The Lore within Reality

Chapter 7

The room was silent for several moments, all of us just staring at one another, waiting for someone to laugh and prove this is some elaborate joke. No one moves. I look from Elias to Logen and back, searching for some kind of reaction. Shaking my head as my mind catches up with my ears. Laughter bubbles up and over. The deep belly kind of laugh, the ones that make a person seem a bit unstable. My sides ache and I'm bordering on hysteria. Gasping breaths begin to bring me down. Each laugh is interrupted with a hiccup until I've calmed down entirely.

"Have you lost it?" Logen is the first to speak, his words twinged with concern but covered by sarcasm.

"You're the one who's lost it, friend. Hunters, banshees, changelings." Even as I say it, I know better. I saw her face, I felt the force of my scream.

Logen rolls his eyes but says something, rather choosing to make himself comfortable on my couch. My eyes flit to Elias, still standing quietly, watching me, completely unreadable. I hold his stare, silently daring him to speak.

"Banshees are rare. We haven't seen a new one in decades-"

"What the hell even is a banshee?"

"Essentially you're an omen of death," Logen pipes up, shrugging as if it's no big deal.

Elias's jaw tightens as he casts a death glare in his direction. "Yes and no. You can receive premonitions about death but because the future is never set in stone, those can change. Even then, not every banshee is the same."

"And yet I scream with a force that throws you and cracks concrete?" I lift a brow, looking at the both of them as if they've lost their minds.

Elias hesitates, debating his response, "Yes...the lore talks about a weeping woman whose cry could be heard by those that would soon die, but over time and differences in translations, the full story has been lost. Banshees aren't just screaming spirits, they're warriors. Their cry could signal death, protect themselves or those around them, destroy cities."

Still not satisfied, "And what makes you think I'm this banshee?"

Logen's laugh cuts through the tension. "Lass, have ye seen the power behind your scream? Ye nearly killed him." He seems thoroughly amused, shaking his head as his laughter dies. "You're the banshee for sure, and a damn powerful one at that."

Elias says nothing, the muscles working in his jaw and he stares down at the ground. He seems angry and a part of me wants to ease that, while the other screams he has no right to be angry right now.

"Anything you'd like to add?" Elias looks up, his eyes glowing with gold, more than I have ever seen. I take a step back, fists clenching, and that strange burn begins behind my eyes. He looks away, moving faster than my eyes can track, he grabs Logen by his neck and drags him outside.

Logen laughs the entire way, not even trying to fight him. "What's wrong with ye, brother?" they clamber down the steps before Elias throws his partner on the asphalt.

Elias stands over them, looking like he should be the omen of death. Logen gracefully rolls to his feet, still laughing. He stands to his full height. Unbothered by the promised wrath in Elias's eyes.

"Don't care for my help?" Elias swings, his fist making full contact with Logen's face. I can hear the force of the blow from the stairs.

The victim stagers, looking shocked but still amused. He's barely made it back to full height before he's hit again. He doubles over, a pained laugh echoing around us. His blows get more and more savage, not seeming to care of the pain he could be causing either of them. Whatever anger he felt before seems to have grown tenfold.