The creature panicked, one wing fluttering wildly. “Go away! I’ll hurt you if you come closer!”
Ignoring the threat, Orelia squatted and wrapped her arms around the boulder. “I’m going to lift this up, and then you’ll be free. Promise you won’t hurt me once you’re out from under this rock?”
Earthy green eyes blinked against matching skin. “Okay,” the creature squeaked.
The second she moved the boulder, the creature shot off into the woods, flying so quickly she barely caught its movement. Soon it came back into view, landing on a tree branch nearby.
“What are you?” Orelia asked with a tilt of her head.
“A pixie. What are you?”
She placed a hand over her heart. “I’m a witch, and—”
“You owe us for helping you, pixie,” Vade interjected. “Now show us the way out of here.”
The pixie snorted and crossed herlittle arms.
“Sorry about him. He doesn’t have any manners. We’re lost and were wondering if you could show us the way out of here.”
The pixie stepped along the branch on bare feet the size of Orelia’s palm. “Why should I?”
The witch silenced Vade with a look before he could say something smart. For once, he kept his mouth shut.
“We don’t want any trouble. We just want to know which way to go to get out of here. I think we might have been going in circles.”
A small smile played on the pixie’s blue-green lips. “The Greywood does that. It can play tricks on you if you aren’t from here.”
“Tricks?” she asked.
“Mhm.” The pixie leapt off the branch and flew toward her, stopping a few feet away, hovering. Her leaf-woven dress moved with her body, and her hair twisted like vines in various shades of brown. Her wings were the most captivating. Nearly as clear as glass, softly reflecting all colors of the rainbow.
“You won’t make it out before sundown, and you don’t want to be caught out in the open in these woods at night. Especially on a dark moon.”
Oh right, that.“Where should we go then?”
The pixie smiled. “You can come with me!” She wrapped her tiny fingers around Orelia’s forefinger, pulling her along. “I’m Evie.”
“Orelia. And this is Vade.”
The pixie looked Vade over. “Put your weapons away, fae. Those aren’t welcome at the Tree.”
“How’d you know I was fae?”
“I can smell the Points in your blood.” The pixie jerked her head toward Orelia. “Same way I knew she was a witch.”
“So, you already knew what I was even though you asked?” Orelia couldn’t help but be impressed.
A coy smile grew on the pixie’s face. “Couldn’t give away all my secrets up front, could I?”
Orelia chuckled, and once Vade had sheathed his blades, Evie resumed tugging on her finger.
“What is the Tree?” Orelia asked, eager to see where they were headed.
Evie grinned. “Home.”
twenty-four
They came upon agiant waterfall nestled between stones stacked so high Orelia couldn’t see the top. Bioluminescent mushrooms of varying heights lined the pool at the waterfall’s base, casting a turquoise glow across the rippling water.
