A Kelpie of Rowan

Chapter 21

Rowan wakes up with the dawn, eager to see Andrian again. She leaves out her note from the day before and darts outside. She hesitates at the boundary of nails, unsure. Rowan takes a deep breath, trying to keep it from becoming shaky with nerves. She fails. Rowan takes another, smoother breath and crosses the line. It sends tingles throughout her body. Mildly unpleasant, but not much worse than that. When Rowan steps through the treeline, feelings wash over her. Peace, delight, anticipation. Her emotions always feel so much richer in the forest, she's infinitely more in tune with herself here.

The forest is still quiet but when Rowan stops in the faerie grove, some of them are stirring. Rowan smiles and leaves some sugar acorns on a smooth rock. She waves at them as she leaves, despite knowing that they can't see her. Rowan slips out of the grove and steps toward the river, stopping to grab a chanterelle from the base of a tree. She keeps going toward the river but she freezes as she passes the bramble patch. The Seelie Lord is there, looking in her direction. Rowan swallows and steps backward, fear coursing through her.

She wants to retreat to the safety of her home but if he follows her, he'll know where she lives and that will be worse. She'll never be able to leave without putting herself in danger, and the lack of the forest? Oh, that could kill her. That alone. She takes a step backward and stops when her foot hits something. She glances down. It's a rock. But written on it is a strange symbol. It flashes bright and Rowan tries to back away from it. Towards the brambles, the forest, her house, anywhere at all. But she can't move. Rowan is frozen in place.

She gulps and looks up towards the Seelie Lord. He is walking towards her, his steps even and his eyes fixed. This whole area was a trap, he must have known she was going to the river. This magic must bypass all her protection charms, or it wouldn't work. There is a rustle from the trees and her eyes flick up, despite her fear of the Seelie Lord. She can't see anything above her, but she feels as if something is watching her, watching and waiting. She doesn't know for what. Rowan looks back at the Seelie Lord to see that he is only a few meters away now. He grins cruelly. Rowan feels a shiver run a path down her spine. What is he going to do to her?

"You can't get away now. Tell me, what is your name?"

He's trying to put glamour into his voice again, but at least her protection charms are working against that. And she's not stupid enough to tell him her name. But something is pushing her to speak, probably to do with the enchantment on the stone.

She struggles, trying to keep from speaking her name. She gasps out a word. "Berry."

The Seelie Lord's eyebrow raises. "Berry? Really?"

She nods, trying to get him to think that she spoke truth. The words tingle coming out, both true and not true at the same moment. "Yes. That's my name."

"Come back with me, you're of my blood."

"No. I'm not going anywhere with you. My great-grandmother had a good reason for running from you."

"Oh? So you know all that has occurred?"

"No, but I know enough. And I know I'm not going anywhere with you. I won't!"

He smiles again. "But you won't have a choice."

He moves to grab hold of her arm, but something happens the moment he touches her skin. He goes flying backward into the brambles and heat flickers in her palms. But she still can't move. Something drops down behind her and Rowan inhales sharply. What is that? What's behind her? She can't turn to look, and that makes her fear all the more powerful. Something swirls in the air in front of her, making it cloudy.

Then she hears a voice in her ear. It's familiar, but she can't remember where she heard it before. "I'm going to get you out of here, but you need to promise me that you won't look at me. Can you do that?"

Rowan's voice shakes. "Yes."

"Good."

She can hear the speaker crouch and do something at her feet, based on the rustle of leaves. Then she can move again. Rowan starts shaking, terrified. The speaker touches her shoulder.

"It's alright. You're fine. He can't hurt you right now."

Rowan nods and her shaking eases but doesn't entirely stop. The speaker moves to her side and slips something into her bag. "Next time he comes after you, use these." He pauses. "Oh, and figure out how to control that." He taps the back of her hand and then retracts it, hissing faintly.

There is a brush of wind at her ankles and the back of her neck before the cloudy air in front of her disappears. Rowan wants to look, sure that he's gone, but she doesn't. She just darts to the side and skirts around the bramble patch and the Seelie Lord raging inside it. She doesn't know how long it will take him to get out of there, but she doesn't want to stick around to find out. Rowan darts toward the river, feeling like her skin is boiling. What's happening to her? She collapses in a heap at the edge of the river, too exhausted to run any farther or go through the passage. Her adrenaline rush has run out of time. Rowan blinks, then blinks again, everything going fuzzy. Then black. She sees a flicker of movement in the darkness before everything disappears.
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Oh no! He found her! What sent him flying backwards? Who helped Rowan? What's going on with her hand? Why did she pass out? What do you think is going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out.