The Hunter

Aftershocks

Finn woke in her bed, pain pulsing with her heartbeat. The windows were open, allowing the breeze to drift across her face. An owl sat on the window edge and an angular woman sat on the edge of Finn's bed, glaring at her silently.

"Glad you made it in time Tina." Finn said, her voice harsh and dry. Finn winced at the sound. "I don't suppose you could do something for the pain?"

"Your tea is beside you." The woman answered firmly.

Finn reached for the tea, pain radiating up her arm as she lifted the cup gingerly and brought it to her mouth. The bitter flavour coasted over her tongue and down her throat and she set the cup down in her lap, holding it steady with unsteady hands. "What do I owe the pleasure of your continued nursing?"

The woman arched a dark brow and pursed her lips. "You can nurse yourself, I'm not here to coddle you. Explain to me why the hell you haven't prepared Gloria for any of the shit you drag home?"

Finn frowned. "She was supposed to stay in the library. She would have been safe there."

The woman stood, anger wafting off her in palpable waves. "The Chronicler is your support system Finn! I know it's been a long time but you know that! You didn't even tell her who to call on if she needs help, and you know how I feel about that level of hubris! I cannot believe you would put her and everyone else at that level of risk!"

Finn glared at Tina. "She isn't the Chronicler Tina, she's just reading them so they hold even. You know I've had someone do that every couple of years. She's staying with me and reading the books in exchange for learning how to use her magic."

Tina spluttered in rage. "You dare tell ME who the Chronicler is or is not?" For a moment the room darkened and images of armour fluttered over the woman's body, then it faded as she slipped from anger to disbelief. "And you believe it."

Finn blinked at the woman, frowning a moment. "Why wouldn't you tell me there was a Chronicler born? She can't be, you never said anything."

The woman dropped her head into her hands and then sat cross legged on the floor, her head resting on the side of Finn's bed. A sigh left her body and she visibly gathered herself before she met Finn's eyes again. "Only the Hunter can choose a Chronicler Finn. Just like if you were to die only the Chronicler can choose a Hunter. You two are a team and you must be able to work together absolutely." Tina stood rubbing her face with her hands. "Train her properly."

Finn blinked as the owl flew silently to Tina's lifted arm. "And for the last fucking time don't use Peroxide and Super-glue as bandages for critical wounds! I'm not stitching you up again."

Finn closed her eyes and let her head fall backwards to her headboard. "I didn't choose anyone." She grumbled to the empty room. Sounds from the stairs leading to her room drew her attention as Gloria came up carrying a tray with a steaming bowl on it. She set the bowl on the table beside the bed and then turned to Finn, jumping a little when she met her eyes. Finn frowned.

"I'm sorry. That woman, she didn't tell me her name, said that I should consider your orders to stay out of this room null until you could get up on your own." Gloria stepped back. "It's just broth. I wasn't sure what else you would be able to eat."

"You're afraid of me." Finn stated. Gloria jumped again and edged closer to the room's exit. "Why?"

"I'm not-"

"Don't lie to me girl, and don't think I can't take a bit of hysteria." Finn rolled her hand to indicate that Gloria should start talking.

"I'm just gonna go back downstairs." Gloria mumbled as she backed another step towards the stairs.

"Does it have something to do with the demon in that little closet?" Finn asked, hoping that would set the girl off. Hysteria bottled up, inside a fire mage no less, would only cause chaos.

"A demon!" Gloria screeched and Finn was glad the house had set itself somewhere away from people. "An honest to God demon! I'm reading something about how the house has a cellar with bottles of wine and then there's alarms and I'm not holding a book about the house it's a first aid book and that's all that's in the library and it's all stainless steel and first aid kits and smells like a hospital and then a door slams open across the hall and there's you and a demon and all I can smell is burning and something else and you're bleeding and it's getting up and I don't know what I said and I don't know how I grabbed you and I think I made it worse when I did and does that make me culpable and how do I tell a priest any of this in Confession and you're not saying anything and every now and then that door pulses like it has a heartbeat and then there's a woman and she's carrying you to a table in the library that's a hospital and she's stitching you up and yelling at me for gluing you back together like a puzzle and then she's telling me that I need to make sure you are teaching me how to do something right and all I can smell is burning and there's this ringing in my ears or a roaring or something I don't know and then I'm in the kitchen and there's a knife and a cutting board and vegetables and I don't know how to make soup and then the knife starts moving on it's own and cutting up the vegetables and your house is possessed and now I can't get out every window just leads me back to the kitchen and the doors won't open and I can't find air why is there no air and then it's dark." Gloria, now huddled with her back pressed against a corner of Finn's room gasped air in and out. "And it's dark and it's calm."

Gloria looked up to Finn. "And there's something soft close to my arm. And it turns out it's an owl. Why did that calm me down? I hate the dark and owls have wicked sharp beaks and talons and they are so much scarier when they are right there." Gloria hiccupped.

"But it did. And I remembered that the house is capable of doing more than just making rooms appear. And that it's not possessed. There was three pages on the difference, but I don't remember now." Gloria sucked in a shaking breath that filled her lungs before she continued. "Owls walk funny. It's kind of this running hop. Or a hopping run. And I followed this random bird back into the kitchen and I realized that the soup was for you. Because you weren't dead."

Gloria brought her red-eyed gaze to Finn's. "How are you not dead?"

Finn thought a moment, before she answered. "I'm not far from it at the moment. I don't like admitting that, but it's true and if what Tina said is true then I'll have to get used to sharing truth's like that." Finn sipped at her tea again, wishing Tina had just taken the pain away and understanding more now why she hadn't.   

"You saved my life, and I apologize on behalf of Tina. She's not known for letting her temper get the better of her, but she thought you knew more than you did. She will apologize to you when she thinks it's the right time." Gloria sniffled.

"What were those potions?" Gloria asked, her voice thick with fear and confusion.

"Potions?"

"That you had me use on you. Am I going to Hell for that?"

Finn breathed a gasping chuckle and winced at the pain it caused. "No you aren't. I paid for them. It was Hydrogen Peroxide to rinse the wound and a really big bottle of Superglue to stop the bleeding."

"What?"

"Go get the bottles and see for yourself. I'm not great at potions and I don't have the patience to remake them every time their shelf life is up so I don't bother."

Gloria shook her head. "I don't think I can stand up right now."

"That's fair."

"What's next?"

"That depends on you. If you are willing I can teach you what you need to do to help me recover, and that may take a week or more before I can look after myself so think about it before you decide. After that it will depend on you again." Finn yawned, her jaw creaking before she finished. She finished her tea and leaned her head back, letting sleep take her again before she heard the answer.