I never could have imagined the course of events that followed, brushing aside the tense stand off that was developing as our remaining opponents waited until the instructors arrived. Sahra was prepared for a fight, I was trying to think of a way to avoid one, but both of us were left staring in disbelief, as the forest itself seemed to come alive. The relative silence that had fallen on the forest, after the fighting had halted, was broken by a terrified scream.
One of students had followed our gazes to look at what was behind them, but it was already too late. He was collapsed upon by a roiling mass of rotting plant matter that was seething with insects, moss and twigs, with a terrible crashing sound. In quick succession the students and instructors alike, who'd all had their attention on us, were swallowed by a wave rising from the forest floor, that brought with it the unmistakable chill of autumn into a forest that did not seem to know seasons.
The bleached and dark colors filling my sight had none of the vibrancy of fallen leaves though, much less of the brighter parts of the Faewood. It was the heavy and cloudy darkness that preceded winter snow, drowning out the glow of the dusk. Yet there was just enough of the pale light of the moon to cast shadows upon the approaching terror. It was as if the change was brought on by the onset of the night – or was it the other way around? I somehow had the presence of mind to wonder if we'd been in the Faewood long enough for day to pass into night.
Only one person was able to act in that chaotic moment. The instructor who had seemed to lead the group in their attack on the rift dashed with surprising speed towards where Lucan still lay unconscious. The dark mass nipped at his heels as he ran, and loomed over him as he crouched down, but then recoiled back as he swung the iron spear, that Lucan had dropped, behind himself in a wide arc. The dull surface of the metal barely caught the light of the moon, but whatever was after him did seem to fear the weapon, and with the time he had bought he was able to grab Lucan under one arm and dash off into the forest, quickly getting out of sight.
Sahra had started a chant to create another spell, as the dark mass loomed in front of us, though I doubted whether she'd succeed when her voice was so shaken by shock and fear. But instead of approaching us, the wave suddenly began to contract and visibly sink back into the ground. One by one the people that had been swallowed re-emerged, collapsing on the ground as they were released. Seemingly folding in upon itself several times over, the mass eventually took on a more defined form, shaping itself into limbs, a head and a body, until it was reduced into the size and shape of a human. It wasn't one of the people that we had seen get swallowed, and it remained standing, facing us.
In a moment of recognition I finally managed to shake off my frozen state of shock and hurry to stop Sahra, grabbing one of her arms before she could continue the spell. As the web of mana that had run through and animated the entire forest floor folded in on itself it became familiar, as there was only one creature that I had seen with such a flow of mana. Before us stood the fae Nerna, once again contained in a form that did not seem to suit it.
I wasn't sure if what I'd seen was fae magic. Mana certainly seemed to have played a part in what had happened, but it certainly wasn't something that could be called a spell. It seemed that, rather than making any conscious use of mana, Nerna had simply momentarily shown its true nature, whereas in its humanoid shape the creature appeared to be simply forcefully crushing both its physical form and mana into a smaller shape.
More so than even Satin's effortless control over the plants of the forest, Nerna seemed to show just how alien the fae and their world were. The forest that had been left behind after its onslaught appeared, if not entirely unchanged, like nothing had happened, the earth and the vegetation seeming undisturbed. The huge tide of terror seemed to have swept over everything without causing any damage to the forest itself, and the glow of the moon seemed to light the forest better than it had just moments ago.
"It seems that you don't listen well to warnings."
Somehow, the possible presence of the fae had slipped my mind when I rushed into the Faewood, but certainly I could recall its warning from the previous day, vague as it had been. I wished its inhuman had voice showed any sort of tone, from which to discern whether it was trying to threaten me, or simply making an observation. Based on what I'd just seen, the unsettling grinding sound of its voice might have been created by just earth and stone in motion, explaining its lacking range of expression. Despite my anxiety, I tried to sound assured when I responded, as the fae seemed to be looking at me directly.
"I believe the duties of my family obligate me to ensure that others don't wander where they shouldn't. Will I be able to bring them back with me?"
I gestured towards the people collapsed around Nerna, trying to gauge its intention towards them. They appeared utterly motionless and pale, though the latter might have been due to the light of the moon, so I briefly feared them to be dead. But they did appear to still live, though they were clearly unconscious, since they still had a flow of mana, if an alarmingly erratic one. The disappearance of some students appeared to be true, even if they intentions had been nefarious, so I couldn't help but be concerned about what the fae intended.
"If you want to claim jurisdiction, surely you should be able to handle these matters without the need for my involvement."
The fae's rebuke came out as a matter of fact statement, and it didn't seem to take my attempt to assert authority very seriously. I could hardly refute the truth in its words, but it was nonetheless a matter on which I felt the need to stand my ground on. All the same, an ominous chill, that still lingered from the fae's earlier appearance, reminded me of the danger that the creature posed. As I tried to find a way to insist without angering it, I noticed a small shape flutter past me. Chiffon, who had been hiding behind my skirt since Nerna's arrival, drew all our eyes as she flew to a nearby tree. But she wasn't the one that spoke next.
"Don't be too harsh now, dark one. I might bear a grudge if you end up scaring off visitors from my town."
Satin's voice carried into the depths of the forest just as easily as it had in the clearing where we'd met her earlier. It wasn't possible to tell a direction, but I might not have imagined it when the trees seemed to rustle in the wind to the rhythm of her voice. I didn't know if Satin had been able to follow what had happened through the trees and plants of the forest, or if maybe Chiffon, or some of the creatures of the forest, had been reporting to her. She might have been watching over us all the time that we were in the forest.
In any case, I could only be happy that the dryad seemed to be really be rather friendly towards humans. She spoke with the same regal calm as she'd talked to us earlier, addressing Nerna as if the other fae wasn't any different from a couple of lost humans in her eyes. Her words might have implied a threat, but her delivery suggested a simple promise. It was impossible to tell what the other fae made of her words, but the words it spoke after momentary consideration came as a relief to me.
"I won't trample on your domain. But if you insist on being so nosy, do make sure to watch if the two that escaped cross your roots. I suppose others from the sentinel's family will pick up these ones eventually."
"You are talking about the Tannels?"
"Yes. The head of your family is dealing with the primary attack now. You may follow me there, if you wish. She thought you may wish to meet her."
I had jumped on the word sentinel, thinking that it might have referred to Mary in such a context. As wary as I was of the creature, I wanted to know if the fae could knew something of what Mary's descendants were doing about the attack. The answer was far more than I expected. Naturally, I didn't need to even consider the matter, though I had to wonder how Mary could have known that I wanted to see her.
"Yes, I'll come! Sahra, could you stay to watch over these people for now?"
"Hold on, Mela, you want to go with him? Alone?"
"I need to go. And I don't want to leave all of these people here alone when they are unconscious. Please."
Throwing caution to the wind, I knew I was not acting myself, but I had finally been offered a chance to meet Mary, and I could not let it go. And, whilst it was true that I was concerned about leaving people vulnerable in the middle of the Faewood, I also had the thought that the less ears there were around when I met Mary, the easier it would be for me to talk with her. As for whether I could trust the words of the fae, I had no idea, but I simply hoped that Satin's word weighed as much as it seemed, as I did not think that we had any realistic chance to stop Nerna if he actually meant us harm.
