Page 79 of The Shadow Path
“She’s stuck.” Duncan began to dig around the rocks again. “It’s like her foot is encased in bedrock somehow.”
Carys heard the birds first. They flew in giant flocks, settling in trees and singing loudly, as if they had stories to tell. A few moments later, a pair of deer poked their head into the forest, and two fawns followed them.
The forest god saw them, and something about the ancient and stony face softened. He moved toward the footprint of the old mound where he’d been sleeping and sat down, his knees bent up and his long, branchy arms reaching out to welcome the birds that came to fly through his branches. He let out something that seemed like a sigh, and bright white flower petals filled the air, falling over the broken earth like snow.
Dru was still speaking, and the cadence of his words was nearly a song.
The fae is lulling him back to sleep,Cadell said.
Carys smiled. “And it’s working.”
“What?” Duncan asked.
“Whatever it is Dru is doing.” She rested her cheek on Duncan’s shoulder. “Look, he’s calmed down.”
As the forest god sat and rested, Cadell landed at a distance. He didn’t shift out of his dragon form, but he settled on the ground and curled his wings back.
Godrik, too, sat on his haunches, watching Dru as he spoke softly to the giant.
“Naida.” Dru reached out his hand.
Naida whispered, “Just stay still. I’ll help you in a moment.” She stepped forward and walked to the fae prince’s side. Without a word, she opened her mouth and began singing.
Carys didn’t recognize the song, but the forest came alive.
Ground churned up by violence smoothed and settled. The earth beneath her seemed to sigh, and the rocks that gripped her ankle released.
“Yes!” Duncan gently pulled her leg from the ground. “Thank God. Thank you, God.” He bent down and kissed Carys’s scraped knee. “Oh lass.” He wrapped a hand around her ankle and Carys winced. “Sorry,” he whispered.
Duncan pulled her into his lap and held her as Naida sang.
The new dips and mounds that the giant had pulled up didn’t smooth, but grass grew over them and moss covered the open wounds of trees and bushes marked by the footsteps of the forest god.
Birds and sprites flew over the forest giant as he settled and slumped on the ground, heaving a great sigh that had vines and moss crawling over his rocky shoulders like a green blanket.
Minutes passed, animals crept back into the forest, and Naida’s voice grew softer and softer.
The forest god closed his hollow black eyes and laid his body down, melting into the forest as the moss and grass grew over him and the trees stretched up toward the sky.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
After Naida had healed Carys’s twisted ankle and Godrik had sent his wolves home, Cadell flew them to two other fae gates. The first was on the edge of a wolf town, near a school, and while the abundant flowers growing across the meadow delighted the children, all the adults were worried.
The other was on an island where two rivers met, and the magic there felt dark and seductive. Carys understood immediately why Godrik was concerned about both. While none of them were resting places for ancient forest gods, Dru and Naida both confirmed that magic that should have been sleeping was very much awake.
That night they gathered in the library in Dafydd’s house. Carys’s ankle was still a little red, but the swelling was gone. She sat near the fire with her leg propped up on a small table as the rest of them shared a drink.
“So you see why we’re concerned.” Godrik sat near the fire, a bandage wrapped around one arm and a long slash across his jaw. “This is not common magic for our territories. And the one near the school is especially concerning.”
“But fae gates are everywhere.” Naida was drinking bright red wine. “Some are more active than others, but surely your people expect to feel their magic.”
“Not like that.” Godrik leaned forward and raised his bandaged arm. “Not like this.”
Carys said, “That wasn’t from a fae though. That was a forest god.”
Dru lifted a glass of whiskey. “True indeed, Carys Morgan.”
“Fine, but why did he suddenly decide to wake up?” Godrik asked. “Did I miss something? Did you do something to wake him, fae?”
