Work Text:
The moment he reaches the edge of the town, he knows something is wrong.
It's not often that Leo goes into town - his status of being a witch often makes the townspeople weary of him. He has enough out at his little cottage to keep himself sustained, but every so often, he needs social interactions and the people of Braila may be weary but they're never cold to him. But coming into town is often a day's trip (another reason he rarely goes - he's just too drained or tired to make the trip) and he comes in from a quieter side of the port city. His first feeling of dread is then, when he first steps into the quiet side of the town.
The late afternoon light peeks over the tops of the buildings as Leo makes his way down the stone path, his basket in hand filled with medicinal herbs and small rolls of bread. He pauses for a second and pulls his heavy cloak’s hood from his head, looking around. This may be the quiet end of town, but this is much too quiet. Dread fills his body, it's icy hands around his stomach and throat. He quickens his pace.
His second warning comes soon after entering Braila. Turning a corner to get on one of the main streets to the centre of town across the river, Leo is greeted with the ruined remains of a large portion of the town.
Buildings are flattened, fragments wood and stone and shards of glass littering the area. Sections of the ruins seep a dark red and in the distance, near the other side of the destruction, an arm sticks out of the rubble, the hand limp and bone shining in the dying afternoon light.
Leo feels bile raise up his throat and he chokes it back, stumbling away from the scene. His stomach lurches and he slaps his free hand over his mouth. He can feel his heart hammer against his ribs.
Part of him wants to run back to his home and hide, to forget what he has seen and to never leave his little cottage again. It screams at him to move, to leave, to escape. Yet, he finds himself moving in the opposite direction - towards the river. He starts to run, his feet hitting the stone path and wooden debris the only sound in the formerly lively town. Something calls to him, louder than the part of him screaming to run away.
It's a feeling he's only felt a handful of times, enough to count on the fingers of one hand. He felt it once when his first friend died and once when his mother died - a surge of energy hitting him deep in his bones.
Someone important in his life is in danger.
His mind clouds out the scenery, making him focus only on the pulsing energy. The destroyed buildings blur and the rubble becomes barely noticeable.
When he was young - shortly after his friend had died - his mother explained what the feeling was.
“It's a surge of life energy. Us witches will feel it when someone important to us is in danger. It's a defense mechanism of sorts,” Her soft voice explained, petting the small boy's head.
“But why does it hurt so much, why do we have it?” The young boy's eyes were wide and glossy, red rimming the edges from hours of crying.
“To warn us. Sometimes it's someone dear to us, someone we've known all our life. Sometimes it's someone who will become important but is not yet. Someone who is meant to be in our lives. We're tuned into these threads of lives and relations much more deeply than humans.”
“Threads?”
The older woman nods, her eyes fluttering closed, “Witches, people like you and I, have a deep rooted connection to every form of life. In a similar manner to how you can communicate with nature, we can feel people who will be loved by us. It’s what draws us to them in the first place. Humans have this as well, but never notice it nor do they feel it as strongly as we do.”
“So what do you do if you feel it?”
His mother smiles, a hint of sadness pulling at her lips, “You do everything in your power to save their life.”
Leo finds himself at the edge of the river, panting heavily and heart beating wildly. He feels a pull towards a group of building off to the side. His mother's words echo in his head. It's been a while since he felt this type of energy and his mind runs through everyone he's spoken to in Braila, trying to think of who could be causing this as he scrambles over ruined buildings and fallen walls.
He slows his pace, trying not to accidentally impale himself on a stray snapped house frame or knock himself unconscious by tripping and bashing his head into the stones. The sound of talking makes him pause. He holds his breath.
Two figures talk amongst themselves by an open door of a building that remains standing - one, a pale woman in a black and red evening gown with long, thin, white hair, the other a tall, young man with grey hair and tanned skin. Faintly, Leo can see a thin, shimmering line running across the ground to the two people and wrapping up the legs and torso of the young man.
He is the important person and he is in danger.
Two sets of hands reach out from the darkened doorway from behind the young man and latch something around his neck before grabbing onto him as he struggles. A few more people, in some sort of armour, appear and form a half circle around the two, blocking Leo's view partially. He waits, watching, straining to form some sort of plan.
The woman raises her hand and a loud smack echoes around the empty square. Leo feels his heart jump.
She continues to beat on the poor man, and Leo finds himself tearing his cloak off and leaping over the rubble, words spilling from his mouth before he can even think.
“Leave him alone!”
Everyone freezes. The armoured people turn towards Leo standing in the middle of the clearing, raising their weapons. Leo’s hands tremble, one clenched in a fist by his side, the other in his pocket, grasping his small grimoire with all his strength. The woman stops mid-strike and turns her head, her bloody fist still in the air. The man lay on the ground, curled up slightly and covering his head.
“What's this? A pesky little human thinking he's brave enough to stand up for another little human.”
Leo immediately knows he's in deep shit.
This is not a human woman nor the soldiers human soldiers. They're vampires. That's why the town is so fucked up. Cold panic grips at his throat and chest. He yanks his grimoire out of his pocket.
“I'm no human. Step away from him.” His voice shakes.
The woman moves, standing upright and sauntering forwards, “Oh, a magician. You're still just a human.”
Leo unties his grimoire and lets it fall open to the page he needs. He holds his arm out straight, forcing himself to keep from trembling “I am not a magician.”
The book opens to a page on a fire spell. If he can just distance the vampires away from the young man, he can encase them in a barrier of fire and buy him enough time to grab the young man and run. The cover of night will help them get away and no townsperson knows where his cottage is. Even if they did, he has so many barrier and protection spells on it and the land surrounding it that they would both be completely safe.
The pale woman steps forwards and in a second she's right in front of the witch, her hand reaching to grasp his neck. Leo jerks back and drops himself, letting her hand go right above his head. He stumbles away, trying to get some distance between them, hoping to lure her away some more.
Two of the armoured soldiers move out to try to surround him. Leo risks a glance towards the young man. He's sitting up, holding his cheek, his eyes wide. There's only one more soldier near that needs to be lured away. He goes to attack the final soldier when he has his leg pulled from under him.
Leo crashes down, the impact making him whine and lose his breath. He keeps a tight grip on his grimoire as the vampire woman leans over him, grabbing him by the chin, digging her nails in his cheeks. He feels blood drip down his face.
“Hm, a witch. Haven't seen one of you in a long time. Last one I met, I killed her easily. You won't be any different.” Her voice drips with venom.
“Yes I will,” Leo hisses through clenched teeth.
He closes his eyes and rips his head back, grimacing at the feel of her nails tearing through the skin of his cheeks. He slides under her, stumbling to his feet. In a moment of pure relief, he sees the final soldier had moved just enough. Raising his arm once more and holding his grimoire open to the fire spell, he begins to chant. He feels the energy build in his shoulder, trailing down his arm and twisting around his fingers. He pictures the form he wants the fire to take, where it needs to be and within moments, he feels the heat of the flames.
A soldier shrieks, having stepped back into the fire and the putrid stench of burning flesh fills the air. Leo gags and covers his lower face. He pockets his grimoire and rushes over to the young man, grabbing his arm and tugging him to his feet.
“C'mon! That's not going to hold them long, we need to get moving.”
The young man allows Leo to drag him off, the two of them running through the bare streets. With his spare hand, Leo gathers more energy. His hand glows a faint light green, a simple healing spell he's long since memorised. The first touch to his cheek stings and he pulls away slightly before pressing his full hand against his face, feeling the cuts stitch together.
“What's…?”
Leo's companion doesn't get any more out, so he tries to fill in the blanks as they race through empty, destroyed streets, “I’m Leo, I'm a witch. I live outside of Braila and I came to get some supplies. Witches have an ability to sense when someone who is or will be important to us is in danger. So here we are, running to my home away from that vampire I just saved your ass from. Any other questions, I'll answer when we get home.”
The young man doesn't say anything else.
In the distance, Leo can start to make out the tree line against the darkening sky. Just a little farther and they'll be in the home stretch. He can see where the forest starts, where the little, beaten path is that guides him partially home.
“Do you know the way through the woods?”
Leo laughs a little, “No, I'm just running into them. Yes I know the way to my home, don't worry. Just focus on keeping your footing.”
Feeling the path change from stone to dirt nearly made Leo want to cry. Part of the path to his home is hidden, protected by another spell of his. After the death of his mother, he made sure to stay well hidden from any hunters or churchmen. He plans to keep the promise he made his mother as she died.
Finally, the huge oak tree, the oldest one in the forest comes into view. His hidden pathway.
“There's a tree,” the young man says, something akin to panic in his voice.
“Don't worry. Close your eyes and trust me.”
Leo's hand around the young man's arm slides down to his hand and he gives the taller a gentle squeeze. He gets a squeeze in return.
Taking a deep breath, Leo runs full force right straight through the tree and into his hidden pathway. A trick his mother taught him years ago. No one but him or another witch could go through that unless they were accompanied by him. Any human or other who tries to find the path, only finds an old tree.
He slows his pace after a while of running down hidden path, his chest heaving. He doesn't let go of the young man's hand.
Leo turns to face him, craning his head up to look at the much taller man. His eyes are the loveliest shade of blue.
“Are you okay? We're safe now for the rest of the walk home.”
His face is beaten badly, dried blood cakes his upper lip around his nose and his bottom lip is busted. One of his eyes is swollen slightly and seems to be bruising.
The young man nods, almost dazed, his hair bobbing with the motion, “I am… alive.”
Leo smiles gently, “I'm glad. Let's get you home, I can heal you better there.”
He goes to turn when the young man reaches up and places his other hand on Leo's cheek, his thumb rubbing a line down his face, “She hurt you.”
“She hurt you too. Don't worry, it's healed up decently enough. She could have followed us with the fresh blood. Vampires are terrifying.”
Leo turns down the path and gently tugs at the young man's hand to guide him along.
“You know of them?”
“Yeah, I know of them all,” Leo gestures his free hand out in a vague swing, “Vampires, werewolves, the fae, all of it.”
“How?”
Leo looks up at the young man, “I told you in my introduction. I'm a witch. I'm not human.”
“Like a magician?”
“No, like a witch. Magicians are types of humans more attuned to magic and energies. Witches, like me, are completely different from humans. We're born with these abilities naturally and can do much more than any ol’ magician can. They usually can only work with the elements, I can work with much more,” Leo explains, swinging his free hand around as he talks.
“What do you plan to do with me?”
Leo stumbles a little, “What? Nothing. Nothing other than heal you.”
“Then why did you save me?”
Leo stops, a smile on his face, “Did you really not hear that whole spiel I gave you as we were running through Braila?”
The young man scratches his head, “You'll have to forgive me, I wasn't exactly focused on that.”
“No worries,” Leo laughs a little then starts to walk again, lifting up some overhanging branches to duck under, reminding himself that he needs to come and clear up the path a little at some point, “I'll start from the top. My name's Leo and I live way out here because I'm a witch and I'm overly paranoid about anyone finding where I live.”
He pauses, his smile dropping from his face as he looks up at the young man, “I saved you because one - us witches have an ability to sense when someone who is or will be important to us is in danger and two - I would have no matter what because I'm not going to stand around and watch someone die.”
The young man's eyes widen, “But I don't even know you.”
“And I don't know you. But our fate is meant to be close to one another's. You were in danger before our time was meant to come together, so to protect that bond that we will have, I got a surge of energy - a cry for help from the Earth Mother herself to protect what will form - to come to save you.”
Leo resumes walking, “C'mon, it's still a ways further. It takes me a good two hours walking to get to that tree. I wish Apophis could carry another person on his back.”
“Who?”
“Oh, right. If you don't know about witches, then you wouldn't know about familiars. Every witch is born with one familiar. As we grow older, we accumulate more of them. Familiars are animal companions but they always look slightly off from other animals of their kind.
“My first familiar was Sabi, a giant, bright coloured gecko. Then Ananse, a three headed black rabbit; Apophis, a large white stag; Nerio, a rat with stars in his fur and finally two black cats, Jaunus and Oberon. Their eyes are their weird thing. Can't really explain it well.”
“They are… pets?”
Leo laughs a little, nudging some overgrown fern out of the way, “I guess so. They're a little different, but I guess that's the best way to explain them to a non-witch.”
There's a jangle of chains and a hiss from the young man who jerks to a stop. Leo turns, eyes wide, “What happened?”
“This damned chain. I'd near forgotten about it,” the young man tugs at the metal around his neck, “It got caught on a branch or a rock.”
Leo trails his fingers along the chain, letting go of the young man's hand. Behind him, the chain indeed got stuck between two rocks. Leo heads around to the young man's front.
“Crouch down for me, I can get you out of this in a moment,” Leo says, pulling his grimoire out.
The young man kneels down, looking up at Leo. The witch smiles at him.
Leo unties his grimoire and lets it find the page he needs. He's not completely sure what he needs, but it'd be either a metal-work spell or an unbinding spell. Either should work. The unbinding spell is flipped to first.
“Here, hold out your hand. I need both of mine to do this but I haven't mastered the floating book spell yet.”
The young man's eyes widen as he raises his hands up to hold the small grimoire, “There's a spell like that?”
Leo bites a laugh back, “No, there's not.”
The smaller man slides his hands around the metal collar. With a short chant and a burst of energy in his fingertips, the collar crumbles and fades to dust, the chain following shortly thereafter.
Leo throws his hands out, a bright smile on his face, “There you go! No more chain and no evidence it was ever even there!”
The young man passes the grimoire back to the witch and rubs at his neck in awe, “I truly owe you.”
“Yeah, I want your first born,” Leo laughs, holding his hand out to help the young man to his feet, “Don't worry about it. Just having conversation is nice. I don't get to talk to too many people. No one’s really fond of witches after all the fear-mongering the church gives out of us.”
They reach a bend in the path, the darkness of night nearly starting to make the surrounding forest disappear. Leo can hear the young man begin to say something, likely about the dark, when dozens of small, blue and green lights float up into the air around the path, dancing on the gentle breeze.
“Not much further. These little guys only show up near my home.”
“What are they?” The young man.sounds completely awestruck.
“Will-o'-the-wisps. They're drawn to my energy and know that I offer protection for mystical beings.”
“You do?”
Leo nods, “No one else is going to. Besides-” He holds out his hand and several land on his palm, floating just barely above it- “They’re cute little shits.”
The young man points a finger towards one, going to poke it before it dances out of his reach. Leo smiles, watching as the wisps float around the newcomer curiously. The wisps playfully bounce around the young man as he turns around in a circle, following the movement of the wisps.
“C'mon,” Leo jerks his head in the direction of the path, “Just a little more.”
The young man nods, still slightly distracted by the little lights, and follows the small man down the now (slightly) illuminated path. A small creek can be heard through the trees and as they walk deeper down the path, more and more wisps appear.
Finally, a small clearing comes into view.
The trees surrounding the clearing loom high and their branches encase the clearing like protective arms, blocking the majority of the sky from view. Only a small ring of the stars in the very centre can be seen. The cottage itself is small, and not many details can be seen in the dark - the only lights being the wisps and four floating lanturns near the door. As the two enter the clearing, a large white stag lifts its head, a chiming sound following the movement.
“This is home. Not much at night, but it's pretty in daylight. You can stay here for tonight and in the morning you cam decided what you want to do,” Leo says, stepping down some old, stone stairs, “Watch your step. The stairs have seen better days.”
The young witch walks across a small stone circle and then up some more old, stairs. He holds his hand out towards the stag, who lumbers closer and rubs its muzzle against his arm, the icicle like jewels hanging from its antlers jingling softly. Leo smiles at the young man as he meets him on the stairs, completely entranced by the stag.
“This is Apophis, one of my familiars. He's very gentle but makes everything a little colder around him. You can pet him, he says he trusts you.”
The young man goes to reach out but pauses midway, “You understand animals?”
Leo nods, watching Apophis sniff the young man's hand and bump it with his nose, “Yeah, it's a special thing that I have. Witches are always born with some special power that many others don't have. My mum could see bits of the future and I can communicate with nature.”
“That's incredible,” the young man breathes, gently trailing his fingers up Apophis’ snout.
Leo blinks, take aback. He feels a jolt in his chest and his cheeks heat up a little.
“No one's… ever said that before…” Leo near whispers, “Most people call me a demon or delusional.”
The young man turns his head briefly to Leo, “That would make two of us then.”
Leo swallows the lump in his throat and slaps a smile on his face, “It's getting cold, let's head in. I'll get a fire started and get some medicine to help any injuries you have.”
The young man nods, giving Apophis one last pet before following Leo into the small cottage. Inside is cramped and busy - dried herbs and flowers hang from the ceiling beams and along the tops of windows, full bookshelves line the walls with books spilling onto the floor once no more could be shoved in the shelves, crystals and plants are shoved onto any flat space avalible while more hang from the ceiling. The kitchen and living area are merged into one space with a fire place at one end and some cleared counter space at the other. A door is tucked to the side and some rickety stairs twist up in the far corner.
“Sorry for the mess, I don't get visitors often. Go sit near the fireplace,” Leo says as he heads through the other door into a small bathroom
He hears the young man settle into one of the two chairs. Leo starts to rummage through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, hoping to find some alcohol to stop any infection. He finds the small, brown bottle after a while and a clean cloth.
Coming back out, he's surprised to see the young man with Ananse in his lap, petting the heads of the rabbit gently with both black cats on either side of him. Leo feels a smile pull at his lips at the scene.
“Most people aren't too found of that little guy. They get scared of his two extra heads,” Leo says softly as he makes his way to the young man, flicking his wrist to the fireplace to get a fire going.
The taller smiles, running his fingers under the middle head's chin, “He's sweet. They all are.”
Leo bends at his waist, “They all enjoy the attention. Here, lift up your face.”
The young man pulls his gaze from Ananse and looks Leo in the eye. Leo bites his lip as he pours some of the alcohol onto the cloth. This man is awfully attractive and Leo can't help to blush a little.
“Don't you have magic you can use for this?”
Leo laughs a little, gently dabbing the cloth at the rougher spots on the mans’ face, “I do, but it hurts a little more and I've used a lot of magic as it is today. I haven't had to fight in five, six years maybe. I forgot how draining it is.”
He pauses, a look of realisation crossing his face, “I… never got your name.”
The young man blinks, then laughs. His eyes crinkle at the corners and a slight blush dusts along his tanned cheeks. Leo instantly knows he must hear more of this sound.
“My name is Hector,” he says after he slows his laughter, “It is nice to meet you, Leo.”
Leo smiles, pressing the cloth back to Hector's face, “And you as well, Hector.”