Breaking the Moon

5: The Fae Road

.^^ The Rune-Stone ^^

— Haven —

I gasped, clutching my heart, and stared upwards into the golden eyes of the woman whose throat I was holding.

She smiled, seemingly unafraid, and I released her as the light stopped reflecting off her eyes, and they were suddenly charcoal grey. "Sorry... you surprised me... where- oh, I hit my head... you caught the kitten, yeah?" I rubbed my forehead, and pulled away a finger sticky with almost-dry blood. "I was out for a few minutes, then?"

"Yeah, maybe two or three. I'm Ryan, I run the security in the community." She held out a hand, and helped me stand.

I groaned, clutching my head. "I thought Max did that?"

She smiled. "Max runs the Beta Squad. I'm the leader of the Alpha Squad, whose members are each leaders of different squads, like Max."

"Ah, a hierarchy. Perfect." I grumbled, and stretched my back. "Hey, did you see a silver ball? I think it conked my skull... kinda shiny?"

She picked up a piece of a glass ball. "Yep... luckily it's just a replica... it's a pretty important piece of our... local history. Avery could tell you more than me."

I nodded. "So I've heard... anyway, sorry for the hassle, and the Glass."

A woman carrying an armful of kittens kissed my cheek, suddenly. "Thank you, I was worried about them." She blushed, and darted out gracefully.

"Huh. Cute." I shrugged.

Ryan nodded and held out a hand. "Let's get you to Thatch. Get that cut looked at."

I took her hand cautiously, and followed her out of the library. Her movements were graceful, and smooth, like she was gliding over the ground, instead of walking.

The outside of the clinic looked normal, but when she opened the door, the pure white and chrome interior blew away my expectations. State of the Art tech graced every wall, and a huge operating table took up most of the space in the middle, with a stirrup chair in the back, likely for maternity-related things.

Ryan grinned. "Pretty slick, huh? Thatch buys all the latest goodies. He's technically a Veterinarian and a licensed Neurological Surgeon, -don't ask me how those mixed in college-, and he's... currently not here. Odd." She looked around, confused.

I chuckled and grabbed a first aid kit, sitting on the exam table. "Don't worry, I can take care of a forehead cut. I might need your belt, however, if I need stitches."

She watched with apparently avid interest as I cleaned the wound with rubbing alcohol, then peroxide, and looked at it in a mirror. "It's not too bad, I'll let it heal without stitches..." I murmured, and gently taped the cut closed with sticky gauze, leaving gaps so it could breath.

"You've done that before." She hummed.

"Many times. I'm something of a jack of all trades." I shrugged.

"Well, I'll have Thatch give you some antibiotics, when I see him, but for now, do you want to sit down, or get some more things done? I hear you've been pretty busy." She grinned.

I laughed. "I like to make myself useful, is all. I can't stand sitting around."

"Truer words." She chuckled, and walked with me towards the woodpile, where I got to work. She grabbed a different axe, and started working as well, sectioning a tree trunk.

"So Ryan, huh? Which family are you in?" I asked, cleaving the log in front of me.

"I'm not." She answered casually.