Chapter Text
It’s been 5 years.
5 years since the loss of Stradhanya.
5 years since the sacrifice of Sarnax.
5 years since the last time I saw my friends.
Miss Victoria Issacs rises from her writing desk leaving the letter unfinished, a long night having almost completed itself. Victoria’s mind had been so animated with thoughts that sleep eluded her. She glides to the window. A rustle of papers scattered around her on the floor reveals this was not the first or even second draft of the missive she had just been working on. A calming pitter-patter of the rainfall on the roof and against the windows does very little to still the emotions rising from her soul. The soft rolling hills surrounding her little cottage are a picture of life and health. A far cry from how things had once been under the darkness and gloom of Stradhanya’s rule. Blinking back tears, a movement rapidly approaching her home, draws her attention and quells the emotions building inside of her. From this distance, she cannot quite make out who is approaching the cottage, the rain hindering their identity even further. Not expecting a visitor this day, especially at such an early hour, Miss Isaacs straightens her skirts and fixes her hair. Hopeful that the visitor would be unable to tell she had been unable to rest the previous night. The sounds of footsteps come to a halt just outside her door, barely perceptible over the sounds of rain.
knock knock…knock knock…knock knock
Why Victoria waited so long to respond she could not understand. Something in her heart gave her pause. “Who is it?” she inquired.
“Well shucks howdy it’s rainin' sabercats and blink dogs out here Miss Victoria, can ya let me in?”
Astonishment and shock spurned Victoria to the door. Flinging it wide she beheld a figure she had not laid eyes upon for 5 years. A man, well tiefling stood before her. Swiftly one Silas Shepherd Morgan stepped into her cottage out of the rain. His brow bearing a fresh new set of wrinkles showed the passage of time more keenly than Victoria realized. Soaked to the bone from the brisk walk he had just taken. Shepherd closed the door behind him. Removing his hat and smoothing his glistening hair he began to explain himself.
“M-Miss Victoria sorry for the sudden appearance I- I know I should’ve written ahead and alerted you to my arrivin..” Shepherd is swiftly cut off as Victoria, forgetting her manners, hugs the monster hunter who had saved her life many a time in the past.
“SILAS!, what in Avantris are you doing back here in Barovia? While it is an absolute pleasure to see you again, I must ask what you are doing here?” Victoria sheepishly releases Shepherd after realizing she has been holding on far too long. Motioning to a nearby sofa, “Please Shepherd have a seat and enlighten me as to why you are here and in such weather as well.”
Shepherd made no movements towards the sofa or Victoria. His response was simple, “I came, to get you. Somethin is very wrong with Professor Clayton Azran.”