RP:Gathering Clouds

Part of the Through A Glass, Darkly Arc

Summary: Callum, Meri and Valrae meet in Sage forest for Callum's first lesson. Things go well until mysterious strangers attack. They manage to leave one man alive for interrogation when an arrow finishes him off. The trio leave with a book, pages that offer rewards for killing witches, and questions. Who were these men, why do they want witches dead, and why were they wearing the symbol of a hammer?

Lush Forest

The heady scent of many flowering blooms settles heavily in this area. Buzzing sounds reverberate, as a multitude of tiny black and yellow bees skitter from flower to flower in search of their sweetest nectars. Tall, leafy limbs provide shade and protection from the harshest of elements, swaying softly with the gentle breeze wafting by. The luxuriance of sage continues east and south of here, while the ever thickening forest blocks all other avenues.

After leaving Meri and Callum’s place, Valrae had found herself caught in the tangled underbelly of Cenril and dealing with the fallout for her successful resurrection. Between working on a disguise, working with Uma, meeting Lionel’s sister, and chasing leads for the crystal skulls, Val had waited longer than necessary to start Cal’s training. It was a struggle to even know where to start. He was a seasoned magic user all is own and could probably even teach her a lesson or two with herbs. Eventually she penned a letter asking him to bring his crystal skull and gave him a meeting location and a time. She chose a spot in Sage forest, somewhere between their home and the familiar safety of the barrier. Far enough from Larket that she could comfortably remove the glamour that changed her appearance as the city was swallowed by the line of trees.

Arriving early, she took her valise, basket and saddle bag from Fury and sent him off grazing in the hip high grass. Picking a spot dappled in golden patches of sunlight she spread out a large blanket the color of peaches and arranged her things. With idle time, the witch organized the contents of her valise and sat out snacks she’d picked up on her way from Khitti’s bakery.

When that letter arrived and Cal and Meri set out to meet with Valrae, the Catalian was feeling a little nervous. It’s not that, you know, he was nervous about meeting with the witch, it was just… he was worried he’d have performance anxiety. Just because his magic worked well in the mage world, didn’t necessarily mean it’d stack up against the famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) witches of Lithrydel. Cal opted for them to take their time, the walk would not be long and arduous, but also Cal was trying not to spaz out as he carried that small, locked safe with them. “Was this a bad idea? I think it might be. We could, uhhh… just toss the safe into the ocean and call it good, yeah?” Cal mustered a somewhat innocent grin, teeth and all, as he fixed his blue sights on Meri, his brows furrowed somewhat together. They’d make it there eventually, of course, and Cal would do his best to hide his ever-growing anxiety, “Hi, Val.”

When that letter came, Cal was not the only one that was filled with nervousness. It was a struggle for Meri to not suggest that they just turn around and go home, maybe they could make an extended detour to drop this thing off in the ocean. Yup. That sounded like a good idea. Actually she was not even sure if that was good enough of an end for the skull -- surely there had to be a way to destroy the thing. None of those thoughts are expressed to Cal, he really did not need to deal with her nervousness on top of his own. "I guess there is really only one way to find out if this is a bad idea or not..." Meri did not want to fuel his nervousness with her own, but she could not exactly give the guy a vote of confidence either. Val soon falls into sight and Cal is the first to greet her. Meri's own greet is not far behind his, a smile crossing her lips. There is a hint of nervousness to it, because of this training session, but Meri has always been good at masking these emotions. "Hey Val. It's good to see you again. I hope everything has been going well?" Meri does not approach, her foot steps carry her to toward the perimeter of what she presumes will be their training space.

Valrae abandons her busy work of shuffling and organizing when Cal and Meri arrive. “Hey!” She greets them happily, springing up from her seat to beacon them over. “I’ve got snacks,” The witch says with a grin. “And I picked somewhere sunny and pretty to combat the idea that witchery is for crooked old crones cackling at midnight over a cauldron,” Her emerald eyes gleam with humor. “Though, it is true that midnight is a time of power,” The witch pops a daintily frosted cookie into her mouth. “But I guess there is always some seed of truth to these things.” Val chatters as she waves for Meri to come join them, trying to talk right over the nervousness they all seemed to be feeling. She’d wait for them to get comfortable and ask about life, how the day to day things were going before she dove into the training. “I was thinking things over, about how you’re already skilled in arcane forms of magic and surpass me in skill with herbology. But then I was thinking about the skull. That lead me to crystals. So beyond the basics of witchcraft I decided it would be smart to start there.” As she speaks Valrae pulls three books from her bag. The first was large and worn with age. It’s spine was pale from use and the ash tree that branched widely over the cover was smooth in some places. The second was smaller and covered in scarlet. Gold embossed letters titled it ‘Encyclopedia of Crystals, Revised and Expanded’. The third was much like the first, thick and leather bound, but new and unmarred by use or age. Ivy climbed the spine in artful leatherpress. The cover was similarly designed, creeping plant life in intricate patterns. She keeps the first for herself and leaves the encyclopedia in the middle and passes the last to Callum. “The pages are blank. It's for you to keep as a Book of Shadows, if you wanted.”

Cal would sit down, ocean blue eyes finding those cookies easily before he snatched one up, setting the safe on the blanket next to him. Sugar should hopefully help with the anxiety--it helps when him and Meri eat a half gallon of ice cream together anyway. “Are we sure that redhead sister of yours isn’t a witch?”, his words directed at Meri. “The sweets you bring home from her bakery always seem to good to be true… and she sure does like that fairy tale about the witch that fattens up kids and eats them.” He smirked, then finally popped the cookie into his mouth, his attention shifting back to Val. “The only thing really gets me about the whole witch thing is that there doesn’t seem to be any guys. Are they just a rare breed or…? And crystals sound fine to me. I really don’t know much about them, besides the fact that they have their own special properties like plants--and a lot of them aren’t exactly as evil-sounding as these are,” Cal said, giving a few knocks with his knuckles on the top of the enchanted metal box that held the bismuth skull. She’d hand over that book not long after he finished speaking, leaving Cal to just stare at it. It wasn’t a blank stare, and it wasn’t because he’d never gotten a gift in his life. He just stared at it, and ran his fingers over the embossed plantlife, brows furrowed together, because he really hadn’t thought anyone was going to help him with this. Meri couldn’t, of course; she didn’t know much about her own psionic abilities let alone anyone else’s. Was he going to cry? He might. Maybe. He managed to keep it together though, taking one giant sniff in attempt to further keep from tearing up before finally saying, “Thank you, Val. It’s really nice.”

Meri had no objections to moving in closer with Valrae's encouragement. She was not entirely sure what was planned for this lesson, but if space was not needed she would move in closer. Which gave her a better view of those snacks that Valrae brought. By now, Meri had her favorites from Khitti's bakery and those baby blue's are searching for those particular cookies. Alas, they're not there. but this is not the end of the world. "Hmm, I am not sure. I think Valrae would know best, because yeah...I don't think there is anything in that bakery that I dislike." Which is why it is not so bad that her favorite cookie is not present. Cal is gifted a grimoire of his own and Meri smiles in approval in between bites of her own cookie. Outside of that, she is silent and not in an upset sort of way. Observant. She was quite content to stay seated in the middle of the forest with Cal and Val to listen to this lesson. Maybe she would learn something herself, because Cal is correct. Meri does not know much about her own psionic abilities. There are not many others who are actually like her. She can count on one hand the number of other beings who claimed that they also had psionic abilities. Those encounters were few and far between, and never with enough frequency that she was really able to learn anything from them. What she was able to do, she has learned through trial and error.

Valrae enjoys her own treats and chuckles at Callum’s witch remark. “She definitely has her own kind of magic in the kitchen.” She nods along with Meri. She had yet to find anything that wasn’t enjoyable. A bright smile springs to her face when both of them seem to approve of the book she’d chosen. “You’re welcome. I hope it serves you well,” The witch listens to his question while opening her own grimoire. Running her middle finger over the spine and whispering a word of power that left magic buzzing softly in the air, the book opened with the creaking of it’s ancient spine. “Male witches are rare but they do happen,” Val replies, flipping the yellowed and seemingly fragile pages of her book. “Witches are a matriarchal sort though. Coven and family names are matrilineal, the highest seat in a coven is the High Priestess… The community isn’t above it’s own faults and failings and sexism is one of them.” Val turns her book to reveal another ash tree painted, with its roots twining towards the sky, in scrawling black ink over the span of two pages. The Baines family name was written in bold and bloody red above the twists of the tree. Each offshoot of the branches and roots held a small moving portrait, a name and dates of both birth and death. Valrae’s own was at the bottom, what would have been a high branch if the tree was facing upright, and had her original birth and death date crossed out. “In fact, my own line is considered ‘lesser’ in some social circles because…” The witch points to the original root. The portrait of a scowling man with severe features watched his family darkly. “My however many greats of a grandfather, Lochesh, was the original Baines witch. It’s not ideal. Some news articles have written about it now that I’m ‘The Red Witch’.” Val shrugs and turns the page. The next two pages held the Witches Rede. Val held the book out to Callum. “A male witch is still a witch. Warlock is considered a slur because that’s what we call Oath breakers.”

When they’ve covered the Rede, Valrae moves on to the crystals. She eyes the safe that the bismuth skull was surely resting in. “It’s true,” The witch fishes out a bundle of white cloth from her nearby bag. “Crystals are a more or less neutral energy tool. It’s all about how you use it and what kind of energy you put into it, like the power you pull from the sun or moon or any other aspect of nature. But these…” Removing a silver pentacle pin and unwrapping the cloth, Valrae reveals her own crystal skull. The emerald gleamed in the tree dappled sunlight and somehow managed to look sinister amid the sun, cookies and wildflowers. It’s dark power thickened the air like an impending thunderstorm. Salt and sage dusted the smooth green surface and pooled in the cloth. “These skulls can not be purified. They’ve been charged with something… Some hungry, old power that won't wash.” Gazing into the hollow sockets of the skull, Valrae’s voice suddenly seems far away. She feels as if she is beyond herself for an eternity before she can bring herself to throw the cloth over the skull’s wicked smile and refasten her pin. Her face was suddenly pale and her hands shook as she pulled her valise near. “These are charged but not like the skulls,” Clicking her case open she reveals multi colored and cut crystals. “They’re safe. Just pick one that calls to you and meditate on it. They have properties and meaning and correlate with elements and energies and planets. They’ll tell you all you need to know if you listen.”

The mention of witches being the matriarchal sort made Cal a little uneasy. It turned his thoughts towards the drow and the things he’d heard about them. But, his thoughts are easily swayed by Valrae’s talk of her own family. He’d nod a little as she explained things about her ancestor, “At least you know, I guess. I don’t even have a way of finding out, heh.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, then peered over at her book as she held it out to him to look over the Rede . “I, uh, know about that… actually. I’d seen something about it, in a book in the mage academy in Larket, when I went there for a little bit to study healing magic since the Mage’s Guild wasn’t going to happen for me. It’s a wonder Macon and Josleen hadn’t burned the book, but I don’t think either of those two have ever set foot in a library in their lives.” He paused briefly, chewing on his words a bit before finally letting them out, “After you died, I -might’ve- had the Rede running in one of the lesser known Larket papers. The Herald definitely wasn’t having it--they’re too wrapped around the monarchy’s finger. But… yeah.” He wasn’t sure how to end that sentence; he honestly didn’t think she’d ever find out, whether it was through him or otherwise, because, well, she was dead.

As they moved on to the crystals, Callum eyed Valrae’s skull, briefly looking towards Meri warily before he dug out that key and unlocked the magic safe that held his own crystal skull. Ever so carefully, he pulled it out and handed it over to the witch, letting her inspect it as she would while he deliberated silently over the crystals in the case. After a time, he picked up a piece of ametrine and stared at it. Why would this one call out to him out of all the rest? Maybe he was wrong? Maybe he was just imagining things? He meditated on it a bit just as Val instructed, pondering over what its meaning was. “This one… it called to me, but I don’t understand what it’s trying to say just yet… if that makes sense. What is it?”

Snack time is over and Callum and Valrae start getting into the meat of their lesson, prompting Meri to scoot away from them to give them space. It's not dreadfully far, perhaps about a foot of distance between the spread. Valrae explains the existence of male witches to Callum, a bit of her history, a bit of witch culture and overall, Meri is content to listen and absorb. This was not her lesson, and Cal had questions a plenty. Valrae reveals her emerald skull. Normally such a gem glistening in the sunlight would catch Meri's greedy-eyes, but those red lips are pursed together and her gaze comes to settle on the grass. Cal reveals his skull, again no excitement from Meri. That's okay, this is not really for Meri. This is for Callum. If anything, she is only here to try and find some peace of mind when it came to skull-related matters. All this witch stuff? She is fine with that. But those skulls? Well hearing things like 'these skulls can not be purified' and that it is 'some old hungry power' does not offer much of that peace of mind. So Meri is going to be silent, and not look at either witch.

Valrae’s lips tilt in a knowing, appreciative smile. “Being dead was a little like joining this world's most active gossip ring,” The witch laughs lightly. She’d heard about Cal and his clever act of witch solidarity. “All that is left when you’re caught in between is to watch and listen, most souls take to whispering about what they know. That’s actually how I knew when the skulls were being found and how I know what little I do know about their history…” As Callum passes his skull her voice dies in her throat. Val hesitates for a heartbeat. The last time she’d held a skull in her hand without a barrier of cloth and salt was the night she’d come back from the other side. She’d resisted the temptation to touch her own or even Astrid’s crystal for fear of temptation. The bismuth was hot to touch as her fingers slid over it. She thought it might be cold, as she remembered the emerald being, but instead it was warm and vital and almost alive beneath her fingers. The seductive call of ancient power seeped in from her fingertips and speared through her blood.

It was a tense beat before Valrae answered Callum. “Ametrine,” Her voice was hoarse. Valrae peels her emerald gaze from the skull in her hand to look at the other witch. “An interesting choice, considering the conversation,” Focusing on the task at hand makes it easier to resist looking too deeply into the skull. Callum choosing ametrine only further convinced Val that he would be a quick and adept apprentice. “Both Citrine and Amethyst,” The witch slowly releases the bismuth skull and leaves it to rest between the three of them as Callum focuses on the other crystals. “A harmonious joining of both energies,” Not wishing to over explain and ruin the experience of him listening to his intuition she pauses to snag another cookie and smile at Meri.

The pain slammed into her head seconds after a whispered warning slid across her spine. The unseen magical blow had the witch’s vision clouding. On a cry Valrae pitched over onto her hands. Suddenly, the sun dappled shadows were moving rapidly as the branches over head thrashed violently in the cold wind blowing through. Unfamiliar voices carried with the abrupt storm, lost somewhere in the shadows of the forest. Two figures, faces covered in dark cloth, darted from the line of trees closest to Meri with swords drawn and battle cries tearing from their lips. Val’s vision spotted as a spell ripped from her throat, it sent a pillar of emerald fire springing before one of the men. He stumbled and the fire caught his clothing and spread hungrily as he screamed. Another figure was emerging behind Callum, cold and clear eyes of crystal blue burning from the shadows of his dark hood. Black power rolled from him in waves. The man points his staff at the witch and begins an ominous chant. The three attackers all had one thing in common: Silver warhammers embroidered over the chest of black cloth tunics and robes.

Callum saw that tense state that Valrae held as she picked up his own crystal skull, out of the corner of his eye. It was clearly speaking to her, as it did him. He wondered how it differed from his own, but didn’t ask. Instead, he put the ametrine back in the case and nodded, “I suppose I’ll have a bit of homework then. Do you have a book about crystals I can borrow? Something that I can use to jot down the basics in my grimoire?” His attention then shifted towards the other books the witch had brought with her, particularly the encyclopedia of crystals. “Oh. I guess that’ll do,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle. When she finally relinquished the skull, he’d snatch it up quick-like (almost too quick) and shoved it back in the safe him and Meri had bought for it. No longer would it call to Val, or Cal, from within the magically altered, dwarven-crafted metal--at least, not as strongly as it had before.

“I hope there’s not as many crystals as there are plants. I don’t know if I’ve got enough brain-space for all of that.” Cal barely managed to get those last few words out before the attack. Thanks to Macon and his cronies in Cenril, and their attempt to take out Val and the other witches, Cal was a bit twitchy. That paranoia fueled his lack of hesitation now as one of the other two men that weren’t greeted with green fire was given the shock of his life. Electricity poured from Cal’s fingertips, and while it was enough to knock the guy out, it wasn’t enough to kill him. They may have attacked them first, but well, maybe Cal, Meri, and Val could get some information out of him--especially if that fire and whatever jedi mind powers Meri was going to do killed Mr. Lightning Rod’s friends.

Try as Meri might to not glance at either witch while these skulls are out in the open, the blonde can't help but take glimpses. She is not keen on what she sees, the tension in Valrae, but she also does not comment. It further fuels her silence. Blue eyes slide away from Callum and Valrae and scan the area, bouncing this direction and that direction because she was anxious and antsy. For a few brief moments, the woman is a little lost within her own head, which is exactly why she does not hear the unfamiliar voices until they have lifted into full blown battle cries. Meri is to her feet within an instant, reacting to the presence of these men with an attack of her own shortly after Valrae's. Though Meri has found her footing, she does not rush recklessly toward the two men. Instead she narrows blue eyes on the figure not being assaulted by green fire first. It as if the oversized hands of an unseen being grip this man on both sides of his face and gives his head a firm twist, snapping his neck. The man crumbles to the earth, right next to the man currently being consumed by fire. Not wanting to listen to his screams anymore, Meri puts him out of his misery in the same way as she did the first.

All of this transpires within a few blinks of the eye. The second that Meri is in the clear, her blue eyes are darting straight to Callum to make sure that he is safe. He is, and not only that he has managed to take someone out himself. This someone is clearly not dead, and Meri does not need to be told why he is still lives. She is a smart woman. A smirk goes to Cal and then Meri closes in on the unconscious man. His current state are not going to earn him any kindness from Meri. The toe of her boot meets the torso of Mr. Lighting Rod hard, turning him over onto his back in the process. Another rough kick, hoping pain might stir him back to consciousness, and then Meri's booted foot finds the center of his chest solidly. If he does awaken, she is going to keep him pinned to the ground.

Valrae’s stomach lurched at the smell of burning flesh and the pain drumming through her head. Distantly, as if her head were underwater, she heard the shouting of the strange men and the movement of her friends. The action is over by the time the witch manages to find her feet. With a hand pressed to her temple she finds Meri and Callum. They looked safe. The bad guys looked dead, with the exception of wishing-he-was-dead. “Everyone okay?” Val asks, finally letting her eyes find where the skulls lay hidden and locked away. The tightness in her chest releases. “Who are these guys?” She moves toward the man Cal has incapacitated. He doesn’t move. She kneels down to inspect him and the silver hammer on his chest. “What do you think this means?” A frown has settled over her lips. The nausea hadn’t left her yet but she stands again anyway. Her face is pained when she turns back to them. “We’re going to have to keep him aren’t we?” She waits a beat. “I hate this part, where will we even keep him and-” The sound of an arrow singing through the air cuts through Valrae’s nervous rambling. The arrow finds its mark deep into the temple of the incapacitated and unknown man. The witch screams.

Callum peered over at Meri as she approached and put that boot to the dude’s chest, then gave a slight nod to Val, “Yeah. I think we’re fine. How are you…?” If the temple-holding and the pained look didn’t tell him that she wasn’t feeling fine, it’s that she seemed to have that paleness that came with nausea, “You’re, uh, looking a little green.” That’s not a plant joke (but you can pretend it is). He was just about to suggest using their house nearby for questioning since Meri’s nephew wasn’t staying with them currently, but alas… the poor silver hammer guy was gifted with an extra hole in the head. Callum jumped back a bit as the ‘thunk’ of the arrow sounded, but his shoes were not spared--a small spray of blood and brain matter just managed to fly his way. The other witch screamed and Callum did all he could to not grab Valrae and cover her mouth to quiet her. Instead, the Catalian let out a ‘shhh’ and eyed the forest around them, mainly in the direction the arrow came from. “Stay back.” Clouds gathered overhead as Cal did what he did best--a small, brief thunderstorm began to brew, lightning targeting that area and striking it in several places, just barely missing trees. Hopefully it was enough to scare off whoever that was. As the storm subsided, he looked down at the now-dead-dude at their feet, a concerned frown making an appearance, “I’ve never seen that, nor heard about it. I’ve got a few eyes and ears in places around here and I feel like I would’ve heard -something-.” Then to Meri he said finally, “What about you?”

Meri :: Poor Valrae, she doesn't like the part where they have to do the killing thing? That is the part that Meri is actually decent at -- she's gotten some practice in over the years. It would seem that they would not get any answers this evening from this man, for an arrow is soon lodged into the man's skull. It's a shot that comes awfully close to Meri's foot, too close for her liking. Meri was the only one of the bunch who did not jump back, even if that arrow got close to her boot. Needless to say Meri is not safe from the spray either. Once she is actually afforded half a chance, she glances at the symbol that Cal and Val were discussing. "I don't know," she states, not dwelling on it long. Her gaze was back off in the forest, watching and listening. When she speaks next it is in a whisper. "We're not going back to the house tonight. It's not a wise idea. I think we should escort her back home." And if Valrae and Callum are accepting of this, Meri is going to insist they take an indirect, round-about-route to wherever Valrae wants to go -- lest they are being tracked.

Valrae had nodded to Callum and sworn she was fine before their almost prisoner had taken an arrow to the head. The mess it left on the others shoes had her stumbling away to empty the contents of her stomach onto a nearby bush before she could respond to his sensable shushing. When she returns, Cal’s lightning has ended and she looks less green. “Sorry,” The witch says to no one in particular. They discuss the logistics of getting home but Val’s eyes are locked onto the symbol across the dead man’s chest. “Do we… Search him?” She asks hesitantly. “We should, right?” Before she can talk herself out of it, Valrae kneels down again and slips her hands into the man’s nearest pocket. That pocket held only lint, a piece of unwrapped candy, and a small slip of paper with what looked like a random series of numbers. She frowns, hands the paper off and tosses the rest. The next pocket held a small paperback book. The title “Hammer of Witches” was all that was written on the soft spine. The pages were dog eared, passages underline and notes written in various places. The script looked elven but Valrae couldn’t read it. Folded inside were loose papers. Confusion and fear cross her face like a dark cloud. “Guys, I know we need to go but...” She flips through the pages rapidly. They were similar to wanted posters. Sketched images with information on usual hangout locations, homes, and other information with a monetary value under each. There was one for all three of them, as well as other witches like Lanara, Talyara, and even Uma. “This is probably bad.” Her eyes move to the forest around them as she stands again. It was quiet. Maybe Cal’s lightning really had scared them off.

Callum took the paper from Valrae after she decided to search the guy, confusion settling in briefly before the book is discovered and its contents made known. He lowered his voice, just in the off-chance that someone was still crazy enough to be nearby the three of them and said, “We need to tell them all, but obviously we can’t right now. Not at our house and probably not in Cenril. If they’re hunting us, then we need to find a safe place for some sort of meeting. But right now, we need to get the frak out of here before we get arrows in our heads next.” He handed the paper back to the Red Witch and made a few somatic gestures with his hands. “I can cover us, but you need to stick close to Meri--she’ll beat the hell out of anyone else that tries to come near us.” It was true; he sure did love that about his warrior woman. Fog began to settle around them, not quite so thick that they couldn’t see in front of them, but just enough that their attackers vision would be obscured. He’d give Meri a nod, letting her lead as he took a position behind the two, one hand keeping that fog going around them while the other crackled with electricity -just in case-.

Meri supported the idea of Valrae searching the body, Meri was just on the look out for more assailants. Even if Cal put on an impressive show with his lightning, Meri preferred to be overly cautious. Her gaze is not pulled back to Callum and Valrae until Valrae makes the statement that 'this is bad'. Seeing Valrae's face on something resembling a wanted poster is not an unfamiliar sight for Meri. Hell, the blonde did not even mind seeing her own face on one of those little flyers. The other witches were of concern sure, but let's be real...there is a noticeable shift in her expression when she sees Callum's face on that paper. Her features darken considerably, leaving Meri looking downright pissed off. Cal gives her the signal to take the lead and she acknowledges it with a nod, and that's it, because she's pissed. Part of Meri hoped that something did jump out at them. She really wants to punch something after seeing those depictions. The other part of her preferred to get Valrae back to a safe space, where they could then figure out how to pass word on to the other witches about this predicament.

Valrae had gathered her things and called Fury while they looked over the papers. Meri was right, it was far from jarring or unusual to see Valrae’s face on a wanted poster. They never got the nose right though. Her own anxiety had come from seeing the rest. Her friends. Fellow witches, some she didn’t even know. They’d even incorrectly identified Meri as a witch. She’d beat herself with the guilt of that when they were safe though. Valrae had sent Fury off into the shadows with the bags and her valise and scurried back over to Cal and Meri quickly. She nodded to the other witch, her eyes dark and worried. She’d stick close to Meri. They traveled with the fog and mist and charged air. The little pale hairs on Val’s arms stood on end as they moved. No one stopped them or seemed to be following. They reached Cenril’s bridge without incident and passed through the barrier without even a second glance from the thin afternoon traffic. Valrae lead them back to the room she sometimes shared with Lionel, whenever he was around though that wasn’t often, over the Whaler’s Bar.