05: The Present
As the bolt thudded into the huge man, Alexa’s mind flew to the forests near home, her mind’s eye sighting a rabbit running through a field. Flying. Landing. Tumbling. A red ragdoll on the ground, a too-large arrow in its body, unmoving simply because a teenager with notes in her head had wanted practice. That day she learned there were limits. Even for La Chanson. At least, for now. The finality, the brutal victory of hitting her target followed by the stillness of the animal had left her, crouched on the ground, trying to heal it for what felt like days. Weeks.
Mundane or magical, healing could only bring health to the living. She had cried so hard, the golden light washing over the torn form uselessly, that Vee had eventually taken the creature from her. She hadn’t hunted for two weeks, had stopped eating meat until Maman had reminded her of required formalities. 'Those incapable of preserving life,' she had thought, 'had no business taking it.'
In the bunkhouse she scrambled awkwardly across the heavy table, her mind taking her into the trees to sit in quiet meditation. Those were the days Emily had been her guard. The days when Vee was Chevalier, not her closest friend. A leg up into that tree, followed by a lithe wood elf sitting nearby, keeping watch while Alexa kept surreptitious watch on the elf. Climbing trees on their property was the only concession Maman allowed from being a Lady, being Sanjuio Donadieu, for she knew how much Alexa liked the quiet of the forest. To feel, somehow, sometimes, that she could hide. Even in her mind’s eye, with Emily’s face and the memory of that tree to comfort her, she was pulled back to the present as the large man grunted and took a step back.
Alexa almost begged forgiveness even as Lucas' sword cut, as Spider's daggers bit – she knew how far the bolt had thrown the rabbit. She knew the amount of force behind a crossbow, light or otherwise. She almost asked La Chanson to heal the man on the spot.
But he had hit Vee - was trying hurt Vee - only wanted to hurt Vee - and Alexa couldn’t allow that. She took aim once more, lowering her arm as the man slumped to the floor. Alive? Her eyes briefly met Vee’s and he gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Backing up, she felt her back against the wall and sighed as the automaton charged to the outside. ‘Trapped in this bunkhouse again,’ she thought bitterly, her mind painfully forced to the present.
A thud and a cry from Lucas had her head snapping around just in time to see clear ice crystals glittering across his shoulder, hear the tinkling of frozen red hitting the ground, spilled.
“Those incapable of preserving life have no business taking it,” she whispered. “Aidez moi.” La Chanson burst into her mind as power flowed through her, her fingers tingling with the vibration of an unheard Song. She knew that if she placed her fingers on metal in this state, the whole bunkhouse would likely hear the rhythm of it. That was not the point here. It was not about beauty or power, but about helping in this moment. She reached out and projected the music directly at Lucas.
She wasn’t sure whether he would hear La Chanson, she had never been able to ask the animals she had healed, and though he had offered to be a target, she had never agreed to let Vee be her practice dummy. Lucas shivered and turned to meet her eye. A smile exploded across her face as she saw music warming the ice and closing the wound. As she did, she realised it had been some time since she had genuinely smiled. It felt good. She watched the soldier smile broadly back at her, before running directly into the fray, leaving her alone with Spider and her thoughts.
