Solar Reign

V I I

"WHERE IS he? Where's Nohx?" Callum stood with Andorra at the edge of the Woodland Forest, his eyes darting around the trees. An eerie chill seemed to blow towards them, causing goosebumps to run down her arms. There was a soft moaning too, something she was sure caused by the swaying of the old trees before her, but nevertheless, she felt a shiver of fear zip up her spine.

It would be fine. She had traveled these woods before, and had done so successfully.

"I'm sure he'll be here. Besides, I've done this before without him, so quit worrying. I'll be fine."

Callum's frown deepened. Shadows crawled across the ground, swirling around her own ankles. His jaw clenched as he forced himself to not explode, right then and there. "No. Absolutely not, you aren't traveling in the Woodland Forest alone."

Andorra put her hand on his arm, forcing his gaze to meet hers. "Callum, I'm fine. I've been training with Vulara, remember? And I went to bat with the Daemonium, which are way more dangerous than anything in here. Plus, I did this before and you never had an issue with it then."

"Yeah, because I didn't care about you then." He stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. "That doesn't mean I can't change my mind."

"I'm going in, and you need to stay here. The Rumplewren will never appear to me if you tag along. And we need this to go well."

Callum wasn't happy, but he didn't have a choice. Even he knew this, no matter how angry it made him to see her step into the woods, alone, without Nohx. Callum had half a mind to strangle the Clan Leader. He watched Andorra snake through the trees until he couldn't see her any longer, refusing to move until she returned. "Stupid Clan Leader," he muttered to himself. "Can't trust any of those snow freaks."

Andorra, feeling pretty confident she was going to be fine, cleared her mind. The only way visiting the Rumplewren and the Prophet worked was to go into the woods with the intention of finding them. Any strange or wayward thoughts could get her lost in the woods, or worse, killed.

The recipe in her pocket felt heavy. She wasn't sure what the Rumplewren would tell her, if he would even take a look at the mysterious list of ingredients. Part of her was terrified she wouldn't even stumble upon his cottage, making this entire trip useless.

The air in the woods felt exactly like it had the first time she had ventured here; freezing against her skin, the sound of its brittle whistle echoing as it blew through the trees. She was in the Autumn Court now, reminding her of the many times she explored her own woods behind her human house in Maine. True, she had moved there in the winter, but the air felt similar, and the chill was reminiscent of her human days.

Feeling nostalgic almost helped take her mind off of the rustling she heard all around her. Animals, she told herself, but that only eased part of her mind. Animals in Anlithamy weren't simple creatures looking for food. She rubbed at her arms, moving forward, trying to spot a pathway between the trees, but finding none.

Sunlight filtered down through the leaves, creating what should have been an inviting colorful hue, but there was something that nagged at her continuously. Something felt off. Something wasn't right.

And Nohx not showing up? That was unlike him. Andorra trusted him, yet something about him flaking on her made her gut churn. He wouldn't do that to her, right?

It was possible he tried to enter the Woodland Forest through the Shadow Clan, just south of his own territory. But it made more sense of him to fly on the back of Viir to the Royal Court and meet her there.

There was a brush against the backs of her calves that had Andorra jumping and spinning, heart pounding in an instant. "Hello?" she called, instantly feeling stupid when nothing was behind her. She spun slowly, but saw nothing. The roaring of blood in her ears made it momentarily hard for her to hear anything, so she took a calming breath.