The next morning I woke with the sunrise, wiped myself down, and did a couple quick exercises to loosen up. Then I started pacing.

  I wasn’t normally the pacing type, but I was antsy after what happened yesterday, and I was eager to find out exactly what was going on.

  Kaylee cracked an eye, raised her head off the bed, and yawned. After a couple seconds she shot me an aggrieved look, “Meow!”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. What happened yesterday has me on edge. I feel like something big is going on around here, and I’ve glimpsed parts of it, but I’m missing the big picture.”

  “Murrrrrr…”

  “I know pacing doesn’t help! It just makes me feel better,” I snapped.

  “Mrow!”

  “Fine, I’ll sit,” I finally conceded. Pulling one of the heavy wooden chairs away from the table I sat down heavily. My knee continued to bounce with my nervous energy.

  Kaylee just rolled her eyes, curled up into a ball, and went back to sleep.

  Thankfully Clara showed up fairly early, only an hour or so later, her raven perched on one shoulder, and a wicker basket full of breakfast items hanging from her arm. Kaylee, of course, shot to the door and started rubbing up against Clara's legs the instant she saw the basket.

  “Alright you troublemaker, give me a minute,” Clara hissed, nearly tripping on my cat before making it to the table and placing down the basket.

  With breakfast secured, Clara and Corrin simultaneously looked me up and down. “You okay? You’re bouncing.”

  “I’m just anxious, I really want to talk to Thyra, figure out what’s going on,” I replied.

  “Well, lucky you. She told me to bring you by in about an hour. That’s just enough time for breakfast,” Clara said, pulling the blanket off the basket. Inside was a pair of fresh loaves of bread, and some sort of warm meat.

  Before Clara and I could move, Kaylee grabbed one piece of meat, while Corrin hopped down and stole the other. The two thieves bounced off, happy with their ill gotten gains.

  “Harmony made this for us. There’s a pair of boiled eggs wrapped in a handkerchief in the bottom too,” Clara explained as she took one of the loaves.

  Talking out the other loaf, and one of the eggs, slowly chewing on the feast. The entire cabin was suspended in a brief silence as everyone enjoyed their modest breakfast. When we finally finished Clara gently placed the blanket back on the basket and nodded slightly. “Time to go.”

  I didn’t need any further prompting, quickly standing up and grabbing my coat from where it was laying on the truck at the foot of the bed. Once I had it on, Kaylee jumped to my shoulder, and we were ready to go.

  Clara led the way back to town, Corrin on her shoulder. We traveled quickly down the path, nearly jogging the entire way. The village was busy, people carrying out their early morning chores. Most people ignored me, but a couple nodded as we moved past. That was certainly an improvement from before.

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  We left the village through the northern gate, and swiftly headed towards the coral. Just beyond the coral was a modest log house. It was tucked into the side of the cliff, and looked a little newer than the other buildings in the area. Clara strode right up to the door, and knocked heavily on the door.

  After a brief pause, the door opened and Thyra popped her head out. She looked at the pair of us, and our familiars, smiled a small tired smile, and popped back inside. “Come on in,” she said quietly.

  The interior of the cabin was surprisingly spartan. It had all anyone would need to live, but no creature comforts. Assuming this was Thyra’s cabin, she didn’t even have a blanket on the bed, just a ratty pelt.

  Sitting next to the bed was a massive red fox, who watched me suspiciously as I walked around. Kaylee hissed at the animal, trying to establish dominance, but the animal just ignored her.

  Once I finished my cursory inspection I walked up to the table, and took a seat.

  Thyra gently closed the door behind everyone, and slowly made her way over to the table, before sitting heavily at the table. The fox got up, and padded over to Thyra, before laying its head on her lap. Thyra reached down and scratched the animal behind the ears, which she looked us over. She looked tired, with black circles under her eyes, but she still managed to give Clara and I a small smile.

  “Are you okay?” Clara asked. “You don’t look so good.”

  “I just didn’t sleep that well, it’s no big deal,” Thyra said dismissively. “I know you probably have plenty of questions, but do you mind if I start? I got most of the information from the girls, but I’d like a little clarification.”

  I didn’t exactly want to, but I knew it was polite, so I nodded.

  Thyra sighed and sat up straight, put her arms on the table, and locked her fingers together. “Now, can you tell me how you ended up following those goons? Ambushing them?”

  “Corrin warned us,” Clara explained. “She found someone walking the perimeter, too close to the wards to not know about them. We followed the creek down to the last place Corrin saw them, that’s where we picked up the trail, and encountered the spirit.”

  Thyra’s eyebrows shot up. “What spirit?”

  “The girls didn’t mention the massive nature spirit? Twelve feet tall wolf, enough power to give Lady Adel a run for her money?” I asked, surprised.

  Thyra shook her head. “I thought you two killed them both.”

  “Well we didn’t. When we got down to the tracks, Kaylee noticed something was watching us. It ran off before we could figure out exactly what it was, but it disappeared before we could identify it. All we could tell is it was old, and powerful. It thankfully wasn’t looking for us. Now that I’m looking back, it probably was looking for the girls.”

  Clara nodded quickly. “It looked like it was protecting them.”

  “So, how did you go from tracking them, to ambushing them?” Thyra asked.

  “We didn’t plan on ambushing them at first,” Clara clarified. “Zoey realized the group was moving slowly, and just riding up behind the group was probably a bad idea, so we cut around them and headed to the ravine. That way we could get a good look at the group, before deciding what to do.”

  “It was only after we saw the two Graves Hunters torturing those girls that we decided to act,” I said.

  “Graves Hunters?” Thyra asked.

  “That’s what I call them. That armor, the metal it’s made of, and the gadgets they were carrying are all based upon what the WitchHunters use. I don’t know how they got this knock off equipment, but it’s almost as effective as the real thing.”

  “I’ve encountered them before, but I didn’t know it was based upon the WitchHunter gear. That’s disturbing,” Thyra mumbled.

  “Anyways, neither Clara nor I liked the fact that those two assholes were torturing those girls, so we set up an ambush. I shot one of them before they even knew we were there, and while Clara and I tried to figure out how to deal with the second the spirit showed up. Chomped down on the second bastard before anyone could react, and bit him to death in seconds.”

  “It was vicious,” Clara added quietly. “And once it was done the spirit went over to the girls, checked on them, then vanished.”

  “After that, we went down to check on the girls, and a few minutes later you showed up. That’s about it,” I finished.

  Thyra nodded, scratched the foxes head and thought for a moment. “That answers some questions, but also brings up some new ones. Wonderful.”

  Clara sat forward. “Speaking of the girls, where are they? I didn’t see them yesterday…”

  “We spent most of the evening talking to them over at Harmony’s place. They stayed with her overnight, and now Tallulah is keeping an eye on them. Once we’re done here, we’ll go meet them,” Thyra explained.

  “Did you find anything out when you were talking to them?” I asked.

  “Not much. They told me where they were being held, what they experienced, and how they ended up with those two overseers. It lined up with my previous experience, I have no doubt it was the truth.

  I leaned forward at that. “You’re previous experience? You want to expand upon that?”

  Thyra flinched, but nodded. “I promised you I’d tell you more about Graves didn’t I? Well, sit back and relax, let me tell you how I ended up in the Melting Snows coven.”

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