Once the fire was roaring, Elden came over to help. I put him to work mixing the ingredients in my large bowl.
“Don’t stir too much. You don’t want to over mix. We stir the ingredients exactly forty-seven times.”
“Forty-seven,” Elden nodded as he concentrated on the mixture, furrowing his eyebrows together as if his whole world rested on getting the count right.
It was kind of cute how seriously he took my instructions.
A few overeager chipmunks scuttled closely, drawn by their hungry stomachs. Several deer poked their heads around the trees. I moved some hot coals over to encourage a slower heat,then melted some butter in the pan. Once the mixture was stirred to perfection, I poured the batter into the pan. It hit with a gratifying sizzle. I sprinkled some cinnamon, chopped green apples, and pecans into the pancake, dropping several handfuls of the filling on the ground for the hungry little chipmunks scurrying about curiously.
Intent. My intent was to cook food to fill our bodies, give us strength and…protection.
Yes, that was what we needed. Protection. I touched each ingredient as I made the food, all I needed now were words.
What had I said to the little boy, the king in disguise? What had I said to Aldaar as we’d made the mincemeat tarts? I couldn’t quite remember, but I needed to trust myself. Trust that I could do this. That I could bake magic.
After all, I’d done it before, hadn’t I?
“I hope this will protect us on our quest and help us find the cure to the blight.” I offered as I flipped the pancake over, cooking the other side to a golden brown.
Elden shot me a look as I said the words, his eyes wide.
I shrugged, “I figure if my magic worked, that’s what I’d want to have done.”
I’d spoken over my bakes before, wishing for things. It’d always felt natural, right, and if Elden was to be believed, then I needed to trust in myself, follow my own promptings. I allowed peace and contentment to flow through me, trying my best to banish the fear of what was to come–but the fear overwhelmed my heart; The pure panic of last night, the adrenaline of being hunted by those wolves.
Elden stared as the pancake rose. My stomach grumbled, but I felt nothing more than tortured anticipation. Ihadto get this right. Everything depended on it. Onme.
I flipped the pancake over onto a plate and offered it to Elden. He tore it in two and gave me half.Here we go.I watched as Elden bit into the pancake, then took a bite myself.
Deliciousness filled my mouth. It was incredible. But did I feel the magic? The protection? Did I feel blessed to find the cure?
“So?” I searched Elden’s face intently.
Elden took bite after bite, chewing and swallowing. He shook his head with a forced smile. “It is delicious, Noelle, of course, but–”
“No magic.” I flopped down on a snow-covered log in disappointment. My heart dropped from beneath me.
“You will get it right, I believe that.” Elden walked over and sat beside me, bringing a waft of his pine and sage scent toward me. I closed my eyes and breathed him in, like the lovesick fool I was, hoping to banish the pain I felt.
We sat and ate the pancakes in silence, my stomach turning sour. I tossed some pieces absently to the chipmunks that had gathered by our feet. “What if I can’t figure this out in time? What if this is all too late?”
“You will master this.” Elden’s eyes met mine from where we sat side by side on the log before the crackling campfire. “Magic takes time, and our hearts can be ever so hard to control.”
“So you have learned to control the passions of your heart?” I asked with a true desire to understand.
A wistful smile spread across Elden’s face, the kind of smile that could cause nature itself to bend at his will. But he shook his head, the smile forgotten in a blink. “I endeavor to every day, but it is growing more and more difficult as our journey progresses.”
Silence speared in between us. I didn’t know what to say, how to respond. Could he now feel the same pull toward me as I was toward him?
“What do you mean?” I breathed. I stared down at the half-eaten pancake in my hand. I was too afraid to look him in the eyes. Too afraid that I would be pulled in too far?—
But Elden had been quiet for far too long. I glanced up to meet his eyes when I noticed with alarm how his face had glazed over.
“Elden?” I pressed the back of my hand to his cheek, as if I would feel a fever there. But that was not how this dark magic worked. Elden’s face crumbled, and he dropped to his knees. My heart kicked up in alarm. “Elden! Are you alright?”
He held his hand over his coat, right where his heart should be and groaned. “The poison. It is spreading faster the closer we get to the mountain.”
I’d noticed my leg aching more. The black spreading like a venomous spider’s web, but I had no experience with the disease to compare it to.
