Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
As the shadow spoke, three things happened in Sierra’s mind simultaneously.
First and foremost, her feet began to prepare to run for her life.
She also began to wonder if she shouldn’t have trusted Aislan so easily, and perhaps this was a betrayal.
But at the glint of vibrant red as it caught in the moonlight, Sierra’s heart both leaped for joy and calmed in recognition.
In front of Sierra stood Braan and Kaye, both dressed differently than when she had last seen them in the human world, now wearing long pants and what looked to be an old-fashioned long-sleeve dress coat, similar to what Aislan was wearing.
Before she could remember that she was indeed currently attached to Aislan, Sierra ran toward Kaye to give her a hug. Luckily, Aislan seemed to anticipate what she would do at the sight of her friend and stepped forward a few steps so the line between them wouldn’t pull taut.
As Sierra folded her arms around Kaye, she felt some of the tension leave her muscles for the first time since the night she had been kidnapped the week before. “I am so glad to see you,” she whispered into Kaye’s hair.
“I’m glad to see you as well. We were so worried.”
Sierra pulled back, looking at Braan over Kaye’s shoulder but not wanting to let go of her friend.
“I see you two got my message.” Aislan’s voice came from behind Sierra.
“I just can’t believe Conlan would do something like this,” Braan chimed in, stepping forward to place a hand on Sierra’s shoulder. “We are glad we were able to find you two.”
Kaye looked around them. “Aodhan?”
Aislan shook his head. “No, that’s where we were going next. I’m not 100% sure where they are keeping him, but we will try the general prison first.”
“We will come with you,” Braan said, as Aislan stepped past Sierra to take the lead.
“We will have to catch up later,” Kaye explained to Sierra as they once again prepared to enter the forest. “It’s better that we are quiet.”
Sierra nodded in understanding, and the four began to make their way through the forest, pausing for a moment for Braan and Kaye to tie their arms together so Kaye could be guided by Braan.
What little Sierra had been able to see in the meadow was once again obscured by the inky black of the forest.
As the air around her grew heavy, Sierra remembered what Aislan had said about the forest being enchanted, and she now knew what he meant.
The air surrounding them was warm and moist, and she could sense the life around them as they passed through the forest— not just the trees and plants, but almost as if the forest itself was breathing.
Although their group now had twice the number of people, Sierra noticed with a grimace that the sound of them moving through the forest hadn’t changed, meaning she was likely solely responsible for the noise she did hear, despite her best efforts to be quiet.
With four of them, their pace was slowed slightly because even though Braan could see in the forest without issue, Kaye was in much the same predicament as Sierra, though her better shoes kept her from tripping quite as frequently as Sierra tended to.
The forest grew more dense the further they went on, and soon Sierra could feel the branches slicing into her arms as they passed. While the first few didn’t bother her, soon, the branches began catching on to the already existing scratches, causing her to wince in pain and slow her pace.
After one such nasty cut, Sierra came to a stop, her right hand automatically coming to cover the slice on her left arm, her teeth gritting in pain.
Aislan came to a stop as well, but it was too dark for Sierra to judge whether he could see the problem.
“My arms,” Sierra whispered, hoping the scent of blood wouldn’t attract anything that was lurking in the underbrush.
Aislan didn’t answer, but Sierra heard shuffling before he thrust something made of cloth at her. “Stay still. I’m going to untie the band so you can put this on.”
She felt his fingers brush lightly over her wrist, tapping it when he was done so she knew she was free.
Holding the garment he had handed her, Sierra began to explore the garment with her fingertips, trying to figure out how best to put it on.
It wasn’t something she had worn before, and Aislan must’ve grown impatient because, within a few seconds, he was directing her arms into different armholes and buttoning up the front for her.
As soon as the front was secure, Aislan was tying the cloth around her wrist again, and they continued to make their way through the forest. Since Aislan had said he didn’t have any other clothes, Sierra could only assume that she was wearing one of his garments now, and she hoped that he was faring better with the sharp branches than she was.
They traveled through the trees for what Sierra was sure was hours.
In fact, at one point, she began to wonder if the sun had indeed already risen, but the forest overhang was just too dense for them to notice.
Just as she was about to ask for a break, convinced her legs would give out at any moment, they came to a stop at the base of a large tree.
Or at least what Sierra assumed was a tree.
“You two go first,” Aislan hissed at Braan, and Sierra heard a frantic rustling in the darkness.
As soon as the rustling stopped, Aislan turned to her. “Climb on my back.”
Sierra knew Aislan was taller than her, but he hadn’t looked near as built as Aodhan, making her a bit self-conscious as to whether he could carry her weight or not.
“Are you sure?”
Aislan scoffed. “Of course, I’m Fae. We are built strong.”
Sierra mentally slapped herself for even asking. Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Aislan wrapped her legs around his waist, untying her arms so she could put them around his neck. Sierra couldn’t be certain, but she was pretty sure he was no longer wearing a shirt, which meant he had given her his clothes earlier as she had assumed.
“Hold on tight.”
Sierra did, apprehensive of what they were about to do. She suddenly felt herself moving upwards, at least she thought they were, but she wasn’t exactly sure how they were doing so.
As they made their way higher, the pale pink light of dawn began to filter through the trees, confirming for Sierra that it had still been the night before and she was indeed more out of shape than she thought.
As she looked around, she could see that the forest wasn’t truly that dense.
It was then that she became aware of the magical buzz around them increasing.
Or maybe it had been there before, and she had just been too scared to notice it.
Either way, she could feel the reverence and enchantment of the forest in a way she hadn’t been aware of, as the frosty light of dawn filtered through the trees, illuminating the ground like water through a strainer.
The chirping of birds reached her ears, and she saw a few bursts of color out of the corner of her eyes as they flitted their way through the trees.
When she looked back around, she noticed that Aislan was holding on to a rope and pulling them up a tree with his upper body while his lower body walked up the large trunk.
She would’ve marveled longer at his impressive strength, but at that moment, they broke through the tops of the trees to reveal a small wooden house perched atop of the tree they were climbing.
Sierra looked around in wonder, noting the way most of the trees stopped at a certain height, creating the blanket that shielded the light of the moon from the forest floor below.
Several trees had grown above the height of the forest, and besides the treehouse they were headed for, there were a few others a bit further on, which she could see poking out from the canopy.
Beyond, purple mountains rose ominously in the direction she thought they had been headed.
As she craned her neck to look at where they had been, she noticed a castle rising on the far horizon, past the edge of the trees.
Since she had only seen it from the outside once, Sierra assumed that was where they had been keeping her, but she couldn’t be sure.
Aislan reached the top of the rope, where there was a hole in the deck of the tree house for them to pass through.
“Get as close to me as possible,” Aislan said, not sounding out of breath at all, almost making Sierra doubt he had just climbed up this massive tree with a person on his back, even though she had been there the whole time.
She felt the wood of the desk brush her back as they passed through. Aislan stepped to the side and helped her off, lowering her onto the deck as he pulled the rope up from below so no one else could follow.
In the light of the rising sun, Sierra couldn’t help but gape as she looked around them.
It was almost as if the ceiling of the forest created a sea, and the few houses that were visible were boats floating in the gentle morning breeze.
The deck they stood on belonged to a small, one-story treehouse made of smooth wood paneling with an eaved roof.
It looked to her as if someone had taken a small hunting cabin and placed it on top of a tree.
The windows were purple glass, which glimmered in the light of the rising sun.
A brightly colored bird, which looked akin to pictures Sierra had seen of a Toucan in the human world, let out a chirp from its large beak as it settled on one of the porch railings.
It ruffled its feathers, allowing one to fall, which Sierra bent down to pick up.
As she lifted it, she noticed the way it glinted in the sun, displaying rainbow colors that shimmered and changed as she shifted the feather from side to side.
“What is this place?” Sierra squeaked out, unable to take her eyes from the unique feather.
Aislan smiled as he replied, “Welcome to Teach Crann.”