Chapter Sixteen: Her eyes

~ Marie ~

Everything still looked the same to her. Adrian scanned the area before he turned to her. 

“What did you do?” Marie frowned.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? So you didn’t flash the medal around this time?” He glanced at her, giving her a knowing smile, before walking to the edge of the clearing. 

“No.” Marie led him through the general direction of where she’d gone. She couldn’t remember the exact way she had gone but she didn’t need to worry. Adrian stopped and knelt at a specific spot on the ground. She walked over to see what he was looking at. It was where she had thrown herself to the ground to avoid the icicles. 

“Is this where you ‘fell’?”

“Yes.” She didn’t like his tone but she wasn’t going to argue with him. He moved further into the forest stopping to examine the places where the icicles had embedded themselves in trees or where she’d dodged. Her blood might not be visible to her but it was a neon sign to him. 

“Why were you attacked?” Adrian walked straight as he scanned the area. “If you didn’t do anything beyond walking” —he gave her a sideways glance before continuing—” then maybe there’s something in this direction they didn’t want you to see.” The wind blew through the trees and he stopped suddenly. She would have walked into him if she hadn’t been paying attention. Adrian turned to the wind, his boy stiff. “I found it.” He started walking into the wind.

She followed him, taking care to avoid any exposed roots or low branches. Her effort didn’t stop her from tripping. Marie stood up and dusted her pants off as she walked towards Adrian. He’d stopped and waited for her to catch up before speaking. 

“You okay?” Marie cast a quick spell to create a ball of light to follow her. It wouldn’t make that much of a difference but maybe it would help her trip a little less.

“I’m fine.” 

“There isn't a spell that can give you night vision?” Marie shrugged. She never looked into it because she wasn’t interested in augmentation type spells. Even if they weren’t permanent, she didn’t want to use them. Adrian picked her up and started walking with her. She opened her mouth to tell him to put her down but he cut her off. “Isn’t it more important to see what I’m talking about?” She shut her mouth but she wasn’t happy about it. Marie scanned the area for magic but she didn’t sense anything. He finally stopped and put her down at the edge of a small clearing. A clearing filled to the brim with flowers.

This looked like a smaller version of what was at the house. Marie walked through the clearing, examining the flowers she passed. She knelt down. There were several jagged stems. It looked like someone had hacked at the flowers. There was even evidence of someone digging. The sorcerer probably rushed to pull up as much as they could before this was found. This was likely one of several places the sorcerer was using. Marie walked back to the edge of the small clearing. 

“I’m going to get rid of this.” But she still couldn’t leave these plants intact. The less the sorcerer had to work with, the better their chances would be tomorrow. Adrian nodded and joined her. She wrote out the spell, careful to adjust the strength. Didn’t need to start a forest fire. The fire hit the middle of the garden and spread out. It stopped right at the edge of the clearing. The fire burned for several minutes before she stopped the spell. All that remained of the garden was ash. A wolf howled in the distance as the wind blew through the trees. She shivered. The temperature was starting to drop. Marie crossed her arms. She just needed to ignore it until she adjusted. 

“Cold?”

“I’m fine.” 

“You can go back and get your jacket.” Marie shook her head. There was no point in going back now.

“It’s gone.”

“Gone?” His eyes narrowed as he waited for her to explain. Marie looked out at her surroundings. No magic signals. The sorcerer must not have cared what happened to this place after they’d taken what they needed.

“I had to get rid of it. The material had absorbed too much of the miasma.” It was a risk she’d been willing to take at the time but now she was regretting it a little. She tried to ignore the temperature but the wind blew again and the cold seeped into her bones. Her arms tightened but she held back a shiver.

“We should go back and come up with a plan for tomorrow.” Marie looked at Adrian with a frown.

“I’m fine. We don’t need to go back.” She would not go back just because she was cold. They had actually made progress. Marie searched the area with her senses. Where was it? She tried to pinpoint the location before it disappeared. 

“What is it?”

“Magic signal.” She was lifted into his arms before she finished speaking. 

[Where is it coming from?] Marie pointed in the direction he needed to go and he ran towards the signal. She turned off the light spell and reapplied the communication spell. Adrian was able to see where he was going and the light would only alert others of their presence.

[Wait.] Adrian obeyed and came to a stop on top of a boulder. She stretched her senses. There! Marie pointed to the right and he rushed forward without a word. Another magic signal went off. Adrian jumped back. Icicles came out of the dark and struck the area where they had been standing moments ago.

Another magic signal went off and a flurry of icicles came from the right. Adrian dodged to the left before he jumped back. 

[We need to head to the right, where that log is.] He gave her a quick nod before heading in that direction. More icicles came out at them but he was able to dodge and keep them on course. They were almost to the source when three magic signals went off at the same time. 

It wasn’t icicles but smoke. They got sprayed from three sides at the same time. 

Marie inhaled some of the smoke before she held her breath and covered her mouth. She didn’t recognize the smell. The only thing she knew for sure was that the smell was different from the poppies. 

Adrian jumped out of the way and stopped about thirty feet from the smoke. The gas was already fading away. It looked to be a quick spell meant to catch them off guard. Was it just a way to get them off the sorcerer’s trail? Marie searched the area again but couldn’t detect any other magic signals. 

Her throat felt strange. Ticklish and coated. She was taken over by a coughing fit. Marie vaguely felt him tighten his hold on her body as she coughed uncontrollably.

[Are you okay?] He asked as soon as she stopped coughing. She exhaled slowly expecting another fit but nothing happened. Her throat still felt weird but she didn’t feel like coughing anymore.

[Fine.] She looked up at him wondering why he wasn’t affected like she was. Adrian narrowed his eyes.

[Your eyes.] Marie looked away. Her only thoughts were about getting away from him. Then his words finally registered. 

Her eyes! 

The smoke had poison in it! She looked back at him and studied him closely. He didn’t look poisoned. He wasn’t coughing or breathing strangely. Marie frowned. She closed her eyes and sent her magic into him looking for any signs of abnormalities. There was only a faint trace of poison in his system. His body looked like it was already taking care of the problem but she wanted to be sure he would be fine. She sent a small bit of magic into him and healed him. Marie opened her eyes. She remembered her earlier problem and looked away. 

“Put me down.” Marie frowned. Her voice sounded scratchy.

[I’ve already seen your eyes. You don’t need to hide them.] She looked at him sideways but didn’t speak. Adrian looked back at the area the smoke had been before looking back at her. [What happened? You used magic on me.] 

[There was poison in the smoke. You inhaled a small amount so I used magic to take care of it.]

[And you?] She looked away again. Just because he’d seen her orange eyes didn’t mean that she would suddenly spill all her secrets.

[I have a resistance to poison.] Marie stared into the forest as she waited for him to say something. Several moments passed by in silence. Was he not going to say anything? The wind blew and she couldn’t stop the shiver that rolled down her spine. Adrian shifted his body so that he blocked the wind for her. Why wasn’t he letting her go?

[Can you take us to Leon’s house?] She glanced back at him but his face was expressionless, giving her no clue as to why he would ask that.

[Why?]

[I need to check something. It shouldn’t take too long with your teleport.] Marie closed her eyes and opened them inside Leon’s house. He put her down and went into the back room. She glanced around as she waited. What did he have to check? Would it be fine if she just left? No, that wouldn’t work. The blood link was still active so he could still find her. 

Marie took a seat when it became obvious that it would take a while. She could hear him moving things around in the kitchen. A sigh escaped as she leaned back. Why were her secrets being exposed in front of him? She frowned as she checked her body for any remaining poison but didn’t find any. Hopefully, her eyes were back to normal by now since she hadn’t inhaled that much poison. 

[Can you come back here?] 

She stood up and pushed the door to the kitchen open. Adrian gestured to a nearby chair as he turned and picked up two coffee mugs. There were two plates on the kitchen island. He placed a mug down next to her plate before he took a sip from his own cup. 

“I don’t need you to feed me.” Marie looked away as she spoke. She wasn’t sure if her eyes were back to normal yet and didn’t want to chance it. If this was all he wanted then she would prefer to go out there and continue searching. 

“I already know about your eyes just like you know about mine.” He didn’t look up as he spoke. “We should take a quick break to eat. We can always go back out and search some more later.” Marie frowned as she went over and picked up the mug. The warmth from the mug seeped into her hands. She took a sip and savored the taste. Maybe she liked this coffee after all. Marie took another sip as she glanced at him. Adrian continued to eat without looking at her.

Might as well eat too. Marie sat down and picked up her fork. On the plate was some kind of meat in brown sauce with carrots and potatoes. She took a bite and was surprised by how soft it was. 

“Good?” Marie nodded. “I used a slow cooker since I didn't know how long we’d be out.” He pointed to the appliance behind him sitting on the counter. The rest of the time was spent in silence as they finished off their meal. Adrian put up what was left while she cleaned the dishes. She was ready to get back out there when he leaned against the counter. “I wanted to ask you a question.” He still had two questions left. Would he use them now? Marie tensed. Would he ask about her eyes? “Why don’t they put the rest of the wolves under their control?”

“The amount of magic needed to put the rest under control is probably too much for the amount of magic they have.” The only way they could boost their magic is if they decide to make another medal or to try the Eximius potion. Of the two, the potion would be easier to make in the amount of time left. Making the medal would be too risky right now. Marie would be able to sense their location before they would even be done.

“Why would they continue to use magic on the animals then?” Since they were both mind control spells, he must have assumed they were more similar than they were. He probably thought that since the sorcerer was using a blood ritual with the werewolves that it just made the spell stronger. She put one hand up to her chin as she thought. How should she explain this? It would be better to show him but he didn’t understand script or how spells were made so that wouldn’t help. She would just need to explain it as best as possible.

“The spell used on the animals is different from the one put on the werewolves. Animal minds aren’t as complex so if given the right command you can leave them on their own. They won’t try to fight the mind control or think of ways to circumvent an order. The only problem with the spell is that there is nothing built in to inform the sorcerer about it being dispelled.” He nodded.

“Could they add to it?”

“They could but the sorcerer probably doesn’t care what happens to the animals. Since the werewolves are here, there’s a chance one of the deer they have under their control might get eaten. Not to mention, adding to the spell will make it cost more magic. Since they can always just get another animal, there’s no need to spend more magic on something expendable." 

“Why not use this spell on the werewolves? Why go to the trouble of using a blood ritual?”

“With the other spell, you would be able to tell that you’re under a spell.”

“You're saying that with the blood ritual, a person wouldn’t know?”

“With the blood ritual, they could give them an order to not remember anything or they could order that person to remember everything but be unable to say a word.”  Adrian frowned as he crossed his arms. “With the animal spell, just the thought of not wanting to follow orders breaks the spell. On a person, it acts more like hypnotism. If it’s an order you wouldn’t follow on your own then that spell can’t make you.”

“The other spell forces you to act even when you don’t want to.” They had discussed this before but only now did it seem to really sink in.

 “The blood ritual isn’t just a slightly stronger spell, it’s a fully upgraded spell. The spell does a great deal more but it also takes a greater amount of magic.”

“How do you know so much about this spell?” His eyes narrowed slightly.

“I don’t just have information on demons.” She crossed her arms. Marie knew he didn’t trust her but he didn’t need to assume she was going around controlling others.

“Were you able to find anything else?”

“No, they’re still being cautious.” Adrian frowned.

“Will they really show tomorrow?” 

“They could have left earlier with several wolves. Considering the Rite is tomorrow, I think they’re waiting to make their move.”

“Did you put a tracking spell on one of the wolves?” She shook her head.

“Wouldn’t work.” The sorcerer would be able to tell and either abandon the wolf or have the wolf lead them in an entirely different direction. He frowned before he stared at the wall behind her. 

“It’s getting late.” Marie glanced at her watch. It wasn’t that late. “You should rest up for tomorrow. The Rite is at nine, correct?” Marie nodded. “Then I’ll be there before eight.” She frowned but nodded. Marie stood up before she closed her eyes. She opened them inside the room and sat on the bed. Tomorrow the case would end, one way or another.