Things that go bump in the day (Aura)

[Whim]

It was a bloody mess. In the middle of the road sat overturned cart and two carcasses, a sheep and a dog. A local midwife was tending  a concussed shepherd, and a large crowd of La'marran onlookers had gathered. Word was a horrible man-beast was behind the carnage. The shepherd said it was a shaggy thing with cloven hooves, sharp claws, and enormous antlers. Old Eustace said it was just a bear. All agreed it barreled out of the woods, mauled the dog, stole some sheep, and went stomping back in.

Rowan Morriswood, who owned the nearby farm and sheep, was having a miserable time trying to get the story straight. In the spirit of La'marri independence there wasn't much of an armed response, but some farmhands were standing about with longbows. They all looked quite nervous; everyone agreed the beast was big.

Ewan sat against the fence and watched it unfold from afar. The beast fit the description of a cursed spirit called the Wendigo. No one would let him get any nearer, and no one was much interested in facoids and myth. Ewan's stay in La'marri was turning out to be a disappointment: he was renting a room from Morriswood, but he ran out of money and was doing chores to pay for it; he was also having no luck binding the fey who gave him that stupid formula.

Amidst the chaos he could see two figures: an armored man, and a young girl in finery, walking down the road...

[Aura]

The sun was shining as Kailin and Raegar made their way down the trail and towards La'marri. They had been on the road for several days now and were anxious to arrive at their destination. The past few days had been rough. There was a large storm their first day on the road during which the majority of their food supplies were lost or ruined in an attempt to shelter themselves. All that remained was a small sack of bread, and that was gone after another day and a half. So for the past day or so, they had had nothing to eat.

At least La'marri would offer them a small opportunity to relax and recollect themselves; at least under normal circumstances, it would have. As the town came into view it was evident that something was not quite right. Many of the villagers appeared to be on edge and a lot of the men were watching the perimeter of the village as if they were expecting something to attack.

Still, they continued on and were soon in the village itself. For a few moments Kailin couldn't see anything wrong with the village. However, as they approached the scene of the monster attack it was clear to Kailin that she would not be getting a chance to rest after all. She sighed and continued to get even closer, looking too see if there was anyone who would be able to give her an idea of what happened.

[Whim]

"Best avert the girls eyes, sir, isn't a proper sight for a little lady," Morriswood drawled in passing as he and several farmhands cleared the carcass. He was a graying man but powerfully built all the same.  "Shepherd says it were some kind of half-man, half-beast

"But the lad's excitable. Reckon it were just a bear," he sighed. "Don't let it scare you folks out of La'marri. Don't get much travelers as it is."

Ewan meanwhile edged nearer the scene and newcomers with interest. A morbid part of him wanted a closer look at the carnage. That and he caught a whiff of magic emanating from the pair - a welcome break from routine.

"Get the chickens fed, Ewan?" His hosts turn esq employer asked.

"Yes" the boy answered petulantly. He hated being treated like he was irresponsible!

[Whim]

(Edit Double-post, sorry!)

[Aura]

Kailin walked closer and examined the scene, noting the damage done to the property as well as the the two bodies being removed from the area. She didn't know what it was, but she highly doubted it was just a bear. She then turned and looked back to where Raegar was still standing. "Raegar, see if you can find where the beast is headed."

The knight stood at attention and bowed his head. He simply said, "Of course." Then he started off towards the woods, looking for clues as to where the beast could of have gone or what it could have been.

Kailin then made eye contact with Rowan, who still had a look of shock on his face that the knight he had just spoken to was taking orders from a child. "Could you explain to me what happened here, please?"

[Whim]

"Just told your-" Morriswood was going to say father but hesitated. Suspicion fell over his weathered face, "-your man there what I know, little lady. A bear went after my flock here. We'll manage just fine.

"Now if you'll pardon me, gonna check up on Faran," he jerked a thumb toward the shepherd, seated with the midwife on a porch across the field. The farmer made a somewhat hasty exit.

Ewan sized up the girl. He hadn't spoken with many real children since his change. It was q disquieting thought. Worse yet, she looked highborn, and he was in no mood to be talked down to by a little girl. But Ewan was curious and made his way closer, feeling under-dressed with his burlap tunic and lack of shoes.

"Don't seem to be locals. What's got you poking your nose round La'marri?"

[Aura]

"Raegar says it's good to travel the world and experience new things." Kailin said as she looked the boy over. He looked like an ordinary, simply dressed farmhand. After she was done looking him over, she turned for a brief moment to check if Raegar was returning yet. However, he was still no where in sight.

"My name's Kailin." She added with a smile after turning back to face the boy.

[Whim]

"I'm Ewan," the boy awkwardly extended a hand, then wiped it on his britches after a hesitation. Dirt and dust were constant companions. "Gotta forgive me but you two don't look like the hunting sort. I'll warn you it don't sound like a bear to me."

His tone grew as authoritative as a 9-year-old could muster. "Big and shaggy, claws, antlers, walks like a man," the boy pantomimed each detail, "read about a kind of daemon called a wendigo like that. Its a sort of curse."

"Just a local legend; course there are stranger things in Niahi," he smiled with a sheepish shrug.

[Aura]

"If that's true, then this wasn't just a random attack. It will be back." Kailin said, turning as she heard the clattering of armor hitting armor. Raegar had returned from the woods. "No sign of it, Kailin."

Kailin sighed. "Oh well." Turning back to Ewan, she smiled again."Would you happen to know of a good place for us to stay the night?"

[Whim]

"Well Morriswood's got a room for rent. Used to be mine," Ewan gave the girl a sheepish smile. "There's a tavern the farmhands go to called the Five Flagons 'bout a mile southways, too."

The girl definitely had a strange aura of command about her. Maybe she was a mage? She definitely was not what she seemed; she was ordering about a grown man! He'd spent weeks trying to commune with the fey of Niahi without a peep. Then the beast and the girl came in one swoop.

"You and your (teacher?) mean to hunt it?" Ewan's gaze flickered to the wet-behind-the-years bowmen watching the perimeter; if it was a daemon they'd not stand a chance. "Seems awful involved for a kid just out to see the world."

He turned to Raegar as he returned, giving a and gave a shy wave. "Hello. Raegar was it?"

[Aura]

"Well, I can't very well not hunt it and let it terrorize the villages, can I?" Kailin said, wondering if she should clarify exactly who Raegar was. At the mention of his name, however, the knight stepped forward himself and bowed his head. "Raegar it is, indeed. You can consider me Kailin's guardian, more or less."

Well, it appears that issue took care of itself, even if that wasn't the complete truth.

[Whim]

"I suppose you can't," Ewan murmered thoughtfully. Not many people showed this kind of errant altruism. He felt to think of it as charming if not naive. He added with a grin, "Like pulling teeth to get La'marrans to take help, or share secrets."

"Can take you to Morriswood's if you like. I'll show you my book," he motioned for the pair to follow, "guessing you're highborn by the look of you? Or a mage?"

[Aura]

Kailin followed close behind him. "Highborn? Not exactly." She said with a laugh. "I am a mage, though."

She looked around one more time as the left the scene of the attack. It appeared to be calming down and most people were returning to their duties. "Is that uncommon around here?" Kailin added as she picked up her pace to match Ewan's.

[Whim]

Ewan lead the pair up a dirt road toward a large cottage at the top of a hill. "Figured something about you was off-" he blushed and corrected himself with a smile "-special. I know some magic myself; bit older then I look."

"And is what uncommon? Caginess? Or acceptance of Niahi's weirdness?"

Rather than head to Morriswood's door, Ewan lead them to a lawn-table where the fieldhands ate. He hadn't realized how lonesome he'd been. La'marri's people were villagers who saw him as a farmboy. They weren't unkind, but the mysteries and magic of Le'raana were beyond their concern. A chat with a daemon-hunting child and her guardian... might be nice.

[Aura]

"I mean magic." Kalin said. "You seemed surprised to see another mage."

She followed him to the table, looking around as they walked. It seemed odd to her for people to show such little concern over the incident that just happened, but she supposed that was just a difference in culture.

[Whim]

"There's plenty of mages in La'marri. They're just shy; got to know where to look.

"Surprised because you're so young," he smiled impishly "unless you're a bit older than you look, too. You sure act it. Funny coincidence."

It was an odd coincidence. Ewan wondered if she'd paid the same price for eternal youth... the girl certainly wasn't saddled with 10-year-old mannerisms like he was.

The quiet tension didn't escape his notice. Everyone was on edge, but if it was a bear he'd expect a call to action; a monster a panic.

[Aura]

"I'm thirteen." Kailin said with a shrug. "Whether that's older or younger than I look is up to you."

She reached up with her right hand to push a strand of hair behind her right ear. She was about to speak again but Raegar spoke up first. "It's best we begin after this monster as soon as we can. There will be time for small talk on the road. For now, we need to get the information out of this book."

Kailin frowned. Sometimes she wondered why Raegar always needed to take everything so seriously. She knew he was right, though. They were wasting valuable time that could be spent tracking the monster. "I guess you're right."

[Whim]

"Oh. Meant you were very articulate is all," he offered sheepishly. "I thought- it was dumb idea. I'll show you the book..." It was foolish to think the girl shared his affliction, or was somehow a powerful sorceress in disguise, just because she was well spoken and had a whiff of magic.

Ewan took them past the cottage and to the stable. The odor used to make him wrinkle his nose. It was tolerable, now, but an embarrassing lifestyle for a sorcerer! He scrambled up a ladder, complaining loudly  "When Morriswood agreed to put me up for a few odd jobs I didn't think he'd meant here."

Moments later the boy jumped down with a dog-eared tome. He laid it across a nearby haybale and beckoned them close. It became clear to Aura, and maybe even Raegar, this wasn' a story-book. Recognizeable were incantations to conjure forth faeries and daemons. Ewan stopped at a page depicting a shaggy, slavering, antlered monster. "Its a mix of a man and all different forest creatures like the shepherd said; that's what got me thinking about it.

"Comes from an unseelie faerie and a human getting their souls put together. The human becomes a big blood-thirsty monster that eats things whole," he scanned the pages discerningly, face alight with interest despite the bloody mess earlier, "Its a hard binding to do. Only reason someone would try to make one is desperation."

[Aura]

"In other words, we need to clean up this mess with the Wendigo. Then there still might be someone around here desperate enough to try another binding?" Kailin asked, curious as to how exactly it worked. "Or the person who did the spell is now the Wendigo?"