The Forgotten Wole by Jasper Alden & D.K. Holmberg

Author:Jasper Alden & D.K. Holmberg
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: ASH Publishing
Published: 2023-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

For the faintest moment, Talen thought he had actually woken. But moss covered the inside of the tent. Semi-sphere windows pockmarked the fabric walls. Wide stumps serving as stools, and one large one serving as a table, lined his room at the foot of his bedroll, which pressed up against one of the stumps, wedging against the rough, cracked bark.

Talen narrowed his eyes and zeroed in on the dryad. Meadowthistle stared at him, her milky white, blind eye glinting like moonlight. Her eye patch pointed up over her good eye, which was also riveted on him.

“You keep following me,” he said.

She smiled when he spoke, and a couple of chipmunks scurried across her shoulders, chasing each other around and around her neck.

She caught the chipmunks and gently lowered them, placing them somewhere in her dress like a mother sheltering her young. “You did well,” she said. “The village is safe. It was a close thing when that magician showed up. But they left and chased you. And the cultists are gone.”

“That was unfortunate.” Talen frowned. He reached up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Yes, unfortunate, for them—” the dryad grinned, showing her moss-covered teeth. “Anyway, like I said before, Mother respects her deals. I told you, in exchange for your help—”

“—you’ll tell us how to find the Lost City?” asked Talen, his eyebrows ratcheting up. He suddenly felt very awake.

“Yes. A deal is a deal. I have to hope that we’ll be doing more business with your family in the future.”

Talen gave a half shrug. He hesitated, expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

“You’ll find the Lost City if you follow my friends here.” She reached back into her dress and procured two midnight black chipmunks. She held the creatures up, close to her lips, and whispered something—it almost sounded like a song, soft and sweet. Talen found himself mesmerized for the faintest moment, but he shook his head, trying to clear his senses. The black-furred chipmunks scampered across the wooden table and hurried over to Talen’s feet; each of them climbed up onto one of his big toes and sat there, staring at him. Their fuzzy, bulging cheeks quivered with each of their snuffling breaths.

“I just follow them?” asked Talen. “Chipmunks are fast.”

“Yes, but these will make allowances for how slow you are. It’s always a funny thing, trying to see a mortal chase after one of my creatures.” Meadowthistle gave a good-natured chuckle and slapped her knee. “Anyway, they’ll lead you to your destination. Don’t try to keep them after that, though; they’ll get angry. And trust me, Giblet and Sniffle don’t behave well if they’re angered.”

Talen felt the ominous tone of her voice was perhaps a bit dramatic for two such small creatures, but when he glanced back down at the chipmunks, he decided not to comment. “All right,” he said. “We’ll follow them—as long as they take us where we need to go.” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You’re not trying to have a go at us, are you?”

Meadowthistle smiled.

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