Foxheart

Part Four: Chapter Fifty-Two

Esme patted Frangag's earthy finger, smiling widely up at the giant. 'Thank you for carrying us so far.'

She bowed her large bald head, shaking loose pebbles and moss. 'Anything for the Bloxham Sprite.'

'You can return to your sisters now. Fox and I should be able to make it from here.'

Frangag said no more. She rose, her body creaking like churning rock, and began go back the way she had come. After a couple of steps, Esme couldn't feel the tremors anymore and the giant was giant a smudge on the horizon.

'Well, I could've slept better.' Fox yawned and buried his face in his arms, curling himself into a small ball in the roots of a large sycamore. Absolon took the opportunity to rest on his head, something Fox wasn't having and shooed him away irritably.

Esme hunkered down in front of him, gazing at him with warmth. He was still battered and bruised, his nose swelling and lip torn but alive and strong. They'd survived again and Esme was glad of it, glad she was still with Fox.

Since her epiphany, her view of Fox had changed. She no longer found him confusing, although she still felt a little overwhelmed when he looked at her a certain way or gave her a smile; instead she loved looking at him and being close beside him. She embraced that happiness he was unintentionally causing and she was going to make the most of it now. Who knows what was going to happen once they reached Granite Tower.

Fox seemed to be noticing the change in her attitude towards him and was growing a little suspicious. His vibrant green eyes narrowed and glittered.

'What?'

She knew what he meant but she steered the subject away from her gazing. Ogling was still something she tried to avoid doing, no matter how much she wanted to gaze at his broad shoulders, sloping neck and lines of his jaw. It was un-ladylike.

'How are you pains?'

'Hurtin'. At least I had enough water to wipe away the blood. Bruisin' aches though.'

'Nothing is broken?'

He shook his head. 'Luckily.'

That was a relief to Esme and she stood up, reluctantly pulling herself away from him. She took a few steps up the hill and over its peak to gaze at their surroundings.

Further down, belching out smoke from its numerous chimneys, was a small mining facility. Beyond that, a massive city sprawled. Hornfel City. Hundreds of miles in length, the city rose and dipped like a wave as the buildings shifted in height. Blimps hovered about like gulls and hundreds of roads slipped in and out, letting the city's traffic flow like blood through veins.

Esme however was fixated on the singular massive spire in the centre of the city. The Granite Tower. It had been so long but she was close now. She's find Lithgow, gain his help and then she'd prove she didn't kill her aunt. She'd prove it was Suellen Denver.

'We're goin' to Badger next.'

Esme flinched gently. She hadn't noticed Fox's approach but he was suddenly beside her, touching his bruised nose cautiously. She gazed down at his head, ignoring the urge to wrap him up in her arms. He was so tiny.

'Another Fence?'

'Goin' to need the Fingers a lot to get to the Grantie's Grand Wizard and avoid death.'

Esme frowned as she stared at the city swallowing up the horizon, speared by the Granite Tower in its heart. The place was going to a hive of danger, she knew that. While she was close to Lithgow, she was still so far.