Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
When they arose the next morning, the other three had already left, leaving a piece of paper with a single word on the table.
Fuinseog.
Apparently, they figured the best library to check was the one that Conlan would have the most access to. Sierra just hoped they had a plan for sneaking in and out without getting caught; the last thing she wanted to do was lose her new friends this soon.
Aodhan and Sierra dug through his wardrobe, but there was nothing that would work or be remotely comfortable as they traversed the forest. In the end, Aodhan raided Aislan’s closet, coming back with a few items that fit slightly better: a pair of simple pants and a long-sleeved tunic, which was probably fitted on Aislan, but hung off Sierra like an oversized dress.
Either way, she wouldn’t complain; at least she didn’t need to hold up the pants with a cord.
They didn’t say much as they each consumed a piece of bread with sweet red preserves that Kaye had left for them, and Aodhan prepared a pack with a few supplies.
“So where is this seer?” Sierra asked, as Aodhan packed a second, smaller bag for her to carry.
“Funiun, about a day’s walk from here, though we will likely need to split it into two days for you.”
Sierra felt bad that she wasn’t as fast as the Fae, but at least they wouldn’t be too set back by her slow pace, considering the others likely had two days en route to get back to Fuinseog since they, too, had a human slowing their pace.
“Where will we spend the night?” Prior to this adventure, where she found herself camping in a boulder out of necessity, she had never been much of a camper or an outdoors girl at all. It just wasn’t a thing in Texas.
“I’m hoping we can find a cave or an overhang, but I haven’t been this way in over a year, and I’ve never had to camp on the way, so I’m not exactly sure what there is along our route.”
That didn’t make Sierra feel any better, but she knew they had very little choice at this point.
Sliding the bag Aodhan had packed for her on her shoulders, he gave her a quick peck on the lips before leading her out the door and pulling her onto his back, just as Aislan had done when they had come up.
As Aodhan situated the second backpack on his chest, Sierra took one glance back at the tree house.
She could see why Aodhan chose to spend most of his time here.
Even though it was small, it was peaceful, and being above the trees made it seem like the rest of the world was non-existent, even though there were tree-house neighbors less than 100 feet away.
Sierra held tight to Aodhan’s neck as he began to lower them through the hole.
With two backpacks, it was a bit tighter than before, and it took them a moment or two to get everything clear.
Once they were through, Aodhan deftly repelled down the tree, reminding her that he had been here many times over the years.
Sierra jumped off Aodhan’s back, brushing herself off as she looked around the forest, which was shrouded in shadow.
Apparently, daylight didn’t make a whole lot of difference with such a dense tree ceiling overhead.
The small amount of light filtering through the trees did give the forest a magical look, making it feel less menacing.
Sierra was able to appreciate it all a bit more this time around, as she was no longer worried about Aodhan.
Aodhan let her look around as he used his Fae senses to orient them. It was easy to get lost in the dense wood, which is why he was reasonably sure that Conlan wouldn’t waste resources searching for Sierra here; it was too risky, and too easy to get turned around.
“Before we go,” Aodhan said, breaking the peaceful silence of the forest, “I’m sure Aislan explained a bit about the animals in this forest, but don’t run from anything, and stay quiet if we encounter any animals.”
“I remember,” Sierra assured him.
“Good,” Aodhan replied, placing the palm of his hand against Sierra’s cheek and leaning in to kiss her forehead. “I forgot to tell you how thankful I am that you are here with me.”
Sierra arched one of her eyebrows.
“Most women would run screaming in the other direction, or straight up refuse to come with me at this point. I appreciate that you are meeting this problem with me head-on, even though it technically isn’t your problem to solve.”
Sierra grabbed Aodhan’s wrist, which was resting on her face. “That’s what people in a relationship do, you know. They accompany each other, even on the journeys they would rather not take.”
“Oh, so we’re in a relationship now?” Aodhan teased. “I thought we were…what’s the human term? ‘Just dating’?”
Sierra smacked his hand away from her face playfully. “After being imprisoned by your father and dragged across a foreign realm to help you solve your family problems, we’d better be in a relationship. Otherwise, I’ll be headed home to Dublin right now,” Sierra joked right back.
Aodhan threw back his head and laughed. “Alright, I guess we are in a relationship. Now, let’s resume our journey to the seer.”
Sierra nodded in agreement as Aodhan slipped his hand into hers. “I don’t have the band as Aislan did, but I’ll keep a firm grip on your hand, alright?”
“Alright,” Sierra responded, and before she could blink, they were off, moving at what she would consider a jogging pace through the forest.
Unlike her last adventure trapezing through these woods, she was able to see, taking care to step, instead of trip, over the various roots and rocks in their path.
She had also acquired some boots, though they were much too big for her.
But with socks stuffed in the toe portion and the laces tightened, she was able to keep up much more efficiently than she had been in the slippers Aislan had acquired.
It was much easier to traverse the forest in daylight, as she wasn’t as nervous about what she couldn’t see, and she wasn’t solely reliant on the feel of the pull of her arm. Instead, she was easily able to visibly follow Aodhan, ducking when low-hanging branches emerged on their path.
Although the journey was far from enjoyable, when Aodhan announced it was time to stop for lunch, Sierra didn’t feel nearly as fatigued as she had thought she would.
Sinking down onto the large rock where Aodhan had laid out their measly lunch, they both began to dig into the bread and fruits he had packed.
Sierra wasn’t sure what type of fruit they were eating, but she assumed it was something native to Sidhe as she had never seen anything quite like it before.
It was round and a bit fuzzy, like a peach, except it was bright green in color.
When she bit into it, the sweet juices started rolling down her chin, and she almost moaned in ecstasy.
“Oh my God, what is this?” she asked Aodhan.
“Serwil. It’s a fruit that grows here in the forest.”
“Wow, it is delicious.”
“I know.” He smirked before biting into his own serwil. “But don’t fall too much in love with them because I only brought two. It’s just bread after this.”
Sierra flashed her eyes at Aodhan. “Scared I’m going to want the serwil more than you?”
“I would be, if they weren’t so limited.” He smirked. “They’re a treat, even here in Sidhe.”
Sierra was too busy stuffing her face to answer. By the time she was done, her fingers were covered with a light green liquid, and she saw no choice but to lick them clean.
Aodhan groaned at the sight. “Are you trying to kill me? Doing that when I have to keep my hands to myself for the foreseeable future?”
Sierra laughed. “It’s not my fault you packed a messy fruit. Maybe keep that in mind when you’re packing lunches in the future.” Sierra looked down out of habit to check if there were any crumbs on her shirt, and when she did, she noticed a small furry face looking at her from the bush.
The animal was brown, or mostly brown, and covered in fur. It looked like an American badger, but at the same time, Sierra had never seen one in real life, so she couldn’t be sure. Trying to alert Aodhan without scaring the animal, she discreetly dug her elbow into his side.
“What—” he started, before turning his head to see the small animal observing them from the brush. “Ah, you’ve attracted a badger, I see. They’re carnivorous, but lucky for you only to small animals.”
“Should I be afraid?” Sierra asked, keeping her eyes trained on the badger.
“Yes and no. Yes, because I haven’t seen one look at a human like that, ever, but no, because I promise he won’t be eating you. He’s intrigued.”
True to what Aodhan said, the badger ventured further out of the bush, sniffing around the base of the boulder they were seated on. In between sniffs, he would glance up at Sierra, obviously hoping for some sort of handout.
“He likes you,” Aodhan surmised before digging in the pack. “But I don’t have anything on hand that he would like to eat.”
Sierra nodded, tramping down the urge to hold her hand out to the badger. This wasn’t a house cat or dog; it was just as likely to bite her finger as it was to let her pet him. “I’m sorry,” Sierra apologized in a low voice to the badger. “I want to pet you, but I don’t think you would like that.”
As if it understood her, the badger nudged the bottom of her shoe. Sierra looked to Aodhan for advice to find him staring at the badger with his mouth agape. “I have never seen a badger do that.”
Sierra looked back at the badger, giving it a smile. “Maybe next time we meet, I’ll have something for you, buddy.”
The badger, as if he understood her, turned, and scurried off into the bush.
“Well, that was…interesting,” Aodhan said, once the badger was out of sight. “Once you are finished, we should probably start moving again.”
Sierra looked down at her empty hands. “I’m finished, I suppose. You’re sure you aren’t hiding another serwil?”
Aodhan stood, pulling the backpack up on his shoulders and holding out a hand to help her down off the rock.
Then they were off again, passing through the trees, and over rocks and tree roots. Sierra had no idea how Aodhan knew where they were going, it all just looked like forest to her. Every bend they came around looked like the last, and it wasn’t as if they were following any path.
They were moving at a pace that was a bit too fast to be comfortable, so they couldn’t talk. Plus, Sierra figured they still had to be careful to stay off the radar of any creatures, or people, who might be inhabiting the wood.
Soon, the sunlight began to fade, and Sierra found herself tripping from time to time. She gripped Aodhan’s arm tighter, but if he noticed the fading light or her steadily increasing clumsiness, he didn’t mention it.
At some point, it became pitch black, and she was tripping every other step. “Aodhan,” she hissed, trying to be quiet but knowing she couldn’t go much further.
“I know,” he whispered back. “I’m just trying to find us somewhere slightly safe to spend the night.”
Sierra didn’t like the sound of that, but she knew that they didn’t really have a choice. Safe places to sleep in this forest were probably few and far between.
Just when she thought she couldn’t go another step, Aodhan stopped, pulling her close to him so he could whisper in her ear. “This tree trunk is hollow, but an animal could be living in it, so I need to look inside alone. Stand right here, keep your hand on the tree trunk, and don’t move a muscle.”
Sierra nodded, feeling strangely empty and cold when his warmth left her back.
Suddenly, everything in the forest became scarier.
The darkness felt like it had teeth of its own, and the rustling of the leaves intensified.
The pace of her breathing increased, and she placed the hand that wasn’t on the tree trunk on her stomach in an attempt to slow it.
Aodhan couldn’t have been gone long when he once again touched her elbow and began to direct her around the tree, but Sierra felt all her breath whoosh out of her in relief.
Aodhan didn’t say anything as he silently guided her into the tree trunk, which had apparently been uninhabited. It was pitch black as he maneuvered them to where they could sit on the dirt with their backs against the interior of the tree trunk.
“I can’t risk lighting a fire in here, so let me know if you need help finding anything.” Aodhan kept his voice low. “We are also cornered, and need to keep quiet, so we don’t attract anything with our echoing voices.”
“Um, what about…bathroom needs?” Sierra asked in a whisper.
“Just go on the other side of the tree, keep your hand on it, and don’t let go. I’ll stand nearby in case you need help.”
Now that she was sitting down, even though it was in a hollowed-out tree in a strange forest, Sierra felt incredibly tired, like she could sleep right away. Seeming to read her mind as he always did, Aodhan pressed what felt like a bit of bread into her hand. “Eat, then you can sleep.”
Not one to argue when it came to food, Sierra ate her slice of bread in a few bites. As soon as she was done, she felt around in the dark for Aodhan’s face, giving him a quick peck before drifting off to sleep on his shoulder.