Page 36 of The Gargoyle's Glade
The words were suddenly clear, each and every one. I turned the pages again and again, finding the same. As I skimmed through a lesson on interspecies communication and went to turn the page, I stopped short. My wrist was bare.
I spun around, looking at the ground, wondering how long my bracelet had been gone. “No. No, no. It can’t be.” The sound in my head narrowed to a muted hum as panic sank in. My father’s stone. One of the only things I had left of him. After he’d been missing long enough to be presumed dead in the mine collapse, my mother had fallen completely apart, and she’d never been able to put herself back together. I missed him terribly; he was the light in our tiny family of three. I hadn’t been without my bracelet since it had been passed along to me.
I dropped the book as I went to my knees, sifting through the grass and weeds with my fingers, sobs working their way into my chest.
“Help me, please!” I cried. “Find my bracelet. It has to be here somewhere.”
Help! Friend, help! Look!
Several animals sprang to action, rummaging in the foliage and soil with me. I crawled around in a blind panic for what seemed like an eternity, but still came up empty-handed.
Hands pressed over my eyes, I cried in earnest, the heavy emotion making my headache worse. Once I was finally wrung out, I looked around to realize the whole glade seemed far quieter than it should.
“What …?”
The herds and flocks had hemmed me in—a wall of creatures all around me, a wide shadow covered the ground where the birds hovered in the sky over my head. They had never once felt threatening. Never moved in a way that seemed anything other than curious, patient. But they were too close, too quiet. I was more raw than normal, so their presence, their sorrow for my sadness felt heavy.
I glanced around, throat dry. I held my hands out as I slowly got to my feet. “Thank you for helping me search. I wish I knew what you wanted, I feel terrible I can’t help you.”
As the fog of my panic cleared, everything went from too quiet to too loud. It was like I’d had my ears stuffed with cotton, and I’d finally taken it out. The world around me exploded with violent noise and frantic movement. Heavy wings beat a brutal tattoo on the air; all of the normally cute little squeaks and grunts stabbed at my ears like screams. I was paralyzed by dozens of sets of eyes locking onto mine at the same time, the sound of my racing heartbeat throbbing in my ears. I fell to my knees, pain blossoming as I hit the stones.
I pressed my hands over my ears and squeezed my eyes closed. I might have screamed but couldn’t hear myself.
Friend! Listen. Welcome! Blessings, Keeper! Help, friend! Ceremony soon? Sorceress, friend! Help too? Celebrate! Happy! Hear us, friend? Speak now, friend? Welcome! Hear? Accept? Friend! Speak? Loyal, friend. Hello! Accept pledge. Excitement, friend. Welcome, Keeper! Hear, friend? Speak, friend? Contract? Beautiful, friend!
“Please.” The word escaped me as a whisper, nothing more than a puff of air against the gale assaulting my senses. They were not trying to hurt me, but some kind of veil had been lifted, and everything was rushing in at once. “One at a time. Please, slow down, I can’t… It’s too much.”
Their voices piled one on top of another in my head, whispers and shouts and everything in between. There was joy, excitement, urgency, all mashed together in a torrent of sound.
I could feel the edges of my sanity fraying away, and it was almost a relief. Because if I wasn’t sane anymore, I wouldn’t care a whit about what was happening. It would all be fine again on the other side of madness. They crept closer as I curled into myself. I could feel their concern, that they’d noticed it was more than I could bear, but it was too late.
Help? Unwell? Sorry, friend. Help! Speak now, friend? Danger? No hurt!
The mind fracturing is an odd sensation. Warm, somehow. Even my awareness of what was happening didn’t overwhelm the feeling of peace as the cacophony in my head lightened to a low hum. Eventually there was just white noise, like I was trapped with my head under a waterfall. I couldn’t see, couldn’t move.
Then, darkness came.
Coltor’sbooming voice cut through the black space in my head.
“Off with you! Leave her be! Shoo! Go on! AWAY, THE LOT OF YOU!” The ground trembled as he loosed a monstrous roar, and a gust of wind blew across me as he beat his massive wings. There was a brief burst of animal chatter, noises of surprise and fear, then the flap of feathers and clop of hooves as they left.Many of the creatures had pressed against my body, trying to help restore me in their own way, but I didn’t blame them for fleeing. There was no way for me to explain what had happened at the moment.
“Merry?” The tremor in his voice echoed through my chest, his fear palpable. “Merry!” His fingertips trembled, but they were warm as they pressed against the side of my throat. “Thank the saints.”
I couldn’t make my muscles relax. My eyes were closed, and the heavy lids wouldn’t budge. My body had curled into as small a ball as it could manage, a defense against the onslaught of sound from the creatures that had swarmed around me. By the time they’d realized it was too much and settled down, I was frozen in that position.
“I’ve got you. You’re alright.”
I nodded—or tried to. Nothing seemed to work right. I was present in my own head, but I felt oddly untethered from my body.
Coltor’s warmth surrounded me, one arm under my legs, the other tight around my back. I breathed him in, reveling in warm earth and woodsmoke.
His low voice rumbled through me. “You’re not allowed to go yet, little firebird. I’ve only just found you.” My heart did that funny beat again, too fast, like it was skipping, then squeezed in my chest. The sensation was unnerving, even in my current state.
He crossed the glade smoothly, like his feet weren’t touching the ground. He avoided jostling me, but his large frame moved quickly. It occurred to me belatedly that he’d likely used his wings.
I was finally able to force my eyes open as we neared my cabin. Sensation was returning to my body, but very faintly, like a little needle sting. My fingers and toes were still unresponsiveto my demands to wiggle, and my extremities felt like they were buried under heaps of wet soil.
“The wards will be a little better there. And I have my supplies.” He muttered the words to himself as much as me as he continued past my cabin toward his.
