Brendan woke early the next day. He was restless from the exchange between Harley and himself and couldn’t stand to be in the same tent as her without being able to so much as speak to her. He got up and built a fire near the ledge again. Once he felt a little more settled, he decided he would scout on ahead. He left a hasty note in the sand and proceeded up the trail alone. Brendan could feel the charms all over the place. It was disturbing. No area should be full of so much mischief. There was a reason the charms were there and he knew it was probably Chase and Lyla. Brendan had worked up a healthy sweat hiking up the mountain. The sun had just come up and he was feeling pretty good in his pace when he heard something. Brendan crouched low, ducking behind a tree for safety. He scanned the area and saw a person up ahead doing what looked to be chopping wood. “Thwack!” Another sound came from the general direction. Brendan walked cautiously toward the figure. As he got closer, he noticed the person looked remarkably like Chase, brown hair flopping into his eyes as he loaded another log on the stump to be split. He had taken his shirt off and had a healthy sheen of sweat glistening on his marked body. Brendan was a bit cautious because Chase was wielding an ax. He centered his power for peace and walked up carefully.
Once he was within twenty feet of Chase, the hair on his arms stood up. Chase’s marks were seriously faded on his left arm, the marks of Occlumency that tied him to Lyla. They should have stood out like a beacon, but instead were faded to almost the color of his tanned skin. The energy in the area was almost too much for Brendan. He would have to get Chase’s attention or leave fast. Brendan cleared his throat.
Chase continued to load the logs up to be split. Not looking at Brendan at all he said, “I knew you were there. I’ve known since the base of the hill.”
Brendan tried not to get alarmed, but he did. “How you doing? Haven’t seen you since the fight.”
“Huh. Not sure what fight your talking about.” Thwack! Another log split.
“The fight with the others, a little while ago? They tried to take you and Lyla.”
Chase stopped then and turned to face Brendan. “Who’s Lyla?”
Brendan tried to not panic but it was hard. His breathing became irregular. “She’s your wife. You met her this last year.”
“My wife? I’m a little young for that. Are you sure you didn’t hit your head somewhere between here and Lakeland? I’m where I’m supposed to be, interning on the hill to develop my powers. If this Lyla was so important, I’d remember her, but I don’t.”
Brendan’s mind was frantically searching for the right words or charm to kick start Chase back to reality but he was coming up short. He needed Harley, he needed her mind. “So, where are you staying nowadays?” He decided to go with it, at least get some information.
“Up at the cabin, with Tom and Madeleine, they’re wonderful people.” Chase resumed his wood chopping while Brendan frantically searched his mind.
“Yeah, I’m sure they are. Cabin is close by then, huh?” Keep it conversational, Brendan kept thinking.
“Yep, about a mile to the north. There aren’t any roads, you have to track it on foot.”
“Got it.” Brendan wanted to keep him talking but it was getting hard in-between log splitting. Then it hit Brendan what a mess this just became. He would go back to the cabin, tell the people there that he saw an old friend and they would move him. They had to get Chase and Lyla out today. “Hey, Jaden wanted to talk to you, is it okay if I go get him?”
