The Land Set Aflame

Chapter 54: The Crossing

The smoke was thicker than before, and there was a chill that hung in the air. It wasn't just the cold of autumn, either: Svenden was noticeably distant, his eyes cast downward and his voice barely audible when he spoke.

Not that he was speaking to her.

He had his hair down again, and it tumbled alluringly about his face, half hiding his expressions from Callyndia's eyes and half beckoning her to keep glancing in his direction. But he never looked back at her. At least, not that she noticed. It was almost as if he were afraid to look at her.

The spirits were cold, too. They'd traveled far enough from Aevenwy now that the warming presence of Alloria Rosa had faded, and it was replaced by something less inviting. It was almost as if the forest were holding its breath, afraid to see what was going to happen to these four travelers as they progressed through less and less hospitable terrain.

At some point, the gloom had become palpable. The trees themselves seemed dark and brooding, and whatever spirits might be lingering here were intentionally avoiding her.

"What's happened to this place?" she whispered to Leofric, "Mellesh is supposed to be the warmest and happiest place in all the Kallawlands. But I'm almost afraid to keep walking!"

"I sense it too," the scholar replied softly as he looked around. Callyndia could see that he was holding a packet of spell ingredients in his hand, ready to crush it and scatter it at a moment's notice. "I have nothing to compare it to, of course: I've never been to Mellesh before this, but there is a definite sense of gloom. Something is definitely amiss here."

Kithana was watching their exchange with a baffled expression on her face. "What do you mean?" she asked, "It's smoke from the wildfires, isn't it?"

"It's more than that," Callyndia said gently, gesturing around with her hand, "Can't you sense it? The spirits are restless and foreboding. I'm restless."

Kithana looked around, but it was clear that she wasn't picking up on that. "I guess I've been too focused on not starting fires to notice anything else," she said in an awkwardly jovial tone, "Mr. Moon, are you feeling this too?"

Svenden looked at Kithana briefly, in a noncommital sort of way. "I don't know what to expect," he said softly, "We'd better keep our wits about us, though."

Callyndia could practically see the goosebumps on the back of Svenden's neck, and she knew he could sense the spiritual turmoil too. But she didn't say anything to him: lately, it felt like it wasn't possible for her to say anything that didn't further hurt his feelings.

I wish you'd talk to me, she thought in his direction, not daring to actually send it via magic, I opened my heart to you!

Kithana continued speaking. "Master Garrafey must have done something to make it shadowy like this," she was saying in a completely wrong tone, "I think he was trying to hide from your mother's notice."

"What was he trying to hide, I wonder?" Callyndia mused.

"This surely isn't his doing," Leofric said, "Not entirely, anyway. He was always more interested in fire than shadow. I imagine this gloom comes from Myndrith, or the shadowfolk. But what would possess a fairy to find comfort in this sort of gloom?"

"Don't judge!" Callyndia chided gently, "Myndrith has always had a unique perspective on things. But someone had to manipulate her to make her go this far."

"But how far did she go?" Svenden spoke up, his voice still dour and quiet.

"What do you mean?" Callyndia asked him.

Svenden simply pointed ahead. Callyndia followed his gesture and her eyes fell on a slow-moving creek ahead. A makeshift bridge of braided roots and lianas crossed the creek at a place where trees with drooping branches crowded the far bank.

"We've reached Quarro Creek already!" Callyndia said, starting to walk forward again, "Myndrith made this crossing years ago! That tree used to be her mothertree, but she bonded to a different one later. The creek was too busy for her tastes. Come here: I'll show you where we wrote a secret message ten years ago!"

Svenden frowned. " 'Myndrith loves Callyndia'?" he guessed.

She stopped. The tone of his voice was dry, but she could feel the bitterness oozing off of him.

After putting up with his sulking for a whole day, Callyndia wasn't really in a mood to field cynical, suggestive jokes from him. But, humor — even bitter humor — was an attempt to reach out, wasn't it? Maybe she should respond a little in kind, and see what happened? A sultry eyebrow and a witty comment might just lighten the mood enough to change his mind about some things.

No, he'd set some clear ground rules for her, and she didn't think it was the time to test them; even though Svenden himself clearly had no intention of honoring ground rules.

Fortunately, his focus suddenly shifted elsewhere, sparing her the need to compose the perfect response. He was looking past her, his eyes looking keenly at something in the distance and his brows furrowed distrustfully.

"Wait!" he said, "Something's wrong!"

Callyndia frowned and extended her magic around the area. There was the ubiquitous gloom and unease about the place, but nothing in particular that she could sense.

"Is there another crossing?" Svenden asked.

"Not that I know of," Callyndia said, "But, the creek isn't very wide: there are places we could practically hop across."

Leofric stepped up to examine the area with his magic sight. "There is magic here, Mr. Moon," he said, "But there's magic everywhere in this forest right now. I don't see anything in particular to worry about."

Svenden kept scanning the area with his non-magical eyes, a frown on his face. "Maybe it's nothing," he said finally. But he advanced slowly towards the crossing, drawing three arrows from the dryad quiver and nocking the first to the string of Silverspring's Arc.

Callyndia moved to follow him, but he gestured for her to stay back as he stepped up to the root-and-liana bridge, bow at the ready. His eyes were sweeping cautiously around the area, and his footsteps were slow and deliberate.

Callyndia obediently stood still and waited for him to slowly, cautiously cross the bridge to the other side. Once there, he took a moment to look around again, and eventually relaxed when nothing happened.

Finally, he sighed and lowered the bow, letting the three arrows dissipate into the air. "Alright," he said, "I guess I was wrong. There's nothing here." He waved the others across, and they followed.

Callyndia studied his face carefully as they continued on, wondering what was going on in his mind. He was really taking this protector bit seriously, even though he'd... rejected her? Is that what he'd done? Well, he'd at least refused to talk about it.

They traveled on for another mile or so, until they came to another creek crossing.

Callyndia frowned when she saw it. "It's Quarro Creek again," she said.