the Forest of Emmitaenu

Hide and Seek

[art by Matthew Roberts]

"Where are you going dear?" Jade shouted at her back. Lara couldn't help herself, she could see it again. The magic dust was in the air and it formed a trail just begging to be followed.

"Don't you want to know where it goes?" Lara asked both her companions from over her shoulder without breaking stride. Zeftx and Jade followed her completely mystified by her deviation from the path.

"Do we want to know where what goes?" Zeftx asked, sounding a bit concerned. He was doing a better job of keeping up with her but not so good at keeping up with the conversation.

"The magic," Lara said, sounding exasperated and giddy all at once. Then she stopped. Turning around she looked at them both. "You don't see anything do you?" Again she thought of the look on the mysterious strangers face after she'd stared at the magic dust collecting all over him. She doubted he could see any of it, and now she doubted Jade or Zeftx could either. Jades eyes grew suddenly wide.

"Mortals can see magic?!" Jade examined Lara's eyes brand new, as if expecting to see something different about them. Lara didn't know what she could possibly hope to discover but the closeness to her face made her feel suddenly self conscious and awkward.  Then Jade's attention was diverted by some unseen distraction and she turned around to grab Zeftx arm. "Someone's coming."

"What is it?" Zeftx asked in a  low and serious voice. Jade hesitated before telling him and when she did, his eyes turned a burnt orange color.

"A witch. It's a girl," Jade whispered. Lara was suddenly as shocked as Zeftx. Then she remembered his history with witches and she flinched for him. Suddenly the unnerving color in his eyes made sense.  He and Jade did that thing families do when they communicate with just their eyes before Jade gave a grim nod in one direction and Zeftx nodded in silent agreement.

"Lara, I need you to listen to me and do exactly what I say," Zeftx was telling her. Jade was already walking away without them and his hands were on her shoulders as he tried to explain things to her. She could feel his thrumming heartbeat through their connection. "Jade and I are going to go ahead and find the witch. I need you to hide here and promise you won't follow us." He waited for her to promise. She bit her lower lip unsure, but when he gave her shoulders a tiny squeeze she knew he was only trying to do the right thing.

"Ok, I promise." She said, and she meant it.

"Thank you, Lara," He whispered. "Jade took the left side. I'm going to circle around the right, we don't expect her to try and cut across the middle. It's too open and anyone who walks in it would be vulnerable. Hide here, and I promise we will come right back. I won't let anything hurt you Lara." His eyes turned into deep burgundy swirls. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she answered. He'd already saved her life once. He let go of her shoulders and stood up strait. Before he could slip away into the trees using his dematerializing skills, Lara tossed herself against his chest in a tight hug. He hugged her back, stroked her hair and smiled when he released her. Then he took off into the trees heading right. She could see him darting in and out of their great trunks at running speed.

Lara turned in circles looking for a place to hide. Hide here, Zeftx had said. Behind what though? She wondered. She had never really been the hide-and-go seek champion, but she had played the game and any fourth grader could tell you hiding behind a tree got a two on a ten point scale. She looked forward again and her attention was seized by the trail of gold dust. It tracked directly into the sunny center of the clearing.

We don't expect her to try and cut across the middle, Zeftx said. Lara knew exactly where to hide then. Apparently no one would go in here, except for Lara herself. Feeling rather clever she marched directly into the empty round clearing. Right away she realized she'd been wrong. There was in fact one other person she knew would go into the clearing.

Although she ruled out his potential as a ghost, the mysterious stranger certainly knew how to make himself invisible. To anyone else looking at the sun bathed plane it was empty. To Lara, it appeared occupied. He looked like a golden statue glittering in the sun as the magic dust created a life size cast around the deceptively empty air.

Before she had the chance to call him out, a terrible sense of unease settled into the pit of her stomach. Her head felt a jolt of pain, and her eyes squeezed shut against it as her hands flew to each side of her head and applied pressure to her temples. As quickly as it started the pain ceased. Taking deep careful breaths, afraid the pain might come back, Lara let her hands drop. When she opened her eyes again, the sound of an alarm echoing pulled her attention to the row of trees on the far side.

It reminded Lara of all the times she'd been in a car that pulled off the road to allow a passing policemen with his sirens wailing. Her eyes would always follow the direction of the cruiser the same way her eyes were raking the tree line now. She half expected to see the glowing blue and red lights to accompany the noise in her head. Instead what she discovered was a girl hiding in the foliage.