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They packed quickly and soon the room that was starting to feel like a home was empty. Like all traces of the memories from the last week had been removed. Claire paused in the doorway and committed the room to memory. The gnarled bark of the walls and ceilings. The muted colors of the bedding. Moments of incredible joy and incredible sadness existed in this room. Stolen moments with her Triad. Reading her mother’s words for the first time. Moments of confusion and moments of clarity as they puzzled the journals together and studied Claire’s heritage. It had only been a week but it felt like a lifetime. Hopefully, one day Claire would be back to make more memories.
She followed her Triad down the stairs. This was one thing she didn’t think she was going to miss, the endless number of stairs in the Capital. Puck had leapt from his little alcove above their door onto her shoulder for a brief morning snuggle. Now he floated from level to level in front of them.
Toan met them at the bottom of the stairs along with six Elven warriors, Synora and Aeris among them.
“You’re not coming with us?” Claire noted the lack of a pack at Toan’s feet.
“Unfortunately not. I need to stay near the Capital especially after yesterday’s attack.”
Claire frowned but understood. It was the right thing to do but she had just thought she would have more time with her uncle. More time to learn from him. More time to enjoy what might be the only family she had left, no matter how distantly related they were.
“We will see each other again,” Toan promised, reading her thoughts. “Synora and the others are going to stay near the gate after you go through in case you need them right away.”
Desmond nodded. “Thank you. I actually made a map of the Realm the other day. I’m sure you have a map but in case anything has changed since your borders have closed. I marked out the key portal locations and where they take you. Although if you have to come through, head straight to the Academy and the Headmaster has a portal outside his office that is keyed to just about all of them.”
He pulled a map out of his spelled bag which also held Winona’s journals safely inside. Toan studied the map for a moment before handing it to Aeris. Aeris committed it to memory before passing it to the other Elven warriors. After each warrior had memorized it, Toan took the map and rolled it up, tucking it inside his shirt close to his chest.
“When you call, we will answer,” Toan promised again, looking at Claire.
Claire threw her arms around her uncle. The action startled him for a moment but he wrapped his arms around her and returned her tight hug. It was going to be fine, Claire told herself, trying not to let the dread of leaving overwhelm her. She would see him again.
Conscious of the eyes on them, Claire let Toan go, determined not to let any tears fall.
Desmond touched Claire’s back gently. “Before we go, try to communicate with Helene’s tree and let them know we are returning.”
Claire nodded and dropped to one knee. While she could probably do this magic now without touching the ground, there was the familiar sensation of grounding herself she got when she buried her fingers in the earth. She sent magic out into the Energy of the Forest, hunting for Helene’s specific signature.
Since she had connected to the Forest, she was inundated with Energy but she sorted through the different signatures, casting her magic farther and farther out until she found Helene’s tree. She didn’t know how to send an image of time. It would be a two day hike to the portal. She tried to send three images instead. One in the daylight, one in the evening, and another in the daylight to signify it would take two days to reach them. Once she thought the images had gone through, she recalled her magic, stifling a groan when it rebounded quickly, slamming into her center. That was different.
She stood with a soft wince that had Everett frowning. “It’s done.”
“Let’s get moving,” Aeris said. “We have a lot of ground to cover.”
With one last smile at Toan, Claire turned and followed the Elven warrior. Everett reached down and took her hand, giving it a soft squeeze as if he could still feel the pain in Claire’s chest at leaving. She gave his hand a squeeze back, grateful for his solid warmth down the bond.
When they reached the ward of the Capital, Claire let go of Everett’s hand as they retraced the steps from that first day. The shimmer of the magic tugged at Claire. Some of her magic leaked out and wiggled its way into the wards, causing them to shimmer brighter for a moment before settling.
The Elven warriors paused and looked at her. “What is it?” Claire asked. Hopefully nothing bad as she seemed to have less and less control over her magic every day.
“You strengthened the wards,” Synora said.
“Is that a bad thing?” Claire was confused.
“No, it just hasn’t been done since the former Princess…” Aeris trailed off. Since her mother had done them.
“You can feel them?” Desmond asked, trying to distract Claire from the almost mention of her mother. As much as she appreciated it, she wasn’t going to break if someone mentioned her mother’s name. Although given her state after seeing her mother’s death through the trees’ memories, she didn’t necessarily blame him.
Synora nodded. “They’re tied to the Forest and so are we. It feels good. Like Claire’s coronation ceremony yesterday. We all felt the boost when she connected to the Royal Tree.” That made Claire feel better knowing each Elf had gotten a boost that would hopefully protect them.
Aeris seemed to shake off his shock and gathered them again. “Let’s get moving.”
They hiked for the first day in silence. The Elves and her men seemed to be extra vigilant, constantly scanning the surrounding Forest for any signs of the dark magic user or rogues Feluas.
That night, the camp was tense and Claire resigned herself to another night of fitful sleep. By the following day though, Claire had enough of the silence. If someone was going to attack them, they had no control over that. She would deal with it if it happened. That’s all any of them could do.
She moved closer to Synora as they trekked through the Forest. “Do you come this way often?” Claire almost winced at the lame opener but she was genuinely curious if the patrols came out towards the Academy’s portal.
“Not often no,” Synora’s small smile playing on her lips felt like she was humoring Claire but Claire would take it if it meant breaking the silence. “After the Great War, we focused our patrols close to the Capital. It’s only been in the last five years that we’ve had enough bodies to expand the patrols further out. But the Forest takes care of itself.”
