To the Tunes Under the Moon - A Goldric Fic

Chapter 4

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Edric had last seen Hunter. Two weeks of pure agony as he waited by the window every evening. At first, he thought he had scared him off with the kiss. Perhaps pushing him out of the window the next moment wasn't the greatest idea.

But no, he saw the blush that immediately rose to Hunter's cheeks and the goofy smile that followed. So that wasn't it.

To make matters worse, Hunter had forgotten to take Rascal with him. Edric had tried feeding them seeds, but the bird just refused to eat. It wasn't until he saw the palisman interlock that he understood why.

"Ed!" Em slams open the door to his room.

"Leave me alone." Edric whines, his voice muffled by his pillow.

"I'm worried about you, dork." She says, going to sit down next to him. "Also, you need to see this." Edric groans and turns his head. In her hand is a recruitment poster for the Emperor's Coven. In bold letters at the top, however, is the name Kikimora.

"What!?" Edric sits up in a flash and snatches the poster from his sister's hands. "Wha- She's the Coven Head now?" He stammers. "Then..."

"I uh, noticed that the Golden Guard hasn't been here for a while." Em says, her eyebrows creasing. She clutches the edge of the bed. "And you've been sadder. If that golden faced jerk left you-"

"His name is Hunter." Edric snaps before jumping back down onto his bed whilst holding up the poster. The smug look on Kikimora's face seems to mock him. "And he didn't leave me. He said he would come back, but..." Edric bites his lip. "I kissed his cheek, Em." He lets the poster fall on his face. "I thought it'd be sweet, like when Mittens did it with Luz. Do you think-" He swallows, feeling his cheeks heat up. "Do you think that drove him away?"

Em is silent, which only makes Edric feel worse.

"Or, do you think he's been caught?" She takes the poster off of his face and looks at it closer.

"That's even worse." Edric groans, flipping over onto his pillow. "Now I've got to take care of his bird for the rest of my life."

"Hmph. I thought you wanted a pet." Her face falls after Edric doesn't respond. "Okay, you know what? I'll get some snacks, and we can chill together with Mittens. It'll get you out of this stuffy room at least."

*****

That evening, it rained. The Blight Manor is well built enough to endure the wear and tear of acid rain, and luckily so. Rain pours down fervently as Edric watches from his window. Hanging out with his sisters was nice, but his mind kept wandering back to Hunter.

Rascal chirps and glides down to land on his shoulder. "Hey, buddy." Edric scritches the palismans head. "Where's our friend, huh?" His gaze returns to his window.

Wind whistles against the glass as Rascal snuggles close. Edric's eyes glaze over as he watches acid rain sizzle down. In the distance, the faintest red glow appears. He snaps to attention and squints through the storm. Could it be? No, that's impossible. He's just getting his hopes up, that's all.

The glow flickers away.

Sighing, Edric stands up and goes to his desk, casting illusion spells to make it seem as if he tidied it up.

An uneven knock coming from the window jolts him. No way. Red light glows up against the glass, blurred by the rain. Running over, Edric flings the window open and shivers as wind flows in.

Swaying from side to side, Hunter stumbles into the room and drops his staff. His robes are filled with holes, and his clothes are ripped. The Golden Guard mask breaks into two and clatters onto the floor. Two weary eyes, one of which is bruised and black, focus on Edric.