Blinking, Lucinda sat up slowly as her niece grinned and waved to her. Her baby teeth had already fallen out and her adult fangs had grown in; she was still the most adorable and previous person she’d ever met.
Lucinda waved back and her niece leapt backwards, hovered in the air, and shot off around the other side of the fortress. Lucinda felt her mouth snap shut and blinked; apparently, her father had already taught her to fly… she was curious if the little girl knew how to land.
“Did i just see that right?” Tristan asked sleepily.
“A little girl flying through the air?”
Tristan yawned, “Yeah.”
“Yes. That was my niece. Which means her father and my sister aren’t far behind.”
********
Lucinda heard them before she saw them;
“Look mommy! I can do the somersault now!”
“That’s nice honey but i would prefer if you did it a little closer to the ground.”
Lucinda snorted; her sister was still as blazing haired at ever and her eyes were glued to the ceiling above where her two daughters were playing tag mid-air. Her son, the youngest and quietest of all them, sat on his father’s lap and they whispered back and forth. Badulf hovered a few inches off the ground with his legs crossed and one hand on his son’s shoulder.
The boy blinked and hopped up onto his father’s knee to look over his shoulder,
“Aunty Lucinda!” He called… before vanishing and reappearing in front of her. She blinked then glanced over at his father; the Vampyre Lord grinned at her over his shoulder and she laughed before picking up the boy and kissing his cheek.
“I see your sisters aren’t the only ones who’ve learned things.” She whispered.
The boy turned his face towards her shoulder with a smile; incredibly shy, the boy was naturally gifted in certain powers, like invisibility, stealth and teleportation. Not so good was when he discovered this ability while not wanting to take a bath… and teleported himself onto the roof. In his birth clothes.
His sisters were good at flying, but only the eldest had managed to master that art. The middle child was decent at flying, but could read peoples minds and track over large distances much better. All three had mastered the art of shape shifting though.
“And who might these be be?” Tristan asked.
“The eldest girl is named Igwane, the middle girl who is trying my sister Natasha’s last shred of sanity, is named Juliet. The snickering canary eater is her husband Badulf and this little one is…”
“Markov.” Tristan said.
The boy glanced up, and stared at him a moment before smiling,
“Uncle Tristan?” he asked.
The tiger nodded, “Not officially but we’re getting there.”
Tristan held out his hand and closed the fist, the little boy fist bumped him and giggled.
“Tristan?” Lucinda glanced over at her she sister, “You’re… well the fates are laughing right now after all.”
Natasha went over and hugged the tiger, “Thank you.”
Tristan hugged her awkwardly, and Lucinda raised a questioning brow, “I saved her son a while back.”
Natasha stepped back and touched his left eye, “I see it’s taken a liking to you.”
Lucinda felt her jaw drop, “You never told me it was a Waste Wight!”
Natasha shrugged, “What good would it have done? Bad’s already taught him how to ward himself from Unliving Entities. Not to mention you were dealing with other things at the time.”
Lucinda sighed, “Okay,” she turned to Tristan, “thank you for saving him. Is that how you lost your eye?”
Natasha snorted and Lucinda clamped her hand over her mouth a second too late,
“You’re right the fate’s are laughing. The Gift of Bluntness, always a swell thing to have.” Lucinda sighed heavily.
Tristan was coughing which broke out into a minor laughing fit, “No that wasn’t how i lost it. That was another misadventure. The waste wight had been tormenting an area within our borders–”
“Also happens to be where i was scouting for a new Cavern; the old one was beginning to leak when it rained.” Badulf said, hovering to the ceiling and gathering his girls into his arms with a quiet, gentle reprimand.
Tristan nodded, “Which we just approved actually. Anyway, my older brother and I went to investigate where this thing was hiding and ran into these two. He’d been by recently to get clearance and warned us something was hiding in the caves.”
Badulf landed and handed his daughters to their mother, “Markov and both felt something crawling in the walls, but it seemed to only torment him.”
Markov snuggled into Lucinda’s shirt, “He was laughing at me. Said he’d add my bones to his collection.”
Lucinda rubbed his back, “If it were so evil why’d you put its eye in my Tristan’s head?”
Natasha opened her mouth to explain, when what she’d said sank in, “Your Tristan? Hmm… interesting…”
Lucinda felt her face flush, “Answer the question please.”
Tristan kissed her cheek, “I suggested it. Wights aren’t always created from the same being, and this one had been stealing parts for years. The Eye was originally it’s own, but apparently it has a mind of its own too. it helped us kill the thing and crawled out of it’s head. Some of its ways of getting my attention aren’t exactly painless but…” he glanced at Badulf, “I’m assuming one of my parents let you in?”
“Your mother. Never told me you’re the son of the Infamous Sekmet the Iron Queen.” Natasha said.
Tristan grumbled, “It didn’t come up.”
Natasha nodded, “Uh-huh… anyway, The Colony has settled in nicely over the past year and it just so happens to be a short flight from here to there. I heard you were having a bit of trouble, so i figured knowing we were nearby if you needed us would help.”
Lucinda smiled, “It does a great deal sister.”
Badulf wrapped his arms around his wife and gently lifted her into the air, “And maybe you can convince her she’s not too heavy and to stop worrying.”
Natasha blew a raspberry at him which he countered with a kiss. Setting her down, he hovered back to the ceiling and retrieved a small brown book from the rafters. Natasha gasped then glared at her daughters,
“Again? Remember when he took your dolls? How’d that make you feel?”
Juliet shook her head, “We didn’t steal it. He was up there reading and was afraid–”
“That we’d take it from him. Right?” Igwane said.
Lucinda sighed, “Oh no. Mark, were you trying to make yourself fly again?”
Markov nodded sullenly, “I want to play sky tag.”
The adults let out a collective sigh before Badulf took his son from Lucinda, “Then i’ll help you practice tomorrow. Now say goodnight. We have to head home soon.”
“Actually,” they glanced over as Addon and Sekmet stepped out into the hallway, “We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind staying the night. I fear we may have visitors later tonight. There’s a storm brewing dew south-east… over the Howling Hills.” He said.
******
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MonstersinBlackSilk 