Chapter 61

With a heavy sigh of relief, Vee allowed herself to sink into Amara’s arms after they crossed the boundary at the edge of Tadhgán’s home. She’d long ago lost track of how long they’d been hiking through The Wilds, distracted by the countless bruises and aches plaguing her body. It wasn’t the pain that was foreign to her—she’d experienced far more serious injuries in the last few months alone—it was the frustrating lack of endurance.

For as long as she could remember, her divine soul had given her boundless energy and incredible resistance to minor annoyances. She’d never once gotten sick, workouts never left her sore for more than an hour or two, and even minor injuries like cuts and scrapes healed remarkably quickly.

Such benefits were relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. Supposedly, angels at the full extent of their power moved through the world in a manner so effortless it was nearly impossible to describe; thoughts manifesting into reality, miraculous boons coincidentally befalling their closest allies, and countless strangers bending over backwards to enter their good graces. In the most extreme examples, powerful angels sometimes needed to isolate themselves from humanity entirely, their divine auras simply too potent to hide from those around them.

For better or for worse, Vee had no such problems. Her feet ached, her legs were impossibly sore, even her lungs were exhausted; the air in The Wilds was impossibly humid, and she hated how much effort it took to take consistent deep breaths.

Thankfully, of all the places they’d visited since arriving, the clearing in front of them was easily the most hospitable. The air, while still humid, felt easier on her lungs as she took her first breaths. The babbling brook at the opposite edge of the clearing was peaceful and quiet, which drew Vee’s attention to the lack of aggressive ambience here. No bugs screamed for attention, no surging rivers threatened to deafen her, and no shadowy beasts prowled the skies with bone-chilling roars. She even detected hints of a warm, savory aroma emanating from the cottage, though her dulled senses made it difficult to pick out further details.

The cottage itself was delightfully rustic; so charming it might as well have been plucked directly from the pages of a children’s book of fairy tales. Standing just shy of two stories tall, the presence of windows near the top of the structure hinted at the presence of a loft, or at the very least vaulted ceilings. The thatched roof was made entirely of vines, roots, and other dried plant life likely gathered from the nearby forest. A quaint chimney extended out from this roof, made entirely of thin, mint-green stones piled in a slightly askew column. Supporting the roof and chimney were a series of walls made mostly of bluish-purple clay bricks stacked between the occasional large, wooden log. A thatched awning extended out from the right side, beneath which Vee saw a stack of lumber and several tanning racks currently filled with various hides and skins. The front door was surprisingly large, likely more than eight feet tall, and was made of arched, dark cherry wood. Somewhere behind the cottage, likely near the river based on the sounds of playful splashing, Vee heard several children shouting and playing.

“Kids! Saoirse! I’m back!” Tadhgán called out, a massive smile on his face.

A frenetic chorus exploded in the clearing, the result of Tadhgán’s children excitedly bickering with each other.

“Dad’s home!”

“Bet’cha I can get him first!”

“Nuh uh!”

“That’s not fair! You’re shifted!”

“Hey! Let go! I’m telling!!”

From behind the cottage, three small shapes raced into view. At first glance, Vee assumed it to be two children and perhaps their pet, but prior experience in The Wilds told her that likely wasn’t the case.

The first of them to reach Tadhgán was the most animalistic. They ran on all fours and appeared to be no different than the wolves which had briefly called Aurelius home, if much smaller. Their thick, dark gray fur shimmered as they ran, showing vague suggestions of the surrounding terrain as they darted across the clearing. Mouth open wide in a massive, canine smile, their large tongue lolled out as they leapt into the air, effortlessly planting their front paws on Tadhgán’s chest and knocking him to the ground.

Tadhgán grunted in pain as he hit the dirt, though the discomfort immediately gave way to joy as he laughed and began rolling around with the first of his children.

Shortly behind this wolf-child was a small girl with unusually elongated proportions. In many ways, she almost resembled Tadhgán when he’d transformed into his lycanthropic form. Her heels were raised high above the ground, though her digitigrade legs were not entirely lupine. Instead of thick, shaggy fur and paws with sharp claws, she sported thin, light-brown fur with dark spots reminiscent of a deer, and her legs ended in thick black hooves. Her fur grew longer and wilder the higher on her body it sat, and it was also soaking wet with small patches of mud and sticks clinging to it. Her head was some kind of cross between humanoid and deer, covered in the same light brown fur as her legs. Tall, pointed ears sprang up from her head, twitching as she walked, which took a great deal of effort due to the third child.

The last of the three children was on the ground, his hands wrapped around the left leg of the werefaun girl. His face was partially obscured by thick, wavy, black hair, but also by the ground he stared at as he tried to stop the werefaun girl from reaching their dad. He was the most humanoid of all of them, with skin the same rich, tanned color as his father’s. Currently shirtless, it was easy to see the light presence of hair, or possibly fur, growing from his chest and back; certainly unusual for a child of his age. He wore dark brown pants, the bottoms of which, along with his feet, were soaking wet.

Tadhgán was the happiest Vee had ever seen him. The first child, the wolf, was eagerly licking his face and sniffing his clothes as they rolled around on the ground, and the other kids joined in the revelry as soon as they arrived.

“What took you so long?” the werefaun child asked.

“Woah! Look at your clothes! They’re so weird!” the humanoid boy said. “Where’d you get them? I thought you weren’t going to another village?”

They pestered Tadhgán with questions for what seemed like ages, and as the excitement gradually faded, they finally recognized that Vee and Amara were also present. At the same time, almost in perfect union, the three kids ran up to them with wonder in their eyes and the questions began anew.

“Who are you? Are you friends with Dad? You’re also dressed weird!”

“This one has horns like Mom! That’s so cool!”

“Alright, kids, don’t get too nosy. These are friends of mine from another plane, and I’m helping them out with a problem of theirs,” Tadhgán said, slowly getting up from the ground. “This is Vee, and that’s Amara. She’s a demon, which is why she has horns. They’re not going to be with us for very long, so don’t get used to their company, and make sure to treat them like treasured guests.”

A soft but insistent bark erupted from behind Amara, and Vee looked over to see the wolf child holding the end of Amara’s tail in its mouth. It slowly walked towards the other children, its footsteps high and fanciful as if to proudly announce its exciting discovery.

“WOAH! A TAIL?!” both other kids exclaimed. They ran behind Amara to poke and prod at their newest fascination, and Vee flashed a quick smile to her love. As much as she loved children, the exhaustion from her long hike and the general uncertainty from their current predicament didn’t foster a very playful mood.

With a knowing nod, Amara looked down at all the kids with a new mission in mind. “You want to see something really cool? Give me some space!”

All the kids backed away for a second, including the wolf, who dropped Amara’s tail and sat next to its siblings with its head cocked in curiosity. With a flash of hellfire, Amara summoned the rest of her true form, her massive wings expanding to their full size. Next, her tail grew a small sleeve of protective chitin just beneath its tip, which she extended to the wolf with a silent offer of letting it turn her tail into a chew toy.

The wolf child pounced forward, only for Amara to pull her tail away at the last second before crouching down herself. “Whoever catches me gets to fly around the house on my back!” she shouted, breaking out into a sprint.

Gasps of excitement filled the clearing, followed by a frenetic burst of energy as all the kids took chase after Amara. Despite her own exhaustion, Vee found herself smiling as she watched Amara play with the strange wolf-deer-children. It seemed to come so naturally to her, and Vee’s heart blossomed with love before Tadhgán leaned over and nudged her arm.

“They can be a bit much, sorry about that,” he whispered. “I ‘spose I should’ve given you a heads up.”

Vee shook her head. “No, that’s okay. They’re all lovely, what are their names?”

They both watched the kids chase Amara around as Tadhgán continued talking. “The boy’s name is Dáire, and the first girl, the one that’s partially shifted, is Aoife. The last girl is our youngest, her name is Siobhán. She doesn’t like talking all that much, and is much more comfortable when she’s in her wolf form.”

“I didn’t realize lycanthropes could turn into normal wolves,” Vee said. “I always assumed they alternated between a humanoid form and the one you took back on Earth.”

“For traditional lycanthropes, it often depends on the source of the curse. Some variants of the curse lean more towards the animalistic, creating creatures that prowl around on all fours and appear more like dire wolves than anything else. Other variants, like mine, create more humanoid forms that are a blend of both halves. However, when lycans have kids, that curse can present itself in unusual ways. For Siobhán, it happens to be incredibly easy for her to hold this quadrupedal form. I’ve never seen a werefaun before Aoife, and no doubt that’s a result of the curse getting creative as it mixed with my partner’s heritage.”

Tadhgán paused for a moment, smiling as he looked back at his kids, then continued. “Anyways, I know we’re in a rush, and you seem pretty exhausted. How about we head inside, get that cure started, and get a nice meal going before we head out again?”

Her stomach grumbling, Vee briefly lost herself in a daydream of Amara’s wonderful cooking before managing to shake herself back to reality. Following closely behind Tadhgán, she took one last look behind her to check on Amara. At the moment, Siobhán’s powerful canine jaws were wrapped around Amara’s tail, which Amara had lifted high in the air, thus suspending the wolf-child several feet above the ground. The other kids found this hilarious, and appeared to have temporarily given up their chase to play with their suspended sister. After one last smile, and a silent “I love you” as Vee and Amara locked eyes, Vee entered the cottage.

It was delightfully cozy. Walking through the doorway left Vee in a small, but comfortable, rounded space that seemed to be a cross between a foyer and a living room. The floor was made entirely of soft, dark wood that housed countless scuffs, scratches, and dents. From this space, Vee was able to see almost the entirety of the cottage’s interior.

To her left, a small kitchen. Small bundles of herbs hung from the ceiling and walls, and beneath them, Vee saw various fresh fruits, vegetables, dried meats, and other such things. Next to this counter was a stone hearth that housed a small, crackling fire clearly meant for cooking. On the nearby floor sat a large pot, likely one frequently used for cooking, and a thick spit above the fire held a massive cut of meat. Delectable hints of savory warmth filled Vee’s senses, and she licked her lips in hope that she might be able to share in this meal soon.

To her right, Vee saw a collection of beds, all in different configurations and states of tidiness. One bed was nothing more than a circle of pillows, leading Vee to assume it was Siobhán’s, and all the other beds looked more suitable for humans. Two of them were smaller, clearly meant for children, but the size of the largest bed made them look comically tiny. It seemed large enough to hold Tadhgán even if he were fully transformed, which made Vee wonder how common an occurrence that was here in The Wilds.

Near the back of the entry room was a ladder that, just as Vee had predicted earlier, led to a loft suspended above them. Beside the base of that ladder was a small staircase that descended down into the ground, though Vee’s attention wasn’t drawn to the simple stonework that set it apart from the rest of the house; she was focused on the person that had just ascended the steps with a kind smile on her face.

Standing just over five feet tall, the woman looking up at them was a small faun. Instead of feet, she had sharp black hooves that tapped against the stones and wood with each step she made, and her deer-like legs were covered in medium brown, short coarse fur speckled with occasional dark brown spots. Her upper body appeared more humanoid, with lightly tanned skin only disrupted by a few obvious scars, the largest being one on her forearm and one across her stomach. Long, shaggy, brown hair covered her head, and was slightly more prominent in the back; almost reminiscent of a wolf cut, hilariously enough. From underneath this hair sprang two short, curled ram horns no more than two inches long, and two long, furry ears that drooped down beside her face. Her luminous, deep brown eyes had simple rounded pupils that darted back and forth, seemingly sizing up Vee the instant they were able to. Leather wraps covered her waist and her bust, and a well-made belt hung from her hips, upon which Vee saw a series of pouches, bottles, ties, and even a long knife sheathed in some kind of hardened leather.

“Tadhgán! You’re injured, what did you do?” she muttered as she wrapped her arms around his waist. “You’ve been late before, but never once have you returned with such strange clothes and company. No offense, Ma’am,” she added, looking over at Vee.

“None taken, miss...?” Vee stammered.

“Right! Um, Saoirse, this is Vee. Vee, this is my lovely partner Saoirse.” The faun looked at Vee and Amara, bowing to each of them in turn. After quickly returning the favor, Vee saw Tadghán lean in to kiss Saoirse on her cheek. “Vee here is from ... what did you call it? Arth?”

“You went to another plane?!” Saoirse groaned. “Ugh, I knew my tea had a strange taste to it the last few weeks ... You’re alive, safe, and home, though, so I can’t complain. However, I suspect there’s a reason you’ve brought these new friends home with you. What trouble have you gotten into this time?”