“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Valen remarks, as I step up to the bush. Several long vines have made their way across the path, they lay in a kind of circle on the dusty road. Without thinking, I step into the circle and begin picking the berries that surround me.
“The sign didn’t say anything about not taking berries—it just said to stay on the path. And I’m still on the path,” I point out defensively as I pop a berry into my mouth. It bursts on my tongue, filling my mouth with sweet, slightly bitter juice. Delicious.
“It might be a trap,” he says, frowning.
“I don’t think so,” I say, and eat another berry. I offer some to him, but he shakes his head.
“Eat what you want but hurry—I don’t want to be caught in here after nightfall.”
“Do you think it will take that long to get to the Sorceress?” I ask anxiously, taking a few more berries. I’m very careful not to pick any of the berries on the bush that are off the side of the path. I only take the ones from the vines that have overgrown the path.
“Don’t know.” He shrugs, his broad, bare shoulder rolling. “But I’d rather not find out. Let’s keep moving.”
I take my handful of berries and keep eating them as we walk. The dark, sweet juice gives me a much-needed burst of energy, but it makes me thirsty and my hands are sticky. I wish I had some way to clean up and quench my thirst.
I think of asking for a drink from the wine bottle—we filled it with water last night and plugged it with the cork. But I don’t like to admit to Valen that the berries might have any negative consequences—even small ones. So I keep going down the dusty trail, wishing for water.
And then, just as though someone or something had heard my wish, I see a still, silvery pool only a foot from the path. As we walk up to it, I debate with myself. On one hand, it’s off the path and I don’t want to break that rule of the forest. But on the other hand, it’s fresh, pure water—I can tell how clean it is by the way the surface is so clear—almost like a mirror.
Just seeing the cool, smooth water makes my thirst worse until it’s almost like a fire in my throat. I hang back a little, letting Valen get ahead because I know he probably wouldn’t approve of what I’m going to do.
I’m not going to step off the path—I’m not stupid. But I am going to lean over and scoop up some of that water. Just enough to wash my hands and quench my thirst. Then I’ll keep walking like nothing happened. Hopefully the constant rustling of the leaves will cover the sounds of my splashing.
I wait until Valen is several yards away from me—his big form almost lost in the shadows—before I kneel on the side of the path. I reach for the water…but somehow the pond is further away than it looked. I had thought it was only a foot away from the path—but it seems to be more like three feet.
But my throat is burning now—I’m so thirsty I can almost smell the water. I lean over, keeping my knees on the path, and reach for it.
It’s wet and cold and it quenches my thirst immediately. I spend a moment washing my hands and face—most refreshing—and I’m just getting to my feet after drying my hands and face on my shift, when I see it.
There’s a face in the water.
I lean over to get a closer look—the face is familiar.
“Mother?” I whisper.
And suddenly, I can see her—she’s there. I hear her soft, sweet voice, and see her familiar eyes looking back at me.
“My child,” she whispers. “I miss you. Why have you gone so far away?”
“I’m searching for a cure for you,” I tell her. “I’m going to get you a Healing Draught from the Sorceress—the Lady of Thornmere.”
Without noticing, I’ve taken a step forward as I talk to her. I don’t even feel it when my foot slips off the path and into the grassy verge beside it.
“Come to me, my darling.” My mother holds out her arms.
Instinctively, I step towards her…and then, as suddenly as she appeared, she is gone.
I look for her in the still water, but it’s nothing but a pond again. Realizing that her image must have been a trick of the forest, I turn back to the path…only to find that it’s somehow yards and yards away from me now. In fact, it’s barely visible—a thin brown ribbon running through the massive trees.
My heart fists in my chest and my breath grows suddenly short. The palms of my hands feel clammy. I must have stepped off without really noticing it—I need to get back!
I take a step towards the path, but somehow, that puts it even further away. Now I can barely see it at all. What in the Goddess’s name is happening?
“Think, Irena!” I mutter to myself. Suddenly, I remember something that red-beard said back at the inn. “He must’ve left the path and forgotten that in order to go forward, you have to go back,” he’d said. At the time, it made no sense to me but now, I wonder…
I took a step towards the path and that put it further away. Maybe I ought to take a step away from it instead to see if that brings it closer?
Tentatively, I shuffle one foot backwards, away from the path. Suddenly, I can see it more clearly again. Yes, it’s definitely closer.
