The Queen of Shadows

Chapter 21: Gae Bolg (Part 1)

Over 2 millennia ago...

"That ought to do it..."

Scathach used some of her Rune magic to rebuild the rest of Fimir's hut, erecting a wall out of raw material to make her home as good as new. Fimir smiled as the wall connected with the rest of the hut.

"All that's left is the roof."

As Scathach then secured the finished wall, Aife and Kihli were busy making the roof that will eventually be set on top of it. Once that was done, Scathach used her magic again to levitate the finished roof over the line of surrounding walls and positioned it down. While doing this, she couldn't help but marvel just how easily she was doing such a tedious task with magecraft, having done in minutes than what manual labor would have taken hours to do...

Not to mention the degree of control she had over performing these spells; having just learned the basic understanding of Runecraft from the Shadow along with a handful of admittedly useful runes.

It made her wonder just what else she could do with her powers, as she already was feeling like she could do anything...

"Seems like there's a slight gap on one side," Fimir stated in observation of everyone's handiwork. "We don't want any rain getting in..."

"I'm on it," Scathach responds, shifting into wraith form to quickly get on top of the roof to Aife and Kihli's amazement. Once she was up there, Scathach repositioned some of the sections to flush the roof squarely to the top of the walls, completely enclosing the finished expansion to the hut.

"There! All done..."

Scathach jumps back down gracefully, rejoining Aife, Fimir and Kihli on the ground. Night had soon fallen, and everyone gathered to share a meal around the campfire after a hard day's work. After filling up on stew, Fimir and Kihli turned in for the night, leaving the sisters up conversing as the fire continued to burn.

As they talked and shared a few laughs, Scathach couldn't help but contemplate how things changed for her and Aife since making themselves at home in this secluded village. Since confronting the troublesome boys who partially destroyed Fimir's home, they left her alone and never bothered her again. While she and Aife helped Fimir and Kihli repair their hut, Scathach could also sense that everyone in the village were still avoiding her, even though none thus far have resorted to harassing her as the boys have done.

They were leaving her alone but were at the very least still wary of her, which Scathach supposed was a minor improvement, even if it wasn't quite as good as she wanted her disposition with the rest of the village to be. She was sure she'd find some way to make it better in time...

For now, Scathach was glad she was sharing a joyful moment with her sister, especially after taking the Shadow's advice to heart. Had she not confronted those kids the way she did, Scathach doubted she would have this moment with Aife.

She didn't want to imagine how Aife would see her had she not acted maturely, but more violently...

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that," Aife said to Scathach beside her, expressing admiration. "The way you go dark and fly everywhere... it's amazing."

Scathach merely giggled.

"You should've been there when Shadow showed me that for the first time," she remarks. "I chased him around the fortress. The speed, the rush... I was having fun until he cast a rune and I fell flat on my face..."

"Did you really?" Aife tried her best not to laugh.

"I sure did. The Shadow taught me that I should never let myself get too carried away..."