Voleros Saga- Something Wicked Event

Avalon rubbed his temples slowly, the sound of little kids’ voices beginning to wear on his ears. Six small children, none older than eight years old were sitting on the floor, giggling and whispering to each other, tugging hair(or wings or tails or anything within reach) and generally just not being quiet.

He had promised though, promised to keep a watchful eye on them when their parents couldn’t. And it was needed. Now, added to the loss of the sun and the sun beasts was a new threat, one that was targeting the most vulnerable of Voleros’ citizens, the children. He had not seen this ‘Banshee’ for himself, but he’d heard what it could do and what it had done. It drew children away from the safety of their parents before draining the life out of them. The very thought had churned his stomach.

The children sitting before him were the sons and daughters of local workers who were now terrified to leave them alone for even a minute. Avalon had somehow found himself roped into babysitting them while they were at work or unable to keep an eye on them-previous babysitters had returned to their own homes and families and could no longer help.

Since he wasn’t likely to go anywhere, travel now far to dangerous with all that was going on, he agreed to help, despite having no prior experience with a bunch of little kids. Especially not ones this young. Music seemed to lull them to sleep when they got cranky, a sure sign of being tired, and stories kept their little minds entertained. But right now he just wished they’d quiet down before he got a headache.

A light tug on his shirt attracted his attention and he looked down, it was Cody, a small dragon boy no older than 6 with tiny wings and bright green eyes. “Mr. Avalon, can you tell us about this Banshee?” he asked.

That seemed to quiet them down, the name of the creature that had even their parents so frightened.

“Why would you want to know about such an awful thing?” he asked.

“What do they do to people that makes them so scared? My momma won’t let me go outside without her or dad anymore.”

He scratched the side of his head, “Well, they hurt people and they aren’t very nice,” he said finally.

“Is that what happened to my sister?”

Avalon felt his blood run cold, he’s heard rumours of attacks in the area, but nothing solid. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“My sister went to visit a friend the other day, but she never came home. Someone came to our house and said they found her but a Banshee had gotten her. What does that mean?”

The copper dragon bit his lip, this child didn’t know! He hadn’t been told what happened when Banshee attacked people. “Well, it means, uh,” he tried to think of how to explain it, he couldn’t just say that she was dead, a child this small wouldn’t understand. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily he was spared as another voice, an old boy’s piped up just then.

“It means she’s dead Cody.”

Avalon wanted to put his head in his hands, so much for that.

“D-dead?”

“Yeah, she went to be with your puppy.”

“But, momma said my puppy ran away.” Cody’s bottom lip began to tremble and Avalon could see tears welling up in his eyes.

“Parents always say that. But he didn’t run away, he could barely walk remember?”

Cody looked down, he did remember even if he didn’t to. “Is that what it means Mr. Avalon? Is that what they do?”

Avalon sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder gently, “I’m afraid so.”

His ears drooped sadly and he sniffed as a tear ran down his nose. “W-why wouldn’t momma tell me then? I wanted to know where Lily was but she wouldn’t tell me?”

“I think she didn’t want you to be sad and cry,” said Avalon, kneeling down beside the small boy. “Your sister wouldn’t want you to be sad either I’m sure.” He hadn’t met them before, not that he remembered anyways.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to wipe the tears away, “So Lily’s g-gone then? You really think she’s with my puppy?”

“I’m sure she is, and that they’re keeping each other company alright?” He hadn’t lost any family before, at last no one close. The family he remembered losing was his uncle when he was young and his siblings had been more than willing to explain what death was even when his parents refused to tell him. Of course, he later realized they were trying to scare him when they talked about it, only it hadn’t really worked. He wasn’t sure Cory fully understood what this death thing was, and maybe that was for the best.

“Why do they kill people?” asked a girl’s voice.

Avalon looked up, trying to find the speaker, “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just what they do.” He spent the next little while trying to sooth the upset child and stay his tears. He was not looking forward to having to explain to his parents how he’d found out about this and the rather harsh life lesson he’d learned.

Avalon stretched his stiff legs out, the now healed wound from a Sun Spawn had begun to bug him again. He was going to need to pick up some more pain medicine for it. It had been feeling fine since the attack, but days it would twinge in pain and hurt to move. Able to talk on his own he refused to get a cane or anything to rest his weight on to alleviate the pressure on his leg as it made him look, as far as he was concerned, like an old man. Plus it slowed him down more than his limp already did.

All the parents had how come to collect their kids a few hours ago, Avalon having managed to keep them out of trouble, somehow.

He ambled over to the window slowly, with the sun still dark it was hard to tell day from night, it all looked pretty much the same. Thin lines of frost decorated the edge of the window as the temperature dipped a night, as it often seemed to do at night. At least the thunderstorms seemed to have quelled and the threat of a flood no longer hung over their heads.

He placed his hand against the window, the glass cool under the warmth of his fingers. He looked up at the darkened sky and sighed, although he’d a falling out with his father before leaving home and wasn’t on the best of terms with him or his older brothers, he would give any to be able to return home and make sure they were all alright and unharmed.

His moment of piece was shattered by loud voices from the front door. They sounded frantic and scared. It was a slightly older couple which he quickly recognized as the parents of one of the kids he had been looking after earlier, Cody. He felt his stomach knot nervously, this was not good. 

“Are you sure you haven’t seen him at all?” asked the man, one arm around the woman’s shoulders as she cried into her hands.

“Quite sure,” said the innkeeper, “I haven’t seen him since he left with you earlier today.”

Avalon frowned as he slowly made his way over to the distraught couple, who were now pleading the innkeeper for help in searching for their six-year-old son.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but to over heard your conversation, did you say Cody was missing?”

The woman nodded, “Yes, he was playing in his bedroom and I left him to go make supper, when I came back he was gone. I’m worried.”

“Let me help you look for him,” said Avalon. “More people can cover more ground right?”

She just nodded, drying her eyes with her sleeve, “Oh thank you. We already lost Lily, we can’t lose him too.”

Avalon looked outside and shivered, it was dark and cold and there was a life-stealing banshee on the loose, the worst possible time for a child to lost, especially one so young.

“Your house, could you tell me where it is?”

With directions to the house Avalon pulled on a jacket and left, fighting his limp as he walked. He could see his breath fogging the nighttime air as he trotted down the street. “Curse this leg,” he muttered, his limp slowing him down.

Cody’s house was small and unremarkable, a single floor with multiple rooms like most of the others around it. Climbing out of the window would have been no problem for Cody, the only question would be why, and where was he?

“Cody, where are you?” he called. “Cody!” He flinched as a cold wind whipped past him, nipping at his ears and nose. It was icy, almost like winter. Avalon frowned, that wasn’t normal, even with this odd weather it had never happened before. He quickened his pace, at least as much as he could, and headed in the direction of the abnormal wind. He could hear something, singing? No, it sounded more like wailing or something. His blood ran cold, banshee were said to wail before devouring essence.

“Cody!” he bounded down the empty road in the direction of the wailing, which was cut short as he neared it. A ghostly white figure hovered over a tiny figure on the ground. It was wispy, a specter that seemed to be made of mist and shaped like a woman.

“Get away from him!” he growled as the human shaped figure hovered over the child, her fingers brushing over his skin. Avalon bristled, a noise like a hiss escaping him. His normal fighting tactic of taunting opponents and annoying them to pieces till they fumbled wouldn’t work here, not against a spirit. His tail flicked dangerously as he tried to find an opening, he had to get to Cody. He had no idea if magic would work either, and there was no sense wasting energy doing so if it wouldn’t do anything.

“Well, here goes nothing,” he thought as he bounded forward. As he neared the Banshee he shuddered, it was like diving through ice water, only worse. The Banshee screeched loudly, clawing at him as he grabbed the boy, wings curling around the two of them protectively. Avalon shuddered as it touched him, it was as if the creature had gripped his very soul. He clenched his jaw, holding the boy tightly to his chest, he wasn’t going to let go of him and let the creature steal another life. Then another sound reached his ears, voices, people’s voices.

As the voices grew louder the icy feeling began to dissipate as did the wailing noises.

He uncurled his wings a little, looking down at Cody. “Voleros he’s freezing. What did it do to him?” he muttered, worry settling in his stomach. Had he been to late? Cody moved slightly and he breathed a sigh of relief, no she was still alive. Barely, but alive.

“Are you ok?” called a voice.

Avalon raised his head weakly as he folded his wings to his back, “I am, I think. But Cody needs a doctor, he’s in bad shape!”

“Is he going to be ok?” asked Avalon. While he had recovered with no ill side effects Cody was still sleeping, bundled up in bed in the doctor’s office. He had barely changed since the encounter with the Banshee.