His throat bobbed as he swallowed, and he finally met my eyes. “I had hoped when we came we could jump straight to the capital. This isn’t where the pathway used to be.”
“We could still try. I might be able to jump us there with enough instruction.”And end up in a random ditch, because by the gods I am exhausted,I added internally.
His shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath, then slumped further. “I apologize for my reaction. It’s just… difficult being back here. I accidentally destroyed my old home when my mother shipped me off. And I never came back again.”
I stepped closer, tentatively sliding one hand over his shoulder, but I didn’t say anything. Sometimes, there really wasn’t anything to say. I had lost my father young, and hadthought I’d been betrayed by my mother, but neither experience was quite like what Crispin had endured.
After a quiet moment, Crispin’s hand slid over mine and squeezed. “It’s not much farther. Are your feet okay?”
“Why wouldn’t they be okay?”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Because mine currently feel like lead.”
Having a sneaking suspicion, I didn’t offer again to try to take us to the capital. Because it wasn’tmythoughts that had brought us here. I had never been to this place, and my intent had been to create a pathway to the pocket realm. Crispin was the one who had been thinking of home, and pushing extra magic into me as he did so. I didn’t think it was on purpose, but subconsciously he wanted to go home. And now he was the one who needed to face it.
I took his hand and moved to his side. “Maybe your feet will feel a little lighter if we walk together.”
After a few long moments of silent walking, he replied. “They already do.”
He hadn’t been lyingwhen he’d said it wasn’t far. After around ten minutes I smelled woodsmoke, then we came upon a village bisected by a dirt road. The outside of the buildings looked like tree bark, and the roofs were densely woven branches with large green leaves. Flowering vines grew up the bark, parting around clear glass windows and heavy wooden doors. The homes looked both grown from the earth, yet modern with the windows and doors.
“Most of our cities are made from stone.” Crispin stopped walking, observing the nearest structures. I could hear voicesfurther in the village, but no one seemed to be close to us. “But the older villages used the magic of the land to build themselves.”
“Build themselves?” I blinked, realizing what my eye had been snagging on before. There was no separation between the foundations of the homes and the earth. They literally had grown right from the ground.
“So cool,” I breathed.
Finally, Crispin smiled. “Let’s go. You need something to eat.”
“But we don’t have any money.”
He put a hand at the small of my back to start me walking. “We elves age slowly. Even if my mother is not here, surely there will be someone who knows who I am.”
“And likes you enough to feed us?” I joked.
He snorted. “Maybe not that, but when they hear a celestial has come to heal the pathway—”
“Half-celestial,” I corrected.
“We’ll keep that part to ourselves. We want to inspire confidence if we want tea with our meals.”
We walked further into the village toward the sound of voices. The first elf we saw was a woman hanging laundry in her yard. She didn’t seem to notice us, so we kept walking until we reached a tavern, judging by the mouthwatering smells wafting on the breeze.
We didn’t quite make it through the open double doors before an elderly elf walked out. He was shorter than most elves I’d met, and walked with a cane. Circular, wire-framed glasses made his brown eyes look 3 times larger, and they were currently blinking rapidly. At first I thought he might have recognized Crispin, but then I realized I was the one being balked at.
I probably should have considered that a human might stand out here. The closest thing any of them would have seen would be a celestial.
“Do you think they’re going to be mad at me?” I whispered. Avery might have grasped the situation quickly, but others might not be so forgiving of what my mother had done.
A few other elves came out of the restaurant to see what had happened, and they all soon comprehended what the elderly elf was staring at. At least he had finally regained his senses, and now stepped forward, putting space between himself and the others. “Who are you? Why have you come?”
Another elf shuffled out, a female I would guess was middle-aged, though middle age was a pretty wide span of years when it came to elves. Her brown dress was simple, and topped with a white apron. Her hair was blonde, and coiled into a painfully tight bun at the nape of her neck. Like the others, she did a double-take, but this time the surprise was for Crispin. Her eyes were the same spring sky blue as his. Could she be…
“I’ll take care of this,” she snapped, marching toward us.
The wizened elf stopped her with a hand on her arm. “She could very well be a celestial.”
The female elf stood straighter, and I noticed just a hint of silver glinting in her blonde hair. The rest of her though seemed young and agile, and like she might try to pummel us. “He’s my son, Allistair. Any business he has here will pass through me.”
