The place Beka was staying in was one step above a hole in the ground, maybe two steps. It was on the fourth floor of an old apartment building just a few blocks away from the warehouse district by the docks. Fourth floor meant no, or only a few rodents, it had a roof and walls to keep out the elements, so there was that. There was no electricity, no heat, no amenities to speak, but it was also temporary and she could manage until she either found a way home or had a few more paychecks under her belt.

No electricity meant that she was using candles for illumination, but she didn't light many of those, her night vision was keen. Beka had read a book on elvish people and was surprised at how similar they were to her own people, except for her ears looked more like a humans. Her face had angles that put it outside of human, her lifespan was pretty far outside the human norm, and her strength and speed were superior by a leap and bound. She was not, however, an even match for say a lycanthrope or a vampire, still she felt comfortable enough that she could handle trouble if she stumbled upon it.

Could handle anything but a childhood fear that seemed all too possible here in this place, so distant from her home. She had spoken of the curse of her Clan to Gerard, oh sure he'd been dead asleep but it still counted, and she had hoped by getting it out there she could banish her fears. Magic was not the same on her world as here, it was ancient and mostly unused for daily lives. But, as with many an ancient thing, there were still things that lingered from generations past that would not die, but rather lay in wait for a good time to strike.

Curses were more common before the Clans had accepted a single leader to unite them, it was about the time that there was fierce competition for that position that her Clan had been cursed. A wraith haunted her ancestors, stealing the souls of some members of the McKenzie clan at random, leaving an empty husk behind for loved ones to find. The past two generations had not seen a single McKenzie killed in such a fashion. A belief had formed, because they were creatures that liked explanations, that so long as a McKenzie was not alone the wraith would not come for them. No McKenzie stayed at just one child for long, and usually those with a single child would stay at the Clan Estates in High Haven, just in case.

It wasn't something she'd thought about since she was a child, a boogeyman story that had kept her up at nights and meant that she snuck into one of her brothers rooms to sleep more than once. It was real, she had felt Clan magic often enough to know there was truth to the Wraith, but did it still live, lingering in some dark pocket of reality waiting for its chance to strike?

Here, in Rhydin, she was alone. Even when she was speaking with other people she felt alone, having never been away from her entire family for any length of time. Beka leaned back against the bed frame, she was seated on the floor, and the bruise across her shoulders complained. She hadn't been able to sleep on this bed, or really any bed, since she arrived in Rhydin, couldn't stand the feeling of being that unprepared.

She set her sword next to her on the floor, pulled her knees up and wrapped her around around them. The blade was one that had been in her Clan for generations, it had some magic qualities to it, she knew, but whether it would do any good against a wraith' It was the best she had so would keep faith that the steel would give her a fighting chance. Beka was a strong, young woman, she could manage without her family....or her friends, all alone and vulnerable to a curse a dozen generations old. The tear that slid down her cheek was ignored , she rested her cheek against a knee and went to sleep.