*Andy’s POV*

Alice and Ash forced a screaming Nico to lay back down, while David held his legs and Nick kept his insides from falling off of the table. Dani beckoned me over urgently. “Quick, Andrew!”

I ran over, pushing the Nameless Ghoul aside, Nico’s tortured cries filling my ears. I held out my arm for Dani to take whatever they needed for their blood magic, but kept my eyes on Nico’s anguished expression.

His eyes were bloodshot and searching wildly as he shrieked, but the rest of his face was bloodless, pale, and sweaty. “Nico, we’re here, it will be alright soon!” I felt the sting of a blade drawn across my arm but wouldn’t allow it to show on my face. “You’ll be alright soon! Hang on, ok?”

Nico was still screaming, but at least he looked at me. I saw some hint of recognition in his eyes. I reached for the hand of Nico’s that Dani had been holding, and squeezed it. “Soon, soon.”

Ronnie spoke up. “That’s plenty, Dani-“

I looked at Dani, and from his expression, it was obvious it wasn’t; they needed more. “-I’ll be fine-“

When I heard Eliza’s voice I was momentarily startled. I felt bad. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about her for the moment, I had been concerned about Nico… “-I am a hybrid, does it matter?”

Dani looked at Alice, who shook his head. Within moments, I found myself getting bandaged by David and being given a drink as I sat on a bench. I reluctantly admitted it was probably for the better, as I felt rather light-headed.

Absently, I itched at my head. My antlers were bugging me something fierce! Tentatively, I ran my hand along one, and I instantly grew irritated when I hardly sensed it. Shit! I was going to shed soon! I did NOT want to deal with that! Hopefully they’d get loose enough to pry off at home, and I could hide them, away from nosey women… I was not looking forward to the painful, rapid growth of a new set, nor the smelly, peeling velvet that would follow. It was embarrassing enough that Patti wanted me to collect it for the Healers to use in their concoctions! Just the thought of my tribesmen ingesting something that grew out of my-

Despite my daze, Pete’s deep bass voice momentarily broke my train of thought. “If I can help, I always will.”

I heard Ronnie try to inject some humor among Nico’s weakening wails that Big Pete surely had, “twice as much blood as an ox, Nico will be good as new by Dawn at the latest.”

I couldn’t focus on the significance of what they were talking about, I felt too woozy. I did remember what I had been thinking about, however, when my head itched at the base of my left antler. Eliza must have caused some sort of abnormal hormonal spike. I didn’t shed seasonally like deer did, but I had somewhat of a pattern, and this was early. I was sure she’d be proud of herself. Hmph!

I wasn’t certain how long passed, but eventually I realized Nico wasn’t screaming anymore. Alarmed, I stood up, only to almost fall back down. Luckily, Eliza was nearby, also with a sweet drink, and she caught me and hauled me up by my arm. “Nico? Is-”

Eliza pointed. “-Dani was able to knit the hole in the intestine, and even repair part of the, uh, I dunno, he was using technical language. I think some muscles and some gooey things under the skin, but not the skin, but not all of it, or maybe? But what matters is that Nick was able to make a sedative, and Pete, I, and that really buff guy also gave blood-”

Impatient, I cut her off. “-Will Nico be alright?”

Eliza shrugged. “The flying man put him back in his body and left with his, um, friends, after saying some ominous shi-, uh, words of wisdom. The blood magic healed Nico’s intestines and the, uhh, underlayers, more or less well enough, whatever it was they were called. And Nick is stitching up the skin. But the flying man was saying that the kid was really, uh, ‘far,’ and that he may still not be able to ‘stay.’ He said to keep the special dirt in his hair. That seems like a bad idea to me. I mean, the kid’s got a fresh wound!” Eliza sniffed. “And, shi-, I mean, gee, it was a, uh, doozy!”

I heard the distinct sound of Doyle approaching. His gait was even but had an alternating quality because of his prosthetic leg. I turned to face him. “Andrew, is this Eliza? Please, introduce us!”

Doyle, a massive Fae, a little taller than I was and at least twice as brawny, smiled kindly and indicated Eliza. I nodded. “Second Officer Doyle, this is Watchman Eliza, my ward by decree of the Council. She has already proven herself a capable soldier-“

Doyle chuckled and looked at Eliza as they shook hands. “-I heard you bested Nikki, Andrew, and Pete! Is that true?”

Eliza turned pink, so I decided to give my two coins. “More or less. I saw her tear out the heart of a cù sìth with her bare hands.”

Doyle’s eyes got a little bigger, a fairly uncommon sight. “Damn.” He nodded. “Just… damn. I hope I never piss you off, then.” He scratched his neck. “When was this? I don’t recall hearing about anything quite like that.”

I shrugged. “We were helping Dani make friends on our first Night off together.”

Doyle blinked, looking at both of us dubiously. “Andrew, when I want to make friends, I do things like, oh, maybe make them something nice, or try spending quality time with them, you know, stuff like that. Yet somehow, when you and Dani are involved, making friends involves heart-rending-“

I lifted up my hands in weak protest. “-It was for a special friend, Doyle! Ask Da-“

Doyle waved me off. “-I’m just giving you crap, Andrew, relax. We know about Cedra. Dani came and told Dawn Watch right off, they passed the word along. The Council is still debating on how to announce her to the Village officially.”

Doyle rolled his eyes a little. “Look, this was supposed to be a Night off for you both, I’m not going to bore you with Watch business or Blasko will take my other leg. You can get out of here, there’s nothing more to be done.”

I leaned a little closer. “But what happened, Doyle?”

Doyle’s face hardened just a little as he looked off at nothing in particular for a moment. “Carelessness, Andrew; the kind we’ve seen before. I’m very, very angry about it, so I know that, if I tell you, right here, right now, you will go through the roof.” Doyle sighed. “Do you trust my judgment?” Without hesitating, I nodded. “Thank you. Then please believe me when I say that it will make absolutely no difference if we wait to discuss this until tomorrow Night, and you enjoy the rest of your Night off, as you should.”

Doyle scratched his nose, scowling. “Blasko and I are both on tonight and will take care of what needs doing by the Walls. Nico is in the Healers’ care; he has to decide his own fate from here. We’ve done all we can. So have you both.” Doyle nodded at us in approval.

I chewed my lip for a moment, resisting the urge to yank on my hair. It was vexing not to know what had transpired to lead to this, to just let it go for the time being, to feel like I had lost control of the situation, to see Nico very possibly on his deathbed in front of me…

But the fact was, I completely trusted Doyle. He was both pragmatic and prudent. It was more than clear that Doyle didn’t want to discuss what had happened just yet, and he surely had good cause. If he said that the matter could wait, than I chose to believe him.

I looked at Eliza, who was watching me carefully. Hopefully she wouldn’t be too upset about not meeting Alice’s ceffyl dŵr, but Alice looked like he was going to have his hands full with Nico. “Since Alice is preoccupied for the Night-“

Alice called out from across the room. “-His name is Fenwick, and I’ll ask him about you two coming by some time in the next week, alright?” Before we could answer, Alice was nodding. “No problem!”

Mindreaders! Doyle chuckled. “I’ll see you both tomorrow Night, if not sooner. A pleasure to meet you, Watchman.” He nodded to Eliza before walking over to Ronnie, Crilly, and Pete. I couldn’t help but notice how Crilly shrank at his approach. Well, that and the fact that Pete had to drink from a flower vase, because none of the normal glasses were big enough. Poor guy. I forced them from my mind with a colossal effort and looked back to Eliza.

She was still observing me silently. I decided to try and throw her off-guard. “You trying to read my mind too? Is it working?” I winked at her.

Eliza shook her head. “I’m afraid it’s not. You’ll have to tell me what you’re thinking.”

I smiled at her. “Well, it seems there’s nothing more we can do to help. I don’t want to just stick around and be in the way. So, I was thinking, perhaps now would be a good time to show you the surprise I was saving?”

Eliza’s grasshopper-green eyes glimmered with keen interest. “Surprise, eh? Where is it?”

Feeling smug, my smirk deepened. “Guess you’ll just have to follow me and find out, won’t you?”

She snorted. “Not as though I have a choice-“

“-Nope!” With that, I headed out of the Healer’s Tent, with Eliza close behind.

---

*Eliza’s POV*

I waited until we were suitably alone before I felt like I was going to explode. “So, I realize we’re out and about, but there’s no one around. Any chance you’re going to clue me in as to why I shouldn’t be completely flipping out right now? What the fucking shit just happened?”

Andy slowed down and let out a resigned sigh. “That whole thing did not go according to plan at all. So, uhm, I’d say that’s fair.” He fussed with his hair. “Just please hear me out entirely before you skewer me alive, alright?”

Though that was hardly promising, I nodded for him to continue. “I, uh… Most people… Tobias is not Fae. He’s not even alive.” Oh fuck! A flying, dead librarian! “Most Villagers who care enough to ask believe that he’s something called a gengångare-“ I went to ask what that was but Andy held up a hand and kept talking. “-They are ghosts, they look completely identical to how they did while alive, but they have a completely corporeal form. So most Wild Ones believe Tobias was a Fae who was stripped of his wings and horns, murdered, and that he then returned as a harmless gengångare.”

Andy rubbed his temples. “Well, the part about being murdered is true, but Tobias was never Fae. He was a very, very ancient thing. Some people call them tomte, or haltija. Tobias says that he was unusually tall for his kind, and that he never fit in among them, apparently some of his kindred actually killed him for it.” What the fuck was a tomte?

Andy misinterpreted my expression. “You can’t really tell what he was by his appearance. He doesn’t wear his cap outside of fighting, generally, and he doesn’t have the long beard like many of his kind. Most tomte are like two feet shorter than Tobias. Though if you look at his ears, they’re pointed. But, there’s more to it, a lot more.”

Andy frowned. “Anyway, Tobias, when he was alive, learned to, I guess, do what he calls, make his ‘luonto force hard,’ and studied to become a tietäjä, sort of a wizard. He became a master in the use of the kalman väki force, the power of dead spirits-“

That was too much! “He’s a necromancer!?” The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Everything came together, what I had seen in the Healer’s Tent, what Andy was saying… That boy Nico hadn’t been really ‘far gone,’ he had been dead. I felt nauseated…

Andy put a hand on my arm. “That’s exactly what I said, at first. But it’s not quite the same. Please, I asked you to listen?”

Reluctantly, I nodded, and Andy continued, after adjusting his hair. “He can use most of the other forces, but death, decay, ghosts, and spirits are his specialty. Fire is a weakness. Anyways, so, a long time ago, Tobias was killed, as I said. And he did come back, somehow, but not as a gengångare.”

I noticed Andy looked anxious. “He’s a gast-“

“A ghast?! What in the nine hel-“ Andy held up his hands, shaking his head.

“No. And don’t shout; children are sleeping. He’s not a G-H-A-S-T, those mindless things that run around the Forest trying to eat you, I’m talking about G-A-S-T. To say they aren’t common is an understatement. Gasts are similar to gengångare in the sense that they have a physical form, but it is skeletal and twisted. They also have a natural ability to cause disease and spread pestilence in their enemies with their touch. I didn’t even recognize Tobias for what he was, and I’d even read about them before; they’re just so damned rare! And, well, most are, um, evil...”

I didn’t know what to say, so I decided to just let Andy say his piece. The Wild Ones were turning out to be full of surprises at every waking moment! “The ‘flying man’ you saw, everyone calls him Papa Emeritus, that is Tobias’ true, unmasked appearance. Most Villagers believe that Papa is a different spirit that is tied to the Wild Ones via an ancient treaty. They think 'Papa' is summoned during crises, that he sleeps in the bowels of the Library, that he has lent Tobias his Ghouls when he does not require them, and that he feeds off of the deaths of those he slaughters in battle.”

Andy stopped walking. “So, are you satisfied? I assume I can trust you to keep his confidence?”

I couldn’t see Andy's expression, but he sounded concerned. “Andy, I won't lie to you. It definitely does not come easily to me to trust the undead, especially those who are practicing magic that looks and smells like necromancy. But if you tell me this… man, Tobias, is good, or even necessary, I will believe you, always, until I see indisputable evidence otherwise.”

I shrugged, uncomfortable. “I admit, he appeared to do the impossible for your Watchman just now. I have never seen a wound like that healed. Though he seemed like a bit of an asshole, he didn’t strike me as evil. However, while I have seen men revived from drowning who were not breathing, twice, this was not like that. I think you know this was different-“

I saw a gleam in Andy’s eye. “-But for Papa, it’s not, it is the same. He will not touch a man that has gone too far, I’ve seen him refuse. There has to be some spark left. It’s not the same as necromancy. I know because he says what he uses, the kalman väki, will fail if all life is already gone. That’s why Nico is still in danger, he was so close to the limit.”

I conceded the point, for the time being. It was way beyond my understanding. “But why is Tobias in the Library? Here, among the Wild Ones?”

Andy groaned. “Because, in his heart, Tobias is relatively good. He still has the instinctive urge to protect things, it’s part of what tomte do. But he recognizes that he’s become warped by his form as a gast. Many, many centuries ago, when he first became a gast, he made contact with the Healers of the Wild Ones at the time, and they grew to form an understanding. Tobias helps to protect the Villagers, and the Soul in Battle. He feeds on the life energies and terror of our enemies. In exchange, he is the librarian, scribe, and bookbinder, provides the unique healing services you saw, and propagates terror and rapidly spreading, horrific plagues throughout any attacking enemy forces.”

Andy chuckled softly. “He’s also a terrible flirt sometimes. So watch yourself.”

I looked at Andy, shocked. “Are you serious? A flirt? Does he even have a cock? I would have thought it had rotted-“

Andy made a face. “-Ugh, please! I don’t know, I don’t need to know! And neither do you, missy!”

Missy? I snickered.

Notes

ahoy all! just in case i don't update again before then, maybe i'll see some of you at the Andy Black shows in Seattle & Portland?

also, check out the following stories:

Shadowglass

My Fallen Angel