Better than I thought,he answered, and a huff of warm air blasted from Koji’s nostrils, a soft laugh. Let’s go back.
Follow me,Koji replied, and he led Florian quickly back through the forest to where Kade was waiting. The wolf shifter had sat down in the clearing, peering through the trees to catch sight of them as they approached.
“Look at you,” he chuckled, standing up as they arrived in the clearing. “Like you were born to fly.”
Florian had that strange sensation of his not-smiling smile as he came closer. His claws sank into the soft earth, and he focused on shifting back. Condensing down into his normal, smaller form was uncomfortable, but not painful the way stretching out and becoming bigger had been. When he was stumbling back up on his two feet, he grinned up at Kade and laughed.
“That was weird,” he said, reaching for the taller man and hugging him. “I think I’ve got the hang of it, though. I’ll bring you flying next time.”
“Nope,” Kade said quickly, shaking his head, even as he squeezed Florian back. “Wolves should stay on the ground.”
Florian laughed, and he heard Koji chuckling behind them, shifting back much more gracefully than Florian had.
“I’m impressed, too,” Koji said. “You picked everything up very easily. My own first shift was much less... calm. Well done.”
“Thanks,” Florian replied, laughing nervously. “That was... weird. But I’m glad I got the hang of it. That’s going to come in handy.”
For a moment, the three of them stood in silence, looking at each other. Now that he had shifted, all that was left was to head out into the Blight—the understanding of it settled over each of them, dampening the cheerful mood quickly.
“Well,” Florian finally said, sighing as he reached for his backpack once more. “I guess we’d better get going.”
Chapter Six
Thepathouttothe curtain was mostly visible from the guard towers, so Koji slipped into the woods again to follow them from a slight distance as Florian and Kade hopped back over the fence and continued toward the Blight.
“Hopefully it’ll be a quick trip,” Florian said softly as they walked, hoping Koji was far enough away that they had some semblance of privacy. “I don’t know if I can do a long trip in the Blight again so soon.”
Kade reached for his hand, sliding his fingers easily between Florian’s before squeezing.
“We’ll be alright,” he said simply. “We always are. From the map, it looked pretty close. Way closer than the hag, at least.”
“Yeah,” Florian sighed, squeezing his hand in return. “Definitely won’t be as bad as that.”
When they arrived back at the curtain, shimmering slightly in the air with the bright white demarcation of the Blight behind it, Koji was already there waiting for them.
“I still can’t quite believe you can just... travel through the Blight,” he said as they approached, chuckling and shaking his head. “I had no idea fae had such magic available to them. What a marvel. I hadn’t realized us shifters got the short end of the stick.”
Florian laughed nervously. “Well, don’t be too jealous. It’s not exactly a vacation destination, you know?”
Kade snorted, lingering behind as Florian stepped ahead. “Got all our supplies?”
“Yeah,” Florian said, fishing the sun goggles out from his backpack. “Here’s yours, Koji.”
Koji took them and turned them over in his hands curiously. “So your magic will protect your skin, but not your eyes?”
Florian paused, surprised by the question. “Yeah, I... I guess the shroud blocks out the heat, but not the light? My dad showed me how to do it, so I haven’t thought about it that closely, to be honest.”
“I’ll wear it either way, of course,” Koji laughed, putting the goggles on. As cheerful as he was, Florian thought he was starting to understand why Kade had been concerned—simply put, Koji seemed totally unbothered by the danger of what they were doing, sheltered as he was. But, Florian reminded himself as he affixed his own goggles, Koji had been much more serious in the teahouse when he’d reaffirmed his intention to go with them. Maybe it was all just an act to cover up the same nerves that were all too familiar to Florian.
“Ready?” he asked, glancing between the two of them. Kade nodded, his goggles already on. Koji adjusted the tightness of his, then nodded as well. Florian reached out to touch each of their arms lightly, drawing on his magic.
He wasn’t sure if what he was doing now was fae magic, or old magic still, but he said the words anyway. “Darkness hides us. Darkness protects us. The Blight cannot touch us. The Blight cannot harm us.”
The shadow Florian cast on the ground sprang to life, tendrils of it climbing up their bodies like a hundred tiny vines. Koji made a soft noise of surprise, looking down in fascination as the shadow slowly engulfed all three of them and closed neatly around the tops of their heads. When he felt the shroud was secure, Florian dropped his hands and took a step away from them—it held, so he nodded at Kade.
“Ready when you are,” he said, glancing between him and Koji. Kade nodded, then looked askance at Koji as well.
The dragon shifter took in a deep, slow breath, then nodded at Florian with a smile—though this time there was a tightness to his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
