Chapter Twenty-One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Iona had spent many days alone before she’d found Tove at the empty cabin.
She insisted that she was not sulking, though her friends could not be convinced otherwise. Since Liam and his human friends had gone and the loggers had left their machines broken in the clearcut, Iona had simply retreated to rest. Movement near her clearing in the empty space where Liam had been roused her from her slumber, and she’d been met with a most unexpected visitor.
Not that Tove had come to visit her. But Iona had been there, and Tove had shared a secret with her that played over and over in her mind in the following hours. It felt too intimate to know the pain love had caused Tove and, consequently, both Liam and his mother. And yet… Iona could not help her anger that Tove had thrown away what Iona now desperately craved. It was not her story, not her anger to feel, but it couldn’t be helped. She had spent that evening trying to process the story she’d heard, to settle herself.
Nothing would change the simple fact that Liam was gone and wouldn’t be returning to the valley. His life was in Seattle, with his friends and his job. As much as it pained her to admit, Tove was right—there was no sense in disrupting his life now. Not when they had already parted ways .
Iona spent two full days resting in the hollow of her tree before she felt ready to seek out the only person she knew could provide insight to her without belittling her or moralizing her feelings.
To her surprise, though, Vall found her first.
They stepped out into the clearing, and called to Iona in hushed tones. “I worry for you, all alone these past days,” the gentle voice called, and coaxed Iona from her place within the tree.
She solidified on the outstretched trunk and worried a fern frond between her fingers. “I am here,” Iona said softly. “I am simply worn by the changing season and required rest.”
“It’s unlike you.” Vall quirked an eyebrow. “This has nothing to do with a certain human who left, I imagine.”
It had everything to do with Liam, but Vall needn’t be troubled with technicalities. Iona remained silent.
The day was dry and misty, a thick fog hanging low about the clearing. Although the sun had been shining earlier, it was now shrouded by a dull gray overcast. Most of the leaves had fallen from the branches of her tree, strewn about the clearing in a thick orange and yellow carpet. Tiny mushrooms stalks shot up, beginning their seasons-long work of breaking the leaves down into the soil.
Chickadees called to each other from their homes among the tree branches, their song filling the silence that stretched between Vall and Iona.
Vall approached the branch and hopped up beside her, entwining an arm through hers. “You have been dreadfully dull these past few weeks. I blame the boy. He seemed nice enough, but I would like my friend back.” The words were said in jest, but there was truth buried within.
Iona sighed. “I’ve been told a secret,” she said, “and I do not know how to feel about it. May I share it with you?”
Vall only grimaced. “Would it matter, if I said no?”
She shook her head, a shy smile spreading on her lips. She retold Tove’s story, though she skimmed over the more painful details, leaving Vall with only the gist of the history, and the relation Tove shared with Liam.
By the end, Vall looked less surprised than Iona imagined.
“It makes sense,” they said. “You said yourself there was something magical about him. I am surprised to learn that Tove has kept such secrets from the others. Something changed within her, these past centuries, and I believe we’ve found the reason. It would further explain her warning to stay away from the humans, if they were perhaps a bit misguided.”
“Why would Tove not wish to know Liam though, or Maggie? Her family. I cannot help but feel the choice was selfish. And do not think her story softens my anger with her and the rest of the Elders.”
“Perhaps it was simply too painful. We cannot presume to know what pain someone else has gone—”
The words were cut off, and Vall’s gaze snapped up at something in the distance, concern and horror twisting their expression. A pained cry escaped their lips and a shock of crimson spread across the center of their woven shirt, thick with blood. Iona reached forward, but Vall’s body slid forward off the moss-covered trunk and landed limp on the soft grass with a thud.
Iona leaped from her perch and threw herself down over Vall’s motionless body, her hands shaking as she inspected the damage. A heavy gash ran from Vall’s shoulder all the way across their chest. Blood had soaked through their shirt, coating Iona’s hands as she tried to stop the bleeding.
It was no use.
The cut was at least an inch deep, and she had nothing to bind it with. Iona a muttered a frantic apology then ripped a large scrap of fabric from the hem of Maggie’s skirt, tying it hastily around Vall’s chest as she’d done for Liam’s leg. A moment passed, and Vall slipped fully from consciousness.
Her makeshift bandage, at least, appeared to be working as the flow of blood lessened. Iona tried to calm her panicked mind, willing herself to think clearly. She had never seen an injury like this afflict one of her kin. It had seemingly come from nowhere—they’d simply been talking, and then Vall lie bleeding before her.
Iona, like the rest of her kin, had often thought of their human shapes as visages, an illusion that allowed them to interact with the world. But they could drink, and eat in their human shapes. Tove had a child, even. It was folly to think they could not bleed. The idea struck her like a blow .
She knew what the exact cause of Vall’s injury was—something had harmed the maple they were tethered to.
Her hands curled into fists to stop the shaking. She needed to keep herself together.
Turning her attention back to Vall, she repeated her earlier action, ripping more fabric from the skirt and winding it tightly around the existing bandage to reinforce it. She examined Vall’s face. They were pale, but soon began to stir, and Iona let herself take a deep breath.
Unless the tree was destroyed, Vall would not die from such an injury. Like the maples her kin were tied to, the Acernae were resilient.
With a heave, she dragged Vall backward to rest against the trunk of her tree. They groaned, but were otherwise unbothered by the adjustment.
“Stay here, okay?” she murmured. “I’ll be right back.”
Vall did not respond but there was no time to waste. Iona stood, shed her human form, and stepped through the forest to the grove where Vall’s tree grew.
***
Just as she’d feared, Andrew and two of his loggers were in the clearing, their machines operating once more. If she’d had a body, it would be shaking again with the pain and the chaos that echoed through the trees. She could feel them, their agony hanging in the air like the heavy mist, the deep vibrations of the machinery as it cut through the tough, thick bark…
And Vall’s maple.
It wasn’t cut down, but one of the cutters had nicked it, the blade slicing through the heavy moss that protected its trunk and into the flesh of the tree. The wound was fresh and angry, torn moss and fern hanging from the places they’d been severed. The cutter bore into a tree nearby, wholly unbothered by the destruction they’d unleashed into the Valley.
Iona realized the trees were falling fast—too fast. Already a half dozen lay stacked and cut neatly into segments. They’d been stripped of all their branches, the limbs and the heavy coats of moss that grew from them were piled callously on the edge of the clearcut, among the stumps of the trees they’d been ripped from .
How long had Andrew and his crew been at this? A day? Two? And how had she not known about it? They weren’t supposed to be here. The area was not marked on any of their maps the last time she’d seen them.
But she had not checked on the loggers in weeks. She’d been distracted by her own petty emotions—the very human issues that were not even hers to begin with. Vall would not have noticed either. Not when they’d been so worried about Iona and her wallowing.
Her realizations only darkened from there. Andrew and his crew had moved deeper into the heart of the valley. He had been furious, she knew, and the sabotaged equipment would have only set him back by several days. He must have returned to bring his vengeance upon them by cutting even more aggressively than originally planned. Which meant that Vall’s injuries were her fault.
It had been her idea to strike back at the loggers.
Not only had the plan backfired, but it had wounded her dearest friend. She’d failed to drive them out for good, and Andrew wouldn’t care one bit about the mature maple that grew in the stand of fir trees meant for harvest—in fact, there was every reason to believe he’d cut it down. To lose the tree entirely… that was not something her kin were capable of surviving.
Iona drew back, the cacophonous sounds of the machines and the trees falling around her drowning out all thought. Something had to be done.
***
Iona returned to find Vall in much the same state she’d left them in. Relief flooded through her, though it was short-lived. Her mind was too busy working out a plan.
“Eli!” Iona shouted to the trees, trusting them to carry her words and hoping that Eli came quickly.
A gasp from behind her told her it had worked, and soon Eli crouched beside her looking down at Vall’s wounds.
“What happened?”
“What do you think happened, Eli?” Her frustration spilled out through her words, but she couldn’t stop it. “The loggers came back—deeper, this time. Closer to the heart of our forest. They harmed Vall’s tree! ”
Eli tried to assess the wound, but did not remove her makeshift bandages. He knew as little of first aid as she did, or perhaps even less. It did not take an expert to know that Vall did not look good.
“We need to take them to the Elders.”
Iona knew he was right, and yet… “We cannot. I know we should but… Eli, this is my fault. I was wrong and my misjudgment brought this harm to Vall.”
“They would understand your mistake, Iona. Vall and the Elders both. We cannot blame you for this.”
She did not think that was true, at least not about the Elders. They had not forbidden her from getting involved, but she had been cautioned against it more than once. If they found out one of their kin had been harmed as a result… she shuddered at the thought.
The problem could have been solved much quicker, if they’d only been convinced to help at the start. Then again, maybe the Elders were just as powerless as she was.
“What could they do we haven’t already tried? Our tactics have already proven useless, and our kin do not have the skill to heal wounds like this one.” She wrung her bloody hands together. “They’ve already told us they won’t intervene. Why should we go to them now?”
“Things have changed! None would deny that putting Vall’s tree in danger is grounds for reconsideration.”
Iona stood and paced across the clearing, her fear turning to anger. “I do not think it right that our trees be more important than the rest. The Elders are wrong in this believe. Do you not agree?”
Eli stood to meet her fiery gaze, at least considering her words.
“I agree.” His shoulders fell as he looked back at Vall, still bleeding against Iona’s tree. “But resentment does not help us now. We need to do something, and quickly.”
Her mind ran through their options, but the list was growing short. They could not risk mending the wood of Vall’s tree itself while the loggers were there working. Disabling their machinery proved only a temporary solution.
More desperately than she thought possible, she wanted Liam. He would know how to heal Vall, what to do about the trees. Just the thought of his solid arms wrapped tight around her was enough to calm her unraveling nerves .
She stilled, the thought inspiring the faintest glimmer of hope. “What if we solve this ourselves? Without involving the Elders, I mean. What if Liam could help us finish this?”
Eli pursed his lips. “I am not happy about this, Iona. But I have supported you this far. If you think the boy will still help us, then try.”
Iona took his hands in hers. “Thank you, Eli!”
“Don’t thank me yet,” he warned. “You have one day. If the situation does not improve by then I will have no choice but to take this to the Elders. Do you understand?”
She pursed her lips, but nodded. “Take Vall to the boy’s house. Do you know where? I will get in touch with him and meet you there soon.”
Eli nodded, then hoisted Vall up as gently as he could. They soon vanished, leaving Iona alone in the clearing.
She did not have a cellphone, nor were there any she could access in that moment. For the first time, she found herself cursing the life they led as Acernae, disconnected from the larger world. But there was another way she could get in touch with Liam.
It would take a bit of persuading, but she had to try.