Alice blinked, surprised by the accusation. “What?! No! Of course not!” Then, just as quickly, her eyes narrowed. “How long have you been watching me?”
His expression didn’t change. “Since you fell from the sky. I saw the funnel of mist drop you into the forest.”
Alice flushed. “So you just stood there, spying on me? You didn’t bother to help me? Even when I called out?”
“Yes,” he replied unapologetically.
Alice opened her mouth to retort, then closed it again. “Did you… Did you see anyone else come through with me?” Her voice faltered, hope flickering like a fragile candle.
Elder Oak stirred, his branches creaking. “There were others?”
Alice nodded quickly. “We were together when the portal splintered. We were all thrown in different directions.”
Before the boy could answer, a low, ominous howl echoed through the forest, raising the hair on the back of Alice’s neck.
The boy stiffened. “Night howlers,” he murmured. “It’s going to rain soon, too. We’ll need shelter, Elder.”
Elder Oak nodded gravely. “Agreed. Alice, my name is Elder Oak. And this suspicious young man glaring at you is Geoff.”
Geoff gave her a curt nod. “And you?”
“Alice. Alice Ha’darra,” she replied, then reached out as he turned. “Wait—did you see anyone else? At all?”
Geoff hesitated, the fire in his eyes softening at the tremble in her voice. He shook his head.
“No. Just you.”
Disappointment washed through her. She dropped her arm and hugged herself tightly.
Geoff jumped onto the branches holding her and motioned to Elder Oak.
The magnificent tree’s bark groaned and shifted, and before Alice could ask what was happening, the center of the trunk began to open like a blooming flower. Geoff barely glanced at her before he jumped, disappearing into the dark cavity.
“What the—” she hissed, but before she could finish, Elder Oak’s arms dipped—and she slid down a smooth channel into the tree’s interior.
As she slipped into the tree’s heart, a faint hum vibrated through the interior. It reminded her of slipping beneath a warm, weighted blanket on a frigid night. Elder Oak’s voice echoed in her mind, gentle and grounding:
“You are not alone, little one. Geoff will care for you, and you are protected.”
She clutched those words to her chest like a talisman before a soft, startled cry slipped from her lips as she landed—in a pair of muscular arms.
A fiery blush swept over Alice’s cheeks when Geoff caught her with surprising ease, his hands firm at her waist. She gasped, eyes wide, the warmth of his touch tingling like a shock through her skin.
He didn’t let go right away. His fingers brushed the ends of her braid. Then, clearing his throat, he gently set her down. “We’ll be safe here for the night.”
Alice nodded, breathless.
The inside of the tree was surprisingly spacious. The walls shimmered with golden-green veins that pulsed gently, like heartbeats. She could see the swirl of energy in them—vivid, alive, and untouchable.
She tried to reach for it.
She closed her eyes, focused, visualized it wrapping around her fingers, shaping into something small and safe. Something familiar. Like her dad had shown her.
Nothing happened.
The threads slipped through her again—slippery, foreign, distant.
“I can’t grasp it,” she whispered.
