The Time of the Hidden

The Fox

The morning came around, and I woke resting my cheek against Theo's shoulder and latched onto his arm. I lifted my head looking at the sun rays pouring in from the window, and dropped it with a small groan.

"Nice to see you're awake." He said to me.

"Not quite yet. Give it a few minutes."

"A few minutes for you to fall back asleep?"

"More or less." I mumbled sleepily.

He laughed. "Okay, now really Skyler, we gotta get up." I didn't respond. "Skyler?" I continued to keep my eyes and mouth shut. The sudden jolt of his shoulder bounced my head up.

"Okay, okay." I knelt up on the bed. He was looking up at me with a satisfied smile, but after a moment, turned his gaze to his foot, and sighed.

"I should be the one procrastinating getting up." He stood up from the bed, and test walked the room.

"How does it feel?"

"It healed up pretty good, mainly just sore. It shouldn't be that bad to walk on."

I got off the bed, and we got ready for the day. We ate, got Theo a new shirt, and headed off to Riystone. The next few days were perfect spring days, with good sun and good breeze. The only problem was stopping more often for Theo.

We walked on a wide road that was bordered by green woods. I could see the towering gate of Riystone in the distance. We were almost finished with our journey.

"What's our first step in the search?" I asked.

"Well... I had an idea, probably the easiest way to find him." He reached into the satchel, and pulled out the remains of Flynn's cloak that the inn keeper in Mendrick had given us. I looked at him confused.

"You're going to want to be in your natural form for this." I changed, and looked at him as he brought the cloak to his face, and inhaled. "Here," he handed me the cloak. "Smell it."

"Why?"

"We're tracking his scent." He breathed in the air. I mimicked him, taking in the scent of the cloak. It held the natural musk of the forest, with something else that smelled a bit like cinnamon. I inhaled the air and caught a scent that matched it.

"I got something," I said, "It leads into the woods." I recaptured the scent, creating a firm trail. "This way." We left the road, and followed the scent into the forest.

After a half an hour of walking, it was beginning to feel like we were chasing nothing. The air was beginning to cool as the evening deepened.

"Maybe we should head back." I said, "We might get lost if we stray too far from the road, and we need to find a place to stay before for the sun goes down."

He clenched his jaw lightly, then said, "Let's keep going on, we won't get lost." He widened his eyes, as an effort to keep them open, as he walked on. I caught his elbow.

"Theo, you look exhausted, we should go back."

He looked on at the forest eagerly. "Just a little longer, we'll be fine." I gave him a tight smile. I knew arguing with him would do nothing but waste of time. I sighed, and followed him, but stopped when I caught something in the corner of my eye. Something fiery red.

"Why did you stop?"

"Umm... nothing." I continued on. After a few minutes, I saw it again darting behind a bush.

"Theo, there's something out there."

"What do you mean?"

"I keep seeing something red."