Chapter 61.2

The cottage 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 and Amara the instead 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?”

Tadhgán’s face turned red as he scratched the back of his neck. Somehow, despite being much taller than his partner, he seemed the smaller of the two in the moment. “Well, first things first, the other girl you’ve yet to meet is named Amara. She’s currently playing with the kids, and she’s a demon, but she’s a good cub! She managed to stop me from causing too much of a mess when I… well, see, their home has a much larger moon, and I arrived with poor timing.”

Saoirse’s nose twitched. “That explains the smell. How bad was it?”

“Amara stopped him as quickly as she could, but a friend of ours got bit. Tadhgán says you have a cure, and we desperately want to get back in time to prevent the curse from taking root,” Vee said, her impatience winning out.

The two women looked deep into each others’ eyes, then Saoirse nodded. “If your world has a moon that can force even Tadhgán to transform, I can imagine why you’d want a cure so badly. I’ve never had a chance to test this cure, so I can’t promise anything, but I’ll do my best. If you could call in your friend, it would be best for you both to be here as I put it together.”

With a quick nod, Vee turned around to head back outside. When she didn’t see Amara immediately, she simply called out “Amara! We need you inside!”

Seconds later, her demonic girlfriend landed in front of the cabin after swooping down from the nearby skies. Tadghán’s werefaun daughter, Aoife, cautiously slid off Amara’s back before stumbling around the grass for a moment. Her hair was tussled and windswept, her eyes were wide, and she wore a massive smile as she turned to look at her siblings as they ran out from behind the cabin. “That was so cool, Amara! Thank you!!”

Looking at the other kids, Vee saw similar expressions on their faces as well. No doubt they’d all had a chance to fly at this point, which made it easier to pull Amara away so they could focus on their actual mission. “Glad you had fun, kids, but unfortunately we have to talk with your parents for a bit,” Vee said, gently wrapping her fingers around Amara’s hand.

After a small chorus of disappointed groans and requests for “Just one more flight,” Amara and Vee managed to safely retreat to the cottage. Amara dismissed her wings with a quick flourish of hellfire before stepping through the front door, and took a brief look around the cottage before introducing herself to Saoirse. Once finished, they followed the faun down the stone steps Saoirse had previously emerged from.

Saoirse pushed aside a thick, leather hide after reaching the bottom, then ushered them all to join her in a small stone alcove nestled in the ground behind the cabin. Initially, Vee had expected to feel the familiar dampness of underground rooms, but instead her senses were overwhelmed by the thick, unusual vapors pouring out of a large cauldron in the center of the room. After taking a moment to adjust to the smell, she immediately saw that the entire, rounded wall in this circular room was lined top to bottom with sturdy wooden shelves. A vast majority of these shelves held various types of plants; flowers, herbs, mosses, small shrubs, and all sorts of other things Vee had no knowledge of. Some grew in pots, some grew from clumps of dirt suspended from the ceiling in tightly bound netting, and others grew from the walls themselves.

On the few shelves that weren’t dedicated to nurturing plant life, Vee saw a collection of items that made this place feel like some kind of alchemist’s laboratory. Countless vials and jars that were filled with powders, crushed herbs, liquids of every color and consistency, and even dried animal specimens such as a handful of glittery dragonfly wings or the claws of some unknown creature.

If there was anyone Vee might consider trusting to make Nick a cure, Saoirse certainly seemed like the right woman.

“So, how does this work?” Amara asked, her earlier playful mood now entirely gone.

With a soft grunt, Saoirse grabbed the large cauldron in the middle of the room and moved it off to the side. Vee briefly noticed a thick, powdery-blue substance bubbling inside, but she kept her curiosity in check and focused on the faun’s actions. “First things first, you need to make sure your friend drinks this before transforming again. If they transform into their lycanthropic form and back, the cure won’t amount to anything.”

“I already filled them in on those details, love,” Tadghán said.

On her way to a small, secondary cauldron sitting near the entrance, Saoirse quickly paused to wrap her arms around Tadghán’s waist. “Aww, so you pay attention when I talk about my work. I thought it was too dry and stuffy for you, love?” she said playfully.

Tadghán blushed briefly before hugging her back. “No, I said I don’t understand how you keep all that stuff straight in your head. I hang on to your every word, love, but that doesn’t mean I understand it. Besides, you’re cute when you’re excited about a new project, and I’ll take any excuse to watch you work.” The two kissed briefly before Saoirse lightly slapped his thigh.

“Move this cauldron to the fire, would you?” she asked.

Doing just as he was asked, Tadghán grabbed the smaller cauldron and moved it to the perch in the middle of the room which, just as Saoirse said, apparently held a small fire. Vee hadn’t noticed it earlier, and now that she knew it was there, she wondered how on earth it was possible to spend any amount of time in this room without any apparent ventilation.

As Tadghán moved the cauldron, Saoirse grabbed several armfuls of ingredients and placed them on a slightly larger shelf that was likely her workstation. She worked at breakneck speeds, grinding various ingredients into fine powder and mixing things together fast enough that Vee had trouble following her actions. After the initial few minutes, which were mostly silent save for a few instructions to her husband, Saoirse finally spoke up again.