures for him to follow her and heads out into the woods, the paladin close on her heels. “How long has she been missing?”
“Almost three days.”
Laura mutters a curse under her breath. That’s too long for her to be out there with no supplies. The nematon may protect her, but it won’t keep her warm or provide fresh water. She stops at the water pump outside the house to fill some canteens. “Okay. If we hurry, we should be able to get to her today. Though what you’re feeling? Where you’re going, it might get worse. You can stay here and wait if you like.”
She doesn’t want to make things harder for him. She knows that getting closer to the nematon, whatever bond they have, will only get more and more unnerving. His eyes narrow at her, seeming to catch on that she knows more than she’s saying.
“So you know what it is I’m feeling?”
“I do. And I can explain, but it’s going to be on the way or when I get back.”
Parrish nods once, considering, before reaching over to take some supplies from her. “On the way.”
“Okay.” Laura reaches a hand out to a nearby tree, opening the portal to a tree closer to the nematon and nodding for Parrish to enter. “After you.”
Hopefully, they’ll get there before it’s too late.
g2 (faked death) | people keep asking what happened to them ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 936
Then again, at least he knew that Peter was alive. He can tell that Allison is still trying to adjust to the shock regarding Kate.
Still, he doesn’t know how to broach the topic, and he certainly doesn’t want to do it in front of Malia. Their friendship is tentative and new, while Malia can be brash and a little too blunt. As such, he waits until Malia leaves them alone at a table in the tavern, a day out from their destination, to make his approach.
“How … are you okay? With all of this?”
Allison stares down into her tankard of ale, watching the foam swirl before she shrugs her shoulders. “I honestly don’t know.”
He waits, letting her process her thoughts—if there’s anything Derek is good at, it’s keeping his mouth shut when something doesn’t need to be said. She’s not obligated to share her feelings with him if she doesn’t want to. But after a moment, she takes a breath again and looks at him.
“She was like a sister to me, you know? More so than an aunt. We were so close in age that I never really saw her as an adult. And then suddenly she’s just gone, and people say that it’s Peter’s fault, that Peter took her, Peter killed her. And now, to find out it was all a lie?”
“I’m sure Kate would have told you if she could.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure who more of the blame falls on. I don’t think she would have faked her own death if she didn’t feel she had to. But … why did you all at least get to know they were okay and out there and we didn’t?”
“Because your grandfather would have killed them both if he knew. Or at least that was the story I was told.”
“Do you think they’ll ever get to come home?”
“I don’t know,” Derek shrugs as he takes another drink of his ale. “I think that’s a question you’ll have to ask them, for one. And it will depend on the state of your family. Gerard, your father, your mother—who’s more loyal to Gerard than anyone else.”
Allison’s expression sobers. “That’s easier said than done. There’s a reason I’ve been hiding in the woods.”
He smirks. “Probably served you better than actually spending time with your family.”
She snorts in response, before glancing over at him. “If I tried to take my family back, would the Hales back me? I could try to do this on my own, but I’m just one person. I’d like to believe that my father would help …”
“I can’t promise you, my family. You’ll have to talk to Laura about that.” She’s the alpha, so anything that’s advocating for the family is her call. He reaches over and places his hand over hers, giving it a small squeeze. “But I can promise you me. If you want to take this to the end of the line, I’ll follow you.”
If nothing else, this could bring his uncle home, too. And he can’t say he doesn’t hope for that.
She places her free hand over his with a nod. “Thank you.”
“But I also think you should wait to talk to Kate. She might have opinions on it too.”
“I will.” Allison nods. “But I think regardless of what she says, I’ve been hiding from Gerard and my mother long enough. I think it’s time I take my family back.”
“Good.”
The next day, Malia leads them up into the mountains, foliage curling around them. The location is quiet, remote, and likely the reason Peter and Kate have been able to stay hidden for so long. Derek has so many questions about their life, how they’ve been surviving, but he keeps them to himself, saving them for later when he can actually ask them.
Eventually, the small, tucked away cabin comes into view, set in an alcove of rock above them with a rickety staircase that leads to the front door. Malia stops just short of the steps and takes a deep breath. Derek’s hand finds a way to her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.
She glances back at him and nods before reaching for the railing on the staircase. But before she can ascend the steps, the door opens and Kate steps out onto the porch, looking at the three of them, before letting her eyes linger on Allison.
“Hey Ally,” she says softly. “Been a long time.”
Allison squares her shoulders, pushing up with a set jaw. “We need to talk.”
“That we do.” Kate nods, before stepping away from the railing. “Come on in, then. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Allison looks back at the three of them, uncertain how to handle it, and Malia is the one who breaks the stalemate. “Works for me,” she retorts. “I’m starving.”
Derek snorts, watching his cousin as she climbs the stairs before turning back to Allison. “You ready?”
Allison shrugs before nodding. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
She starts up the stairs after Malia, and Derek takes a deep breath as he turns to follow her. Time to see how well this is truly going to go.
g3 (vintage) | look out your window and i'll be gone ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,087
The one where she said she was stepping away from the family to make a name for herself on her own might be a contender, but this seems worse. At least with her father and Gerard, she knew she was throwing a live grenade. This is similar, but she doesn’t feel like a reunion like this should be this hard.
Kate passes around the wine, nursing a glass like it’s her lifeline. Peter is watching Kate, as though he isn’t sure whether he should lead, or if he should let Kate push the conversation. All of it feels strained and so different from the easy rapport that she and Kate used to share.
Fortunately, there’s one member of the group that doesn’t do well with awkward silences.
“This is dumb.” Malia breaks it with her usual perfunctory bluntness. “You guys are here to talk, so someone should start talking.”
Derek glances back at her, an exasperated amusement in his expression. “I think the problem is not really knowing where to start.”
“Let’s try how long you’re planning to stay,” Peter offers as a neutral topic, though she can tell that he’s fishing. They make quite the pair, him and Kate. They’ve been together long enough at this point that they can read each other’s body language without having to speak, and she can see that he’s protective of her. The unspoken question is, “How long are you planning to stay and upset my partner?”
“Not sure,” Allison admits, to answer both. “I guess it depends on what you have to say.”
“And that depends on what you want.” Kate allows them to swing back around to the matter at hand. “Why are you here, Allison?”
Allison does her best to meet her stare, not wanting to concede ground, even though she knows she doesn’t really have any. “Because Derek told me the truth, and I needed to see you for myself. At least, that’s what it was to start.”
Kate nods slowly, looking over at Derek, and he holds up his hands. “She needed to know.”
“I’m sure.” Peter stares Allison down. “What are you not telling us?”
“My mother is dead.” Allison swallows hard, because that gets no easier. “And Gerard lied to me about how and why it happened. He then tried to manipulate me in order to keep control of the family, but I stepped away, not liking the person it was turning me into—”
“Which in the end only gave Gerard what he always wanted,” Kate sighs. “Complete and unmitigated control of the family arsenal to do whatever he wants.”
“Has he made a move against the grove?” Peter asks, needing to know if his family is safe, more than likely.
“Not yet. We’ve been scattered in a lot of different directions.” Derek rubs the back of his neck. “In some ways, it might make sense for him to hit Laura while she’s alone, but she rarely leaves the grove and she’s the strongest there.”
“Plus, the nematon has a new protector that she’s currently sleeping with,” Malia fills in helpfully. “Even if we’re not there, she’s not really alone.”
Peter makes a face, though used to his daughter’s bluntness. “I see. And where are the rest of you?”
“Cora and Malia have been off with Boyd working on something for the university, and I’ve been on my own,” Derek shrugs. “Allison and I were working together on something with Lydia Martin when we realized Allison had been … grossly misinformed about my involvement in her mother’s death.”
“I’m going to guess that you didn’t actually kill my backstabbing sister-in-law, but Gerard told Allison you did?” Kate raises and eyebrow. “It’s his usual play.”
Allison nods. “And there are a lot of gaps between what Derek and Boyd have confirmed and how she was found. Derek bit her, and he admitted that, but he left her alive, and somewhere in between her heart was torn out.”
Peter and Kate both sit forward at that, intrigue coloring their faces. But also a kind of understanding that Allison doesn’t have, not yet. “Like a wolf did it?” Kate asks, and Allison tips her head to the side curiously.
“It’s what I thought. Why?”
They exchange a look before Kate crosses her arms in front of her chest and leans back. “Gerard has a gauntlet that can mimic a werewolf’s claws. He used it to tear my throat out the last time he tried to kill us.”
“So you think … he killed Victoria?” Derek asks curiously.
“He killed my mother and tried to kill me. I wouldn’t put it past him.” Kate’s voice is resolute, as though she’s had enough time. “He’ll take out any obstacle to power in his way if they won’t fall in line and follow his rules.”
“It’s a problem,” Allison agrees. “Which is why I think he needs to be taken off the board.”
All the eyes in the room land on her: Derek resolved, Malia impressed, and Peter and Kate concerned. They seem to realize that she’s intending to start the Argent Civil War that they faked their deaths to help avoid. Restarting a battle that they faked their deaths to resolve. They gave up their lives and their families in order to give them peace, and Allison intends to just rip that wound open and restart the bleeding.
Peter seems to catch on to the look on his nephew’s face and narrows his eyes. “Has Laura agreed to this?”
“No. And I haven’t promised Allison that. I’ve only promised her me.”
Allison’s heart drops slightly at the phrasing of that, at the meaning of that promise. She knows he hasn’t promised her anything more than violence, but part of her wonders if it might mean something more.
“And we don’t even really have a plan yet,” Allison admits. “But we can’t let Gerard continue as he’s leading. It’s not helping anyone. And you two deserve to come home, if that’s what you want.”
Kate and Peter look at each other, before Kate gets to her feet and heads back to one cabinet. “If we’re going to plot a rebellion, we’re going to break out the good wine.” She takes a bottle and then turns to fix her gaze on Allison. “And you and me are going to have a talk. Alone.”
Allison swallows hard, but nods. Those conditions are definitely not a “no.” And for now, she’ll take it.
g4 (old habits) | could've followed my fears all the way down | teen wolf (fantasy au) | 1,163
Boyd takes in the pitiful look on Isaac’s face, the pout buried under a pile of curls, and curtly replies: “No.”
Isaac looks up at him, almost surprised by the response. “Isn’t this your job? You healed Cora.”
“Out of spells.” A lie, but Isaac doesn’t know that. “She got my last one.”
Even if he wasn’t feeling a smidge petty, still annoyed with how Isaac had left things with the rest of the group. That Malia has given her blessing is probably the only reason Cora herself hasn’t unceremoniously thrown him out of the house. Now Boyd is stuck babysitting him while Cora confers with Lydia, Scott, and Stiles to find out what they want to do with Isaac and his warlock friend.
The curly haired blond, Erica, eyes him sharply and he wonders if she saw through the lie. Instead, she rolls her eyes and leans back, studying her nails. “I didn’t think clerics were supposed to be petty.”
“Yeah, well, no one’s perfect. And he kind of deserved it.”
Isaac sighs, before nodding towards the door of the room. “So, who were those guys?”
“Those guys? You mean Cora’s party?”
He wrinkles his nose in response. “I guess.”
Boyd rolls his eyes. “Paladin is Scott, wizard is Lydia, rogue is Stiles. They helped us track down Theo.”
Isaac sits up straight, eyes narrowing. “You guys found Theo?”
“We did. And he got away, but we have proof now that he’s tied to the Dread Doctors. The university wants us to root them out and put a stop to whatever they’re planning.”
Isaac’s face falls when he realizes Theo is still in the wind and could continue to make things worse for him. Boyd studies the other man’s face, knowing exactly what he’s thinking. Isaac was his best friend once, before he took off on all of them without a word. And now he strides back in with a new friend and just expects all to be forgiven? Why?
“We’re planning on taking care of him for good. If you want in, we’ll be happy to have you. But we don’t want to count on you to have you disappear again.”
“You get why he freaked me out, right?” Isaac fires back, and Boyd nods.
“The guy brought a temple down on you. I’d be surprised if he didn’t. We’re not mad at you for being scared, we’re mad because instead of talking to us about it, you just took off.”
Isaac takes a breath as he stares up at the ceiling before the door to the rest of the house opened and Cora sticks her head in. “Can I talk to Isaac? Alone?”
“Are you going to punch him again?” Erica fires back.
“Only if he’s asking for it,” Cora retorts, barely giving the woman a second glance and while he could see how to an outsider that would be rude, Boyd just knows it as Cora being Cora. She’s never been good at tolerating bullshit when she heard it, and he doesn’t expect that changing soon.
“It’s okay,” Isaac interjects before Erica can fire back. “I’ll be fine. She’s not going to kill me.”
Boyd, at first, finds that statement overly hopeful, until he sees the look on Cora’s face. “He’s right. Malia said to leave him mostly intact.”
Isaac seems overly pleased about that statement before getting up and following Cora back into the rest of the house. Boyd waits for their footsteps to quiet before turning back to Erica and taking her in.
“I’m glad he hasn’t been dealing with this alone.”
It seems to be the thing she least expected him to say. Her head tips to the side curiously, leaning in to study him. “You have a weird way of showing it.”
“Believe it or not, I considered Isaac one of my best friends once. I was hurt that he took off on his own instead of letting us help him, but that doesn’t mean I’m not glad he found help somewhere.”
Erica raises an eyebrow at him before smirking. “Now that sounds like a cleric.”
He laughs. “Eventually we fall back on old habits.”
“I’m just glad he reached out, honestly.” Erica leans back in her seat as the mirth in her eyes fades. “I hadn’t heard from him in a while, but one day he shows up on my doorstep, saying something about how he’s in trouble and needed to keep moving but didn’t want to go alone. He told me about Theo eventually, but it took time.”
Boyd nods. “He was always reticent with sharing. Still, I’m glad he came to you.”
Erica smiles, before reaching over and tapping at his sigil. “Knowing Mistress, right?”
He glances down and nods. “I like to learn stuff. For better or worse.”
“I’ve never met a cleric for her. Though, then again, they enshroud themselves in libraries or universities—you rarely see them out and about in the real world.”
“The university has a healthy respect for both adventuring and learning. It’s part of the reason I’ve been able to make such interesting friends.”
“And it’s this university that’s got the Dread Doctors on the run?”
“Maybe not on the run yet?” he shrugs. “But the university definitely wants them out. And given everything they’ve done, I’m more than willing to help them do that.”
“And these other people?”
“I’ll admit I don’t know all of them well. But they seem willing to help, and Cora and I are committed. So even if it’s just the two of us, we’ll get the job done.”
Erica glances through the window in the door, watching Isaac and Cora’s conversation curiously. Whatever she sees in the conversation, it gives a bit of resolve to her shoulders and turns back to him with a nod. “Better make that four of us.”
“Are you sure?” He doesn’t want to question her loyalty, but this is going to be risky. Dangerous even. Theo’s already brought a temple down on them once—Boyd can imagine that the Dread Doctors will probably do much worse. “There’s a chance this could go bad?”
“Isaac almost got himself killed recently trying to protect me.” Erica squares her shoulders and straightens. “Even if he wasn’t my best friend, I have to pay that back.”
“Okay,” Boyd nods. “Then welcome to the team. Just be aware that Stiles, in there? He’s real judgy.”
Erica laughs, a cat-like smile stretching across her face. “The rogue? Really. This sounds like it’s going to be fun.”
Boyd grins, but before he could speak, the door opens, and Cora pokes her head out. “She good?”
He nods. “Good with me.”
“Okay. We’ve got a lead. One of Lydia’s contacts at the university just got back to her.” She flashes him a grin before gesturing for them to follow her back into the main rooms of the house. “Guess we’re going back to school.”
y
y1 (protection) | have you forgotten your purpose? ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 924
Waking up with Lydia’s voice in his head is not exactly the perfect morning wake up call, but it’s still a step better than the rest of the day without her. He smiles, stretching back on his bedroll, and staring up at the early morning light through the trees as he contemplates his answer.
“Making good progress so far. Cora and Stiles haven’t killed each other or Isaac. Hope to see you soon.”
“What’s with your face?”
Stiles stands above him, camp cup of coffee in hand and a strange expression on his face as he stares down at his best friend. Scott’s brow furrows before shaking his head.
“Nothing. Just talking to Lydia.”
Stiles rolls his eyes as he turns to walk away. “What did she want? Calling afar to tell us she saw us doing it wrong in a vision?”
“No, she was just checking in.” Scott brushes himself off, pulling his armor back on again and prepare for the day. “She’s allowed to check in.”
“Or she could just trust that we’re getting where we need to go.”
“…Or she’s checking in because she cares? And wants to make sure we’re okay?”
Stiles balks at that suggestion, before shaking his head and walking away. “I think you give her too much credit, dude,” he shouts over his shoulder before heading back to the breakfast Isaac and Cora are preparing. Scott shakes his head just before Lydia’s voice appears again.
“Any word from our mysterious Moon Maiden?”
“Not yet. I’m sure she’ll make herself known whenever she’s ready. Be safe.”
“You too.”
The connection fades, and Scott sighs before picking up the sacred weapon they found in the abandoned temple. He can feel the weight of what the goddess is asking, of what he promised to her, but he doesn’t know what the answers to that are going to be just yet. There’s so much that he wants to know about what exactly he’s signed up for, but he feels as though that’s going to take time.
As they head further into the woods, Scott and Isaac fall in step next to each other as Cora and Stiles move ahead of them, debating the same thing they’ve been debating since they started this trip. Scott is comfortable just walking in silence with him, but it appears Isaac isn’t because eventually he asks:
“So what kind of paladin are you?”
Scott blinks. “Sorry?”
“Your oath. What kind?”
“Oh. Devotion.” Scott smiles because it’s easy enough to say. He knows that there are some oaths that are more complicated, but his isn’t. Protect those he loves. Protect those who need protecting. Maybe in some ways that’s why the Moon Maiden chose him. He already had her tenants in mind.
“Is it ever hard?”
The blunt question has the other man uncomfortable, but it seems important to him to ask. Scott pauses, considering the question before deciding to get more information first. “Hard how?”
“Protecting the people around you means you have to put yourself between them and whatever bad thing is happening. Is it ever hard to make that choice?”
“Yeah. Of course it is.” Scott can admit that easily, because choosing to do anything that puts you in the line of fire is hard. He doesn’t have a death wish. But he also doesn’t want the surrounding people to get hurt, either. “But I made a promise. And it’s up to me to keep it.”
“What about the people who don’t deserve your protection?” Isaac asks. “There are a lot of really shitty people out there.”
“Yeah, there are. And some of them are the people I’m protecting people from. But there are some people who can do better.” Scott pauses before giving a small shrug. “I guess I’m a believer in second chances, too.”
“Some people don’t deserve those, either.”
Scott glances over at him with a small smirk. “Maybe not. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the chance to try.” He pauses. “You can’t make up for the mistakes you’ve made if you’re dead.”
“I guess.” Isaac makes a face. “Do you think Erica’s okay?”
“I think Lydia and Boyd will have her back.” That’s all that Scott can really promise, because while he’s not sure he fully understands what they’re getting themselves into, but he can try. “I haven’t known Boyd very long, but I’ve known Lydia for a while. She’s one of the most terrifying wizards I know.”
That seems to comfort him some, at least until he blinks, staring at something over his shoulder. “Your mace is glowing.”
Scott frowns, before pulling it off his back and staring at the glowing orb resting on top. Frowning, he slowly turns in a circle and finds that the light brightens when he’s looking in a specific direction. Raising his eyebrows, he glances back at the two ahead of them. “Hey guys?”
Stiles and Cora turn, looking at him with a frown. “Yeah?”
“I think the Moon Maiden wants us to go that way.” He points with the mace.
Cora frowns before looking up at the sky to see how late in the day it is. “Can we make it quick?”
“We can try?”
She considers, then huffs. “No use fighting with a goddess. Let’s get this over with.”
Scott smirks before turning and holding the mace ahead of him, beginning to lead the way. Whatever happens, hopefully Scott will finally find himself with some answers.
y2 (best laid plains) | i'm cast beneath her spell ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 900
It’s disorienting, going from one point of the forest to another. He also isn’t sure what to make of Laura Hale, a name he’s heard and but never met before. She both is and isn’t what he expected from her reputation, and he’s trying not to let the comments of the other paladins color his first impressions. Even if part of him feels a little cheated. She promised him an explanation, and if they’re going to speed through, it might be her way of getting out of it. But once they’re both on the other side, she takes a deep breath before pointing further into the woods.
“This way.” A beat. “So … there’s a tree in the woods called a nematon.”
“A nematon.” Parrish lets the word roll over his tongue. It feels special, powerful in a way, but he’s never heard of it before. “Is that like the difference between an oak and a birch?”
Laura shakes her head. “Separate thing entirely. Druids usually gather around them because it’s a powerful conduit for natural magics. They also draw supernatural creatures to them.”
“So you think Meredith is a supernatural creature, so she’s drawn to this tree?”
“No.” Laura pauses at the top of the hill ahead of them. “I know that Meredith was drawn to this tree, because her grandmother is the one who told you where she is, and her grandmother is a banshee.”
Parrish pauses next to her as he processes that information. “What’s a banshee?”
“A banshee is a creature that senses death. They can often lose time, stumbling over bodies, or having dreams that hint at an oncoming death. It usually travels in the maternal lines of families, and my mom had close ties with Meredith’s grandmother.”
“Ah.”
Parrish frowns as he follows her, trying to fit these cookie-cutter pieces into the way he already understands the world. He’s always found it easier when things made more logical sense, and the way she explains it gives it that kind of cadence. The nematon is a magical tree. The magical tree attracts supernatural creatures. Meredith is a supernatural creature; therefore, she has been drawn to the tree. It’s easy to put the pieces together.
Then a pit of dread forms in his stomach when he realizes that he is being drawn to the tree as well.
“Does that mean you think—”
Laura stops her path up to the top of the hill, turning back to face him before giving a small shrug. “I don’t know. It’s usually a sign, but if you don’t know and you have received no strange bites from large creatures, I can’t say for sure.”
A thought tugs at the back of his mind that some pieces of what she’s said about banshees sounds familiar. That piece of missed time has been appearing and he can’t pin down why. His eyes bore into the back of her shoulders as they walk wondering if these are questions she might answer, but not entirely sure if it’s safe to do so.
So he settles for a question she might answer that isn’t so personal: “If you can walk through trees, why can you take is right to the magical tree?”
She laughs, and the charm of it makes him smile and relax, knowing he’s made the right choice. “Because the magical tree doesn’t like to be just dropped in on like that. Most of the trees past this point don’t take kindly to being used for transportation.”
“So you have to ask the tree’s permission first?”
“It’s considered polite.”
“Good to know.”
He keeps pace with her fairly well, coming up to the top of the crest. She watches him, before smiling softly.
“You seem like you don’t know what to make of this.”
Parrish pauses, considering the statement and seeing if there’s a way to answer that doesn’t make him come off like a skeptic or a non-believer. “I may have … heard some things about the Hale family in town.”
She nods, slowly resuming their trek down the path. “We’ve probably earned most of them. You can’t have taken part in a prolonged war without people having opinions about it.”
“Did your family start it?”
“That depends who you ask. And I don’t really think it matters. It took too long for us to finish it, so I think we deserve to at least take some of the blame.”
He frowns, considering. “Most people wouldn’t say that.”
“Maybe not. But that’s how I feel about it.”
Before he could question that further, the path opened up into a grove, featuring a beautiful, vibrant tree reaching up into the branches. The pulsing feeling in his chest is the strongest it’s ever been, and he can’t tear his eyes away from the branches.
“Is this the—”
“Yeah,” she nods. “This is the nematon.” Laura takes a couple steps further down the path before she tips her head to the side, laying eyes on the young girl sitting on the ground next to it. “Hello, Meredith.”
She glances back up at them and frowns. “You shouldn’t have come.”
Parrish barely has time to respond before hearing the dry click of a crossbow being drawn back, and a male voice greets them.
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
y3 (valuable) | you can't be everything you want to be before your time ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 833
Boyd’s eyes glance over to her, narrowing curiously as Erica shifts through her wardrobe. A bag of holding allows for a wide range of dress options, and Erica’s done her best to well use it. To where she forced Isaac to buy his own when he wanted to carry off some of their spoils. She tosses silks and dresses out to the side, trying to find something that looks appropriately academic.
“Your character?”
“If I’m going to be running a con, I’m obviously not going to be myself.” Not that she won’t mostly be herself—she’s not that good an actress—but it all depends on which part of herself she’s drawing from. “You said you needed me to go back with you and Lydia to the university, because they won’t know my face.”
“Right. But—”
“I need a reason to be there. If I’m flying under the radar and people talk to me, I need a plausible reason I’m here beyond ‘I’m here to overthrow some evil arcane scientists.’ So what is my role?”
“Ah.” Boyd shifts, leaning back in the chair as he considers. “Teaching assistant. Enough authority that you can get into the places we need you to go, but not so high on the food chain that you’ll draw attention.”
“Teaching assistant.” She immediately discards the more expensive looking items and opting for dresses that look like they could be purchased on a teaching assistant’s budget. Comfortable, well-made clothes designed to last and look good if asked to stand in front of the class, but not giving luxury and wealth. She chooses a few outfits before grabbing one and heading behind the changing screen in the room. “Okay. And what am I looking for when I’m in these exclusive spaces?”
“We want to know how the Dread Doctors are recruiting students. It’s not as simple as if you become their teaching assistant, you’re recruited. There’s some other promise involved, and we need to find out what.”
And we all know how good you are at negotiating a deal.
Marin’s voice whispers in her ear, almost as though the archfey is sitting on her shoulder as she pulls her hair up into a messy bun. Erica can’t help but grin at the comment, and Erica nods as she steps out from behind the screen.
“Sounds easy enough.” She picks up a pair of fake glasses and places them on the bridge of her nose. She gives a small spin and raises an eyebrow at him. “What do you think? Am I academic enough?”
He smirks before nodding his agreement. “Yeah. I think you’ll look the part.”
“Good.” She perks up as she finishes packing her bag. “Let’s go.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
It’s Isaac’s first question as she reemerges from the bedroom, concern written across his face. The plan is dangerous, and Erica is taking on most of the risk. It makes sense that he’s concerned about what they have planned.
“I can handle this,” she reassures him, reaching over to give his arm a squeeze. “And if something goes wrong, Boyd and Lydia will be there.”
“I don’t know Lydia,” Isaac points out. “She’s new. I don’t know if she can be trusted.”
Lydia straightens, unsure if she’s offended or amused at the statement. “Ditto.”
Isaac glances at her apologetically. “I’m just saying I don’t know why I can’t go with her.”
“Because there isn’t a plausible reason for you to be there,” Boyd says gently. “And Cora needs you for going to track down Theo to make sure he doesn’t get word back to the Doctors.”
“How do we know he hasn’t done it already?” Lydia raises an eyebrow. “Sending spells is a thing.”
“They are, but Theo’s always found them useless. Hence why he usually has a cleric around. And we have people at the university screening the Doctors’ mail.” Boyd looks over at Isaac. “We have an opportunity to get a lot of information here. It’s better if we divide and conquer.”
Isaac doesn’t like it, but relents as he turns back to face Erica. “Marin’s got your back, right?”
Always. The archfey’s voice is a purr, and Erica smiles.
“She’s looking forward to it. Relax, Isaac. I’ll be okay.”
“You better be.” He pulls her into a tight hug before stepping back and letting her fall into step next to Boyd and Lydia. She doesn’t miss the paladin Scott pushing something gently into Lydia’s hand.
“Don’t find out anything interesting about the Moonmaiden until I catch up with you,” Lydia murmurs. “Promise.”
Scott smirks. “I’ll do my best.”
Lydia huffs before falling into step next to the other two. Boyd extends an arm to each of the women and, as they tuck in, he nods with a smirk.
“Alright. Let’s go back to school.”
And in a flash of light, they vanish from the room.
y4 (natural magic) | there will be no sign from above ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,234
Lydia frowns at Scott’s response to their evening check in. While she would, under normal circumstances, encourage him to follow this elusive goddess to the end of her rabbit hole, she’s not sure now is the time. Their plan is all about timing. She could hope that Erica will keep them in a holding pattern, but it’s hard to say for sure.
“Alright. Be careful.”
“You too.”
The spell fades, and as she glances down to get back to her work, thoughts of the paladin being pushed aside for now. She had papers to complete and students to check up on, and if she could get a smidgen of that done before—
Boyd pushes open the door to her office, glancing around briefly to make sure she’s alone, before closing the door and stepping inside. “Do you have a moment?”
“Is something wrong?” Lydia hasn’t known Boyd long, but the look on his face seems concerned. “Did you hear something from Erica?”
“No. And that’s part of the problem. She never returned to her student housing after her appointment last night.”
“Never?” Lydia raises an eyebrow. “Were you stationed outside her rooms all day?”
There’s a brief flash of embarrassment across his face before he shakes his head. “No, of course not. But I reached out to some of her teachers and they say she wasn’t in class, as well as her roommate who says she’s been in the dorm all day, and Erica has not.”
Lydia leans back in her seat curiously. “That’s a lot of checking up for someone who’s not really supposed to be making her presence known.”
“I know,” Boyd sighs. “But I’m worried.”
Lydia sighs, closing her eyes as she concentrates, pulling some threads of the surrounding Weave to see if she could do one last spell for contact. “If she’s trapped somewhere dangerous, she might not respond. But warlocks have a patron, no? That would likely know her well-being.”
“Marin,” Boyd replies. “An archfey.”
Archfey. Wonderful. Tricksters who are left to the whim of their own desires, and rarely intend to do much for others without making a deal. But given that this is only a one-shot situation, Lydia wants to know if Boyd is sure this is worth it.
“Are you sure she’s not just buying her time? Perhaps she learned something and she can’t just—”
The door flies open, and a blond head pokes around the corner. Anxiety in Lydia’s shoulders releases as Erica makes her way in. “Sorry. I know I was gone longer than we agreed, but I learned a lot.”
Boyd sags in relief, and Lydia wonders if he’s caring more for their little mole than is possibly good for the mission, but that’s a conversation for another time. She thinks about Scott putting himself in a similar situation, and she can’t say that she would be as calm.
Something in her blinks at the idea that Scott is the first person who came to mind, but that’s a thought process for a later time.
“Please, sit.” Lydia gestures to the two chairs in front of her desk. The cleric and the warlock lower themselves into them before Erica reaches into her bag. “So. The meeting was a test.”
“A test?” Lydia frowns. “For what? Trustworthiness?”
“Something like that. They invited me in and gave me some drugged wine, but thanks to some help from Marin, I could call it out in advance. That seemed to impress them. But they would not let me move forward without drinking it—”
“Likely because they’re not one hundred percent sure they can trust you yet.”
“Hence the test,” Erica nods. “So I drank the wine, and passed out and when I woke up, I was in what I guess had to be their inner sanctum.”
Boyd seems alarmed at that, but Lydia gives him a small nod as she wants Erica to get through all of it before she gives any objections. “What did you find?”
“Not much. It’s some kind of laboratory?” She gives a small shrug. “They didn’t really give me a lot of room to wander around.”
“What did they say?”
“They asked about my goals, what I’d be looking to get out of a partnership with them. And then they gave me this.” She pulls a clear box out of her bag and places it down in the center of Lydia’s desk. The wizard tips her head to the side curiously. Inside the box is a crystal ball giving off an unnatural aura.
“What is it?”
“Don’t know. But Marin gave me this box a long time ago to prevent tracking magic, so I figured it might be worth sticking in there. So long as we don’t open it, it shouldn’t get anything off us.”
“Can you figure out what it is?” Boyd asks.
“Likely not without opening it. We’d have to take it back to somewhere Erica is expected to be before I can identify it.” That way, it doesn’t give Lydia’s office as a data point—if this is even designed to track people. But given what she’s learned about the Dread Doctors thus far, this is not out of the question.
“We could go back to my dorm? See what we can find out?” Erica glances between the two of them and Boyd nods.
“Possibly better if you two go alone. I’ve already made myself a bit of a nuisance as of late.”
“Once we know what it is, we’ll know what to do with it.” Lydia reaches forward and picks up the box, trying to get a closer look at the item without actually touching it. “But I’ve never seen this kind of magic before. It seems close to necromancy, but … not at the same time.”
“What makes you say that?”
“There’s something … unnatural about it.”
Erica raises an eyebrow. “I think some people would argue that necromancers are unnatural?”
“You would think that, but not always. Some necromancers are focused on making their own undead armies true, but resurrection spells also fall under the school of necromancy for clerics.”
Erica frowns, before glancing over at Boyd. “It’s true,” he nods. “There are resurrections and then there’s animate dead, but it’s all a similar practice. A lot of the necromancers here at the university are focused on harnessing the power of both life and death.”
“Huh. Learn something new every day,” Erica shrugs. “So, what makes this unnatural?”
“I don’t know. I think I’ll learn more when we identify it.” Lydia places the box back down on her desk and leans back. “But I don’t think it’s from any school of magic I’ve ever seen before.”
“Which is … scary, coming from a wizard,” Boyd smirks. “Well, you two let me know when you figure out what that thing does. I’m expected for evening services at the temple.”
Erica nods and waits for him to go before looking back over at Lydia. “Why was he at my apartment?”
“You’ve been gone for the better part of a day,” Lydia smirks as she gathers her things. “I would hazard a guess to say he was worried about you.”
Erica blinks in surprise at that, before a wide smile crosses her face. “That is good to know.”
w
w1 (overcast) | through the heartache and pain ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 866
“Hey, buddy? You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, just checking.” Stiles frowns into the darkness, trying to put his rogue eyes to use as best he can. The low light is a challenge, but he’s used to working in darker spaces. “The goddess hasn’t … given you a hint?”
“I think this is supposed to be the hint.”
“I think she really needs to work on her communication skills. What does she expect us to do? Just wander through the woods until we get where she wants us to go?”
“The Moonmaiden has been on the outskirts of things for a while. She doesn’t really have a lot of followers these days. Maybe she’s not strong enough to communicate any other way.”
“Maybe,” Stiles frowns before shrugging. “Still doesn’t make me feel better about wandering into the woods blind.”
“Fair enough.” Scott pauses before looking over at his best friend. “How are you doing with all this, man?”
Stiles shrugs. “I didn’t get it when you became a paladin in the first place, but I got used to it. I’ll get used to this too.”
Scott smiles, before turning and continuing in the direction the light guided them. They make their way slowly through the trees; the darkness becoming more and more encroaching. “Something about this isn’t right,” Scott frowns. “Does this feel like magical darkness to you?”
Stiles frowns, before glancing over his shoulder to the werewolf with dark vision. “Cora?”
She steps forward, not moving far past Scott’s shoulder but squinting into the darkness all the same. “I can’t see very far. You might be right.”
Scott nods before taking up the space ahead, thrusting the mace as high as it can go to push out the darkness. “Stay close. I don’t want to lose anyone.”
He feels Stiles hook his fingers onto a piece of his armor on his right, and Cora’s presence on his left. He can’t sense Isaac as clearly, but there’s something at his back, so he keeps moving forward. They move quietly, weapons at the ready, and then the darkness shifts.
“Get ready!” Scott gets out just before the wall of darkness slams into them, bowling them all to the side. He quickly climbs to his feet again as shadow creatures lunge. The glow of divine energy gathers around him and he squares his stance, ready to take it on.
“Okay,” he says as he smacks one of them back and swings the mace around again. “Let’s go.”
The fight is rough, but in the end, the darkness breaks and everyone is left standing—mostly. Isaac drops to the ground the second he can let his guard down. Scott moves over immediately, giving him some of the healing he has left, before glancing over to Stiles and Cora.
Cora waves a hand. “I heal myself.” Stiles doesn’t look as though he took many blows.
Scott then plants a hand to his chest with the rest before taking in the rest of the scene. His eye catches a glimmer of moonlight not far away, and he slowly makes his way forward to get a better look. The path opens into a small clearing with a stone structure set in the middle of the clearing, bearing that glimmer of moonlight.
Scott makes his way closer, before dropping to one knee in front of it, trying to clear away some weeds and debris. When he sees the symbol of the Moonmaiden carved into the top, he places a hand there and he feels the pressure of a presence he is slowly growing more familiar with.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Free my followers. Free my places of worship. Push back the darkness and dread.”
He raises an eyebrow. “That’s all. Sounds easy.”
“Not as easy as some may think. My sister will do whatever it takes to evoke despair. Press against it.”
“Whatever it takes. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.” Going up against the Nightsinger is serious enough, but Scott takes his promises, and his oaths, seriously. The presence leaves him and he pulls his hand back, before glancing up to see the rest of his party around him.
Stiles nods. “Finally got the answers you wanted?”
“Something like that. Push back against the Nightsinger, mostly. Free her followers and her places of worship.”
“Well, the university has a religious center. Maybe we can check in when we get there.”
Scott nods before getting to his feet. “Let’s get there, then.”
As they head back out into the woods again, he feels the glimmer of magic settle as Lydia’s voice echoes in his mind. “Any updates? Did you find what the Moonmaiden wanted you to find?”
“I did,” he smiles, hanging to the back of the group so they can talk. “Can’t wait to tell you about it when I get there.”
w2 (academia) | and i'm just killing time ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 851
“I still can’t figure out what they’re after.”
Lydia glances up as she winds her red hair out of the way, a journal spread out on the desk next to her. “Isn’t that what we’re in here for?” The question has a teasing lilt to it, and he snorts in response.
“I suppose.”
Lydia shrugs. “Don’t rush the investigation. That’s the part that’s the most fun.”
“Usually I would agree with you. But it feels like there are lives on the line. We can’t really afford to take our time.”
“We need to take enough time to be correct,” Lydia reminds him. “It’s one thing if we take too long and people get hurt, but if we aren’t sure, people could equally be hurt. Either we lose our credibility, or our counter-offensive has casualties.”
He hasn’t known Lydia for long. Cora is more familiar with her than she is, but it’s in conversations like this where he understands why Cora kept her around. Her mind is a precision weapon all its own, as is true with most wizards, but he finds her company a lot more agreeable. She has the confidence in the life she has chosen, but she doesn’t suffer from the same ego.
“Then we’ll just have to hope that Erica’s efforts bear fruit.” He leans back in his seat for a moment, before tipping his head to the side curiously. “What do you make of her?”
Lydia raises an eyebrow, as though that precision understanding of the world around her is now trying to cut through him. “You want my opinion?”
“We’re in this together. And Cora trusts you. She wouldn’t have sent you with me if she didn’t.”
“Hmm. Help keep a girl alive and you earn all kinds of perks,” Lydia teases, before leaning back in her seat. “I think Erica is a girl who makes her way in the world by being underestimated. Whether it’s because people think she’s all flash and no substance, or because they overlook her presence entirely. I think the latter will serve her well here. The Dread Doctors want someone who will obey and disappear.”
Boyd nods, about to say something more when the door to the room opens and the person in question slips inside. He almost doesn’t recognize Erica at first. Her mildly colored clothes fit her well, but don’t stand out in a room. Her glasses sit awkwardly on her nose, and her long blond hair is piled up haphazardly on top of her head. She looks like every harried academic he’s ever known, which means she likely blends in well. She glances around briefly to ensure that they’re alone, before her posture shifts, and a little more of the self-confident girl he first met comes into view.
“Good. We can speak freely.” Erica makes her way closer to slide into the spot across from him, leaving Lydia at the head of the table. “Things are going well.”
“You’ve contacted the Dread Doctors already?” Lydia blinks, surprised.
“Of course not.” Erica shakes her head. “I’m not a miracle worker. But I’ve gotten into some circles of their favored students.”
“Really?”
“Overly cocky young men always like to spend their time with pretty, unassuming young women,” Erica smirks. “They’ve invited me to a few parties, hoping to get me into their beds, so we’ll see how much they give me if I keep them on the hook.”
Lydia shakes her head. “Never change, boys. Never change.”
Boyd’s eyes narrow. “By keeping them on the hook, you mean—”
“Not giving them what they want,” Erica clarifies quickly, before giving Boyd a curious glance. “Why? Does that concern you?”
Boyd swallows. He said it was Erica’s call, how she got her information. So long as it was simply flirting, that shouldn’t bother him. But he can’t help but feel a slight twist in his gut at the idea. “So long as you’re safe.”
Erica waves a hand. “Don’t worry about me. I know how to get myself out of a sticky situation.”
He doesn’t doubt that. Still, he nods. “If you feel you are, however, you can message us, no?”
She nods. “Yes. I am well prepared.”
“Good. So what’s the next steps?”
“Spending enough time with her new admirers in order to gain their trust,” Lydia nods. “And hope that they will let some crucial information slip.”
“I would say it sounds easier said than done, but I’m technically in the demographic you’re bamboozling.”
Erica laughs before reaching for the tome. “Smart man. But for now, I say we hit the books.”
w3 (misunderstanding) | i should be out seeking instead of hiding ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1192
She is the alpha of Beacon Hills, after all. She doesn’t like it when people are threatened in her territory.
“And who are you?”
“Dr. Valak.” Meredith’s voice is quiet where she crouches down on the other side of the nematon. Laura meets her eyes. “Did my grandmother send you?”
“Sort of,” Laura nods. Then she nods to the paladin. “She sent him.”
“Talk to me, if you would, Lady Hale. I am the one with the crossbow.”
Laura’s eyes are drawn back to Valak, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. “Dr. Valak. I think you may be under a slight misunderstanding. You are on my territory. Which is why it’s unfortunate you’ve drawn a weapon on my friend.”
Her eyes glow red, and Parrish’s breath catches. Valak’s grip on his crossbow shakes briefly, but he doesn’t back down.
“I just want the banshee. Surrender her to my care and I will leave.”
“Do you want to go with him?” Laura asks Meredith.
“It is not her decision!”
“I am not talking to you.” Laura’s eyes remain red, blazing in her power as an alpha, standing at the foot of the nematon she protects. Valak’s hand shakes again, but he doesn’t protest again. She turns her attention back to Meredith, softening her position. “Do you want to go with him?”
Meredith’s eyes glaze slightly as she glances between the three adults around her. She’s scared, but she’s searching for something else. Her eyes land on Parrish, and she lingers there for the longest. One hand moves to the bark of the tree, fingers digging in.
“I see,” she murmurs. “He needs to understand.”
At that, Laura frowns. “Understand what?”
“What I don’t understand is why you won’t give me the respect I am demanding.” Valak’s composure frays even more than it did before. “I could easily kill this paladin and you waste time weighing the opinions of a little girl!”
Parrish, who had been quiet this whole time, seems to have had enough. “I think if you were going to, you would have done it already.” He turns, hand curling into a fist in his armor. “Then again, I’m not sure what I’d expect from someone going after a little—”
The click-thunk of the crossbow cuts off the last of his words and Laura stumbles forward, reaching for her magic as though she can stop it, but she’s not fast enough. The crossbow bolt slides into Parrish’s throat and he drops to the ground. Anger floods through her, and she draws her claws, but before she can go, Meredith reaches for her arm to pull her back.
Valak turns the crossbow on her, and she immediately positions herself in front of Meredith. “Give. Me. The girl.”
“No.” Laura stands her ground. If she wasn’t persuaded before, she certainly will not be now. “You’ll have to kill me, too.”
“Very well.” Valak shifts the crossbow, ready to pull the trigger. The scent of something burning fills her nostrils, and she looks down at her own hands, wondering if briefly if she summoned the fire herself with her druidic magic. The crossbow bolt releases and she tenses for the pain, but it never reaches her.
She looks up and wrapped around the crossbow bolt is a burning hand. She follows the hand back to the arm attached and gasps as she sees Parrish standing before her. The arrow in his throat burns away, flames singeing the wounds closed. His eyes glow a vibrant orange as he turns his attention on Valak.
The crossbow clatters from the doctor’s hand to the ground. “No. You were all supposed to be gone.”
“Not all of us.” Parrish’s voice sounds different, far away, like something else is communicating through him. “So long as a nematon stands, we will stand to protect it.” The flames engulf him further, causing the metal of his armor to glow in response and melt at the edges. “Tell your doctors that should their experiments succeed, I will stop it.”
Valak stumbles backwards, trying to get as far away from the burning man as possible, before turning and running back into the woods. Parrish watches until the man disappears completely, and then the flames fade and there’s a blink before Parrish stumbles backwards, coming back into awareness.
“What happened?” he asks, turning back to look at them both. He must see the shock on Laura’s face and he looks down at himself, taking in the singed clothes and melted metal of his armor. “Where’s Valak?”
“Gone. You scared him off.” Laura turns to look at Meredith. “What did it tell you?”
Meredith doesn’t respond at first. But she doesn’t seem scared, and she looks up at Laura with a smile. “Can you take me home now?”
Laura takes a deep breath before shaking her head. “Yeah. I guess we can.”
Parrish waits for her on her porch, staring out into the darkness as the sheriff returns Meredith to her grandmother. Laura can sense the weight on his shoulders, after having explained to him what she saw several times.
“Are you sure you don’t know what I am?”
“You’re nothing I’ve ever seen before,” Laura admits sadly. “My uncle might have known more. He was always more of a scholar.” But she can’t reach out to Peter for something like this. Might ruin the ruse that he’s dead, and pushing Malia to maintain a relationship with her father for Laura’s selfish reasons has never ended well. “But he’s long dead, unfortunately.”
Parrish nods, hands gripping on the banister. “What does it mean for me?”
“I don’t know. All we really know is that you’re a protector. And that’s good, I think?”
Parrish turns his eyes on her, giving her a flustered look. “I can spontaneously burst into flame. How is that good? What if I just … burn an entire city down because I lose control while I’m sleeping?”
Laura raises an eyebrow. “Have you done it before? Set things on fire while you were sleeping?”
Parrish gapes, before shaking his head. “No?”
“Then I think you’re safe. So long as someone doesn’t murder you in your sleep.”
He sighs, pushing away from the banister finally, and dropping into a seat next to her. “You said your uncle is dead. Did he keep any records of his research?”
“He did. I can go through it, see if there’s anything that seems familiar.”
“I would appreciate it.” He stares out into the darkness. “This wasn’t what I expected when I was being drawn to the tree.”
“No, I can’t say it’s what I expected, either.” She reaches forward and places a hand over his. “But we’ll figure it out, Jordan. I promise.”
w4 (rooftop) | and there the world below can't bother me ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,145
“Make yourself at home,” Erica comments idly, gesturing to the neatly made bed and Lydia moves to sit.
“Nice place,” she muses, before reaching out one hand to brush against the comforter and adding, a little more enthusiastically. “Nice comforter.”
Erica laughs. “Did you expect me to not like nice things?”
“Not at all,” Lydia smirks. “Just—I’m never really sure what to expect with you.”
“That’s on purpose. I like to be unpredictable.” Opening the anti-scrying box, she passes it over to Lydia in the box, so that she doesn’t have to touch it to identify it. “But I feel like it fits who I’m trying to become, even if I’m not there yet.”
“Do you enjoy this?” Lydia works her magic as they speak, but keeping their questions vague—Erica is smart to drop the specificity of their conversations, just in case the tool is some kind of listening device as well. “Creating these sorts of illusions?”
“Not always. But I am good at it. And I’m fortunate usually to have people who still know me, without all the artifice.”
Lydia focuses on the spell at hand, letting the information come to her slowly. Once the spell is complete, she closes the box, shutting out any chance of someone listening in. “It is a scrying tool of some kind. Looks like it’s designed to track your patterns to make sure you’re not coming up against anyone objectionable.”
“And do we know who those people would be?”
“I’d hazard a guess that Boyd is likely. I’m more of an unknown entity.”
“They want me to keep this on me at all times. How are we going to manage our meetings if I can’t be seen with Boyd?”
“That’s what we’re going to have to figure out.” Lydia places the box down on Erica’s nightstand before turning back to her. “Maybe keep our meetings exclusively to my office? Not go down to the buildings associated with the Knowing Mistress unless it’s on your class schedule.”
Erica frowns. “And that means Boyd needs to avoid being seen here, as my apartment will probably be watched when I’m home.”
Lydia nods. “There’s something else to that as well. Be careful how you transport it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think it’s self-powering, like most magic items are. It may borrow from your arcane abilities. That might be why it felt so close to necromancy for a divination tool.”
Erica’s head tips to the side, as though she’s listening to something else, before nodding. “Marin says she’ll monitor it, since it’s technically her arcane talents they’re bleeding.”
“Good.” Lydia pushes to her feet and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Stands to reason that Boyd is likely being watched as well. I’ll reach out, see if he can keep an eye out for a tail. Do you have the means of casting invisibility?”
Erica nods. “And I can see if Marin will create an illusion of me here, in case someone is watching my dorm, so I can leave it behind when we meet.”
“Good.” Lydia reaches forward and gives her arm a squeeze. “Spend a few days going to classes as normal. You know how to reach out if you run into trouble, but let’s not give them any reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary.”
Erica nods. “Will you tell—”
“I’ll talk to him. Be careful.”
With that, she turns to leave, hoping that Boyd isn’t lurking outside her apartment already.
“I don’t like this.”
Boyd’s arms cross in front of his chest as the two of them stand looking over what is, in Lydia’s opinion, the best view at the University. Brick buildings stretch out forever in little clusters, showing off the various places of study and culminating in the Maester’s Library, where all the spells crafted by the wizarding greats are stored. Lydia keeps her eyes on the horizon, on the place where she hopes to be featured one day, before turning back to Boyd.
“I know. But it’s how things have to be for now. She needs to truly gain their trust if she’s going to get us the answers we need.”
He sighs, closing his eyes. “I know I’m over-invested. I do. But … I don’t like the idea of leaving her alone to fend for herself. We promised Isaac we would protect her.”
“And right now, protecting her is keeping your distance.” She reaches into her robes and pulls out a stack of parchment that she had spent the afternoon working on. “Here.”
He frowns as he takes them from her. “Invisibility scrolls?”
“If they’re watching to make sure she doesn’t interact with the wrong people, they’ll likely also be tracking the wrong people. Use the grace period to determine whether you’re being followed and use these when coming to our meetings. We’ll use my office for now. Erica has her own means of getting there undetected.”
Boyd nods, before tucking the scrolls away for safekeeping. “Have you heard from the rest of the group?”
“Last I heard, they had been sidetracked by the request of the Moonmaiden, but they should be here soon.”
“The Moonmaiden?” There’s something that perks up in his expression at that, curiosity coloring his features. “No one’s heard from her in centuries.”
“We uncovered one of her old temples. Freed her champion and one of us took up in her place. I’m sure Scott will have more information when he gets here. Our means of messaging are quite short.”
“True enough.” Boyd nods as he places a hand over his own holy symbol. “I’ll convey that to the Knowing Mistress. I’m sure she’ll be pleased to hear it.”
“Good,” Lydia smiles, before waving a hand and casting Invisibility over the cleric as he goes to take his leave. “Just in case.”
“Stay safe, Lydia.”
“I will.” She waits until the footsteps fade and she’s sure Boyd is gone, before summoning her magic and casting another messaging spell, reaching out for her paladin. Perhaps it’s not wise to think of him as hers now, when they have discussed none of it, but in the privacy of her own thoughts, perhaps there’s no harm in it.
“How are things going?”
She can’t help but imagine the smile in his voice when he responds.
o
o1 (running late) | just let me give you the freedom to dream ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,275
Marin’s voice purrs in her ear as she leaves Boyd at the front door of the library, heading out back into the university grounds. Erica blinks at the statement, not the question, proving that even after all this time, Marin can still read her like a book. Not that she minds—Marin is one of the first people to see her for her potential rather than her detriments. She’s not sure if most warlocks have such pleasant relationships with their patrons, but she certainly has no complaints about hers.
But the statement brings her up short in a way she didn’t expect. She shrugs, trying to play it off as inconsequential. “He’s beautiful to look at. And I always did like them tall.”
Oh, that was not the question. Marin has never been one to let her avoid the truth, either. That she appreciates about her less. This is more than a simple attraction. This is verging dangerously close to crush territory.
Erica pauses, musing briefly over her options. Whatever fleeting intrigue she currently has in Boyd, it’s not important to the mission at hand. The mission is dealing with these Dread Doctors so that Isaac can sleep at night without looking over his shoulder. Whatever may be between her and Boyd can wait until the job is done.
“Maybe. But now isn’t really the time to dwell on it.” She squares her shoulders. “We’re here because we have a job to do. The rest can wait until later.”
Good. Now get ready. We have some teaching assistants to seduce.
Erica can’t help but feel a ripple of pleasure that she found the right answer, the one Marin was looking for. Marin never is one to squash her whims. Just prompt her gently to keep herself on track. She reaches up to pull the pen holding her hair into place out, fluffing out her blond curls and letting them hang down around her shoulders. She also unbuttoned a couple of harmless buttons to make herself seem a little more post-work.
She wishes she had time to go back to her temporary accommodations and fully change, but this is more believable, and she’s already running late.
The steps to the university brownstone are lit by tiny pieces of fairy fire as she makes the climb, likely to help keep sleep deprived students from injuring themselves in the dark, but has the added side benefit of not allowing people to hide in the shadows of doorways. Taking a deep breath, she rolled her shoulders and slipped back into Erica, the teaching assistant, frazzled from a long day of handling classes and professors both. She knocks lightly on the door and steps back, measuring her breathing as she waits for it to open.
A few minutes later, the door swings open and Garrett’s blond head pokes out, greeting her with a smile. “Erica. We thought you would not make it.”
“Sorry—got out of class a little late. Hopefully, I haven’t missed too much?” She lets her bond with Marin add a little more beguile to her smile, a small enticement for them to let her come closer, allow her to see more.
“Not at all.” He pushes the door open wider, sweeping her into a room that smells of fading pipes and strong drinks. She takes the invitation eagerly, hoping this evening will give her the chance to look at the broad range of people present. Almost all men, each of them eyeing her eagerly as Garrett gestures for her to take the empty seat. “Let me fetch you a drink.”
“You’re too kind,” Erica says with a smile. Any other woman would likely be intimidated, but Erica knows she isn’t alone. That’s one benefit of a warlock in the end. They’ve always got someone watching their back.
She takes the drink from Garrett when he returns, but doesn’t sip it—not yet. “So. What’s this meeting about?”
“You see, Erica—we’ve been quite impressed with what we’ve seen of you since you’ve arrived. Especially since you’ve made such an impression in such a short period.”
Erica can’t be sure if that’s a good or bad thing. But since no one is drawing a weapon on her, she’s assuming it’s good, for now. Except…
There’s a drug in that drink. Marin’s warning is quick and neutral. A drugged drink could mean many things—what matters is their actual intent.
“I’m glad to hear it.” The sentence is as neutral as Marin’s delivery, though she still leaves the drink untouched. “So, what is this about?”
“We want you to take the next step in initiating you into our inner circle. Introduce you to the professors who will truly be able to change the course of your studies and open your mind to the world at hand.” Garrett holds up a finger. “But we’re not sure you’re trusted … completely. Not just yet.”
“I see.” Erica pauses, swirling the liquid in front of her. “So that explains why you’ve tampered with my drink?”
It’s a gamble, calling them out on their tactic. It will either be well received, and things will be fine, or they’ll attack and she’ll have to bust out her own bag of tricks. Garrett’s eyebrows go up in surprise, but in the end he relaxes with a smile.
“You caught that, did you?”
“It may be colorless, but when whatever it is has a slight odor when it interacts with alcohol,” Marin’s words slip from Erica’s lips with ease, a shared symbiosis that they’ve used before. Then Erica smiles. “I pay attention to the details.”
“All the more reason you have our interest. Our benefactors would like to meet you, but they don’t quite you with their location just yet. So they’ve asked that we drug you to transport you. If you fare well with their questions, then we’ll see about sharing more information.”
“And if I don’t?” Erica isn’t just going to rise to the bait without knowing where the hook is.
“You’ll be returned to your dorm none the wiser, and feel you’re sleeping off a rather nasty hangover. And this meeting will never have taken place.”
A charm, most likely. You won’t need to worry there.
Erica knows a lot of the students rely on magic, but she can’t count on that. She still hesitates, studying the swirling drink in front of her. Garrett doesn’t seem to give any of the telltale signs of lying. She just hopes that she’s putting her trust in the right place.
If I see things going wrong, I’ll reach out to your cleric.
Erica nods, before lifting the drink with a small smile in a mock toast. “No risk, no reward.” And with that, she knocks it back in one smooth gulp.
She will say this about whoever Garrett gets his potions from. They work quickly.
When she comes to, she’s propped up in a semi-standing position, where she’s lightly chained in place to keep her from falling. As her vision comes into focus, she makes out pieces of lab equipment and other technology, before her blurry vision hands on Garrett’s face, and he greets her with a wide, almost inhuman smile.
“Morning, sunshine.” He gestures backwards to the three figures standing behind him. They’re each wearing lab safety gear, all their faces covered in a mask. “May I introduce you to the Dread Doctors?”
Erica nods, swallows, then smiles. “A pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so much about your work.”
She just hopes that flattery is enough to get her through this in one piece.
o2 (survival) | like i'm the one that put you on trial ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 969
Malia finishes her plate, before leaning back in her seat and fixing him with a stare. “You’re stewing. You want to say no.”
Peter fixes her with a glare. Derek knows how out of sync they’ve been since everything with Kate happened. How Malia, in some respects, feels he chose Kate over her—and how, in some ways, she’s not wrong. He can’t imagine feeling the strain with his father that Malia has with hers, but he can’t blame her, either. Peter’s been gone. And as well as she knows the reasons, it can’t be said that nothing has suffered for it.
“I didn’t spend a decade of my life running from Gerard Argent and staying away from my family for you all to just throw yourself back into the fire, anyway.” Peter grits his teeth as he turns to fix that same glare on Derek. “And what you told Allison wasn’t your secret to share. You couldn’t have been sure that she wasn’t still in Gerard’s pocket.”
“How did you know Kate wasn’t?”
Peter starts and stops several retorts before gritting his teeth and leaning back in his chair. It’s a high-quality sulk, and Malia rolls her eyes as she reaches for the wine.
“Sure, you may have stopped the war, but Gerard Argent is still alive. He’s still causing problems. You didn’t actually fix the problem.” She takes a sip of the wine. “And for the record, I wasn’t planning on throwing my hat in with this, but if it’s what it takes to get you off your ass and actually finishing what you claimed you started, then so be it.”
Peter’s eyes narrow as they focus on her. “Say what you want about my choices, Malia, but I did it to keep you safe. To allow you to live this long in the first place. If Gerard had had his way, our entire family would have been wiped out a decade ago.”
“Maybe so. But you did what you did and now I’m an adult and you don’t get a say in my choices.”
“She’s right, Peter.” Derek will not waste Malia’s support if she’s willing to offer it. “Sure, you may have stalled the battle, but you didn’t win the war. Gerard is still a problem as long as he’s in charge of the Argent family.”
“And he isn’t the only problem. There are cabals and cults all over the place, and I’m not going to sit down and let them happen.” Malia takes another sip of her wine. “If it’s not Gerard, I’m going back to helping Cora and Boyd deal with the Dread Doctors. Survival isn’t worth the lives of other people. Ever. Not when I can do something about it.”
Peter glares at them both, and Derek can understand the position they’re putting him in. Not just risking his daughter, but his entire family and his partner. Disturbing the fragile peace that they all have built for themselves, but Derek knows Malia isn’t wrong. And he knows Peter will see that too.
And it might help if he twists the screw, just a little: “You haven’t been in the grove in ten years, Peter. Don’t you want to go home?”
“Of course I do,” Peter’s words are soft, and there’s a longing as he looks at his daughter, seeing all the time he missed. “But that doesn’t mean I want to risk your lives to do it.”
“Whether or not we like it, this isn’t our decision to make,” Derek points out. “It’s Allison and Kate’s. Their family. It’s just a matter of whether we support them in this.” He pauses, holding back on saying the words that he knows would be the nail in the coffin, but he doesn’t want to have to. But as Peter’s sullen silence continues, he knows he has to pull the trigger. “Mom would have supported them.”
Peter’s eyes sharpen to a glare, because he knows what Derek is doing. It’s a knife twist he doesn’t appreciate. But he holds his own and leans back in his seat.
“I can’t stop either of you from doing what you feel you need to do.” His voice is the calm that Derek doesn’t like, but he knows he put Peter here. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to force what I am going to do.”
He pushes up from the table, moving brusquely away from both of them and retreating further into the house. Malia sighs as she watches him go, slumping a bit in the chair.
“Do you think I’m being unfair?” she asks, and Derek shrugs.
“Maybe. But so is he.” He glances over at Malia. “Thank you for taking us up here anyway, though. I know this isn’t where you want to be.”
“Maybe not. But maybe it’s where I needed it to be. I wasn’t going to make you have to stand up to him alone.” She moves her chair close enough that she’s leaning into his shoulder a bit, taking that bit of solidarity from the family that was there for her. “Do you think Kate will go for it?”
“I don’t know. But I feel like Kate’s been waiting a long time to square things with her father.” If this is the time to do it, when Gerard isn’t expecting the attack, then Derek will not question her. “We’ll just have to see what she says when she and Allison are done.”
And hopefully, they’ll both be able to succeed and make it out the other side intact.
o3 (mountains) | nobody's promised tomorrow ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 954
Kate closes the door behind them. “It’s not going to do much because Peter is nosy as shit, but … we can give ourselves the illusion of privacy.”
Allison glances back at her, turning to lean back against the railing of the porch. “Are you two … together?”
“More or less,” she shrugs. “You spend more than a decade in each other’s pockets and things get intertwined, eventually.”
Allison nods, ignoring the swirling feelings that have been growing for Derek since that night in the woods. She tries not to think about how messy that would be—aunt and uncle, nephew and niece—but that doesn’t matter, because she and Derek aren’t anything yet and may never be.
“Right.” She swallows. “So, what do you want to talk about?”
“Do you know what you’re doing?” The question is so point blank that Allison doesn’t know how to answer it at first. “Fighting against your own family?”
“I don’t know if I’d be able to do it if my mom was still alive.” She can admit that much. “And I don’t know what my dad is going to do. But Gerard needs to go. And if it has to be me that does it, then so be it.”
Kate nods slowly. “Chris is going to be what either makes or breaks this. I was getting through to him back then, but then I ‘died.’”
“Do you think you could get through to him again?”
“Honestly, Ally, you’ll be the thing to get through to him more than anything else.” Kate crosses her arms in front of her chest. “Chris loves me, but you’re his daughter. And my situation now is a little more complicated.”
Her eyes flash in the way that shifters do, and Allison’s eyes widen. It’s not a problem for her, necessarily, but it’s not what she expected. “How?”
“My father tore my throat out,” she replies simply. “But fortunately, an alpha found us and offered me the bite. Since it was turn or die, I chose turn.”
“You wanted to live.”
“And I didn’t want to give my father the satisfaction of having killed me. I’ve always intended to rub it in his face one day.” Kate studies her. “That’s not a problem for you, is it?”
“I traveled up here with two shifters. Why would it bother me?”
“Because this isn’t something I was born with. This was something I chose. That makes it different.”
“You’re still you. I don’t think it changed you that much.”
“Good. That’s what you’re going to have to convince your father of.” Kate takes another swig of her wine. “Gerard’s had him all to himself for the last five years, plus Victoria’s influence. I don’t know how much was walked back.”
Allison nods, feeling the heaviness of that request on her shoulders. It’s not that she doesn’t think she could do it—Chris has always been a little soft towards his only daughter—but she also knows that Gerard’s influence is strong. There’s always a chance that he’ll sell her out if she isn’t convincing enough, and that’s not what she wants.
“I think I can convince him.” Allison nods. “But if I can’t, we probably shouldn’t go together.”
“Oh, no. I have my own convincing to do.” Kate glances briefly back towards the cabin where she knows her partner has been listening—and likely she’s been listening to him as well. “Peter will be less than thrilled with this. He’s done a lot of work trying to keep me alive. He appreciates it more when I don’t go running head first into death.”
Allison smirks. “How dare he care about you.”
Kate laughs. “Truly the most annoying thing about him.” Then she pauses and her face sobers. “I think our best approach thus far is going to be you going to Chris, while Peter and I take the quiet way back to the grove. You should warn Laura.”
She nods. “We’ll let her know. We’ll head out and go find Dad, and see if we can convince him to join our side, and meet you back at the grove when we’re done.”
Kate nods. “We can make a better plan from there.” Kate moves to stand next to Allison, leaning back to brace herself against the railing. “I’m going to ask you this one more time, and then I won’t ask you again. Because once we get this ball rolling, you’re not going to be able to take it back. So tell me: Are you sure about this?”
Allison takes more time to give the question the weight it deserves. She knows it won’t be easy to do this. To splinter her family and going up against her grandfather who’s been doing this much longer and without near as many scruples. But eventually she squares her shoulders and stands.
“This is my family legacy. This is supposed to be my birthright. I’m not just going to roll over and let Gerard dictate what that has to be. I think our family can be better and I want to make it better.”
“And you’re willing to die for that chance?”
Allison nods. “If that’s what it takes.”
“Okay,” Kate nods, refilling both of their wineglasses and then clinking the edge of hers against Allison’s. “Then let’s go start a war.”
o4 (reunion) | the silver thorn of bloody rose ~ teen wolf (d&d au) ~ 1,195
It truly starts as research. Going through her uncle’s old archives and trying to see if there’s any mention of an immortal man encased in fire. But the longer they go without answers—or more importantly, how his presence relates to what Valak is after—the less it becomes about figuring out the puzzle of him and more about spending time with each other.
They try not to be obvious about it around her siblings, but Laura says they know. She’s not exactly subtle. Still, they keep their trysts to when her family is out on other jobs, and likely not to disturb them. Parrish doesn’t know what it’s like to live with so many people always underfoot, but there’s a level of fondness to how Laura speaks of it, even when she’s complaining.
He does, however, regret when their glimpse of freedom ends. Cora sends word that she’s returning to the house with her party, which means they’ll be back to stealing moments whenever they can get them.
“I can at least make you breakfast before you go,” Laura teases as she gets dressed, and he laughs.
“I would appreciate it. But it is a good thing that your family is back, you know.” He feels the need to remind her, even though he knows he doesn’t have to. As much as she is frustrated by having her family and their friends underfoot, he also knows she loves having a full house, people to cook for and sound in a house that can feel so empty.
“I know,” she sighs. “It’s more about the trouble they bring with them.” She leans in to kiss him, before pulling back and frowning. Footsteps thunder through the house, and as a fist pounds on her bedroom door, she tips her head forward to rest against his chest. “They’re early.”
“Laura! You awake?”
“Gimme a minute!” She moves to answer the door and Parrish deftly moves so that he’s out of view when she opens it. Cora is on the other side and greets her with a smile.
“Good, you’re up!”
“You’re early.”
“We made good time. And I think we might have found—” She pauses, takes a breath, and pushes the door open further until she can see the clothed but sheepish paladin standing in her sister’s bedroom. Cora grins. “—I think we might have a lead on what you are.”
Parrish straightens suddenly, all propriety thrown to the side as he surges towards her. “What? Seriously?”
“Yeah, Boyd’s been doing some research on this thing we’ve been working on, and—” She waves a hand. “It’s better if he explains. We’re all getting cleaned up, but we can talk about it over breakfast?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course. See you soon.” Laura closes the door behind her sister and turns back to him. “You okay?”
“Is it a good thing, do you think? What they’ve been working on?”
“I don’t know. It was a bit of a vendetta project—this person who tried to kill them not too long ago. But answers are still good, even if we may not like them.”
Parrish gives her a small look at that, but he can’t say she’s wrong. Answers are answers, even if they don’t tell him what he wants to hear. “I know. I just—”
“I know.” She steps in to kiss him gently. “Let’s not panic until we know there’s something to panic about.”
He lets her go as she heads downstairs to prepare breakfast, and he takes a deep breath, trying to follow her advice as he moves through the house. “Right. No panicking until there’s something to panic about.”
Cora introduces him to Boyd, a tall, broad man in cleric’s robes who greets him with a smile, as well as Stiles, Scott and Lydia, who he’d seen glimpses of the last time they were at the Hale House. As they settle at the table to a hearty breakfast, Parrish explains their encounter with Valak, as well as the abilities they uncovered.
Boyd seems intrigued by the prospect before he explains. “We’ve been investigating a group at the university called the Dread Doctors. They have a lot of clout and power, but send adventurers out on jobs where they don’t expect anyone to return—in fact, they plant acolytes in their group to ensure it. We—Cora, Malia, Isaac and I—were almost their victim once, and we’ve been trying to protect whoever we could ever since.”
“So, what does this have to do with me?”
“Well, when I was looking into their research, I came across this.” He pulls out an ancient-looking tome, opening to a specific page, before passing it down the table to Parrish. The page had an illustration of a white-eyed, terrifying beast locked in battle with a creature that looks like it’s on fire.
“What is this?”
“That—” Boyd points to the black beast. “—is a creature I think they’re trying to resurrect. But this is called a hellhound. A protector made of fire who is prophesied to defeat said beast.”
Cora nods. “When Boyd was talking about what he found on hellhounds—not much, but it was enough to connect to what Laura told me about what happened to you at the nematon.”
Parrish nods slowly. “Hellhound” doesn’t sound good, exactly, but they seem to think he’s a protector. It shouldn’t conflict too much with his oath. At the same time: “Do you know how I became this … hellhound?”
Boyd shakes his head. “Not in my initial research. But I can take it back to the university archives and see what I can find.”
“Plus, Malia is on her way to visit an expert,” Cora points out. “Maybe he might know something we don’t.”
Parrish isn’t sure who this expert is, but he’ll take whatever help he can get. “Yeah, sure. The more we can know, the better.”
“Good.” Cora smiles. “Once we figure all this out, maybe we can convince Laura to stop hiding you like a dirty secret.”
Laura chokes on her coffee in response before kicking her sister under the table. Cora laughs as there’s a knock on the door and she gets up to answer it.
“What? We just want you to be happy.”
Laura rolls her eyes before shaking her head as she looks at him. “I’m sorry.”
He smiles, probably for the first time since Cora interrupted their morning, before shaking his head. “Don’t be.”
The door opens and an unfamiliar voice echoes in the entryway. “Hey, Cora—”
Whoever it is doesn’t get much further out before there’s the sound of a punch being thrown and connecting with his cheek. Then there’s a crackle of magic as Cora is blown backwards into the breakfast area. The entire table is suddenly on their feet, crowding into the hallway and they’re greeted by a curly-haired man, nursing a bruising cheek, and a blond, curly-haired woman with magic crackling around her fingers.
Boyd sets his jaw when he lays eyes on him. “Isaac.”
“Hey, Boyd.” He straightens with a sigh. “Can we talk?”
BADGES