“You have no idea.”
Into the woods we go.
PartTwo
Seventeen
A creature that seems like it would be related to the waraver, but is not, is the swid, another impermanent Moonvillian water creature. Unlike the waraver, swid lore is universal and unchanging. A swid is created when love magic (which famously pollutes Moonville’s waterways) and moon magic swirl together in an eddy. This type of magical organism can move but does not possess conscious thought like waravers, which display moderate intelligence and are skilled at evasion. Swids aren’t easily detectable, as they are invisible, and hover in clusters. As their matter is sticky, they tend to gravitate to one another and form clumps called swidbula. Contact with a swid results in a temporary but powerfully giddy, lovestruck feeling. Accompanying sensations include blurred vision and tingling extremities, which clears once the swid is no longer in close proximity.
Local Legends and Superstitions,
Tempest Family Grimoire
We follow thehuggle through dense, dark trees with sappy branches, which scurry out of our way as we approach. I glance at Morgan to see if he notices that the trees are clearing our path forward, but he’s focused straight ahead.
It all feels rather like being at the bottom of the ocean. How everything is colored in deep greens and blues, none of it visible until a lantern floods out murky shapes. The whispering ofleaves well over a hundred feet above our heads could be undiscovered species of marine life, drifting along the current.
The huggle vanishes into brush. “Where’d it go?” Morgan asks, his breath skating across the top of my head, blowing the tiny curls that frizz along my hairline. I swing the lantern higher, light chasing up a tree trunk. “I saw a squirrel, but you saw something else, which definitely fits the brief for paranimals.”
“It changes when I question it, though. When I start to doubt, that’s when it suddenly looks like a squirrel again. Why does the Black Bear Witch do this to animals? Is it like a curse?”
“Maybe she’s made them dangerous.”
I contemplate that. “The huggle I knew when I was little was always friendly. Maybe with the way she enchants them, she gives them magic of some sort but wants them to still appear normal, because they have new value that could be exploited. Why do cuttlefish change their colors? To hide from predators and also to blend in while they hunt their prey. It’s the—”
The end of my sentence dies with the lantern’s batteries.
Morgan raps the bottom of the lantern, switching it on and off. Darkness prevails. “That’s not good. Do you have your phone on you?”
“No.”
“Damn. Me, neither.” With the world gone black, Morgan feels much closer now, even though I don’t think he’s actually moved. “Wait. What’s that?”
“Where?” I turn my head as he takes my hand. Uses it topoint. Squinting, I’m just barely able to make out a light in the forest, far away.
“A streetlight?” I guess. “How far from the road do you think we are?”
“Could be. Might be a flashlight.”
I shudder. “It’s the person who keeps talking about clocks.”
“You’re gonna need to go into detail on that.”
I tell him what I heard, and Morgan stops moving. I can feel him go rigid.
“The sorceress stuffed her inside a clock,” he repeats. “Could that possibly be a reference to the Black Bear Witch? Who got stuffed? Do you think our mysterious voice was speaking to you, or to somebody else in here?”
I shrug. “Your guess is as good as mine. Still can’t believe you didn’t hear it.”
Morgan grumbles resentfully. “Careful, watch your step.” He laces his fingers securely through mine.
Images of steep drops rip through my mind. The terrain’s dangerous: narrow roads with no guardrails, no white edge paint to reflect headlights and help keep your car from plunging off. Out here in Falling Rock Forest, where citizens are strongly encouraged not to roam even during daylight hours, we’ve found ourselves in a veritable death trap.
“I know.” I swallow. “This was maybe a stupid idea.”
“Nobody ever made history by going home.”
“All right, so we’re going to walk very, very slowly,” I tell him, endeavoring to stay levelheaded and in control of all my senses. “Feel along the ground with your shoes before you step. It’s impossible to tell where any edges might be.”
