“Like those?” I pointed to a small group of buttercup-sized flowers half hidden in the undergrowth. Every petal resembled a small feather which sat in a cluster at the end of each long stem.
“Good eye.” He touched the surrounding leaves and they drew inwards, leaving the flower heads exposed. “These used to be absolutely everywhere but most were bravely weeded around the towns and roadways. Locals called them ‘Sun Spores’ because of the burns you get after coming in contact with the pollen.” He caught the look I gave him and held up his hand for me to see. “The leaves are harmless, don’t worry.”
We moved further into the dense forest, pausing every now and again to let Ric get his bearings. It was as we stopped at a stream to refill our canteens that he tapped me on the back and pointed to a large mass at the base of a nearby tree. It was faint crimson in colour with black veins that ran up its leaves and bordered the plant in a thousand tiny barbs. He didn’t touch that one.
“At least that one looks like it’ll hurt,” I said, edging toward it for a better look.
“If you prick yourself it takes an hour for the poison to fully take effect.” Ric stopped me from going too close. “Usually you don’t even realise you’ve been stung until it’s too late.”
“How would you know?” The plant swayed rigidly in a short breeze.
“After a while your eyes, ears and nose will bleed. Then…well, it’s got a high mortality rate.” Ric screwed the cap back on his canteen and threw a handful of water over the back of his neck.
“You don’t say?”
“Still not the worst you can run into though,” he snorted, and we continued.
We walked further and further, stopping and starting to the point of which I had to lean against an old stump to rest my legs. As I slid to the ground, my hand grazed one of the large fungi climbing up the trunk. It emitted a gentle hum and sprung back into place. After a second I touched it again and the smaller one below it, amused to hear the different sounds they made.
“After all I’ve pointed out to you today you’re still poking things,” Ric crossed his arms scornfully.
“Hey, it was an accident,” I countered, “at first.”
“Lucky for you they’re harmless and edible,” he said, running his hand along the caps. “Lucky for them I don’t like fungi. They squeak in your teeth.” He grimaced and continued on. “Not far to go now. I’m starting to recognise the smell.”
As Ric searched for the trail, I sat back in the sweet, spring grass, watching the smaller wildlife move across the ground and jump through the branches. A peculiar feeling engulfed me while the tendrils of grass stroked my hands and poked at my ankles. The locket pulsed and my mind became foggy and blurred. My eyelids were heavy; my breathing slowed. Before I could drift something stung me, shocking me awake. I looked around, searching for an animal or insect but there was nothing. My fingers had been wrapped in the long grass; nothing more.
“Ava?” The name sobered me.
Ric looked at me with eyes full of questions he was too afraid to ask. Instead he held out his hand and I took it, letting him pull me to my feet. The world quietened around us and my hackles rose. From the shiftiness of his movement, Ric clearly felt it too. Something lurked just out of sight, but what?
“We should move,” Ric whispered.
“Can you tell what it is?”
“You can feel it too?” he asked me, surprised.
“Even Gnathians were beasts once,” I said, stepping carefully away.
“It feels bad,” Ric murmured, “really bad.”
“Define ‘bad’,” I squinted at him.
“Bad enough to drop everything I’m doing and run very far, very fast,” he said, his eyes constantly searching. I gulped. The only time I’d seen him this nervous was the night of the Equinox, just before he-
“Will we be able to find the things Willow needs soon?” I asked, pushing the previous thought away. Not again. It won’t happen again.
Ric nodded. “At least a small dozen.”
I pushed past him and brushed away the fear. Until we saw the danger, we had a job to do. “Let’s get this damned task over with so we can get home in one piece then, eh?” Ric made a curious sound and I faced him. “What?”
“That’s the first time you’ve called it home,” he said, a half-smile on his lips.
Ah, what a treacherous little wretch I was for letting the word slip. “It’s merely a word to describe a person’s residence until they move on.”
“I was taught it was where your loved ones were,” he said. He seemed to relax with a final scan of the tree line.
“Who taught you that, exactly?”
“I,” he started but his brow furrowed quickly, “I actually don’t remember.” He wasn’t joking or hiding information. The look on his face was clear as day. Ric actually had no idea.
“Nothing at all?”
“It’s the price of what I am. If you’ve heard the others use the term ‘rebirth’ you’ve probably got a pretty good idea already. We aren’t born like this, we’re chosen. Though, that process alone has sacrifices.” He held back a thick piece of shrubbery for me to shuffle through and followed behind me. “To be chosen was a great honour where I came from, but I never wanted it – at least, I don’t think I did.”
A sour smell filled the air as we entered a series of bogs; they must have stretched half a mile. I covered my nose and watched my footing while we moved carefully around it. Ric pulled up short, stepping a few paces back to stare at a small patch of white flowers that stuck out of the ground like candles on a birthday cake. He motioned for me to follow and stuck his knife into the ground, pulling up a large clump of peat.
“There you are,” he said to a small cluster of purple-white pearls. Unfortunately for us they sat entangled in a fibrous web brandished with thousands of razor barbs. Ric slung the bag from his shoulder and pulled out two pairs of tough gloves. I pulled a pair on and revelled in how lightweight they were, despite their initial appearance. “It’s dragonhide,” he smiled.
I’d never heard of anything more preposterous. Dragons? Then I thought to myself, at what point were Demons and Vampyrs and Skinwalkers acceptable, but Dragons weren’t? I shoved those feelings down and just accepted it. “Can you not just reach in and pluck them out without gloves?”
Ric leant back after a few seconds and motioned to me. “You can try it first and let me know,” he said. When I didn’t move he laughed and reached into the hole, pulling the pearls out as gently as he could. “They’re such a nightmare to find and harvest. If they weren’t used in so many of Willow’s remedies, I would have stopped doing this job a long time ago.” He dropped the delicate bulbs into a small, leather pouch and moved on to find the next lot, replacing the peat as he went.
“How long have you been collecting them for her?” I asked.
“Not long after I came to stay with them. Ethan decided that it was the best way for me to prove my worth and burn off the more chaotic energy.” He rolled his eyes.