by Andra Leigh
“I’m frightened too,” Eliscity told her.
“Are you who I think?”
No. It was the answer that flew through her mind. Not anymore. Instead of saying it though, Eliscity let the question remain unanswered.
Leaves crunched, sticks snapped and Drae appeared at her side.
“Eliscity, thank the Dead, are you o – Delora.” He looked both relieved and terrified at finding the girl standing before him.
No one said anything for a long moment. Then…
“Delora,” came a hushed, panicked call, weaving through the trees and coming closer.
And again.
“Lor?” a different voice this time, but with the same desperation.
Her family was trying to find her.
Eliscity’s eyes locked onto Delora as she tried to silently convey her thoughts.
“Go,” Delora whispered as her name was called again. “If they see you…”
Drae rushed forward to scoop her into a bear hug, before scrambling to untie the horses. Eliscity moved forward more slowly, her eyes never leaving her youngest sister.
“I’m glad you saw me,” Eliscity said, pressing a kiss to the side of Delora’s head.
Delora’s lip trembled, her eyes glistening, as she stepped aside to let Eliscity climb up onto Kitten’s back.
Drae looked down at Delora from his high perch on Chaser. “You’re all going to my place, if you stay hidden you’ll be safe. Saule and Madalyne will tell you what’s going on.”
“Will it be the truth?”
“No,” Drae answered honestly. “But let them think it is.”
Delora looked from him to Eliscity and nodded.
“Delora,” Drae spoke importantly, “you make them go. You make sure they don’t come back.”
She nodded again, casting an apprehensive look behind her as her name was called again. This time so close Eliscity could hear foot falls.
“Go,” Delora hissed as Eliscity grabbed her reins and pulled Kitten’s head around. “Be safe.”
She took one last look back at the young girl then followed Chaser though the trees as fast as the terrain would allow them.
“You got Issa?” she checked with a sob.
Drae’s voice floated back to her. “Yes. Mam’s joining your family.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That the Realm had come to take back payment for a marriage of convenience that hadn’t lasted,” he said.
She nodded, no longer trusting her voice.
They fell silent after that, riding north through the cover of the forest’s edge as far as they could. When the trees ran out they burst into the late day’s light, the rushing river on their left, The Horizon on their right. The River’s Road beneath their hooves would lead them straight up into Hynxt.
Eliscity was beginning to think she would cry the entire way.
●
She kept waiting for Drae to stop. To realise the insanity of his decision to join her and turn around. But when they finally did stop it wasn’t to declare madness or run home screaming. It was to stop for the night.
It hadn’t been a full day’s ride but they had managed to put some good distance between them and Eltarn. The horses had been worked hard and immediately moved to the river for water. Drae tied them to a low tree on the river bank and gathered them as much grass as the area offered, while Eliscity, puffy eyed and sore, scouted for a safe place for them to camp down. There wasn’t one. The river edge quickly changed to the sandy Cityel floor which disappeared into The Horizon. There was nowhere to hide. They were in the wide open space of the Cityel. It was too much. Eliscity felt her head pound as more tears sprung to her raw eyes. How could she have more tears? She’d been crying for hours.
As the new tears fell she found herself being pulled into warm arms. She clung on to Drae as he held her, burying her face in his chest. She had no idea how long they stood like that, but Drae never once tried to pull away or complain that she was getting his shirt wet. That was all that mattered to her.
It was her ribs that finally demanded they part. She had done her best to ignore them while galloping up the River’s Road.
They ate a quick meal of goat stew. It may have been because she was exhausted and ravenous, but it tasted fantastic. Once full they decided due to the lack of shelter they would have to sleep in turns while the other kept watch.
Drae took the first shift, waking her up when the sky began to lighten so she could take over the watch. But while the night was chilly, Drae’s body beside her was warm. The ground was hard but her satchel provided such a soft and comfortable pillow. And it didn’t matter how forcefully she told herself she had to stay awake, that both her and Drae’s lives could depend on it, the haze of the sleep she had just been woken from crept over her.
Her body fought to keep her eyes opens, her mind tried to stay alert.
She had to protect them.
But it was useless and soon she was drifting off into the warmth and blackness of sleep.
●
She was awake the moment Drae’s hand landed on her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she realised it was morning.
“Bloods. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she said in a panicked rush.
Drae didn’t look mad which made her feel guiltier. However he was staring down at her with an expression she couldn’t place.
Was he confused?
Startled?
Terrified?
“What’s happened?” she asked, not taking her eyes off him. “Drae, talk to me. Please.”
His mouth fell open.
“I was hoping,” Drae struggled on the words, “you were going to tell me you did some gardening last night.”
“Huh?”
It was only then she realised how soft the hard Cityel floor felt under her. Because it wasn’t the Cityel floor. They no longer lay on the burnt orange desert but on green mossy grass.
“What the –”
She bolted to her feet, a prickling in her ribs telling her this wasn’t a dream.
They hadn’t moved, she realised through the strange shock of what she was seeing. The horses were still tethered to the low tree. The river still rushed to the south. The Horizon still loomed on their other side. But she stood in the middle of a lush moss circle. A perfect circle. Tiny white and yellow flowers peeked through the moss, radiating out to the edges. It was the edges that drew her attention. The circle had a border.
“Are those mushrooms?” she asked, peering at the large brown caps.
“Yup.” Drae sounded as confounded as she felt.
They stared at each other for a minute, as if hoping the other would offer an explanation. Finally Eliscity just shrugged.
Cautiously Drae approached the circle’s edge, cast an apprehensive look back to her, then in one swift movement stepped over the mushrooms and onto the Cityel.
Eliscity froze. Drae froze. Even the horses were still, their dark eyes watching them.
Nothing happened.
Eliscity let go of the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. “Does that mean it’s safe?”
“It’s grass…” Drae answered blankly. “Never really known grass to be all that dangerous.”
“Have you ever known it to do this?” Eliscity pointed at her feet.
“Have you?”
“No,” she marvelled, “it’s like –”
“Magic?” Drae accused.
She gaped across the circle at him. “Do you think I did this?”
“Well, I certainly don’t have any magic.”
“No, but…” she stared at the mushrooms. “I’ve never… I don’t have magic either.”
“I hate to disagree, but…” Drae didn’t continue. He didn’t need to.
Was it possible she had created the strange circle? She lifted her hands to her face expecting them to be covered in soil from planting in her sleep. They were clean.
“Perhaps we should carry on,” she mu
ttered in a shocked voice. “Long journey still ahead of us.”
Drae nodded, accepting her inability to explain the circle.
Hurriedly she bent down to collect her things, tossing them into her satchel haphazardly. Realising Drae hadn’t joined her to do the same with his belongings, she paused and looked up. He was still standing on the Cityel floor frowning at the mushroom circle.
“Drae?”
“It’s like… now I’m out of it I don’t really want to step back into it.”
Remembering the odd expression on his face when she had woken, her shoulders slumped. He was afraid. She had finally pushed his understanding and acceptance too far.
“It’s okay,” she said, trying to ignore the sting creeping in behind her eyes.
“How’s that okay?” Drae was still frowning at the circle.
Eliscity’s chest tightened. He was right.
“It’s not okay,” she agreed quietly.
“It’s just odd,” Drae said.
Eliscity raised an eyebrow. “Odd?”
Drae still hadn’t looked away from the circle. “It’s as if I can’t step past the mushrooms. I mean obviously I could if I wanted to but I don’t want to so… I can’t. It’s odd. And fascinating.”
“Fascinating…” Eliscity echoed. “Wait, you’re not afraid?”
“Huh?” Drae’s eyes flickered up to her. “No. I mean, I’m somewhat taken aback, I admit. But I don’t think I’m scared.”
“But,” it was Eliscity’s turn to frown, “you said you can’t step over the mushrooms.”
“I don’t want to,” he corrected.
“So, you are afraid. Or is it the magic? You don’t like it.”
“What?” Drae looked completely perplexed. “I don’t think you’re listening to me.”
“I’m listening. I get it. I’m sorry that there’s a side of me that’s not what I used to be, that’s scary and unknown and does things like this while I’m sleeping. I wish that I could say something unexpected isn’t going to happen again, but I can’t. I don’t have control over what my blood does. If I did, do you think I would have given myself veined fingers and useless wings?” It hadn’t escaped her notice that she was sounding increasingly hysterical. “I wouldn’t have given myself wings at all. I would give myself safety and comfort and scary guards not chasing after me. I’m strange like that. But it seems I can’t give myself that. And I’m sorry because I shouldn’t have dragged you into my life. Not this life. My old life, fine. That life was yours. But as much as I want this life to be yours too, I know that’s a little harder to stomach. Trust me, I know.”
“Eliscity!” Drae interrupted, his hands raised like he was fending her off. “You are definitely not listening to me. I can’t step past the mushrooms.”
“Yeah, I heard that bit. You can’t step past the mushrooms because you don’t want to.”
“You’re still misunderstanding me,” Drae sighed. “Would you come over here, please? I can’t reach you from here.”
“Why don’t you come over here?” she shot back.
“Because I’m incapable of crossing into the circle and, might I add, the more upset you get the stronger the urge to actually back away gets. You are not walking out of my life again, Eliscity,” Drae stressed. “I’m happy. Wings and veins and chasing guards don’t change that. So can we stop the big misunderstanding and focus on figuring out how you made a magical circle that’s intent on keeping me out.”
That got her attention.
“What did you just say?”
“Told you you weren’t listening.”
“The circle is making you not want to step into it?”
Drae nodded. “The mushrooms, more specifically. I think.”
“But… you had no problem stepping out of the circle.”
“I guess you can leave whenever you like.”
“How hospitable.”
“Until you want to get back in,” Drae grumbled.
“Okay. Er. Just step back in,” she tried.
He shrugged. “I don’t want to.”
“But you want to come back in?”
“Yes.”
“So come back in.”
“I can’t.”
“Because you don’t want to?”
“No, because I don’t want to step over the mushrooms.”
“Not because you don’t want to come back in?”
“No, I – you’re enjoying this aren’t you?”
“It’s become somewhat amusing, yes.”
Drae scowled at her.
“Okay, fine,” she strode to the edge of the circle. “I guess I should–”
“Wait!” Drae yelled, but she was already stepping over the mushrooms to join him on the Cityel.
“Great,” he huffed. “Now neither of us can get back in there. You know, where our satchels are.”
Eliscity frowned at the mushrooms then stepped back into the circle.
“Seriously?” Drae’s face was deadpan as he took in Eliscity’s position.
She jumped in and out of the circle a few times in quick succession, stopping back inside the mushrooms to shrug at Drae.
He wasn’t impressed.
“Come on, they’re just mushrooms.” She offered him her hand.
“Inhospitable mushrooms that – oh hey,” Drae said as his hand touched hers. “Would you look at that, they’re just mushrooms.”
He stepped back into the circle.
She smiled up at him. “Feel silly now?”
“I still maintain those are inhospitable mushrooms when you’re on the other side of them. But the moment I took your hand, it was like you were opening a door for me.” His eyes widened. “Just like in the old tales. Circles of protection, bordered in mushrooms. It’s a Faerie circle. You made a Faerie circle.”
I didn’t know Fae could work circles,” Eliscity muttered to the strange garden.
“I’m sure there’s much that has been lost from records and stories,” Drae said. Slowly he moved over to his belongings and began piling them into his rucksack. “Though as fascinating as it is, I don’t think we should leave it in the middle of the otherwise dull landscape.”
Eliscity snorted. “What would you suggest? That we pick it up and carry it between us?”
Drae didn’t seem to hear the joke.
“Maybe we should. Don’t look at me like that. Like you said, you have no control over what your blood does. I don’t know how you made this –”
“I was trying to stay awake, I swear. I knew I needed to protect us,” Eliscity muttered.
“Okay, so maybe those feelings did it. But we can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to make another one and it could be useful. So we take the mushrooms. That way we can set up a circle wherever we go.”
“If they still work once removed.”
Drae shrugged, giving her a crooked smile. “Worth a try, don’t you think?”
She grinned back at him. He wasn’t afraid of her.
“Yeah, it’s worth a try.”
Taking the mushrooms with them turned out to be easier said than done. The brown caps had deep roots that didn’t want to leave the ground. After much digging and pulling they finally extracted the last of the mushrooms. The thick covering of moss was already wilting under the blistering sun as they slung the bag of brown caps over Kitten’s neck and continued up the River’s Road.
●
Two weeks later Drae, Eliscity, Kitten and Chaser were camping on the edge of Hynxt’s city wall. Tomorrow they were going to let the guards see them. More specifically they would see Eliscity. Hopefully Drae, if seen, wouldn’t be associated with her. So far it had proved useful to have a face that wasn’t being hunted for. Twice on their journey he had spoken to guards, drawing their attention. The first time with a passing wagon, the second time at a makeshift checkpoint which had been set up with the sole purpose of finding her and her family. She’d had to detour into the shallows of The Horizon to avoid them while Drae whistled
his way through the checkpoint, asking the tight lipped guards how their day was going.
They had decided it would be foolish to let her be spotted before Hynxt, as there was nowhere to hide on the River’s Road. But the Southern Cities had plenty of places. Hynxt’s wall had a brand new set of guards standing at its entrance, watching the people crossing the boundary. The Clinic wanted her back. Or dead. Badly. She assumed every entrance along Hynxt’s southern wall had the same treatment. However, the river which ran the western edge of Hynxt didn’t seem to.
Tomorrow she would travel upriver into the city, while Drae and the horses trotted through the guard-watched entrance. Then she would let herself be seen in the middle of the city. That should confuse the guards.
They were up before dawn the next day, getting ready in nervous silence. Drae saw to the horses while Eliscity gathered up the mushrooms they had planted in the sand the night before. They tested the brown caps every night since they appeared. While she had no way of feeling whether they were working, Drae ensured her their magic hadn’t died completely when they yanked them from the ground. Every time she set up the circle – they discovered it needed to be a connected circle – Drae would wait on the outside until it was done then attempt to step in without her help. So far he hadn’t succeeded. Though she knew it wouldn’t last. The mushrooms were showing their age. Soon they would shrivel into a very dead pile of rot.
Eliscity’s way into Hynxt was a lot less comfortable than Drae’s. She waded into the river and trudged upstream. It took her an hour of fighting the rushing water to make it past the stretch of wall that rounded the city. She had tried to time her approach with the peak in water collection and smiled to herself when she saw she had succeeded. Waterbearers, storeowners and children with buckets were crowding the water. Once they had filled their containers they lugged the heavy loads up the short bank and into the city, their place at the river being taken by a long line of impatient people waiting their turn. The crowd was so thick and restless it was easy for Eliscity to become part of it. A few of the people on the front lines of the collection gave her a startled look as she tripped out of the river and into the mass group of bodies but she ignored them. The crowd did what she hoped it would. It blocked her from the patrolling guards’ lingering eyes. She was just another body pushing through the swarm, albeit a sopping wet one. Still, no one gave her a second look. She was practically invisible as she moved from the surging river crowd into the narrow Hynxt streets.