“Hey.”
Twilight tried not to react to the voice behind her too much, but smiled
slightly as she continued to unhitch her vehicle, “Miss me?”
Her
smile widened as she felt the warm, slightly stormy atmosphere behind her and
recognised the dark skinned hand on her shoulder, “You’re out of season, Sam.
It’s not even Summer yet.” She warned him, “Haven or not, April will have your
hide if she catches you.”
A
young man in his late teens or early twenties, all dark brown skin, shaggy
brown hair and piercing green eyes, wrapped in tattered coverings of autumn
browns and oranges, moved between her and the moped, an amused smirk gracing
his features. “It’s Handover. If April notices anything outside of the Palace
of the Dawn, I’ll eat my hat.”
“You
don’t wear a hat.” Twilight snorted at him, stepping around the immortal King
of Autumn and her best friend’s ally in mischief and mayhem.
“Yes,
I do, remember?” Sam asked, letting his illusion drop just long enough to
startle the young woman. The half skeletal satyr, with his wide brimmed straw
hat, dark furred legs and his creepy, wide grin, only resembled his other form
in one way. Those piercing green eyes followed a cussing Twilight as she shoved
her helmet on.
“Sam
Hain, I swear I will kick you in the nuts the next time you do that without
warning.” Twilight huffed as she flicked her eyeguard up so she could glower at
him.
“You
can’t hurt me.” Sam chuckled, his illusion going back up, his goal achieved.
“If
I can see you, I can hit you.” She reminded him, “It’s the one advantage to having
to deal with you lunatics. And the only way I can keep the monsters out of
town.”
“You’re
having trouble again?” Sam’s joking tone vanished, a scowl gracing his normally
jovial features.
“Meet
me at the house, I’ll tell you about it.” Twilight promised, before walking her
bike into the road. She had a moment of envy as Sam vanished in a swirl of warm
winds and fallen leaves, knowing that he would be waiting for her when she got
home.
It
took her two attempts to get her bike started but once it was going it ran like
a dream. She had been lucky with the purchase. It had been a second hand bike
when she had picked it up cheap from a lady whose husband had no longer been
around. It had come with all the paperwork and taxed and MOT’d for almost a
year, the lady just had not wanted it in the garage anymore. Twilight was not
going to complain.
She
rode around the village square, noting the fact that the American family were
still in town and were looking at a map of some kind, as she shot past them.
She didn’t get a good look at the family as she carefully turned onto the main road
that led out of the village.
Her
cottage was not very far from the library, only a ten minute drive and one
turning off the main road at most, but her closest neighbours lived a five
minute walk away so it did not matter what she got up to there. The guests who
frequented the property could get up to almost whatever they wanted without
disturbing anyone.
She
smiled as she turned the corner to her home and Seaview Cottage came into view.
She had inherited the old, rustic bungalow from her grandparents when they had
passed away. It stood on the top of a cliff overlooking a small spit of beach.
The
building itself was rather typical of the way the village itself was built. With
its whitewashed walls and thatched roof it looked almost as old as the rest of
the buildings in the local area. The only thing that was new about it was the
plastic and glass conservatory attached to the living room, which had been an
addition made not long before she had inherited it.
Its
windows looked out onto the garden, which as per usual, looked less than its
best. Spring was never a good time for Seaview’s garden, partly because Twi had
no green thumb and partly because she and the Queen of Spring, an immortal that
looked like a young girl but was older than most of the other spirits combined,
were not on speaking terms.
She
had been right. Sam, in his human guise, was waiting for her. The King of the
Autumn Spirits was leaning against her front wall, watching and waiting for her
as she turned off the engine, dismounted and led the bike into the garden, so
she could chain it up by the, mostly unused, well.
“So?”
He asked as Twilight pulled off her helmet. “Details?”
“Faebeast.”
She informed him as she padlocked her bike into place and entered the house,
chucking her keys on the table next to the door and holding the door open for
her friend’s friend. Sam followed her in, ducking into the living room to give
her a little privacy while she removed her bike wear. “About six foot tall,
extra large, ridiculously shaggy fur and stupidly long claws. Best part? It’s
bite? Paralysing.” The young woman huffed, “If it hadn’t been for Elena I would
have been a Twilight sandwich.”
“Elena?
Actually bothered to show up to something?” Sam looked shocked, trying to
ignore the implication that his mortal friend had nearly died.
“It’s
about bloody time.” Twlight scowled as she thought about the woman in question.
Elena was a beautiful, well built woman with long brown hair and soulful brown
eyes and the biggest set of rabbit ears and twitchest tail Twilight had ever
seen on an immortal of her species, “That faebeast? Not the first one in the
village in the last fortnight. I swear they’re getting more active. I thought
part of her job was to deal with stuff like this.”
“It
is, but Handover’s coming up and you know what the Spring rulers get like this
time of year.” Sam grumbled, “She probably didn’t notice until now.”
“Yeah
well it’s not supposed to be my job.” Twilight continues as she stepped into
the living room and headed for the kitchen and her supply of tea. “I keep doing
it, but I’m a Havenkeeper. I keep the Haven.”
She gestured around, “Fighting monsters is a side job. Oh, by the way I need
some more cold iron bolts for the crossbow you gave me.”
“I’ll
make sure you get some.” Sam promised, “But you’ve got to be more careful. You’re
mortal, you can be killed. I’d really rather you didn’t.”
Twilight
sighed and shoved a meal she had previously cooked, split into portions and
shoved into the freezer, into the microwave for ten minutes before flipping the
kettle on.
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