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Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

Perhaps go by the shelter... to disarm (or) Don’t touch her, whatever you do!

*Eliza’s POV*

The Night, for me, had been exceptionally fucking boring. I certainly couldn’t train with any of the Initiates, and I couldn’t advise them very well either. I had essentially taught myself to fight, after my Grampy died. My methods counted a lot more on assessing whether or not to take a blow from an adversary on purpose, or to try and block it.

For example, if I was engaging an ogre, I was almost as vulnerable as any Fae, and I needed to try and keep the fucker from connecting with me at all. But with trolls or small orcs, taking a punch or two might be a good idea. And if it was a goblin, I virtually never blocked weapons that weren’t penetrating. If Fae Initiates did such things, they very well might be killed.

So, all Night long, I had stood nearby and watched Andy put the Initiates through their paces. I couldn’t help, I couldn’t participate, but I wasn’t able to leave to do anything else, either. I was Andy’s ward by the Council’s decree, and I had to stay in his view at all times. I couldn’t even run laps, as Andy had to stay in one spot and count off the Initiates as they ran by, on a little chalkboard.

When a Dawn Watchman named Frank arrived (apparently the Watchman in charge of minding the Dawn Watch’s Initiates), I couldn’t have been happier. I followed Andy and stood as patiently as I could during the Changing of the Guard ceremony as he stood across from Billy, and Blasko went through the customary words with Siouxsie. Eventually, after a stern reminder from Blasko not to show up for Watch tomorrow Night, we were free!

I had to remind myself not to do anything inappropriate or affectionate until we were further from the Walls. “So? Whatcha wanna do?”

Andy turned pink and furtively eyed the Watchmen around him. “Ahm, perhaps go by the shelter... to disarm.”

I saw Matt and Ronnie looking at each other and chuckling. Ronnie called over to Andy. “That’s a great idea, Andrew. I think it’s about time I disarmed, myself.”

Matt added in. “Disarming with my wife’s help is-“

Andy was scarlet. “-Guys! Eliza’s armed to the bloody teeth, there’s no need for her to carry all that around.”

Matt held up his hands. “Hey man, I was just saying, disarming is a lot more fun when two people are involved.”

Ronnie nodded sagely. “Absolutely, Matt! Two sets of arms are better than one!”

Andy groaned and walked faster as the three of us tittered. I had to work to keep up with him. “That’s so thoughtful of you to think of me, how difficult it is for me to carry all of this heavy equipment.“

Andy shot me a cranky glance, and I fell silent, still smiling, for a while. “I take it they know how you’re affected, when you have antlers growing in?”

Andy grunted affirmatively, still irritated. “They were my friends, in the past.”

I snorted. “Seems to me they’re still your friends, Andy.” He just furrowed his brow and cocked his head a bit, bursting with testosterone-y pride, as he walked.



After literally disarming, and then ‘disarming,’ Andy was in a much better mood. He was both incredibly talkative and snuggly.

I could practically feel Andy’s hyper energy behind me, and I (very carefully and very slowly) turned my head to peep at him. Not surprisingly, he was wide-awake and staring at me with a goofy smile. I started cracking up as soon as I saw the look on his face.

Andy wrinkled his nose, feigning offense. “What?”

I shook my head. “You’re not tired, are you?”

Andy bounced a little on the bed. “Are you kidding? I feel amazing! I just had sex with the most beautiful woman in the world!”

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, and Andy prodded me in protest. “You’re just jealous, because you only got to have sex with me!”

I opened my mouth to give an incredibly witty retort about just how much suffering that entailed, but was promptly cut off. “I can’t sleep! I don’t want to sleep right now. Let’s go do something!”

I snorted. “It’s the bloody morning! It’s so bright out-“

Andy fussed with his hair as he pleaded his case. “-We’re in the Forest, right? The trees will protect us!”

I laughed at his inane defense, and Andy kept at it. “Lizzzaaaa! Let’s go!”

His use of that strange, casual pet name was too cute and irresistible, especially when paired with his bright, steely-blue eyes, all shiny with the hope of getting what he wanted. “Where the deuce do you want to go? You mentioned, ah, seeing your mother?”

That dampened his mood considerably, like putting a hole in an inflated bladder, and instantly I felt like an idiot. Something was clearly very unfortunate where his mother was concerned. Perhaps he wanted to show me her grave?

But Andy seemed to roll the idea around in his head for a moment as he considered. I was afraid to say anything more. At last, he smiled warmly, making the stabbing fear in my chest lessen. “That’s not a bad idea, it's definitely about time. Though we need to get more water from the well first, and wash up.”

Then, as though that had settled it, Andy got out of bed and pulled on an old kilt. He grinned down at me. “Well, come on. You have to come too, and while I love seeing you without clothes on, I don’t want to share the experience with anyone else.”

I chuckled as I got out of bed and fumbled for some dirty clothes to throw on. “It’s a little late for that!”


After a trip to the well and a good wash, Andy and I took off up the main path, towards the Village. When we were most of the way there, he veered off all of the well-kept paths, into the shrubbery. I noticed an abrupt change in his demeanor. He looked somber, resigned. I decided that then was certainly not the fucking time to try and cheer him up. Perhaps we were going to a graveyard after all?

The walk reminded me of how enormous the Village was. While I had walked the Walls with Andy my first Night on Watch, it had taken hours. I still didn’t know my way around a lot of places here, and definitely not off the main thoroughfares. I had always heard that the Wild Ones were a huge tribe, but even my imagination had underestimated its size.

After a time, I was surprised to find we approached a well-made house, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t alone, there were others nearby, but they had all fallen into a state of obvious disarray. Though the other houses appeared abandoned, this one was still well kept.

Andy pushed aside a little fence, and I closed it behind me. A creepy feeling in my stomach blossomed when Andy went to his knees and started pulling weeds out of a garden. He called over his shoulder at me. “There’s a bin by the side of the house. Could you bring it here?”

I went to fetch the bin, feeling unnerved. No sounds came from the inside of the house. All I could hear were the birds singing and the sound of Andy cursing at the weeds for proliferating ‘so damned quickly.’

Sensing that something sensitive was going on, I decided not to force the issue, to just wait until Andy was ready to talk. So, I brought him the bin, and joined him pulling weeds. Despite the fact that I was stronger, Andy was a lot better at it. I kept accidentally tearing up huge clods of dirt and having to carefully put them back.

After the front was weeded to Andy’s satisfaction, I was surprised when he carried the bin behind the house, and, without a word, started clearing out weeds there as well. The feeling of discomfort, of dread, deep in my gut, grew, but I kept with it, joining him in his efforts as best I could.

After we were finished, at least an hour later, Andy took the bin of weeds and replaced it by the side of the house. I followed him, anxiously waiting for the ball to drop. He glowered as he looked over the house. “How does the paint look to you?”

I swallowed. “Fine. It looks fine.” And it did. It looked like someone was living there...

He nodded. “Let’s see how everything looks inside.”

I followed Andy into the house. It was nice, a very fine shelter. Clearly it had several rooms. But it was still utterly silent, except for our breathing.

Andy turned to me, his face impassive. “My mother is in her bedroom… you’ll see.”

The little hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I followed Andy through a doorframe. When he stood aside, it was straightaway obvious what had happened.

On the floor before me was the statue of a terrified woman. It looked as though she had fallen off her cot and was trying to shield her face. Even her graceful antennae and wings were perfect, in every detail. I only knew of one explanation for this. How terrible.

I sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry, Andy. How long has she-“

Andy turned away from me brusquely. “-At least a century, I don’t remember exactly how long.” I caught him hurriedly wiping a tear from his face before continuing on gruffly. “Don’t touch her, whatever you do! No part of her can be damaged!”

I nodded. Impulsively, I offered the only help I could. It would be like looking for a needle in a fucking enormous haystack, but I would gladly follow Andy into the abyss if it would give him some peace. “Do you want to go looking for-“

Again, Andy cut me off, but I wasn’t irritated. I could see the tinge of red on his nose, though the sorrow didn’t show in his voice. “-The basilisk that did this is already dead. It wasn’t enough.”

That came as a shock. The little I knew of basilisks was that their gaze was fatal, and, if blinded, they had a venomous tail. I knew there were many kinds, but those whose gaze petrified their victims were most common, relatively speaking. Even the gorgos basilisks were still very rare. But it had been my understanding that, when the guilty basilisk was killed, their victims were freed from their state.

My face must have shown my disbelief, as Andy grunted. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t… You’re right, most people return to life, though aged, once the basilisk that turned them has been slain. And it’s not just that the damned thing looks at you, you’re only petrified if you look back.” Andy sighed. “But, apparently, some users of very foul sorcery can enslave basilisks.”

Andy took a breath, looking pained. “Two gorgos basilisks came and took out everyone in this area of the Village. Most were petrified, but some were killed. Eventually, the Conjurers and Papa managed to kill them both, but no one was returned to flesh. Papa said that they must have had a master, that it was the only explanation for two basilisks working together, the reason why all those Fae were still stone. He also said that the only way to free my mother, to free everyone, would be to find who sent them and kill him. Um, or her.”

I frowned. “Are those sorts of completely fucking evil wizards common around here?” I was noticing a theme…

Andy looked at me. “I know what you’re thinking. But to answer your question, no, they’re not. And frankly, I’m hoping that whoever is controlling the trolls is the same fucker that did this. I intend to find him, and kill him.” Andy paused, looking mildly sheepish. “Uh, or her… of course.”

Suddenly everything made sense. Andy went after the leaders of enemy armies not just because he was fucking crazy and the heroic type, not just to protect the Soul of the Forest, but also because he wanted his mother back. I nodded slowly. “I will help you. Always.”

Andy snorted derisively. “You can't make those kinds of promises, Eliza! At any moment, you could be taken from me-“

I gently removed Andy’s hand from his hair and held it as I interrupted him. “-I am your partner, and your soldier as well. I will help you.”

Andy scowled before caving and breaking into an awkward laugh. “Sometimes I really hate that you’re a Watchman, you know? It would be a lot easier if you were a jeweler or something-“

I sniffed at him. “-Can you really see me making fucking jewelry? Besides, it’s why we met.”

We both laughed, and I felt like Andy had reached some manner of peace, as the tension was gone. Andy gestured around us. “This is the house I grew up in. Most other Fae won’t come here anymore, they stopped watching after the houses of their loved ones as the years passed. They only see it as a reminder of sadness. But I haven’t given up. I won’t give up. I want this house to be nice, for when my mom is free again. I want her to have the choice of staying here or going elsewhere. I can’t wait for her to really meet you.”

I smiled. “Then shall we give it a good sweeping and dusting? Everything else already looks nice.”

Andy beamed widely, obviously pleased by the compliment on his housekeeping. And, indeed, it was in better shape than his own shelter. “Yeah. I’ll get you a broom. If you sweep and check for cobwebs, I’ll get the tables and, uh, my mother.”

Notes

thank you to the people who have voted! i saw the votes, and they were really encouraging. this story doesn't get many comments or anything, so it raised my spirits! :O)



why was Andy in a good mood?

this is why: he just had sex!

some pictures of basilisks:






i just saw Alice Cooper, and it was awesome! i took five videos (new cellphone), enjoy if you are a fan:

Alice plays 'Poison' at Keller Auditorium
'Feed my Frankenstein' in Portland
'The Ballad of Dwight Frye' & decapitation on 10/22/2016
SUPER EPIC: Alice covers Motorhead's 'Ace of Spades!'
always a classic: 'School's Out'

Comments

*NOTE* The author of this story no longer has access to her account due to site malfunction.
SmuttyPariah SmuttyPariah
4/15/17

I've waited right to the end to comment. I loved this so much. I love all the characters and if this site would let me vote loads, I would. I wish it were more like wattpad in that respect. I've read the first chapter of the next installment and I can't wait. I'm super excited.

xPockyCookiex xPockyCookiex
4/7/17

@Teja

yay! so glad you like it so far!

anathema anathema
3/26/17

@smutty pariah

*snorts at you* ;0)

anathema anathema
3/26/17

Yes, can't wait!

Teja Teja
3/26/17