Flash Fiction # 346 -- Connor of Northgate/30

Chapter Eight

The others were more used to traveling in the woods than Connor who hadn't been cognizant of the first few days.  He found his nerves frayed by every odd sound. The others appeared to be more resigned to the state of their lives, and Connor did his best to copy their attitudes -- and not to snarl in disgust at dirt and snarled hair.

They made good time pushing through the brush and following along the edges of streams while creatures watched from the woods.  Somewhere dangerous enough that they chose a different path for a few hours.  As long as the fae did nothing to provoke trouble, neither did the woodland creatures.

And so a pair of nesting griffins let them pass with barely a snarl, and a unicorn looked askance at them, a single bright eye blinking in the cover of leaves, and the tip of his horn glittering with magic.  They all gave him a cautious bow, and he snorted once but didn't move.

The fairies helped.  They traveled along with the group, and Antisha thought they might have sent word ahead that the refugees were not trouble. 

Connor felt better again as sunset neared. The others said they were not far from the grasslands, though that was no place of safety.  It was a destination, though. After eight days in the woods, they were finally going to reach somewhere. The sight of the woods had started to feel claustrophobic to Connor, and the fear that he -- not the others -- would trespass where he shouldn't plagued him when he should be resting.

Trouble came at sunset on the eighth day.  Connor hadn't heard the sounds of the fairies, but they arrived in a rush, the call of frantic voices startling him.  One, he saw, was carried by others, one wing mangled and the other gone.

"What happened?" Connor reached out with his hands and hey deposited the injured fairy into his palms.  Connor made no sharp movements.

Antisha listened to the battle of voices and shook her head with a little dismay.  "I think it must be Galen or Ordin.  The fairy's don't see people the way we do; it's all scent and colors to them. I can't think of anyone else who would have done such a thing to fairies, demanding news about us."

"How far away?" Erlis asked.

"Half a day back.  There are several more of them than there are of us, and better supplied."  She frowned and looked to the south and home, but shook her head.  "We wouldn't have made it that far anyway."

The fairies swarmed up into the air again and began to dart one way or another in frantic haste.  The one Connor held lifted his head and then dropped back down, clearly too exhausted and weak even to be carried.

"Shall I keep him?  I can put him in my pocket for now."

"Yes, good," Anthisa said and talked to the fairies again.  They gave shouts, loud noises for them, and then headed into the woods at a slight angle to where they were going.

"We better keep moving.  The fairies were right -- they dare not stay anywhere too long for fear it will attention.  They're heading to a spot near the grasslands where an old ogre lives in a cave.  If they can lead Galen there, he's going to have his hands full for a while."

"Brave little creatures," Erlis said with a smile.  He tore off some cloth from his tunic and helped make a bed for the fairy in the front pocket of Conner's vest.  The fairy settled in, looking over the edge as they moved on, and seemed content enough.  "It will take a while, but his wings will grow back.  I think we're going to have to keep going through the night.  You up to it, Connor?"

"I'll go for as long as I can. If I can't keep up, take our friend here and keep moving."

"We will not --"

"Yes, you will.  He can't find me.  Come back later if you have to, but the rest of you have to stay far enough ahead that he can't sense you.  That's the problem, isn't it?"

Antisha sighed.  "Yes, it is.  We'll see what happens.  We aren't slowing yet."

Connor didn't argue.  He didn't want to be left behind because some of the creatures of the woods only tolerated him while he was in the company of the fae. He didn't say so, but his friends were not stupid.  They'd have thought of it, too.

They rested for only a few moments during the long night.  A lone fairy came to tell them the others had followed the false path, but it wouldn't hold them for long, and their anger might well give them strength.

Connor and his friends had to reach the grasslands, though they wouldn't be safe out in the open.  At least, though, they would have a chance to see what was coming, and they could make better time, which might help.

They were all exhausted. Connor wasn't the only one stumbling at every step.  The sounds grew louder around them, and he feared something was coming --

It was.  Sunrise turned grays to greens and a gold ahead of them that made him blink and think the sun was very bright --

The trees had begun to thin. The gold was the grasslands in the distance, beyond a range of scrub brush.  Connor stared in silence, still moving forward.  No one else said anything either, until they came to a stumbling stop near the edge of the taller trees, the vista still broken by young growth trying to take the edge of the grasslands.

"Here," Antisha said.  She stared ahead and then shook her head.  "We made it here.  Now?"

She appeared almost too shocked to do anything more. 

"Keep to the edge until we find a trail," Druce said and started out heading southward along the line of trees.