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“Are you really here?” I asked in fox.
The planchette bulleted to ‘YES’ and Pox nearly fell over. I didn’t speak again until he had righted himself.
“Are you one or more of my ancestors? My vulpine ancestors?” I asked in fox. I made sure to clarify who I was trying to talk to because some of the recent discoveries about some historical Moonscale dragons made me worry about what sort of draconic ancestors in my direct line might show up.
The planchette didn’t move.
“I..” I started but stopped myself because one should never speak an unplanned sentence while using a spirit board.
“I brought you offerings,” I said, realizing I was unsure of when I should inform them of those. Nothing ever laid out the exact sequence the events should unfold in. “A roasted rabbit and a pot roast. They’re good. I used my carrier’s recipe. He grew up here. I hope you all like them.”
I waited and nothing happened.
“So, I’m here again because a seer said I’d meet my alpha here on Halloween. Not right in this room, but somewhere in the village,” I explained. “And I’ve been coming here every Halloween for as long as I can remember. I’ve only missed a few. So, I was wondering, if you all knew anything. I’d take even just a time frame. I’m tired of being alone. I’m lonely in a way that I can’t find words to explain. It’s like I love someone I’ve never met and…”
Scarfing noises sounded off next to my left ear. I glanced out of the corner of my eye, fearing that some unknown entity or beast had broken through due to the spirit board’s magic. Only, I wasn’t sure he was unknown at all. A tall man, wearing only pants crouched over the roasted rabbit. He had big fluffy fox ears atop his head and a fluffy fox tail that poked over the waistband of his pants.
“Honey,” a voice said from nearby. I almost let go of the planchette, but Pox’s other paw slapped my hand. Another fox man stood there, but this one was shorter and wore a shirt. His russet ears and tail were out just like his mate’s black ones. I let out a long, slow breath.
“What?” the alpha fox asked, his mouth full of roast rabbit.
“You’re supposed to talk to them first,” the omega stood akimbo, tapping his bare foot as if this wasn’t the first time his mate had embarrassed him and broke what he considered to be absolute protocol. “Then you can eat the goodies.”
“What?” he looked over his shoulder, revealing a handsome face with big honey-brown eyes, smeared with rabbit grease. “It’s been a long time since any of them bothered with us much less brought food for us. This is good rabbit! Nice and juicy!”
“Don’t mind him,” the russet fox said, sitting down next to me. “He’s always thought with his belly. He’s Night and I’m Day. At least, that’s what you all—Well, what your ancestors eventually called us and the monikers work just fine for us. The spirit board is a nice touch, but you could’ve just came with the rabbit and we’d have answered just the same. We’re not snobby like some ancestors,” he said, pulling the pot roast over to himself and spearing a little potato on a claw. “So, a seer said it would happen here, huh?”
“Yeah. A seer I trust,” I nodded.
“These are good potatoes! Not like our old recipes, but good!” he grinned, showing a mouth full of foxy teeth. “Now, here’s the thing, we can make things happen. We have… let’s call them abilities, but you have to be really sure you want what you’re asking us to do.”
“Because there is a price?” I arched a nervous eyebrow and swallowed hard.
Had I not grown up surrounded by magic and hearing stories of old magic, I might’ve pissed my pants. Only growing up in Heartville left me with no doubt that magic and ancestors were absolutely freaking real. Plus, while the foxes were gluttons they didn’t seem malevolent.
“Well, broadly speaking, all magic has a price, but no, we wouldn’t charge you. It’s just when you change something big, other things follow it,” Day said.
“But it’s already been seen in a vision,” I said. “So it wouldn’t be changing anything, right?”
“Well, he might have seen it because we were destined to change something,” Night said, finally speaking to me. “So, either way, we won’t know what happens next. You’ll be on your own with it.”
“I think he’ll be worth it,” I said and bit my lip.
“It may not be anything horrible anyway,” Night said. “It’s not like you’re asking us to murder your enemies. You’re just asking us to bring your true-mate here. That’s better-intentioned magic. Better-intentioned than a lot of stuff we’ve been asked for over the years. Self-serving but still.”
“So you can do it just like that?” I asked.
“Yes, but do me a favor,” Day said. “Move that planchette to goodbye and put that away. I don’t want to be eavesdropped on.”
“Sure,” I nodded.
Pox and I moved the quartz planchette to ‘GOODBYE’ and I wrapped the spirit board back up in its velvet cloth and slid it and the planchette back into its wooden home.
“Am I allowed to ask questions about other things, or will that mess up this magic? The magic of finding my true-mate?” I asked, my eyes darting back and forth between Night and Day.
“You can ask what you want,” Day said, spearing another potato. “We probably won’t know the answer because most modern things have nothing to do with us anymore.”
“The same seer…” I said and almost stopped. I knew I wasn’t the one who would revitalize the village, but it would be one of my siblings.
