The front of my broom knicked a tree trunk and I yelped as I spun in a circle before I screeched to a stop by crashing into a tall bush. I thrashed in its stabbing hold for a moment before one of my hands grabbed a large branch. A bright glow burst out from my palm and sank into the bush. The plant shuddered and shrank back, dropping me to the ground.

  The air was knocked from my lungs and my broom did little to break my fall, being underneath me. A groan escaped me and I rolled off my broom. Feet dropped onto the ground near me and Tegan scrambled over to my side.

  His warm hands grasped me and pulled me to a seated position. I looked up and found his worried face looking me over. “Are you alright?”

  I gave him a sheepish smile. “I think I am.” I shifted and my back was stabbed by the tip of my broom. My eyes widened as I twisted around to look at the ground. “My broom! Is it okay?”

  Tegan pulled it out from beneath me and held it in one hand as he looked it over. “It looks alright and I have a feeling that Matty makes sturdy brooms.”

  Tegan helped me to my feet and handed me the broom. It was then I noticed his wings had disappeared. I leaned against the broom and we both looked at our surroundings. The thing that was missing was a trail.

  “So which way do we go?” I asked my local guide. “Or do we just find the darkest, creepiest spot and find your friends there?”

  He grasped my upper arms and grinned. “They might be hiding in there. Let’s go see.”

  Tegan took my hand and led me deeper into the forest. I looked forlornly at the sunlight that lay beyond the thick woods, but the gentle glow soon vanished behind the many trunks and bushes. What awaited us in the forest was shadow and a strange scent that tickled my nostrils.

  “What’s that smell?” I asked Tegan.

  “Magic.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “I can smell magic? Is that because of our Key union?”

  He shook his head. “It’s because the magic in here is so thick. Even those who aren’t sensitive to magic can feel it.”

  I turned in a circle to see anything special about the plants around us. They were the same greens and browns as any other woods. “Why is it so thick?”

  Tegan stopped and patted one foot against the forest floor. “The earth here has been covered with the life of these trees for time out of mind. Even the oldest vampire wouldn’t be able to tell you when the forest was young. All that life is absorbed into the ground and takes on a life of its own.”

  I cast a furtive look at the dirt. “Is it a friendly life?”

  “That depends on why you’re here,” he admitted as he kept a sharp lookout. “The magic can sense dangers to itself.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “You know that from personal experience?”

  He gave me a sheepish look. “I once entered here with a pocket knife. The trees weren’t eager to see the blade.”

  “What exactly did it-ah!”

  A vine had latched onto my ankle and yanked me off my feet. I was pulled up at such a fast speed that my connection to Tegan was broken. He jumped up and missed my hand by an inch.

  “Tegan!” I screamed as I was dragged into the thick canopy.

  Any more effort at talking was stifled by the green foliage that was stuffed into my mouth by the branches. I sputtered and spat out the leaves, and a bitter taste was left in my mouth. An exclamation of surprise came from below me and the next moment Tegan was yanked up beside me.

  “What the hell is going on?” I yelled as I twisted and turned in the vine’s hold.

  “The forest doesn’t like us,” Tegan guessed.

  “So how do we get it to unlike us?” I snapped.

  “We don’t,” he replied as he opened one hand and a fireball appeared. “We get out of here.”

  He threw the fireball at my trapped ankle. The flames engulfed the vine and the plant jerked back, releasing me. I screamed as I fell back to the ground, landing with a hard thud. Tegan joined me a second later but with a more graceful landing on his feet. He scooped me up and tucked me under one arm as he raced back the way we came.

  The very air seemed to shake with anger and the ground rumbled beneath us. My mouth fell open as I watched an army of roots rise out of the brown earth and block our path. Tegan leapt into the air and landed on them, using our foes as stepping stones to reach the light far in the distance.

  A huge tree branch swung down and slammed into Tegan’s chest. We were thrown back and the hard landing made him lose his grip on me. I tumbled out of his hold and rolled across the ground a few times before coming to a stop near a tree. The branches bent downward and tried to latch onto me.

  I ducked underneath them and crawled over to Tegan who was just sitting up. My heart pounded in my chest as he rubbed the back of his head. “So they wouldn’t allow us to get killed?”

  He dropped his hand and narrowed his eyes at the attacking foliage. “They must be napping.”

  “Well, how do we wake them up?” I snapped as vines crept down the tree trunks and slithered toward us.

  “We don’t,” Tegan and I scrambled to our feet.

  He drew me behind him and ignited both his hands. The flames stalled our foes, but only for a second before they again marched toward us. I yelped as a branch brushed the top of my head.

  Tegan spun around and threw a fireball. The tree shrieked and the branch recoiled. Dozens of vines dropped from the canopy and hung around us like nooses. One thick one wrapped around Tegan’s throat and lifted him off his feet. He tried to burn the plants but other vines whipped out and latched onto his wrists. His arms were yanked apart and he was left hanging as the vine around his neck tightened.

  “Tegan!” I shouted as I lunged toward him.

  Another vine grabbed my throat and I gasped as the plant yanked me off my feet. My lungs gasped as my air supply was immediately cut off. I grabbed the vine and tried to pull it off, but its hold was immense.

  We both thrashed in the air as our strength was slowly sapped from us. The world around me began to grow dark.

  Then a voice shouted from the shadows.

  “Stop!”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  The plants stopped their tightening though they didn’t loosen their hold. Something zipped in front of my face and glared at my attacker. “Put them down right now!”

  The creature that gave the order was about a foot tall with long gray hair. Its form was roughly humanoid though without any defining male and female features. It flew on wings that resembled spider’s webs and their skin was slightly greenish in color. The hue of their flesh and their transparent pinions meant it was nearly invisible to me even as I stared straight at it.

  The vine shuddered and a soft groan came from the trees.

  The creature glared at the plants and wagged a finger at them. “You let them go right now or I won’t fertilize you for a week!”

  The plants sighed and I felt the vine loosen about my throat. Sweet fresh air flooded my lungs as I was lowered to the ground. Tegan crumpled where he was set. I tried to race over to him but my legs buckled beneath me. My knees fell to the ground but I crawled over to him and turned him over onto his back where his head rested in my lap. He didn’t appear to be breathing.

  “Tegan!” I hoarsely whispered as I shook his shoulders. “Come on! Wake up!”

  A strangled gasp escaped him as his chest heaved upward. He choked on the new air that invaded his lungs and his eyes fluttered open. I breathed a sigh of relief myself as I cupped his cheek in my hand. “Don’t do that again.”

  He rolled his eyes over to the flying creature that hovered a few feet away from us. His eyebrows crashed down. “I hadn’t planned on doing it the first time. Someone was very slack on their welcome duties.”

  The creature glared right back at him and put its hands on its hips. “I’ll have you know I was weaving! Besides, one of you made them very angry!”

  My face drooped as I thought back to my glowing hand. “I. . .I think that was me.”

  The creature looked me over. “You’re quite a mess, aren’t you?”

  I blinked at the thing as Tegan rose from my lap. He draped an arm over one bent leg and gave the creature a weary smile. “That aside, it’s good to see you, Virma.”

  Virma wagged a finger at him. “Well, I wish I was glad to see you, but you interrupted some very important work!” The creature turned its fury on me. “And you! You made the whole forest mad! Now I have to calm them!”

  “Then get started,” Tegan scolded the creature as he eased himself onto his feet. “We have something important to ask you.”

  Virma wrinkled its nose before it turned away to face the forest. Our new acquaintance lifted its arms and closed its eyes. The creature glided its hands over its head and a gentle green light emanated from its fingers. The light formed into threads and the creature went to work weaving a pattern like a spider’s web. The threads twisted and danced about, stretching outward and upward to embrace the trees, bushes, and even the earth. The fury in the air settled and the plants retreated into their slumber.

  Virma dropped its arms and turned to us. “Right. Now then, what’s the trouble that made you desperate enough to come in here so soon after you left?”

  I blinked at the creature as Tegan chuckled. “It’s been over five years since I was year last.”

  Virma shrugged. “Five days. Five years. They’re barely a scratch on the life of a tree, much less a dunling like me.”

  Tegan bowed his head. “I stand corrected. The trouble that brought us here is about a few humans who have invaded the valley. You don’t happen to know anything about them, do you?”

  The dunling’s irritation turned to fury. Virma balled its hands into trembling fists and its wings pumped fast enough to make a cool breeze. “T-those fiends! Those villains! They have done nothing but ruin the beautiful edges of the woods!”

  “Could you show us where they went?” I spoke up.

  Virma wrinkled its nose. “Of course not. They didn’t come in here. If they had, neither of us would be worrying about them. Those cowards have been biting away at the boundaries of Perenna with their horrible weapons!” Virma zipped over to me and grabbed my hand which it tugged on. “Come! Let me show you!”

  I glanced at Tegan with an ambivalent look but he smiled and nodded. The dunling tugged me through the woods with Tegan following close behind. I couldn’t help but wince at every creak and groan from the plants around us. They were restless, and it wasn’t just because of us.

  We had gone far enough to make my legs tired before I noticed sunlight through the trees. The way opened and my eyes widened.

  We stood on the border of desolation. It was a swath of destruction some hundred feet long and fifty feet deep. Dozens of stumps were all that remained of once beautiful trees. Bushes had been hacked down and stacked into piles where their charred remains now lay. Even the grass and flowers had been trampled to death by many heavy boots.

  Virma released me and floated over to one of the larger stumps. It landed on its knees and brushed a hand over the tree. “My old friend. One of my oldest. Gone. Hacked down to feed their horrible fires.”

  My heart filled with sadness as Tegan and I stepped out into the desolation. “How long did it take them to do this?”

  Virma bowed its head. “Only a night. A single, horrible night.”

  “Are there other spots like these?” Tegan wondered.

  The dunling nodded. “They’ve been here for several moons, but they’re careful. They come only once in a while and lay their axes upon my friends.” Virma raised its head and tears glistened in its eyes as it set its jaw tight. The creature fluttered up and zipped over to us. “You’ve come to take care of them, haven’t you? Why else would you be tracking them?”

  Tegan nodded. “We want to stop them from burning our homes like they’re destroying yours. Can you tell us where they went?”

  Virma nodded to the northwest. “They went that way toward the Runko.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help here?” I asked our small friend.

  The dunling glided across the destruction and shook its head. “Nothing but avenge these wonderful trees.”

  Virma stopped in the middle of the clearing and raised its arms. Small sparkling specks popped up all around the clearing, even under us. Tegan and I scrambled back as the sparkles floated up some five feet. One of them hovered in front of my face and I saw it was a seed surrounded by glowing green light.

  A sweet song caught my ears. I looked at Virma and saw that it had closed its eyes. The gentle tune came from its lips and echoed over the ruin. Virma’s voice grew louder and the light around the seeds brightened. They each floated over to one of the stumps and sank into the center. My eyes widened as a plant shoot rose out of each of the implanted stumps. The tiny plants grew to a few inches before Virma’s voice was silenced. The soft glow disappeared and we found ourselves surrounded by a forest of baby trees.

  Virma’s eyes rolled back and it swayed a little. I dashed forward and caught it in my cupped hands before the dunling dropped to the ground.

  Virma opened its eyes and sighed. “I. . .I’m getting so tired.”

  Tegan joined us with a grim look on his face. “We’ll find these monsters and end their attacks on everyone.”

  The dunling’s face brightened. “Good. I want to help.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “You mean like come with us?”

  Virma climbed onto its bent knees and looked between us. “Of course not. The trees need me to shepherd them. I can try to help with that messy aura you two have there. You’ve been mated, haven’t you?”

  My mouth dropped open and Tegan let out a barking laugh. A heavy blush accented my cheeks as I furiously shook my head. “I-it’s not like that-”

  “Nonsense,” Virma argued as it folded its arms over its chest. “I can see the union with my own eyes.” The dunling paused and leaned toward me to squint. “And you have a clinging vine on you, too. Someone else’s magic has attached itself to you. Several others.”

  My face drooped. “You can see that?”

  The dunling scoffed. “Of course. Binding magic is very easy for dunlings to see.”

  “You must mean the blood contract and the vampire magic affixed to us,” Tegan guessed.

  Virma wrinkled its nose. “Is that why it smells so nasty? All that disgusting old blood, and mixed with ink! Yes, you most definitely need help.” The dunling floated out of my hands and hovered in front of us. “Now come on. Follow me.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The tiny creature zipped toward the thick forest. I turned to Tegan and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. “What could it hurt?”

  “You tell me. I don’t know anything about dunlings,” I countered as we followed after the tiny creature. I eyed Tegan with a curious look. “And I didn’t know you knew them.”

  He grinned as we trudged into the thick woods. “I stumbled on Virma during one of the times I came in here looking for Lucy. I doubt I would have found my way out without its help.”

  “And you didn’t tell Lucy about Virma?” I guessed.

  He shook his head. “Virma made me promise not to. Dunlings aren’t that fond of publicity. They prefer to let the old stories keep people out of here.”

  One of his words caught my attention. “Then there’s more than just-”

  Something zipped past my face close enough to boop the tip of my nose with a finger. I started back and Tegan looped an arm around my back to keep me from falling. My attacker hovered in front of us with a great grin on their face.

  It was another dunling with a slightly browner hue to its body than Virma. Their wings were also made of the same gossamer substance, but the patterns of the strands were different. The creature’s curious eyes looked me over. “A woman mortal! We don’t get you very often!”

  “Yes!” a voice chimed in as another dunling popped out of a nearby bush. This one had a yellowish hue to its body and a different style to its wings. Its hands were clasped tightly together. “It’s usually the men with axes!”

  I cast a side glance at Tegan. “How many dunlings are there?”

  He grinned. “More than we want to meet.”

  “Hey!” Virma shouted as it swooped between the curious pair and spun around to float in front of us while facing them. “These are my mortals, Tumma!”

  The browner one with the name of Tumma puffed out its lips in a pout. “We only wanted to play with them a little.”

  Virma glared at its compatriot. “I know what that means. You overplayed with your last mortal and he barely got out of here alive!”

  The other dunling shrugged. “That was only a little while ago. Hardly more than a hundred years.”

  “You still can’t play with my mortals, Pehmea!” Virma insisted.

  I leaned closer to Tegan and lowered my voice to a whisper. “How long do dunlings live for?”

  “Ageless, but not immortal,” he replied.

  Pehmea glared at us. “What’s that mean, mortal man? Nothing can hurt us.”

  “True, but your woods can be destroyed and what’s a shepherd without their flock?” he countered.

  Tumma narrowed its eyes at him. “You know a little too much for your own good, man. Maybe I should play with you and teach you a lesson about keeping your mouth shut.”

  “That’s enough!” Virma shouted as it stomped its foot in the air. “These are my mortals! You two go and work your magic on the trees I just sprouted! Go on! Get to it!”

  “We’re not getting anywhere until we’ve done what we came here to do,” Tumma protested.

  “And what’s that?” Virma snapped.

  Tumma jabbed its elbow into its companion’s arm. “Show Virma what we found.”

  Pehmea opened its cupped hands and revealed a tiny brown seed, only this one had a dark green glow around it.

  Virma’s eyes widened and its mouth fell open. “A new dunling!”

 

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