Not even trying to suppress a long yawn, Luna looked at the motley crew she was working with in order to contain the Bitumen of the burned land, to keep them from burning their way clear to the village. It was hard work, especially as her dear mother had decided to spend her time elsewhere, working on some arcane project in an attempt to push the burned land back on a larger scale. A worthy goal, one Luna could readily support, but it sadly meant that her sister, Lia, their furry friends Silva and Sasha, and she had to pick up the slack to keep the burned land back. Thus, the long hours of healing to keep the local people going, alongside the occasional conjuration to disrupt or bind one of the Bitumen. It was exhausting and Lia with her group couldn’t arrive soon enough to take their place and hold the line, she had to speak to a few of the locals in order to guide them. To preach and help them find a faith worthy of their dedication, a deity willing to help and shelter them. It was a somewhat difficult task, especially with the wide mixture of previously held beliefs, but it felt so incredibly worthwhile when one of the lost finally found their faith again, the relief at knowing that someone greater than them was watching for them was heartening.

“Hey Sis,” Lia’s somewhat rough voice brought Luna’s mind back to focus, despite her exhaustion.

“Good Evening, Lia,” she replied, looking over the small group following after her sister, the night hunters who had decided quite some time ago that the nightly darkness was the perfect time to find prey. It also helped them to hunt during the long winter, though during those times, the cold was just as much of a hindrance as the night’s darkness.

“Did anything interesting happen here? Or just same old Bitumen, trying to set shit on fire?” Lia asked a routine question, making sure that nobody was caught by surprise if the creatures of the burned land tried something new. They hadn’t so far, but given what Lia had told them all about the waves of burning goop, as their mother called it, that had been launched through the sky, they weren’t about to take chances. Not everyone could retreat into the shadows if attacks like that were launched in their general direction.

“No, nothing interesting happened. Just more of these disgusting creatures,” Luna shook with disgust, the constant stench of the foul creatures and the burning filth they spread had eroded any neutral feelings she might have had for the somewhat interesting creatures. No, these creatures didn’t need to be saved, they needed to be contained if possible.

“What’s that over there?” a different voice, one of Lia’s night hunters, called out, making everyone look at him, only to turn and follow the outstretched digit towards the horizon.

“Is the sky supposed to look like that?” another of their fighters, this one a lady from Luna’s group, asked. Though given that the sky was an angry purple-grey colour, the question was to be expected; it looked nothing like the sky normally did. Foreboding, alien and utterly disturbing were some fitting descriptors, and all of them worked quite well and instilled themselves into the watching people.

“Maybe we should get ready for some shit to go down,” Lia suggested, looking as disturbed as the rest of their combined groups, which was something given that Lia was the one who could literally slip into the shadows and disappear at a moment’s notice if things got seriously bad. If anything, it was evidence that this was a serious mess if the one with the best survival and evasion abilities was deeply spooked.

“Or retreat, I really don’t like the look of those clouds,” Luna admitted, a sentiment echoed by everyone present.

“On second thought, you’re right, sis,” Lia agreed, after she saw the first bolts of lightning crash down from the purple clouds and realised that those towering clouds seemed to be moving in their direction.

For once, the two groups didn’t switch off but retreated together, everyone moving as quickly as their legs allowed them. The night hunters of Lia’s group took up position around their companions, just in case something tried to attack them during their retreat, and they quickly moved towards the village.

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As they did, the wind around them started to pick up, blowing into their backs and increasing their speed just a little further, though given that they could feel a weird power in the wind, mixed with a faint trace of a familiar power, they didn’t need any motivation to run like the hounds of hel were after them. They just ran, pushing their bodies as much as possible and necessary. Nobody truly knew what the wind portended, and nobody wanted to learn firsthand, given its power. Whatever it was, it could only be bad news.

The wind around them continued to pick up, and with the higher windspeed came flying additions to the wind. At first, it was only a bit of rain, moving almost as far horizontally as they moved vertically, drenching everyone’s backs, but that didn’t last. Soon, the rain was joined by a few hailstones, and on these Lia and Luna could easily sense the familiar magic of their mother, giving a couple of bruises to those unlucky enough to get hit by one of the stones.

“We need cover,” Lia called out, just as a sizable branch was ripped off a nearby tree before crashing down to the ground. The entire forest was groaning around them, making it clear that the wind was getting to it.

“There’s a cave nearby,” one of the running night hunters gasped out, her breath mostly spent on running as fast as possible.

“Go, lead us,” Luna commanded, and immediately, the entire group veered to the left, following the guidance of that one hunter who hopefully knew where to hide and ride out this mess.

The cave they were guided to wasn’t quite what they had hoped. Sure, it was solid and would shelter them, but the opening was also in the direction they had been coming from. In other words, the wind could rush into said opening, carrying water, hail and everything else it ripped from the ground. Not the best shelter, but given their lack of options and the fact that one of them had almost been hit by a large branch on the way over, the general consensus was that a bad shelter was better than no shelter.

“If only Mom were here,” Luna muttered, dropping a couple of seedpots she could use to conjure a temporary wall and make the shelter a little less drafty and open.

“If Mom were here, there’d be no storm,” Lia snickered, having a feeling that their mother was the one who had kicked off this particular mess. It had her fingerprints, magical and metaphorical, all over it.

“True, she’d still be able to whip up some real shelter for us, not just this,” Luna replied, threading a few hides through the conjured wood in order to tighten the gaps and make things more comfortable.

Her efforts, and those of a few others who could use some magic, allowed them to wait the storm out in some comfort, which proved to be the only sensible option. As they were sitting in the gloom, they could almost feel the rock underneath their feet shake from the force of the storm outside; they could hear the constant crack of thunder, at times coming so quickly one after another that it turned into a continuous barrage of sound.

At the same time, the noises of broken trees and the raging storm added another layer to the chaotic noise outside, less abrupt but a lot closer, driving home the point that it would almost certainly be fatal to be caught outside.

By the time morning rolled around, the entire group was somewhat grouchy, the storm had raged for most of the night, making it almost impossible to rest, especially for the night hunters who were used to being awake and active in the night, not to sleep.

Thanks to the barrier Luna had wrought, the deeper parts of the cave had remained dry and somewhat comfortable but they all couldn’t wait but free of the narrow cave. With a quick flex of magic, Luna pulled the trees apart and they could see the results of the storm, numerous broken branches and even a few trees had been pushed over, while the ground looked to be soaked and muddy.

“You know, I almost want to see the burned land right now,” Luna mused, wondering just what their mother had done to cause such devastation. And if she could learn it herself, maybe with Lady Hecate’s help.

“We can check but maybe we should get back to the village first. I’m sure Mom will go there and we can get some answers,” Lia reasoned, getting a nod of acceptance in response. Those who had some understanding of magic had realised that the storm hadn’t been a natural one and wanted to know the details. Or wanted to know what not to do, as the ferocity of it had been deeply disturbing to the lot of them.

“Let’s go,” With that, Lia wrapped herself tightly into a cloak, making sure that she was protected from the sun and started the trek back. They wanted to have some answers.