NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8: De Escalation
Luna
When the two of them began walking to the door, I began to dip below the window on the front of the house, and for a split second, I swore I saw Mr. Blaxen glance my way. Heart beating in my chest, I tried to dip beneath the frosted bush, yet my skirt kept fluffing out, and I cursed and pulled it back in as the front door opened.
"Ah shit, it's bloody cold. I hope you bundled up well." I heard the voice of my father as the two men began to step out.
I turned around carefully and peeked out from behind the snow-covered bush, only to instantly regret it as my eyes locked with the large lizard man. His mouth parted slightly, revealing his carnivorous teeth, which shook me to the bone. Back in the old days of my prior life as an overweight nerd, I always thought dragonborn in D&D and lizardfolk were cool and the artwork neat, but to see something like them in the flesh was horrific. It reminded me of the old Jurassic Park movies and the velociraptors; something about them was just… uncanny.
God, I probably sound like a racist. The point is, the guy was freaky, and seeing him smile at me sent me whirling back behind the bush in utter fear. My tiny little heart was beating so fast that I thought it was going to rupture. Did he know I was listening in?
When Madam Soza, Varis, and I came outside, we went over to see Mr. Blaxen's land strider, and to refer back to what I said about my fear of those Jurassic Park velociraptors, well, land striders looked like goddamn allosauruses! At least that's what I would've said last time I was a child, who was obsessed with dinosaurs. To say I made sure to stay as far away as I could is an understatement, and while Varis kept poking the proverbial bear and Madam Soza was trying to stop him from getting eaten, I made the usual child excuse of tugging on Soza's dress and asking her to go to the little girl's room.
Trusting me to not get lost going to the outhouse in the backyard, Soza allowed me to venture off on my own. Now, I'll be honest; I wasn't entirely lying. I did have to use the bathroom, but part of me also wanted to take a peek at what was happening in the house, and you know, if I get caught, plausible deniability.
Well, when I got back to the house to listen, I didn't expect to hear what I heard. Despite my fear of Mr. Blaxen, the man seemed genuine. I never heard Mother get so angry the way she did. Even the tone that Father took seemed off. All this time, I have always seen Mother as cheerful and, well, just chill. Unlike my old mother, Cailynn, she was always pleasant. Even the few times I got in trouble, she'd never raise her voice or swear like I heard her just a few minutes ago.
It was genuinely scary. What did Mr. Blaxen do to make her so mad? I vaguely heard her mention something about a person named Cyrus dying. Who was Cyrus? Who was Mom or Dad? I never really spoke to them—well, not as much as a six-year-old should. In my past life, before I came to this world, I lived in a trailer with my brother and his family.
My little nephew was six. Well, he's probably twelve now, but... what I remember of him is that the little bastard wouldn't shut the fuck up. Always ask questions. I don't do that. Mom and Dad are Mom and Dad, and I'm just me. The only person I ask questions to is Madam Soza. Aside from that, I'm reading in my room and maybe goofing off with Varis.
Just like… my old life, honestly.
"I forgot to mention Slyran." I could hear Mr. Blaxen snarling mischievously.
"Aye, what is it?" My father said as I watched the back of him move towards Varis and Soza, who was yanking my brother away just before the strider could headbutt him.
"Your children," Mr. Blaxen said with a light chuckle as he walked behind. "They're adorable." He glanced back over his shoulder, his swirling purple eyes catching sight of me as I yelped, jolted away, and quickly ran behind the house toward the outhouse.
I should go use the restroom before something embarrassing happens!
Having relieved myself in the outhouse, I step out with a pleasant sigh. The thoughts of what I witnessed are still heavy on my mind. I hadn't heard everything that was said as I listened through the window. All I knew was that Mr. Blaxen had grave news, and Father wanted Mother to see it. When she finally relented and they went to the kitchen, there was no other nearby window for me to move to listen—at least not one that would've allowed me to listen in freely without being seen.
Yet I saw Mr. Blaxen place down an envelope, one which Mom and Dad read, and it was there that they all got this serious look on their faces. Maybe I could ask Mom about it? Well, she won't even tell me what's in the cabin. I thought as I turned my head towards the cabin, a few dozen feet away from me. I was tempted to try and infiltrate it now, but I think that would just make everything worse if I got caught.
Well, just like the cabin. It doesn't hurt to at least ask, besides, if my mother was upset. Maybe seeing my provenly adorable face could get her to lighten up! So hey, two birds, one stone!
I made my way back around the house to the front yard when, suddenly, my heart ran cold when I heard the sound of a shrill cry. My vision blurred as the visages of people running out of a store and a man wielding a gun flashed before my eyes, and I froze. My hands trembled, and I gritted my teeth as another shriek caught my ears. I snapped out of it and began to bolt towards the front of the house, lifting my skirt as I swiftly trudged through the snow.
As I rounded the corner of the house, I could hear my father frustratedly shouting. "This is why I always told you to not grab a Strider by their claws! Do not pull on their fingers, or they'll knock you down, or worse, they'll bite you!" Before me, I could see Varis by the sycora tree in our front yard, cradling his arm as Madam Soza bent over him. Father stood over him, wagging his finger.
Off on the side, I could see Mr. Blaxen looking a bit uncomfortable as he checked on his large, dark-scaled strider, which huffed and squawked agitatedly. Lifting my skirt again, I quickly dashed through the heavy snow, my calves freezing, though I didn't care. My older brother, who felt more like my younger brother, was hurt.
"Wh-what happened?" I asked, looking between Father and Soza.
Though Father didn't seem to hear me as he continued to scold Varis, "Do you see how big those teeth are, boy? If that thing bites you, you'll lose an arm! They are not pets; you need to be careful."
Soza looked up at Father and held a cautious hand up to him. "Slyran, you are only scaring him more. I think he's learned his lesson."
Suddenly, the front door to the house flew open, and wearing only her casual dress, Mother came wading through the snow. "What is going on here?!" She shouted as her head snapped between us around the tree and then to Mr. Blaxen.
Immediately, Mr. Blaxen raised his hands and said, "Cailynn, it was an accident."
"Did you hurt my child?" She snapped at him and began to quickly pace towards him. "Did you touch my boy?"
Immediately, I knew this was going south fast, and I needed to act.
Mother continued to approach Mr. Blaxen, and I swear I saw her eyes flash a different color. "I swear to Margon, if you touch a single hair on my boy, I'll make you regret—"
"Momma!" I shouted as I quickly ran over to her and threw my arms around her legs, nearly knocking her into the snow, though quickly she caught herself and looked down at me.
"Lu-Luna!" She gasped out as she gripped my shoulders.
"It wasn't Mr. Blaxen!" I said quickly and turned to point in the direction of Varis and Father, and by this point, my brother was getting to his feet. "It was Varis; he was being stupid again!"
"I'm not stupid!" Varis cried out as he cradled his arm and whimpered as Soza began to guide him inside, whispering to him about getting his arm looked at.
"Father said he was tugging on the strider's finger, and it knocked him over!" I said it with an affirmative nod, despite only going off of the context clues.
Mother's hardened face softened a bit. "Is that so?"
"Yeah!" I nodded. "Please don't be mad; he was just playing, and Mr. Blaxen couldn't have known Varis would be a dummy around his pet; he did nothing wrong." Mother blinked a few times as she looked down at me; even Father looked a little surprised off to the side.
The one to break the silence was Mr. Blaxen. "I apologize, truly. Ember here isn't good with children. I can compensate you if she did lasting damage." He said this as he opened one of the saddle bags on the side of the strider and pulled out a small coin purse.
"There's no need, Lorizo," Father said as he came over to us. "My daughter is correct. My boy should've known better to try and play with Ember. There is no need for compensation. Please be on your way."
Mr. Blaxen hesitated for a second but gave a curt nod, stashed the coin purse away, and began to mount the reptilian beast. "As I was then, take care!" He said that as he flicked the reins, the strider let off a howl before trotting forth through the snow and turning in the direction of town.
Mother remained quiet as I clung to her. As I looked back up at her, I saw her face was partially wet with tears. Her skin was red from the cold, and I could feel her shivering slightly out in the frigid cold.
"Hon, let's get you inside," Father said. "It's freezing out here. You too, Luna. Come inside."
"Ouch, ow, argh!" Varis gasped and whined as Soza looked over his left arm as he sat on the kitchen counter. After a few moments, she glanced over to me and my mother, who was bundled up in blankets at the dinner table. "It hurts; I can barely move it!" He whined as Soza gently lowered his arm.
"It looks to be broken." Soza spoke softly and looked at Mother. "Do you have anything we can use to splint this? Or should I get things prepped to take him down to the physician's office?"
Mother closed her eyes before burying her face in the blankets to sneeze. Pulling her face back out, she tiredly looked to Soza and said, "I have scrolls of healing in the cabin and in the healers kit on the wall behind you." She glanced at Varis. "Give Momma a few moments, Dearie, and I'll get your arm fixed."
My eyes widened upon hearing this. Magic! I'm going to get to see magic again! A few seconds passed as Mother shuffled in her place, trying to warm herself up, before finally standing up with her blanket draped around her. Eager to see this first hand, I got up and went to follow her, but stopped when Father came up behind me and gently placed his hand on my hand.
"Stay back, little one," he said in a hushed tone as he knelt. "It's better to see this further away; you don't want to accidentally interrupt her." He explained as Mother politely gestured for Soza to step back.
Mother whispered to Varis, too quiet for me to hear, as she examined his arm, which I could see was bruising heavily around his joint. My stomach churned a little, and I bit my lower lip as I visibly cringed as Mother lightly tapped which points hurt the most to narrow down the source of the injury.
Varis gasped sharply when Mother found the area of the fracture, and she straightened up and went over to the healer's kit, which hung from the wall. You should ask questions, I thought to myself, just like your old nephew used to do.
"What is Mother doing, Father?" I glanced over my shoulder at him, glancing down at me, his mustache lifting slightly as he smiled.
"She's helping your brother; inside that bag is one of your mother's special scrolls," he said.
"Like a magic scroll?" I continued to play along, and Father nodded.
"Yep, a magic scroll that can heal almost anything." He knelt beside me.
I tapped my chin in thought. See, you're already learning stuff. I got some keywords there: "almost." So, is the magic here not like a fix for everything?
"If it's magic, can't it do anything?" I asked Father, who snorted and shook his head.
"No, Sweetie, if we Elves and other Enorans could do anything with magic, then Merlin and Margon would be out of a job. Magic can do a lot, but even it has its limitations," he explained as Mother walked over to Varis with a scroll and began to unroll it.
Merlin and Margon? I thought. I recall Soza mentioning something about gods in this world; I've known about them somewhat since I started to learn how to read and dig through my mother and father's books. If memory serves me right, Merlin and Margon were the two gods of magic.
"Those are gods, right?" I asked Father, and he smiled and nodded.
"Yep, the two gods of magic. Merlin the Bookkeeper and Margon the Hammerer."
By this point, Mother began to chant softly as the lights in the room dimmed slightly and the scroll before her began to emit a faint green light. Rings of green light began to drip down from the scroll like wet ink to the base of her feet, forming a glowing circle of runes and arcane imagery around her feet. From these runes, petals of light began to dance up into the air as if caught in an upward draft, and my eyes widened along with Varis, who seemed to have forgotten his pain.
As Mother continued to chant, she lifted her left arm and reached out to Varis before planting it on his head, her eyes becoming nothing but green light before finally finishing with,
"Healing." Varis's eyes widened as his entire body shimmered, and I noticed the bruising on his arm beginning to retract and something beneath the skin shifting. Just as Mother released his head, the scroll in her other hand shriveled and crumpled into magical dust, which evaporated into nothing.
"Whoooaa!" Varis cheered as he began to move his once-broken arm around with ease.
Madam Soza's eyes widened, and she reached out to stop him, though Mother held a hand up to her. "He is fine, Isa." She smiled. "Rejuvenate was enough to get him back to normal." She placed her hands on her hips proudly.
"That's amazing," I muttered softly, and Father laughed and ruffled my hair.
"That's your mother for you! A skilled user of magic!" He stood up as Mother turned around and frowned.
"Sylran, don't go spouting nonsense!" She huffed, though I could see the faint blush on her cheeks.
Father stepped past me and continued to chuckle. "What? It's not like they were never going to find out, dear." He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug as he looked at Varis. "How are you feeling, boy?"
"Good as new!" Varis beamed. "I was scared I wasn't going to be able to play outside anymore."
Father hesitated for a second before smirking and nodding. "C-Come here." He stuttered his voice, shaking a little.
Varis hopped off the counter, and with his big hand, Father pulled him into a hug along with Mother before looking over his shoulder. "You too, Luna. It's family hug time!" He laughed, though I couldn't help but notice something off.
Yet I didn't keep him waiting as I ran over and wrapped my small arms around their legs. "That includes you, Isa." Mother said, and the Serelli woman blinked a few times and blushed before smiling and coming over.
"Tomorrow," Father said with a happy sigh as we all hugged it out. "Luna, Varis, meet me in the backyard when the sun rises."
"Why so early?" Varis asked.
"Because I want to show you both something." With that, we all released the air in the room, feeling much better now as we all looked at one another. "But right now, how about we all go out to eat tonight? I heard the Yogi Maws are serving a magnificent steak this evening."
"Yaaay!" Varis practically squealed, and my eyes widened. Not often do we go out to eat in town, and the last time we went to the Yogi's Maw, Mother complained about how expensive it was.
"But what about school?" I asked, and Varis instantly shot daggers at me.
Madam Soza spoke up, "I think it is best we put off school early today." She smiled at us, and Varis fist-pumped the air.
"Agreed," Father said. "Now go on, you two. Get a change of clothes into something more proper. We leave in thirty!"