Page 46

He shrugged. “Never heard of it.”

“Apparently, it’s a small town about two hours south of here.”

Two hours. The key to curing Korinnae was two hours away. “Then what are we waitin’ fer? Let’s go⁠—”

“Wait, there’s something else. I did further research and it seems no one has seen the plant in decades.”

“And why not?”

“No one really knows. It’s possible the plant was so powerful that the locals used them all up. Or the town grew and grew and they cleared the Moonmoss and now there’s nowhere for it to grow.”

He huffed. “So what do we do now?”

“Let’s talk to the team,” she suggested. “Maybe they’ll be able to help us.”

He followed her down the corridor toward the main office, where the rest of the team was scattered across the clustered desks. Ria set the book on the nearest desk and repeated what she’d told Asterion.

Maldenis leaned forward when she said the name. “Willowfen?”

“You know it?” Ria asked.

“Yup. It’s part of the Satyr territory. It’s, about, oh, two hours south from here.” He scratched at his scaly jaw. “I might know someone there, actually. A researcher at the local university. Nikos Thyrsou.”

“What kind of researcher?”

“Botanical researcher, to be exact. If anyone knows about Moonmoss, it’d be him.”

“Can you reach him?” Asterion asked.

“I can try.” Maldenis was already pulling out his phone. “Give me an hour or so.”

Forty-five minutes later, Maldenis had an answer. Nikos Thyrsou was available and eager to help. They had a meeting set for the following morning.

Ria looked at Asterion. “If we’re on the road by seven, we’ll be there by nine.”

“How long do you think this will take?”

“I don’t know.” She paused. “It could be nothing and we’d be back here by evening.”

He understood. This Moonmoss could end up being a wild Stymphelian goose chase. Still, they had to try. “We should take Korinnae then, just in case.”

“Great,” Liora said, clapping her hands. “You can leave first thing tomorrow.”

The next day, they set off in the same borrowed vehicle from their shopping excursion, driving southward and winding through farmland before dipping into a broad valley thick with old-growth forest. As they drove farther away from the city, the traffic thinned and the buildings shrank and shrank before all but disappearing. For long stretches, it was just the road, the trees, and the occasional bird or animal Korinnae pointed out from the back seat. After two hours of driving and a fifteen-minute rest stop, they passed by the sign that welcomed them to Willowfen.

The town sat in a shallow valley where the forest turned into rolling green hills and a narrow river wound under stone bridges. It reminded Asterion of illustrations he’d seen in old books, with its honey-colored stone buildings with slate roofs and narrow lanes dotted with various shops and establishments any small town needed, like a grocer, a pub, a bakery, and a corner book shop.

“It’s so pretty,” Korinnae said from the back seat, her face pressed to the glass.

Asterion wouldn’t have said it out loud, but he agreed. The place had a settled calm to it that reminded him, uncomfortably, of the better parts of home.

“We’re almost there,” Ria declared as she maneuvered the car into a larger street. After a few more twists and turns, they reached the edge of the town and followed the main roadway out for another couple of miles, then veered into a smaller gravel path. At the end was a stone and iron gate and beyond it was a cluster of old stone buildings.

“That must be it,” Ria said. “Reminds me of those old villages in England.”

“What’s England?” Korinnae asked.

“A country in the Upperworld,” she explained. “We can look it up later.”