His head ached, and his hands shook.
“Are you coming too?” Leo asked.
The orange fox trotted along beside them. The fox glanced up at them, bushy tail swinging from side to side.
“Wonder where the fox came from?” Leo’s brows furrowed. “They were just sitting on your chest when I came across you. Like they were looking after you. Have you ever seen this fox before?”
Jasper stared at the fox. “Not before today.”
“Well, they seem attached to you.” Leo led him onwards. The strange fox kept following.
They approached the forest’s edge. Jasper halted as he stared at the city before them. “This— This is the wrong way. We have to go back.” He looked back to the green treetops and the thick undergrowth of the forest.
“This is the way home, Jas,” Leo said, voice soft and slow but firm.
Leo was right, of course. That was the way home. Still, Jasper did not want to go. Something tugged at the centre of his chest, urging him to go back.
“Come on. Let’s keep going.” Leo’s gentle hands tugged at him. “You need a healer. And rest.”
For a moment, Jasper resisted, staring back, gaze searching the trees.
But what if he really did just need a healer? Maybe this confusion, this feeling that he needed to find someone, was just because he’d knocked his head and almost drowned. Still,he kept staring into the forest, holding his breath, waiting for someone to appear.
Finally, he let Leo lead him away.
“That’s right. This way.” Leo squeezed his waist. “We’ll get you home and to a healer. Everything will be okay.”
As they left the forest, the fox hesitated. They looked back towards the forest. Then they padded after them.
“You sure you want to come too, fox? You don’t really belong in the city,” Leo said.
But the fox continued with them.
And as the three left the forest, a shadowy figure hidden amongst the trees watched them depart.
Chapter
Three
December 1
Jasper stood by the edge of the pond, staring down into the murky depths of the water where he’d almost drowned. He remembered flailing, fighting, struggling to keep holding his breath, inhaling water, and then darkness.
The sides of the pond had begun to freeze over. Crystal-like frost covered rocks and pebbles that surrounded it.
Lifting his gaze, he stared at the place on the ground where he had woken. Then he looked to the hill where he’d fallen. He stared at the trees, their branches now bare and covered in snow.
Despite the passing of months, he still could not piece together the puzzle that had been his accident. And his survival.
He’d fallen. He’d landed in the pond. He’d thought he drowned. Then he’d miraculously woken on the ground.
But how did I get out of the water? How did I survive?
Something rubbed against his leg. Jasper looked down. Kali, his fox familiar, rubbed her long, slender body against Jasper’s calves.
Jasper leaned down to pat her. “This is where you and I met, Kali.”
She sat on her haunches. Her tongue lolled.
