The Forest Witch

Though embarrassed that his hunger was audible, Lyall was grateful for Ellith's offer of food, or rather, grateful for the gesture. He wondered what she would serve for breakfast if not given any more information and when would be the best time to inform his hosts of his condition.

He found the seed and scoop as instructed, as did he soon discover that the hens were indeed docile, but Ellith was wrong in her assumption that they would be distracted by their food. They clearly looked much more interested in staying as far from Lyall as possible. Good, they were smart animals. He supposed he should've been glad that Ellith had given him this chore instead of asking him to help milk the cows; if even these chickens put him a bit on edge, he could only imagine how dangerous a large mammal might be if made uneasy by his presence. He kept his head down as he crouched and padded around the enclosure, focused only on seeking eggs amidst the straw and placing them in his basket. The chickens would be ignored. It took several long minutes for him to cover the ground of the coop twice to make sure he'd gotten them all, by which point his legs were starting to cramp from being in a crouch for so long, but he dared not stand up quickly. He crawled back to the gate with care, eased it open, and closed it securely behind him before he dared rise to a standing position once again, leaning heavily on the gate for support until he was fully upright. Phew. Task done, crisis averted.

He sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. "Before we get too much further into the day," he said, "there's something you and your son should know about me. I'll wait until we're all together to say it."
 
Ellith looked up from the cow, nearly done with tending to it. "Alright." She nodded slowly, then returned her attention to the cow in order to finish milking it. The cow shifted as its eyes rolled to look at Lyall.

The woman placed a hand on its side, then picked up the bucket and stood, leaning on the large creature. "Next is just releasing the cows and sheep for the day. Do you want to help with that?" She paused as she noticed the look of fear in the bovine's eyes, and began to pet its forehead to try to soothe it. "Odd, she's never been bothered by strangers before. I'll let her out so she doesn't feel like she's trapped." She grabbed a looped rope and dropped the loop about the beast's neck, then opened the stall door and began to lead the cow forward.

The cow refused to pass by Lyall, and stomped her feet. Ellith tugged at the lead. "Cow!" She stomped her own foot. "Come on, or you won't get any sun or grass today!"
 
Lyall bit his lower lip. No. Getting face-to-face with larger livestock was the last thing Lyall had any mind to do. He backed away from the clearly uncomfortable cow and sidled towards the barn door. "Actually, I should probably remove myself from the area," he said. "I tend to put prey animals on edge." He could tell her more about what he meant by that later; right now he didn't want to be an obstacle. He let himself out of the barn and walked back up the path, supposing it was best to meet up with Beliam in the house and wait for Ellith to be done with her chores. Perhaps Beliam was awake by now. He knocked lightly to announce his return and then opened the front door.
 
Ellith blinked and scratched her head, but let him go before she finally got the cow to walk outside.

Prey animals... he didn't call the cow livestock, or merely an animal, but referred to it as prey. She looked toward the gate as she got the cow out, then watched Lyall return to the house before she went back to check the other animals.

Beliam hadn't yet moved from his spot on his little mattress. Lazy little brat.
 
Apparently Beliam wasn't up yet. Oh well. Lyall kept his footsteps light as he eased the door closed and then put his hands back in his coat pockets. What to do to pass the time? It only took a few seconds for his foot to start tapping the floor. Ugh, he really was feeling antsy with the full moon coming tonight. He wanted to be outside, not inside. But he'd told Ellith he'd wait for her, and it was unwise to wander off on his own. So, out of a lack of anything better to do, he found himself straying back to the shelves and perusing Ellith's book collection again. It was something to do to pass the time.

His eyes flickered back up to the rafters after a minute, as if of their own accord. The grimoire was up there. Eerie though the book was and uncomfortable to hold, it was undoubtedly the most interesting book in the collection, and before he really realized he was doing it, he was easing the book off of its perch and taking it over to the firewood crate (apparently that was his reading spot now) to sit down and inspect it more closely. There was something about it that captivated him. Maybe it was the cold, hard proof in his hands that there truly was another world out there somewhere, a parallel world in which magic worked. And if that was true, who knew what other parallel worlds there were too, somewhere out in the aether? Maybe there were worlds in which neither vampire nor werewolf even existed. They were the only things in Lyall's world that didn't quite behave according to the laws of nature, after all. Maybe every world had a special something like that, different in each one. Did that mean Lyall was special, unique? Food for thought.

Whenever Beliam rose or Ellith returned, they would find him sitting back against the firewood crate, curiously and periodically turning the pages of the strange book, even though he could read none of it.
 
The door creaked briefly as it swung open, and Ellith stepped inside, both arms laden. One had a metal bucket of milk, and the other a wooden, straw-filled pail of eggs. She tilted her head as the first thing she saw on entry was the man looking at the book that spooked him so thoroughly before.

"Good read?" She asked as she watched the man a few moments before she went to the kitchen to deliver her load. One foot shot out as she passed to kick her son. "Belly, wake up, you're going to miss breakfast."

"Food!" The boy gasped as he sat up, only for his tight cocoon to send him back onto the floor with a thunk. "Ow."

Ellith shook her head and left the two buckets on the kitchen counter. "If a boy doesn't get some chore done before breakfast, he can watch our guest and I eat from the corner."

"Mama!" The boy whined as he wriggled, struggling to get free.
 
It wasn't until after Lyall had spent a few minutes "reading" while sitting still that he realized he felt discomfort. The source of the discomfort was his lower torso, and now that he was paying attention to that part of his body, he could feel an occasional shifting motion within as his intestines chewed in complaint on food they weren't accustomed to chewing on: beans and potatoes. Not that he was in any immediate danger of illness, but he did hope he could get back to unfettered meat consumption soon. Ideally this very breakfast, but maybe that was hoping for too much.

He looked up when Ellith spoke, happy for a distraction. Ah, and he'd nearly forgotten about the cut of her dress! His eyes savored her neckline for a brief moment before he responded to her inquiry with an amused smile. "'Read,'" he chuckled. "More like 'Good inspection,' maybe." He closed the book and hefted himself to his feet so he could put the book back in its place in the rafters. By the time he finished and turned back around, the blanket-bundle that contained Beliam was squirming and moaning in complaint about Ellith's admonition that he help around the house before he have breakfast. Delivering an ultimatum like that struck Lyall as a bit unusual, actually...of course Lyall had been assigned household chores as a child, but not before breakfast, and threatening to give a child time-out while forced to watch his family eat breakfast rubbed Lyall the wrong way. That said, he didn't want to be rude by questioning his hosts' household politics right now, but perhaps he could convey a sense of care for the boy. "What chores are on the list?" he asked loud enough for Ellith to hear him from the kitchen.
 
Ellith thought a moment. "Well, we could use more wood, and I always need more reeds. Both of those are easy and quick." She called back as she began to prepare breakfast.

Beliam rose to his hands and knees. "Mama, you're so meeeean!" He pouted. "Mean mean!"

"Yes, I'm a terrible mother. Suitable only for stuffing food into your mouth. Now go do something useful before breakfast. I already finished tending the animals, and our guest had to cover for you." She paused. "Speaking of, Lyall, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" She peered around the corner, head tilted. "Is now a good time?"

Beliam sighed heavily and got up, then pulled his tunic over his head and tied his rope belt in place, then walked out the door and slipped a pair of wooden shoes on that were just under the front step. "I'll go get firewood, Mama." He muttered with a pout.

"Thank you, Belly. I'll make a big breakfast."

The boy perked up at that. "Ok, Mama!"
 
Lyall kept his opinions to himself as the two-person family bantered. There was a case that could be made for Beliam being a whiner, but Ellith's retort didn't strike Lyall as particularly warm either. He hoped their relationship was reasonably healthy. He turned toward the source of Ellith's voice when she asked about what he'd mentioned in the barn, but he shook his head. "Not if Beliam's leaving. I'll wait until breakfast, when we're all together." He glanced at the boy, who was just now slipping out of the house. "Actually, I'll keep him company," he amended. He adjusted his coat on his shoulders and followed Beliam out the door, trotting after him once he was clear of the house until he caught up with the boy. "Mind if I join you?" he asked, slowing to a leisurely pace and stuffing his hands in his coat pockets.
 
"Alright." Ellith watched him go, then got busy working on breakfast.

Beliam looked back. "Ok." He yawned as he walked around the right side of the house, past the edge of the window, and came to a pile of logs and a thick stump. A few wedges rested on it, and a heavy axe laid against it. The boy grabbed a log with one hand and dragged it onto the stump, then used the back of the large axe to tap the wedge into it, then paused once he had a good split and tapped in more wedges along the sides.
 
Beliam, on his part, didn't seem all that interested in having company, but nor did he appear to mind it. As they approached what would be the boy's place of work for the next several minutes, Lyall came to a stop and settled his weight solidly on his feet, more so on one foot than on the other. His hands were still in his coat pockets. He watched the boy work, but as he did, his mind was tossing a question around in his head: to assist, or not to assist? This was Beliam's assigned task, and he did not want to undermine Ellith's attempts to instill a proper work ethic in the boy. And yet there was another part of Lyall that wanted to help with the task as an act of kindness. It was only nice, right? Not to mention the less-than-conscious desire to endear the boy to him if he could. He wasn't sure why, but he imagined Beliam becoming a good friend given some time. But he didn't want to spoil the kid, either, and technically he'd already assisted Ellith with a chore; he didn't owe the family more than that. He raised one hand and rubbed his temples with his thumb and first two fingers. Why did parenting involve so many tough decisions? He should've given Ellith more credit.

He lowered his hand and cleared his throat idly. If nothing else, he could show friendliness by trying to make small talk. "So, tell me about this 'Armand' guy," he said. "You said you had fun with him."
 
Beliam's numb expression from not quite being awake yet lifted. "Yeah. He was funny. Mama said he was cursed and evil, but he was never mean to me, and even though he acted mean sometimes, he was real nice to Mama." He nodded. "He taught me how to read... it was called 'Old Saldemot'." He grinned and nodded. "It's a funny language-- reminded me of Latin." He grunted as he swung the axe again, and as its butt hit a wedge, the log cracked loudly.

Beliam shifted the wedges, then began to pound them into their new positions to crack the wood open further.

"Mama didn't like him because he was scary-looking, she said. He was short though-- shorter than her." CRACK! He panted a moment, then continued. "She thought he was crazy, and said we needed to take his cape from him and burn it, but it was just a cape, so I didn't help." He tilted his head. "Capes can't be evil."
 
Lyall nodded as he listened. He was in fact rather surprised to hear that Beliam knew Latin in any capacity; he himself had never been introduced to the language outside of a few phrases. His learning of a whole new language while Armand had stayed here was impressive as well. He tried to picture Armand as Beliam described, but it would be difficult to have a good understanding of the man without hearing Ellith's side of the story.

The mention of a cursed cape, however, caught the werewolf's curiosity. He tilted his head in response to Beliam doing the same. "Oh, who knows," he said. "Maybe Armand came from a world where they can. He certainly came from a world where books can spontaneously generate matter that only lasts a few seconds." He ran a hand into his hair to scratch behind his ear. "Have you had any other visitors that had something unusual about them? Like, they could cast spells, or see the future, or transform, or anything like that?"
 
"We had... a vampire once. And then we had a werewolf." The log cracked loudly under his efforts. "And we had a druid once who could change into a bear. There's probably more, but it's weirder for visitors to be scared of magic than to use it, cuz magic's real, even if they try to say it's not and talking about it should be punished." He scowled. "One of them even tried hurting Mama because she warned him about the monsters at night." He placed a wedge of the log on the stump and swung his axe. The heavy metal shot through most of the way with one swing, splitting right along the grain. "I locked him outside..." His small, found face had a grim set as he said those words, then put another wedge onto the stump.
 
The second bit of information nearly made Lyall exclaim in surprise. So this family not only knew what a werewolf was, they had dealt with one before! Maybe that explained how Ellith had known how to heal him from Astrid's bite, but in either event, his current situation was now significantly less stressful. He no longer felt the need to sit both family members down for an explanation, or at least not nearly as long of one. Part of his brain wondered if this previous werewolf had been some other kind of werewolf...he knew there was countless speculative human lore on the subject of his species, even in his own world, and what if the creature the family had met already had been something very different from himself? Perhaps a human corrupted by a bite, unable to transform at will and trapped in the body of a mindless, human-hungry monster when he did? The thought made Lyall uncomfortable. He much preferred to see himself as a shapeshifter above a monster, mankind's guardian above mankind's bane.

By now Beliam had turned to darker topics. He spoke of visitors who knew no magic at all, in fact, who were so sure there was no magic and could be no magic that they had taken it out on their hosts. His heart clenched when he heard that Ellith had nearly been hurt, but his gut followed suit when Beliam spoke of locking the offender out of the house. He knew well by now that such a thing was a death sentence. Beliam certainly took protectiveness of his mother seriously...maybe a little too seriously.

A few seconds passed, during which Lyall decided there was no use to allowing this gloomy mood to continue. He straightened up and spoke. "Well, darn, and here I thought I was going to be your first werewolf," he teased. "Way to ruin my surprise." The corner of his mouth had pulled slightly upward. He was aware of feeling as if he'd just shed a great weight from his chest. His identity was free here. He felt an urge to let his form go a little, and he almost let his tail out to sway behind him, but he managed to resist. Damn full moon. The wolf didn't want to wait until nightfall to be let out.
 
Beliam looked up, then grinned. "Whoa!" His face lit up. "What kind are you? Mama says there are lots of kinds. Some are always wolves, some are wolves only on the full moon, some are mean cuz their wolf didn't get enough hugs, and some are really noble, and some are really scary-looking." He grinned. "I think you're either the full moon kind or the noble kind." He resumed his work with a grunt, and another chunk of log was split.

"Breakfast is nearly ready!" The call came from the house. "I made extra since you're working so hard!"

"Ok, Mama! I'm gonna finish first!" The boy grabbed another wedge and put it on the stump, eyes lit eagerly as his mind went to food. Glorious, delicious food.
 
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