Page 2 of Whispered Warnings: Part Two

A snort from Mael brings me out of my thoughts, and I duck just in time to miss a stray branch that would have smacked me in the face if he hadn’t alerted me to it.

Reaching out, I pat his neck and say over the sound of the wind racing past us, “I have no idea how you knew that I was tuned out, but thanks.”

Even though it’s the afternoon, the trees here are massive and their canopies stretch so wide that they are touching, meaning that very little light is getting through the leaves and reaching the forest floor. It’s giving the woods an eerie feel.

I really hope that nothing else has managed to get through the breach. Those Scavengers were nasty, and the guys' property is obviously pretty massive, which means that something could be hiding on it for days before we manage to find it. The guys have the place pretty heavily warded, nothing should be able to get in, and the fact that the Scavengers got through is concerning to say the least. It’s worrying me that we don’t know for certain. Ransom didn’t get alerted to the fact that there was a breach in the first place, so there is no way to tell if anything else has come through.

At least, I am assuming that there isn’t, I could be completely wrong.

The terrain suddenly gets a lot more difficult, and it occurs to me that I should probably be paying a lot more attention than I am. One because I need to concentrate on riding so I don’t fall off, but also because if anything else has come through the ward breach, then I need to keep my senses on the surroundings so that I don’t miss anything trying to attack us.

Finally, Ransom slows his kelpie and hops off, prompting us all to do the same.

“It’s here?” Evander asks, looking around at the seemingly normal looking part of the woods.

We aren’t even in a clearing. We’re just surrounded on all sides by trees and rocks. It doesn’t look like anything special, and I can’t see the breach, magic isn’t visible like that, but I have to admit that something does feel off the longer that we are stood here, and I hope that it’s because of the ward having a hole in it and not because we are about to be attacked by something else that has come through.

No, thank you. I have reached my limit for weird creatures that I have to fight for today.

“Just tell us where you need us and what you need us to do,” Reed says to Ransom, who is studying the breach and can obviously see something that I can’t.

I wonder if because it’s his magic that made it, that means that he can see it? That is definitely a question to ask at a different time.

“This is worse than I thought. I’m not going to be able to repair it by myself. I’m going to need you all to give a small amount of your magic as well. Just like when we first put the wards up,” Ransom explains.

The guys look surprised, but they all nod in agreement.

“I know we don’t know what I am, but I’m happy to help if I can,” I offer, feeling a bit ridiculous because I don’t have any real power to lend them.

Ransom nods, taking my offer seriously, which I appreciate, “Yes please. We need all the help we can get. Don’t touch the ward though. You won’t be able to touch it until I’ve given you the all clear that I have closed it off. We have no idea how you will react to it, and I don’t want to risk it.”

I frown, that doesn’t sound very good at all, but before I can reply Mael makes a really weird sound. At least it sounds weird because it's coming from a kelpie and I have no idea how he’s making the noise, but the sound itself is fairly normal, it’s a whistle. It’s sharp, but changes pitch several times.

“What’s happening?” I ask when he stops.

Mael looks at me, and I swear he’s telling me to wait, although I don’t know what I am supposed to be waiting for.

“I don’t know,” Raiden replies with a frown. He looks at the kelpie that he rode here on, “Is it a warning?”

The kelpie shakes his head.

“Okay, well at least there’s that. I guess that’s mildly reassuring,” Griff mutters. His hand is still on his kelpie’s neck and stroking him, even though he’s now standing on the ground next to him like the rest of us.

My eyebrows raise. I think it’s pretty interesting how quickly they all seem to have bonded with the kelpies. Then again, I bonded really quickly with Mael, and he gave me his name just like the other kelpies have given the guys their names.

There has to be something more to it. A reason.

“We need to get started,” Ransom says as he looks around at all of us. “We can figure out why Mael did that later."

As Ransom opens his mouth to explain more about what is expected and what we all need to do, there is a sudden rustling in the woods all around us, and I become very sure that we are being approached by multiple things. Everyone drops down into a defensive crouch, their magic and their weapons ready. My sword is once again back in my hand, as I study the surrounding area, including the trees because I know of multiple creatures, supernatural and not who use trees to get around the woods.

Imps start to drop from the trees, standing still and holding up their hands to signify that they aren’t here to attack us. I spot Flin but before I can ask why he’s here, and then threaten himnot to send me to another realm, the spirit guides walk out of the woods too, Winston, Wallace, and even the bear, wolf and fox who I haven’t seen since I called to them all that very first time.

“What’s happening?” River asks, standing still for once, his eyes on the creatures in front of us.

Again, everyone is stopped from answering when even more creatures start to appear from the woods. I can see tiny little sprites and rock trolls, which are pretty much what they sound like. They are about knee height, all muscle, and carry around rock clubs. They have gemstones of different shapes and sizes embedded into their foreheads, which are supposed to mean different things, and even the women have very masculine features. They like to stick to the woodlands and are very rarely seen by humans or supernaturals. Yet there are ten of them here, including one who must be their chief judging by the way he is dressed. They don’t say anything, they just stand silently and watch us.

We all stay silent for the moment as we watch the tiny sprites fluttering in the air, their wings keeping them afloat, they look like fairies in human story books, but unlike in those books, these ones are deadly and big tricksters. They aren’t attacking though, they’re just watching us, just like all of the other creatures.

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