The Far Wilds

Part 9

The rebuilding efforts proceeded swiftly. It was nearly impossible to see a catastrophe had transpired before long, something Candy noted when she and Lucas came to visit.

Lucas, meanwhile, was a lot less supportive. "You should have moved by now," he warned. "He'll only come back, and all of this will be for nothing." Flame ignored him. It had been two weeks, and Caden hadn't done anything.

Because of this long pause, she didn't see it coming when struck again.

This time the damage was even more extensive. She and Smevy had been out at the time, gathering seeds to replant the garden, and they returned to find things in worse shape than the first time. Again the fires burned and items smoldered. Again the piles of gravel spilled across the floor.

However, there were three major differences. First was that the fancy new chicken machine that had been set up lay in shambles. Second, Flame's secret store of jewels, iron, and other precious materials, previously hidden behind a pile of diorite in the mine, had been found and pillaged.

And, strangest of all, there was a sign by the garden that read, you should have known better than to mess with me. -Wolf

"Enough is enough," said Flame decidedly, pacing across the scorched floor she and Smevy had just extinguished. "We can't stay here anymore."

"Agreed," said Smevy, sadly eyeing the remnants of supplies he had helped gather. His gaze snapped back to Flame. "So are we going to Lucas and Candy?"

"We don't really have a choice, do we?"

They packed up what little remained, bade a sad farewell to the ruins of their home, and made the journey, always keeping an eye out for signs that Caden was following them. Flame had learned her lesson about underestimating him, and she wasn't about to lead him to her friend's door.

However, when they arrived, they were startled to find that Lucas and Candy had gone to the Bay of Flowers- not only that, but they had been driven out. Apparently someone caught wind of their real reason for staying, told others, and incited a surge of annoyance, strong enough that the two were strongly "encouraged" to leave.

So Smevy and Flame turned around, painfully aware that they had no idea how to find their friends once they arrived, but that turned out not to be a problem. They had just landed their boat when Flame felt Candy's familiar mental touch tentatively grace her mind. Flame welcomed it and projected back. They were too far away to communicate much, but she was able to say that they were friendly and on their way.

Candy responded by projecting their location (the burnt out ruins of a pleasant homestead), then she shut down contact.

Flame explained the situation to Smevy, who said, "Oh, I know where that is."

"Really?"

"No need to sound so surprised. It belonged to a friend of mine. She was out gathering flowers and came back to find it gone and a note apologizing- apparently he thought it belonged to somebody else." Smevy chuckled mirthlessly. "As if that makes it better. She had to move, and I guess nobody else has moved in."

"Maybe we could," mused Flame.

"First things first we need to find them," said Smevy decidedly.

"Agreed," said Flame. She glanced at the boat. "Should we take this with us?"

"We could actually use it to get there," said Smevy. "The house is along a river that runs to the sea."

"Perfect, then let's not stay here any longer than we need to," said Flame. She glanced suspiciously at a nearby clump of trees. "This place gives me a bad feeling."

It turned out that her feelings were valid. For The Evil had been trailing them since the Brown Forest, and he was ready to make his next move.