Stories from Semenia

At the Sect

****************A few days ago.****************

Lenore

Grand Master Lenore leans out of the building window wondering where his beloved Luna had went the night before.

Did she go on a pickup mission in the night without waking me? This is bad. The last time she did this she brought back a mangled young Linoku woman, which could only have been the work of the Syrill.

And I assume she was trying to drink his soul. As always.
He sighs. I'm hoping it's nowhere near as gruesome this time...

*A tad bit later...*

"Honey, I have good news and bad news." Luna quietly enters the room.

"Okay. Proceed." Lenore stands from his seated position on the bed, momentarily relieved that his beloved had returned safely, but worried about what she may have brought with her.

"The good news is that I didn't find anything particularly gruesome last night. I know how much you hate seeing pain and suffering and so I thought you would like to know."

"Okay. Bad news?*

She pulls out a piece of fresh Makanean hide, enclosed within a bag.

"When I arrived at the scene, there was a larger Makanean man being devoured alive. I was too afraid and despondent to interfere, knowing that doing so meant certain death for me, too. I called for backup, regardless. He was already dying, his blood on the ground in a pool surrounding him. He seemed to feel much pain, his screams echoing through the forest. By the time backup arrived to help save him, he was nothing but a few bones and hide. I brought them back for genetic testing."

"Luna... That is terribly gruesome."

"Yes, but there isn't much of a mangled body to be seen. It was just hide and bones. Can you send this to the lab for testing? And before you ask, no, magic would not have helped. His right arm, legs and part of his torso was devoured. He would have died during recovery from the strain of magic, just like..."

"Understood. I will go down to the lab for testing and identification of the body." Lenore hurries away, nervous.

"I suspect it could have been Molly's father. She had the same mark on her upper arm as this hide does here." She gestures to a spot on the hide that appeared to have been marked permanently onto the skin. All Makanean children get their family mark onto their skin by their third birthdays. It's a relatively painless process, done with the use of spells instead of actual fire.

"Noted. We will look into this. First we will need samples from the supposed descendants to know for sure." Lenore says, an air of weakening determination in his voice.

She nods and with that Lenore's face crumples. Luna knew what would come nest.

"What were you thinking, Luna? You could have died! What would I have done without you? You're covered in blood, Luny!! Come to the tub, I'm running a warm bath! You need to bathe, stat! Oh, my god, Luny..."

He frantically scans his beloved's body for signs of harm. After he was satisfied with his scan, he runs to the bathroom and draws a hot bath for her, scrubbing the dirt and grime off of her. He worked fast and delicately, making sure to be as gentle and through as possible. She sits through this ritual as she had done countless times before. Satisfied and reassured by Luna that she is clean, he allows her to dress and dry off while he makes soup for her.

A little later, he comes in with the soup. He knows how much she is affected by those nightmarish scenes, even though she says little about how she feels. He tucks her into bed and brings a collapsable table to her so she can eat her soup comfortably.
It tends to be far colder here than our original biologies were prepared to handle, he reminds himself. She may feel uncomfortable or unwell.