Page 82 of The Wolf and Her Shadows

Rayne’s brief interruption caused me to miss a bit of what Greyva said, but as I focus back on her, she says, “…Had tried to convince them to stay and be the city’s protector, but they refused. Told the townspeople that there were other people in need of saving as well. And so they left, moving from town to town, doing as much good as they could while they were there, but never staying too long.”

Old Greyva opens her mouth to continue, but before the words come, her eyes glaze over and her hands tremble as she blindly sits her teacup back down on the table beside her. To my confusion, no one in the room reacts. They all simply wait quietly while the old woman stares straight ahead, her jaw still slightly ajar from her half-formed word.

I glance over at Mariane, my brows lifting in a silent question. She merely shakes her head, pressing a finger to her lips. Then it all clicks together and I realize Old Greyva is likely having a vision right now.

Do the villagers know that’s what is happening? Has she told them some elaborate lie to hide her abilities? Or do they simply see it as an old woman having an episode of some sort?

My question is answered when Old Greyva slowly blinks twice before making eye contact with me and muttering, “Three days. The four of you will go to Zaris. Find the pirate without a ship.” She blinks a few more times, then shakes her head.

A shiver runs down our spine at the mention of the city and it’s all I can do to not outright refuse to go back there. I vaguely register Mariane and Stephan sharing an intense look with one another before nodding. Seems as though they’re both entirely unsurprised by the woman’s cryptic words, leading me to assume the villagers do in fact know of Old Greyva’s not-so-secret foresight.

But, if that’s the case, then why did she try to hide it from me?

*Because she knew you would question her about Mariane,” Vannaria says, in response to my silent question. “And about Amzarath.*

*Ah. I suppose that would indeed be a fairly decent reason,* I reply, squeezing Mariane’s hand a bit tighter.

She glances over at me, but before she can ask any questions, Old Greyva jumps right back into the story as if nothing had happened. Again.

“Our hero continued their travels for many years, earning themselves quite the reputation as they did so. One day, a well-dressed man approached them in a small inn they’d been staying in. He told them he’d been sent by the king himself, and that the kingdom was in dire need of the hero’s assistance.”

The half-elven girl who’d asked the question about the mountains a while ago raises her hand again. “Was it the same king that renamed the mountains? Or a different king?”

Greyva hums, taking a sip of her tea before shaking her head. “No, it was that king’s grandfather. This is a very old story, child.”

The little girl nods, lowering her hand back to her lap as our story continues, “And so the hero accompanied the man back to the palace. He was treated to a fine banquet and afterward the king offered them a large amount of gold if they’d be willing to investigate some strange occurrences that had happened on the far edges of his kingdom. Our hero declined the gold, telling the king to donate it to the healers of the city instead, but agreed to go and investigate.”

She pauses briefly, as if anticipating being interrupted again. “It took them seven days and seven nights to reach the town at the edge of the kingdom. Girnir. At first, everything had seemed normal. That is, until they started asking questions.”

That same girl starts to raise her hand, but when Greyva shakes her head fondly at her, she changes her mind. With an amused smile, the old woman continues, “No matter what they asked, all of the villagers had the same response, ‘I haven’t seen or heard anything, sir’. Now, that wouldn’t have been that unexpected, except they’d all said it the exact same way and their eyes had glazed over, as if under a spell of some sort.”

Glancing over all the children, she says, “And no, not like mine do when I have a vision.” Their quiet giggles in response have my own lips lifting up into a smile as well. Especially when Mariane leans her head back against my shoulder and joins them.

While she waits for the laughter to die down, Greyva takes another sip of tea. Lowering her cup, she leans forward in her chair and whispers, “One of the Fragments had the ability to sense magic and had discovered that the villagers had all been put under magical hypnosis. Another Fragment was able to nullify the effects, returning the villagers' minds to their natural state.”

*That sure would’ve come in handy,* Vannaria mutters, her thoughts indicating she’d wished one of us had been able to remove the curse Mariane had been under.

*Indeed. It would have,* I reply, doing my best to ignore her wandering thoughts so I can focus on the rest of the story. I’ll admit, I’m thoroughly invested at this point.

Greyva makes brief eye contact with me, then, still whispering, she says, “Once freed from the hypnosis, the villagers thanked the hero for saving them. But all any of them could remember about what had happened, was that a strange man had wandered into the village a few weeks prior, claiming to have been lost in the nearby forest for many years.”

She raises her voice back to a normal volume. “They couldn’t remember what he’d looked like either. So, without many other clues to go on, our hero bravely ventured into the forest in hopes of finding more. It didn’t take them long either, walking for only two hours before they were ambushed by a group of small winged demons.”

Several gasps fill the air, followed by numerous voices all whispering, “Demons?”

Greyva nods, leaning back in her chair. “Yes, demons. Though these were small and were easily defeated. The further they traveled into the forest, however, the larger the demons they came across became. It took them two days, being forced to forgo sleep in order to survive the near constant attacks, before they finally came across the cause of all the seemingly random demons that had taken up residence in the forest.”

Careful not to dislodge Mariane from my shoulder, I lean forward in my own seat, anticipation and excitement swirling around in our chest.

As if somehow able to sense my emotions, the infuriatingly smug ancient woman grins at me. “On the other side of the forest were cliffs, and where the highest point overlooked the ocean was a man, his skin a dark red with small horns sticking out from his forehead and a long tail. But unlike a usual devilkin, this man had large leathery wings growing out of his back. And in front of this man, was a large swirling red and black portal, leading directly into the hells.”

Another collective gasp, mine included this time.

Ignoring us all, Greyva sets her teacup down, resting her elbows on her knees and entwining her fingers. “Knowing that his man was a true devil, our hero immediately leapt into action. Using every bit of magic, weapons, and abilities they had, the hero was able to slay him. But right as the portal he’d summoned closed, another demon stepped through.”

When she darts a quick glance at the window, I follow her gaze and see that there is now a group of men and women standing around outside her home, conversing with one another. The children’s parents, if I had to guess.

I’m once again proven right when a small boy waves excitedly at the closest woman, who waves back just as enthusiastically before returning to her conversation.