Wylde Magic | Book 3

Forty Nine: Reunion

By the time the sun brushed against the treetops of the Summer forests on its way down over the horizon, my feet ached.

And it wasn't only my feet. My body ached, my head ached, and my heart ached. I was tired. The sort of tired that a nap wasn't going to fix. But we were nearly there, nearly to the hawthorn grove.

Schula continued to make bits of ice in her hands, rubbing them on the back of her neck and occasionally feeding ice chips to Puko. We were otherwise quiet as we made the last leg of our journey, anxiously awaiting a sign of Teyber or Spaulder. What we weren't expecting was to reach the hawthorn grove, only to be met with silence.

My excitement grew as we approached the trees, and Schula reached for my hand as we took our first steps into them. I listened for the signs of other people nearby, and came up empty.

"I don't hear anything," Schula said, having the same idea that I just had.

"Do you remember that sound they made when the scouts were calling to each other in Eidelhein?" I asked. "It was like a whistle."

"Oh, yeah." Schula lifted her face to the treetops, her lips making the 'o' needed for the whistle, and she called out the notes.

Puko joined her, flying down to my shoulder from where he had been keeping pace above us.

Their joined notes ended, as the tune was a short one. Birds startled away, but little else happened. I looked around the grove, taking steps in different directions as I went. 

"I don't even see signs of anything being here since we left it," I said. "But the note said to be here..."

I stopped near the indent that was still disturbed from when Spaulder slept on a large patch of grass. Clear signs of cooking, washing, and sleeping were scattered about, but none of it recent.

"Maybe he had to step away for a while," Schula suggested.

"So we just wait?" I sighed, crossing my arms. "I wanted to get on the hunt for Bara Khalja and DuVarick as soon as we could."

Schula's hands balled into fists at her side. "I know," she seethed. "I want to find them too."

"Caw!" 

I reached up, absently stroking Puko's head feathers.

"I guess we can at least give it the night." I looked up into the first stars of the evening, the sun barely gone from the horizon and its last rays still lingering. "Now that I think I can do something about Bara Khalja if I can only get close enough to touch him, I need to try."

Schula bit her lower lip, sending me a cautious glance. "Tell me exactly what you plan to do with that. I'm worried about you putting yourself in danger."

"We're all in danger if we can't stop them," I argued. "They nearly rolled over Thanantholl, they're fighting in Yusellia now, who's to say they can't turn the whole of the Wyldes into their own domain?"

Schula took a few steps into the clearing, looking around as she thought it out. "Okay," she said quietly. "Let's make a plan together though. I hope we find Teyber soon."

"Yeah," I agreed, taking the bag off my shoulder and letting it sink to the ground. "We can at least make some kind of camp for the night. I'm so tired and I'm starving."

That brought a small smile to her face. "Yeah, I'll get the wood."

And with that, we started to make camp. Puko busied himself swooping around and catching insects overhead. Meanwhile, Schula built a small fire that could cook something without adding excessive heat around us. I pulled out the magic supplies from my bag and debated on what could be useful. Little of it was edible, but I did remove some ash bark from a jar so we could make a simple soup in it.