6 September 1875, Monday
The dark and chill of night is still settled round us. Mrs
Frazer, Mr O'Flaherty, Turgenov and I are settled in a coaching inn in
the village of Höhledzwerge, Prussia.
As I had hoped, the Comte de Molineaus came to our aid with the loan of
his areofrigate. It was not nearly as difficult as I feared to
talk our travelling companions into letting us leave Carpania for
Prussia. Mr Salmalin did not try to talk me out of going, but
then we have a tacit agreement to allow each other the freedom to do
that which our calling makes necessary and I could no more leave MissFrau Metzger to face
hostile werewolves alone than he could fail to come to Lady
Cowperthwaite's aid should she call.
Admittedly, Mr Salmalin is much more useful in a fight that I am...
We are waiting for first light to go in search of Frau Metzger.
We have secured horses for ourselves and our gear and have arranged for
a breakfast with the proprietress of this inn.
Last night passed in a flurry of action. Whilst we were at the
Comte de Molineaus lodging requesting his aid, Mr Frazer and Mr
Salmalin had packed our bags-- they were more confident than we in our
plan to ask the Comte for assistance. I barely had time to check
over my gear and say a few words to my husband and daughter before it
was time to leave aboard the areofrigate.
Octavia clung to her father's leg as I said my farewells. I hope
Chi will be able to keep up with her whilst I am away. I did my
best to explain to Octavia that I needed all my attention to be on
finding Frau Metzger and so needed her to stay with her father. I
can only hope the combination of my request and her natural preference
for her father's company will be enough to keep her safe-- as much as
any in our company is ever safe from harm.
Breakfast has come and gone and the sun sending up the first tendrils
of light into the sky. It is still to dark to set out.
I find myself wondering what James is up to. Whilst we were
waiting on the Comte, Manfred Berri asked me if I had any news of my
brother. When I responded by saying that the last I knew he and
his professor had made it safely out of the United Principalities
of Moldavia and Wallachia to the British Embassy in Konigsburg, M.
Berri surprised me by telling me that James had left the Embassy with
the stated intent of returning to the troubled region.
At the time, I thought nothing of the exchange, but now in the cold
dark of a Prussian morning, I wonder if some message was intended by
it. We first encountered M. Berri in during our investigation
into the death of Richard Arkwright in Antwerp and from related events
in Belgium and France it was clear then that she he acts for her
government in much the same way we do for Our Employer. I wonder
if she he had
encountered my brother in his Professional Capacity and was trying to
tell me something? Unfortunately, I was so focussed on meeting
with the Comte that I do not remember the details of the exchange and
could not say if she was pleased at knowing more about James'
whereabouts than I or worried that I did not have more current
information than she. Mrs Frazer is quite firm in her belief that
it is the former, as she feels that M. Berri always was a bit of a show
off.
There is finally enough light in the sky. The horses are loaded
and we must now set out on our own dangerous mission.
~Evening~
After a long, difficult, day we arrived at Frau Metzger's
cottage. There were no wards or other defences to prevent us from
using it for our own lodging for the night, so we have tidied the small
space to the best of our ability and are settling in for some much
needed rest. The baby has given me some difficulty during our
long ride. I tire more easily than I would like. Mrs Frazer
took full advantage of that to practice several schemes for getting all
of us up trees should we be attacked by werewolves. I didn't have
the heart to tell her that I don't climb well at the best of times and
in my current Condition, it is even more unlikely that I could get
myself up a tree before a supernaturally strong being pulled me down.
Of course, after noon today, I didn't have the heart for much at
all. Turgenov had alerted us to something 'bad' and we followed
him to a clearing not far from our path. There we saw a gruesome
sight. There were seven bodies in all, four human, and three
wolves. There was not much left to examine, as the bodies had
been exposed to the elements for some time. However, it was clear
that the deaths were not natural.
I took the time to cast a veil before casting a history spell.
The history spell showed me that the seven victims had been hunted
down, killed and dragged to the clearing. They had all been in
the shape of wolves at the time of their deaths. Their bodies had
then been cannibalized in some sort of ritual. The killers were a
pack of werewolves. I was not able to get much more detail, as
the power of the ritual disrupted my own magiks.
The only other thing I could think to do was cast a lay to rest
spell. That clearing was full of the residue of terrible
magik. It, more than the sight of the bodies, gave me a sick
feeling that clings to me even now.
Turgenov pointed out that a young female wolf was hanging around the
clearing. We guessed that she might be an orphan of the pack that
had been destroyed, but she rebuffed our attempt to communicate with
her through Turgenov. He did spot her following us later in the
day, so perhaps she will learn that we mean her no harm and would like
to help if we possibly can.
7 September 1875, Tuesday
We made an early start and are having good success finding and
following Frau Metzger's tracks. It would not be easy if we did
not have Turgenov with us, but very little gets by his sharp
nose. I did take the time to cast a scrying spell on Frau Metzger
before we left her house and that helped further establish the route
for today. I also took the time to thank any household
spirits. None had manifested while we were there, but it doesn't
hurt to be thorough.
(Still) 7 September 1875, Tuesday (I
think)
~Later~
I have no idea if writing in this journal in my Great Aunt Hethelyn 's
cottage will translate to the material world but it gives me something
to do with my time and nervous energy.
Not long after my final
last entry in my physical journal, we were set upon by a mixed pack of
cursed wolves. They were able to encircle us before Turgenov (or
any of the rest of us) realized what had happened.
We did our best to talk our way out of trouble, and for a few moments I
had some hope that we might succeed, but then the leader (and most
cursed of the beings surrounding us) reacted most strangely to
something Mr O'Flaherty said about the vision that had lead us on the
quest to find our friend. The lead wolf inhaled deeply, the
other wolves dropped to the ground and suddenly we were all blown flat
against the ground. I remember shooting at the lead wolf with my
rifle at least two times. I saw both Mr O'Flaherty and Mrs Frazer
attacked by wolves from the pack.
Then I was suddenly here, in my Great Aunt Hethelyn's cottage.
This is not a good sign. It means that my body is, at the very
least, unconscious, and given the number of wolves and how little
effect we were having on them, I may very well be dead or dying.
I don't know what would happen in that case. Would I end up
joining Great-Aunt Hethlyn here permanently, or would either she or I
move on to some other place? She still has more experience and
would be greater help to the next Witch of Darlston than I, but I don't
feel any urge to move on at the moment so I shall cling to hope that
Ruth and Seamus managed to get us out of our predicament and that I
might still yet get to go home.
A familiar glow filled the cottage a few moments ago and I had a brief
sense of Mrs Cuthbert's presence. I feel a bit calmer now.
I can't help but berate myself for my lack of preparedness, but until
you have seen a hexenwolf and whatever the demon-wolf pack leader was
in action, you have no idea how fast they can move. I don't know
why it is only occurring to me now, but even though magik is not very
effective against most werewolves, there was nothing to stop me from
casting a Warriors Blessing on Seamus, or an exorcism on the ground we
were standing on. It would have been much more useful if these
ideas had come to me this morning. Now there is nothing I can do
but wait and fret.
The view seems to have changed outside the cottage windows. I can
see a bandaged Mrs Frazer talking to a very tall man-- I think it may
be Hauptmann Stahlmacherson-- one of Arnwulf's other godfathers.
There are also several very small men around. I can see that one
of them has gotten some tea for Ruth while the shortest is arguing with
Stahlmacherson.
Aunt Hethelyn is following the action with great interest. She
has been surprisingly kind since my arrival. She only gave me a
brief lecture on the folly of wandering around woods full of werewolves
without sufficient backup before making me a cup of tea and space at
her writing desk.
I love my great-aunt and have the greatest respect for her, but I want
to go home. I want to give birth to a healthy son in a few months
time. I want to come out of this a better witch than I went
in. However, before I can do any of that, I have to wake up, get
through this mess as best I can, help Miss Metzger, and stand by my
friends as they are standing by me now. I can only learn
something from this if I live through it...
Proceed to Awaiting
our fate
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