In the next breath, everything felt odd. Really odd in a way I had never experienced before. I saw Sylph look startled and then hurriedly try to back away -- but we had nowhere to go.
"Not safe," I said. I could barely force the words out.
Sylph nodded and then did something I hadn't expected. She held out her arm toward me; I looked startled and worried, so she simply pulled me close to her chest. I felt the brush of bark, there, and gone again.
"Hold on. No matter what, hold on, fae."
I nodded, though I didn't know what --
Sylph moved straight upward through rock in a surge of blue and green magic. It hurt as if the stone pressed in on me, smashed me into her unyielding body, which had become as hard as oak. I couldn't breathe, and when I tried to move, she held m tighter --
I became aware of a different surge of magic below us. That felt hot, powerful, deadly. I turned as much of my focus on it as I could and tried to catch some aspect of it that would help us later. That had been the enemy. I would need to know more about this creature that unsettled even fae.
If I survived. My sight was starting to go black, and my ears felt ready to explode. I didn't know how long --
And then we were free of the pressure. Dirt exploded out around us, and we were in some green area, hardly more than a plot of weeds between buildings -- but I could breathe again.
Sylph let go, and I dropped to the ground and barely kept from falling onto my back and probably bashing my head open on the wall beside me. I gasped and gasped some more. My ribs felt bruised but not broken.
I looked up, blinking at Sylph. The journey had not bothered her at all, but then she was a creature of the land, far closer to the soil with her tree roots than me.
"I saw no other way," she said, which sounded oddly like an apology. Sylph's do not apologize very often.
"I am grateful," I said, coughed, and put a hand to the back of my neck. "Grateful to survive. Whatever that was, it already had me half in thrall, and that is no easy job."
Sylph nodded agreement, but she looked distracted and perhaps even upset. I knew better than to bother her, and besides, it gave me a moment or two to get my wits back -- at least if whatever had been down there in the tunnels didn't come straight up after us.
I tried to call back to feel of that creature's power to try to get a clue of what we faced. Unfortunately, all I could remember was how confused I'd felt. Lethargic, too, now that I thought about it. Such an attack would typically have won a surge of fear, but even though I had known there was danger, I had not felt a need to escape.
Sylph had, though. I wasn't sure if she'd experienced the same thing as me and could still move against it, or if the magic had not quite struck her the same way.
I looked over to where she stood. Sylph leaned against the wall of the nearer building, her back to it, and her eyes shifting around the area as if she expected the enemy to pop up at any moment.
I suppose I felt the same way. It didn't help me think any clearer. I forced myself to stand with my back to the wall opposite here. There was so little room that we could have kicked each other.
"Now?" I asked softly.
"Away from here," Sylph said. She looked at me and nodded. "Northward to the free trees. I will go there and draw notice. You follow. I think whatever found us below does not realize you are here. Move carefully."
"Free Trees?" I repeated, still uncertain about any of this.
"Here." She gently tapped a finger to my forehead. I knew the destination as though I had stood there in the forest, a perfect image.
I nodded, blinked -- and she was gone in a whirl of dry dust and dead leaves. Magic trailed after her, a sinuous trail of power that I thought she must have done on purpose. That put Sylph in danger. I decided that I had better follow quickly --
Magic moved under my feet. It was not the tingling dance of the pixies this time. The feel of it was dark and painful. I went back to my knees and couldn't even breathe --
That might have saved me. Whatever was in the ground below, it didn't seem to sense me.
I walked away, moved over high walls with as little magic as possible, and worked my way out into the crowded streets. I did not feel safer for being out among the humans, either. There was a sense of foreboding in the air that even the magic-less people around me seemed to have sensed. Or perhaps they caught that feeling from me.
I noticed a lot of them were avoiding the subway in favor of a brisk afternoon walk, and that despite the cold wind in off the bay. I expected snow before the next dawn, and I'm rarely wrong.
I had been heading north and not just in a random direction. Sylph had given me a key to where she went, and I knew I would soon have to follow, and a lot faster than going on foot. I even considered a car, though I had never gotten used to driving. It did tend to be less noticeable sometimes, though. I did not want notice -- not from humans and not from whatever else lurked in the city right now.
Should I contact my own people? No. Instead, I found a dark corner, pulled in my magic, and moved with the wind.
"Not safe," I said. I could barely force the words out.
Sylph nodded and then did something I hadn't expected. She held out her arm toward me; I looked startled and worried, so she simply pulled me close to her chest. I felt the brush of bark, there, and gone again.
"Hold on. No matter what, hold on, fae."
I nodded, though I didn't know what --
Sylph moved straight upward through rock in a surge of blue and green magic. It hurt as if the stone pressed in on me, smashed me into her unyielding body, which had become as hard as oak. I couldn't breathe, and when I tried to move, she held m tighter --
I became aware of a different surge of magic below us. That felt hot, powerful, deadly. I turned as much of my focus on it as I could and tried to catch some aspect of it that would help us later. That had been the enemy. I would need to know more about this creature that unsettled even fae.
If I survived. My sight was starting to go black, and my ears felt ready to explode. I didn't know how long --
And then we were free of the pressure. Dirt exploded out around us, and we were in some green area, hardly more than a plot of weeds between buildings -- but I could breathe again.
Sylph let go, and I dropped to the ground and barely kept from falling onto my back and probably bashing my head open on the wall beside me. I gasped and gasped some more. My ribs felt bruised but not broken.
I looked up, blinking at Sylph. The journey had not bothered her at all, but then she was a creature of the land, far closer to the soil with her tree roots than me.
"I saw no other way," she said, which sounded oddly like an apology. Sylph's do not apologize very often.
"I am grateful," I said, coughed, and put a hand to the back of my neck. "Grateful to survive. Whatever that was, it already had me half in thrall, and that is no easy job."
Sylph nodded agreement, but she looked distracted and perhaps even upset. I knew better than to bother her, and besides, it gave me a moment or two to get my wits back -- at least if whatever had been down there in the tunnels didn't come straight up after us.
I tried to call back to feel of that creature's power to try to get a clue of what we faced. Unfortunately, all I could remember was how confused I'd felt. Lethargic, too, now that I thought about it. Such an attack would typically have won a surge of fear, but even though I had known there was danger, I had not felt a need to escape.
Sylph had, though. I wasn't sure if she'd experienced the same thing as me and could still move against it, or if the magic had not quite struck her the same way.
I looked over to where she stood. Sylph leaned against the wall of the nearer building, her back to it, and her eyes shifting around the area as if she expected the enemy to pop up at any moment.
I suppose I felt the same way. It didn't help me think any clearer. I forced myself to stand with my back to the wall opposite here. There was so little room that we could have kicked each other.
"Now?" I asked softly.
"Away from here," Sylph said. She looked at me and nodded. "Northward to the free trees. I will go there and draw notice. You follow. I think whatever found us below does not realize you are here. Move carefully."
"Free Trees?" I repeated, still uncertain about any of this.
"Here." She gently tapped a finger to my forehead. I knew the destination as though I had stood there in the forest, a perfect image.
I nodded, blinked -- and she was gone in a whirl of dry dust and dead leaves. Magic trailed after her, a sinuous trail of power that I thought she must have done on purpose. That put Sylph in danger. I decided that I had better follow quickly --
Magic moved under my feet. It was not the tingling dance of the pixies this time. The feel of it was dark and painful. I went back to my knees and couldn't even breathe --
That might have saved me. Whatever was in the ground below, it didn't seem to sense me.
I walked away, moved over high walls with as little magic as possible, and worked my way out into the crowded streets. I did not feel safer for being out among the humans, either. There was a sense of foreboding in the air that even the magic-less people around me seemed to have sensed. Or perhaps they caught that feeling from me.
I noticed a lot of them were avoiding the subway in favor of a brisk afternoon walk, and that despite the cold wind in off the bay. I expected snow before the next dawn, and I'm rarely wrong.
I had been heading north and not just in a random direction. Sylph had given me a key to where she went, and I knew I would soon have to follow, and a lot faster than going on foot. I even considered a car, though I had never gotten used to driving. It did tend to be less noticeable sometimes, though. I did not want notice -- not from humans and not from whatever else lurked in the city right now.
Should I contact my own people? No. Instead, I found a dark corner, pulled in my magic, and moved with the wind.
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