A furrow formed in Wilde’s brow, as if his dreams had taken a turn for the worse.
Angelica had spent the past few hours skimming through the horticultural book, searching for any additional information on the flowers. So far, she still hadn’t found anything to lessen the effects or wake the others up.
“Why does the pollen make people hallucinate?” I asked.
She sighed in exasperation and snapped the book shut. “I don’t know, the book doesn’t go into any detail. There’s a short historical section on the herbalist who named it and then it moves on to the next blasted plantand never mentions theSomnus ecrosiaagain.” She raised it as if to throw it again, then remembered we might need it and gently laid it beside her.
The only person who might know the answer to my question was curled up at my feet, mumbling to himself. I kicked Fitz gently and called his name.
“Why bother asking him?” Angelica scoffed. “He’s so delusional right now he thinks he’s misplaced his hands.”
I ignored her and continued prodding until Fitz looked at me.
His eyes were wide, the pupils engulfing everything, but his brow furrowed in irritation. “Trey, I am trying to figure out where my fingers have run off to, so do me a favor andshove off.”
“All ten of your fingers are attached to your hands.”
His scowl deepened and he raised his hands to prove me wrong, then exclaimed in shock, “They’re back!”
“If that’s settled: why would a plant develop hallucinogenic pollen?”
“To attract pollinators, obviously.” He fluttered his newly found fingers.
“Pollinators? Like bees?”
He hummed and nodded until his glasses went crooked, only covering one eye. This time he didn’t adjust them. “Among other things.”
I caught Angelica’s eye, then we both turned to look at the field of flowers beyond. They shifted gently in the evening breeze, quiet and unassuming.
Angelica relaxed and laughed, the sound small and choked. “Of course a monster’s not going to pop out of the field simply because Fitz gave relevant exposition. That’d be ridiculous.”
The sun had completely disappeared beneath the trees and the forest steadily descended into twilight. Every night since we’d entered the forest, Wilde had carefully laid protection spells around our camp. I’d thought it was a waste of energy when we could simply set up a watch for any dangers in the night. Now that only two of us were awake, and we had four unconscious people to guard, I wished we had those protections.
“Grab your rapier,” I suggested. “Just in case.”
I never looked away from the field, and that was the only reason I saw it. A row of flowers split apart, bobbing to either side as something moved through the stalks. The flowers remained bent for a moment, sketching out the shape of the thing within, before straightening out again.
Angelica slowly stuck her hand in her pouch and withdrew her rapier, the gleaming blade appearing inch by inch from its impossible depths.
The thing within the flowers changed direction and I lost track of it.
I murmured an apology to Wilde and gently rolled his head off my lap. He landed in the dirt with a thud and a distressed grumble. I flinched and watched the flowers. They trembled in anticipation, and then rapidly flattened as something ran in our direction.
Angelica shoved herself to her feet and held her blade in a ready position.
I tried to follow her, but Wilde had grabbed onto my shirt, holding me down.
A beast burst through the flowers with a high-pitched squeal. The fading light gleamed on two sharp tusks protruding from its mouth. Yellow pollen clung to its coarse fur and dusted over the ground, scattering through the air.
Angelica slapped a hand over her mask to keep it in place.
The beast charged straight for Angelica, head bent to ram her or pierce her with those tusks. As it approached, it became clear how … small it was. Barely the size of a cantaloupe. Such a small target that when Angelica lunged, she missed, the point of her blade going right over the creature’s back.
It squealed another challenge right before colliding with her shin. Pollen plumed into the air, coating my face, and stinging my eyes.
Dammit, we’d just gotten it all off!
The creature bounced off Angelica’s leg and landed on its stomach in the dirt. Its little hooves scrabbled over the ground as it struggled back to its feet. For a moment, it stared up at us with huge, liquid eyes. Then it squealed again and headed back into the flowers.
