Precious

Chapter 9

We reach the woods by nightfall, and the guards stop to rest. They keep us in a tent with a heavy watch. I suppose I should be grateful Mama did not insist on the guards trussing us up. Somewhere in the forest nearby an owl hoots, bringing to mind the last time I heard one. I shiver, then pull my blanket tighter around me. I pull out the book containing the spell to invoke the Wizard's Bane and read off the ingredients.

"One chicken foot. A foxglove blossom. A pinch of arrowroot. Rowan leaves. Mermaid scale." I sigh. "How on earth are we going to find all these things?" I moan.

"I think I have a solution."

I raise an eyebrow when Ren pulls a few items from his pocket. "I remembered the chicken feet and scales in the spell book, so I grabbed these from the caves before we left." He opens his fist to reveal a desiccated chicken foot and a scale of iridescent blue.

I gasp. "How do you know that's a mermaid scale?"

Ren frowns. "Well, I don't, I guess. But it's as close as we're going to get. They're extinct. It makes sense for the offering in the dragon's cave to be from something more powerful than a fish."

"I suppose you're right," I say, grateful he swiped those things when he had the chance. "But what about the rest?"

Ren's eyes sparkle. "That's the easy part. There are rowan trees in these woods, and I can grab a few leaves from them as we pass tomorrow. Foxglove and arrowroot, too."

"I don't recall seeing them when we passed through here before. I'll keep an eye out." I was so focused on finding the Wizard's Bane, I neglected the chance to really enjoy my favorite subject out in the wild.

Tomorrow I'll make a point of giving the forest a much closer examination, especially for the trumpetlike blossoms of the foxglove and the arrowroot's tubers.

* * * 

The guards wake us at dawn and pack up our tent. They want to move as fast as possible back to Bryre. Is it fear of the wizard or my parents' wrath that stirs them? I suspect a combination of both.

Ren and I march in silence while we scan the forest for the supplies we need to complete the spell. It isn't long before we pass a rowan tree in bloom, the creamy white flowers bursting open against the green leaves and white bark. Ren runs his hand over an overhanging branch and stuffs a handful of leaves in his pocket. The guards think he's a kid, playing with a tree. They have no inkling we have magic in mind.

As midday approaches, mutters roll through the ranks. Nothing specific, just whispers and worried faces.

Something has them on edge. While this concerns me, Ren and I use it to our advantage. They're even less observant of when we stop to pick flowers than before. I pick several wildflowers—including the hanging foxglove—to mask our real task.

When Ren spots a patch of arrowroot, he pretends to tie his shoelace. Then he pulls the plant, roots and all, up from the ground and shoves it in his pack while our guard whispers to another.

I exchange a glance with Ren. Something odd is definitely going on in the forest. I'd bet my life it has something to do with the wizard. I can't help remembering those guards who died without any explanation before we fled to find the Wizard's Bane. The stone is a comforting weight in my pocket.

We can finally do something to help instead of waiting around uselessly.

"What do you think is going on?" I ask Ren when the guards are yet again distracted.

He frowns. "I don't know, but I don't like it. I heard one of them say something about a flock of geese vanishing from a herder's yard. Not the right time of year for them to fly south."