It hadn't taken long for the Guardians to show up and take everyone into custody. The event had reverberated throughout all ley lines and places of power within the region. Elissa and Garrett had both been placed under house arrest while Nannade was taken to a special containment cell in the Lodge's headquarter building. Loganna was furious, but thanks to Elissa's diplomacy, Garrett avoided being thrown into a cell as well. But the Guardians stationed outside their hut remained. They also took all flux-containing substances and weapons from the hut they could find. Elissa was sure Garrett had hidden some more somewhere else.
Faan had been somewhat stabilized. His spirit was still not completely reattached to his body, but Elissa was making progress. Most of the time, he still acted mostly like a regular cat and barely ever spoke. He needed to regain a lot of his spiritual essence and so she was allowed to take him to the glade, accompanied by a Guardian, to bathe him in the stream of life force. The effects on Elissa had disappeared except for harrowingly empty dreams and fears. At the glade it felt like burning pain going through her head, and her soul wanting to lash out and leave her body. A spectral venom had been injected into the mutual bond between witch and familiar.
It had been two days after the faithful night in the glade when the Guardian stationed with Elissa notified them of the newest development.
Arch-Druid Loganna had decided to call in an expert on blood pactitioners. He was expected to arrive within six days. He would then start and lead the investigation in preparation for the Nannade trial. Who this specialist exactly was, the Guardian would not tell them.
The two tried to distract themselves as much as possible. Garrett was going through all his notes, as if he could find a clue as to what could have gone wrong. Elissa read old books she hadn't read since she left her teacher's house.
On the sixth day, they were notified that the expert had arrived. Then, on the seventh day, the specialist sent for Garrett. He was to take his notes with him. Then the Guardian took him to the headquarters, via air.
The "capital", so to say, of Sturreland was a town called Sosken. It was a large town, with stone-paved roads and a few high buildings, even a simple sewage line, but no walls. Instead, it had an open structure that let the wind breathe through the streets. The largest building was the headquarters of the Lodge. It looked very new and Garrett guessed it could have been built during his lifetime. It had a large front with two long wings to each side, making a horse-shoe shape. It housed many administrative facilities, especially for the mundane citizens of the land.
Garrett was led into the building, down a staircase and all the way to the corridor of the right-hand wing. The basement was rather clean, no mouldy smell or damp corners. The floor was covered with clean looking tiles and the doors were made from solid wood, the walls were made of black basalt blocks. All of them, every tile, every block, every board, was engraved with mystic runes and arcane glyphs to weave powerful protection and containment spells. The Guardian stopped at a door and knocked. The person who opened had a sharp-edged appearance. He had pale skin and long straight black hair bound into a low ponytail. His joints and muscles pressed their outlines through his skin to the point of being anatomical showcases. He wore a long dark grey robe with a leather apron.
"You must be Garetas, also known as Purple Paw, Nannade's teacher?!"
Garrett nodded.
"Pleased to meet you, my name is Black Surgeon of Hozorcia. Please come in." He stepped aside; the Guardian stayed outside the door. The call sign told Garrett immediately that he was a Hidden Hand too. Black Surgeon's voice was very calm and almost monotonous, but with a hint of friendliness, like some people would deem the perfect butler to speak.
The room was a sort of study, with a desk, a small bookshelf and a long table in the middle.
"I trust you realized that I am a Hidden Hand by now. I specialize in dealing with pactitioners, abominations and chimeras. I bear no ill will to you, so don't be afraid, there is no assessment of your work going on, only of the girl. For her however, I cannot guarantee any safety or leniency."
He raised his hand. "This is Aaka, my familiar, I was told you're not a medium, but formalities where formalities belong." On his hand, Garrett saw a small spider. It waved at him. Garrett waved back. "I hope you brought your notes as I requested."
"Of course, what is this about?"
"I am currently evaluating the girl's physique and psyche, and although I found some reliable references on demi-humans in general, I am still unsure about crolachans specifically. I needed someone who knew the girl's physique before she changed. Therefore, I'd like to have your expert opinion on it."
"I'll do what I can to help." Garrett caught himself worrying about the girl and almost poking at Black Surgeon for more info.
"Later, we will take a closer look at the girl, but for now we'll make an inventory check on what you have written down."
"Sure, but you should know that Elissa also has some notes you should read, especially about the girl's later growth."
"Fine, then let's get started."
Garrett spent most of the time going through his notes and reading the relevant ones to Black Surgeon, who wrote everything down in his own notes. When he was done cataloguing Nannade's development, they moved on to examining the girl herself.
Black Surgeon opened the door, peeked outside and talked to the guard, then he returned.
He folded his hands together in a calm stance. "I have no Arcane Hand, so my Familiar has been most helpful in keeping the girl in check."
Garrett didn't know what he meant by that until the door opened and the girl was led in. She was dressed in a white, long prison gown, her hands were in cuffs and her legs closely shackled together. She could only take very short steps. Runic inscriptions covered everything she was wearing. She was glaring at everything with angry eyes, as if her expression had been frozen during that night in the glade. On her shoulder, Aaka was sitting, as a huge brown spider, baring fangs like arrowheads, visible even from a distance, ready to sink them in at a moment's notice.
"Hello Nannade, are you well?" Surgeon asked. A moment passed. "No answer? Well you look healthy at least."
Garrett didn't say anything. He didn't know what he could say. He couldn't even look her in the eyes properly. She was looking at him with spite burning in her green eyes, and feelings of shame and guilt rose in him, but also disappointment and anger.
"Please, sit on the table."
Nannade complied, still keeping up her angry scowl. Garrett started to inspect the girl's body and said everything he found to be abnormal or unfamiliar about it while Black Surgeon noted everything down.
Initially he thought there was not much to note down, but as Garrett starting feel her muscles, tendons, bones and joints, some changes became apparent to him. Her spine had changed, suddenly a lot more flexible and allowing more movement in every area and direction, strong and dense muscles ran the length of it. All of her joints were more mobile. Her eyes were green instead of yellow. Her tail was considerably longer, reaching well below her knees when relaxed. Her jawline had become pointier. Her skull was much sharper and more pronounced. Her cheekbones were higher. The upper and lower canines had become much sharper and rounder. The upper ones had grown longer and the lower pointed slightly backwards now, like barbs. Her fur seemed to have taken on a barely visible diamond pattern, like an invisible net stretched over her body, only noticeable by the sheen of her fur in the light.
If one were to take a superficial look, one couldn't tell her from any other crolachan, but the more he compared what he saw and felt with what he got to know over the years, the more glaring it became to him. The girl's body had changed. She seemed almost like a different person. During the entire examination, the girl's look did not lighten up, even when Garrett tried to smile at her with a hint of melancholy. He felt cold and alone in this room.
Garrett had finished his part and was escorted back to Elissa's hut, where she squeezed him for every bit of information, but he denied her every answer. He had to swear secrecy to Black Surgeon, in order to not taint the examination Elissa would have to do.
The next day, Elissa was summoned and did the examination as well. When they were both finally back and done, they tried to come up with new ways to distract themselves. The unsure date of the trial hang in the air like a block of granite suspended by cracking chains. Time did not run normally anymore. The outside world seemed to exist behind a veil and the two of them were locked into the hut in an everlasting night. Garrett would pace up and down, do push-ups and other exercises, Elissa read book after book without ever remembering anything, just meaningless words falling out of her head the moment they entered it. The only good thing to happen was Faan's recovery. He started to speak again and felt as if he had returned fully to his body.
The waiting would continue until an entire dozen after the expert had arrived, they were summoned. The trial would commence the next morning. All they had to get through now was a night of uneasy sleep, if any at all.