Half Wylde | Book 1

Forty Five: Another Piece of the Puzzle

By the time I reached Mila's cabin again, The sun was starting to rise and Nassir was wide awake.

He sat on the floor in front of the fire, meditating. I startled him when I came in.

"Sorry, how long have you been up? Do you need anything?" I asked.

"I just got up," he said. "Don't worry about me. See? I found the wood."

Indeed he had knocked over a portion of wood I had brought in and set next to the fireplace. He seems to have gotten some of it in the fire too, and the flames that were burning low overnight were now full of life and dancing on the logs.

I smiled at how quickly he adapted to the new surroundings, then I tugged the stone from my boot. "Nassir, I'm going to hand you something. Do you think you could tell me if you've encountered it before?"

"Hm, let's find out." He reached out and let me place the stone in his palm, and he went rigid.

I was afraid something had happened to him. His face was in shock and he didn't move for several heartbeats. I knelt beside him and whispered. "Nassir?"

He didn't react. I sat back on my heels and bit my lower lip, wondering what my next move should be, when suddenly he gasped and fell backward.

"Nassir!" I rushed to help him back to a sitting position, then I grabbed a cup and filled it from a bucket of water I had filled last night. "Here, drink something."

He nodded, still catching his breath and held a hand out for me to help him find the cup. He drained it in a moment and turned his head toward me. "Visions from Lark."

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I saw them too. She sent witchlights for me, I think she must have set this up a long time ago because the stone was half buried when I found it."

"Hmm," Nassir was now his composed and thoughtful self again, nodding slowly and setting down the empty cup. "I'm not familiar with witchlights, can you tell me?"

"They are like a beacon, they draw the attention of the intended target. Sometimes they lead you somewhere, like today," I explained. "I wonder why I hadn't seen them before."

He sighed and tapped his chin, a habit I had started to notice of him since we came into the light where I could see him. He sighed through his nose and crossed his arms. "I'm wondering if you weren't meant to see it as a small child. Perhaps this was meant for you once you came into your powers."

"That would make sense," I said. "That was quite a risk though. How did she know I would come back this way when it was time? I could have moved far away from these mountains, I could have never wanted to see this place again."

"That, I don't know," Nassir said. "But rather than dwell on what did not happen, why don't we look at what did. What is it you plan to do with this information?"

I sighed and pulled the old grain sack tighter around me. Mother and Stars, what I wouldn't do for a fresh set of clothing right now.

"First, I need to rescue Schula," I said and Nassir nodded. "Then, I want to get far away from here. I think, I'm not sure, but I think my father could be that person in the cloak. Or at least he was Lark's lover."

"I think you are right. She mentioned to me only once that she had a love, but she did not tell me more than that," Nassir said.

"There has to be a reason she wouldn't have told you about him," I grumbled, frustrated. "I know you were important to her."

"I think I know who, or at least what, was under that cape," Nassir said. "And I'm not sure what that would mean for you, but you don't smell like a fae, or a dryad, or a sprite, or any number of other things I'm very familiar with in the Wyldes. It's very hard to place with the witch blood mixed in there, but now I'm more and more sure of what your other half could be."