by Hickory Mack
“You want me to let you punish Fen,” she said flatly.
“No, you’ve already won that argument,” Makkai chuckled, “but in the future, if you disagree with something, we need to have that conversation privately. I will extend the same courtesy to you with your decisions when you have come into your own. We must be a team, I can’t have them using my feelings for you against me.”
Chiori couldn’t speak her reply, his admission overwhelming her with warmth.
“Trust me to do the right thing. These are my people, I know how to handle them fairly. Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded. He cocked his head to one side, his ears pricked forward. “Do you agree with my request?” Chiori nodded again.
They spent the next few hours working with the trees, coming back when it grew dark. When Chiori could speak again he didn’t taunt or tease or say anything about it at all, like it was completely normal.
She was grateful, but she still hated her random bouts of mutism. It wasn’t normal. She hadn’t started losing her voice until about a month after she’d been moved to Tallow. The day Miranda had finally broken her pride in front of half the kids in their grade.
The next morning Creek was there, waiting for them to wake up. Chiori woke to the tightening of Makkai’s muscles, forming a protective circle around her, a threatening growl rumbling in his chest. She sat up, rubbing her eyes in confusion.
“What is it?” she asked through a yawn. He nodded his head in answer and she followed his direction, spying Creek, standing on the balls of her feet, ready to run. “Oh.”
She rubbed her eyes some more and looked again. Creek looked far more human this morning, still completely nude, but her limbs were human, her muscles long, lean and strong, she even had toes instead of roots. Her dark chocolate skin was smooth and perfect, even her curls had been tamed. Faster, Chiori understood. Creek appeared before them this way because she wanted to be faster, if she needed to run.
“G’morning, Creek,” she mumbled through another yawn.
“Good morning, Fox Child,” Creek’s voice carried across the clearing. “Greetings to The Devil’s Black Fox, Lord Makkai of Osaka.”
“Oh, she does know your name,” Chiori whispered and he abruptly relaxed, his growl traded for a light chuckle.
“They all know my name,” he said for her ears alone. “You didn’t say she was coming so early, we are both unprepared. I think you drooled on me a little.”
Chiori’s head whipped around so fast to check his shirt he chuckled again.
“Kidding.”
“Rude,” Chiori groaned.
“Agreed. It’s rude to wake your betters, Tree Nymph,” he said and Chiori gave him a puzzled look. “Same creature, different name. Ask Moscow,” he added quietly for her benefit.
“My kind wake with the Sun, this is an acceptable visiting hour to my people.” Creek said, not daring to duck her head and take her eyes off him.
“I have heard your story, as you have told it to my Witchling. Tell me the rest and why we should help you. Speak freely, and truthfully,” Lord Makkai demanded.
Chiori didn’t want to hear it. She just wished the dryad hadn’t come so early, she wanted more time snuggled up against him.
Makkai looked down at her and the corner of his mouth curled up in a grin. He pulled her back in and Chiori remembered he could hear her louder, projected thoughts. She’d definitely been thinking loud. She nestled against him and covered her face with embarrassment, wondering if Creek had the same ability to hear unguarded thoughts.
“Shhh, you’re fine,” he murmured into her hair. “Either speak or go away, tree.”
“Her name is Fog, and she loved the place that became the nest,” Creek started. “There were dozens of people living there, existing in a peaceful cooperative, we often visited friends there. They’d fixed up what was already there or cleared a space of decay and rebuilt with their own hands.”
“When the humans and their hunters and witches swarmed in, most of us withdrew, deeper into your territory. Though some, like Fog, were curious and stayed. Within a day they began slaughtering those that remained behind. Those who’d made it their home were counting on you. They’d built their lives partly within your border. They stayed and fought, confident you’d protect them. Your help never came,” Creek said bitterly.
“A cooperative is a place without fealty. Demons coming together to form a community without the protection of a Lord. They take their safety and the lack there-of into their own hands. Not one among you informed me your cooperative even existed,” Lord Makkai said coldly. Creek didn’t flinch.
Chiori played with a bit of Makkai’s hair, feeling unsure of her thoughts. She felt for Creek, but Makkai shouldn’t be held accountable for these people’s choices.
“Rumors spread when the body count rose. The Lord is uncaring and cruel, he only protects his contracted household. We gave up hope that you’d come. We tried to convince those, like Fog, that it wasn’t safe, but they kept going back. When they started hacking away at the forest and burning the remains, Fog wanted to fight them,” Creek continued.
“The last time we spoke was an argument. Fog chose to stay. I came deeper into the forest, trying to think of a way to convince her to leave. Not an hour later their witches erected the barrier, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“A History lesson for you, Witchling, the founding of your nest as told from the other side,” Makkai said to Chiori, then looked to Creek. “All of this happened a hundred years ago; you didn’t come to me for help then. Why have you requested it of my witch now?”
“I thought her dead,” Creek touched her breast, over her heart. “I can’t feel her anymore. It’s like she was taken from this world the moment that barrier slammed into place, it cut her away. I spent the first years trying to find a way in, and then spent decades in mourning. It wasn’t until she came through the barrier, carrying Fog’s scent that I knew to hope.”
Chiori clenched the bit of hair she’d been playing with, imagining she’d been separated from Makkai like that. He took her hand and stroked her skin, calming her thoughts.
“What do you give us for the reason we should help you?” Lord Makkai persisted.
“If you had come out of your castle, you could have prevented all of this. What’s a couple hundred lives to you? They would have moved on, and we would never have been separated. A hundred years! Has enough time passed to satisfy you? I want her back, and I am willing to pay whatever price asked of me,” Creek said. She shifted her weight from foot to foot, her eyes wary, prepared to run at the slightest move from Makkai.
“I see. You could not protect your loved ones from their own stubborn stupidity, and you place the blame at my feet. The humans and their nest posed no threat to me or mine and not one creature, great or small, asked me to intervene on their behalf,” Makkai said.
Chiori felt his protective barrier slip around her like a second skin. Makkai shifted nearly imperceptibly, she wasn’t in his lap anymore, but in his arms.
He jumped them through space, landing immediately behind the dryad. She’d whirled around when they’d disappeared, prepared for flight, only to find them blocking her way. Makkai extended his finger and motioned upward, lifting her off the ground, separating her from the Earth and her ability to slide back into her tree form.
“Personally, you vex me, and I would like to burn you to ashes. I do not feel you would be a significant loss to the Earth,” Lord Makkai said, setting Chiori on her feet, his hand resting lightly on her shoulder.
“Fortunately for you, my Witchling wishes for me to show you kindness. As irritating as I find you, there is no falsehood, you believe your words. My Witchling is as you say, a half-breed, and I believe the fae in her demands recompense. I owe her a debt. A life for a life. Your lover makes a second. Two lives taken in witness, two lives in witness spared. Is that agreeable to you, Witch?”
Chiori put her hand over his, and looked up into his black eyes, unsu
re of what he meant. Did he think he owed her for the hunters he’d killed? She’d accept and ask later; he was offering to help on his terms.
“Yes,” she tried to sound confident in her choice. Makkai gave her a gentle squeeze and glared at Creek.
“If you so much as think of crossing us, the agreement is void. Even look funny in my witch’s general direction, and you’re dead,” Makkai said. He set her on the ground and Creek glared daggers at him.
“Let’s do it now then, get it over with and we’ll go our separate ways,” she said.
“In our bed clothes, tree? Life doesn’t work like that. No demands from you, we’re doing you a favor, you already owe us. Don’t make it any worse on yourself. Look at my poor Witchling. You woke her far too early and now she must be fed. How else will she have the energy to do anything?” Makkai clicked his tongue.
He made breakfast and Chiori dressed behind a screen, Creek waiting outside, watching them with scornful impatience. Chiori tried to offer her some food but Makkai stopped her.
“She’s a plant, Little One,” he said, indicating the wheat pancakes, oatmeal and array of fruits and vegetables. “It would be an insult, suggesting cannibalism. Dryad’s are not demon kind, they’re the fae that were left behind. The humans think all the pure fae disappeared, that all that’s left are mixed breeds like you. There are a few species, like that woman out there, that are too erratic to trust, dangerous even to members of the Courts. The others didn’t want them in Underhill. How else would a wonder such as yourself exist? Have you ever heard the term ‘Obligate Carnivore’?”
Chiori shook her head, her eyes wide.
“It means they will literally die if they do not eat flesh. Like a cat. In Underhill, the only thing for them to eat would be other fae,” Lord Makkai said. He leaned back and called out. “Hey, Tree, give the girl a smile.”
Creek looked like she would happily gut him instead. Lord Makkai matched her frown and she sighed, giving a broad smile, showing razor sharp, serrated teeth. Chiori couldn’t stifle her gasp. He’d been right, and she’d been so stubbornly wrong. That woman, looking so sweet and kind, could do real harm.
“It’s okay, you know now,” Lord Makkai said, clearing away plates, “and she knows not to mess with you.”
“Why did you decide to do this?” Chiori asked. “I know you don’t want to.”
“You’re right, I don’t particularly want to. If the witch is prompt, we only have two days remaining. Again, it’s my selfishness, and too much possessiveness. I want to spend every moment with you. I also want you to be happy in our time together. Helping this creature won’t erase what I forced you to witness, but I’m trying to be good, for you. If I act like a dictator and lock you in a room, what we have will curl up and die instead of growing,” Makkai said, offering his hand.
“How sentimental. The Devil’s Fox has feelings for the little half-breed,” Creek said, her lip curling at their clasped hands.
“If anything happens to this little half-breed while we do this for you, I’ll draw it out. I can make your death last months. There’s nowhere you can hide from me,” Makkai said. “Don’t make me regret the decision to help you.”
Creek swallowed hard, following in their wake to the middle of the clearing.
“I’m assuming you cannot jump,” he said.
“You would assume correctly,” she said.
The barrier slid over Chiori’s skin and she pressed herself to Makkai. She knew what was expected of her. Makkai didn’t touch Creek. He gave her a hard look, reached out with his mind and roughly dragged her into the fold of his magic. The jump was harder than usual, faster. Chiori slid to the ground, holding her head to the Earth, trying not to vomit. Creek had it worse, she actually did vomit.
Lord Makkai crouched down, his elbow on his knee, hand under his chin, looking down at Chiori with a mixture of worried fondness.
“Why is this so difficult for you?” he murmured. Chiori moaned her response. It took several minutes before she could pick her head up off the ground, and several minutes more to be able to stand. The dryad was still face planted in the dirt.
“I’m okay,” Chiori said, wiping her lips. She’d managed to avoid vomiting, but the taste had risen in her mouth. She looked at Creek in sympathy. “I guess I’m not the only one having trouble with it.”
“What if- Am I?” Chiori turned her big eyes on Makkai.
“No, I don’t think you’re part dryad,” he assured her. “You should know, it’s important that you do. Whatever fae creature you are, it’s not this.”
“How do you know?” she asked.
“Your magic is a lot stronger than any tree I’ve ever met. There’s more than the Earth hidden in you. When you can use it, you’ll see,” he answered.
Chiori accepted his theory and glanced at their surroundings, trying to get her bearings. None of it was immediately familiar, but she knew where she was. They were close to the trails she’d taken to get to the Matriarch tree. Her stomach clenched in a knot. She was so close to Tallow. Two weeks had passed and she’d already accepted she’d never see it again. She didn’t want to go back.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea,” she said, barely audible, nerves making her voice tremble.
“You can’t have second thoughts now, we have an agreement,” Creek said, slowly lifting herself off the ground, her head between her hands, her eyes blazing. “Please. She’s over there, bring her back to me.”
“You’re safe with me, they can’t hurt you anymore,” Lord Makkai promised, then turned to Creek. “You’re staying on this side, I don’t want to drag you over there with us. Give us something to convince the other one to come with us.”
“She won’t come to you,” Creek said, crossing her arms over her bare breasts.
“Perhaps not, but she’s already come to my witch. If she’s still in the area, her curiosity should override the fear. Yours did,” Makkai said. Creek came forward, hand extended to Chiori. She set a small object in the girl’s palm. Chiori lifted it gently. A thin silver chain with a blood-red tear-drop gemstone.
“Pretty.” Chiori held it up for Makkai to see.
“Show it to her, she’ll recognize it,” Creek said.
“Alright, let’s get this over with,” Makkai said, taking Chiori’s hand and stalking into the trees, to the last place she wanted to be.
Chapter 17
Makkai let Chiori take the lead. The child clearly knew where she was going, which didn’t square up with her obvious lack of outdoor experience. A mile into their walk she went straight through the barrier without the slightest hesitation. Makkai used his illusion magic to mirror the witch’s power and push through.
“Did you even see it?” he asked. Chiori turned and looked past him.
“See what?”
“Something interesting to explore later,” Makkai said. Chiori tried to see what he was talking about, but all she saw was more trees.
“How long do you think it’ll take us to find her?” she asked. “As far as I know, this is the only bit of forest in the nest.” She was on familiar ground now, her stride lengthening with confidence. It didn’t stop her from tripping or stepping on every brittle twig with a loud Snap! every few steps, though.
“Could be anytime now. Hold that thing out in front of you, see if it does any good,” Makkai said, casting his senses outward. There were more creatures than he’d expected, hidden within the few acres of forest allowed to grow within the nest, and all of them would know of their presence, thanks to Chiori’s lack of grace.
Most of them were incorporeal spirits, several near to turning. His mouth formed a tight smile. One of them would transition soon. She'd become powerful enough to give the hunters some serious trouble. A simple woman in life, she’d been savagely beaten to death. Many vengeance demons were born this way. Humans never learned. He glanced at Chiori, dutifully holding out the bracelet as she walked and sent silent wishes of good luck to the spirit.
; There were also a handful of sprites, a trio of gnomes and a singular goblin. If he weren’t in a hurry he’d invite the gnomes home with him. A certain member of his household was quite fond of them and would delight in their company.
The goblin though, that was enough to give him pause. Nasty beasts, even under the best circumstances. He wondered how it had evaded the hunters and managed not to eat all the other creatures. Though the same could be said of the tree. The space they shared was so small, it would be impossible for two predatory creatures to keep from chaffing each other’s nerves. He cast out further, finding her and his answer. She was strong, this dryad. She’d been the one to keep the goblin, and probably everything else non-human, in check.
Though it didn’t explain what the pair of them had been eating all this time.
This was a high population nest, nearly two thousand people. However it was still small enough that mysterious disappearances would be thoroughly investigated. He was curious how they’d survived so long without revealing themselves. The fae creature felt his searching probe and returned the attention, boldly sizing him up.
Makkai continued looking beyond the trees and into the open fields of dead crab grass, learning what was in the area. He cursed under his breath. A pair of hunters were making the rounds, maybe a mile away. Makkai itched to take them out, but he wouldn’t do it with Chiori present.
His chest hurt, he was too far away from where they’d banished him and his magic was greatly diminished. If the men came this way they'd try to take Chiori, and that would get bloody. Makkai almost called Fen to take her to safety, but one look at the confident way she moved quelled the notion. It wouldn’t be easy for Fen to get through the barrier, anyway.
“Tch.”
Chiori looked over her shoulder, spied his frown and her brows furrowed, a frown of her own forming to match his.