As Alden tripped over yet another tree root, he was reminded just how much he hated the outdoors. Rika had since opted to walk slightly behind him, and as he started to fall she caught his arm by the jacket sleeve, keeping him upright.
"Thanks," Alden grumbled.
"How are you this clumsy?" Rika wondered aloud. Alden didn't bother to answer, stubbornly forging ahead.
They'd been walking for at least an hour, and he was beginning to feel like they were completely lost. As Rika predicted, they hadn't found a single shred of intelligent life. The forest didn't look like it was changing, except perhaps to get thicker. Thankfully, the canopy was thick enough that the ground wasn't too wet, and the periodic rainshower didn't always make it down to their heads. On the other hand, with the sun having already set, the clouds and trees combined to bring nightfall much quicker than they'd expected. A lantern bobbed about ahead, marking Lily, and Rika had produced flashlights from her bag for Alden and herself.
"Hey, wait up!" Rika called. Lily and Natalie were atop a steep muddy knoll a few dozen yards ahead. Alden had lost track of the cat, but he had no doubt it was nearby.
They stopped abruptly at Rika's voice. "What?"
Rika clambered up the side of the hill, grabbing tree roots and branches for stability as she went regardless of how wet and dirty they were. Alden took one look at the first one she grabbed, saw the mud caked on her hand, and decided to wait for them at the bottom of the hill. He wished, not for the first time, that he'd brought some gloves.
A nearby log looked reasonably dry and clean of dirt and mud, so Alden took the opportunity to rest his legs. He wasn't particularly out of shape, but it'd been a long day and he was starting to feel it. He rolled his head around his shoulders, trying to wake himself up a little more, when he saw something in the distance.
It was a young man, likely just a student of the college if Alden were to guess. He was intimidatingly tall, well over six feet. Black, bald, handsome and wearing a thick, old fashioned overcoat that reached past his knees. It looked expensive, comfortable and warm, which were three things Alden could have done with right then. Still, what was this guy doing out in the forest this late at night?
More importantly, he realized, what were the odds he'd end up so close to their group by sheer coincidence?
Alden got to his feet and was about to call out to Rika when the man's eyes locked with his own. A chill shot through Alden's blood, rushing up his spine to freeze his mind entirely. It was his eyes. They were inky black, dark as the deepest night sky devoid of all stars, with only the faintest glimmer to show any life behind them.
Alden could have looked away at any moment. Nothing was stopping him in the slightest from fleeing up the hill, where two powerful women and a little girl with a gigantic pet cat were busy arguing. They were nominally on his side if he were in danger. Yet he knew, instinctively, that to break this man's sight would be a mistake.
Is this how I die? Alden thought, a multitude of regrets bubbling to the surface of his mind.
The man slowly shook his head, answering Alden's unspoken question. Alden felt that chill spread further, lancing through his veins to every part of his body. Even if the man did not intend to kill him, he felt that he might be trapped in that spot for eternity.
Finally, mercifully, the man turned away. For the briefest moment, he looked up the hill at the trio, and Alden was able to tear his gaze away. He focused his eyes on anything he could find. The twigs scattered on the forest floor, the fluttering leaf that had just fallen nearby—anything other than the man he had seen through the trees.
It took him a few minutes, but Alden finally felt warmth returning to his limbs. He chanced a glance through the trees.
The man was gone, leaving only the empty darkness of the trees in his wake.
Alden decided he was ready to leave the forest as soon as possible. Rika and Natalie were still arguing atop the hill. It was a fair climb back up to them, and their voices were faint, but Rika's voice tended to carry, so he could make out most of what they were saying.
"Look, we're not getting anywhere. That cat doesn't have a clue where it's going. Either we happen to stumble into wherever they're hiding, with all this light that'll give us away before we even get close, or they ditched this area a long time ago and we're just wandering in circles."
"He's out here. I know it!" Natalie retorted, but even her conviction seemed wavering—or maybe she was just tired. From his distance, Alden couldn't be sure.
"Nat, she's right. Whomever that bloke with your dad was, he wouldn't want to be out in this muck either, yeah?" Lily said, crouching down to the girl's level. As she spoke, Alden saw the cougar slink back into view, nudging at Natalie's hand. She threw her arms around it. Alden guessed she was probably crying, and hiding it in the cat's fur. "Let's go home. I'll draw you a nice hot bath."
After a few moments, Natalie nodded, and Alden breathed a sigh of relief.
Exiting the forest was less difficult than he'd expected. Natalie whispered a few words to Scrappy, and off they went. In only fifteen minutes, the group emerged from the edge of the forest, just a few blocks away from the train station Alden had arrived on that afternoon.
The rain had mercifully let up, leaving them soaked but otherwise less miserable than an hour ago. Or perhaps that was just Alden; Rika and Natalie didn't seem much bothered by the rain. Lily took Natalie's hand and lead her reluctantly away from the mountain lion, which seemed to understand it couldn't follow them back into town. Natalie gave it a little wave, to which it nodded before slinking back into the trees and out of sight.
"So Natalie's living with you?" Rika inquired casually.
"Just while her father's missing," Lily said. She offered a hand. "Thanks for giving it a go. Give us a ring if you hear anything, yeah?"
Rika shook it. "Let Kendra know your secret's safe with me." Lily's eyes narrowed at the implication, but she didn't comment. After a few awkward moments, Rika let go, and they departed.
Rika turned to Alden. "Well, that was more productive than I expected."
"What do you mean?" As far as Alden could tell, they'd accomplished nothing.
"I just wanted to put Lily in some debt, but they played their hand a bit. They've got some kind of resistance to magic, or maybe just electricity. Did you notice how she didn't move an inch when I touched her?"
Alden shrugged. "Maybe she's just getting used to it."
In response, Rika leaned in and tapped him on the face with her finger. The sudden shock sent his mind fizzing for a moment, and he recoiled sharply.
"That's what I thought," she said, smirking. "Wish we'd gotten to see this guy who took Natalie's father. There's gotta be a connection, I can feel it."
"Huh?"
"Fate, Alden. I told you, it's all about fate. What are the odds that I—a girl whose father is missing and mother's... gone," she paused for a moment, catching her breath. "That I run into another girl whose father is recently missing and mother's out of the picture? And we both use magic, and we're in this dead-end town. I was brought here," Rika finished confidently.
"I dunno," Alden said skeptically. "It could just all be coincidence."
"Magic hasn't even made it out of the Northwest. Hell, I don't know anyone outside this state that's been awakened yet."
"Really?"
"A few dozen people. Less than a hundred for sure. And with a couple obvious exceptions, every one's in Rallsburg."
"I just assumed—"
Rika shook her head. "This is new shit, Alden. So new no one's named it yet. Just calling it magic."
"What would you call it?"
"Does it need a name? It's magic, just leave it at that." Rika glanced up at the clouds rolling across the sky, faintly visible in the dark. "We should probably get inside. You got a place to stay?"
Alden frowned. "I didn't really plan that far ahead," he mumbled, embarrassed.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, come on then."