Roleplay

Lucine could hear Callum tossing and turning in the bed, muttering, and knew that he was having a nightmare. The fact she didn’t act upon it didn’t mean that she was indifferent, the opposite, actually. She felt sick to her stomach when it first came to her attention that he was not sleeping well, and in other circumstances she would have woken him up immediately. However, with his condition, any sleep was needed sleep, and she needed him to have as much sleep as he could possibly get. It Made her feel guilty and alarmed her, but she tried to remind herself that it was in his best interest. Besides, they may be getting somewhere today.

She instead distracted herself from her thoughts with the wolf pup, watching as the animal awoke. She smiled sadly down at her, continuing to scratch behind her ears, hoping that she wouldn’t be alarmed to what was happening with Callum, though Lucine knew she would be. Lucine knew that Raven cared for the boy immensely, as he was her companion, and that this was probably impossible on her. Flashes of the Forbidden Form played in Lucine’s mind, but she shook them away, just like she tried to shake away any memory of that day..

She was content with waking up the wolf pup, when suddenly something caused her to drew her hand back. She heard her name, accompanied shortly after by a loud scream, though she couldn’t tell if it was from pain or from fear. Rising quickly to her feet, the girl rushed to the bed, standing by Callum’s side.

She was there as fast as she could, and as quickly as she could her arms were around him, pulling him close to her chest. Lucine wished she could just hold him there forever, keeping him safe from the harm that seemed to love to follow him like a curse.

Well, obviously Lucine, he is cursed.

She pulled him close, her breathing steady, ready to do what she had done so many times before and what she knew she would have to do so many times after this point.

“I’m right here..” she said calmly, kneeling next to the bed, her arms still around him, “I’m right here, Callum.”

She listened to his unsteady breathing, trying to make hers as steady as possible, though it seemed to be harder than it usually was. Lucine had to much on her mind, too much that she wanted to go and scream about.

Now wasn’t the time for that, though.

When he claimed that it hurt, she drew back slightly, and reached out gingerly to take his arm, the one that was wrapped with the bandage.

“Can I look at it?” the girl asked calmly, looking down to see that blood had indeed seeped through. However, she knew from first glance that something was wrong about it. It wasn’t red, like blood should be, it was very much black. Lucine paused for a moment, staring at it, her breathing stopping.

Black.. It was black..

What did that mean?

Was that a side effect? Was that the representation of the poison? Lucine never was able to see what color it had been. Blinking to herself, she continued to stare down at the black blood.

“What the hell…” she muttered unable to move. “Black… It can’t be the poison, I’ve never heard of anything capable of changing the color of blood…” she was now muttering whole tangents, having conversations with herself as she began to panic.

“Perhaps it’s.. No, it can’t be… Was I wrong about the mixture? Or perhaps a mixture will give new effects entirely.”

She paused, quieting herself and trying to return to the world. When she did so, the girl looked up at Callum, and gave a weak smile, like she was trying to be reassuring.

“I’m going to give you clean dressings, alright?” she told him, beginning to unwrap the cloth around his arm. She was glad his eyes were still closed- her own had tears coming from them.

She took the cloth and brought it over to where she had laid the other things she planned to take downstairs, grabbing a new one and returning to where Callum was. They needed to get to whoever Raven found as soon as possible, and try to make some headway.

“Here,” she said quietly, beginning to wrap his arm. She was trying not to let her distress pass into her voice, “There you are.”

When she finished, the girl drew her hands back and sighed, noticing how much the organic one was shaking. She placed her other hand on top of it to calm it, and them looked to Callum.

“I-” she started to say, and then she closed her eyes, tears running down her cheeks, shaking her head. All she wanted to do was sink back onto the floor and contemplate how horribly she had failed.

She could’ve sworn she heard someone whisper “Monster.” in her ear.

Sighing, the girl collected herself. It wasn’t right for her to be getting upset about things, she was supposed to be the cheerful one. She wiped her eyes on the back of her hand, and went around to the other side of the bed, climbing into it next to Callum.

“Callum,” she said gently, reaching out and wrapping him in her embrace once more, “Callum, I’m right here. You’re going to be alright, I promise.”

She took her head and placed it on his shoulder, pulling herself closer to him. “Does your arm hurt, love?” she asked, reminding herself to take a note of it. Her pale cheeks were still wet, but she was trying to forget that.

“Raven..” Lucine began, fighting her feelings, “Raven believes she’s found someone who can help us. S-she wrote a note herself, and e-everything..”

“Y-you’re going to be okay, Callum.” Keep your breathing steady “I’m going to help you. I’m going to be right here. I’m always going to be right here..”

Oh my god, I’m going to lose you again.

Callum quietly whimpered as the pain continued to flow through his arm, yet it somehow alleviated a bit when he felt familiar arms wrap around him and pull him close. At that point, he tried to stop the tears from coming, but attempting to do so only hurt them, so he had to let the tears go.

This happened virtually every time he fell asleep. He would wake up from a nightmare, and Lucine would have to calm him down. Something about this time seemed... different. It was probably the circumstances of their current situation. His ill condition was definitely worrying Lucine, and he hated that he himself was the one worrying her to death, just as he had many times before.

His previously unsteady breathing eventually calmed down as she assured him that she was there for him. "L-Lucine..." he stuttered as she moved to check his arm. He took a deep breath and managed to keep his body relatively relaxed so it would be easier for her to check it. He kept his eyes closed in another poor attempt to hold back more stinging tears. The eyes hidden behind his shut eyelids were burning, and he wished he could make all of the pain stop for his girlfriend's sake.

He stiffened as the girl's breathing stopped, worry immediately resonating in his mind. He didn't open his eyes, but he didn't need to in order to know that something was horribly wrong. He wanted to ask, but her muttering answered the question he had in his mind. She was saying something about the color of blood... black... wait a minute...

Callum was trying his best not to panic at that point, but especially after his nightmare, it was difficult. The hand attached to his uninfected arm shook before he curled his fingers into a fist. According to what she was saying, she had done some research while he had been asleep, just as she intended. He was glad to know that she managed to do something she wanted to do without him getting in the way... but at the same time, him being poisoned was getting in the way.

When Lucine told him that she was going to re-bandage his arm, he nodded stiffly, keeping his eyes closed. At this point, he wasn't sure why he didn't want to open them. While she was working on him, he focused on trying to forget the imagery he witnessed in his most recent nightmare. It was easier than he thought, since he hadn't seen too much. On the other hand, the sensations weren't nearly as easy to forget.

Regrettably, he focused more on the current pain than the pain in his nightmare, and soon, the imaginary sensations had faded from his mind for the moment. As a result, the current pain grew. He remained as still as possible while his arm was re-wrapped with new linen. When the old linen came off, the pain in there grew a little bit, but the detail was barely noticeable to him. Some relief came when the new bandage was covering the wound.

When Lucine tried to say something, but didn't finish, he finally cracked open his eyes, only to see tears streaming from her own eyes. It made his heart skip a beat, seeing her like that. She was shaking her head as well, and her sadness began to affect him as well, though he tried to stop it from doing so. He was angry at himself for losing it again. He always lost it after a nightmare. He needed to be better. He had to be strong, for Lucine, for Raven, and especially for himself.

His eyes followed her as she walked to the other side of the bed, though he continued to face the direction he had been facing for several hours. He sighed gently, noticing that she was climbing into the bed next to him. He almost shut his eyes again when she wrapped her arms around him once more. It made him more comfortable, and it made the nightmare easier to push to the back of his mind.

The pain became more dull after Lucine placed her head on his shoulder. He nearly allowed himself to become lost in her embrace, but what she told him next prompted him to stay in reality, right after she asked him if his arm was still hurting. His eyes widened a little in surprise, but at the same time, it was the good kind of surprise for once. He nearly grinned upon hearing the news. It was so surprising that he nearly forgot about her previous question.

"A little," he whispered, breathing calmly. He was also beginning to experience a headache, but he didn't feel as though that was too important to mention at the moment. "And Raven... she's a good girl, isn't she?"

He had noticed her stuttering, and felt horrible that he had to be in this position. No matter what he said, the problem wouldn't go away until they actually did something about it.

He turned his head slightly and kissed her cheek, looking into her eyes. He honed in on her soul, sending warmth to it from his own. The warmth came in gentle waves. "My love... we will fix this," he told her, placing one of his hands on top of her organic one. "I promise you. You are not going to lose me again."

As he spoke, he noticed that Raven had leapt up onto the bed, wriggling in between them to snuggle briefly. He smiled down at her, taking his free hand and giving her a nice scratch behind the ears. "Good girl," he murmured. She let out a happy yap when she received the compliment, nuzzling his hand. "I'm very proud of you."

The wolf pup's tail was wagging rapidly as she grinned at the two of them. She nuzzled Callum's face and licked his cheek affectionately. He laughed in response, the feeling of happiness rocketing from his soul to Lucine's. It was as if everything was alright, yet they knew it wasn't. It wouldn't be until something was done to make it right.

Raven backed up and jerked her head towards the door, essentially motioning for them to follow her. She jumped down from the bed and trotted towards the door, standing in front of it and turning back to face the couple lying on the bed.

Callum smiled at Lucine, leaning his head against hers to show affection. "We're going to fix this," he assured softly. "What do you say I help you help me?" He chuckled lightly, keeping a smile on his face.

"I'm not going to break our promise again."

I won't leave you, I love you too much for that...

Lucine was quiet as her head laid on Callum’s shoulder, her arms around the boy next to her. She was still listening to his breathing, and hers was calming down slightly. She closed her eyes, blocking out the light of the world around them, and just sat there, trying to allow herself to calm down. She was letting herself get worked up over nothing, letting those thoughts come into her mind again.

She was breathing by numbers. In on even, out on odd, up to ten and then reset. She allowed herself to curl up slightly, right next to Callum, though they were both sitting up. The tears on her cheeks were drying now.

She opened one of her eyes when Callum responded to her, answering that he was still in a little pain. Lucine just nodded, keeping her hand where it was, and smiling when he commented on how good of a girl Raven is.

“She’s really very impressive,” Lucine said, giving a small sad chuckle, “I’m very proud of her, and she isn’t even my companion.”

Both her eyes opened when Callum kissed her cheek, and though it was a small action, she felt herself warming up. It was a shame he had to be comforting her at this time, but she was still happy to be able to feel his love. And feel it she did, in gentle warm waves that hit her soul like water hitting a beach. Lucine had never been to a beach, but she’d always wanted to see one.

She nodded quietly as Callum assured her they would fix it, taking his hand in hers when he placed it there. It helped calm the shaking, and she smiled down at their intertwined hands, then looked to him, her eyes filled with sadness but also a small sliver of hope that always seemed to be there.

“I should hope not,” she said softly, squeezing his hand, “I never want to lose you, ever again.”

She looked down when she felt the wolf up snuggling into bed with them, and gave the animal a smile, taking her free hand to give her some pets. She remained quiet as Callum praised her, nodding along slightly. She felt the same way, and although the wolf wasn’t her companion, she cared about her deeply, just as much as she cared about Callum.

Like it or not, they were her family now.

She laughed along with Callum when she heard his laugh, not because of anything really aside from the fact that he was laughing, and the feeling of happiness she was receiving was making her feel like laughing. She continued to giggle, even though she herself felt uneasy, as she watched Raven head towards the door. She felt a little amused at the small jerk of Raven’s head, beckoning them after her.

She felt herself quieting when Callum laid his head on hers, and she squeezed his hand gently. His words were helping her, especially those about their promise. A promise she had clung to.

“You had better not break it,” she said jokingly, however there was a certain sadness behind her voice. Squeezing his hand, she took a deep breath.

“I’m always going to be worried for you, I can’t help it.” she said calmly, closing her eyes, “but it would probably be helpful if I worried less. Or at least, was less of an emotional being.”

She laughed a little to herself, and then felt that laughter turn from something sad into something hopeful. It was strong enough that Callum would be able to feel it as well.

“Come on, now, love, we don’t want to keep our mystery helper waiting.” squeezing his hand, she slowly drew away from him, and turned to Raven, smiling at the wolf.

“Where are we supposed to meet her, then?” She asked, beginning to pull herself out of the bed and turning around to look at Callum. A thought then crossed her mind, and she paused, tilting her head.

“Will you be alright to walk?” she asked him, crossing her arms, “I can carry you if needed.”

Lucine waited for him to respond, and turned around briefly to look at Raven, though she wasn’t asking her to transform or anything. She then looked back to Callum, and gave him a small smile.

She was hopeful that they would be able to receive help.

---

The small room packed with tables leading away from the main hallway was mostly empty. The night before had been roaring, and as such, tables were thrown all about, and bottles littered the floor. The girl in the red cloak was sleepily trying to clean up the place, yawning slightly after every bottle she picked up, placing them all on a table that her companion had set up.

The girl couldn’t have been older than 13, so it would be an odd sight to see her cleaning up empty bottles, but she had nothing better to do, and Serilda had told her to make herself useful. So, she was doing exactly that.

Serilda herself was sitting at another table, though she was fast asleep, her legs placed up on top of the table as she slept, her flask sitting next to her, though the girl with the red cloak knew that there wasn’t anything alcoholic in the flask at the moment. It was just blood, something that Serilda really didn’t need due to the fact that, as much as she liked to hide it, she was only a quarter vampire. But, the girl in the red cloak knew how much she enjoyed the taste, and in her opinion it was better than the alternative, which the girl knew made her companion difficult to interact with.

So, the girl in the red cloak always had blood supplied.

She was wondering when the appointment was going to show up. Serilda liked to make those, interrogate people, and usually the girl wasn’t allowed to watch, but for some reason Serilda had decided this one was acceptable for her ears. She knew, as much as Serilda tried to hide this as well, that she was looking for someone.

“Kylie..” Serilda moaned, causing the girl to perk up her head at the mention of her name. Kylie dumped the bottles she was holding on the table and went to Serilda’s side.

“You see ‘em yet?” she asked, and Kylie shook her head, before realizing Serilda still had her eyes closed. Sometimes, it was hard to tell with the mask.

“No, not yet.” Kylie answered, looking up to the doorway. All she could see was the desk, abandoned by the old man who was probably off to sleep somewhere. He and Serilda had taken to each other, and it was the longest time they had stayed in a certain place. Kylie knew they must be getting close.

“Damn them,” Serilda said, bringing her legs down and reaching for her flask, “if that little wolf punked me, I swear-”

“We weren’t gonna do anything today anyway,” Kylie told her, shaking her head, “At least, I didn’t think we were.”

“Were leaving today.”

“Oh.” Kylie let her worry show through in her voice.

“Don’t worry, I know you’re not strong enough to do it yet, so were staying here. Just gotta go to a new village.”

“Oh, but I sort of liked this place, Serilda.”

“You see ‘em yet?” Serilda asked again, placing her feet back on the table.

Kylie shook her head.

Callum was more than happy to see Lucine's mood improving the moment his did. He laughed when she told him that he better keep his promise. He didn't ignore the sadness behind it though. He gently squeezed her hand just as she was squeezing his, letting out a calm sigh. He was ignoring the pain in his wrist at this point. He didn't care about that right now. He needed to focus on keeping Lucine's mood positive.

"I'm not going to break it," he whispered, more to himself than Lucine, but he could still be talking to her as well. He didn't want to break it. The first time he broke it, it was unintentional. He didn't make Torvald impale him on a silver blade; a blade that would've given him worse pain if he had been affected by vampirism and lycanthropy like he had been supposed to. When he had spoken out in the throne room, he wasn't expecting to die. After all, he hadn't died whenever he did it before.

For a moment, he recalled the time when Connor had to defend him. He remembered recalling it after the dart hit his wrist. Older children in his first town - besides Colsar, because apparently he used to live there for a while - were pushing a younger vampire boy around, calling him a vein-digger and a monster. Callum was actually younger than the vampire being talked down to, and he went out of his way to stand up to those kids.

It hadn't ended well.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Those kids were being mean! I had to do something!"

"You should've let the problem take care of itself, idiot. They were obviously gonna kick your a**."

"I couldn't just let that poor kid be pushed around like that!"

"Then get an adult! Everyone knows that. You're too small and puny."

"I am not!"

"Really. You are eight f**king years old."

"That doesn't matter! I'm big and strong too!"

"You're stupid, that's what you are. Nothing but a moron. Without me or Thalia, you'd be dead. You're nothing on your own. The sooner you accept that, the better you'll be. Besides, I'm not too keen on continuing to help you... I'm not even sure why I helped you in the first place."

Callum shook the memory away. It didn't really mean too much to him now, though he still wasn't sure why Connor decided to help him that day. He could've gotten rid of him by letting those kids do his job for him. Either that or Thalia would've been the one to find and help him instead. She was older... then again, back when she was still a human, she was more pacifistic.

Connor was clearly not.

He chuckled after Lucine spoke to him again, drawing away from him. He would've normally minded, but this time, he knew they had s**t to do. If he was to be cured, they would have to get moving. Still, it was nice to actually get some sleep in a room for once. He was grateful to have gone to the other inn before coming to this one. If they hadn't, he would've had his little attack here instead, and that wouldn't have ended well either.

He looked up at Lucine when she asked him if he could walk. He smiled warmly, closed his eyes for a moment, and sat up in bed. The action caused his arm to hurt a little more, but only for a few seconds. Otherwise, he felt just fine... besides the headache. There was a headache present, and he hadn't noticed it growing until now. He hoped he wouldn't start feeling feverish.

"I can walk," he assured her softly, standing up from the bed. He no longer felt tired; in fact, he couldn't feel more awake to be honest. He returned her smile with a slightly wider one of his own. He had felt her shift in tone during one of her bits of laughter. He sent a feeling of hope through his soul to hers. "Let's go," he said gently, chuckling a bit. "Let's meet this person... or people. You never know who'll be there."

Raven tilted her head a little at him, and he chuckled. "What?" he asked jokingly. "Come on, preparation is key. Did you see anyone else with this person?"

The pup shook her head at him before turning around and opening the door by herself, flying up to the doorknob and twisting it before pushing it open. Callum stared at her, looking impressed. "Good girl," he praised, walking over to her and patting her on the head. She yapped happily, trotting outside. Callum walked back towards Lucine and linked arms with her gently.

"Let's follow her," he suggested lightly. He was reminded of the first time they met. They had linked arms when traveling with the group to get to Colsar before they would travel to Visage. The thought made him feel warm inside. It was funny how they went from that to this. It had been a good start for sure. The sunrise had been beautiful to watch from the shadows.

He started walking out of the room, only after they had everything they needed. He walked down the stairs behind the pup, who hadn't transformed, since Callum was actually able to walk. He honestly felt relieved that his legs were working, and that he had been shot in the arm instead of the leg. He would've loved to not have been shot at all, but he supposed it was his fault. He didn't feel guilty, but at the same time, he did. It was very confusing.

Raven led them towards the small room she had been pointed to the night before. Callum would've been lying if he claimed that he wasn't feeling at least a little nervous. He trusted Raven, but at the same time, he didn't know this person. He decided to go with his trust for Raven on this one. Once they were close, Raven let out a few barks, just to let those on the other side of the door know that she was there.

Lucine waited by the side of the bed for Callum, watching and waiting. He had told her he would be okay to walk, but it still worried her greatly. She didn’t want him to fall down the stairs, or anything similar to that. The thought was slightly ridiculous, but she knew how accident prone Callum could be, and she wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he actually happened to. She watched as he stood, and smiled slightly at him, turning back to Raven.

She immediately felt hopeful, and she knew it was due to the connection between their souls. It was a connection she cherished, and she liked to consider it in sort of a sense that they were soulmates, though she knew that was a ridiculous thought. Still, it was one that warmed her, to think she shared a bond with someone that connected their souls.

She listened with some amusement to the back and forth between Callum and Raven, nodding her head in agreement with her boyfriend. “Yes, we wouldn’t want to be rude by excluding someone,” she said gently, giving Raven a small smile, “Though I’m positive that isn’t your intent.”

As Raven went to open the door, and Callum went to praise her, Lucine crossed to the desk and collected the things she planned to take to the meeting- the pieces of dart, her notebook, and for good measure, a few coins. If the person they were going to see didn’t accept them, she would use them to pay for the room. She collected them all and held them in her arm, turning back towards the door.

Lucine smiled gently when she felt Callum locking arms with her, and gave a small nod to his idea of following Raven. “Yes, I believe we should,” she said, and they began to walk together, arm in arm. It made her happy, and reminded her of a future she had once hoped they would have, before everything that could possibly go wrong seemed to go wrong.

She had hoped they could walk arm in arm, like her own parents had done, and attempt to rebuild a broken Empire. But she also knew how that had ended, and that was one of the reasons why they were even out on this quest in the first place.

She walked with him, following Raven down the stairs. The morning was quiet, and most people were either sleeping in or had already left for the day, so the trio were the only three roaming around. Lucine enjoyed how quiet it was in the inn, and turned to Callum, giving him a small worried smile.

“Are you doing alright?” she asked, as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She was still worried, but she was also hopeful, before she remembered that they were about to ask a total stranger, and one who had apparent connections with the black market, about Callum’s health. For some reason, the thought unsettled her slightly.

But she also trusted Raven, and there were no other options that she saw, so she let her optimism take over. Perhaps they really could help. She very much hoped so.

Lucine stopped with the others as they reached the doorway, letting Raven give a few barks to announce their presence. The half-vampire shifted, slightly uncomfortable- it was always odd when she had to appeal to strangers.

She heard a female voice- a very young sounding one, announce something inside the room, followed by a loud grunt, the sound one would make when they are half asleep. Very soon after, a girl bounded to the door and gave the trio a very warm smile.

She couldn’t have been more than 13 years old, and was short even for that. Her skin was pale, and her cheeks rosy and dotted with small freckles that also covered her nose, and her brown eyes had a curious expression in them as she appeared to be studying the people standing before her. But something that stood out most about her was her apparel- she was wearing a bright red riding cloak and a red hairband in her blond hair.

The girl gave them a toothy smile and stuck out her hand in Callum’s direction.

“I’m Kylie!” she introduced herself cheerfully, turning around to look at another figure- and older woman reclined in a chair at a table within the room. The woman appeared to be sleeping, and Kylie gave a soft whistle- to which the woman immediately perked up.

“That’s Serilda,’ Kylie said, shrugging, “She says she’s ‘hungover.’ I dunno what that means, but usually she’d kinda cranky when she is, so be careful.”

“Noted,” Lucine said, giving the girl a small nod, and a playful yet worried smile. Though she trusted Raven, she couldn’t help but worry about the two characters before her.

The woman, Serilda, sat up in her chair and leaned forward, appearing to be looking at them. It was hard to tell with the mask. Lucine found that the woman’s mannerisms gave her a slight sense of deja vu.

“You gonna stand there flirting, or are we gonna actually get something done?” Serilda asked, and Kylie jumped slightly, but then nodded, and looked down to Raven, giving her a scratch behind the ears.

“Follow me,” she said, with a sort of tone that Lucine took as the girl thinking she was sounding very official. As worried as she was about “Serilda”, Kylie was cute. Something about Serilda was just putting her off.

Kylie led them to the table where Serilda was sitting at, and then quickly rushed to pull two more chairs up to it. Once she had done that, she took a seat next to Serilda, sitting high in her chair and looking enthusiastic, contrasting with the way her companion seemed to be leaning back against her chair, like she really would rather be asleep.

It was when Lucine got close that she figured out what was offputting about Serilda.

She couldn’t tell her species.

Serilda watched the couple, blinking at Callum, and then turning to look at Lucine, staring at her for a few seconds before turning back to Callum.

“You the infected one?” she asked, leaning forward in her chair.

Callum looked over at Lucine as she asked him if he was alright. For once, he was glad to answer her. "I'm fine right now," he assured her, smiling. He wanted to ask the same of her. He could tell that she was slightly nervous about this. He could understand where those feelings were coming from. This was a stranger Raven had found, or even strangers. He would find out soon enough.

After Raven let out her barks, she stepped back as someone answered her calls. The person answering the door was a young, admittedly cute girl with vibrant apparel. She looked very cheerful and youthful. Callum couldn't help but grin when he saw her. He didn't know why, but she reminded him of someone. He couldn't pin it down... but even if he couldn't, it was better than focusing on any sort of discomfort or pain.

He shook the girl's hand when she stuck it out in his direction, smiling all the while. "Pleased to meet you, Kylie," he offered in a friendly manner, glancing at Lucine and shooting a slightly wider smile her way. He was feeling better about this with the introduction of Kylie, and he hoped Lucine was at least feeling a little bit of what he was feeling. He knew Raven was; she sported a big grin, with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

He listened to the girl as she explained who Serilda was. Unlike Kylie, he knew very well what that meant. He suppressed a shudder. This had to go well. He would have to be very careful not to p**s this woman off. He glanced down at Raven for a moment, as if trying to read her mind. He didn't look like it, but that was how he felt. Even though they were very close, unfortunately, they didn't share a telepathic or even empathetic connection like he did with the Whisper and even Lucine.

He looked over at Lucine as she gave the girl a playful smile, finding happiness in it. He barely noticed the worry, but it was still there, and he needed to provide some kind of comfort. You're cute when you smile like that, he thought, pushing the message to her soul, along with another warm wave. Thank the G... thank the Spirits above that the poison wasn't affecting his very soul. Especially right now, it was his primary way to assure Lucine that he would be okay.

Raven barked happily as the little girl scratched her behind the ears, her tail wagging. Callum nodded to Kylie and followed her as she instructed them to, walking alongside Lucine. He waited until the girl pulled up two more chairs to slowly approach one of them and take a seat. He received a pining sensation the moment he had to un-link his arm from Lucine's in order for her to take a seat as well, but he sent her another warm wave from his soul to hers when he did, as if telling her that they would have time to cuddle later.

At least, he hoped so.

As soon as he properly laid eyes on "Serilda", he began studying her. The mask made it difficult to tell which direction she was looking at times. He blinked, suddenly aware of his blind eye. He was human, which would normally make the concept of him having a strangely colored eye abnormal, but he was also a mage, so he could just claim that it was because of something magic-related. Either that or he could just say he was cursed.

That part was at least somewhat true.

That got him thinking about the Whisper again. He didn't believe their connection to be a curse. After all, he had actually grown to care about the Entity, much like the Entity grew to care about him. He knew where to work from the moment he subconsciously figured out that the creature was only trying to do its job; to be a curse. To torment him using the right words at the right time, or in Callum's eyes, the wrong words at the wrong time.

He realized he had spaced out, shaking his head briefly and blinking again, snapping himself out of his sudden daze. He actually had no idea why he had just been thinking of the Whisper. It felt as though his mind was blurring, and he was suddenly confused about something. His thoughts were jumping all over the place. Why had the Whisper come up? Why had he suddenly been thinking too deeply about his blind eye? Did he do this all the time?

He looked at Serilda with an almost blank stare as she addressed him, asking if he was the infected one. He looked at Raven when she finished, seeing the wolf pup approach where Kylie was and leap into her lap. The pup was wagging her tail as she nuzzled the girl cheerfully. It almost distracted Callum from having to answer the older woman's question.

"Yes," he replied, nodding as he spoke. He hesitantly took hold of his sleeve and pulled it up, revealing the fresh bandage wrapped around his wrist, as well as the darkened veins. He even winced a little as he did. He could feel a fog forming at the back of his mind, which prompted him to put effort into drowning the approaching dread. He forgot to block his next thought, which was sent to Lucine's soul by pure accident.

Wait... why can't I remember anything that happened last night...?

Lucine gave a small nod as Callum assured her of his wellbeing, and smiled to herself, waiting for whoever was coming to greet them to arrive at the door. She was slightly worried about the recipient being an intimidating figure, so she was quite pleased and happy to see that it was just a young girl in a bright red cloak, who looked like she was so excited she was about to bounce out of her shoes. She made Lucine feel settled, in a way.

Kylie laughed slightly and eagerly shook Callum’s hand, still bouncing on her feet. When she had finished, she turned to Raven, and giggled at the wolf pup, excited to see her.

“She’s so cute..” the girl whispered under her breath, but loud enough for Lucine to hear and chuckle at. She supposed a wolf pup with wings would be very cute to a young girl.

When the half-vampire received warm wave from Callum’s soul, along with the thought, she found her face warming up just slightly, and she inched somewhat closer to him, their arms still linked. She was glad that the girl was too busy obsessing over Raven to notice, yet in the same thought she knew that the girl probably wouldn’t care. Feeling warm and affectionate towards Callum, more than she already had, she sent those feelings back to him.

As they entered the room and found seats, Lucine waited until Callum had taken his before she took a seat, feeling slightly awkward and alone once they had unlinked arms. She was now facing the pair before her, and even though he was sitting next to her, it still felt a bit vulnerable. But the warm feelings from his soul were helping her, and they made her feel a bit more at ease. She tried to send them back.

“Thank you,” she said to Kylie as she took her seat, watching as the young girl sat down. Kylie gave her a small nod, and her smile faded slightly as Serilda began to speak. It became clear to Lucine that the pair had an interesting relationship.

Speaking of Serilda, Lucine continued to feel like something was incredibly off about her. As the woman studied the couple, Lucine couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable, and she would chalk it up to the fact that the mask was making her hard to read, but Lucine had never really cared for reading people. No, it was something different. Something about her was making Lucine feel like she had to be.. Like she needed to be angry at her.

As Serilda addressed Callum, Lucine found herself biting her lip. Why are you so angry? she asked herself, setting the things she had brought with her out on the table before them. Serilda didn’t look over at them, instead she was staring at Callum, waiting for his response.

Beside her, Kylie made a small noise of surprise as the wolf jumped into her lap, and she began laughing quietly, giving the pup a few scratches behind the ears. Serilda placed a hand on the young girl’s head- probably a signal to quiet down.

Lucine looked between the woman and Callum as he answered her question, peeling back his sleeve to show her his wrist- and the affected area. She watched with slight contempt as Serilda studied it, removing her hand from Kylie’s head to reach across the table and take his arm, studying it in her hands.

Lucine also felt a bit unnerved by the thought that Callum sent her, most likely by accident. Not wanting to respond in the moment, she sent him back a small feeling of reassurance, and wanted to send him a thought, but she wasn’t as good at the whole “communication through soul” thing as he was yet- she could only send feelings without using too much energy, most likely due to the fact she had no magic. Still, she hoped she could reassure him nonetheless.

Serilda began to peel back Callum’s bandaging, to which Lucine cleared her throat. “Please don’t do that,” she told the woman, sounding a bit more harsh than she intended to, but she didn’t want someone with no medical knowledge to mess with the wound. Serilda immediately turned her way, and Lucine found herself feeling very vulnerable.

“Who the hell are you?” Serilda asked her, and Lucine heard a bit of scorn in her voice, but instead of making her fearful like it usually would, it just gave her more animosity towards the woman. Seriously, why was she so angry all of a sudden?

“His girlfriend.” she told Serilda, sitting up slightly straighter, “I don’t want you to risk infection by unwrapping the bandaging.”

“Black blood. Looks pretty infected already to me.” Serilda said, continuing with what she was doing.

“I thought we were going to discuss the origin of the dart, not medical knowledge,” Lucine told her cooly, pushing the dart pieces toward her. Serilda just ignored her.

“Your girlfriend PMS-ing or something?” she asked Callum, finishing unwrapping his bandages to look at the wound. When she saw it, she clicked her tongue.

“Damn. That’s poison.” she said, and turned to Kylie, who was busy petting Raven and scratching her behind the ears, not noticing any of what was going on. Serilda’s shoulders dropped slightly in relief and she turned back to Callum.

“So, you got hit last night, correct?” Serilda asked him, not addressing Lucine but reaching over and pulling the dart pieces towards her. She gave him back the bandage, which Lucine immediately took and then more gently, took Callum’s arm and began to diligently wrap it, muttering something about “Damn werewolves.” under her breath.

That’s when it hit her.

Serilda was a werewolf, so obviously her presence was making Lucine uncomfortable and antagonistic. She didn’t know how she hadn’t been able to tell thus far, it was like something was blocking out the smell of werewolf, negating it. She looked over to Serilda after she finished, watching the woman examine the dart.

“This is black market,” she said, raising the dart to her eye and looking intently at it- or at least Lucine assumed so, the mask made it hard to tell. “You have to go pretty deep to get this quality from black market, though- you made any enemies, kid?”

Lucine looked over at Callum, not knowing whether she should jump in and change the subject or let him answer. Sighing, she pulled her journal out and turned to the page where she had made notes, pushing it over to Serilda.

“I tried to determine what type of poison he was infected with,” Lucine told her as she gave her the notebook, “Do you know any, erm, I don’t know how the black market works, sellers who might work with poisons like this?”

Serilda took the notebook and began to read it upside down, like she wasn’t paying attention to what it said. Kylie had noticed the exchange and sat up straighter, trying to read over Serilda’s shoulder, though she looked a bit confused when she saw it was upside down. Serilda turned it right side up when she noticed Kylie trying to read.

“I don’t know anything about poisons, I don’t like working with them.” she said, shaking her head, “Less blood that way.” Lucine felt herself beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, and Serilda turned back to the dart, “However, I do know about weapons, and I can tell you that this is probably, don’t quote me on this, custom.”

Lucine blinked at that. Custom? Someone was having darts made to take Callum down? Serilda held up the dart and pointed to the fuzz at the end.

“You see this?” she said, pointing to the purple fuzz, “You get purple fuzz on certain poisons, but I’ve never seen this shade. The fuzz color is usually gonna tell you what kind of poison you’ve got in your dart, but it could also mean where the dart is coming from. Weapons makers, big ones, they like having street cred. They put little watermarks on their stuff all the time. If this sh*t wasn’t broken, I could probably find the watermark.”

Lucine felt her face turning red.

She was surprised, however, when Serilda brought the dart up to her nose and began to sniff it, making a face after she did so. She shook her head and clicked her tongue again. Lucine wondered how much she was planning to do that- it made her feel uncomfortable.

“Usually weapons will smell like the sweaty guy who made them.” she said, sniffing it again, “But I’m not sure what I’m picking up here.. It almost doesn’t smell human.”

Lucine blinked and watched her curiously. Kylie was also now paying attention, her young eyes darting between everyone.

Serilda shook her head finally, and sighed. To Lucine’s dismay, she clicked her tongue and pulled a small flask out, taking a drink from it. The smell of blood quickly filled Lucine’s nostrils.

“You got any questions?” she asked the two, looking mainly at Callum. Lucine nodded, but she was ignored.

Callum stiffened a little in the chair he was sitting on.

Something was wrong.

Of course there was something wrong; there always seemed to be something wrong. That was besides the poison in his veins or the slight stinging sensation he suddenly felt in the wound. The pain wasn't bothersome, but there was something else that was off, and he thought he pinned it down.

He couldn't remember anything from last night.

Actually, that wasn't entirely true. He remembered evacuating Bellenau with Lucine and Raven due to vampire hunters, being hit by a dart fired by a mysterious presence in the forest near Bellenau, fleeing to another town... but everything after that was a blur. He couldn't remember going anywhere else after that; he only remembered having his latest nightmare and waking up in an inn room. An actual inn room.

He hadn't been paying attention to the fact that he indeed still had a headache. Once he realized that he did have one, he fought the urge to rub his temples. He didn't want to upset Lucine, or unnerve her even more than she already was. He could tell that she was nervous, and that she wasn't feeling well. He sent a warm wave towards her soul from his in an attempt to soothe her at least a little, but he could tell that his efforts would most likely not help. That saddened him a little. What was wrong?

He glanced over at Lucine with concern evident in his eyes. Before he could send any other messages to her soul, he felt a hand take his bandaged arm. He knew it to be Serilda's. He looked back towards the other woman as she studied his arm. The stinging sensation grew a little as she held it, and he had to keep himself from wincing visibly.

His eyes were solely on the bandaging as it was being peeled back by Serilda. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, but Lucine spoke up for him before he could decide whether or not to say anything. He wasn't all that surprised by the harsh tint in Lucine's voice. He would've been if it came to anything else, but he was the one she was getting defensive over. It was something to be expected by this point. Still, he couldn't help but be uncomfortable by Serilda's reaction.

He couldn't do anything but listen as Lucine and Serilda argued back and forth, feeling a light blush forming on his face. It had appeared because he wanted to say something, but he couldn't figure out what exactly to say. He was afraid of saying something that would get them thrown out, rendering them helpless. At the same time, he didn't appreciate Lucine being talked down to. He didn't like it when anyone talked down to her, actually.

When Serilda asked him a question, he tilted his head a little. He genuinely had no idea what PMS-ing even was. He didn't know everything, after all. He was still 17 years of age... so close to adulthood, yet he never felt like it. He didn't even know if he looked forward to being an adult. Maybe the only few things he could look forward to were being taken more seriously and potentially even raising children with Lucine, if she wanted to of course. He felt as though he had to pass his Shadow magic down... why else would his mother have a third child? Did she even want to?

He looked down at the floor, waiting for his arm to be released. He took a single-second glance at his arm, noting that the area still hadn't swollen up. He nodded when he was asked if he got hit last night. He was grateful to have at least remembered that. He didn't look anywhere else but the floor until his arm was released, only to be gently taken by Lucine. He sighed a little in relief as he felt new bandaging beginning to wrap around the affected area. He tried to relax in order to give Lucine an easier time. She needed all the help she could get at this point... at least, in his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered to her quietly. He wasn't aware of Serilda being a werewolf, so he wasn't able to realize that she probably could've heard him with her enhanced hearing. However, he did feel something tugging at the back of his mind, almost like a faraway person waving at him, trying to catch his attention. He didn't pay it any attention at first... but then it became annoying. He tried not to show it, but he was starting to feel unnerved by the feeling.

That was only because it felt very familiar.

---

He was standing there, a blank expression on his pale face. He eyed the small group of men standing in front of him, studying him intently and even a little scornfully. He could feel the growing tension in the air, and he began to feel irritated himself. He had no reason to feel that way, and yet he did. Why? These guys hadn't actually threatened him yet. They had just stumbled across a lost, traumatized boy who didn't know where anything or anyone was.

"Who're you, kid?" one of the men demanded, crossing his arms. He had sharp teeth and a gruff appearance overall. "You shouldn't be 'ere, 'specially at this time of night."

Callum had changed his expression from blank to slightly nervous. "I-I don't know where I am," he answered. "I don't know, I don't..."

"You're in the woods, kiddo," another one barked, almost laughing. This one had shoulder-length dark hair, but like the first one, he too had fangs and a gruff appearance. "You know where your parents are?"

Callum didn't know if the man was mocking him or not; he felt as though he was, but at the same time, he wasn't sure. What was bothering him?

The third man grinned wickedly at him, showing his fangs. "Come on kid, you gotta have at least one blood-sucker of a parent."

It was then that it hit him.

These men were all werewolves.

He could smell them, and they all smelled like werewolves. He didn't know how he could tell. He had just woken up as a strange hybrid with fangs that shouldn't be sitting in his mouth and ears with slightly pointed tips. Their combined scents were tipping him off and making him uncomfortable. The more he paid attention to it, the more overwhelmed he began to feel.

"Why don't you go check the afterlife, mutt?" he growled. He immediately shrank back slightly, knowing that he couldn't make up for what unwillingly left him. Suddenly, the men had dark looks on their faces.

"What the hell did you just say?" the third one hissed, letting out a low growl afterwards. Before Callum could react, that same man had grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him into the air by it, pulling him close with a sneer. "Aren't you a little brat. You're half a mutt, you know. But you're also half our enemy, so how's about this? You walk the f**k away, and we won't get in your face like this. Kapeesh?"

When the man said the word 'kapeesh', he had spat in the boy's face. Callum shut his eyes immediately, feeling a growl beginning to rise in his throat. He shouldn't feel this hostile, surely. He was only a half-vampire. The other half wasn't mad at these three... at least, not until they began threatening him.

He slowly opened his eyes as both of them turned orange. He felt the corners of his mouth turning upwards into an unnatural grin. He couldn't just smell them; he could smell their blood. It smelt so good, so so good. Yet, he didn't want their blood. He wanted to get away before he could turn feral, and he had a way to do that.

"What the hell're you grinning for, a**hole?" the man holding him up snarled, swiping at his face while he still held him above the ground. He made no sound as he felt the man's claws slice across his cheek. Now he could smell his own blood. His own sweet blood. The grin progressively returned to his face.

"Shouldn't have done that," Callum hissed slowly. The shadows around them now appeared to writhe, which seemed to unnerve the men. "What the hell?" the first one muttered, almost frightfully. Now the scent of fear began to permeate in the air.

"If I were you, I would run," the boy warned lowly. The one holding him up growled and glared sharply at him before throwing him harshly to the ground. He didn't react as his body hit the ground. His side began to pound painfully, but that was nothing thanks to his enhanced endurance. He slowly stood up, swiftly backing away as soon as the third man tried to punch him.

"If I were you," he began to repeat, speaking in a slightly more demonic voice than normal. "I would run. Run now. Back away. Never speak of me and this moment. Ever."

"Or what?"

The boy's grin melted away into a dangerous frown. His lips peeled back slightly to show his sharp fangs.

"Or the Shadows will punish you."

---

By the time Callum snapped out of his daze, Serilda had asked them if they had any questions. He had missed everything the woman had explained about the dart. All he knew was that Lucine was being ignored, and that her face was red. He looked at them all with confusion painted all over his face. The entire time, his eyes had been blank as he had been reminiscing about a random memory that was only triggered by a very small sensation at the back of his mind that shouldn't be there.

That shouldn't be there...

It was then that Callum began to panic a little on the inside. He was human now. He shouldn't be feeling this way at all, and even though it was very very very small, it was still there, and it was still bothering him. He didn't imagine he would ever feel that way towards Lucine. She was a half-vampire, and his soul was basically bound to hers. She was essentially his soulmate. Those rules most likely didn't apply to soulmates.

He glanced over at Raven, who was immensely enjoying Kylie's company. She was nuzzling and snuggling against the adorable girl, her tail wagging. She had her eyes closed, so she didn't notice the girl looking around at everyone at first... until she realized that the petting had stopped. The wolf pup opened her eyes and looked around the room curiously, staying in the girl's lap.

The boy looked back at Serilda with an apologetic look on his face. "Huh?" he murmured, shaking his head and blinking. "I-I'm sorry... I s-spaced out... must've been the poissssson......"

He looked surprised at how his mouth produced the word 'poison'. Why had it come out like that? He was slurring all of a sudden, and his mouth was beginning to feel dry. He looked very uncertain as his vision became just a little blurrier.

As the conversation with Serilda unfolded, Lucine’s mind was so clouded by her natural hatred for the werewolf that she didn’t even notice Callum was glazing over. She didn’t realize that something was wrong until after Serilda had finished speaking with them, and had turned to ask for questions.

Lucine did have questions, she had many questions indeed. Her first question was why she shouldn’t consider this a complete and total waste of her time. All she had found out from this was that the poisonous dart had been sourced from the black market, but they didn’t have any idea where, and that it was custom made, probably for the intent of killing vampires. That dart should have hit her, not Callum. The guilt was eating her alive.

If it was strong enough to kill a vampire, no wonder it was ravaging Callum currently.

As soon as Serilda had asked them about if they had questions, Lucine noticed Callum from the corner of her eye, and turned to look at him. He looked confused and dazed, like he was just waking up from a dream. The confusion in his eyes as he looked at her made her feel a way she really couldn’t describe, but it was haunting. She found herself immediately sending waves of comfort to his soul.

Across the table, Serilda was watching him with her curiosity high, and she turned to Kylie, reaching out and patting the girl’s head.

“Ky,” she said motioning her head to the door, “Go get out stuff together. We’re gonna get out as soon as I’m done here.”

“I wanna stay.” Kylie said, shifting Raven in her arms, “Please don’t make me do it, please, it-”

Serilda silenced her quickly with the shake of her head, “We’re just going a couple villages over, but I need you to get out of this room, okay?” She felt nervous for the girl next to her, staring up at her with her brown eyes. Serilda didn’t know what was about to happen in the room, and she didn’t want Kylie to be here if anything was to happen.

Kylie just gave a small nod, and placed Raven down on the floor, before rushing from the room, in a small red blur. Serilda watched her go, and then turned to the couple before her.

Lucine was watching Callum cautiously, her yellow eyes blinking. When he spoke, his words, slurred, she immediately stood, as did the girl across from her. Lucine reached over and put a hand on Callum’s arm, finding his hand and taking it.

“Callum,” she said gently, kneeling next to where he was sitting, “Did you have a nightmare?”

Serilda watched the two cautiously, “Did he have a nightmare..? He’s still awake, dumba-”

“Silence, please.” Lucine said, not looking away from Callum’s eyes. To her, he looked confused and dazed. “Callum,” she said again, like a mother trying to get her child to admit something, “Callum, is it..?”

She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t want to think about that.

Serilda watched them, her face unreadable but probably confused. “You’re a vampire, but only half-” she said to Lucine, looking over to Callum, “He smells like a mage, but there’s somethin’ else there…” she clicked her tongue, shaking her head, “It’s like residue.”

Lucine frowned, looking away from Callum, and staring up at Serilda. “It’s a very, very long story.”

Serilda tilted her head, “I’ve got time.”

“I, however, do not,” Lucine stated simply, and she turned back to Callum, squeezing his hand.

Lucine did not have the time to explain, nor did she want to, and she doubted that Callum would want to either. That should be her main focus right now, after all, is making sure he’s alright. This shouldn’t be happening.

It made her wonder, maybe, if the poison had awakened something inside him. The thought felt volatile, and it scared her more than anything else. She didn’t want to be scared of him.

Callum tried to relax as soon as he felt comforting waves in his soul. He scolded himself for potentially worrying Lucine further, yet he knew it wasn't exactly his doing. The poison was causing him to do all of this, surely. To be confused as to what had just been said and exchanged. To have fallen into a memory equivalent to a nightmare relating to... that. To speak as if he was very tired or even drunk, yet he wasn't either of those.

He watched almost blankly as Serilda asked Kylie to leave the room. His eyes darted to Raven as soon as the exchange began. He didn't mind if the girl left, if only so she would be protect from whatever may happen next. He liked the girl, and he didn't want to hurt or scar her. As far as he was concerned, the effects of the poison were pretty much unpredictable.

Raven looked up at Kylie when she put her down, as if asking her what was wrong with her eyes alone. She watched as the girl left the room, whining a little and frowning. After she processed the fact that she was gone, she turned towards Callum and Lucine. Her ears flattened a little before she moved towards them, but didn't touch them. She didn't leap up into one of their laps or anything. She just watched them with a worried expression on her face.

Callum almost didn't hear his name said, but after a couple seconds, he fully turned his head to look at Lucine. As soon as her question came out, he refrained from tilting his head. Maybe he did fall asleep temporarily, he wouldn't know. He doubted it though; the nightmares usually came slower. Heck, even the most recent one didn't come right away, or so he thought.

He didn't pay any attention to Serilda's reaction, or when Lucine interrupted her. What he did pay attention to was the girl saying his name again. It sounded like something he should probably know... but he didn't know. He couldn't put his finger on how it sounded. However, that seemed trivial in comparison to what Lucine hinted at with her next question.

Callum, is it...?

He almost nodded. Almost. He took a quickly glance at Serilda before resting his slightly blurry gaze back on Lucine. He was trying to decide which emotion was most appropriate, yet at the same time, the least worrisome. He hated the fact that he had to remember those days. He didn't want Lucine to be afraid of him. In fact, that was the very last thing he wanted. In fact, he didn't want it at all.

It wasn't like he had hidden himself back then. He had just been lost, and after adjusting to his condition and surroundings, the first thing he wanted to do was find someone he knew. Maybe they were in this place, he remembered thinking. One of them had to be there. But most of all, he wanted to see Lucine. It had been lonely, searching for that long. He had no one to look out for but himself, no one to spend time with but himself. It was very lonely.

But he didn't want to think about that.

He automatically stiffened a little when Serilda told him that something else other than what was supposed to be there was in his scent. That was when he noticed the tongue-clicking. It reminded him of someone. He knew who that someone was, too. He had to lock that part of his mind away momentarily to keep himself from falling into another daze. He would think on that later, if he even wanted to later. He did retain the Whisper's memories as well as his own, so he knew of its trip to that certain someone's 'crib'.

He closed his eyes, feeling Lucine squeeze his hand. It was something that comforted him, even if it was just a little bit. He didn't know what he could do to make her feel completely better. He felt helpless. He sure as hell didn't want to bring up any of what happened before the couple had their months of peace. Just thinking about those months made him want to go back to those; actually, it made him wish he hadn't been hit by this damn dart.

"Lucccccine..." he slurred unintentionally, keeping his breathing steady. His throat was beginning to feel dry, along with his mouth. He was feeling thirsty, but he wanted to say something else to Lucine. He squeezed her hand back gently. He wanted to apologize to her. The original purpose of them leaving their peaceful home was tossed to the side because of him. He was dead weight at the moment. This wasn't supposed to be about him.

He shook his head, fighting the urge to cry. Not in front of a stranger. "I'm s-sorry," he added. He had tried hard not to slur, and ended up stuttering instead. "Just-t... a memory. I'm s-sorry... I m-messed it all up..."

He leaned in and hugged her for a few moments before pulling back, trying to smile at her. He had to keep himself from panting as well. He was getting just a little thirstier with each minute that passed. He noticed Raven nuzzling his leg, reaching down to scoop her up and place her in his lap. He gave her a few scratches behind the ears. "Is-s there water in here?" he asked a bit hoarsely, turning to look at Serilda as well.