The girl from the mist

Chapter Five

Master Token did eventually return from the basement, and when he did, he did so with singed eyebrows and a dazed look. Without answering any questions, he picked up a book from the living room and shuffled off to his study. It was a safe bet that whatever he had attempted had not worked out.
This would probably have been an excellent time to introduce the elf to the wizard, but for some reason, Cassandra hesitated. She told herself that the old man needed a little time to recuperate, that she had seen this kind of far-off look in his eyes before. This was a perfectly fair assessment. But there was also something else.
It had taken her several days to gain the trust of the lithe creature in the pantry. She'd left the door unlocked and she'd brought it food, but for a very long time, it had simply cowered in the corner. At first, Cassandra had chalked it up to the trauma of whatever she had been through, but eventually it dawned on her that this was probably the first time she had ever seen a human. Unskilled as she might be, Cassandra was a wizard's apprentice. From an early age she had been exposed to fantastical creatures and creatures from other planes of existence. She didn't know what the Otherworld was like, nor how old elves grew, but if the Wards had been in place since the time of Ethros, there was a very fair chance that this was the first time her guest had ever stepped foot on the material plane.
This realisation brought about a change in her demeanor. Her movements became more restricted, her tone a little more gentle. She did not know if the girl understood her or not, but she seemed to pick up on her hostess' good intention, and relaxed. Soon, she accepted whatever food or medicine Cassandra gave her without a moments hesitation, and smiled with true joy whenever Cassandra opened the door to the pantry. Cassandra had tried to move the elf to a slightly more comfortable room, but for some reason, the elf had resisted. It was probably for the best. This was the only room she could be sure the others wouldn't go into uninvited, and at any rate, where would she put her? How would they get there? Athos had the eyes of a falcon- literally. Having gotten her into the estate was a stroke of luck to begin with.
So they stayed in the pantry, chatting after dark. The elf still didn't say anything, but listened intently to what the young wizardess had to say. Sometimes she even laughed, at all the right places. It was a clear, ringing laugh, like crystal being struck, gently. It was a laugh that contrasted almost absurdly with those disturbing red eyes, but fit perfectly to the elfin form. How much was still elf after centuries in the Otherworld? How much was... Different?
Regardless, Cassandra relaxed. For the first time that she could remember, she could talk freely. She could talk without being on her guard that Vance or Howard might use what she said against her later, and she could talk without being afraid that she worried master Token. A girl apparently her own age was a boon to her, and she soon found herself saying things she scarcely admitted to herself. It was this that kept her from revealing her otherworldly guest to her master. It would have felt like a betrayal.
Anyway, the people of the estate had more pressing concerns to worry about: Gnoll's keep was under siege.
Master Token had speculated that the lindworm would move on. It had no particular reason to stay that anyone could discern, and attacking a wizard's dwelling outright would have been suicide. Instead, it stayed in the area, burrowing underground. What must surely be a honeycomb of tunnels where being excavated under the area surrounding Gnoll's Keep, and a number of sheep and other livestock disappeared from the fields. No villagers had gone missing as of yet, but that was mostly because they were to scared to go out at night. Besides, the little cluster of houses to the west didn't seem to interest the creature. By the subterrestrial rumbling they could tell that it was circling them.
"Why doesn't it just... attack?" Vance said, nervously. He stared out the window into the rapidly dimming twilight. Another night filled with distant earthquakes awaited them, and they sat gathered in the living room. A fire burnt merrily in the hearth, and Cassandra was busy making cocoa, hoping to bring some smidge of comfort to the gathered group. Everyone seemed to find it a little awkward.
Howard snorted. His expanding shape was leaning back in a ghastly beige armchair that had been brought up from some southern city long ago. He scratched his chest irritably, and threw Vance an unusually harsh look.
"Don't be daft boy, do you think it wants to die? With two fighters and a wizard waiting for it, it wouldn't stand a goblin's chance in a werewolf's den."
"But how does it know?" Vance wondered aloud. "How does it know we're dangerous? And if it does, why does it stay?"
"Darn good question" Howard muttered, then raised his voice. "Do you know, Tok? Hey, Tok!"
Master Token sat in another armchair, stroking his beard and mumbling to himself. He gave off all the appearance of a senile old man, but Cassandra knew he was off in deep thought. So did Howard, presumably, but as an old adventuring pal, he seemed to feel entitled to disturb him, and so simply raised his voice once more.
"Tok! We don't really know what this place was used for before we settled here, right? Is there, I don't know, something buried underneath? Some old ritual site or something?"
"Oh, leave him alone" Cassandra snapped, pouring warm, brown fluid into a thick cup. She handed it to the motionless wizard, who grasped it automatically with gnarled, old fingers. She poured another cup for Vance. "Can't you see he's thinking?"
Howard's eyes narrowed. He was not a bad man, but nor was he an overly subtle one, and he did not like it when people talked back.
"I'd stay out of this if I was you, girl" he said, in a low tone. "It's your home I'm trying to help as well, you know."
Cassandra gave a burst of laughter, shaking her head as she picked up another cup.
"You'd help it more if you stayed out of this" she reasoned. "It's a magical creature, so we'll be the ones to chase it off."
"Oh sure, I'm sure he will."
A very uncomfortable silence fell on them. Cassandra fixed her gaze on the ladle.
Don't react, she told herself. Master Token has enough to worry about, and being trapped in this house with a monster outside wasn't going to get any better if she poured hot cocoa over Howard's face. Just don't...
"If I were you" the voice continued, far away, "I'd consider what my future role here will be..."
Cassandra screamed.
It wasn't a scream of anger or sorrow, but physical pain: The cocoa had spilled over the brim of the cup and singed her hand. She yanked it away, reflexively, and the cocoa spilled over the mauve carpet. Master Token looked up, as if in a daze, and Vance hurried over, anxious.
"Cassandra! Are you alright, are-"
She waved him off, and got up. There were tears in her eyes, probably from the pain.
"I'm going to the pantry" she snapped. "To find some gauze."
"Bring some cleaning supplies" Howard called after her. "There's a flippin' stain on the carpet!"
                                                                            ---
Once more, the door to the pantry rattled as it was flung hard against the stone. Cassandra paced restlessly, holding her stinging hand.
"I'll curse them" she whispered to herself. "I'll curse the both of them, I'll turn them into bats, no beetles, no, one a bat and the other a beetle so one can eat the other. I'll... I'll..."
She was so wrapped up in her own anger that she didn't notice the frightened look the elf was giving her. When she caught her eye, she calmed down immediately, realising the spectacle she must be making. The elf gave a little shriek when she saw the burn on Cassandra's hand. The apprentice mustered a smile, and knelt down.
"Sorry, it's all just... I'm just a little stressed" she said, soothingly.
The elf looked her in the eye, then down at the hand. Then, very gently, she picked up Cassandra's hand. The elf's limbs were soft and thin, and Cassandra felt her hand was unnaturally large and callused in them. The elf placed one of these delicate palms over the burnt area, then closed her eyes.
For a moment, nothing happened, and Cassandra was puzzled by the ritual. She was about to ask what was going on when she became aware of a strange, ethereal light flickering under the creature's hand. It wasn't white, exactly, nor was there any colour in it. It was rather the image of sunlight shinning through fog. A strange itching sensation arose on Cassandra's skin, and she felt the hairs on the back of her head stand up.
Eventually the light faded, and the elf removed her hand. The burn was completely healed.
Cassandra lifted her hand to her face, incredulous.
"How did you-? That wasn't magic, I can tell, it was... Can you really...?"
The elf cocked her head with a smile, revealing polite incomprehension. Cassandra's enthusiasm quickly died away, to be replaced by a deep, dull certainty. She looked at her hand again, less happy now. Then she looked at the elf.
"I'm not an idiot you know" she confided. "I know what they're all thinking."
The elf seemed puzzled, and Cassandra sat down with a sigh. She leaned against the wooden framework of the shelves, and looked up on the gathered groceries she'd neatly lined up above her.
"They think I'm going to marry Vance, and then we're going to settle down here and farm the land, like a couple of peasants. He'll work the fields, and I'll cook the meals, just like I'm doing now."
She waved the elf to silence, irritably, even though she hadn't made any indication of wanting to speak.
"Oh, I know master Token doesn't think that, but he couldn't even put his socks on in the morning if I didn't lay them out for him. He can talk about my 'exceptional path' as much as he wants, but a wizardess who can't do magic isn't exactly a wizardess, is she? Then what's left but marriage?"
The elf looked at her in silence. Cassandra scratched the floor, uncomfortable.
"It's not that I don't like the guy, and I'm sure he's no more keen on it than me, but... Is that it? It just seems so silly, being alive only to live in the same house, meeting the same people... Sometimes, I just want to leave..."
A thought occurred, and she looked at the elf.
"Is that what you did?"
She sat up, more attentively, almost eager now.
"Is it that simple? Is it just a matter of breaking out?"
The elf did not respond, at least, not with words. But whether or not she had understood the human girl, a reaction was forthcoming. She leaned forward, and moved her hands over the stone floor.
The elven hands moved in soft curves over the smooth stones, as if stroking it. She never made contact with the floor, but wherever she moved her hands, faint trails of fog emerged. The little wisps of mist curled together into a tiny pool of grey, shaped like clay beneath those soft fingers. Cassandra leaned forward, curious, and to her amazement, the mist parted. Where there had previously been stone and traces of flour, a landscape emerged, lakes and rivers made of grey. She didn't recognize it, but as tiny figures took shape within it, she recognised djinns, phookas, wyrms, curling about in the mist-covered landscape.
"The Otherworld" she whispered.
The landscape changed, or rather, it twisted. Each figure, each landmark, seemed to turn itself inside out, and this time, the landscape was brilliant in colour: green grass and brown trees, blue water rushing in a gentle stream. Cassandra frowned. This was the material world. But wasn't that-?
"Hold on-" she started, but the image shifted again.
The river fell away as the point of view rose, revealing snow-covered mountains. It followed the flight of an eagle as it crossed the high cliffs, resting in the end on a tall mountain, rising from the other mountains like a thorn pushed through flesh.
"That's Hadrian's Peak" she said, excitedly. "It's east of here, how did you-?"
The elf smiled, and the image hovered between them. Cassandra looked from the image to the elf.
"That's why you came, isn't it?" She said, suddenly certain. "You're trying to get to Hadrian's Peak. But why aren't you-?"
The pantry door slid open.
"Cassandra, are you sure that you're-?" Vance began, then stopped. Hand still on the doorway, he looked at his childhood friend sitting cross-legged opposite a pale, red eyed creature hiding in the shadows.