Page 111 of When Ashes Fall

“You might want to do the same,” I told Knox.

“I’m fine.”

I wasn’t going to argue with him over it. I was tired of fighting with him; all his flesh could burn off for all I cared.

“Can you keep the spiders away from the plants?” he asked.

“Yes, but we’ll still find and destroy their nest. We have to kill as many of them as possible,” I told him.

“Oh, I intend to hunt down and destroy them all.” Knox rested his fingers on the table as he rose. “What do you need from us?”

“A lot more earth moss hairs and as many willowcap mushrooms as possible.”

“You heard her, Bertie. Have the sprites gather the supplies.”

“I will,” she said.

“Wait!” I called before she could leave the room. “Be careful about everything you say. If there’s a gorman in the room, then your words will get back to the casters.” I stared at Knox as I uttered my next words. “They learn all your plans that way.”

To his credit, he didn’t break my stare, but he didn’t appear contrite either, and I still hadn’t gotten an apology.

“We’ll be careful,” Bertie promised.

The rest of the sprites followed her from the room. Gizzi lifted his head from the pot and shook the oils from his fur before dunking his face again. The solution was already easing the sting of my hand, but it would never soothe the anguish filling my heart as Knox turned and walked away.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

Briar

Knox and the shifters found the nest of gorman in a shadowy corner of the cellar. Zephyr said the things screamed when Knox lit the nest on fire. I shuddered at his description of the shrieking, burning gorman trying to run away, only for all those present to stomp on them.

I listened to his tale while stirring one of the many potions I’d brewed. Sprites flew in and out of the workroom, carrying the protective barrier potion with them. Others grabbed the growth potion of earth moss and willowcaps and carried it to the plants.

By the third day of endless potions, we were all exhausted. The only sleep I’d gotten was when I passed out while filling some of the vials. I’d woken to find my face in a puddle of potion, and probably some drool, on the countertop.

I hadn’t changed or showered in three days. My eyes were grimy from lack of sleep, but my determination to save the plants fueled me as I mixed one potion after another.

Knox, Dromon, and Pierce had ridden out on the second day with containers full of the protective spell. They were going to spread it all around the borders of Wildwood.

I’d empowered the mixture with a spell to reinforce its effects before sending it off with the shifters. It would keep gorman from ever entering Wildwood again.

Because there could still be some remaining spiders, the sprites were placing a protective barrier around every plant in the castle and town. They were also busy searching for any remaining spiders.

They couldn’t protect all the trees in the forest; that would take far more of a supply than we could ever produce, especially considering how difficult it was to grow anything in Wildwood. Besides, most of the gorman were destroyed with the nest, and everyone had been working to take out any stragglers.

I was sure the shifters were also locating more of them in the forest and destroying them as they went. There might be a few stragglers left, but I was fairly confident we’d gotten a lot of them, and thankfully, gorman couldn’t reproduce.

Lyra had remained behind to guard me, but she spent most of the time helping the sprites. With everyone flying in and out of the healer’s room and the numerous potions I had boiling in here, the library, the music room, the kitchen, and a few other rooms, no one noticed when I started a different potion.

Guilt tugged at me as I placed it over one of the flames. I was taking up a much-needed space for the protective and growing potions, but I had to do this for me. It was time.

Thankfully, the sleeping potion was odorless and tasteless; it had to be to do its job properly. Brewing in the kitchen, with many of the other potions, no one noticed its lack of aroma.

I’d waited for Knox to leave before starting it and felt bad for doing this while Lyra guarded me, but she’d said she understood my desire to be free. She never would have let me do this to Knox and would prefer me to stay… for him.

I hoped she’d forgive me for this.

By the end of the fourth day, I could barely keep my eyes open, but I’d created a vast supply of the growing and protective potions for them to use after I left. Zephyr could make more when my supply ran out.