The Tree's Heart

XIV

Clover had no idea what was going on with Willow and Avery. They had started fighting with each other and they were hurling insults and phrases at each other that clover didn't have the faintest clue about. She didn't know what the hell was going on and she wasn't sure whether she really wanted to know.

All she knew was that something was broken, some sort of spell had vanished, and she could see that Avery had been trying to stop her from leaving time and time again. He had lied to her. And so had Willow. She couldn't trust either of them anymore. Was there anyone in this forest that she could trust? Maybe not. She was still drawn to Avery, but she suddenly realised that he had been manipulating her all along.

But he had also been right about Willow trying to drive a wedge between the two of them. Clover didn't know what to do. She felt awful. She felt like she had absolutely no one left anymore. Was she going to go back to Avery after he had been lying to her? After he had manipulated her and tried to isolate her from anyone else, she knew? No. No, she couldn't do that. Not before getting some time to think about things. And she wouldn't get that time if she was around Avery – and he also wouldn't let her go.

But was she going to go back to Willow? She had been casting some spells over her and even if she promised that it was only for her own good, how was she to know that? Who was going to say that Willow wasn't lying to her either? Plus, she seemed to have all these other secrets that she wasn't telling Clover about. All those little things that had made her wary around Willow from the very start.

She had nowhere to go. She had nowhere to go that she knew of. But neither of them was paying any attention to her anymore, either way. It was like she didn't even exist while they were having their petty little argument. Clover knew that she had had enough. She wanted to be alone, she wanted time to think. She needed to be away from the influence of both Avery and Willow, so she could make up her mind.

And so, she ran. They weren't paying attention to her; they didn't seem to notice that she was disappearing. There was no one that was calling after her. Clover didn't know where she was running to. She knew that she wouldn't be able to escape the forest on her own, she had learned that much already. But she could escape those two and their fighting and bickering. And their lies and deceptions.

Clover had been running for a long time, before she finally came to a stop, completely out of breath. She could feel tears pricking at her eyes. She had made mistakes, so many mistakes. And she was still yearning for Avery, despite everything. It felt like someone had ripped a hole into her heart and she didn't know how to fix it. But for now, she needed to stop for a while. She needed to breathe and then she probably needed to find somewhere else to go. Maybe she could try to make her way back to the gnomes?

But she was lost. She was hopelessly lost. She had no idea where she was or where she was going. And she didn't know the way to their little fortress in the hills, either. If she would manage to get there, it would be completely by coincidence. And Clover didn't want to rely on sheer luck, not in this forest.

She was breathing heavily and leaning against a tree, closing her eyes. Her lungs were aching for more air, and she was feeling a little faint. Her legs felt like rubber. She was tired. She was so tired of everything around her. Maybe it would be best if she just lay down right here and waited for the forest to claim her. From what Willow had said it would sometimes do that, so maybe now was the time for Clover to give up.

She was never going to get out of here. She didn't know how. Even if the potion that Willow was brewing would get her out of here, she wasn't going to go back to Willow. Not yet. And they didn't even know whether it was actually going to work. So, there was that. Maybe it was all pointless. The forest clearly wanted to keep her, so maybe she should just stay. See if she could find some place to live.