𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒔𝒉

𝑰𝑽. 𝒃𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂

"Try to sit her up." A quiet, unfamiliar voice. Was it from afar? Or was it simply a whisper?

Another voice, louder. "Nyx, you have to drink this. Can you hear me, Nyx? Try to drink it."

A hand on her jaw tilted her head back. A warm liquid ran dow her throat. She swallowed hard, coughing slightly.

"There you go, just a bit more. Jamys, sit her up." She felt her body lift higher. Her head tilted back again, and more warm liquid was poured down her throat. She coughed less this time.

Nyx groaned as she opened her eyes, finding Caitriona's dark eyes peering back at her. She held a steaming cup in her hand, kneeling on the floor in front of her. Her brow furrowed as she looked around.

A small cottage. Wooden furniture, shelves full of jars. The smell of unfamiliar herbs and smoke filled her senses.

She lay next to a fire, Jamys crouched next to her supporting her up from behind. The others stood around her, staring down.

She cleared her throat, "Um, hello."

"Mornin' sunshine!" Cillian smiled down at her.

"How did I..." She looked around the room. The only source of light coming from scattered candles and the fire, not a window in sight. "How did I get here?"

"In the confusion of the fog, we somehow moved up into the mountains. None of our equipment would work, Finn's compass was spinning in circles." Jamys said from behind her as he helped her to sit against the wall. The group was eerily quiet. "Then, a woman found us. She guided us through the fog and brought us here."

"Not quite fog, my dear," Soft footsteps rounded towards her. A small old woman smiled at her gently, wrinkled dimples poking out from her cheeks. "The Borvhir mist."

The woman slowly moved to her knees beside Nyx, holding a dripping cloth in her hands. She turned to Caitriona, "If I might..."

Caitriona quickly handed the woman the steaming cup. The woman held the cup in her thin fingers and placed it gently in Nyx's hands.

"Finish this off, but slowly." The woman's eyes twinkled a dark blue. She pressed the cold, damp rag to her forehead. Nyx relaxed into it's refreshing effects, feeling so much clearer. The ringing in her mind was gone. She took another sip of her tea.

The old woman stood slowly and continued. "It's an ancient protection of the Borvhir caves. As one might expect, it is meant to confuse and misdirect the individual away. It is worse for... some than others. A simple barberry mint tea and cold compress usually does the trick. Getting out of it is the hard part." She said softly.

Why am I the only one...like this?" Nyx asked quietly, her voice felt less dry. Everyone else was standing and looked perfectly fine.

"I assume you are simply more sensitive to the mist," The woman said quietly as she shuffled through her many jars, her fingers tapping on them quietly.

"We all felt confused, disoriented. Like all the moisture in our bodies was being drained. Hesis, I could hardly open my eyes they were so dry." Niall said.

"The worst part was the voices, the taunting." Finn muttered.

"Oh yes," The old woman sighed. "The mist is enchanted to recognize what will hurt you the most. What will make you too weak to continue."

"And the ringing?" Nyx asked quietly.

The woman froze, Nyx watched as her shoulders froze with a sharp inhale of breath.

Confused faces looked down at her.

Cillian shook his head. "There was no ringing, Nyx."

The woman turned toward her, brushing her hands on her cream linen apron. "You say you experienced ringing?" Nyx nodded.