‘Warriors!’ called Corlas. ‘Our enemies seek to invade our realm! Scatter to our southern borders and stop them!’
Resolute anger greeted his words, and Sprites ran into the trees. Corlas stepped off the root to land heavily in the clearing, where those remaining parted for him. There were many who had not the training or skill to fight, but he knew that before the day was out he might need the aid of all of them.
‘The rest of you,’ he said, ‘protect the clearing!’
He went to his hut – still the same old shelter it had always been, except the flower garden had grown tall enough to spill over the roof. He put the Stone down on the bed, then stared at it for a long moment.
It lay right about where his boy had been born while Mirrow lay dying.
•
The shade of a cloud found Lalenda, and she was thankful for the relief it offered. The treetops of Whisperwood stretched out beneath as far as she could see, and she had no clue where to start looking. All she knew was that Losara had been born in a hut in a clearing, but that had been almost twenty years ago now. There was no telling if the clearing still existed, or if that was where Corlas would take him.
She dropped lower, intending to take a look underneath the canopy. It was a mean tangle, however, branches unnaturally twisted around each other, twigs poking out at all kinds of angles, leaves clustering to obscure her view. She flew on, looking for a better place. A few minutes later, frustrated, she set down on a branch.
‘Can you gnash your way through this?’ she asked.
‘Not be looking very tasty,’ said Grimra. Nonetheless his fangs appeared and he went at the trees. Woodchips started flying, branches cracking and shards raining down …yet even as he bored his hole, before Lalenda’s eyes other branches snaked in, intertwining to seal it up again.
‘Wait, Grimra,’ she said. As the ghost made a series of spitting noises, the wood closed up once more until it showed no sign of having been attacked. Overhead a cloud moved on, and the sun that replaced it was blistering.
‘Let’s find another way in,’ she said, and rose to head south. As she came to the edge of the wood, she heard a neighing beneath, and instantly set down. Stealing forward over the blockade of vegetation, she peeped over to see who it was.
Jaya.
Lalenda both could not, and somehow very much could, believe it. Of course Jaya would be here, just as of course Lalenda had come. She felt the tips of her claws poke from her fingertips, heard Grimra mutter, ‘Lady light creature. Grimra to bite her in the heart?’
She hesitated, unsure why. There was so much uncertainty now – Jaya had not killed her when she could have, and had stopped that soldier shooting at Losara.
Grimra apparently suffered no such ambivalence, for he swooped down immediately.
•
Jaya stared warily into the wood. Dark patches moved between the trees as the clouds that cast them floated on, stealing over branches and ferns, sending strange shadows shifting. Interspersed were patches of brilliant sunshine, cut into multiple beams by their passage through the canopy, brightly lighting up spots of foliage. The whole effect was entirely otherworldly.
Summoning her courage, she stepped inside. As she crossed the brink there was a whoosh and a great howl behind her, and she shrieked and leaped away. Landing with her heart pounding, she tried to make sense of what she saw. Across the threshold of the wood a grey barrier shimmered translucently, against which a disembodied flurry of long flashing teeth and claws threw itself. Beyond it a Mire Pixie set down on the grass – Lalenda.
Jaya rose cautiously, her hand going to her sword, but despite whatever it was hurling itself repeatedly at the wood, it rebounded every time.
‘Desist, Grimra,’ said Lalenda, and trotted up to the trees to peer in. She held out her hand cautiously and met with the same grey resistance. Jaya raised her sword in warning and the pixie backed away a little. Jaya approached, wary not to cross the barrier, only holding out a hand to wave it through and back where these others had failed.
‘What trick is this?’ said Lalenda.
Jaya found herself angry with the Mire Pixie. ‘Damn you, girl,’ she said. ‘Have you nothing to do with your time but attack me?’
‘I did not attack you.’
‘What was that thing, then?’
‘That be Grimra,’ said Lalenda. The air about her swirled, lifting her skirt and stirring her hair. ‘You could say he’s my guardian. I did not bring him the last time we met, or else you wouldn’t be standing there. But I did not set him on you just now.’
Jaya laughed suddenly, having worked it out. ‘I’m a Sprite,’ she said. ‘That’s why I can enter the wood and you can’t! This,’ she looked around, ‘is my ancestral home.’
Lalenda’s face fell as she took in the news. For a moment she looked terribly lost. ‘I can’t get in above either,’ she said miserably.
As she had done at the stream, Jaya found herself strangely empathising with the pixie. Of all the beings in the world, this was the only other who knew what it was like to love a blue-haired man. And, like Jaya, her man was trapped inside some Arkus-forsaken rock, stolen for reasons she did not comprehend. Had he emerged yet? No way to tell. Who would he be when he did?
‘Listen, Lalenda,’ she said, ‘can we not agree that we want the same thing?’
Lalenda stared at her with suspicious cobalt eyes.
‘We both,’ continued Jaya, ‘want to get to wherever they have taken …him.’
‘Yes.’
‘And, without knowing what in four shades of shit he is going to be like when he comes out of that thing, we ,’ she moved a finger between them, ‘can do nothing more than go and see. There’s no point killing each other, is there? We do that and maybe Bel emerges hating you, or Losara hating me, or …something else. Who knows?’
Lalenda bit her lip. ‘What are you suggesting?’
‘This guardian of yours – can he be taken off my scent?’
‘Yes.’
Jaya held out her hand. ‘Well, come on, then.’
Lalenda took a hesitant step towards her. ‘You think you can usher me through the barrier?’
Jaya shrugged. ‘Not sure. Worth a try, don’t you think?’
Lalenda’s brow creased uncertainly, but she reached out to take Jaya’s hand – the skin of her fingers rough around the slits that hid away her claws. Jaya pulled and Lalenda stumbled forward, through the barrier. A few steps later she came to a halt, and patted herself down as if worried she wouldn’t be intact. Finding that she was, she looked around at the wood, and gave a disbelieving little chuckle. As her eyes met Jaya’s, however, the mirth faded.
‘But why?’ she said.
Jaya quirked a smile. ‘Look around. This wood is too spooky to be sneaking around in without company.’
‘I think it’s quite nice,’ said Lalenda.
‘Well, you would, I suppose. But we stand a better chance together, don’t you agree?’
A curl of white frothed at her knee and there was a low growl.
‘Hush, Grimra,’ said Lalenda. ‘There is to be no eating this woman. For now.’
‘Too kind,’ said Jaya, then cocked her head. Someone was coming.
‘What is it?’ said Lalenda, but Jaya held a finger to her lips. She glanced around, spotted a large cluster of ferns at the base of a tree, and gestured towards them. Lalenda frowned without comprehension, but Jaya led the way, going down on her knees and crawling into the plants. A couple of moments later, the pixie followed.
‘What are we doing in here?’ she whispered.
‘Hiding,’ breathed Jaya, and pointed out from the fronds.
A Sprite woman appeared, treading quietly through the undergrowth. She was fluid and yet exact in her movements, even her long hair swishing to a standstill when she did. She was lithe and slender, not much younger than Jaya herself, and Jaya wondered if there was reason to fear her. The ferns rustled as a chilling breeze crept through them and stole onwards towards the woman. For a moment she paused, as if listening to something. Jaya wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard voices.