In the Land of Fae 2: Return to Ice ♔ (gxg)

9. dark spirit

The fae regrouped for dinner after their long day of completing their tasks Caspian had delegated to them.

As the cold front rolled in throughout the day, they decided to have a vegetable stew for dinner. They sat in the grand hall sipping their soup and eating bread, talking and laughing as if nothing major had happened in the last couple of days. They invited Erlin and Flannery as well, since Erlin was technically the shifter figurehead, and Flannery his newfound best friend.

Flannery's ear poked through her fluffy red hair as she sipped on the stew. Erlin was scrounging the food down, as normal, until Abitha reached across the table and smacked his head to get him to slow down.

"You're making a mess!" she scolded him in a whisper as he wiped away the soup he had splattered on his shirt.

Flannery chuckled, her cheeks turning a jolly rose color from behind her thick layer of freckles. Suddenly, the door to the grand hall burst open suddenly, and Flannery squeaked and jumped in her chair. With a scaly noise, she seemingly disappeared from the table.

Catori, who had burst through the door with an aggressiveness that alerted everyone, saw that Flannery was now in snake form on the seat of her chair, coiling into a tight circle and sticking her tiny tongue out at Catori.

"Sorry, Flannery," Catori told the girl, petting the top of her flat, clammy head as she walked near the table. There was a small leather satchel situated across her shoulders that was bulky with contents inside of it.

"What's the matter?" Caspian asked, his eyes full of worry with how urgently Catori had entered.

Flannery morphed back into fae form, hissing as the last scales on her ears returned to normal skin. Nyx was too busy watching her seemingly easy transformation with amazement as Catori began explaining herself.

"I've been brewing up protection jars," Catori told everyone as she squeezed between Erlin and Flannery's chair to set the satchel down in the middle of the table, almost knocking some loaves of bread off a platter.

Caspian watched with confusion as Catori began pulling out tiny jars that were filled with colorful contents that dazzled Nyx's interest. She started handing them down to everyone in the room, giving Nyx the first bottle.

Nyx took the tiny jar, feeling the cold glass against her palm as she studied it. The jar was filled with water, and floating around in the water were a couple tiny green and orange stones, and tiny pink flowers settled in between. The jar was sealed with dried red candlewax.

Alastair took the jar handed to her next and turned it around in her hand. "What's this?"

Catori handed jars to Caspian and Abitha next. "Moon water," she explained as she handed two more to Gwyneira and Ilmari, then Erlin and Flannery. "With tourmaline and amber, and a bit of Vervain." She sighed as she handed off the last one to the shifter girl, wiping her forehead.

"What is this for?" Caspian questioned, holding the jar far away from his face as if he expected it to start exploding in his hand.

"Protection," she curtly explained as she sat down next to Erlin. "It will help ward off dark energies, especially those attempting to penetrate your mind." She grabbed a piece of bread and tore off a bit, chewing it hungrily. "Keep it on your person at all times—in your pocket or bag. I can make them into necklaces if you want."

Abitha looked between the jar and Catori. "Is this about Mabuz?"

Catori said nothing, only continued chewing her bread more slowly as she stared at Caspian who was giving her a rather rotten look.