Faytes of the Otherworld: Fayted
Then There Were Two

“Go home! All of you; go home! Everything is fine. We had a little incident, but all is well now. I will brief everyone on it in the morning.” Liam had finally gone to direct the last few people that just couldn’t let their curiosity go.

“Let’s get her to the cottage.” Dani heard Liam speaking to whoever was holding her. Even though his words were able to creep past her ears, she still didn’t have the strength to open her eyes, let alone move. She felt her saviour heave her up effortlessly and begin walking.

“I can take her; you shouldn’t be doing any sort of strenuous activity,” Liam spoke again. His voice sounded a little shaky as he tried to convince whoever was holding her to hand her over.

Before the other person could respond, Dani slipped into unconsciousness once more.

(*)

“I don’t understand it either.” There was Liam’s voice again, but this time slightly calmer.

“She just—” Pete made a weird explosion sound with his mouth.

Dani finally had the strength to open her eyes. The room was dimly lit and she could see shadows of figures moving on the opposite side of the curtain. She was in Liam’s cottage again, in his bed, but this time she was not alone. An arm was slung over her waist, a hand lying curled up by her hip.

Dani slowly inched her body around till she could see who was behind her.

Evan laid there, his messy reddish hair hanging over his closed eyes. She almost leapt from the bed in shock when she realized that he was steadily breathing beside her.

“Evan.” She whispered, hesitantly reaching her hand out to touch his face. The tips of her fingers had just grazed his cheek when his eyes fluttered open.

“She’s awake.” He hollered out, slowly sitting upright in the bed.

The curtain was pulled back and in came Liam and Pete, their eyes wide with questions.

“How?” Was the only word that escaped Liam’s lips as he sat on the end of the bed. Dani pulled her feet back and drew her knees up to her face; she suddenly felt self-conscious.

“Do we need to question her now?” Evan had pulled a blanket out from under Pete and delicately tucked it around Dani’s bare feet; someone had removed her boots and her toes felt like ice.

“How can you not want to know what happened? You were dead, man!” Liam was rather excitable.

“Not quite,” Evan spoke in a hushed tone, casting a sidelong glance in Dani’s direction. She caught the look and promptly blushed.

“Do you think I’m dangerous now?” Dani broke the conversation with her abrupt question.

“I never thought you were dangerous in the first place.” Liam’s expression softened as he looked at her. She looked so young at that moment, a small child fearing for her life.

“But all those questions.” Dani tilted her head to the side in confusion.

“I just wanted to know more. You have all this knowledge about them and then we saw the things you could do; it’s incredible. I will admit that it is a bit frightening on the grounds that your special talents are similar to what we have seen in combat, but clearly, you are not one of them.” Liam placed his hand on Dani’s knee in assurance.

“Not quite.” She muttered under her breath.

“And how did you bring him back?” Pete’s eyes were still puffy from crying as he jabbed his thumb in Evan’s direction.

Dani’s eyes were glistening with the question. She couldn’t explain it; no words could describe that level of magic. What she did surpassed scientific explanation.

“I just did. I can’t explain it; it’s innate.” Dani just shrugged; she didn’t know what else to say.

Pete just sat there, mouth agape, looking back and forth between the people in the room. Clearly, he was in shock from it all.

“I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to Anessa. Not even sure I want to go home tonight until I figure out how to approach her.” Evan was scratching the back of his head, talking to no one in particular.

“Don’t. Make up some story about how we brought you back here, tried working on you some more, and miraculously you were revived.” Liam offered an excuse.

“And how do you expect me to explain this?” Evan pulled back the blanket he was wrapped in to reveal the fresh skin around his neck.

Liam opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it.

“Yeah; my point. She is going to flip out.” Evan flopped back on the pillows and threw his arms above his head.

“Sorry?” Dani posed the apology as more of a question, “Didn’t mean to save your life and ruin your day.”

“No, no that’s not what I—what I meant was…” Evan sputtered.

“What he means to say is that Anessa can be a bit of a twat.” Pete bluntly finished Evan’s defense.

Dani tried to hide her amusement at Pete’s description of Anessa; she wasn’t a big fan herself.

“Say it’s a miracle. If most of the people still believe this is Biblical in some way, it just might be believable.” Dani presented her own solution.

“Anessa does seem to follow the crowd; that just might work.” Evan screwed up his mouth and nodded slowly.

“There you have it. Well, I think I have had enough of today and would like to find my cat and get some sleep.” Dani hung her legs over the bed and began stuffing her feet in her boots.

“You mean your talking cat?” Liam handed her other boot over as she felt around for it.

“Well,” Dani breathed. She didn’t know if both Nissa and Orin had spoken to Liam. She decided to not bring it up and instead replied, “Yes, my talking cat. We can talk about this and other things later.” Dani finished lacing her shoes before noticing that she had no coat or her original shirt; her trousers were gone too.

“Who redressed me?” She looked more than irritated as she addressed the men in the room.

“No one saw you undressed. We asked our local seamstress, Cassia, to put you in something a little less—bloody.” Liam explained.

“Where are my old clothes?” Dani was running her hands over the smooth texture of the crow-colored shirt she wore. It looked as if it had been hand sewn.

“Cassia took them to see if they could be salvageable; may just have to scrap them. You’re basically wearing the equivalent of a hospital gown right now.” Evan interjected.

“I see that.” Dani was essentially donning a tunic that fell just below her knees.

“Don’t worry; tomorrow you can have a proper bath and clean up. Then we can get you into some new clothes.” Liam handed her a blanket from atop his high-backed chair for her to wrap up in.

“Thank you.” Dani was short. All she wanted to do was get back to her tent and sleep for as long as possible. She was surprised she was even walking.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Liam stood, offering his hand to her.

“I’ll be fine, just make sure Evan is taken care of.” Dani cast a half smile at Evan.

Liam nodded as she turned and silently waved to the men in her company. She slipped out the door without another word.

(*)

“Not noooow.” Dani groaned, swatting at whatever was dangling in her face.

“Yoo hoo, Dani girl. Get your sparkly butt out of bed.” Nissa sat on her face. In an instant, she was bolt upright and the cat was halfway across the tent.

“Sparkly? Was that a pixie reference?” Dani rubbed shed fur from her face.

“Yes.” Nissa was upside down, her hind legs dangling over her face.

“What time is it?” Dani crawled to the edge of the tent and peered outside. It was still overcast like the day prior, but it looked as if it might rain.

“You’re the one with the watch, darling.” Nissa had now slumped over on herself and just laid there purring.

Dani checked her wrist; a little after eight in the morning.

“Why—why did you wake me?” She flung herself back on her mat and covered her whole body with the blue and gold blanket that had come in her first care package.

“Because you need to go eat something and take yourself a bath because you fecking stink.” Nissa scrunched up her nose.

“Really?” Dani lifted her arm for a sniff. She couldn’t tell either way.

“Cat nose, or Imp rather.” Nissa placed her paw over her little pink nose, “You smell like death and dirt.”

“Awesome. I’m going to go at least run a washrag over myself so I don’t gross out everyone at brekkie.” Dani completely uncovered herself and grabbed her bag. She practically had to dump it out before she found what she was looking for: a pair of plain black leggings. They were the only alternative to her regular cargo trousers and small enough to save space in her bag.

She slipped them on before sliding her feet into her boots one at a time. Dani stared at them for a moment; her feet felt all wrong covered in something that wouldn’t let her soles touch the dirt.

“I don’t want to wear shoes.” She uttered, wiggling her toes inside her boots; they felt claustrophobic.

“Then don’t. It feels nicer to walk barefoot anyway. I do it all the time.” Nissa sauntered over to the tent entrance and waited.

“It’s been seven years since I have gone barefoot.” Dani smirked before walking down to breakfast with nothing between her feet and the Earth.

(*)

Nissa reluctantly let Dani stop to wash up a bit before breakfast and a nice bath.

The cat waited back at one of the more secluded tables while Dani went through the line wearing nothing but a cotton tunic and leggings. All she needed was a bow and some arrows and she would have looked like an elf straight out of one of her favourite books.

“Morning.” Evan’s voice was light as he spoke right near her ear. She jumped a little before turning to nervously smile at him.

“Good morning,” Dani responded as she grabbed a few pieces of sausage for Nissa and placed it on her plate.

“How are you feeling?” Evan grabbed a forkful of bacon right as Pete stepped up next to him and snatched the tongs from his hand.

“I’m decent.” She shrugged. She was actually quite peaceful but awfully tired.

“Good.” One corner of Evan’s mouth turned up, a dimple in his cheek.

“How are you doing?” Dani slid down and grabbed some scones and fruit from the next stall.

“Fantastic, actually. Did you know—” Evan lowered his voice a bit, “Did you know that when you healed me, you healed everything?”

“What do you mean?” Dani didn’t quite understand.

“I mean, even old wounds and scars, imperfections on my skin; all gone. You literally took away anything that had ever once caused me pain or embarrassment. There is a possibility that my tonsils grew back too.” He explained.

Dani almost snorted at the last part and covered her face with her hand.

“Why do you do that?” Evan reached out and casually brushed her hand from her mouth.

“I don’t know; I get self-conscious.” Dani willed herself not to blush.

“Well, don’t be.” Evan playfully commanded her, “Where are your shoes?”

He had glanced down and noticed that instead of her usual clunky old boots, her feet were bare.

“Back in the tent. They just didn’t feel right on my feet; they needed to breathe.” Dani was sure she sounded a bit off, but she wiggled her toes freely. It felt lovely.

“I like to go barefoot too, but Liam would chew me out over it. Likes me to be at the ready, as he puts it.” Evan grabbed a plateful of scones before marching off for beverages.

Dani noticed pots of all shapes and sizes, filled to the brim with hot water. In baskets surrounding them were tea bags and loose leaves ready for drinking.

“Oh, sweet golden elixir.” She murmured, coming around Evan to grab a cup and pour herself some hot tea. There was even fresh cream from the Hedgerow cows.

“I never thought I’d get used to or even like hot tea until we didn’t have it. We have been trying to grow it for years and finally yielded a good crop. Got our hands on some tea bags a few months ago too.” Evan pointed out the bowls full of green tips and boxed tea.

“I love a good black tea—but I prefer an herbal brew.” Dani looked at the different kinds, trying to figure out which to drink.

“Then I’d go with this one.” Evan pointed at a bowl that had little purple flowers in it. “Violets and lavender. Quite calming.”

Dani scooped two heaping spoonfuls of the herbal blend inside her chipped coffee mug before pouring herself some cream.

She smirked slightly at Evan before walking softly all the way back to Nissa. The sandy dirt of the mess hall felt like down under her feet.

“Aaaah, meat.” Nissa purred, snagging a link of sausage.

“Make sure you eat some of this cheese and fruit too.” Dani pointed at them on her plate.

“Yes, mummy.” Nissa mocked, nicking a blueberry or two with her claws.

“It’s nice out today, even if it is grey.” Dani took a deep breath and let herself feel the energy swirling around her. There was electricity in the air and she hoped she would get to bathe before the storm came.

“Fancy meeting you here.” Evan slid in across from her and set his plate down; Pete was not far behind with a tall red-headed woman.

“Dani, this is Shannon,” Evan gestured to the red head, “Pete’s girlfriend.”

The girl bit her lip and slid in between Pete and Evan, “You’re cute. Isn’t she cute, Pete?”

“Yeah, she’s—she’s cute.” Pete sounded a bit uncomfortable and that emotion crept in on Dani.

“Thank—you.” She responded, biting into a strawberry. Shannon just stared at her, an odd dreamy look on her face.

Dani turned from her and focused her attention on Evan.

“So.” Great way to start a conversation, Dani.

“Yeaaaah.” Evan had picked up on the tension between her and Shannon’s lustful stares.

“Well, I think I am done with my breakfast.” Dani stood, picking her plate up with both hands.

“Oh good. Liam said to meet him in his cottage when you were done so he can take you to the bathing pool.” Evan scooped up his own plate and escorted her away while Pete was left behind to distract a very focused Shannon.

“Sorry about that.” Evan led Dani off to the side of Liam’s cottage. There was a private table and bench chairs right under a tall Rowan tree.

Evan set his plate on the table and gestured for her to do the same.

“About what?” She wasn’t quite sure what the apology was for, but she assumed it had to do with Shannon.

“I figured you’d want to at least finish eating. Shannon is—she’s a very open person. And she doesn’t hide it. If she finds you attractive, she’ll make it known.” Evan was dancing around the label.

“She’s pansexual?” Dani filled in the blank.

“Yeah, and I have no problem with that whatsoever, but it makes Pete uncomfortable sometimes because she is so blatant and doesn’t seem to care that it makes him feel that way when she drools over everybody.” Evan stuffed half a scone in his mouth.

“He needs to address that.” Dani finished off her eggs and sipped at her tea.

“He has. She just disregards it, but he keeps letting her. Though, I am not one to talk.” Evan rambled, sipping his own tea.

“Oh?” Dani didn’t want to pry, but since he was talking…

“Anessa. We haven’t exactly been the model couple; rocky at best. It started out good, but it—it just isn’t looking that way anymore.” Evan shrugged, pulling a cigarette from his pocket.

“How did you two meet?” Dani made conversation as she dunked her scone in her tea.

“Here, actually. She arrived at the Hedgerow about three years ago. We had a huge celebration when she and the others got here. There were over thirty of them all at one time that somehow made it here alive. They had been picking up people for months and expanding the group till they finally found us. They heard about the Hedgerow from Pete out on one of our runs.

We all got pretty sozzled that night and Anessa and I

just—” Evan bit the inside of his cheek. “Things got a little wild. I’m not usually one to sleep around, but she had caught my attention with that long blond hair and golden skin. I don’t even like blonds.”

“So, what? You guys just realized that there was more than sex between you two?” Dani was blunt in her response.

“Pretty much. I liked her company. She was wild and spontaneous and I hadn’t experienced that before so it drew me in. Now it just—irritates me. Always wanting to party and drink mead till she can’t hold herself up and then expects me to want to be around her. She just won’t let me breathe.” Evan heaved a heavy sigh before turning away from her.

“Evan,” Dani tried to take away from the embarrassment that was evident between them, “Tell me about Orin. Nissa tells me he’s an Imp.”

“About that, I meant to ask you how in the world it is that Nissa can talk?” Evan easily shifted subjects.

“I could ask the same of you about Orin. He and Nissa are the same breed of fae: Imps. If he is an Imp—what does that make you?” Dani was emboldened for some reason. She had known from the beginning that something was different about Evan. His eyes, his agility, his energy; the very essence of him was inhuman.

“I don’t know. Orin has never told me what he was. An Imp?” Evan tried not to seem too excited, but he was. He had always wondered why he had been so different from everyone else.

“It’s a sort of a daemon, a witch’s familiar. They tend to find those that practice magick; do you practice magick, Evan?” There was a lump in Dani’s throat. If he said yes, he would be the first person she ever met like her. Her mother may have taught her practical witchcraft, but the power that surged within her was cultivated by the Fae.

“I—I have special talents, yes.” Evan looked rather uneasy. He wasn’t sure if he should be telling her anything.

“Like what?” Dani’s eyes were crystal clear as she leaned in over the table.

He turned over his shoulder before thrusting his hand, palm down, towards the ground. The Earth rumbled and broke at the surface, tunneling towards the Rowan tree where ivy vines broke through the dirt and wound up the trunk before curling out in tiny green spirals.

“Whoa.” Dani was kneeling on the bench, her undivided attention on the tree. Evan leaned back from his seat and touched the ground just before the initial break and Dani watched as the ivy unwound from the tree and slipped back underground like a snake.

“That’s incredible.” Dani breathed, scooting across the table top over to Evan’s side to get a better look at the ground. She placed her hand over the spot that Evan had just touched and a hundred tiny amethyst points jutted from the ground, outlining her hand. She lifted her palm from its place in the soft dirt and swiped at the crystals. They made a sharp tinkling sound as they shattered at the base, leaving loose points scattered on the ground. Dani scooped them up and brought them over to Evan.

“Here, have some.” Dani let them drop into his open palm, “They help with relieving stress.”

“Are we the same thing?” Evan asked as Dani stood near the crystal points that she had just conjured from the Earth.

“Possibly? If we are, couldn’t we do the same things?” Dani threw out her hand and a light purple flame erupted in her palm.

Evan reached his hand out to touch it, a look of awe on his face. When his finger met the fire; their tips pulsed green with raw, natural energy. He pulled the little jade balls of kinetic energy back and danced them along, finger to finger, before snapping the flames out.

She was speechless. Their magick was so similar.

“Dani?” Liam’s voice sounded off in the distance.

She clapped her hand on her lap, a puff of smoke mushrooming into the air.

“Dani, there you are. I saw Pete and Shannon and they said you went off this way.” Liam walked over to the table, but paused when he saw Evan, “Did I interrupt something?”

“Oh, no. I just brought Dani over here to eat and get her out of the line of sight.” Evan explained.

“Shannon. Yeah, she seemed rather fond of the recollection of you two walking off.” Liam rolled his eyes.

“Can I take a bath now?” Dani dug her toes into the dirt, listening to a robin chirping in the tree. Even though her clothes were rather fresh, she knew that she was still very dirty.

“Yes, yes. That’s why I came down here. I wanted to introduce you to Cassia and then get you in for a bath. Usually, we have bath specific days, especially in the warmer months, but I am making an exception for you since I know you’d like some time to clean up and relax.” Liam looped his arm for Dani to take and follow him to the other side of the cabin.

“See you later, Dani.”

Dani turned her head to see Evan standing by the table, arms crossed, and a large amethyst point in one hand.

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