Timeweaver

The Search Begins

Tabitha was starting to regret her actions when the first raindrop fell. The trip through the forest so far had been easy, if not a little warm. As the water began to fall faster, Tabitha replayed the morning's events, wondering if it was too late to go back, back to Lyss's cozy dry cottage. Because, though she hated to admit it, revenge only makes you feel good for a limited amount of time, partially dependent on the weather conditions.

But it was too late. She had gone too far and now she had to figure things out on her own, if only just to prove she was confident in her decisions, even though she currently wasn't.

Focus, Tabitha. You have to find Cat. Griffin and Lyss aren't important anymore.

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Lyssandra and Griffin took a while to move. After Tabitha had stormed out of the house, mother and son were frozen in place, two pairs of icy blues locked onto each other.

Griffin finally let out a shocked whistle, breaking the tense silence. Lyss responded with a nervous cough. Neither knew what to say to the other. Their deepest secrets had just been laid bare by a girl they hardly knew, though Lyss had some theories.

She had never told Tabitha what she really was, or at least what the old witch thought she was. Someone with amazing abilities, the only one who could rid the beautiful forest kingdom of that pest she once called a sister, Gwendolyn, once and for all.

She blinked her pale eyes back into focus as Griffin's chair scraped across the wooden floor. He stood up and quietly retreated to his bedroom. If Lyss hadn't been so concentrated on figuring out how to find Tabitha and see if she really was special, she would've noticed that Griffin was up to something.

This made Griffin's task so much easier. Closing and locking his bedroom door, he kneeled in front of the old chest and lifted up the worn leather lid, revealing the collection of papers inside. He had accumulated the records and history books unbeknownst to his mother or the Magdilus librarians. Besides, pilfering old papers was the least of his crimes. In fact, there wasn't even room for it on the list.

One book held his fascination. The last time he had seen it had been several years ago, but he would never forget its vivid drawings and descriptions of an incredible talent that had drifted through Magdilus history for centuries before suddenly disappearing the year he was born. He remembered paging through it at night, imagining he was the legendary Timeweaver.

Timeweaver. Tabitha, the girl who dropped into Avalon out of nowhere, was a Timeweaver and he was, and would always be, a simple witch's son.

"Damn it," Griffin muttered. "Where is that book?" After rifling through the trunk one last time, he accepted that the book really wasn't there. Hearing the click of Lyssandra's bedroom door, Griffin decided to go on a walk to clear his head before finding what had been taken from him.

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"Do you think she went this way?" Cat asked Flame. The big white wolf strode alongside her, glancing around anxiously every few seconds.

"I think that's it's dangerous for you to be walking around out here. The trees have ears, and eyes, and possibly talons." Flame sounded carefree as he said this, but Cat could tell he was worried they would be caught again. Catalina knew how much it would hurt the Guardian's pride to fail a second time at protecting the last Animal Whisperer in the entire realm.

"Well, at least it's better than that stinky hayloft. That farmer wasn't too happy about us being up there either."

"I believe it was me he had a problem with, actually." Cat nodded her agreement and they continued down the beaten path, sodden twigs crunching underfoot and under-paw.