Untamed Spirits - KOTLC - (DISCONTINUED)

Sixteen

Noreh freaked out, just like Grace had expected.

She started demanding questions and her cryokinesis started throwing icicles and freezing everything. She nearly froze Grace's hand off before she could get the icicle–happy elf under control and leap her back to Alluveture.

There was a yelling match featuring a confused Noreh and a pleading Forklenator. Grace stood by, silently watching and ready to intervene if needed.

Cahto kept coming up in her thoughts and she tried to push it away. It had been nine years since the Neverseen had taken him. She barely remembered what he looked like.

The only thing she did remember was playing hide n' seek before people in dark cloaks showed up. Squall barely showed up in time to save her, but it was too late for Cahto. They had already leaped him away.

Noreh and Forkle finished their yelling match and were about to make the leap to the Neverseen's hideout the gnomes sensed when Grace stopped them.

"I'm coming too, right?"

Forkle shook his head. "It would be dangerous to bring you there, considering your . . . past. You'll need to sit this one out, Miss Smoke."

"But Cahto—"

"Might not be there," Forkle interrupted. "Miss Foster is our top priority right now."

Noreh glanced between the two, confused. "Whose Cahto?"

Forkle grabbed her hand. "This is not the time. Cahto is probably not even there, Grace. Miss Foster is still there, and every second we waste is another that the Neverseen hold her and Mr. Dizznee prisoner."

Grace crossed her arms and watched as they leaped away. Squall tried to talk to her, as did Granite and Blur, but she ignored them, heading back to Astraia and Torie's hut. They didn't mind too much—they were used to her coming over randomly.

She sat criss–crossed on the ground next to Astraia, glaring at the floor. Astraia traced her fingers against the floor, looking as bored as ever. She had that sad look on her face that suggested she was thinking about Keefe again.

Grace was thinking about her own brother. Forkle could just be so unbelievably stubborn when it came to stuff like that. She was only fourteen, but that was old enough to search for him herself without getting killed.

Tori came in, carrying a wooden tray with drinks and small bits of food. Astraia stared at it, looking like she wanted to cry but couldn't. Grace gave her a hug before grabbing one of the drinks. Astraia numbly grabbed the other drink and stared at it in her hands.

"We'll find Cahto," Torie promised. "And you'll see Keefe again."

Astraia slumped and nodded in the reflection of her depressed drink. Grace shrugged and swirled the juice.

"You'll see Scarlet again, too," she told Torie. "And Cornelian."

Tori gave her a small smile before sitting next to them. They all stared at their drinks and the snacks, being the depressed group they were. Hours passed by and Grace thought her brain would explode.

Finally she stood to leave, thinking that Forkle and Noreh had to be back by now. Astraia waved goodbye, still not trusting herself to speak even though nothing went wrong last time she spoke, and Tori let her take some of the snacks with her, which was definitely a bonus.

Grace made sure she was out of sight when she leaped, since Tori wasn't part of the Black Swan and would question why she was using a light leaping crystal. When Grace arrived back at Alluvetere, she found Noreh and Forkle having another yelling match.