Darkness Drops Again

Part Five

"Well, I know where to go then," Audrey said, taking a step toward her broken door.

Chard's father stepped forward to block her path. "You can't just GO to Capital City."

Audrey frowned. Here came a solution – but now it's complicated. Who cared if that freaky Queen lived there? Obviously, if she wandered around a forest, just hours before, she wasn't home. "Why not?"

"It's just not possible," Chard murmured. "They're closed up, have been for months."

"But we saw the Qu-" she started, but trailed at Chard's pained look and her father's sudden shock.

He spun on his daughter. "You were hunting in her forest again, weren't you." His voice heavy with disappointment, the curve in his back emphasized.

Chard jammed her fists against her hips, face void of emotion. "Not like I managed to bag anything, anyway."

"That's not the point," he sighed and shook his head. "But it stands that until the city opens," he looked back at Audrey. "There's no safe way in."

"That's the only place this Liev guy would be?"

"Mage Liev," Chard grumbled just as her father: "More than likely."

Sympathy softened his smile. "Just stay tonight. I know this must be overwhelming, but a good meal and rest..."

Audrey sighed, slacking. She didn't want to admit it, but she was tired. The hike through the woods had drawn a lot from her and the confrontation earlier left her drained. "Alright."

The older man stepped toward her and motioned for her to follow. "You can leave the door here for now. Oh, also, I'm Gregory by the way."

She glanced at Chard and then followed after Gregory. The woman trailed behind.

"I'm an inventor," he said as the passed through a room with numerous discarded objects. A few looked like things she knew, but others bothered her by their obscurity. "Moderately successful."

They entered what appeared to be a kitchen. A round table sat in the center, light pouring down across the room from a hole in the roof. Sprouts grew out of portions of the wood around them, the trees fighting back. Chard brushed pass and sat at the table. She had some papers rolled up under her arm and when she unrolled one, Audrey saw it was a map.

"I'm afraid I don't have much variety since I've had no means to cook for a while." Gregory shot his daughter a look and then went back to digging through the cabinet. He retrieved a wad of bread, some sort of jerky, and a jar of something bright orange. "It isn't much, but I hope it helps."

Audrey took what was offered and nodded. "Thank you. I really appreciate it." Her stomach moaned and she took the food to the table with haste.

Chard studied the map as Audrey took the seat next to her.

It was nearly covered in forest, with lines she assumed were roads crosshatching it. The only cleared spot was at the base of some mountains at the left side of the map. "Is this... here?" Audrey felt dumb asking and ducked her head.

"Yeah, it's here. Nevis." She jabbed her finger at a point on the map, among the trees. "This is where we are." Then she dragged her finger over to the cleared spot. "This is Capital City."

Tearing the bread in half, she took a nibble. Just a little stale, but good enough to eat. The jar contained what smelled like orange apricot jam. The jerky was spicy. "That looks like a long walk," she mused.

Chard looked sidelong at her. "It is."

"Do you think I can make it?"

"Nope." Chard snagged a chunk of the bread, pulled a small dagger out of nowhere and smeared jam on the loaf. "Not without a guide."

"Are you offering?"

The woman shook her head. "I've only been there once. I'm not sure I'd remember the way."

Audrey took the dagger from Chard to scoop herself some of the jam. It was tart with just a touch aftertaste of sweet and it starkly reminded her of something, though she couldn't put her finger on it. "So. I need to get my door fixed. I need to find this Liev guy. He's in Capital City." She looked at Chard who wore a sour look. "So how am I supposed to get there?"

"I have an idea, but you're not going to like it." She let out a small laugh. "I'm not going to like it either. Finish eating."

They ate in silence, Audrey eating more than she thought she would and staring around the room. On further inspection, all the furniture in the room seemed to be growing from the tree, not just overgrown with sprouts. A literal living room.

Chard rolled up the maps and they headed back to the room they first met Chard's father. Boards in the hallway creaked and Audrey squint at it all, trying to see how much of the house was actually tree, but the hallway was too dim.

Gregory stood behind his beakers and tubes again, inspecting a piece of her door through thick glasses.

"I've made up a room," he said without looking up. It appeared as though he were reading something, though Audrey couldn't remember there being any words etched in it.

"Thank you."

"We're heading out," Chard said.

It caused her father to look up sharply, sending a vial crashing to the floor. "What? But you just got here!"

"We'll be back," Chard said with a sigh. "It's just a hunch I have that might help Audrey here."

Her father's face dropped a fraction, but he nodded. "I do hope to see you again," he said to them.

The way he said it made her wonder if he ever would, but she masked the worry with a smile and a nod.

"Dad, don't worry. We'll be back in a minute."

Chard gave Audrey's arm and tug and they exited the room.

"Where are we going?" Audrey asked as they burst out of the house into the forestry at the side of the house. Night made everything a shade darker and she longed to be in the lights on the rope bridges and walkways.

"Well, I think this first place we should check is the Fallwood Tavern."