Sunshowers - Part Fifteen
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
“You guys get why I’m mad, right?” Ralph asks, in a deceptively calm voice.
He’s peering into the lobby through one of the windows. Getting an eyeful of the wreckage, and Hanely and Grimm cowering together in a corner while Wendy unleashes on them, and Kasey floating nearly at the ceiling, suppressing her stunned laughter behind her ghostly hands.
I’m cringing guiltily, while Nolan hovers at my side in a blank daze and Aiden stands behind us, his powerful shoulders shaking with silent laughter. Noah is practically glowing, the satisfied grin on his face containing an almost comical amount of delight at the sight of Hanely’s broken nose. He enthusiastically nudges Nolan in the ribs with his elbow, a move which, with Nolan in this state, nearly sends him flying to the ground.
Ralph, on the other hand, looks like he’s actively trying not to implode.
“Okay,” I blurt out, shifting nervously from foot to foot. “So, um-”
Ralph curls one hand into a fist, then slowly, gently taps the side of it against the windowsill. “What were my instructions, Jamie?”
“Look, do you think this is what we were trying to do?” I ask desperately. “Clearly things just-”
“What were my instructions?”
“I know what they were, dude! Try to keep Nolan out of it, avoid damage coming to the hotel, avoid Hanely and Grimm, avoid Wendy, and don’t break Hanely’s nose. But - in our defense, we had to get Nolan’s journal!”
There’s a brief silence.
“You guys,” Ralph begins slowly, then stops, spreading his hands like he’s just realized the hopelessness of it all.
He shuts his eyes, puts his fingertips to his temples, and takes a deep breath.
“Okay,” he says briskly, opening his eyes again a moment later. “You know what? We’re moving right past everything that just happened. Forget it. Matter of fact, nobody say anything else about it. Not one word.”
Nolan and I flash each other a startled, relieved glance, then turn gratefully back to Ralph and open our mouths at the same time. He holds up a hand before either of us can speak, then starts striding towards the forest, ducking his head against the rain. We all automatically fall into line behind him.
Eduardo’s son comes darting out of the cafe as we go past it, then scampers after us. His breathless little voice rings out through the rain as he tries to catch up.
“Hey, Ralph! Where are you going? Can I come?”
“No,” Ralph calls over his shoulder, without slowing down. “Go back to your dad.”
Ramón stops where he is, looking a little crestfallen. But he perks up when Ralph adds, “And don’t go into the lobby, a bunch of stuff just got smashed in there. It’s a huge giant mess. Tons of destroyed furniture, broken stuff everywhere. That’s probably what your dad’s looking at.”
Ramón’s eyes widen with eager excitement. Unable to resist such a tempting description, he immediately scampers off towards the hotel.
“Takes care of that.” Ralph breathes out a little laugh as Ramón disappears back into the cafe. He turns and leads us out into the forest, pushing some low-hanging branches aside. “C’mon, let’s get moving. We need to get Nolan back to the ranger’s outpost.”
Noah glances up at the stormy sky. “Shouldn’t we drive, dude?”
The rainclouds don’t look like they’re going anywhere. The grey tint to the damp, chilly air around us is actually growing darker. The towering pine trees are vividly green against this coloring, shivering with soft droplets of rain, swaying in the wind. Wisps of mist catch on their needles as we go past. The constant rush of the fine, dense rainfall against their boughs fills the air.
“We’re gonna get rained on the whole way from the hotel and back if we don’t drive,” Noah points out, knotting his wet hair up into a bun, missing one strand stuck to his cheek.
Aiden, Ralph, and I exchange an affectionate glance with each other. Noah forgot to pronounce an H, as he sometimes does, which made the word hotel sound very French.
“We can’t drive, Noosh,” Ralph answers. “Road’s gonna be no good in this weather. I’m guessing Nolan didn’t attempt it in the ranger’s car, did you, Nolan?”
“No. I basically ran here.”
“So we’re walking back,” Ralph confirms.
He draws his shoulders in and shivers a little, clearly missing the one hoodie he brought on the trip. Aiden casually picks up enough speed to walk at his side. No visible heat radiates off of his bronze skin, but Ralph quickly stops shivering and lets out a quiet sigh of relief.
Nolan is pressing his journal to his chest, hunching his narrow shoulders over it to keep it out of the rain. He didn’t bring a backpack with him to the hotel this time. I think he really might have gotten that text from his mom and run right out of the ranger’s outpost.
God, poor Nolan. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Wendy had already thrown out and burned his stuff before she even sent him that text. I’m even more glad now that he was able to sneak out one more backpack of his stuff and an armful of books the other night. But the sight of him trying to shield his one remaining journal from the rain makes my heart ache.
I quickly pull off my flannel and offer it to him, straightening out my shirt.
“For your journal,” I explain, when he looks at me in confusion.
Nolan draws his head back in surprise. He slowly accepts the flannel from me, blinking hard. He wraps it carefully around his journal, then hugs the bundle to his chest again.
“Thanks, Jamie,” he says quietly, unsteadily.
“No problem!”
I give Nolan’s shoulder a gentle slap, then speed up to join Aiden and Ralph, leaving him to walk a little ways behind us with Noah. I’m cold without my flannel, but as soon as I’m by Aiden’s side I’m nice and toasty again. I can also summon our ghost and speak to her quietly without Nolan noticing.
“Kasey,” I whisper. “We’re going to the ranger’s outpost.”
I have to suppress a laugh when she appears at my side with a gigantic, radiant grin on her face.
“Hotel looks better that way,” she says decisively, falling into step beside me.
“Oh, god.” I let out a weak laugh, giving my shoulders a helpless shrug. “I can’t believe what just happened.”
“I’m actually surprised you don’t feel bad about all that destruction of Wendy’s property, Jamie,” Kasey giggles. “I know we didn’t, like, directly cause it, but still.”
“Not gonna lie, I stopped feeling bad right around Confederate heirlooms on display,” I admit, brushing some rain off of my face. “I was pretty much all good from there on out.”
“They’re not on display anymore!” Kasey sighs happily, bounding along with a decided spring in her step. “Now I want to break some, too! That’s one drawback of being a ghost they don’t tell you about. You can’t smash any Confederate statues. You should make sure to do one while you’re still alive, Jamie.”
“I’m pretty sure the opportunity isn’t going to present itself in Ketterbridge, but - yeah, okay, I’ll keep that in mind.” I turn to Ralph, who’s gazing up at the sky as he walks, trying to read which way the weather is going. “Are we sure about leaving the hotel completely unattended, by the way? You didn’t want any of us to stay there?”
Ralph steals a quick, cautious glance at Nolan. He’s talking with Noah, not listening to us.
“Sounds like the Witch already swept it and couldn’t find a good enough source of power,” Ralph answers, keeping his voice soft all the same. “If she can’t find any power she might just decide to strike, so we should all stick together. Except Nolan, who should hopefully be safely back at the ranger’s outpost before anything happens. I’m hoping we can avoid any more chaos on the way.”
Ralph shoots me a reproving look with this last part, and I blush indignantly.
“Um, okay! Where even were you while that disaster was going down in the hotel, dude? We could’ve used your help!”
“I had to take a work call. I run a business, remember?”
“Oh.” I sheepishly drop the accusatory finger I was pointing at him. “That’s actually a good reason. Is everything okay?”
“Mhm,” Ralph says breezily, swiping his rain-wet hair out of his face. “One of my lieutenants was just checking in. We’re dealing with a hostage situation right now, so it’s kind of a sensitive operation. Calls for some oversight.”
My eyes open very wide. Aiden stares at Ralph, blinking hard, and Kasey leans around me to do the same.
“I’m sorry?” she sputters.
“Hostage situation?” I ask at the same time, my voice dropping to a shocked whisper. “Holy shit, Ralph! Which of your guys did they take? Not Shawn?”
Ralph narrows his eyes in confusion, then suddenly seems to understand. “Oh, sorry, I’m not being clear. We took the hostage, from a rival outfit. Shawn’s the one who handled it, actually. Real smooth, too.”
A flash of pride and approval goes through his grey-green eyes, like a master pleased with the progress of his apprentice.
“Shawn said to tell you hi, Jamie,” he adds, as an afterthought.
“Oh my god,” I stammer, then swat indignantly at Ralph’s arm. “And you’re talking about the mess me and Nolan caused? At least we didn’t take any hostages!”
“I’m gonna prevent a giant mess with this, Keane, first of all. Second of all, relax.” Ralph furrows his eyebrows at me, puzzled about what exactly the issue is. “It’s not like we took bad care of the guy. He’s fine, he’s already been exchanged. That’s what Shawn was calling to tell me. We only had to hold him for a few hours. No big deal.”
I drop my face into my hands, and Aiden stares at Ralph, a mixture of exasperation and fondness and dismay in his wide blue eyes.
“You guys really do want me to have a stress breakdown.” He lets out a long-suffering sigh, then tilts his head back, his dark lashes fluttering shut. “All of you. My brothers and my boyfriend. You’re running around taking hostages, Noah’s beating the hell out of a squad car, I take my eyes off of Jamie for like five minutes so he can go get a journal and the next thing I know like twenty gunshots are going off-”
“Seventeen,” Ralph corrects.
Aiden stops and looks over at him, confused. “What?”
“Seventeen gunshots. That’s how many Grimm fired.”
“Okay, how could you possibly have figured that one out?” I ask, considerably taken aback. “You didn’t even hear the shots from outside, and it can’t just have been from looking through the window!”
Ralph shrugs his shoulders. “Grimm has a Glock 17, and you said he spent every round he had. That’s seventeen shots.”
“Oh, I so wish you were the one who had to handle that situation instead of me,” I groan. “Clearly you’d have been better qualified.”
“But then way fewer Confederate statues would’ve gotten broken,” Kasey points out cheerfully. “So, there’s that to consider.”
“Oh, god.” I helplessly run my hands through my soaked hair. “What did the shots in the woods turn out to be?”
“A distraction from the Witch, like we thought,” Ralph answers quietly. “We came right back, but I had to keep away from the hotel to take that call. Every time I look down Eduardo’s kid is at my elbow.”
“He really has been following Ralph around like a duckling,” Kasey giggles.
“Yeah, and he keeps trying to hold my hand, too.”
“Aw!” I laugh, hearing the obvious bafflement in Ralph’s voice. “Sometimes little kids do that, man.”
He shoots me a bewildered look. “Do what?”
“Form power-attachments really fast if they think someone is super cool.”
Ralph’s expression suggests that he’s a little startled at how flattered he is by that compliment. Kasey and I exchange a swift, covert grin.
“Kid’s a handful,” Ralph says gruffly, after a moment, with an approving note in his voice.
“I know.” I lean gratefully into Aiden as he folds a toasty warm arm around my shoulders. “He makes me wish even more that Wendy didn’t give Eduardo such an out-of-reach number when he tried to buy the cafe.”
Ralph glances at me in surprise. “Eduardo tried to buy the cafe?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you…”
I fill Ralph in on everything that Eduardo and I talked about. He and Aiden listen intently, then exchange a look with each other over the top of my head.
I watch in amused silence as they lapse into one of those conversations only they can understand. Aiden lifts his eyebrows and tilts his head slightly to the side, and Ralph nods thoughtfully, as if in agreement, then spreads his hands at Aiden, who shrugs.
“Could-” Aiden begins.
Ralph nods, waving a hand at him. “Yeah, but then-?”
“No, I know. True.”
“Unless-?”
“No,” Aiden says firmly.
“You two are incomprehensible when you talk like this,” I complain affectionately.
“Give us a second, Jamie,” Ralph murmurs, half-lost in his thoughts.
I leave them to it and fall back a little to join Noah and Nolan instead.
“-just don’t get what the point is, exactly,” Noah is saying, with a nod at the journal Nolan has wrapped in my flannel. “Like, for what reason?”
“You know, just to remember what’s happened, look back on what you’ve done,” Nolan says wretchedly, an embarrassed blush spreading across his face as he explains. “But more to get your emotions down on the page, somewhere you can really think about them, and reflect on them at length.”
Ralph looks up, wrenched out of his thoughts. He and Noah exchange a look so horrified that I have to cough to cover up a laugh.
“So you do that - of your own free will?” Noah sputters, absolutely lost. “Nobody’s forcing you, or…?”
“And they say the man isn’t brave,” Ralph murmurs beneath his breath, then winces, looking deeply uncomfortable. “This is too much talking about emotions already. Enough. Everyone stop. Goddamn you, Jamie, don’t laugh!”
“I’m not,” I laugh helplessly, lacing my fingers over my mouth.
I need to remove myself from this line of conversation if I’m going to hold it together, so I quickly dart over to Aiden, who’s still walking a little ways ahead. He’s gazing around at the trees. The little knit of concentration between his dark brows tells me he’s trying to use his senses.
I slip my hand into his, offering him the open connection. He accepts it, and a rush of sparkling magic slides up my arm, deliciously warm against the chilly air.
Aiden keeps silent for another moment, listening to something beyond the soft, rhythmic pattering of the rain.
He looks down at me, his eyes shining with radiant magic. The sight of them takes my breath away, like it always does. It’s like they’re swimming with diamond dust, over that unbelievable shade of blue. I’ve been thumbing through various books about the ocean for my upcoming science classes. Maybe that’s why, catching the rainy sunlight like this, Aiden’s eyes remind me of Pāua shells. So gorgeous that I find myself lost in them, enraptured, astonished that something like this just exists in the world…
It’s only when I see Aiden looking at me expectantly that I realize he said something, and he’s waiting for an answer.
I give myself a shake, blushing deeply. “What?”
“I said the Witch isn’t following us. At least not right now. Interesting that she didn’t engage with Grimm, either.”
“Seemed to me like she didn’t think he was worth her time.”
“Right, but it also means she’s being more careful about where she spends her power. Like she’s running low.” Aiden blinks away the magic in his eyes, gently letting the connection fall closed. “Makes me feel like she won’t do any more messing around or trying to trick us. Think she’ll keep it all for a direct attack. That’s what I would do.”
I really hope Aiden isn’t right about that. If he thinks so, though… He’s the only worker of magic in the group, and he would know best.
“I think you’re right, A,” Ralph murmurs, making me jump. I didn’t realize he’d silently caught up with us again. “Especially if she’s getting desperate for more power. You’re the one who has it.”
I bite my lip worriedly, giving Aiden’s hand a protective squeeze. Ralph’s grey-green eyes flick over the forest, the tumbling green overhang, the lush moss in the gullies under shallow pools of rainwater, the misty distances impossible to see clearly. The faint, ever-present trace of sea salt to the Port Sitka air makes the whispering of the rain sound like the sigh of a tide perpetually rushing in.
It’s a blurry, mysterious landscape of grey, green, and misty white. Our visibility is down to almost nothing. Kasey has wandered ahead to take a look at what we’re walking into, and already I can barely pick her out from the fog.
“I think we should expect it to happen at any moment,” Ralph murmurs softly. “I’d just like to get Nolan out of harm’s way first.”
Aiden and I exchange a look, then speed up slightly, hurrying after Kasey. Nolan and Noah quickly match our pace and catch up with us.
“What’s going on?” Nolan asks anxiously.
“Nothing.” Ralph keeps his voice and expression perfectly calm, but he doesn’t slow down. “We’d just like to get you back to safety ASAP, Nolan.”
Nolan glances around, realizing that we’ve naturally fallen into sort of a protective knot around him. He looks a little relieved, and then dazed again. Based on his dreamy expression he’s reliving the destruction of the hotel lobby in his head.
Soon enough, though, he’s paying close attention to the forest again. His wary eyes travel over the trees, which are enwrapped in enough fog to keep our surroundings mostly secret. We’re all painfully conscious of what’s lurking out there, even if Nolan has less information than the rest of us.
It’s a merciful relief when the ranger’s outpost falls into sight. Cozy and snug in its little grove of trees, glowing with warm golden light against the rainy greyness of the afternoon, with smoke slowly climbing up from the chimney. Kasey disappears to save some energy as we make our approach, satisfied that we’re finally within the bounds of something that feels like safety.
Tucker opens the door for us, letting the buttery warm light spill out and illuminate the fluttering rain coming down. He must be off-duty, because he’s in tan-colored jeans and a soft grey wool sweater, one with a vintage version of Smokey the Bear on it. He pauses in the doorway, his mahogany skin glowing with the light from behind him, his dark brown eyes wide with worry.
“Nolan,” he sighs, his shoulders falling with relief, his face lighting up with a glowing smile. “You’re back. Thank god.”
Nolan, who had been lifting a hand to knock, stands arrested for a moment, then hastily drops it.
“Yeah, I - hi,” he says meekly.
“Oh, Tucker’s cute,” Aiden whispers in my ear, prompting me to flash him a very quick oh, I know look over my shoulder.
Tucker’s eyes lift from Nolan, noticing the crowd of soaked people around him.
“Hey, Tucker,” Ralph quickly jumps in. “This is more of the team. That’s Noah, this is Aiden.”
“Hey,” Aiden says, as Noah gives Tucker a nod.
Tucker draws back, blinking hard.
“And I thought my voice was deep,” he laughs, staring wide-eyed at Aiden.
“It is,” Nolan answers, looking like he doesn’t totally know what he’s saying.
“Oh - what am I doing?” Tucker stands back and opens the door wider, beckoning for us. “You all better come in out of the rain!”
He ushers everybody inside, then turns a concerned eye on Nolan, who just sank down into the armchair by the fire.
“What happened?” Tucker asks worriedly, as Nolan unwraps the journal from my flannel. “Are you okay?”
“All good,” Nolan says faintly, his green eyes blinking fast. He sits back and pushes a hand through his dark brown hair, hugging the journal to his chest. “Got what I needed.”
“Well, good…” Tucker looks around at the rest of us as we shake the rain out of our hair and stomp our hiking boots off on the doormat. “Are you all alright?”
He looks relieved to get a nod from all of us. I’m relieved for the brief respite of the ranger’s outpost, personally. The snapping of the fire layers softly over the sound of the rain, and the air smells like warm bread and raspberry jam and apple butter.
“How are you doing, Tucker?” Ralph peers out through the window at the rainy forest outside. “Nothing’s shown up around here, has it?”
“Not that I’ve seen, no, but I’ve only been out to do a few small repairs on the well and to check on the rainwater barrels. Guess I saw a frog?”
Noah, who had just sat down on the couch, surges immediately back to his feet. “Where?”
“They’re everywhere,” Tucker says, looking over at Noah in confusion and surprise. “When it rains they all come out and have a nice little bath-”
He breaks off in bafflement as Noah strides for the door, only to be firmly stopped by Aiden before he can get there.
“Are they part of what’s going on?” Tucker asks, bewildered.
“Nope, you just got him excited about the possibility of frogs,” Ralph explains, shoving Noah back down onto the couch.
Tucker lets out a pleased laugh. “Aren’t we just on the same page, Noah! I’ll admit I also get pretty excited about the frogs. The snails, too. Somewhere around here I’ve got a nicely illustrated book-”
“Hey, Tucker,” Ralph hastily cuts in, before we can get too far off-track. “We know you were probably planning on it anyways because of the weather, but we’d appreciate it if you and Nolan would mostly keep to the outpost for the rest of the day. Unless we need to call on Nolan for help.”
Nolan looks up, going very pale. He gives a jolt and turns to face Tucker, like he just remembered something.
“I saw the ghost again, Tuck!”
“What?” Tucker spins around to look down at him, his eyes widening with alarm. “Oh my god, are you okay?”
“No, seriously, I saw it,” Nolan begins urgently, then pauses, taken aback. “Oh. Yeah, I’m - I guess I’m alright… honestly, everything that happened afterwards was so out of control I almost forgot about it.”
“Well - that’s quite an improvement from last time,” Tucker says encouragingly, even though he’s clearly lost. “What happened afterwards?”
“It’s a long story,” Aiden cuts in, as Nolan opens his mouth to answer. “We’ll let Nolan tell you once he’s, um - calmed down. But we should get back.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for a little?” Tucker offers. “Rain’s not supposed to let up anytime soon, but you could at least warm up before you go. I’ve got hot chocolate, and cinnamon marshmallows.”
All of us look hopefully at Ralph, who firmly shakes his head no. “Thanks, but we really need to get-”
“For the team morale, dude,” I whisper pleadingly.
“If we’re not gonna go look at the frogs let’s at least get the hot chocolate,” Noah whispers, at the same time.
Ralph lets out a weary sigh, aware of several pairs of imploring eyes on him.
We leave the ranger’s outpost about ten minutes later, pleasantly warmed from within by hot chocolate. Nolan walks us a little bit of the way down the path, holding a solar-powered lamp to help with navigating the foggy terrain.
“Thank you for walking me all the way back,” he says. “For all the - the - everything, really.”
“No worries,” I tell him brightly, then do a double-take when I catch the expression on his face.
He’s anxiously glancing around at the trees, the fear showing itself plainly in his pale green eyes. I can see just how much he never wants to cross paths with the Witch again, and I don’t blame him.
“We won’t call you unless we really need you, Nolan,” I remind him. “Only if it’s a serious emergency.”
“Okay, yeah.” He swallows hard, shakily holds up the radio. “I’ve got this handy. You guys be careful, though.”
“We will,” I promise, then give him a wave as the others call out their goodbyes.
Nolan waves back. He stands by a cluster of mossy boulders, watching us go until we lose sight of him in the mist.
I quietly summon Kasey, and she drops down lightly out of thin air to land at my side.
“Have we got the whole team back?” Ralph asks me.
“Mhm, everyone’s here.”
“What now?” Noah asks, as we weave through the trees together. “Should we go see what Eduardo’s got cooking up for lunch, or…?”
“No,” Ralph says slowly, peering around through the mist and rain. “Something tells me…”
He stops, his narrowed eyes traveling slowly over the dripping landscape. The muffled rush of the rain fills the silence as we all stop behind him, spread out among the towering pines. Listening, trying to see through the mist.
Aiden takes a step forward, then another. He raises one hand, and a rich golden glow radiates out from his palm, like he’s holding an invisible lantern. It diffuses over the mist, tinting it gold, casting more light through the grey, rainy air. The rest of us watch him, suddenly holding very still.
Aiden takes in a sharp, audible breath. He looks at us over his shoulder, his blue eyes blazing with magic.
That’s all that has time to happen before the Witch comes gliding swiftly, silently out of the mist. Her hollow purple eyes are blazing with rage, her twitchy, jerking movements made twice as awful when she’s coming at us with that unbelievable speed.
Without thinking, I catch Aiden’s wrist and wrench him backwards. Ralph and Noah both rush forward at the same time, trying to flank Aiden as the Witch bears down on us.
At the same instant, the Witch slashes a long, spindly, bone-thin hand at Ralph. A burst of purple flame explodes from her fingers and travels across the clearing faster than eyes can follow it. He gasps when it hits him, drops to his knees, then starts struggling as if his arms are bound to his sides with invisible rope.
Noah collapses in almost the same way when the Witch hits him, only half a second later, with a second burst of purple flames.
Aiden throws a hand into the air, summoning his magic. But the Witch can move so, so much faster than us. He can barely extend his fingers before the next slashing line of purple flames takes him right in the chest, cutting straight across me at the same time.
I choke on the breath I was trying to take, suddenly down on my knees with my arms uselessly pinned to my sides. I struggle with all my might, but it’s like my body has forgotten it can exist in any position except this one, and Aiden is down beside me in the same way. The Witch may as well have tied us all up.
She slows down, looking very satisfied to see us all struggling fruitlessly before her. Slowly and deliberately, she begins to drift closer to us, making directly for Aiden.
“Fuck!” Noah shouts, his voice strained from the invisible, full-body struggle he’s putting up against the magic that won’t let us move.
Aiden is doing the same thing. He’s panting hard, his face screwed up and his teeth gritted with effort.
Kasey, who was frozen with shock, suddenly springs forward and reforms into a streak of silvery white light. She begins zipping all around the Witch, who stops, watching her in irritated confusion. She’s buying us a little time, but we’re all trapped, and I don’t know what we can do -
Ralph suddenly lifts his head, panting, then throws it all the way back and shouts at the top of his lungs. “NOLAN!”
I add my desperate voice to his. “NOLAN, HELP US!”
“NOLAN!” Noah roars, his voice echoing off of the trees. “WE NEED YOU!”
The Witch lets out a hiss of blazing frustration, swiping a long-fingered hand at Kasey. I look frantically at Aiden, and discover that he’s stopped struggling to move. He’s holding very still. He’s closed his eyes, all his concentration turned inward.
The air around him is beginning to ripple and seethe with invisible magic, as if heat waves are streaming off of his body.
My panicked eyes dart back to the Witch, who seems to have just decided that Kasey isn’t worth her time. Ignoring the streak of silver and white zipping around her, she starts towards Aiden again. Kasey stops, panting hard in her panic, at a loss for what to do.
“Any other ideas?” she calls frantically.
“Aiden!” Ralph shouts, his voice hoarse with urgency.
Aiden doesn’t answer, or open his eyes, but the air around him is snapping with building energy and magic, enough to stir up its own wind, which sends the pine needles dancing and rushes through my hair. But there’s no time to use any of that magic. The Witch is so close now that her coldness is sweeping over us, and her purple gaze is fixed intently on Aiden -
A scrambling sound from the rainy forest snaps up everyone’s attention, drawing all eyes to the mossy ridge we just walked down. We all look up just in time to see someone stumble up over it, panting and wild-eyed.
“Oh my fucking god, it’s Nolan!” Noah shouts, his grey eyes lighting up with hope.
“Nolan, help us!” Ralph shouts, straining against his invisible bonds.
Nolan freezes where he is, staring in disbelief. He takes in the sight of us all trapped on our knees, then slowly, slowly, lets his terrified gaze travel to the Witch.
She turns to face him, her purple eyes burning and twitching. Her jerky, unnatural movements make her look like some combination of a broken automaton and a massive glitching night terror as she rears up to her full, towering height.
What little color there was left in Nolan’s face falls away. He stands there white as a sheet, utterly frozen as the Witch slowly begins towards him. Kasey sweeps over to hover at his side, but she’s helpless to do anything.
“Don’t be afraid, Nolan!” Ralph shouts.
Noah and I both join in, adding our shouted encouragement for Nolan, but he doesn’t seem to hear us. His perfectly round eyes are two pools of pure terror, his body trembling so hard that I can see it clearly from here.
“Nolan!” I shout desperately, struggling against the magic. “You’ve got this, it’s okay, just-”
Nolan lets out a hoarse whimper, then sinks down to the forest floor as his legs give out beneath him. He curls up into a tight ball, shivering violently, and closes his eyes.
We all stare at him in dismay.
“Aw, no, Nolan-” Ralph calls desperately, wincing with his whole face. “Nolan, it’s okay, just run! Get up and run!”
Nolan only shivers, nothing else. The rest of us can’t do anything as the Witch stops right in front of him and raises one hand, summoning a ball of purple fire around her fingers.
She raises it back, and then… stops, gazing down at Nolan where he’s laying in a trembling heap on the forest floor. I have an angle to see her face from where I’m trapped, so I catch the strange, unexpected expression as it flickers through her empty eyes.
It looks almost like - pity.
She hesitates, suddenly uncertain, twitching like she’s fighting with herself.
Behind her, Aiden finally opens his eyes. I suck in a sharp little breath when I see them. They’re overflowing with glittering magic, so bright that their glow shines out into the mist like two frosty blue sunbeams.
With a growling roar of effort, Aiden suddenly breaks free of his motionlessness, with a wrenching movement like he’s physically tearing through the invisible ropes around his arms and chest. A sweep of Heliomancer magic rushes past me. Invisible, but I feel the dry heat of it, pure sunlight against my cheek. Suddenly the invisible bonds holding me have been torn away. Strange thing is I sense Aiden reeling them in towards himself…
Ralph and Noah both break free, too, gasping for breath. Our eyes collectively snap to Aiden, who’s crouched on one knee.
He’s pulling something we can’t see towards himself, straining like he’s trying to pull up a massive anchor on his own. He stops, winds back, then flings both hands out at the Witch with another shout of effort. I feel the magic rush past my face, a sweep of warm summer wind that briefly caresses my cheek on its way to the Witch.
The Witch freezes where she is, her arms suddenly trapped to her sides like ours just were. She twitches and jerks a little, her bony hands curling into fists and swiveling at the wrist, but she can’t break free.
Aiden is panting with the effort it’s taking to keep her magic turned around on her. Heaving for breath, he staggers to his feet, then slowly begins to walk towards her.
The rest of us remain suspended in stunned silence for a second, then get up and rush to join him.
We approach the frozen Witch cautiously, staying behind Aiden, keeping close to him. He keeps his hands held out as we go, streaming off magic to hold the spell. Kasey scrambles over to join us, her hands pressed over her mouth in disbelief.
We draw closer, and the Witch slowly, painstakingly turns her head to look at Aiden.
The movement takes an enormous amount of effort, as she has to fight against the magic holding her back the whole way. As her head turns to the side, the strain breaks something.
A sharp snapping sound goes through the air. A crack travels like a streak of lightning down the Witch’s body, a faultline opening up just below her right eye and twisting halfway down her side. The jagged crack in the darkness glows from within with soft, gentle green light. Like a vein of glowing green quartz crystals, buried within a rock.
The Witch, panting for breath, meets Aiden’s gaze as the crack spreads into little fractures down her face. A rushing, whispering voice breaks from her. It sounds like the rustling of the pine needles in the wind, somehow formed into words.
Guardian… she pants, looking right into Aiden’s eyes. Help… me…
We all stare back at her in bewildered shock, but suddenly the darkness closes in over the break again. The Witch gives herself a shake, blinking her purple eyes hard, then lets out a screech of incensed fury, a sound that makes Nolan curl into an even tighter ball of shivering terror.
Noah, Ralph, and I automatically seize hold of Aiden. He takes a swift, startled step back from the Witch, throwing his arms out protectively in front of us. His concentration breaks, and the Witch leaps on the opportunity to tear herself free, violently shaking the spell off. The splintered remains of the magic blast past us and throw the raindrops off of their trajectory before dissipating.
The Witch hurls an aimless flash of magic at us, then turns and sweeps off into the mist, vanishing without a trace. Aiden starts after her, then stops. There’s no point. We’ve all seen how fast she can move.
There’s an astonished silence, during which we all just stand there panting. Ralph drops his gaze to Nolan, then crouches down beside him and lets out a little curse.
“I think Nolan fainted, you guys.”
He did, as it turns out, but he jolts awake when Noah pinches his arm.
“Nolan,” Ralph manages, as Nolan’s hazy eyes blink open and find his face. “Hey, man. You’re fine. Everything’s okay, it’s gone.”
Nolan slowly, shakily lifts his head.
“Did - did I do it?” he stammers hopefully, looking like he’s not totally sure where he is. “Did I help?”
Ralph lets out a disbelieving laugh, slapping Nolan’s back as he helps him sit up. “You did, Nolan, you helped a lot. Thanks for showing up when we needed you. Good man.”
The dazed expression in Nolan’s eyes suggests that he blacked out that whole experience completely, but his face lights up with surprised delight at this piece of news from Ralph.
“Just in the nick of time, dude!” Noah adds appreciatively, hauling Nolan to his feet. “Holy shit! We were toast before you showed up!”
Nolan looks unsure whether to believe that. He looks at me, so I nod in earnest confirmation and gratefully clasp his arm. He blinks hard, then beams around at all of us, bewildered and happy.
Kasey and Aiden don’t say anything. They’re still staring after the Witch in confusion and disbelief. Aiden turns around to exchange a baffled look with Ralph, whose blonde eyebrows are already furrowed like he’s trying to understand, too.
“Let’s get him back to the outpost,” he murmurs to us, with a nod at Nolan. “Then we’ll talk.”
“Yeah,” Aiden answers, staring curiously after the Witch. “Seems we need to.”
Want to leave a comment? I would love it if you did, and you can do so on the Tapas episode!