“Yes, of course. Go talk with Riggins and Po,” Avery said, pressing her hand on his arm to push him away.
Savine turned back, looking at Avery with that intense gaze of his before he left the room with Riggins and Po.
Susan took a delicate bite of cake and a drink of her tea.
Avery stared in disbelief at Susan. “I can’t believe there’s another living human in Aeritis! Everyone who spoke of humans made it sound like they were hunted down and killed. How have you survived here for so long?”
“Would you like the whole story?”
“If you are willing to share,” Avery said as she took a sip of her tea.
“Yes. I would like that. Like you, I went through a portal. I came to Aeritis at the age of six. It was 1966, according to the human calendar. I still remember that detail from my kindergarten classroom. My family and I were boating on Flathead Lake in Montana. As we were boating, I leaned over the side of the boat and slipped in. I sank deep into the bottom, seemingly drowning. Except I awoke in Riggins and Po’s home several days later. Riggins saw my body from the porch and ran down to Dorfaren Lake to retrieve me. Somehow, I survived the drowning, and they nursed me back to health, with the help of Hyacinth.
“I never saw my human family again. Riggins and Po adopted me and raised me as their own. They taught me how to survive in Aeritis and disguised me as one of the Bayberries. I believe I have had an advantage over other humans who arrived here because such caring and loving folk rescued me.” Susan sighed and gave Avery a sad smile. “I hope you have had a similar experience?”
Avery smiled back at Susan. Another human. She didn’t think she would ever see another human again. “Somewhat. Savine and his gang of misfits have ulterior motives for me that do not involve growing flowers in an idyllic lakefront location. Somewhat bloodier plans, really.” Avery shrugged.
“Bloodier plans?” Susan blanched at the word. Now this was someone who had somehow survived life in Aeritis without experiencing its violence.
“They act as if I don’t know that they have something awful planned for me.” Avery pressed her fingers to her mouth and shushed. She knew Savine told her to keep quiet, but Susan felt like an exception to that rule now. After all, she was a human too. “Do you have magic? Are you a witch too?”
“I am. As I grew older, I showed an aptitude for magic, particularly casting spells. My parents read all about ancient human magic and trained me to become a witch. As a witch, I've been able to elongate my life, slowing my aging to nearly the same speed as one of the folk. The spell I used to elongate my life tethers myself to my parents. I don't have plans for when they go to their rest and finally give up their essence to the Goddess. For now, I live with Riggins and Po here. I help take care of them as they continue to lead Bayberry in their old age. This is overwhelming, but I share my story with you because I want you to know that you can have a life here in Aeritis. It is possible.”
“So you grew up here? Never seeing your family again? Did you ever try to go through the portal again?” Avery asked. She had so many questions coursing through her mind, but foremost, she wanted to know if there was a way to leave this place.
“I tried once. I was an adolescent girl. I was so different and isolated here, with my monthly moon cycles and my struggles to grasp how to use my magic. I wanted to go to a place where I would be normal again. I wanted to just be human and to return to my former family. I have such tiny, vague memories of them now. So I took a boat out and filled my pockets with rocks. I rowed to the middle of the lake and I threw myself in the lake, but the Goddess did not send me back. It was Rollo, my brother, who saved me. I never tried again.”
“I tried to return, but I also couldn’t get back through the portal,” Avery said, despair rising in her voice.
“You must be devastated by the loss of your home. I remember the despair I felt. Although I was young, I longed for my mother and father. To have them tuck me in at bedtime. For my sisters, who played and teased me. There’s still a hollow place in my soul that longs forthat former life. Yet, I’ve found joy here. If you want it, you will find it too,” Susan stated.
“I don’t know how I can survive. I’m not a secret kept for decades. Somehow, all the monsters of this world found out about my arrival,” Avery said. She tensed her hands and clenched her teeth to hold back the tears that threatened to well up.
“You will need to use a glamour. You can disguise yourself and your witch powers.”
“I don’t think that will work. I’ve already been outed as a human in this world. I might as well continue to be myself and not hide who I am.”
Susan’s eyes showed a touch of sorrow in them as she agreed. “I never knew myself as a human. I’ve lived with this disguise all my life.”
To live her whole life as a different person, without ever learning how to be who she was. It was a burden in itself.
“Perhaps I could teach you a thing or two about what you missed in our world? I’d love to share music from the decades you missed or even food that you may have faint memories of.”
“There was something so sweet it made my teeth ache. I loved it as a child. It was rather sticky and was given to me as a treat.”
“Candy? That may be a tricky one to recreate, but we can try!” Avery said, her optimism blossoming at the thought of sharing some American food with Susan.
“How about, in return, I help you learn to use your magic? We need to get you some protection charms against the fae’s trickery. But first, we need to start with the basics. Did you know that, unlike the fae, we can draw power from the world around us? We can manipulate countless elements to our bidding. It makes us much more powerful than the fae expect. I would like to get you practicing magic before you leave Bayberry for the spring battles.”
“Maybe I won’t have to leave. Do you think I can stay here? It’s more homey in Bayberry. More humane too.” Avery heard the pleading in her voice and felt embarrassed to hear herself beg.
“Oh, Avery, I wish I could say you could stay. But I believe you are not destined for my quiet existence. The Goddess chose you for some greater purpose. I was a child with magic who fell through a portal. You, I believe, will serve a greater good. Perhaps you will be the one who reunites the realms? Or maybe the Goddess will work through you to end the king that we fear so much. Either way, your presence here cannot last. We are a peaceful people, and there are forces in Aeritis that would destroy this place to get their hands on the Goddess’s marked human.”
Avery felt a chill down her spine. She hated how everyone seemed to believe she would serve some larger purpose in Aeritis. She had done nothing significant in her life and did not think she was capable of greatness. It was simply not who she was.
As Avery and Susan finished their conversation together, Savine and the Bayberry leaders entered the room. Riggins looked grim-faced as he held his wife’s wrinkled hand. Savine’s face looked characteristically stern. His expression showed that determination that Avery had grown used to seeing on him.
Susan broke the tension first as she stood and took both her frail parents by the arms, guiding them toward the couch. “Father, Mother? What’s upset you?”
