Page 15 of Wandering Witch

Huh, I guess that’s one way to travel and save on expenses. I mused as I floated behind Fare and tried to help her mount. Trust this to be the hard limit of what I can do in regards to interacting with them.

At least she could get onto Locke’s back without my help, and even more importantly, neither of them seemed to notice my failure in regards to helping her. And since they didn’t comment, there was no reason I had to bring attention to that. So I moved in front of Locke and made a gesture that he was to follow me.

I only looked back a couple of times to make sure they were following me before I felt sure they trusted me enough for this task. There were only a couple of times that I accidentally erred in my guide duties.

The first time, I moved without thinking and when the first thick tree came into our path, I merely passed through it. Locke was more focused on making sure he kept me in sight and trotted face-first into the tree. When I heard the thunk and growl, I whipped around and would have flushed if I still had blood in my veins. I apologized profusely, I might add, as I made sure from there onwards that I wove around the trees.

The other time was not my fault. I will swear on that to this day.

We were nearing the edges of my territory and a stray group of hikers nearly stumbled upon our band. I didn’t even think. I flew back and slammed as much of my energy into Locke as I could and barely managed to get him far enough away from the trail that the humans passed by without seeing so much as a single grolar hair.

Despite my attempts to help, I got the feeling that the small amount of respect I had gotten from the shifter last night was drying up fast.

A couple of hours later, we made it to the farthest north that I’d ever been from the center of my once colonial home.

I swallowed hard and waved a hand before me to indicate that they should continue on.

“This is where we must part,” I stated with a heavy heart as I looked over the waves rolling in from the ocean.

I heard Fare asking Locke to let her down before she strode up beside me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at her.

“You know, when I was alive, there was not much that I loved more than being in the water. When I finally came to terms with being a ghost, the first thing I did was return to the waves.” I laughed sadly at the memory. “There are not enough words ever penned to describe the pain I felt when I realized I could no longer feel the weight of the water. I could still smell the salt in the air and feel the wind that carried it, but even the rain would pass through me.” She moved out of the corner of my eye and I felt the subtle pressure of her hand on my back.

Strange, when I was the one to initiate touch between us, it was like I was flesh once more. But when she did, it was more like the memory of sensation.

“I’m sorry fate was so cruel to you. Maybe if I ever break my curse I’ll come back and build a little cabin in your woods?” she whispered.

My heart broke. She wasn’t sure about anything but her pity for me. If only I could stay by her side and remind her that there would always be tomorrow.

Locke

Iwatched the pair share a whispered conversation as I lowered myself into the sands on the beach. I would be lying if I said I was happy to leave the spirit behind.

He brought out a side of Fare that I couldn’t, yet I didn’t find myself jealous for it. He was just playful, whereas I was the guardian. I wondered if it would be possible to change the source of his tether.

One of the things we had talked about last night was how he became trapped. Ghosts were bound to where they died or a place that held significant meaning to them in life. Since he was a vagabond before crossing the great ocean and had barely begun to live here, he was trapped to his death spot. A bonus he had noticed was that he was bound to the ever-changing boundaries of his colony. As the government recognized it as something of import and made it a protected area, his domain grew to encompass it.

But no matter how much the boundary line might grow, he would still be trapped here and hoping that someone else would come along and be able to see him. I huffed out a sigh as I rested my head on my paws.

I felt for the male. I may have been nearly as isolated, given not for nearly as long as him, but it was also by my choice. Whenever unwanted trespassers entered my woods, I would either run them off or enjoy a nice meal. Roan, on the other hand, would see thousands of people come and go from this place and there was nothing he could do. Not even being able to ask them about the changes happening around this park.

After a while, the pair of them simply stood in silence, watching the water. I knew we had to keep moving, every day the shadows that stalked my mate grew darker and hungrier. The time that we could spend anywhere was less all the time.

When I decided that I had given them enough time, I made my way over to Fare and tossed my head over my shoulder to tell her it was time. She looked mournfully back at her ghost and clambered onto my back once more.

The moment that I was sure that she was secure on my back, I came to another decision. Roan was still watching the waves rolling in as I padded up behind him.

“You should just go bear. You don’t strike me as someone who makes a habit of saying goodbyes.”

I rolled my eyes before I carefully clenched the scruff of his shirt in my jaws. It took a little extra effort to start walking with him held that way, but I made it work.

For several long seconds, he just hung there, most likely stunned by my actions, before he began to struggle. I growled at him as his movements forced me to loosen my tenuous grip on his clothing. He stopped and the scent of his nerves wafted up my nose as I trundled my pack closer and closer to the boundary line.

I had no idea where it really was, but I figured I would know either when I crossed it and was forced to release the ghost. Or that with enough willpower, I could drag him with me.

Roan

What did that crazy bear think he was doing? I told him I was bound to this land until I moved on or the world ended.

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