Page 65 of Whisper Woods

After we left the dragons and made our way back to the city, we stopped by the house to get cleaned up. Brydon had gotten some messages that made him get all weird and anxious, so he stayed behind while Rafe showed me around the city.

Tathys iswild.The sights, the smells, the magic. Thefood.It feels impossible to put it all into a coherent answer. Now that I’m not half brain dead from exhaustion, I have been able toreallytake it all in—the good and the bad.

We visited this tiny little bakery; I didn’t even realise the place was there. The being was a tiny little fae who made the most insane sweet treats. I don’t evenlikecake and I ate like fifteen of the little suckers.

We stopped by a store that sold all kinds of herbs and magical tools—Edith would go nuts over it—and visited another dragonkin who sold the most incredible creations from the dragon shells and glass. There’d even been this cool little orc girl doing tricks to entertain her brothers and sisters. She was doing fullon mage style magic, making shapes with fluffy clouds in the air.

It hadn’t all been cute kids with magic tricks and delicious pastries, though. We had a rather hairy encounter—literally—with a really pissed off half-shifted wolf on the streets. It had been an absolute trip to see another wolf here. Wolf was so excited until the guy used magic to shove me to the side while he stalked down the street.

After that incident, and in between the others that followed, Rafe explained to me again about how Tathys’s magic has been failing and the tensions and fear it’s causing in their community.

Which is why wolf-dude wasn’t the only hostile one.

While a lot of Tathissians were wary—warming up to being friendly when they realised I’m not going to eat their babies or anything weird—some were super not cool with me being here.

Some were subtle with their side-eyed glares. Some were passive aggressive in their hostility, giving us the bare minimum service, or muttering under their breath and huffing until we left. Some forgot the passive part altogether, straight up walking into me like I wasn’t there. Or when we tried to enter one shop, I think it was a fabric store or something; the owner refused to let us enter. Rafe looked like he was going to rip the owner to shreds before I dragged him out of there.

I can’t really find it in me to be angry with them for the way they acted. The beings here are scared. The world as they’ve always known it is changing and there is no guarantee it’s going to be for the better.

I may not have been anywhere in the world past Loqueaur City, but even I know Tathys is unique.

When Brydon and Rafe said magic justishere, I didn’t get it. But after seeing the city today, and travelling through the farms on the way back from the dragons, I do.

Tathissians live in balance with the earth and magic here like nothing I’ve ever seen or heard about before. Gods, before Caelan and Tor, I thought bonded mates were an exaggeration. But here, bonded mates, while not as common as regular mates, were definitely an accepted thing. Even Rafe’s parents are bonded—though apparently dragonkin don’t share their powers with their bonded mates. Something about them being “the original shifters”, or something like that anyway.

Magic is integral to who they are. Rafe explained to me that the Orun taught them that the Whisper Woods, and the other sacred sources of magic throughout the world, were the five original Gods who sacrificed themselves so their magic could become one with the earth. I’ve heard similar stories over the years from different sects.

To the Orun, and the Tathissians, their connection to the Gods, specifically the God of the Whisper Woods—Gahimmyar—is their lifeblood.

And it’s disappearing before their eyes. I kind of feel… bad for them.

I mean, I’ve only just got here and already I can feel that connection to the place buzzing beneath my skin. Being here feels like… it feels like for the first time in my life my spirit isn’t too big for my body. Like the energy of this place has pushed my existence back into alignment. Kinda like how I felt at the Black Stump, only… bigger. There is not a single doubt in my mind that Rafe, specifically being here with him, is a big part of that. He just makes everything better.

Which on the one hand is amazing, but on the other, it only makes me feel more guilty about the giant lump of confusion in my guts about everything back home with my family and my pack.

It’s a bit much to just dump on a group of well-meaning strangers, after all. And besides, the beer we’ve been chugging between shots of sweet and spicy liquor have fogged up my brain anyway.

I catch Rafe’s eyes where he’s leaning against the bar, with that sexy ass smirk on his face and a spark in his eye. Heknowswhat I’m thinking. I don’t know how he knows, but he does. From across the crowd gathered around us, he winks, the gold in his nose sparkling even under the bar room lights. I hate that he’s so far away, my fingers itching to reach across the circle and haul him to me. But I don’t.

The beings around us are waiting for my answer. We’ve been here for hours now, a local place that Brydon and Rafe said they frequent often. It’s dive-ierthan what I expected after the fanciness of their house. But now that we’re in here I can see that it’s just as much them as the fancy-pants finery of Rafe’s incredible house.

I expel a breath, shaking my head, trying to find the words. I scan the pub, spotting a fierce-looking valkyrie tending the bar, two swords strapped to her back, ready to defend her bar to the death. Rafe introduced her as Vansh, and despite giving her my most charming smile—double dimples and everything—she didn’t smile, her eyes flashing bright like a thunderstorm. Rafe had whispered in my ear that that means she likes me, but Wolf and I are still on the fence about her, even if Wolf is mesmerised by the way her long black braids float softly around her as she works.

The bar itself runs along the length of the wall at right angles to the entry. In the middle there are tables and chairs, packed with beings chatting under the dim yellow lights hanging from the exposed beams of the ceiling. At the back of the bar room is a small raised stage with a handful of instruments waiting, and a small, deserted dance floor. Booth-like tables line the long wall opposite the bar.

“Lotta arches.” I say without thinking. “You Tathissians love your arches.”

There is a moment of silence, the beings looking to one another before they explode into laughter. I’m shaken again by the big guy next to me, whose laughter is so booming and loud it vibrates through his arm and tickles my neck.

I look over at Rafe in confusion, because it wasn’t that funny. But he just smiles fondly and shrugs his shoulder, shaking his head.What are you gonna do?He seems to say. So I roll with it.

“Ah, Seff, you’re all right for aMunish” Munish. Weird word. It’s what they sometimes call beings from the Mundane.

I grin at my new friend, Ain, and clink my nearly empty glass against his.

“Seff!” A small being, only knee high with bright white hair and so many freckles they look tanned, yells, grabbing my attention. They kick the shin of the larger being with greyish-blue skin, a bald head and slightly too long arms next to them. The being looks down slowly, but picks up the smaller being, tucking them onto their wide shoulders so the smaller one is eyelevel.

Everyone waits patiently, like this is a common occurrence, so I wait too, sipping at my beer. It’s good beer, too. It goes down a treat, without that horrible bloating feeling beer can give. I need to find out who brews it and see if I can hook Roan up for the tavern. The beings there would go nuts for it.

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