Half Magic | Book 2

Thirty Eight: Finding the Forest

"Well then, let us finish up here and see the lands that Lark walked." Nassir smiled. 

They didn't have to tell me twice. I shoved bread in my mouth like it was the last time I'd see it, and loaded up with several of our packs while they finished up. Puko was happy to nab a small hunk of bread from Nassir and settle himself on my shoulder.

Once Schula and Nassir were done and the last blanket was tucked away, we set out again. The birds came easy and bright under my hands. My fingers never really left the cave wall as I trailed them gently along the smooth stone and occasionally pressed my palm flat to reveal a new bird. 

Our steps were light and fast. We were all eager to get out of the small space and into the open again. What new place awaited us was an exciting mystery. I wondered what Lark thought as she wandered through this very cave. Was she pulled this way? Did she know what would be here, or was she as clueless as we were?

But one other thought loomed at the back of my mind. I had only seen the lower half of his face in the flashes from Lark's stone. My father. Would I meet him? Was he in Eidelhein? Would we be able to find it?

Schula gasped and it drew me from my thoughts. 

"What is it?" Nassir asked.

"I feel air. Moving air," she said. 

I took in a sharp breath and held it. The tiny hairs on my skin, the back of my neck, prickled with the feeling of it. We had been in the still air for so long that it was exhilarating to feel it move. 

"Let's keep going," Nassir said. "We must be close."

We picked up the pace. The energy in our steps was almost palpable. Soon we felt more air. More warmth. More life. We rounded a bend and we saw light on the walls.

"Wren!" Schula gasped. "This has to be it." 

I ran forward a little, pulling ahead and feeling the warmth on my face. Another turn and-

The sun filtered down through a thick canopy of leaves. If I strained, I could hear running water somewhere in the distance. The tree trunks were thick, and old. This forest was ancient. The lighting was dark, but it was better than it had been in the caves. The tree branches were so far overhead and so full of life that I couldn't imagine what the sky overhead might look like. If it was just past morning or nearly night. 

"Wow," Schula said, emerging from the caves behind me. "This place is..."

"It feels old," Nassir said. "And full of life."

"But where do we go from here?" I asked. "There are no paths, no signs to follow. How anyone would know this cave was even here is a mystery."

"The witches know," Schula said. "And if Lark had made any real trusted friends here, they would know too."

"Well, they obviously haven't kept up the place," I said. "There are shrubs and things in the way."

"Let us simply walk whichever way our whims carry us," Nassir said. "I will leave a trail."

"What kind of trail?" Schula asked.

Nassir smiled and pressed a bare foot to the ground, raising a perfectly round stone from the ground nearly to the height of his calf. "We will be able to see and feel our own magic, should we need to."

"Clever." I smiled. "Let's see which way looks the easiest to traverse."

We picked our steps carefully through the forest floor. The air was warm but not hot, and it had a lot of moisture in it. These lands had plenty of water, and every so often I could hear it.