Page 48 of The Mage on the Hill
“No, you idiot,” Arden snapped before he turned to Darius with a pleading look. “Don’t you feel it, Dar? That’s Toby’s life signature driving that vine.”
Zubayr came forward to touch the plant too. “So little Viney is trying to tell us something.”
“That…. No one…. It can’t be.” Darius shook his head, though at the same time reached for the plant’s Animus. “Fuckinghell. Toby.”
“So let me see if I have this straight.” Elias took a seat on the top step. “Toby sent the vine. Somehow. He wants us to follow the bouncing plants to him?”
“Not sure it’s… conscious.” Darius unwound the vine gently from his wrist. “His connection. Plants. So much stronger….”
“He’s a walking generator, we get that.” Zubayr stared out along the driveway as if he could discern where the vine led. “We all felt it. Dar, why don’t you stay here with your plant friend. I’ll bring you breakfast.”
“But we—”
“No. You eat first. This could end up being a long, long day.”
They ended up eating together on the porch while the vine tapped and prodded at Darius, clearly impatient with his lack of action. Not usual behavior for plants, who normally limited their movements to helio- and geotropism, but a Toby-driven plant couldn’t be labeled normal.
Elias brought Darius his jacket, while Arden brought his boots, and within thirty minutes of the honeysuckle attack, they were ready to set out. Somewhere. The expedition didn’t feel sane at all, but they couldn’t ignore Toby sending a plant telegram.
“So what’s the plan, Professor?” Elias asked as he closed the front door and handed Darius his keys.
“You.” Darius pointed to Arden and Zubayr, then waved to the trailing vine. “Follow. With me.” He turned and stabbed a finger at Elias. “You bring… your truck.”
Elias’s frown rivaled thunderclouds. “I have my hiking legs. Don’t do this.”
“No.” Darius shook his head, trying to convey his frustration and his apology at once. “When we… find him. I’ll need… that.” He pointed at the truck. “Can’t… carry him… back.”
“Oh.Oh.” Elias shot him a crooked grin. “Got it. And you don’t know where the plants are taking us, andmytruck’s better off-road than your fancy Brit machine.”
“And no one else can drive your truck,” Zubayr added.
“Not my fault you’re all losers who don’t know how to use hand controls.”
Darius took Elias by the shoulders and pulled him into a hard hug. “Yes. All that.”
“Thanks, teach. We love you too.” Elias said it in a teasing way, but his cheeks and ears darkened in an obvious blush. “Zu, stay on the phone with me so I don’t lose you.”
With Darius and Arden following the vine, Zubayr on the phone, and Elias following slowly in the truck, they set off down the drive. Once they reached the point where the vine lay in the grass, Darius picked it up to follow its length.
“This makes no sense. It’s impossible,” Arden grumbled.
“Hmm.” Darius allowed him half an ear as he concentrated on Toby’s magic. “Elias? Also… impossible. Me alive? Impossible. Your house—”
“Hilarious. I get it. But this vine can’t extend far enough to lead us to wherever Toby’s being kept. Vines don’t grow that far. I don’t understand how this is allphysicallypossible.”
“Mmm.” Darius reached the point where the honeysuckle joined its brethren at the hedge beside the road. Difficult to follow Toby’s signal through the tangle of vines, but not impossible. For a moment he panicked, thinking he’d lost the trail, until he leaned his hand against the oak beside the hedge. “Because… it’s not.”
“What—oh!” Arden had placed a hand on the bark to steady himself down the hill. “Dar, the trees.”
“Yes. Trees.” He motioned for Arden’s phone, where he typed,Trees communicate across great distances. Chemical communication. Communication through moss networks. We have to be careful since the signal may spread out as we go.
Darius put his hand to the tree’s roots, reaching into the earth where his magic was strongest. Yes. Toby’s call went from root system to root system here. He straightened and crossed the road to the oak on the other side, which had passed the message to the one on his property. “This way.”
“It’s like following the world’s strangest bloodhound,” Zubayr murmured before he waved to Elias. “I’ll tell you when we cross the next road.”
The old truck rumbled as Elias pulled onto the shoulder to wait. Darius led his puzzled but intrepid party off into the trees.
TOBY RANthrough hallways littered in glass, glittering shards and sheets of it that broke as he ran. The glass was all over the floor, then was the floor until it wasn’t glass at all but mica. He had to find Darius. That was the important part. Now the mica had turned to steel, which had something to do with Darius, but he couldn’t quite remember what.
