The Seelie Curse

Chapter 71

Rowan huffs out a breath and stands, looking to Astrila. "So, what now?"

"Someone was here and they're gone now. I know they are moving quickly. I was here a moment after the river froze and they were already gone."

"Can your winds lead you?"

Astrila frowns and stretches out a hand. The winds are nowhere nearby, there is the lack of anything, even the faintest whisper of a breeze. Astrila's frown deepens and she reaches into her belt-pouch for the wind stone. It's the first time she is using it, she isn't sure how it will go. Yet despite that, it's almost as if she instinctively knows what to do.

The swirling mists inside the small sphere almost enrapture her once again, but she forces herself to stay focused. They don't have time for her to stare into it. She can feel the strength of the winds inside the stone and they stream out of it, whipping around her. The winds are so strong that they almost push the other two girls backwards.

Astrila pulls them back towards her, trying to keep her cousin and friend from falling over. The winds whisper to her, a chorus of music. Astrila's face twitches into a brief smile and she lets the wind curl around her braid and toss it into the air. She whispers to the wind, her voice so soft that the other two girls couldn't possibly hear it, even if they had Inuit hearing.

"Can you lead me to the source of this frozen magic?"

The winds pick up and swirl, almost tearing the leaves from the overhanging trees. This time it actually does cause the other girls to topple, or at least stumble. Kyma manages to regain her balance, but Rowan falls to the ice. Astrila winces and calls out over the wind.

"Sorry!"

Rowan waves her off, laughing. "I'm alright. What exactly are you doing though?"

"I'm trying to get the winds to show me where to go."

"Is it working?"

Astrila shrugs, listening. After a moment, the winds slow and collect back around her. They whisper in her ear, she can feel the sadness in the wind's music.

No sign, no path.

Astrila sighs and looks to the others. Now that her attention is pulled away from the winds, they die down entirely. She lets go of the wind stone and closes her pouch back up.

"The winds couldn't find anything."

Rowan frowns. "Should I try the runes?"

"I don't see why not."

Rowan pulls one of her runestones from her bag and cradles it in her palm. Astrila can't use the stones, and she doesn't really know how long it's supposed to take, but when one minute passes, then two, and then three, she knows there is something wrong.

"It isn't working, is it?"

"No. I don't know why, it should."

Astrila frowns. "Wait, what were you told to do? There was something that was supposed to lead you, I remember that. But what was it?"

Rowan mutters something, her brows drawn together in concentration. Then she curses, a Gaelic word that Astrila doesn't know. Of course, she can figure out its meaning from the pieces of the word, but she doesn't really want to do that. She gets the idea, she doesn't need the details.

"What were you told, Ro?"

"To follow the world I love. Quite literally."

"What does that mean?"

Rowan frowns. "To ask the forest.  It would make sense, we've been trying to use magic to guide us, but the forest sensed the path. The forest already knows which way we need to go, it just needs a way to tell us. All I need to do is ask."

Beaming, Rowan darts across the ice towards one of the trees. Or at least she tries to. Astrila thinks she forgot that she was on ice and tried to run normally. If the river wasn't frozen solid, she would have broken through and given herself hypothermia. As it is, Rowan's legs just slide out from beneath her in an awkward - and likely painful - way, causing her to fall. Astrila winces and makes her way across the ice, helping Rowan to her feet.

"Shuffle. Just slide your feet across in short motions and you won't fall."

Using the new technique, Rowan makes her way across far more quickly. She stumbles once or twice, but that is due to the slipperiness of the fresh ice rather than her desperate movements. The first tree they reach is completely iced over and Rowan bangs on the ice in frustration, trying to free the tree. All she achieves is snapping a few frozen leaves from their crystalline branches. The leaves shatter on the ice and Rowan crumbles, choking back a sob. Astrila frowns at her.

"What are you doing? Get up!"

"I don't know what to do! All the trees are frozen, I can't reach the bark."

"Could you use the trees farther away from the river, the ones that aren't coated in ice?"

Rowan shakes her head. "No, they won't have been witness. And they can't communicate with these trees either, not with them frozen like this. Nothing can be done."

Astrila lifts an eyebrow. "Really? You're just going to give up?"

Rowan twists around and glares at Astrila. "You don't want me to? Tell me what I'm supposed to do!"

"You have magic, don't you? Fire magic."

Rowan snaps, "I don't know what that has to do with any- Oh." Her breath whooshes out of her.
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Why was Astrila referring to Rowan's fire magic? Were Rowan's struggles in moving on ice funny? What's going to happen next? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out