by WB McKay
"Ava, Phoebe," said Zoe, "what do you think of my plan?"
"Before you guys vote or whatever is about to happen, I say we make one more attempt in the air." If they weren't going to let me go in alone, I wanted to try one more thing before we attempted something even more dangerous.
"I think we only have time for one more attempt before we make camp," said Zoe.
"Agreed. So, we don't want to send me in alone. Fine." I took a deep breath. "Okay, how about we--"
The next time we gathered at the bend in the path, each of us had several forming bruises. I had a split lip and a sore spot on my scalp where a chunk of hair should have been. The only thing I could remember was the barest hint of an idea involving a threat display like the dragons had used on us when we entered their territory.
"How about we never try something like that ever again?" suggested Phoebe.
"Agreed," said the rest of us in unison.
"Let's make camp, have something to eat, and we'll figure out a plan for how to tackle this mess tomorrow."
The conversation around the campfire was stilted and uninspired. There wasn't much to say. After a while, I looked around at the group of them, and realized we'd all accepted that we were going in on the ground first thing in the morning. We were going after the beast in the mist. We didn't need to talk more or take a vote.
Eventually, Phoebe said to Zoe, "You recover missing people. A lot of kidnappers must use intimidation tactics like this."
"Yes," Zoe agreed.
"So have you tried something like this before?"
"There are never two cases that are the same," she said. "Honestly, if there ever was, I'd stop doing this. If it starts to feel routine, you're missing details."
Phoebe pursed her lips. I wasn't sure what she was thinking, but it definitely wasn't nice.
"This is a case where we have almost no information," said Zoe. "That happens. The best thing to do is exhaust all options in one place before moving onto another so that we extract every bit of information we can. Anything could be an advantage, we just won't know until it's over what it was that finally got us to the end goal."
"That sounded a lot more positive than you were before," observed Phoebe.
"We're here now." Zoe shrugged. "I'm in it."
Phoebe smiled. I figured she got what it was she'd needed from Zoe.
We all made our beds after that. If I closed my eyes and ears and plugged my nose, I might have been able to pretend I wasn't in Faerie. As it was, I found the truth inescapable. The others must have been thinking something similar, because Phoebe asked, "What would you be doing right now if you weren't here?"
"I don't know," answered Ava. "I don't have a routine."
"Of course you don't," commented Phoebe.
Ava ignored that. "I would enjoy a stroll on the beach right now."
"That sounds good," said Phoebe.
"What would you like to be doing?" asked Ava.
"Visiting with my tree." I could hear the longing in her voice. Being away from home was hard on her. She was sacrificing a lot for me.
"You'll see her soon," I said.
"Sophie would be at Owen's house," said Phoebe. She reached over and squeezed my hand. "You'll see him soon, too." Louder, she asked, "What would you like to be doing, Zoe?"
"I'd be chasing down another missing person if I wasn't here," she said. "Or I'd be with my mom. We have dinners together a lot. I might be at her house, being made fun of by my brothers and sisters."
"We could make fun of you, if that would help," offered Phoebe.
"Yes, please," I said. "Let's gang up on Zoe now instead of me."
The others laughed softly, but we were all weary and done with the day. The crackling fire was a soothing distraction from the noise of Faerie, and soon Ava's soft snoring joined in.
Sleep was hard for me to come by, and when it did, I dreamt about Owen in a cage too small for him to lay down in. Horrible small creatures kept being dropped in there with him, and they crawled all over him. I just knew they were looking for a way into his body. I shuddered so hard a few times that I shook myself awake.
It was still dark out. Phoebe and Ava slept peacefully at both of my sides. Quietly as I could, I slipped out of our sleeping spot in the woods, and joined Zoe on watch. Though it didn't look to need it, I stoked the fire a bit. Anything to keep my mind busy and away from my nightmare.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
"You should get some." I sat on the log next to her. "I'll take watch."
She nodded noncommittally.
I heaved a sigh. I knew she was going to say something, so I closed my eyes, as if to block it out. I didn't want to hear what I knew she had to say.
"We're going to try my plan," she said.
"I know."
"We're not going to try ten times," she said. "Once, maybe twice if we feel we've gained a lot on the first attempt, and then we're done."
"I know."
"I don't want us to waste time here if we can't do this."
"I know."
"We might need to leave and find more information elsewhere. We're not giving up. We're not abandoning him by putting physical distance between us and the mist. We're getting him as fast as we can."
I opened my eyes. The green mist was right there. It glowed in the dark, eerie and awful and looming in the distance, and he was inside it. Owen was right there. I turned to Zoe, thinking to say this out loud, but when we locked eyes I knew that she understood. She slowly nodded and patted my knee. "As fast as we can," she repeated for me.
And because I needed to claim the words for myself, I said them again. "As fast as we can."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning was rough. There was no coffee and my body ached everywhere. I'd shifted a few times, hoping to disappear the aches and pains, but nothing worked. Even my feathers ached. Whatever the Orani had done to us the day before hadn't caused any permanent damage, but I wasn't their biggest fan, for many reasons.
"Why didn't anybody think to bring coffee with us?" I moaned, rolling to a sitting position.
"Stimulants are a weakness that one should never have to depend on," replied Phoebe.
I climbed to my feet and strapped on my swords. "Paraphrasing my previous ignorance wins you no points unless you are handing me a cup of coffee while doing it."
Phoebe snickered with way too much glee for a coffeeless morning. Being in the forest definitely agreed with her much better than sleeping in houses did. Even if that forest was full of weird plants and creatures likely intent on killing us.
As if the nightmares weren't enough of a problem, I'd woken a few times in the night because a troupe of marching mushrooms were nibbling on my toes. They didn't have any teeth, and were about as scary as marshmallows, but it tickled, and more importantly, it creeped me the hell out. Mushrooms were not supposed to be ambulatory. Every time I kicked them away they made the most plaintive little cries.
"Anybody else have to deal with the creepy little toadstools last night?" I asked. A chorus of confused sounds was my only response. "Of course not. Do you think they can sense when there is a newbie among them?"
"I'm not sure how they would," said Ava, "but it's an interesting concept. It could help them hunt more effectively."
Zoe looked thoughtful. "I think it's more likely that people who are new to Faerie do things different from people who have been around for a while, so they attract notice."
"How is it exactly that I slept so differently a bunch of fungus decided nibbling on my toes all night was the best way to spend their evening?"
"Maybe you're making it up," suggested Phoebe. "Or maybe it was a dream."
"My toes hurt."
"Maybe this is a dream."
I pinched her hip--hard--and she squealed like a pig. "Don't worry," I told her. "You're making this up. Or maybe it's a dream."
Ava's scrutinizing gaze was giving me the once over. "If I had to speculate, I would say it's you
r death magic. Mushrooms on Earth tend to grow on decaying matter. They essentially live on death. I'd imagine Faerie mushrooms are drawn to your magic."
I huffed out an exasperated breath. "Well, it tickles!"
That earned a chorus of laughter that I normally would have grumped at on principle, but again, Zoe's laugh caught me and I found myself joining in.
"Nothing like laughter to wake everyone up," said Zoe. "We should be heading out."
"Have you ever had coffee, Zoe? Do they have that in Faerie?"
"I've heard of it, but no, I've never had it."
"Exactly," I said. "No opinion from you on what's best for waking a person up. Fae, I miss coffee."
"If I'd have known you'd get this addicted, I never would have let you start," said Phoebe.
"Pfft."
"Pfft?" asked Phoebe. "Is that the best you've got?"
I pointed to my mouth. "Need. Coffee."
Zoe, being a professional or something, made sure everyone checked their weapons and had us set out back toward the green mist. We'd decided that staying close to it wasn't a great idea, so our camp was about a half-mile away. The sunrise in the forest was stunning. Shafts of golden light penetrated the trees at sharp angles, illuminating scenes that wouldn't have been out of place in an anime character's fantasy. The only thing missing were cherry blossoms magically suspended in the air.
The green mist grew larger in my vision, and I had the strongest sense of deja vu. I guess that was to be expected when I'd done something a dozen times and had my memory of it wiped away. It made me wonder if the whole feeling of deja vu was always a result of magical tinkering with memory, or if there was a more mundane cause. If anyone knew, Owen would. Just one more reason to get my ass in gear. As if I really needed one.
"Everyone keep your ears open for me to call the retreat," I said. "I don't need any of us getting swallowed by some hellbeast. I want Owen back, and that means I'll be mighty pissed if I have to go off rescuing the rest of you first. If we get separated, we regroup here."
We'd gone over the plan a couple of times back at camp, but I had to make sure one last time. Judging by the solemn nods I received in response, nobody blamed me for being repetitive.
By some unspoken agreement, we came to a stop at the edge of the mist. We'd been into it so many times yesterday, or at least, that's what the ghosts said. Today felt like the first time, and there was palpable fear. Probably part of the magic. There was no point in asking Zoe. Even if she knew, it wouldn't change what we were about to do, or our strategy. There weren't any other options.
"Let's go," I said, waving them forward and stepping into the mist.
Living on the northern California coast, I knew fog. This wasn't anything like the fog of Earth, if the green color hadn't already made that clear. Rather than being cool and damp like regular fog, the green mist of Oscura was warm and smelled vaguely of flowers. The smell was probably the residual hint of the magic used to make it. Such a subtle scent was a sign of not just powerful magic, but skill wielding it. Great for them, but more bad news for me.
If I'd expected the world to change upon entering the mist, I would have been sorely disappointed. There wasn't anything to differentiate the forest inside the mist from that outside. The plants that grew didn't appear to suffer from a lack of light, despite the dimness. There was even a path that had clearly been walked frequently enough to keep vegetation from overgrowing it. Then again, I knew better than not to question everything I saw once I entered Oscura. We could be standing in the middle of a lake while Orani magic told our senses we were walking this path.
I let out a shudder. "Stay close. Anyone see sign of the beast?"
"Like what, a giant hill of dung?" asked Phoebe, her voice just above a hiss.
She was afraid and turning to sarcasm. That was supposed to be my coping mechanism. I smiled. It was nice being a bad influence on others.
"Well, at least we haven't been tossed out and had our minds wiped yet. Based on how many times that happened yesterday, we've probably been in here a little longer. I'm just going to make our way toward the same mountain and hope for the best."
"Sounds like a plan," said Zoe, sounding relieved.
We hadn't decided on a strategy for this trip into Oscura because we had no idea what we would face on the ground. I was relying on a fresh day and a renewed sense of determination. The day before we'd made our attempts after a lot of hiking. I had to believe a tired mind was easier to manipulate. Plus, even if our memories had been erased, I was hopeful that some part of us remembered enough to help us through now. I put a lot of weight on the idea of reattempting on a fresh day. The lack of a real plan had made Zoe extremely uncomfortable. If we had been assigned as partners in MOD, she probably would have had a stroke.
The path continued to wind through the forest. We pushed vines dripping with moss aside. When we came to forks in the road, we chose branches that pointed in the general direction of the mountain. It was a nice, leisurely stroll through the woods. Until it wasn't.
A hoarse roar sounded to our left. We spun as a unit. The sound of three sets of blades being drawn rang through the air, accompanied by the hissing rattle of Phoebe's vines creeping through the trees.
"Anyone have eyes on it?" asked Zoe.
Nobody spoke up. I couldn't see a damn thing through the green mist. It varied in thickness as we walked, and now it was like looking through pea soup. I could only make out the closest of trees.
There was the crash of something huge to our right. We spun toward the new sound. Were there two beasts? Or had it somehow moved around to the other side of the path without us knowing? I couldn't decide which was worse. Maybe when I finally saw the thing.
"Circle close," I whispered. I didn't want a direction uncovered, no one's back needed to be exposed with four of us there. We held close together, and waited.
It didn't take long. Rather than charging from the left or the right, it came directly from behind us, barreling up the path we'd just walked. Its skin was gray with a tinge of green, allowing it to blend perfectly with the mist. It was the size of an elephant, but built more like a rhino, if a rhino had clawed feet and a ten foot tail covered in spikes.
Despite its enormous size, it made almost no noise as it bore down on us. With reduced visibility, we barely had time to dive off the path before it plowed into us. I rolled to my feet and slid Haiku back into her sheath. The smaller of my two swords wouldn't be of much use in this battle. In my free hand, I summoned a death light. It was immediately snuffed. I called two more to my hand with the same result. They disappeared before I could toss them at the creature.
"Damn it," I said with a growl and placed my other hand on Epic's hilt.
"Son of a bitch," said Zoe.
"Let me guess, your fire is out of commission."
"Yup."
The beast had disappeared into the mist, so we rejoined Ava and Phoebe, who'd dived to the other side, back on the path. "Are you two having any trouble with your magic?" I asked.
Phoebe called a vine from the woods and it curled around her arm. "Nope."
Ava got that distant look in her eyes and then shook her head. "No. Patricia is still in communication, but she can't see the beast either."
"Looks like they're just not fans of projectiles," I replied, not wanting to explain my death light to Zoe right now if her mother hadn't already told her. My head spun around, searching.
"I can't shift, either," said Zoe. I immediately called for both my crow and human forms, but neither came to me. I'd experienced this before and pushed down the initial rush of panic. "We flew into Oscura with me in dragon form earlier. In my earliest memories outside of the green mist I was in human form. I'd assumed that I had chosen to shift to human form to talk to them, but I can't shift in here. Do you think they control my shifts in the mist?"
"I guess so," I said. "Okay. We have no projectiles, and we can't shift. It's a good thing we know how to use our blades, right?"
"Right," said Zoe. She looked a bit comforted by the reminder, but still spooked by her inability to control her own shifts. Frankly, so was I. There was no point in focusing on what I couldn't control, so I focused on our surroundings instead.
"I don't understand why it isn't attacking us right now," I said.
"Maybe it saw my vines," suggested Phoebe with a wicked grin.
"I don't think that's intimidating enough without seeing you in action first."
"I was kidding," said Phoebe. "But it should be scared of me."
"Not arguing," I said.
"Okay. Eyes open everyone."
With nothing else to do, we continued our trek down the path, our heads swiveling constantly in search of the beast. There wasn't so much as the sound of a breaking twig to tell us where it had gone. It was eerie as hell. Something that large shouldn't be able to be completely silent in a forest densely packed with foliage.
As if reading my mind, Zoe said, "If you hear a noise, assume it's a trick. This thing doesn't make noise unless it wants to."
Time passed at a snail's pace, made longer by the anticipation. It was almost a relief when we heard the huge crash to our left, followed immediately by the rhino-beast appearing out of the mist. This time it made all the noise one would expect from a five ton monster crashing through the underbrush. Wood snapped and leaves swished as it stomped toward us like a four-legged locomotive.
An ill-advised plan formed immediately. I didn't have room to spread my wings, so the plan got a little weirder. "Phoebe, boost me up to that big branch!"
A vine wrapped around my waist and lifted me into the air. My body went rigid. It was a shitty time for my claustrophobia to flare up. It was all I could do not to struggle free.
Before I had time to go into a full-fledged claustrophobia freak out, Phoebe's vine deposited me on the branch. I was just in time.
