I nodded fervently. ‘That would explain why he is so attached to you. It would also explain why Willow and Rue are stuck in adolescence, wouldn’t it? What if they don’t grow at all until they each find their masters?’ Which led me to my next thought; ‘How long had Hawthorne been an adolescent before he’d met me? Months? Years? Had he been forced to live in a tiny, fragile body until his human companion showed up?’
Fae rubbed her temple, apparently struggling with the concept.
‘So you think Shadow has chosen me?’
‘Yes!’ I said, rather ecstatic. ‘And why shouldn’t he? You saved him, after all. And soon, he’ll be big enough to ride!’
‘That is good,’ said Fae, though she didn’t seem too pleased.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Well, this brings me to why I wanted to talk to you in the first place,’ she said.
‘Yes?’
Fae cleared her throat nervously. ‘I want you to take me to England with you.’
I raised my eyebrows. ‘Really? You want to go with me?’
Fae nodded. ‘Yes. Will you take me? You were planning on going back, right?’
‘Yes, of course,’ I replied. ‘But why?’
Fae lapsed into silence for a few moments before stammering, ‘I-I want to find her. I need to see her.’
‘R?ven?’ I guessed.
Fae nodded.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘We can find her together.’
At that moment, and for the first time, Fae embraced me in a back-breaking hug that knocked the wind from my lungs. I laughed, patting her on the back lightly. When Fae released me, I rubbed my ribs tenderly.
‘Thank you,’ she breathed.
‘Th-that’s all right,’ I said, patting her on the back gingerly.
‘When will we leave?’ Fae pulled away and looked me in the eye. ‘Today?’
‘Today?’ I repeated.
‘Tomorrow?’ she tried.
My eyebrows shot up. ‘Wait a minute. We need to think about this first - plan things, you know?’
‘What is there to plan?’ said Fae. ‘We’ll grab our things and fly-’
I held up my hand to silence Fae. ‘First of all, Shadow is far too small to carry you and much too heavy to be carried by Hawthorne.’
‘I can ride Emilija, right?’
I pursed my lips. ‘I’m not sure she’d like that. We can try, but she’s quite … hesitant, even around me. Secondly, we don’t know where we are even going.’
‘I don’t care,’ said Fae. ‘I just need to go to England. I’ll make my own way once we’re there.’
‘Well … all right then, I guess.’ I planned to find Jack –somehow. It was apparent that he was not going to be able to find me.
‘So, I’ll ride Emilija with Shadow, and you ride Hawthorne with Willow and Rue,’ said Fae.
I rubbed my arm nervously. ‘Are you sure that will work? Shadow is getting kind of heavy.’
Fae flexed her skinny arms. ‘I can handle it.’
‘All right … let’s try it.’
~
An hour later, Fae was sitting on Emilija’s back, urging her to take off into the sky. I’d demanded a practice run before uprooting myself from the windmill.
I watched as Fae tried, and failed, to get Emilija into the sky.
‘Why won’t she go?’ said Fae, digging her heels into the Vulmessian.
I shrugged and couldn’t help but laugh when Emilija decided to sit down, sending Fae tumbling into the grass.
‘Stop laughing,’ she demanded, brushing herself off. ‘Why won’t she fly?’
‘Because she doesn’t want to,’ I said, stroking Hawthorne’s long snout absentmindedly. ‘You aren’t her master.’
Shadow was watching Fae’s progress, or lack thereof, with his bushy tail wagging excitedly. He yapped around Emilija’s ankles, eager to help.
‘Be quiet, Shadow,’ said Fae. ‘I’m trying to concentrate.’
‘There’s no point,’ I said. ‘She won’t fly with you. She won’t even fly with me.’
Giving up, Fae came and stood next to me, Shadow following in her footsteps before twisting himself around her legs, panting happily. She scratched him behind the ears, an expression of deep thought upon her face. Meanwhile, Emilija lay upon the grass, yawning loudly.
‘How can we make this work?’ said Fae.
I shrugged, leaning against Hawthorne’s large frame. ‘I guess we wait until Shadow is big enough. In the meantime … we walk.’
‘We can’t walk to England, Avalon,’ said Fae, condescendingly. ‘It’s across the sea.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘I meant we can walk to the coastline. Perhaps a ferry can take us.’
‘You think a ferry will take five of these creatures on board?’ Fae couldn’t help but smile.
I smiled too. ‘Hey, it’s worth a shot.’
She sighed. ‘I wish Shadow were fully grown, already.’
At that moment, a blinding, white light erupted within our midst, throwing us both backwards. We hit the ground in unison, shielding our eyes against the intense brightness. The force of the light was strong enough to keep us pinned to the ground. It emitted no sound, but was able to silence everything in the surrounding forest. Although it was frightening, my first instinct was not to attack. Somehow, I knew that this light was not threatening.
I could see nothing but white, long after the silent explosion had faded. I blinked rapidly to adjust my vision, and slowly my sight returned. Fae, too, was rubbing her eyes.