Witches of Mellgrah

As Maya tensely observed them, Erik began cutting into Elena's forearm. The incisions weren't deep, and his movements were swift and methodical. Thin lines of blood appeared with a delay after he had long moved on to the next glyph.

Guilt swam in Maya, regretting having talked them into this, yet Elena showed no expression of pain. A minor twitch at the corner of her eye was the only betrayal of unpleasantness. It wasn't until Erik started to work a powder from a pouch into her wounds that she began to show signs of discomfort.

Flicking on the lighter and adjusting Elena's arm so the markings faced downward, Erik glanced at her one more time for the final affirmation.

Elena nodded.

This time, he moved the flame much more slowly so the powder could ignite. It must've been something highly flammable. Despite being soaked in blood, it quickly flared up and seared her flesh.

A harsh intake of breath was Elena's response; her teeth gritted against the pain as the stench of charred skin pervaded the room.

Once every glyph was branded into her skin, Erik loosened his hold on her arm.

Muttering curses under her breath, Elena staggered towards the kitchen, plunging her arm into the solace of cold water from the sink.

Erik's and Maya's gaze followed her with bated breath. All this pain could have been for nothing had the Sight rune not activated. After a moment of recovery, Elena pulled out her drenched arm and looked at the messy markings left on it. They lacked the graceful artistry of Maya's tattoo, but their appearance wasn't as horrifying as the ordeal of their creation.

Elena's eyes darted towards them, and Maya raised her arm where her runes were visible. A grin spread across Elena's face. It must've been a success, and she could see through Glamour.

"Am I the first vampire in history with a permanent Sight rune?" Elena asked triumphantly.

"Ha… perhaps," Erik crossed his arms. He seemed to be torn between succeeding in his own experiment but also creating something that shouldn't have been created.

"Ha! Aren't you the greatest traitor of your organization?" Elena's gloating suddenly morphed into harsh mockery, catching Maya off guard. "Putting a rune on a vampire. What an achievement!"

Erik sighed, disdain returning to his face. "Well, I knew a surprising number of mad hunters who'd be simply thrilled about the discovery. Unfortunately, I can no longer bring you to their laboratories as one of the specimens. The experiments they'd cook just for you would go beyond anyone's wildest imagination."

"But if you locked me up there, you'd have to give up on your little side experiments, wouldn't you?" Elena's eyes narrowed, a subtle, derisive smirk playing at her lips.

"What are you implying?" Erik's tone remained level, his gaze sliding toward her without a hint of concern.

"Do you think I didn't notice? You're surprisingly sneaky! The blood you gave me, that tea you served when we first met, even the pot today—they were all laced with the same substance."

"Wait, pot?" Maya interjected, thoroughly confused.

Erik tilted his head. "If you noticed, why'd you take it?"

"I figured if it was safe for you, I wouldn't drop dead at least."

Erik let out a derisive laugh.

"It's not like I had much of a choice the first time either. I bet the only reason you let me go was because I'd drunk it. But don't think I didn't notice you relaxing a bit after I took that sip of tea. So what did you put in it?"

"If you were curious, love, this is about the worst way you could go fishing for information."

"You spiked her tea?" Maya mixed in, aghast.

Erik turned to her, his mouth opened, but words seemed to evade him.

"Tell me what was in there!" Elena demanded.

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Erik sighed. "Something that would render you less of a threat to Maya."

"Ah, right. Her gallant hero since day one… Newsflash, you're not the one protecting Maya! If anything, you're hindering it."

Unable to follow their rapid exchange, Maya massaged her head. It was rather surprising. Elena didn't seem to know how to hold back when it came to provoking Erik, even after what had happened in that cave. Not only did she seem unaffected by that serious aggression, but he seemed to have adjusted and could strike back with equal measure.

'Horrible. It's horrible,' Maya thought.

"Leo, save me," Maya said quietly as they continued to yell in the background. "How do I reconcile them?"

"Beats me," he shrugged.

Their argument shifted to who was doing more in order to keep Maya safe, and an idea suddenly came to mind. "Guys, since you both want to protect me, why don't you partner up?"

A stunned silence fell upon the room as both Erik and Elena stared at her as if she had just suggested they shave off their eyebrows. Expecting to receive at least a positive reaction from Elena—who wanted him to train her—she was met with discord.

After the initial abrasive reaction, Elena seemed to contemplate it for a moment and finally admitted, "You said it in a gross way, but it's not an unbearable idea…"

Maya was taken aback, "What do you mean gross? Which part?"

"I already see her thinking of a way to stab him in the back," Leo interjected wryly. "Him too."

'Hopeless… It's hopeless.'

Maya sat down on the sofa. Coming here today, she had a couple of questions in mind to ask Erik. However, since the subjects were rather bleak, she hesitated to immediately kill the mood, since she seemed to strike him with heavy and complicated thoughts every time they met.

"Erik, as a hunter, do you know more about corrupted beasts?" Maya breached the first subject.

"I've dealt with them before," he admitted, shifting his attention to Maya.

Keeping her gaze on the Hunter's Handbook open in her lap, she revisited the only page she managed to read. "I didn't know there was a distinct position of a Ranger within the organization," Maya began.

She had only skimmed through, but it seemed that besides the position of regular Hunter Agents, there was a less-known position with a more dangerous job description. "While Hunter Agents protect the insides of the cities, Rangers protect the outsides," Maya paraphrased it. "Your jurisdiction being outside of Amellan, you are technically a Ranger, right?"

Erik sat down. "I'm both, and Amellan has no official position for either."

"Why not?"

"The official statement is that Amellan has a strong tradition of raising its own Guarding Officers and doesn't require Hunter's aid when they can be spared to protect other places. Unofficially, it is Amanda's way of keeping General of Hunters out of her hair."

"So… politics," Elena concluded.

"Yes. The General had always been Amanda's greatest opposer to the position of Rectoress."

Maya was lost in thought for a moment. Would she eventually have to join the world of politics herself?

"Why are you curious about the corrupted beasts?"

At his inquiry, Maya relayed to him the incident with a corrupted beast that appeared a couple of months back and how students who were combating it could have lasting consequences. It came as baffling news to Erik. Not only had a corrupted beast come so close to civilization, but the news of it was covered up so the rest of Mellgrah never learned about it.

He asked if there were any other strange occurrences, to which Maya mentioned earthquakes, which also puzzled him, but he didn't comment.

"I'll have to investigate," he concluded.

It was getting late, and the girls had to depart before the night caught them. Although they had different plans for today initially, it wasn't a loss since they now had Sight and knew a little more about magic and the world.

Like always, Erik had walked them back to the walls, and Maya gathered her courage to finally hand him the piece of paper ribbon she had been holding on to.

Back at that glade where she had unintentionally disturbed a grave, she had found this weathered paper hidden under a stone.

'Did he write this? Didn't know he had a sensitive side…' Maya thought to herself, reading those poignant lines scribbled on it.

"Maya, do you have a pen?" Anastasia asked back then. "Write this on the other side…"

Now, Maya watched the gentle smile fade from his face as she handed him the paper he immediately recognized. He read the newly written lines in silence, and Maya felt the air getting heavy.

To the original line:

January took you away. Your memory cast upon cold, bitter winds, forever to bite on my soul…

Maya had added:

Yet, the spring will come to cast those shadows away. As I know, after the frost melts, your warm embrace awaits…

Maya didn't know whether this was an act of kindness or the cruellest thing she could have done to him.

Taking in the verses, he closed his eyes. It almost seemed like he let out a small breath of relief. "Thank you, Maya," his voice was barely a whisper.

Wishing to ask many questions, Maya held back, not wanting to trample on his closure. Anastasia was a silent witness to his misfortunes, and she seemed like the perfect person to bring it to him. Maya wondered if those were lines his friend truly left for him, or did Anastasia play her hand to convince him they were.

'Be his spring, Maya.' Those were the words she left Maya with that day.