“I was hoping the ruby would be enough for at least a partial effect,” Radane said. “It wasn’t, which is why the two plants were able to capture me.”
That was a detail that Radane could have mentioned at any point between the bakery and the cottage.Fine. It’s fine. We can handle this.Kiela asked Larran, “Do you know where lightning has struck sand?”
He spread his hands. “I don’t know that there were any lightning strikes on Caltrey with the last storm. And I haven’t heard of any hitting the beaches recently. It happened once—the sand turned to glass. Looked like a sculpture. Someone may have kept a shard of it, but I don’t know who. If there were more time, we could ask around . . .”
“Help me check the garden for any snow flowers?” Caz asked Kiela.
“Can you research substitutes for lightning sand?” she asked Radane. She didn’t know if Radane knew how to properly research anything, but she had been a student so she should understand the basics. “At least make a start. I’ll be right back.”
Leaving Larran to the fake walls and Radane to the spellbooks, Kiela followed Caz out into the garden. Meep was there, tossing bits of bread to the chicken, and then dodging out of the way when the chicken tried to peck them instead.
“What is it?” Kiela asked Caz. He didn’t need her help to search for snow flowers. He knew far better than she did which plants were which.
“We need to talk Radane into another plan,” Caz said. “Even if we had all the ingredients, I don’t like the idea of trying a spell we’ve never done, especially with imperials in town. There’s too much that could go wrong. Instead of saving Radane, we could be turning their attention directly on all of us. It would be a lot better if we could use a spell we’ve tested.”
She agreed with that, but it wasn’t as if they had an enormous repertoire. Curing storm sickness wasn’t applicable, and the pine cone remedy wasn’t going to hide anyone. “Making trees healthy isn’t going to help, unless you want to pelt the imperials with fruit.”
“No, but this has an extremely low probability of working.”
He was right.
We need a Plan B. Or C. But what . . . ?
Kiela saw one of the small cloud bears flit from beneath the raspberry bushes and disappear in between the roots of the tree.Huh.She crossed to the garden and knelt next to the tree. She touched the mossy roots. “Tree guardian? Hello? Can I ask you a question?”
She didn’t expect it to reappear, and she leapt back when a cloud taller than she was formed into the loose shape of a massive bear.
“Oh. Hello. Thanks.” She licked her lips and told herself to sound calm. “Um, how do you stay hidden?”
“They’re basically made of clouds,” Caz said behind her. “I don’t think their technique is applicable to flesh-and-blood humans.”
Maybe. Maybe not. But all the folktales about so-called evil forest spirits . . . they centered around people who disappeared: men or women who wandered into the woods and didn’t return, kids who vanished when they strayed from home, an old woman who was lured from the safety of her garden. Their loved ones searched, but it was as if they’d disappeared. A few tales emphasized how hard the searchers tried to find them. The few who returned couldn’t explain where they’d been. How was that accomplished? Could it be done by a friendly forest spirit for a benevolent reason? Assuming they were friendly . . .They are,she thought. She believed that. “A friend of mine needs to hide. Can you help?”
Caz scooted closer to Kiela. “Are you sure this is wise?”
“It’s no more dangerous than using an untested spell with inaccurate ingredients,” Kiela whispered back. “Besides, we helped them. Perhaps they still feel some gratitude?”
“They already paid us,” Caz said. “Remember the piles of supplies?”
“I can make more remedies,” Kiela told the cloud bear. “I’ll do it anyway if I’m not hauled off by the imperials for harboring a fugitive. Please, is there a way to hide my friend?”
Right in front of Kiela and Caz, the massive cloud bear melted into the bark. Just . . . melted. It slid directly into the wood as if the tree were absorbing it. A second later, it slid out and waited, looking down at her with its fire eyes.
“You could hide her in a tree?” Kiela asked.
Could it be done? She’d never heard of it, but just because she hadn’t read about it yet didn’t mean it wasn’t possible. She wanted to ask if this was how it had been in the tales, to take notes on the process, and then search the texts, but for now . . .
Behind them, the cactus chirped, “Meep!”
“Meep will bring Radane,” Caz translated.
Neither Kiela nor Caz moved from their spot. They kept their eyes on the forest spirit. Could they trust a wild grizzly bear made of clouds?I followed them into the woods, and they didn’t harm me.Yes, the old folktales said they were amoral, dangerous, and unfriendly, but to her, they’d been friendly, and ifthiswas how they made people disappear, then this could be the exact solution they needed.
She heard Radane and Larran come outside.
“What is it? Are the soldiers here already?” Radane asked.
“This might sound like an unusual idea . . .” Kiela began.Possibly a terrible idea. Or a brilliant one.“Unusual” was a fair enough word.
