Night Watch I: Eliza, Ward of Andrew

*Eliza’s POV*

Apparently the first cù sìth was fairly nearby. Dani didn’t know specifics, but he said he’d gotten the vague feeling from Cedra’s thoughts that it was the lesser threat of the two.

I was getting tired of Dani and Andy bickering over whether Dani had to hide like an infant while us mighty Watchmen went forth and slayed the nefarious beasts for him. How ridiculous! I was fairly sure Conjuration Healers could raise armies of the dead to do battle for them, for fuck’s sake! That hardly sounds like a weakling that needed to be shielded! Somehow, when Dani caught my thought and pointed out that, technically, he could only raise a few at a time, and only if fresh corpses were available, and Andy took that as a point in favor of making Dani run and hide!

Andy was lucky Dani had come to him for assistance at all! If Andy didn’t shut up, Dani would probably zap us away and go after both of these cù sìth by himself! Neither Andy nor I had any idea where the fuck the second one was, if Dani teleported us away or something…

“Dani, if you get hurt, Big Momma and her spawn have no respect for us two, they’ll eat us! It won’t matter if we kill these cù sìth or not!” Dani irritably thwacked at some branches with his staff as I shook my head, trying to keep my temper.

“Andrew, for me to be a spectator and just have you two do all the hard work would be unacceptable. I know you and I have never really fought side by side, so you have no reason to believe me when I say I can take care of myself, but I can. I could probably take care of this less significant creature alone, even, but your help is appreciated. Makes everything much more time-efficient.” Andy looked doubtful, but I could tell Dani was finally starting to gain ground.

I decided to settle the matter. “Andy, stop being such a fucking stick in the mud! It will be fun! You both are going to play nice together, and that’s fucking final!”

Something else that had been nagging me needed to be said. “What if these two cù sìth are not evil? Will we kill them anyway, Dani, as a means to your end? I know that all cù sìth are supposed to be wicked as fuck, more or less, but so are all barghests, even more so. So do we engage our targets before we eliminate them, or just take them out?”

Dani and Andy both stopped walking and looked at each other. Dani ultimately shook his head. “I don’t think we can expect anything other than that they will attack us on sight. I mean, even the most malicious barghests will often talk to their victims, so will even the really mean-spirited gytrash. But cù sìth, I think they’re more like cŵn annwn, in the sense that they’re not really huge on communication. Though they’re a lot more, you know, nasty, than cŵn annwn. But, I mean, whatever enemy I face, if it begs for its life, of course I will hear it out. I wouldn’t murder it simply to have a companion, if mercy were an option.” Good. I saw Andy was nodding too.

“Can you refresh me on what exactly the finer points are of these cù sìth, again?” How did they keep all of this shit straight? How many kinds of giant, evil (or moderately unpleasant) dogs that wanted to eat me could there be?

Andy knew what I was looking for. “Light to dark green, hmmm… maybe not quite as bloodcurdlingly terrifying as Big Momma, but still enormous and mean as shit hell hounds. They’re about the size of Dymas and Donavan, maybe a titch smaller, but with larger paws. The ones I’ve seen have always attacked me on sight, never said a word. Usually they have the classic ‘burning eyes,’ and their tails are always curled. What’s weird is that most of their tails are braided, just like I read, but I don’t know who the fuck sits around plaiting them-“

Dani chimed in “-Sprites! You’ve heard that rumor about how cù sìth steal milk for ‘fairy babies?’” I shook my head, totally lost in their folklore nerdfest, but Andy nodded, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, well, the reality is that they often consort with sprites, they have some sort of symbiotic relationship with them. The sprites braid their tails, the cù sìth will occasionally bring them supplies, guard their mounds, stuff like that. I don’t know a lot about it.”

Andy snorted. “That’s fucking stupid. Sprites are annoying as shit around here in the Spring. They’re why you have to wear tall boots virtually all year ‘round.”

Dani nodded sympathetically. “Toni’s really sensitive to their bites too. But getting back to the cù sìth: like a lot of hell hounds, they also use fear as a weapon. Though it’s not as strong as people say, every third howl has some sort of resonance that will temporarily stun you. So it’s essential we interrupt it as soon as it begins barking; they are normally incredibly silent.” I thought about that for a moment.

“If you guys smack me around a bit beforehand, I might just be able to rip its jaw clean off as soon as we spot it-” Both Dani and Andy looked at me, totally horrified.

Andy made a strangling sound, shaking his head, “-No! We can’t hit-“

Dani thumped Andy lightly in the chest, narrowing his eyes at me. “-You believe you’re telling the truth!” I nodded, embarrassed and uncomfortable. Dani smiled .“That’s good to know, but I don’t think it’s necessary. Honestly, I was hoping we could dispatch it with an intact jaw. I was planning to reanimate it, have it accompany us on our travels for the rest of the evening. It’s more useful with a complete head, if you don’t mind.”

Andy just stared at him, and I laughed. “Dan, are you serious? ‘Don’t let it bark, you’ll be paralyzed with fear, but make sure you don’t even touch it’s bloody head? I want it to look nice, to impress my new buddy, Big Momma, the fucking house-sized barghest.’”

Dani just man-giggled. “Well…I do.”

Notes

this is a birthday chappy! it's a little late, because i weakened and went to go see the final part of the hunger games on the spur of the moment.

but- happy belated birthday to my bruh-in-arms, for putting up with my rants and ravings.

some Ash for you my dear (he's such a handsome gent- you cannot get any better in the hair department than Ashley Purdy. it is impossible. a physical impossibility!):












so i was totally at the portland warped date, and Ashley wore a blazer's jersey, which was awesome (i didn't take this photo, my photos are far away and suck).