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Edith pins me with an exasperated look. “I already explained that, Caelan, it’s the bond. Granted, you are probably about as useless as a fart in a jar right now.” Seff sniggers from where he’s hoarding the biscuit and I quickly flick him a rude gesture. “But I have faith in you. Anyway, back tothe point.This whole situation explains a lot about why the Woods would bless you jokers with such a powerful bond. And it’s dead handy too. I mean, at least we know Tor’s still alive, what with you not having croaked and all that.”
The off the cuff remark is a sobering reminder of just how precarious the situation is, the risks we are all facing. There is an awkward beat, our bodies still frozen as our eyes flick back and forth to each others, trying to find a way to move past the moment.
Seff rubs the back of his neck, opening his mouth to speak, but Edith cuts him off, picking up another jar of powder and waving towards the door, her lips drawn into a tight, straight lipped smile.
“Now get out of my kitchen so I can finish these amulets and we can go save the world.” Not really having the words to argue with that, we shuffle from the kitchen to wait while Edith works.
***
After Edith had admitted her last amulet had been a bundle of nothing, it was very hard to take the charm bag she looped around our necks seriously. But thisat leastlookedthe part. Filled with another foul-smelling concoction, crystals and other assorted charmed objects, the black pouches had sigils hand-sewn in gold thread. We promised to keep them safe, and after repacking my bag with more food Edith scrounged from her kitchen, we were off.
Walking.
Again.
We have been walking for five days now. And we are close,so fucking close, making our way through the same Woods that had tormented us with howling winds, but today the giant, ancient trees are quiet. While it is welcome, it is disconcerting to say the least.
We have spent each day making as much progress as we could, pushing our bodies to the limits of fatigue, sleeping each night in a makeshift camp before getting up and doing it again. Each day I’ve practised harnessing the magic given to me through our bond, but I’ve been terrible, to say the least. Edith patiently talks me through the steps of raising power and attempting to funnel it, but I can never manage more than a wisp of air or a small spark. Unless, of course, my emotions get the better of me.
I accidentally set a tree branch on fire when it caught my sleeve as I passed by it. A totally reasonable reaction.
Edith had doused the flame immediately while Seff had doubled over laughing, the dick.
Between the walking and the practice, if I had any capacity left in my brain for thoughts beyond my fear for Tor, and my terror at facing an ancient fae being, the efforts my friends are going to for me would be truly humbling. But that is something I am going to have to process later. When we are home safe. And we’ve managed to shower. And slept on something that isn’t a sleeping bag settled on top of a mattress of twigs and leaf matter, huddled up against my ex’s wolf form.
On the first night, I had offered to share my sleeping bag with Seff. We still had no tent, but together we had made a hut-like shelter out of branches. He’d just laughed me off and said that he would rather walk naked through the ether than risk pissing off Tor after we’d gone to all the trouble to save him.
I still felt guilty, but sleeping on the ground as a wolf is probably more comfortable, anyway. Edith had disappeared in the evening, after setting the wards and eating dinner, doing whatever it was she did in the Woods at night, returning fresher than ever in the morning.
The second night had been the same and by the third morning, every cell in my body protested as I tied my aching feet into my boots, exhaustion seeping into my bones. It was that afternoon we ran into Roan as he came crashing through the trees.
“What in the name of the Gods are you doing here?” All three of us took our turns tackle-hugging his thick form.
He’d grinned good-naturedly, throwing his arm around Edith and pulling her close to tuck under his arm. “Couldn’t let you guys have all the fun. I came to help!”
We certainly weren’t about to turn down the extra assistance, or the extra food he’d packed with him. He also had information, which was probably the most useful thing he could have brought.
“Caelan, I managed to get your phone charged. I spoke to Dave. Apparently, Henny got into your greenhouse and ate all the seedlings. She, and I quote, ‘tipped over all the trays and danced in the dirt while he watched’. Dave swears up and down it was a deliberate act of sabotage and is threatening to roast her for dinner. But other than that it’s fine, the farm’s fine and his youngest brother has just been staying at your place since it’s been a while since they heard from you, so they were glad for the heads up.”
“Thanks, man, I appreciate it.” The words had gotten caught in my throat as I slapped Roan on the back, trying to keep it casual. But it was one more thing on the list to be grateful for when we were home and safe.
Well, two more. I owed Dave and his brothers. They copped a lot of flack from townspeople for being friendly with me. And it had been extremely thoughtful of Roan to check in for me. But it was a list that kept growing, and as overwhelming as it was, it warmed a place inside me that had been cold for too long.
Ihad always thought I needed to do it all on my own, that I was alone out in my little cabin on the edge of the Woods. But maybe, just maybe, things had changed, and I wasn’t so alone in the world anymore.
Later that night, as we sat around the campfire eating a veritable feast of woolchuck—a rabbit-like creature with a ridge of thin, sharp spikes along its spine, woolly fur, a dangerous temper and alarmingly large deer-like horns—and wild grown potatoes, Roan had shared his second lot of news. He stared into the fire, chewing the meat off the leg bone of the creature Seff had hunted down for us, his grey eyes and stern face reflecting the glow of the fire.
“Roan, you are either constipated or you have something you need to share with the class,” Edith had announced, waving the bottle of wine she had discovered somewhere along our walk. Did she just walk around the Woods planting bottles for later? Seff turned to look at me, pulling anoh shitkind of face before turning to face Roan, who just sighed heavily, throwing the now clean bone into the fire.
“I, uh, spoke to some people at the Tavern.” His voice was low and rumbly in the silent dark of the evening. “There was a fae crew in from Twin Head. And I asked around if they had seen Theo.” His eyes flicked to mine. “I didn’t know much, but I thought it might help. They hadn’t seen him. But one told me a story that felt…”
“It twigged your fae-tuition?”
Roan rolled his eyes at Seff, who was back to scarfing food into his mouth. “Fuck’s sake. Yeah, that. He said thathisgrandma told him bedtime stories that she had been told. About a very powerful fae who lived in the Woods and would kidnap naughty fae to eat their magic. To live forever. According to him, his grandma used to say that if you were deep in the Woods on the night of the New Moon, you could hear her torturing the fae to steal their gifts.”
Something dark slithered over the four of us, something awful and worst of all,true. I thought, if this was what Tor’s knowing usually felt like, I officially wanted to hand the gift back. An icy chill took over, and we looked between each other to confirm that we’d all had the same premonition.
The stories were true. Edith and I had seen the horror from the legends with our own eyes.
