Page 24 of The Witch & the Grizzly

“If the fae realm awaits, we better make sure we expect it,” he said. “If we’re lucky, it might just be an effect of the abuse of magic and deals from the Unseelie in our patch of the world. If we’re unlucky… then at least we haven’t been stupid about it.”

Eva sighed, fishing out an almost empty vial. “I almost wanted to use this last night to heighten the whole experience,” she admitted with an embarrassed laugh. “But now, it might be better to use it. There’s just enough for two.”

She drank half of it and gave the rest to him. He downed it, feeling the potion work in about twenty seconds. Instantly, everything became more surreal and yet clearer. Scent, sight, hearing, touch, even taste. Everything had an extra edge, and as the stink of fae magic pounded his skull, all the prep felt justified. Eva had one of his old backpacks, which still came in handy in case something happened to his current one.

“Ready?” he asked quietly.

She nodded, clearly scared but knowing they didn’t have a choice. He took a few deep breaths, counting the seconds, before reaching for the handle and opening the door to the corridor, except there was no corridor. All he saw was green and blue. The door opened onto what looked like a clear blue fae glen, with scraggly trees and a river flowing over stones.

“Well, I don’t see any other way out,” he said, remembering how Morgryn claimed to have “stapled” a part of his realm to theirs. Nathan still felt it was a foolish thing to do precisely because he believed it risked something like this happening.

He stepped through the door, the powerful magic all around, and yet also oddly somber. Eva followed, seeming a little skittish; her eyes darted everywhere, which was understandable since this was her first time being fully in a fae realm.

“Keep alert and try not to talk loud or too much.” He led the way, allowing his senses to pick out dangerous spots in the realm. With the enhanced prowess of the Animal Sense potion, he found it easier to detect and avoid the danger spots, like a man-eating flower, a deceptive stable ground that masked tiny death slugs that would cause a slow, agonizing end for anyone who ended up with their slime on their bare skin.

They paused when a hollow, moaning noise drifted through the air, and the shadows of what looked like dark, glowing spirits shambled through the leaves.

“They’re the disturbed dead,” Eva said grimly as they watched. “This is what Z’Hana warned us about.”

They walked a little faster when one of the spirits paused, acting as if it had heard them. The landscape gradually shifted, becoming darker, more barren, more diseased, like that patch they’d seen when they drove to the picnic spot. Petrified trees and shriveled black leaves were scattered over the ground, along with more than a few desiccated insect corpses.

It all reeked of ruin.

“How sad,” Eva whispered. “If this is the effect of the deals being made, why do they keep doing it? Surely, they should know when to stop.”

“Don’t underestimate greed and selfishness,” Nathan said grimly. “The deals bring them wealth and status, things to boast about. Some prefer to live only to indulge their whims and live the best lives they can, leaving the mess to others. Some probably think it isn’t that bad. Others may realize and just not care.”

Either way, Morgryn couldn’t work fast enough to get the situation under control. Nathan wondered if his method might be too little, too late.

The barren landscape continued, desolate and unwelcoming, but when they had the ocean on one side, they did finally spot something smudgy rising out of a distant patch of green – a part of the woodlands that hadn’t yet been poisoned and made lifeless.

“Was it like this for you when you went into the fae realms?” Eva asked, leaning close to him, her tone and expression somber. “Was it this bad before?”

“No,” he said. “The areas I was sent to – all of them seemed intact and untainted. None of them was suffering. Perhaps that is why gathering allies has been so tough. If they can’t see it, why should they believe it?”

Their boots crunched as they crushed shells, leaves, and the ashen bark of trees underfoot. The magic was lacking here – there was nothing vibrant like in the fae realm, just this odd black hole in the middle of what should be a realm brimming with magic. But the magic was gone. Nathan always assumed the poisoning was more likely to happen in the human world rather than the fae world, and perhaps that’s why the fae didn’t react with as much alarm as they should have. But no. It happened here, too. Perhaps the parts that leaked into their world were at the cost of this one.

They made it to the next section of woodland at last, and it greeted them with the waft of fae magic. The looming thing in the distance looked more and more like some gigantic castle, although it didn’t appear to be made out of stone or traditional masonry. Instead, as they waded through the woodland and the trees thinned, they saw a vast, viny, interlocking mass of structure. He paused, a sinking suspicion dwelling within.

“I think… this is the Unseelie Court building,” he said. “It’s where they meet. It’s too vast for one or even a few people, so it must be here to accommodate large gatherings.”

“Gatherings…” Eva’s eyes went wide, and she clung to Nathan, taking solace in his presence. “Should we go in another direction? Or… is it worth even us going there?”

“Well,” Nathan said. “The fact that the corrupted patch is nearby should be advantageous for them. We don’t know how heavily guarded it is, but it might be worth trying to approach.” He winced. “More for me than for you, however. I smell like fae, so it will cause some hesitation and questions. But for you – they’re not going to get that same sense from you, so you’ll be in danger.”

As they talked, his senses pinged urgently, and he stopped in mid-discussion. “I think we should fall back. Something doesn’t feel right about –”

A horn blared, loud and mournful and disconcerting. They heard the faint sound of thunder. They looked at each other in a panic.

“The hunt,” he said. “Oh, I’ve been foolish.” They made a run for it, tearing through the trees with the thunder intensifying. Something howled, and a huge, enormous, furry something blocked their path.

With a screaming growl, Nathan surged forward, letting his bear take over. Gray fur exploded all over his body, and he transformed, shifting into a four-limbed creature that charged at the furry thing with sharp teeth and huge glowing yellow eyes in their path. With a bellowing roar, he slammed into the creature, which seemed vastly unprepared for a gigantic mass of bear to hit it, and it went sprawling, legs upended, smacking into a tree.

Another one of the creatures lunged from undercover at him, and he swiped, rearing up to add more power to the swing, sending it flying like a sack of laundry. Too late, though. More of them swarmed. Where was Eva? His eyes settled on her, backing away from another one of the furred, wolf-beaver-like creatures. With a desperate groan, he hurtled toward the animal, which turned to face him, eyes even wider in shock, before turning tail and darting off – except it was hard to outrun a charging bear with momentum on the attack. The Animal Sense potion had an odd effect on his bear form – it felt stronger, somehow, more powerful than what he was used to.

The creature yelped as he swiped at its hind legs, tumbled awkwardly, and skidded along. He reared up, ready to finish it off, but the movement distracted his focus.

“Do not attack,” came a low, unimpressed voice. A fae being stepped out of the woods, a bow and arrow trained on Nathan. Others emerged, some on horses, others on foot, and almost all of them pointed weapons at him. More of the creatures flanked the horses but were restrained in their growls. “We sense you are fae. Shift back so we see who we’re arresting.”

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