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Description
'Hollow footsteps, cloaked by night
Of sadness known through tortured sight;
The willow weeps for solitude
As Own moans a gloomy interlude.
Reflection in the glossy lake
"If I should die before I wake..."
A tear shatters the silent face
That seeks solace in this deserted place.
Wind whispers through the willow's leaves,
And Owl, perched high, silently grieves.
The glow from city lights afar
Swallow whole a falling star.
A wish upon the trembling lips
For peace. A raven gently sips
The water near his honoured guest,
But soon flies to his hidden nest.
Weary beneath the flowing cloak,
The traveller rests against an oak
And fights the lure of heavenly sleep
"I pray the Lord my soul to keep..."
Forever lost, each journey taken
Plagues the mind; the nights awaken
Troubled visions, thoughts of yesterdays,
That seem like beacons – lives away.
Random comforts cannot ease this soul,
For knowledge takes its weary toll
'Pon one who suffers with each breath,
Who slept once in peace, then awoke in death.'
- Author Unknown

Alaina sat on a tree stump, her eyes on the book she was reading while Luciana made a potion to fight the effects of all poisons. She had been working on the same potion every night for nearly a month, adding herbs, plants, flowering and animal parts when she thought of them. The list of ingredients now in the potion covered a full page of paper in Alaina's small, neat scripture.
The warm glow from the fire beneath the cauldron painted her in orange and lit the immediate area in cheerfulness but cast shadows across the pages of her book. As time passed and her eyes tired the words blurred and became hard to read.
Her mind began to drift to the past and a new wave of sadness washed over her. She had lost so much in her life and so many questions remained unanswered, the only people capable of answering those questions were either dead or missing from her life.
"Alaina!" Luciana's sharp reprimand broke her train of thought. "Add powdered snake fang to the list!" Sighing, Alaina dug around in her satchel until she found the rolled parchment containing the list of ingredients and added the powdered snake fang.
Her blue eyes scanned the page and her brow dipped. She lifted her gaze to the old woman who was muttering feverishly to herself while she read a page from an old book, her bony finger and yellow nail following the script as she went over the words.
She was sidetracked and extremely irritable, had been for a week now, while the potion failed its tests and Luciana added more ingredients. That morning she had nearly been thrown from the cart when she had become distracted with the thought of a new ingredient to add and had allowed the cart to hit a large pot hole. She had jumped from the seat when the cart stopped and promptly slapped Capell's flank sharply, much to Alaina's horror.
The sudden drop of the heavy cart into the pothole had caused multiple breaks to the wheel spokes to Alaina and Luciana had been forced to temporarily abandon the cart while they travelled to the nearest town seeking assistance. The local blacksmith had said he couldn't fix it for at least a week, had taken directions as to where their cart was and told them he would bring a team of oxen to help bring the wagon in as soon as possible but he couldn't do any better than that.
Refusing to leave her caravan and precious items for even one night Alaina had been dragged back to the cart with Luciana to await the blacksmith's arrival.
"Alaina! Concentrate!" Luciana's screech was sharp and ear splitting and caused Alaina's skin to prickle. "Must test this, where is that damn wight?" she grumbled to herself.
"Wight?"
"Yes, that goat one that follows you."
"You're not thinking of testing that potion on Taj are you? You can't be serious?"
"My dear girl, of course I'm serious. Call him." Luciana ordered, searching through the pockets of her apron and producing a small clear vial of a black syrup like liquid.
"I will not." Alaina stood, packed her things back into her satchel and went to pass Luciana. The old woman grabbed her arm with surprising strength, her long yellow nails, almost like claws, digging into Alaina's pale flesh until they drew blood.
"You need to learn to do as you're told, Cailleach. You need to learn your place in this world and the proper way things go," she hissed, her eyes burning unnaturally in her hollowed face.
Her burning eyes dropped to the blood on her fingers from Alaina's arm and she smiled a gummy smile, pulled Alaina's arm over the cauldron, digging her nails in deeper until drops of blood began falling onto the bubbling surface of the potion. The potion changed colour from a murky brown to a deep crimson.
When Luciana was satisfied with the amount of blood in the potion she roughly shoved Alaina away from her, and went back to her muttering.

When she woke Luciana was still asleep, snoring loudly, her breathing slow and heavy. The next morning Alaina's arm was swollen and inflamed, she put a herbal salve on it and carefully bandaged it.
Alaina found the place where they had lit the fire an absolute mess. Jars of herbs lay open on their sides, the contents spilled across the ground, the chest of precious stones was mixed up, the smaller vials of other potions and recipes and the box they normally rested in was overturned, the vials scattered across the ground, some of the vials shattered and glittering in the early morning sun.
It looked like there had been a fight. Even the cauldron with Luciana's precious potion had fallen into the fire, its contents solidified into a hard red puddle on the cold coals of the fire.
Alaina chipped the rest of the potion from the cauldron, cleaned it, made a new fire pit and set the cauldron over it. She began sorting what was salvageable of the herbs, stones, potions, powders and other ingredients and what would be thrown away.  While she did this she thought about the potion Luciana had been trying to make.
Barely any of the ingredients to Luciana's potion made sense. If Alaina had been the one to make it she would have used a phoenix feather boiled in water from the frozen lands to the north, seeped through the eye of an adder stone, mixed with three tears of love from the phoenix the feather had been given from, stirred by a unicorn with its horn and left to sit for six days in the moonlight. All of these would add to the magic of the potion and increase its healing energy. Alaina was surprised that for such a talented healer to not realise this was just strange.
She had just finished clearing the last of the broken glass away when Luciana emerged from the caravan, wearing the same clothing as the day before, covered in stains that were too numerous and too mixed to identify, her hair greasy, unkempt and hanging in strands around her hollow face. The nails of her right hand were still stained with Alaina's dried blood.
"You made breakfast yet?" she demanded, her eyes still burning strangely in the light.
"No, I only just finished cleaning." Alaina climbed to her feet, dropping the last piece of broken glass into a spare box.
"Well, hurry up!" she growled, shaking her dirty skirts restlessly. She froze when she saw the empty cauldron. "What 'ave ye done?!" her shriek silenced the early morning birds from singing their merry songs.
"I..."
"You destroyed it! So much 'ard work all gone!"
Alaina held her hands up in front of her in a warding off and protective manner. Inside her head a voice suggested she was being foolish, worrying a little, old, toothless, mostly blind woman would attack her until another voice replayed the happenings of last night through her mind.
"No. I..."
"Ye are a useless, despicable child!" Luciana screamed, pulling a handful of her hair out, her eyes burning like the fires of hell themselves.
"I'm sorry," Alaina didn't know what else to say. What else could she say? Obviously the old woman wasn't going to listen to her and there was nothing she could do about the potion now. There was only one thing to do. Alaina picked up a basket and walked into the forest to gather herbs and plants, leaving the old woman by herself to rant until she was hoarse.

Since there was no antidote to check on someone who had been poisoned, next time Taj appeared Luciana snarled something about going to find some mushrooms for a potion and marched off into the woods, basket under her arm and scowl on her face.
Taj was unusually quiet and subdued as he sat beside her. Alaina was surprised to see scratches on his arms and legs. He gave her a weak smile, having noticed the direction of her gaze.
"Got caught by some unseelie wights for askin' questions about ye wight friends," he said, touching a graze on his cheek gingerly. "They were no' pleased I didn' wan' t' go with them."
"Wights did this?" Alaina stared at Taj's honest face in surprise. Alaina had never heard of wights attacking other wights simply out of malice before, usually it was only done if there was something important at stake, like the times Uugo had Theandal had fought unseelie wights to protect her.
As if reading Alaina's thoughts, Taj shook his head in obvious confusion at the change in his world, and to his own species. "Never has this happened before. Is there being anythin' in The Book 'bout things like this happenin'?" he asked, almost hopefully, as if wishing for an explanation as to why beings of his own kind would wish him harm.
"No, I would have remembered if there was." Alaina gathered the ingredients to make a healing salve for Taj's wounds.
An hour later Luciana stomped back into camp, the gathering basket empty, her eyes still smouldering unnaturally and looking sicker than ever, her pale skin gleaming with a sheen of sweat.
"You still here, wight?" Taj looked at Alaina in surprise at the old woman's harsh tone.
"Yes, we 'have been talkin'," he replied stiffly, his eyes narrowed as he took in Luciana's changed appearance with suspicion his face.
"That's nice," she answered sarcastically as she hitched her skirts higher than necessary while climbing into the caravan. "Don't disturb me; I'm going to have a nap before I get started on that potion. I need one since I seem to be the only one who does any work around here!" she snapped the curtains closed behind her retreating back.
Taj cleared his throat awkwardly. "Well...er...that's a somewhat interesting development," he murmured. "How long has she been like that?"
"A couple of weeks. She went out to gather herbs, was gone a couple of hours and when she came back she was in a foul mood. As time has passed her mind and body has deteriorated."
"Hmm. In those weeks has she eaten garlic, salt, crossed running water or had any blood noses?"
Alaina thought back, now she did so she realised that in the meals Alaina cooked, the times she had used garlic or salt, Luciana had reported she wasn't hungry at that time. They had avoided camping next to running water, Luciana had said it was because water wights were more malicious in the evenings when they stopped to camp, and when they had needed water Alaina had been sent to retrieve it while Luciana made some excuse to stay at camp. Alaina had also noticed Luciana wiping her nose on her sleeve, a couple of times, leaving behind dark stains on her dirty top.
"No." Alaina reached into the green bag which she carried with her everywhere and withdrew The Book. She placed it flat on her lap and opened it onto a page titled 'Possessors'. The Book seemed to have entwined with her mind, she just needed to be thinking of a subject and her fingers would automatically know which page to open the book at.
"How do ye do tha'?" he asked as Alaina frowned down at the page.
"I don't know. Taj, do you really think she's possessed by something?"
"She's undergone a rapid change o' character in a shor' amoun' o' time, she has been avoidin' those which are taboo t' wights, especially those o' the unseelie kind, an' she has been bleedin' from the nose, it is nearly screamin' possession." Taj whispered loudly.
Alaina placed the book on the log beside her and stood to stir the ingredients in the pot before removing it from the fire to cool. Taj retrieved her book and studied the page. "It be sayin' tha' ye need a pure, seelie wight o' power t' remove the possessor from the victim."
"Pure?" Alaina questioned as she poured the salve into a small jar.
"One who 'as no' the blood o' another, be it wight or man on their hands." She sat back down on the log and exchanged the bottle of salve for the book.
"Do you know of any wights that are pure?" Alaina asked him as she chewed on her nail in thought.
"No' a lot o' wights are, even those who be o' the seelie nature. An' there are none tha' I know in person. I'm sorry, mo banphrionsa."
"Never mind, The Book may know." Still chewing on her nail, Alaina flicked some pages until she came to one her hand stopped at. It was titled 'Gwragedd Annwn.'
The drawing on the page was of a pretty blonde woman in clean, neat peasant's garb holding the hand of someone that hadn't been drawn in by Argon.

"A Gwragedd Annwn is a water fairie, residing in fresh water, with an innate aptitude for all things medicinal. It is said that those whom take mortals for partners will stay with them lifelong unless they should be struck three times causelessly, they will leave their partner, never to be seen by them again. The Gwragedd Annwn have contrary reactions to most collective emotions; meaning they may be inclined to cry and lament at weddings and laugh and sing at funerals. The skin and hair of the Gwragedd Annwn are always pale, and they may appear damp or wet. They are of a friendly nature though will usually only accept a partner they have chosen themselves, rather than be picked by another. The Gwragedd Annwn prefers to live outside of towns and cities near fresh water and so are very against fishing. The Gwragedd Annwn are very possessive of personal belongings, make lifelong friends and will only rarely turn to violence."

"If they rarely be turnin' t' violence then a Gwragedd Annwn is probably bein' a pure wight." Taj said as he applied some of the salve to the marks on his arms.
"It tells us where they normally live too, but the description is vague and apparently Argon didn't know a Gwragedd Annwn."
"I coul' ask 'round? See if anyone knows one?"  Taj offered as he stood, tucking the jar of salve in his bag. Alaina grabbed his hand.
"Is that wise considering what happened when you asked about Theandal and Uugo?"
"I was usin' names though. Shouldn' happen again for jus' asking for information 'bout a Gwragedd Annwn." He wriggled his hand from Alaina and smiled down at her. "Don' worry, I'll be alrigh'," he said before disappearing into the trees leaving Alaina with a sense of foreboding in the pit of her stomach.

The evening was warn, a sign spring was coming just around the corner. Alaina sat on the bank of a creek, dangling her feet in the cold, crystal clear water. After the stress of the day, having put up with Luciana's complaints at the cost of fixing the caravan wheel, her flat out refusals to help Alaina clean or cook and her screaming tantrum at the bewildered blacksmith whom Alaina had been left to placate after Luciana stormed off, it was nice to finally have some quiet time to herself.
She nibbles on some berries she had collected on her walk over, the sweet juice of them making her tongue tingle after the bland meals of the last few weeks.
Alaina had not heard from Taj for two days and although he had been gone for longer periods of time in the past, as long as a week sometimes, Alaina still feared that something had happened to him. And what's more, since Taj had left she had had the unpleasant sensation of being watched although there was nobody there and the observer always kept at a sufficient distance, enough that Theandal's necklace did not give its warning and that Alaina never saw or heard anything.
There was nothing to validate her suspicion, no broken branches or twigs snapped, no footprints in the dirt or heavy breathing heard over the whisper of the wind. It was just a feeling, a chill along the back of your neck, or a tingle on your skin as the sensation of unseen eyes touched your body without their intent being known.
Alaina fingered the delicate clasp of her green back, committing it to memory as a sort of comfort. As far as she could tell, the bag was along the lines of Uugo's, in which the weight and size of the object inside it didn't have any value or form until they were held in someone's hands. And The Book, though a palm width thick, held no weight, except that of a small kitten, even while outside the walls of the bag.
In the trees nearby birds sang cheerfully and the sun shone down on her, brightening her mood and warming her skin until she accidently knocked her bandaged arm causing her to hiss in pain as a shooting sting went up her arm. The infection had spread outwards, now covering from the tips of her fingers to her elbow, burning constantly and difficult to move due to swelling.
Alaina had noted it was possible poison that had caused such a serious reaction and theorised that the possessor  currently mastering Luciana's body, when in its wight form, produced a toxin either coating its nails, skin or that could be injected through fangs.
So far the poison had repelled all the different healing salves Alaina had applied and there was nothing to do but wait and hope to hear, either through talk from towns they passed or from Taj about the whereabouts of a Gwragedd Annwn.
Alaina unwrapped the bandages from her arm and rinsed the hot, swollen flesh in the cool creek water. Where Luciana had dug her nails in were five half moon puncture wounds full of pus and inflamed with infection. Using the tip of the dagger, she punctured the wounds once more, draining the pus and washing it with creek water. When her arm was dry she wrapped her arm up with the bandage and made her way back into town.
Ever since first meeting Luciana, after hearing her warning, Alaina had kept her hair covered by a scarf. When one or two curls escaped, people who saw them in passing assumed they were dyed. Alaina, who had questioned Luciana about the fact that if people thought her hair dyed why not just remove the scarf altogether, was told that, while she may be able to get away with the lie the remarkable colour of a few stray curls, dyed hair was often dull and lifeless while Alaina's glimmered in ruby radiance.
When people in the streets of villages they passed through saw her hair covered it was just thought to be part of her costume or clothing, something to keep her hair out of her way while she stood over a pot making potions to heal the ill or talismans to protect travellers.
Alaina made her way to the tavern where she and Luciana would be staying overnight while the blacksmith fixed the wheel. Luciana had begrudged paying the two copper coins so Alaina had from the purse of one of the men who had held her captive. The blacksmith had introduced her to the tavern owner personally. His name was Gir and he was the blacksmith's brother. After a quiet conversation between the brothers Gir had declared all Alaina's drinks, meals and baths to be on-the-house for the time of her stay.
Up in the room Alaina and Luciana were to share Alaina tried to talk the older woman into having a nice, warm, lavender scented bath but Luciana, or the unseelie wight that currently possessed her, refused point blank. In the end Alaina bathed by herself, changed into some clean clothes then went downstairs alone, leaving Luciana to sulk by herself.
Gir sat her at a table beside the bar where he could keep an eye on her.
"It's dangerous for a woman t' be by herself, especially one as young and pretty as you. I ain't sayin' me tavern attracts the wrong sort of crowd, just that it is a tavern after all and people go t' taverns t' drink," he said while he showed her to the table.
One of the serving girls, a confident blonde with dark brown eyes and a large bust bought her a bowl of pumpkin soup and fresh bread still warm from the oven, followed by a jug of cider and a dented tin cup.
The tavern slowly filled as the evening passed. By about ten o'clock it was comfortable crowded and filled with the noises of knives scraping against tin plates, cups banging down on the table, laughter, shouts for more ale or wine and scuffling feet.
Alaina was more than content to sit as the table, long after the meal had settled in her stomach, and listened to the conversations swirling through the air around her. Soon one of the conversations at a table nearby between 3 men caught her attention. They were huddled over their ales, talking loud enough in their drunken state that Alaina could hear them sufficiently enough without needing to move any closer.
"I'm tellin' ya, the man is married t' a damn wight!" the one with a long dirty grey beard was saying.
"Yer lyin'!" growled the one sporting an eye patch over his right eye. "No man, of sane mind would wed a wight!"
"Who's t' say he ain't stupid?" the last, a reedy little man with greasy brown hair, snickered. "Or, whose t' say ya ain't lyin'?" he taunted.
"I ain't lyin'!" Grey-beard slammed his drink down, slopping half of it over the scarred wooden table as he glared at Greasy and Eye-patch. "E's livin' in this little cottage by a lake outside of town. Apparently all the sick people treat this wight like a human an' have named it their local healer!"
Hope rose in Alaina's chest, was is possible the man had married a wight and they did live beside water, outside of town and that it was a healer? Dare she hope she had suddenly found news of a Gwragedd Annwn? Carefully, Alaina leaned back in her chair, closer towards the drunken trio. "May the Gods strike me down if I'm lyin'!" Grey-beard was declaring loudly enough to capture the attention of a few other close tavern patrons and Gir himself.
"What ye talkin' 'bout this time, Galback?" Gir asked Grey-beard as he poured another jug of ale for a waiting serving girl.
"These two boneheads don't believe that there's a man, with all his wits, married to a wight over in Teeka!" Grey-beard was clearly frustrated by the lack of faith from his companions. The more time that seemed to pass without their belief, the blotchier the skin above the matt of grey beard became. "Surely you believe me, Gir! You known me longer than these boneheads, have you ever known a lie to cross these lips?"
"Well, actually..." Gir started only to be cut off by Grey-beard's smug look at Eye-patch and Greasy.
"What did I tell ya? Every word that crosses these lips be the truth, blessed by the Gods."
"Some of those Gods of yours mus' be pretty twisted then!" Gir said to the amusement of the other patrons listening to the conversation.
"Ya shoul' be more careful, sayin' things like tha' in public. What if one of 'em white robe priests were t' 'ear ya? It woul' be the end o' ya!" Eye-patch growled at him.
Galback scanned the tavern quickly before coming to his senses. "Ain't no priests going t' be comin' in here, you dolt! It's a sin t' drink, don't ya know?"
"Maybe for 'em but for me it's a sin not t' drink!" another patron cried, lifting his cup to a cheer from the other eavesdroppers.
Alaina touched Gir's arm as he walked past the table she was seated at to clear a table as some patrons left. "Is Teeka far from here?" she asked him. Gir snorted.
"Don't ye listen t' a word that comes out of his mouth. Every third word is a downright lie an' the rest is a drunken story created for shock and amusement tha' 'e would 'ave forgotten half of by the time he sobers." Gir advised.
"But..."
"There are other things t' worry ye pretty little head 'bout, missy." Gir rest his hand on the table and leaned over, near her. "Is tha' old woman ye travellin' with well?"
"Not as well as she could be." Alaina replied, tracing a scar on the table with her finger to avoid looking at him. "That is why I was hoping what he spoke of was true. Our potions are not strong enough to heal her so we seek something with more power."
She felt bad for lying to him when he had been so nice to her but Alaina knew that if she mentioned possession Alaina and Luciana would get thrown out of the tavern, the town and any nearby villages. Priests and 'doctors' would try to find them, to 'exorcise' the demon wight possessing the old woman. Exorcise through torture. Alaina had heard stories of it in the past and she didn't want it happening to the old woman who had saved her life.
"Well I'm sorry t' hear about that, lass, but the fact remains, Galback cannot be trusted." Gir put his hands on his hips as he studied her saddened face. He sighed in resignation. "Look, me mum was sick afore she passed an' if there had been something me an' Gabe could 'ave done we would have. It were a gypsy potion that were keeping her painless in those last months and if ye potions aren't powerful enough t' heal ye companion then I don't think much else can but if ye are believin' this wight can help, well, I'll find out what I can for ye." Gir said to her gruffly. Alaina's smile was radiant. She jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around Gir's bulk, with some difficulty, hugging him tightly amongst the sudden whistles to erupt throughout the room. Gir seemed stunned for a moment then hugged her back. When he released her, his cheeks were pink and he was grinning. "I'll jus' be gettin' back t' work now." He mumbled, still smiling.
That night, for the first night in months, Alaina went to bed with a smile on her lips and hope in her heart. In the morning, while wrapping her hair, there was a quiet knock on the door. The blonde serving girl stood on the other side, a merry smile on her friendly face and a mischievous gleam in her doe's eyes.
"Gir requests that you and ye companion join 'im for breakfast in a few minutes time," she said. Alaina looked back over her shoulder to where Luciana snored deeply.
"Thank you, I'll see if I can awaken her." Alaina said, placing a fake smile on her lips. It didn't seem to fool the serving girl though. Her eyes were shrewd as she took in the dishevelled appearance of Luciana as she slept.
"I'll see ye there," she turned and left quickly.
Alaina closed the door and stood with her back against it for a few moments, watching Luciana snore, trying to see her through the serving girl's eyes. There was no way the girl could know that Luciana was possessed, not unless she had a wide knowledge of wights and had the opportunity to watch her behaviour for an extended amount of time. Alaina hoped for the more part that, like Gir, the serving girl assumed Luciana was weak minded.
Alaina approached the sturdy single bed and touched Luciana's shoulder. "We have been invited to breakfast, Luciana," she said, drawing back when blazing eyes opened and glared at her.
"Leave me alone, brat!" Luciana spat viciously.
"But what about breakfast? Aren't you hungry? You haven't eaten since yesterday morning."
"Bein' in the same room as ye is bad enough! If I 'ad t' eat in the same room as ye I will be sick! Now get away from me!" Alaina swallowed her hurt. It was getting harder to remind herself that it was the unseelie wight that spoke and not Luciana herself.
Alaina made her way downstairs by herself, her head down, lost in thought. The way Luciana spoke had changed drastically since before the possession of the wight. The longer the wight spent in her body, it appeared the harder it became to hide its true self.
She didn't see the hooded figure until she knocked into their much larger frame sending her sprawling across the floor.
"I'm sorry, I..." she broke off at the sight of gleamed yellow eyes staring down at her from the face of a silver wolf whose pointed ears were hidden beneath a thick black hood.
It crouched down and held out a large tanned hand to help her up. When Alaina took it she could feel the tough skin hardened by years of physical labour beneath her own hand.
When Alaina stood the hand let go of her own and instead reached up to gently tug at an escaped curl before rubbing the silky strand between its long fingers.
"An interesting colour," it murmured in a smooth, deep voice.
"Dyed," Alaina muttered and tucked the curl back up under the scarf. "I apologise for knocking you, now if you will excuse me, I have someone waiting to me." Rude or not, the wolf-man made her nervous.
Predator eyes gleamed and Alaina couldn't help but be aware of how long and white the wolf-man's fangs were before she turned and hurried on down towards the dining room with the wolf-man's taunt snapping along at her heels. "You should be careful where you wander, cailín beag, you never know what dangers are right in front of your eyes."
"You alright, lass? Ye look like ye 'ave seen a ghost?" the serving girl asked her when she got to the main room where a breakfast of scrambled eggs, fresh bread, apples and milk still warm from the cow awaited on one of the tables closest to the fire place.
Gir was already seated at the table along with his brother, Gabe. Both were deeply immersed in a conversation that involved a fair few grunts of derision from Gabe. When Gir saw Alaina he rose to his feet and pulled back the chair beside him with a flourish.
"Please, come an' sit. Help yourself." He pushed Alaina's chair in once she had sat down and put a plate in front of her. "Ye companion ain't joinin' us?" he asked when he realised she was by herself.
"No, she isn't feeling well." The lie dropped easily from her tongue.
"Ah." Gir darted a look at Gabe and the serving girl who had dropped into the chair beside Alaina.
Alaina placed a tiny amount of eggs and bread on her plate, enough to satisfy the hovering serving girl, and began to eat. Gir watched her for a moment then smiled. "Ye have already met Gabe but I don't believe ye have 'ad the pleasure of meetin' the young girl beside ye," he said. The serving girl snorted.
"Young girl indeed," she muttered. "I'm Serena, and believe it or not I am only a few years younger than him. He jus' says that t' put distance between us," she said grinning impishly.
"Oh." Alaina attempted to smile but her thoughts kept returning to the wolf-man she had met upstairs. For some reason her mind couldn't help but compare the wolf man to the hog-man who had taken her from the unseelie wights in the forest.
"So, 'ow long 'as ye companion been possessed?" Gabe asked out of the blue. Alaina sucked in a sharp intake of break and choked as the eggs she had been chewing. As Serena jumped up to her a glass of milk Gir glared darkly at his brother. When she managed to swallow the bit of egg in her throat, her cheeks were red and her eyes were watering.
Serena patted her on the back and held the cup of milk for her. "Forgive Gabe, 'e's male, he ain't got any idea 'ow t' be approachin' a subject delicate like," she said.
"We recognised the signs," Gir said before putting another forkful of eggs into his mouth and swallowed them down. "Ye jus' lucky that no one else known them otherwise we'd be overrun by white robes."
"Look, I got things t' be doing. I'll see ye later, brother, Serena. The wheel shoul' be fixed by midday today an' then you and ye companion can be on ye way." Gabe pushed back his chair from the table and left the room.
"Gabe' worry 'bout him. Possession is a sore spot for all of us." Gir said as Alaina softly placed her knife and fork down on the table, either side of her plate and looked at Gir steadily.
"Your mother?"
"Wish I coul' say otherwise, lass," he swallowed a mouthful of cider and grimaced at the tart taste on his tongue before putting the cup back down on the table with a gentle thunk. "Do ye really think a wight coul' help ye companion?"
"I believe so. There is a seelie wight..." when Gir raised his brows in confusion she elaborated, "A seelie wight is considered good who, at the worst, is just a joker, while unseelie wights are evil natured and are incapable of love towards people." She restlessly fiddled with her fork. "The wight that Galback was speaking of the other night, if it is the one I know of, is called a Gwragedd Annwn, a pure seelie wight without blood on her hands who not only carries medical knowledge of humans but those possessed by wights as well. Gir was looking at her attentively, his breakfast cooling in front of him. Beside her Serena was also paying close attention. "Only a seelie wight who has not spilt another's blood has the power to remove a possessor from its victim."
"Ye sound like ye know a lot 'bout wights." Serena said, fidgeting in her seat with an excited glow in her eyes.
Alaina thought of the book hidden under the mattress of her bed upstairs, what Luciana had asked her to do before she had become possessed but the wight and the things that Theandal and Uugo had taught her, shown her.
"I'm, well, studying them." Alaina lifted her fork again.
"Really? Oh my, how excitin'!" Serena clasped her hands together in front of her.
"Excitement aside for one moment, Serena." Gir looked at Alaina "Are ye sure 'bout all of this?"
"No." Alaina shrugged her slim shoulders. "What other choice do I have? I have nothing to lose by going to Teeka and if I am right then my friend will be returned to me."
"Won't the wight expect payment? From what I've 'eard of them, wights, even...seelie?...ones seem t' want some sort of reimbursement whether it be coins or jewels."
"A Gwragedd Annwn won't accept either of those, too much blood has been spilt in the name of coins and precious stones. For a Gwragedd Annwn to accept such items of payment it would mean that it is tainted by the greed of the men to have handled them before and, in doing so, find their own magic weakened."
"But will it expect payment?" Serena had crossed her arms on the table in front of her and was obviously thinking hard about the whole situation.
"More than likely," Alaina frowned. What did she have that was hers, to pay the wight anyway? Not even the clothes on her back were her own, being the ones from Luciana's caravan. And her life was indebted to Luciana as well, being paid as an assistant until Luciana had deemed the debt repaid. Alaina chewed her lip in concentration. If Luciana became well under the wight's ministrations would Luciana consider the debt repaid? A life for a life? In which case, Alaina could offer her services to the wight, as meagre as they were, in return for healing Luciana.
"Alaina?" she lifted her head to look at Gir enquiringly, realising she had missed part of the conversation.
"Sorry?"
"I asked how ye were plannin' on payin' a wight that will accept neither gold coin nor precious stones." Gir gently said.
"Honestly? I have no idea." Alaina murmured, shoulder slumped, head bowed. The couple of mouthfuls of food she had eaten churned unpleasantly in her stomach like lead weights, making her feel sick. She pushed her plate away.
Silence held the room for a while, each person within its walls searching their minds for a solution to the problem.
"How long has she been possessed?" Serena asked her.
"A couple of months."
"Suine was possessed for two years." Serena looked hopeful, "Maybe that means you have more time to think of a way to help her." Alaina shook her head.
"Luciana is old. The possessor that has her is taking over more every day. Her personal tastes and characteristics have changed, her voice and the way she talks is beginning to alter as is her physical appearance as her body and mind become one with the monster inside her. I fear there is not much time left at all."

That afternoon Gabe appeared at the tavern door. Alaina had just finished her midday meal of bread and stew followed by a slice of fresh apple pie. Serena had been fusing over her all morning like a hen with only one chick. She had hovered until Alaina forced herself to eat just to make her go away. Gabe stopped in front of the bar to get a drink then dropped into the chair across from Alaina, much to her surprise. After his display of temper that morning Alaina was surprised he wasn't personally showing her the way out of town and presenting her with spare caravan wheels, should they break again, just so she never had to come back.
Serena stopped beside the table and put a plate of food down in front of him.
"You mind your manners, you hear me?" Serena said sternly. Gabe grumbled his reply. When Serena's back was turned and she had taken a few steps away from the table he muttered to Alaina.
"Worse than me mother was she is," as he picked up his fork. Serena stomped back to the table, and reached over to take the plate back. Gabe wrapped his arms around it defensively.
"If you don't want it give it back," she growled, her gentle eyes flashing.
"But I'm hungry!" Gabe whined.
"You're such a snake Gabriel!"
"A hungry snake." Gabe still had his thickly muscled arms wrapped around his food despite now wearing half of it down his shirt.
"If you're going to be a grumpy bear every time I do something nice for you don't come crawling to me next time you're sick or hungry and haven't got anything to eat!" Serena stalked off in a swirl of skirts.
Alaina watched Gabe's face. His eyes were on Serena's retreating back, an affectionate smile on his lips. When he noticed Alaina looking he grunted gruffly and went to begin eating only to realise that most of it was now in his lap. The curses that came out of his mouth almost turned the air blue.
He salvaged what he could of his meal before disappearing into a room behind the bar and reappearing a few minutes later in a clean shirt. He sat back down across from Alaina trying to ease the tightness of his brother's borrowed shirt. Although brothers, the years and different choices of profession had moulded the brothers' bodies in different ways. While Gir was taller than Gabe he carried a great deal of his weight in his stomach where Gabe was all thickly corded muscle so Gir's shirt was baggy around his stomach and tight across his shoulders.
Gabe looked at the notes spread across half the table in front of Alaina with curiosity on his face. She had been writing down what she had heard of Galback's story, the new changes appearance and feature evolving in Luciana as the possessor gained deeper root in her mind and body, and the discussions she had had with Gir and Serena about possible forms of payment. He picked up a sheet of parchment to study it closer.
"What're ye doin'?" he looked over the top of the piece of paper at Alaina.
"Documenting. I'm taking note of the new physical changes Luciana is beginning to present with." Curiosity apparently satisfied he put the parchment back down where he had got it from and had a mouthful of ale.
"What's that mean?" he pointed to a word and Alaina was surprised by him again. Tyrion had explained to her that it was very, very rare for people of the common class to be able to read or write but for Alaina, who was natural reader and writer and someone who loved doing it, she had found this unbelievable and thought Tyrion to be joking. She realised now that he probably hadn't been.
"It's a word. Lake."
"Oh." Gabe looked down at the half cup of ale he was cradling between his large hands. "Never learnt t' read, weren't anyone 'round who knew how t', but I always thought there was somethin' beautiful 'bout it, somethin' magical." He didn't meet her eyes, embarrassed by the softer side of himself he had just revealed to a woman that had brought a possessor into his home town. Alaina smiled at him in agreement.
"Yes, my father insisted I learn to read and write and I thank him for it ever day. It's amazing to think that, long after I have passed, my writings will still be bringing pleasure and offering advice to those who read them." Gabe nodded in understanding, or as close to understanding as someone who could neither read or write could. That was first thought until she realised that he probably felt the same way about his metalwork and weapons he had made as she felt about her writing. She had seen the beautiful pieces he had made in his workshop that hung proudly on the walls. Like Gabe's workshop the tavern's walls had several pieces of decorative metalwork – none that could become a weapon since drunks tended to have short tempers.
His love of metals and the works of art he produced would more than likely last so much longer than anything Alaina could due to the fragile state of parchment compared to the strength of metals.
She began putting the papers into a neat pile then slipped the papers into her green bag where they nestled safely beside The Book, a purse of coins and precious stones, a jar of salve, a satchel of herbs and her little dagger.
By the time she had cleared the table Gabe had cleaned the last of the food that had remains on his plate, along with the cup of ale.
"Now, shall we get ye companion? T he caravan wheel is fixed." He pushed back from the table and stood waiting for Alaina. He followed her upstairs to the room they had been staying in then, as if realising the rudeness of it, muttered "I'll jus' wait here in the hall then."
Alaina pushed open the door and froze for standing over Luciana's still snoring form was the black cloaked wolf-man, gleaming eyes intent on his target, shining dagger clasped with familiarity in his hands.
"No!" Alaina's cry seemed to startle him and made Gabe beside her jump, then Gabe was roughly pushing her aside and lunging into the room despite the danger to himself.
A wolf's deep menacing growl cracked through the room followed by the sound of the wooden window shutters splintering against the outside walls as the wolf-man leapt aside, out of Gabe's reach with great agility and through the window.
Startled screams rose from the street below and she reached Gabe's side at the window in time to see the wolf-man disappearing into the alley across the street between a tailor and grocer.
In her bed Luciana continued to snore, unaware her life or that of the unseelie wight had just been saved by a man she had begrudged paying two gold coins to fix her caravan that she had broken in the first place, just days before.
Gabe took one look at Luciana to check she was still alive and grunted when he saw no blood and that she was still breathing.
"I'll jus' go an' let Gir know what's happened while ye sort 'er out," he said before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

Gir had been shocked by the attempted attack in his tavern, especially on a harmless old woman. Alaina caught the tail end of the conversation as she came down the stairs, followed by an unusually subdued Luciana.
"Do ye think it's possible that someone has actually picked up on the situation and sent someone to resolve of the problem?" Serena was asking.
"Ye woul' think that more people woul' know 'bout it if that were the case." Gabe said, turning and seeing them waiting at the bottom of the stairs. He refused to look at Luciana.
Gir stepped forwards and took Alaina's hand in his own large one. "I am sorry tha' man was in ye room. Please accept me deepest apologies an' me reassurances tha' I will be keepin' a vigilant eye out for the fellow Gabe described t' me."
"Thank you for your hospitality Gir, you run a wonderful tavern and have very adept staff." Alaina had no tavern to compare it to but her father had always insisted that if someone shows you a courtesy you do what you can to repay it and since Gir was obviously proud of the clean and orderly tavern the best thing to do seemed to be to compliment it.
Gabe took their bags as Serena gave her a hug and wished her luck and Gir presented her with some foods and a couple of water skins of cider.
As the three of them – Gabe, Alaina and Luciana – made their way through the village to Gabe's workshop, Alaina kept glancing at the silent Luciana. This was the first time since becoming possessed that the wight in control of Luciana had been this silent, this depressed. She wondered whether the attack had actually managed to scare the unseelie wight and whether a possessor died if their victim did. If so, it might have been a quick way of disposing of the wight were it not for the fact she would lose Luciana in the process.
Luciana quietly thanked Gabe then climbed into the caravan silently and disappeared behind the curtain.
"I'll just give you some last minute information about the new wheel." Gabe said loudly enough for Luciana to hear as he took Alaina's arm and led her into a room off his workshop that contained an ornate metal bed made by Gabe, a table, a small fire place and a chair by the fire. Like the other walls of the workshop these too were proudly displaying pieces of artwork done by Gabe. Candle holders, swords, daggers, necklaces, shields and walls plaques, each intricately detailed by Gabe's large, clumsy looking hands could create such detailed beauty. "Is the old woman alright?"
"I don't know. I explained that someone tried to kill her while she slept and that you chased them from the room and she's been silent since then."
"Are wights even capable of fear?" Gabe asked her. Alaina shrugged.
"I've never heard of it happening before and it isn't in The Book but that doesn't mean it's not possible."
As Gabe hitched Capall to the caravan Alaina retrieved the dagger from her green bag and tied it to her waist. Gabe took one look at it and scowled his disapproval. "What?"
"Can I please see the blade?" Alaina unsheathed it and held it out. Gabe took one look at it and studied it, the scowl on his face not changing.
"Cheap metal, unbalanced, useless piece of flint," he growled, throwing it on the floor in a corner of his workshop. "Take the sheath off and come over here." While Alaina unstrapped the sheath, Gabe lifted a heavy wooden chest onto a workbench and unlocked a large black padlock.
Inside were rolls of material, each tied up by a piece of leather. From the bottom of the box he withdrew a roll that looked the same as the others except this was tied by a piece of silky red material. He laid this roll on the bench, closed and relocked the chest then set about untying the material.
Wrapped up inside was the most beautiful blade Alaina had ever seen. The blade was fine and curved slightly at the tip, decorated with engravings of a foreign language and the hilt was of a cat and wolf chasing each other. The wolf's eyes were of sapphires and the cat's, of emeralds.
"It's beautiful," Alaina softly said.
"That it is but I cannot lay claim to creating beauty such as this. This was found in a rabbit den when a farm was digging the foundations for a new barn. A wight had made a nest in the den and this was amongst the trinkets. My father stole it after seeing it on his kitchen table. He loved it more than he loved any of us. It was passed onto me when he died. I wish you to have it."
"Me? But...no, it was your father's."
"Listen to me. As a blacksmith I can appreciate the skill and time that would have gone into it. As an ex-soldier I can appreciate the lethal sharpness of the blade and perfect balance of it. But, as the son of an unemployed, abusive, alcoholic, I just want it to be gone from my life and bring some good to someone, instead of the string of bad memories it brings me." Alaina looked at him, torn. Yes, the blade was beautiful and it felt like it called for her touch, like Theandal's necklace had done on the few rare times she had removed it, but something told her, other than the bad memories that Gabe obviously associated with it, that there was a great deal of pain and sadness joined with its existence. "You have no weapons other than that cheap, useless dagger. Two women travelling alone need protection. If you have this blade I will also give you a bow and set of arrows. Of course you would have to be measured for those though which may take a bit of time," he said, his brown eyes pleading for her to take the blade from his life. Alaina felt her heart reach out to him as her mind clasped at straws.
Yes, he was right about the bow and dagger offering extra protection but she was reluctant to carry the dagger for a couple of reasons, the main ones being the negative emotions her mind was associating with it and the fact that, while it was sharp, it was also beautiful which could attract the wrong sort of attention from the wrong sort of people and Alaina didn't want to have her throat cut in some cold, dark alley somewhere simply because of a silver knife with a few precious stones in it.
Her reluctance and confusion must have been present on her face for Gabe sighed deeply and began roughly wrapping the blade again. He paused while tightening the ribbon and placed both hands on the table, leaning forwards, shoulders hunched and head down.
"What...what if...I came with ye?" Alaina said nothing, did nothing. She just stood there staring at him in stunned silence. He had been so eager to get Alaina and Luciana away from him and away from this village that for him to offer to go with them seemed completely contradictory to all the emotions he had displayed beforehand. "I know I ain't been the most welcomin' person ye 'ave ever met..." he started nervously.
"I've met worse," Alaina told him, thinking of the various unseelie wights and drunken men she had met since she had been kidnapped from her home.
"Look, when me mother were possessed I did everythin' I coul' t' make her better, lost me home tryin' t' pay for healers t' come see her and for medicines tha' didn't work. In the end it was just easier t' make the wight that had possessed her comfortable an' give it whatever it wanted." His hand moved restlessly to his chest. "A person possessed no matter 'ow frail or weak their outer appearance may seem, 'as the strength of the wight inside it. Two days afore me mother's body gave out, the wight tha' possessed her flew int' a rage when I dropped a cup of water on the floor and it splashed up, hittin' it. It grabbed a blade I 'ad been sharpenin' and, well..." he pulled the thin strip of leather crisscrossing across his collar to hold it shut and pulled it loose, drawing back the top half of his shirt away from his skin, and lifting the bottom of his shirt with his other hand. A thick ragged scar ran from his left shoulder, across his chest, across his stomach and ended near his left hip. "If ye were t' come t' any harm from this wight an' I 'ad not done somethin' t' help I woul' be most upset."
"But your brother, your workshop and everything you love is here."
"An' it will still be 'ere by the time I get back." Gabe tugged his shirt back into place.
"Gabe..."
"Please, I want...need t' do this."
"Luciana won't like it."