The elder leads them to a room in the very back of the building. It is small, barely large enough for them. At a guess, one or two more people could squeeze in with them. At the center of the room is a pedestal with an orb nestled onto the top of it. Rowan frowns at it.
"What is that?"
"It is an archive of sorts. It stores memories that we wish to save."
"You saved the curse?"
The elder smiles. "Yes. Both the moment it was created and the reason why."
Rowan frowns. "I don't understand."
"Not yet, but you will once you see. Place your hand on the sphere. You too, Andrian."
Cautiously, Rowan reaches out to touch the orb. It warms her hand, almost to the point of it being painful. Andrian places his palm on it, followed by the elder. The world flashes bright. Rowan blinks, her eyes watering. The light fades after a moment, leaving them in a place wholly different than where they were before.
The three of them are standing on the side of a dirt road. Rowan glances to the side, at Andrian. He's standing there, and there is a slight hint of concern in his eyes. But just past him, there is a black horse, a kelpie. Rowan points, causing Andrian to turn. The elder speaks from the other side of Rowan.
"He's the one who provided this memory to the cloch cartlainne."
"What is the significance of the memory, though?"
The elder's voice is hard, but not unkind. "Keep watching, child."
Just then, there is a flurry of motion from the trees further up the road. A girl burst through them onto the path, her dark auburn hair flying around her face in a cloud. Rowan can see the faint shapes of twigs in her hair. Rowan can't tell if they're there because she took a tumble in the forest or for a darker reason, but they are there all the same. The girl's face is full of wild fear, she's running from something. As she comes closer, Rowan takes a step forward, as if in a trance. A sound reverberates in her throat, strangled.
"Ro?" Andrian places a hand on her shoulder. "What is it?"
"She's familiar."
Rowan takes another step forward and Andrian reaches out to pull him back. The elder shakes his head at Andrain from the corner of Rowan's vision.
"Don't. Nothing in the memory can harm her, let her do this."
Rowan doesn't stop moving until she is so close to the girl that she can touch her skin. The girl's amber eyes are wide and panicked. They dart to the sides, looking up and down the road. Her vision snags on the kelpie grazing along the side of the path. She rushes towards him, her sage green dress in tatters around her ankles. Rowan follows, her steps silent. The girl whispers to the kelpie, her voice hoarse and tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Help me, please. I know what you are. Please help me, please."
The kelpie raises his head and nudges the girl's cheek with his nose, touching one of the tears. He snorts before he shifts, becoming a young man with sandy hair and blue eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"He's following me. Please, I need somewhere to hide."
"Turn your clothes inside out and go to the red flower patch just behind me. Hide there, surrounded by them. He won't see you there if he is fae, as I think he is."
The girl halts, her fear and curiosity warring within her. "How did you know?"
"I can feel the magic around you. Now go!"
The girl nods and darts off through the trees. The kelpie shifts back into his horse form and moves towards the trees, blocking the way the girl had gone and covering the trampled trail. He continues grazing as if nothing had happened. The world blurs slightly and when it clears again, Rowan knows that time has skipped. By the light, she would guess between half an hour to a full hour. A shape glides through the trees on silent feet, despite the speed at which it moves. When Rowan sees who it is, she scrambles back to Andrian, clutching the salt in her pocket. He grips her shoulder, murmuring in her ear.
"It's alright, it's just a memory. He can't hurt you here."
The elder frowns at them. "What's wrong? Why did she react like that?"
"Ro encountered him before, when she found me caught in a bramble patch. He tried to glamour her and she threw salt at him, so he is angry. But Ro, there's something else, isn't there?"
Rowan nods, trembling. Her voice is barely audible over the wind. "When I told my grandmother, she was afraid. She knows of him and it terrified her that I'd encountered him. So there is something she hasn't told me."
"He can't hurt you here, Ro. You're safe. Just watch the memory, alright?"
Rowan forces her body to still, but every so often, a tremble breaks through.
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Who do you think the girl is? Why was she familiar to Rowan? 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.