Chapter 22
Bruce ducked his head.“I’m sorry. When I got here, so much of my time and effort went into figuring out this era, finding the information left for me by my parents and cousin, and that’s only the mundane parts of my current life. I also had to check on the tree and run tests on it to make sure that it was growing properly and when it would mature. I needed to come up with a plan. I was so involved in my own thing that I missed out on really getting to know anyone.”
I stared at him and finally saw him for who he was; a terrified young man who had lost his wife and was all alone in an era he didn’t know.
“Okay,” I said. “I understand. Can you explain the technical side of things?”
Brightening, Bruce launched into an explanation of the magic involved. “I needed a place to work that wouldn’t be discovered in the meantime, that would survive without care in three hundred plus years. Once again, my Herbology professor came to my rescue. Together, we chose a sapling tree and planted it at the edge of the dark forest. We heaped so many spells on it.” He shook his head with a slight smile. “Protection from storms, animals, unruly students... And then we hid any signs of our spells, tying them into the ley lines themselves so that they would continue to grow and protect the tree.
“I planted the seed of the golden spirit tree within this tree. Do you know why the golden spirit trees are so hard to find?” he asked abruptly.
I shook my head, but Hazel wiggled excitedly in her seat.
Bruce grinned at her. “Care to explain to the class?”
“Yes!” Hazel exclaimed. “The golden spirit tree is microscopic in size, which is why many searchers don’t find it! They are looking for a normal tree, not a miniature one.”
“When you say miniature...” I trailed off.
Bruce nodded. “Even at our current size, the tree is barely taller than me. It’s downstairs, in the room I was in. There’s a weather spell in that room, so that it’s always the perfect weather for the growth of a tree, seasons included. Of course, the seasons are a little off, since we planted the seed in the fall, which is why the fruit is ripening now.”
“No, that’s not why,” Hazel interrupted. “The fruit has been ripening for two years. It grew when you arrived in the present.”
Bruce frowned. “Are you sure?”
“You brought me here... Why, again?” she sassed.
“Because you’re the expert,” he answered sheepishly. “Does that mean that if I had arrived ten years ago, the fruit would have ripened then?”
Hazel shrugged. “That’s not what I’ve been studying.” Her eyes brightened eagerly. “But I have theories!”
I laughed. “The theories can wait. How much time do we have left?”
Bruce glanced at his watch. “Enough. Hazel, please tell Siobhan why I needed your help.”
“He needed to make sure that the fruit would do what his professor theorized it would,” Hazel said, sitting up straighter. “He also needed to figure out the substitute for the siblings. I’ve been running tests, which is why we needed volunteers. Bruce left Aiden for last because he knew he’d be willing to help, but also, he didn’t want to stress you out too much.”
“Me? Stressed?” I joked, though I felt the truth of the words.
“I really am sorry,” Bruce said. “Hazel’s testing has been thorough. She feels quite confident that the magic in the fruit will bind with the fire of Clarissa’s brethren and wake her.”
“She was a fire beast, then?” I asked. “That’s why you’ve only taken— Sorry, asked for help from fire beasts?”
“Exactly.”
“What was the whole thing with the forest’s border and the bowling alley door?”
“Bowling alley?” Bruce asked, confused.
“Jim and Everly’s place,” I tried to clarify. “The journal says that you came and tied the door to the forest’s border.”
“Right! I didn’t know the names of the new owners, or that they had turned it into a bowling alley.” Bruce chuckled. “Brilliant. I needed to set the spell into an immovable object, one that wouldn’t grow and change over the course of over three hundred years. We could have protected more trees, but that would have been suspicious. One tree that lives for that long is natural. A whole row of them? I didn’t want anyone poking into the magic. So I visited a loyal villager and got his permission to tie the shrinking spell to his door. I assume that was how you were able to follow me tonight?”
I nodded. “I took the fixing spell you had given them and worked backward. I’ve worked with you enough in Qualitative Spellcraft to understand how your mind works when dealing with spells, so it wasn’t too difficult.”
“You are the smartest spellcrafter I have ever met in two centuries,” Bruce said admiringly. He gave himself a shake. “The drain on the spell once we started using it was unexpected, though. The past two years, I tried to come here as little as possible, so that it wouldn’t pull on the door’s spell as much, but when I needed to bring more people, I had to tie the spell into more of the forest.”
“What happened when you cut the ties last night?” I asked. “Why didn’t everything grow bigger?”
“I didn’t cut all the ties, just the ones at the edge. If you had tried to use that magic flow spell on a new tree deeper in the forest, I would have had to cut more.” He shook his head. “I was torn between helping you and not letting you find out what I was really up to. That spell was genius, and if I hadn’t been with you, it would have succeeded.”
I couldn’t help but preen a little at his praise.
“What was that beast-creature that attacked us?” Aiden asked. He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed my cheek.
“An illusion if anyone got too close.” Bruce frowned. “You must have been unknowingly following the path. Sorry about that.”
“No harm done,” Aiden said, accepting the apology.
“Was there anything else?” Bruce asked, checking his watch again. “Are your fears eased?”
I looked at Hazel. “I trust you. If you say that everyone will be safe, then I believe you.”
“I am ninety-nine percent sure,” Hazel said. “I’ve run every test I can think of. But I’m glad you’re here in case of any surprises.”
“If it helps, I looked over the math,” Aiden put in. “It all checks out. The spell shouldn’t drain anything from us. ‘Life’ can be interpreted to mean ‘fire’, after all.”
“What’s the plan if it does start draining their soul?” I asked Bruce. “How are you planning on monitoring this?”
“Excellent question,” Bruce said. “Your magic flow spell will be used by me, and if you’re willing, you can be ready to cast the shield spell. Hazel will sever the connection between the fruit and the beasts, and I...” He took a deep breath. “If it comes to it, I will destroy the statue.”
I put my hand to my mouth. “You shouldn’t have to do that.”
“I will let no one else take on the weight of that responsibility,” Bruce snapped.
My gaze dropped to my feet. “I understand.” He had obviously thought about this moment a lot over the past few years. As much as it pained him, he didn’t want to cause the death of twelve young beasts just because they had volunteered to help him.
“We should get ready,” Hazel said quietly, getting to her feet and crossing to the first door. She knocked and called through the wood, “It’s time.”
“Shall we avoid the rush?” Aiden suggested, holding his hand out to me.
I nodded, and we took the stairs back down to the large open space on the first floor. Bruce followed quietly behind us and disappeared into the adjoining room. I tried to get a glimpse inside, but he closed the door behind him too quickly for more than a glimmer of sunset purples and reds to shine through.
“I hope this goes well,” I said, rubbing my arms with my hands.
Aiden took over, standing in front of me. “We’ll be fine. We’ve got you now.”
I leaned into his touch, meeting the statue’s eyes. “How far are you willing to take this? To save her life, and save Bruce’s sanity?”
“The others and I have discussed it,” Aiden replied quietly. “There’s a chance of needing to give more than our fire. The gift of life is such a nebulous concept. It could mean fire, it could mean soul, it could mean saliva...”
“Cum,” I added teasingly.
But Aiden didn’t laugh. “Exactly. We have agreed that we can each spare a few years off our life, if it comes to that.”
I bit my lip, not wanting to think about that. My eyes filled with tears anyway. “You’re very brave,” I managed to say.
“It’ll be all right,” Aiden murmured, pulling me closer and tipping my chin up. He bent down the last few inches and connected our mouths tenderly.
What started as a light brushing of lips deepened into a full on makeout, Aiden crushing my body against his and tangling my hair around his fingers.
A slight cough separated us, and I pulled back reluctantly to find that the room had filled with people while I was distracted.
“Oops,” I mumbled, my face heated with embarrassment.
Hazel winked at me from across the room. “All right, let’s get this started. Everyone in your positions. Siobhan, come stand by me, so you’re out of the way.”
The twelve beasts stood shoulder to shoulder around the statue, none close enough to touch her. There were ten men and two women, all of who had disappeared over the past few days.
It was such a relief to have solved the mystery. I waved at Geoffrey, grateful that he was all right after what had happened to his roommate. He was even willing to help out another!
Bruce came out of the other room, a plate in his hands with a shining golden fruit on it. His face was ashen. “It’s ready,” he said quietly into the silent room.
Everyone’s attention was on him as he put the plate down on a table. He magically lifted the fruit and split it into twelve equal pieces. Each one traveled to a beast, who took it mid-air. As one, they popped it into their mouths.
My heart was pounding unnecessarily hard. This was it. I swallowed, noticing the aroma of the golden fruit that lingered in the air as it made its way over to our corner. It smelled like the sweetest fruit imaginable, but it soon became overpowering and cloying, making me want to gag. I grabbed Hazel’s hand and squeezed it, hoping for reassurance that everything was proceeding as expected so far.
Hazel lightly returned the pressure and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Twelve throats swallowed in unison, and then they raised their hands toward the statue and sent their fire streaming at her.
I was used to seeing Aiden’s fire, and intimately knew its color and how it was shaped. His fire now was tinged with gold.
Even though Bruce had said that he’d be watching the flow of magic with my spell, I couldn’t resist casting it on myself.
I focused first on Aiden, trying to see past the flames to the magic within him, to see if any of it was tied to this spell.
His magic was all safely within his skin.
My attention shifted to the statue, because it was changing. It was subtle at first, but the fading of the gray stone soon was visible to everyone in the room.
Bruce’s cry of relief was the only sound beyond the cracking of fire. “Keep going!” he shouted.
I couldn’t stop the grin from forming on my face. It was working!
Suddenly, Hazel’s grip on my hand tightened convulsively. “Something’s wrong!” she cried, her free hand flying to her mouth. She gagged. “No!” She let go of me to wave her hands in the air, magic flowing from her to each of the beasts.
I couldn’t cast the shield spell until Hazel’s magic reached them, or the link between the beast and fruit wouldn’t be severed. “What’s going on?” I asked anxiously.
“The fruit... It’s evolving,” she gasped. “I didn’t anticipate this!”
“I can feel our bond!” Bruce shouted. “It’s weak, but she’s there! I can feel her! Please, don’t stop this now! I don’t know what will happen to her if we stop now.” His voice broke on the last word, and my throat swelled with tears.
I squinted harder at Aiden, double and triple checking for any drain on his soul. “Are you feeling any different?” I asked him.
“It’s tiring, holding this level of flame, but I’m fine,” Aiden replied slowly, sweat beading on his brow.
I scrutinized the other eleven, and they seemed to be in a similar state as Aiden, but no worse for it.
“Whatever the fruit is doing, it doesn’t look like it’s affecting them negatively,” I told Hazel. “Hold on.”
Hazel clenched her hands into fists, and I saw the magic halt, hovering over the heads of the twelve. “I’m not sure how long I can wait,” she said, breathing hard.
“You’re doing an amazing job,” I reassured her. I put my hand on her shoulder, lending her my strength. “Why do you think that the fruit evolving is a bad thing?”
“You know how I feel on a boat? It’s like that,” she said.
“But I’m fine on a boat,” I pointed out. “And you turn out just fine as well.”
“It’s unnatural,” she argued. “Dryads don’t belong on water.”
“And we’re turning rock into flesh,” I countered. “That’s as unnatural as it comes.”
Hazel relaxed a fraction, her tense muscles loosening under my fingers. “That’s true.”
“I’m not telling you that your instincts are wrong. Just urging you not to panic. Yet.” I winked at her. “Thank you for keeping them safe.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” she replied.
The statue was almost in full color by now, Clarissa still looking pale and unmoving.
“Come on, my love,” Bruce repeated over and over. “Breathe!”
“The fruit has almost completely changed,” Hazel announced.
I refocused my attention on Aiden, but everything was normal. Comparatively.
As if a switch had been flipped, everyone’s fire went out.
I blinked, the room seeming dim after the brightness of the fire. I could see everyone’s soul burning.
Everyone’s except Clarissa’s.
“No!” screamed Bruce, running into the center of the circle, pushing two beasts aside to get to his wife. He caressed her face gently. “I’m sorry, my love.” He pressed his lips gently to hers.
I looked away from the grieving man and met Aiden’s sad eyes.
A golden shockwave exploded out of Clarissa, affecting nothing. I seemed to be the only person who could see it.
But everyone saw what came after, when she gasped aloud and fell to the ground in a heap.