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KATHERINE WOKE TO THE birds calling in the tree above her, rolling over and looking across the fire to see Rebecca asleep against Daniel's chest, their hands twined together. Both of them looked peaceful in the pale light and she smiled softly.
"Nightmares be damned." she whispered to herself. "Sometimes sharing the terror with another will make it feel less terrible."
She stood quietly and gently laid wood on the glowing embers of the fire. As it caught, Rebecca opened an eye to look at her.
"Did you sleep better?" Katherine asked.
Flexing her fingers between Daniel's, Rebecca looked down at their joined hands and nodded gently.
"I didn't dream after we both woke up." she murmured. "I don't remember falling asleep again."
Daniel murmured in his sleep and they both paused, waiting to see if he would wake. He settled again and they both breathed out softly.
"Why?" Rebecca asked in confusion. "Why does it feel safe here?"
Katherine laughed softly, shaking her head.
"It's been a long time since you've had the comfort of another's arms around you, isn't it?"
Rebecca nodded gently.
"It's been a year since my mother died." she admitted. "And before that I've always tried to be strong for her. I never wanted her to see me scared because of the stories she told me of William. She saw so much and all I remember thinking is how could my childish fears ever match what she had faced?"
Katherine shrugged and sat back on her heels. She wasn’t surprised at Rebecca’s admission, well remembering her own introduction to William so many years ago. The already ancient man that had stood before her so soon after she had gained her elemental, his name already deeply intertwined in the history of the Path. She knew the stories about him and had been awestruck at their first meeting. She had also been embarrassed by the vague nightmares that had plagued her during her first months after joining with her elemental. William’s solid presence within the house had gone a long way to calming her.
"There is no shame in seeking the comfort and sense of protection another can give you." she said softly. "I've seen far more years than you and I will admit that I have missed simple company in my time."
She lifted her chin to where Rebecca held Daniel's hands.
"When he wakes, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he has found the same thing you have."
Rebecca looked down at their joined hands and sighed.
"Maybe you're right." she whispered. "For a moment last night, when we both woke, I thought he was a shadow coming to get me. But then..." She trailed off, her fingers gently tracing his knuckles. "I knew he couldn't be a shadow because he was even more terrified than I was." she finished.
She looked up at Katherine, her face clouded over with questions. The older woman paused, forcefully reminding herself that there was more than a hundred years of life and experience difference between them. She had felt her own doubts when she had left home and been given guardianship over the river lands, the memory of William's steady and calm guidance filling her mind. While she had never had to face what was coming, she could well remember her own lack of experience.
"You're both young." she offered. "And you've both been thrown into deep waters before you've truly learnt how to swim. William and I will be beside you to guide you if that is any comfort."
Rebecca nodded earnestly, the movement earning another grunt and mumble from Daniel. Katherine smiled at the alarmed look on Rebecca's face.
"May I make a suggestion?" the older woman asked after he had settled again.
Rebecca looked at her and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"Talk to him today. You're both sleeping poorly and suffering from nightmares. I think that the two of you will need to lean on each other, share what you are both going through. Be his support and I guarantee that he will be yours."
Standing up, she smiled down at the two of them.
"You've already said it yourself. You feel safe with him. And if the way he is sleeping is any indication, I suspect he feels the same."
Her father didn't say anything when he woke and saw she was lying with Daniel, his relaxed hands still held lightly in hers. A raised eyebrow was his only question and Katherine was quick to pull him aside for a quiet word. While they were talking Rebecca gently woke Daniel, earning a slightly dazed smile when he realised she had stayed.
"It's morning already?" he asked in surprise.
She nodded and let him go.
"I had a better night's sleep than I thought." she told him. "Thank you."
He watched her stand and feed sticks into the fire, reaching her hands toward the flames with an indulgent smile as they twisted toward her. Easing himself up, he leaned against the log behind him to watch her.
"No nightmares?" he asked.
Rebecca shook her head and he sighed in relief.
"Neither did I. I didn't think I'd go back to sleep."
He stopped and looked at his hands, his face going pale.
"But it was one night." he muttered.
Rebecca looked over her shoulder at him worriedly, coming back to sit beside him at the sight of his hunched posture.
"I don't want to have that nightmare again." she told him firmly, her voice softening into uncertainty as she went on. "I also don't want to seem indecent by sleeping beside you again every night."
His breath caught and he looked at her steadily.
"If you're thinking that I'll..."
She shook her head quickly.
"It's..."
She hesitated, trying to find the words she wanted to say but finding nothing that she thought wouldn’t sound ungrateful.
"If you think it's immodest I'll understand." he said slowly when she remained mute. "I know I asked a lot of you last night and I shouldn't have."
She shook her head again, reaching out to take his hand.
"Maybe it worked last night because we realised we weren't alone." she said softly. "Maybe knowing that will be enough so that we can sleep tonight." She paused, her fingers absently twining together with his. "I don't know why having you beside me stopped the nightmares but I'm glad it did."
She looked away before he could see the blush colouring her cheeks, letting the early morning sunlight on the river take her attention until the heat passed. When she looked back he was smiling at her.
"We've only just met and it may sound immodestly presumptuous but if you want to sleep beside me again tonight, I won't stop you."
He didn't look away even though his own cheeks bloomed brightly as he spoke. She smiled and ducked her head, smiling to herself at the sight.
"Thank you for the offer." she murmured. "If the nightmares come back again, maybe I'll take you up on that."
William didn't waste time over breakfast, cooking up the last of their bacon and passing it around.
"If we're going off looking for that relic, we're better off moving before it gets too late." he told them sourly, wiping bacon grease off his plate. "Nearest port to board a ship to the Old World is a long way downstream."
"New Haven." Daniel said through a mouthful of cornbread. "Two weeks away."
Rebecca groaned at the thought of two weeks riding, her eyes drifting to the horses in their yard. Her father looked at her with a faintly amused smile. Having seen her complain after being in the saddle for only a few days, he was interested to see how much more she could complain of the road ahead of them.
"That won't be the worst of it." William told her. "I've got no idea where in the Old World the relic is. We could spend months looking for a place to start our search."
Ignoring Rebecca’s extended groan, Daniel closed his eyes, frowning in concentration.
"That shouldn't be a problem." he said softly. "The wind knows where it is." He opened his eyes to glance at her apologetically. "It's still a good way once we cross the sea. We're going to be crossing several countries to reach it." His frown deepened and he turned to William. "It's somewhere in the Urartun region."
William sagged at the news, shaking his head in disgust.
"I should have known." he growled. "It hasn't wandered from where it was last used."
Katherine nodded thoughtfully, looking up from her empty plate.
"It's a big region but it's a start. Though I don’t look forward to searching those mountains for it."
Rebecca looked from William to Katherine.
"You're talking about places I've never heard of." she groused. "All I want to know is how long I'm going to be in the saddle."
William chuckled dryly, his one word answer leaving her sighing unhappily.
"Months."
Daniel looked at her pityingly.
"We could shorten the journey." he suggested. "If we catch another ship across the Inland Sea we could cut it down by a thousand miles. More if we cross into the region from the south."
William looked doubtfully at Katherine.
"How much do you know of the current politics in the Old World?"
She shrugged and he turned to Daniel, his eyebrow raised questioningly. Daniel shook his head.
"Politics doesn’t interest me.” he admitted. “I know some of the geography though and I can guess the passes through the northern mountains will be snowed in by the time we get there." Daniel pointed out. "The countries to the south have been peaceful for a long time as far as I know."
William shook his head slowly.
"It's not the peace I'm worried about." he said darkly. "It's the priests."
The blank look Daniel gave him made him scowl.
"Fanatics. The lot of them." he muttered in disgust. "They’re bad enough here, interfering and argumentative. The Old World is even worse. We have no voice in their lands."
He sighed and looked up at Katherine to see her nodding in understanding.
"They hunted us down for sport." she added. "Our people were almost completely eradicated. Now all we hear from there is what the wind tells us and that is little enough."
The prospect of months on horseback weighed on Rebecca’s mind, warring with the chance of running into priests. Behind them both was the memory of the nightmares reminding her that something worse was coming. Eventually Rebecca sighed and looked at her father.
"If we can get a thousand miles closer in half the time then I think it might be worth the risk. We might be able to dodge a few priests that way as well.” She paused, seeming to fall into herself as she added quietly. “We don't have the time to waste."
William studied her for several seconds before nodding once.
"So be it." he said heavily. "Hopefully the One God cult has grown tired of hunting heathens for now."
Packing up their camp took less time than Rebecca expected and they were on their way before mid morning, the saddle creaking beneath her as their horses followed a faint trail at a fast walk. The shade beneath the trees was blissfully cool against her skin and she smiled up at the sun filtering through the leaves.
"It's a good morning for riding." Daniel said beside her.
She nodded absently, stroking her free hand through the horse's mane.
"I suppose."
He chuckled at her answer.
"I take it you don't like riding."
She shook her head at his statement.
"I don't mind riding." she corrected. "It's how I feel at the end of the day that I don't like."
She heard a soft snort from William ahead of her and frowned at his back.
"I hope we can take a ship most of the way." she said softly. "I can live with whatever we find on the other side if I don't have to get there with my rear end bruised into oblivion."
William chuckled again, half turning in the saddle to call back to her.
"I'll make enquiries as soon as we land in the Old World. Until then expect to ride most of the way. You won't be disappointed that way."
She groaned and slouched in the saddle, letting her mind drift among the trees to distract herself from the thought of endless days in the saddle.
Daniel brought her back to herself quickly a minute later.
"They can feel you when you do that." he told her. "There's a part of you out there that draws them."
She looked at him in surprise.
"What do you mean?"
He tapped the side of his head, smiling at her.
"They tell me that you're searching for something, that your mind isn't stuck in your own head."
Lifting his chin toward William and Katherine, he shook his head.
"They can't do it, get out of their own heads." he said easily. "It's an Air thing, feeling beyond what you can see."
Her eyebrows drew down in confusion as he spoke.
"Why is it an Air thing? I thought it was something that came with the Path."
Ahead of them William shook his head.
"Kath and I can feel shadows from a distance, all of us can. But we can't send our minds wide like you can."
She looked at Daniel questioningly and he nodded.
"The Air carries your mind, extends your senses. The voices in the wind bring you the secrets of the world around you."
Chuckling, he swept his arm around at the trees and the river nearby.
"You and I can see further than most because we are open to what the wind can tell us. They can hear the tiny steps of a mouse a mile away and they will tell us if that is what we want."
She smiled doubtfully at his statement and patted the neck of her horse.
"I think they have better things to watch than a mouse." she murmured.
He laughed and shook his head.
"You would be surprised at the things that interest them." he told her in amusement. "As a child, many times I was shown the shape and hue of a particularly brightly coloured autumn leaf. They came to me even before my initiation, much to the despair and exasperation of my mother. Well before my initiation they knew I would be chosen by the Air and it wasn't until after that I began to have a semblance of control as to what they would show me."
She frowned at him doubtfully. She had never felt or heard anything until her own initiation.
"So you saw a mouse." she asked sceptically.
He nodded, grinning broadly at a memory.
"I saw a mouse playing with a leaf under a tree I knew was a mile from home. My father took me out there when I told him and we found the leaf, teeth marks and all."
Daniel's story left her with plenty to think about and they travelled on in silence for almost an hour until she looked up at a sudden explosion of feathers and the whirring beat of wings. The momentary glimpse she had of a bird taking off in panicked flight was lost at the view of the river sparkling in the sun, shards of bright light lancing into her eyes. A faint feeling of unease gnawed at her and she reined in her horse. William looked back at her and nodded, showing that he felt it too.
"They're biding their time until nightfall." he told her. "They're not far away but the sun is weakening them."
Daniel looked from Rebecca to William and back.
"They?"
Rebecca raised an eyebrow questioningly. After telling her that the wind brought him all sorts of news, she found it hard to believe that he couldn’t sense a Shadow.
"You don't feel them?"
He shook his head.
"All I feel is that for the first time in almost a week my stomach is full."
He paused, his hand resting on his stomach.
"Feels a little too full to be honest." he muttered. "I think I might actually be sick."
Rebecca rolled her eyes, giving her father a knowing smile.
"You're not about to be sick." she told Daniel. "That's what I feel when the shadows are nearby."
He suddenly doubled over in the saddle and vomited, the large breakfast he had eaten splattering on the ground. Rebecca winced at the sight.
"Then again. Maybe you ate too much for breakfast."
Nudging her horse up to join William, she handed him the reins and lightly jumped off. Rummaging in her saddlebag she pulled out a tin cup and dipped it into the river, bringing the icy clear water to Daniel as he wiped his mouth. He took it, grimacing and looking around before rinsing his mouth out.
"Still feel sick." he muttered hoarsely.
"You've never felt the Shadows before?" she asked in surprise.
He shook his head.
"I've never seen one."
The unease in her stomach deepened and she winced. The thought of facing whatever lay ahead of them with someone who had never even faced a Shadow drew an involuntary shiver from her. She wasn’t given much time to dwell on it though as the last trace of colour fled Daniel's face and he hurriedly shoved the cup at her to turn and vomit again over the opposite side of his horse. Rebecca looked at William worriedly and he shrugged.
"First Shadow sometimes has that effect on people." he told her. "You seem to be the exception."
Taking the reins of Daniel's horse, she tugged on them, urging the horse into a walk. Daniel clung to the saddle pommel, swaying with the movement.
"If he's going to be throwing up at the sight of a Shadow, we're going to need somewhere we can protect him." Katherine said softly to William. "If we've got the river at our backs, that will give us some protection."
William nodded agreement.
"We've got time while there is still daylight. Let's get further downstream and find a good place to make a stand if we need to."
William kept them moving into the late afternoon, not stopping until they came to a wide sandy beach on a bend in the river. Katherine barely glanced at it before nodding approvingly.
"We've got the river on two sides and a good space in front of us before the trees." she said. Dismounting with a grimace, she stretched out her back. "It's been awhile since I last spent a long day in the saddle."
Rebecca smirked at her complaint even though her own rear end was aching.
"Perhaps I won't be the only one wishing we weren't riding so far."
Katherine scowled at her.
"Remember I'm more than a hundred years older than you."
Rebecca lifted her chin at where William was sliding out of the saddle.
"Then what's his excuse?"
Katherine's retort fell on deaf ears as Rebecca and Daniel both suddenly doubled over, groaning and clutching at their stomachs. Despite the pain she felt, she still had the presence of mind to reach out and snatch a handful of his shirt before he tumbled off his horse. Moments later hands were taking hold of her, steadying her.
"What the hell was that?" she gasped as the pain began to subside.
She looked at Daniel to see he was white and shaking, sweat beading on his brow. Groaning as he slowly straightened, he looked down at his trembling hands.
"Something is here."
"That settles it." William growled beside him. ""We're staying here."
Katherine patted Rebecca’s leg gently, drawing her attention.
"Let's get you down and then the two of you are going to sit and rest. Will and I can get the wards set and build you a fire."
Rebecca nodded thankfully and gingerly lifted her foot from the stirrup.
Half an hour later she sat shivering beside the fire she had managed to kindle herself, Daniel wrapped in a blanket beside her.
"It's here." he muttered to her, his eyes tracking William as he set wards around their camp. "You felt it too."
She nodded, replaying the moment the excruciating knife of agony had ripped through her in her mind. At the time she hadn't understood it but time and a clear head let her sort out what she had felt in those few seconds.
"It's something I've never felt before." she murmured. "Something purely evil."
He snorted softly but didn't interrupt her thoughts.
"It didn't feel close." she added uncertainly, her voice lifting into a question.
He shook his head.
"Not close." he agreed. "But not terribly far."
She winced at a change in the uneasy feeling that had plagued her for hours, easily deciphering the message.
"It might not be close but the Shadows are coming."
She looked up and saw William looking at her. He nodded once to let her know that he had felt it too and went back to his work, moving a little faster than before.
"We have water and fire." she whispered to herself. "Air and earth. We can hold our place tonight."
A sweaty hand slipped into hers and she looked down at Daniel's fingers wrapping around her own.
"I might not have made the best impression earlier but I want you to know that I will stand beside you when they come."
A faint smile came to her lips as she looked up at him.
"Even if it makes you sick?"
He coloured but nodded.
"Especially if it makes me sick."
The Shadows appeared at dusk, slinking from the trees at the edge of the clearing. William scowled at them when they stopped just short of the wards. His scowl deepened when he saw something behind them, a shape that stayed well back in the darkness under the trees. For a moment he thought it might have been a wolf yet the shape didn't quite seem right and its gait suggested something more human than animal. It faded from his view before he could get a better look, more Shadows joining the circle. Rebecca appeared by his shoulder, a look of grim determination etched across her pale face.
"There are more than I thought." she muttered. "And I can feel something far worse behind them."
Daniel joined them, his face as pale as Rebecca’s.
"The nightmares." he muttered. "Can you feel them?"
She closed her eyes, letting her senses extend as far as she could. The circling Shadows blocked anything beyond them, the unease surrounding them blinding her. She shook her head in frustration.
"Only the Shadows." she muttered in disgust. "I felt it for a moment but now it is gone."
"Listen to the wind. It knows what is out there."
"I do not need the wind." her elemental spat. "It has sent the Shadows to stop us instead of doing the deed itself."
Rebecca winced at the pulse of heat that flowed through her from her elemental’s fury. A fleeting glimpse of an image flashed through her mind, grey fur and black claws etching themselves into her head.
"I know what is out there." she gasped, her hand unconsciously reaching up to touch her chest.
She turned to Daniel, her eyes wide as she realised what had caused their shared pain.
"It can't be here." she breathed. "It's too soon."
His hands found hers and squeezed them tightly, her fear meeting his at the shaking touch.
"Demon." he answered. "But not Him. Not yet."
The sound of William working the lever action of his rifle broke through their moment and they looked at him as he rested it on his shoulder.
"I'll handle the demon if it shows its face." he growled. "Shadows are all yours."
He turned to glance at them and offered a grim smile.
"We might have a long night ahead of us but at least this lot is too weak to cross the wards."
Daniel looked at them and took a long shuddering breath.
"If the demon attacks it won't matter how weak they are. There must be dozens of them."
Rebecca squeezed his hand and managed a smile of her own. Raising her free hand, a spark ignited in her palm and grew into a swirling fire ball.
"I can thin their numbers."
They were interrupted by Katherine crying out in alarm and a brilliant flare of light as the wards were breached on the opposite side of the clearing near the river bank. The fire ball in Rebecca's hand erupted into an incandescent pillar and she turned to hurl it at the flood of Shadows spilling across the broken wards. In moments it turned into a fan that engulfed the tide, incinerating them and leaving ash in the wind. William's powerful voice cut over the sound of Shadows wailing in alarm.
"Retreat to the fire! Cover each other's backs!"
His broad hand landed on her shoulder and he pushed her toward the fire near the edge of the water, Daniel falling into step beside her. Her fathers voice dropped as he growled in her ear.
"Warn me if you are going to burn out again."
She looked back at him and nodded. She didn’t have a good track record for staying conscious after fighting Shadows and she doubted that she would last long after this on. Not if the demon joined in.
"I'll stand as long as I can."
He nodded once and turned his back to the campfire, drawing a revolver as the last wards broke and the Shadows circled closer. The warmth of the fire at her back calmed her and she called another fire ball into existence, feeling its heat in her palm. The splash of water let her know that Katherine had drawn on her own elemental's power.
"There are enough to share." her elemental purred. "Let nothing stand against us."
The first rush of Shadows was met with fire, Rebecca hurling fire balls as fast as she could create them. What the fire missed, glowing shards of razor sharp ice took care of. When the Shadows tried to escape into the soil, the river rose around them to flush them out. Rebecca looked back anxiously at the fire, relieved to see that Katherine was keeping the water well away from her source of power. The roar of William's revolvers echoed sharply over the crackle of the flames and in moments the Shadows broke off their attack and retreated. The river subsided and Daniel looked around at them in awe, staring as William broke open his revolvers and swiftly reloaded.
"Amazing." he breathed, turning to her with wide eyes.
She shook her head and lifted her chin to the circling Shadows.
"Stay alert Daniel." William growled for her. "That was just a test of our abilities."
Daniel froze, his eyes darting from Shadow to Shadow.
"They'll try again?"
She nodded as the Darkness inched closer.
"It won't be long."
The fire flared as she frowned at the Shadows surrounding them again, a fireball blooming in each palm. She felt her elemental pulling at her control, influencing her actions.
"This will only end in your destruction." she hissed at the Shadows, her elemental’s voice bleeding into hers. "Do you honestly think that you can take on four of the Path with any chance of surviving?"
The Shadows wavered and she stepped forward at their hesitation.
"If you value what little hold you have left on this world, disappear and never cross our path again."
"It is not our fate to fade away." one Shadow whispered. "Glory and immortality will be ours with your death."
The flames rose with her anger, only Daniel's hand on her shoulder stopping her from letting it loose.
"I give you one last chance." Rebecca said stiffly, briefly wresting control of herself back from her elemental.
In answer the Shadows flowed forward once again and she sighed in resignation, letting her elemental take control. The fire leapt up and swept around her, incandescent tendrils whipping through the darkness and leaving burning afterimages behind them. The Shadows howled in fury and despair as they were engulfed and incinerated, their attack remorselessly thrown aside. When Rebecca let the flames fade away, nothing stood in front of them except ash and bubbling darkness pooled on the ground.
They stood together, surveying the space between them and the trees.
"That can't be all." Katherine muttered.
Looking over her shoulder at the fire, Rebecca set it flaring brilliantly with a thought, the light illuminating the drifting ashes that remained from the Shadows. A growl deeper in the trees made her turn, her eyes blazing as she tried to see what remained out of sight.
"Come out and face me!"
The others retreated to cover her back as a pair of fireballs ignited in her hands.
"Don't chase it." Daniel muttered behind her. "That's what it wants."
She stiffened at his warning, half turning to glare at him.
"Then bring it to me so I can destroy it." she snarled in reply.
A blast of frigid air swirled past them and Daniel flinched as it shrieked through the trees, branches whipping and snapping in its wake.
"My brothers will tear the forest apart at her bidding." his elemental moaned. "She offers them too much freedom with her mere suggestion."
A howl echoed through the trees, rising into a shrill scream. A flurry of voices filled his head; excitement, warning and apprehension swirling together. Daniel concentrated, bending his will against the wind that was raging through the forest. To his surprise, the wind had something caught up in it, its squealing anger matching the sounds they could hear. Struggling to bring it under control, he reached out blindly to grasp Rebecca's shoulder. She tensed at the touch, her head snapping around to glare at him.
"Let it go." he gasped, his voice soft and strained with the struggle to keep control of the wind. "I've got it."
The will fighting him eased and he swept the wind through the trees, bringing their enemy to them. It burst into the clearing, limbs and claws thrashing futilely against the swirling vortex that held it.
Katherine swore softly at the sight of it and William growled wordlessly.
"That shouldn't exist." Katherine muttered in horrified disgust.
"It's the first sign that He is coming." Daniel murmured distractedly, his concentration occupied by keeping the creature restrained.
"They have broken through into this world once more." Rebecca's elemental moaned. "He will not be far behind. Destroy this one and we must move on. We must find our Elder."
Rebecca frowned in confusion but nodded. A glance at Daniel showed that he was tiring quickly, the effort of keeping the demon trapped in the vortex causing him to sweat. She stepped forward, the fire balls in her hands flaring white as she snarled at it.
"The Path has no need of you demon."
It whined and a voice thundered through her head, the force of it bringing her to her knees and extinguishing the flames.
"YOU CAN BANISH ME CHILD BUT KNOW THIS. I AM HIS EXALTED MESSENGER AND HE WILL RETURN ME AT THE HEAD OF HIS HOST. HE IS COMING AND NONE SHALL STAND BEFORE HIM."
Rebecca staggered upright, holding out a hand to stop William and Katherine from helping her. Reaching out her other hand, she rested it on Daniel's shoulder.
"We will stand in his way." she growled hoarsely. "If you are his messenger, tell him that."
A pillar of fire sprang up in her hand and she looked at it reverently.
"Remember my face, demon. I'll be the one to return you to hell when we meet again."
A flick of her wrist sent the fire hurtling across the clearing, exploding across the writhing grey furred body. As the flames ate into it, the demon screamed once more into her mind, the force of its hatred making her stagger.
"I SHALL RETURN AND YOUR SOUL SHALL BE MINE!"
In moments it had been reduced to ash and blown away by the raging tornado. Daniel gasped and fell to his knees, the vortex dissipating.
"So strong." he panted. "It was so powerful."
Sinking to her knees beside him, she nodded slowly and slid her fingers between his. Feeling the power beginning to fade, she squeezed his hand.
"We're stronger." she murmured in return. "We have to be."
Sighing in relief as the last of the energy left her, she tiredly closed her eyes and passed out.
The sky was dark when she opened her eyes, her head immediately beginning to pound. She groaned and rolled over, pulling the blanket over her head.
"You're awake."
She peeked out from beneath the blanket to see Daniel sitting beside her.
"How long?" she groaned.
"It's near midnight." he answered promptly. "William and Katherine are watching the wards in case the Shadows come back."
She groaned again at the thought.
"They will not return tonight." her elemental whispered. "The demon guided them and gave them power. With it gone they will not dare face us again soon."
Daniel shifted beside her and she heard a tin mug rattle on the ground.
"William told me to give you this when you woke up." he told her.
She lifted the blanket off her head to look at the mug.
"Does it smell bad?" she asked warily.
He looked at the mug in disgust and nodded. She sighed and pointed to her saddlebag nearby.
"There's a mug in there. Can you get me some water."
He raised an eyebrow at her request.
"It's going to taste foul and I want something to wash the taste out." she muttered, reaching for the mug waiting for her.
He nodded and hurried away to the river. Taking a deep breath, she upended the mug and swallowed the oily liquid inside, trying hard not to taste it. He returned with the second mug as she tossed aside the first, grimacing and fighting the urge to vomit. Snatching at the mug he handed her, it spilled over her in her haste. The icy water splashed down her neck unheeded while she gulped it down. She finally shivered and let the empty mug fall from her hands as she gasped for air.
"That bad?" he asked.
She managed to nod, the movement bringing a sharp pain to her head. Laying down again, she pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and rolled to look at him.
"It's not the first time I've burned out." she murmured thickly at his worried frown. "And for all that it tastes vile, it does help."
His eyebrows drew down at her admission.
"How many times have you done this?"
She shrugged lethargically, surprised at how quickly the tonic had begun to work.
"That was my first demon." she murmured, already feeling sleepy. "My fourth burn out in the last month."
Her eyelids slid closed, losing the fight against whatever William had decided to drug her with.
"Fourth?" he asked incredulously.
"Maybe fifth." she sighed. "I can't remember. It's been a rough couple of weeks."
Whatever answer or concerns he had fell on deaf ears as the drugs in the tonic took a firm hold of her and she slipped back into sleep.
