Her True Form

It was so easy. It was too easy. The dragon turtle was powerful and able to travel through the river with such ease that she barely noticed any exertion until she felt it was time to end her transformation. Not only that, she was able to occasionally snatch fish out of the water when she passed, ensuring that Nautia and Gervas had some sustenance on their trip.

It was going so well that she was starting to feel suspicious. Even the phoenix side of her was beginning to feel a little wary, even through its pride.

Occasionally they passed near settlements along the river, but they were few and far between. She was in and out so quickly that she doubted any of them even fully understood what they saw. While the storms no longer followed her, it rained off and on frequently, making it even easier to hide their trail.

But it still felt far too easy. She’d have expected to be ambushed or attacked or something by now. Did they just not know where she was headed? Could they not track her? Well, she supposed they couldn’t track her. If that ring she’d once worn was now an intricate part of who she was, then they likely had no way to actually follow her with magic. The best clue they’d have would be if anyone saw her in her phoenix form.

No matter how easy it was, though, they were almost free. She could see the forest in the distance. The rain had even stopped for the minute, though the skies were far from clear.

Sensing the end of her transformation approaching she hauled herself onto the shore and let them climb off her.

“Something’s wrong,” Gervas said after a few moments.

“Why?” Nautia asked. “What is it? Did you see something?” She held up her trident, looking around the shore.

“No,” Gervas said. “But something just feels wrong. Its too easy.”

Nautia paused for a moment before glancing back to him. “What, exactly, about this seems easy to you?”

“We haven’t been followed,” Gervas said. “We haven’t run into any resistance. We’ve--”

“We’re riding on the back of a dragon turtle that happens to also be a phoenix,” Nautia said. “We’ve had nothing to eat for the last few days except barely cooked fish which smells only slightly better than any of us. We’re going into a forest holding fae that we hope, somehow, will get us back to anywhere we actually want to be. All the while never knowing if your mage is going to explode on us or decide we’d all look better if we were on fire. What about this seems easy to you?”

Gervas gave a soft sigh before shaking his head. “We should have run into something, anything, by now.”

“If we ran into anything, we’d likely be dead,” Nautia said before collapsing on the grass further up the shore. “We’re in no state to fight. The only one of us who could fight now is the only one of us they likely wouldn’t try to kill. Try being thankful for the small bit of fortune we have lest you invite disaster down on our heads. If there was something that could follow a dragon turtle through these rivers and that storm, I certainly don’t want to meet it.”

Gervas glanced back at Yvette for a moment before sighing and walking after Nautia. Yvette took to the air slightly, flying over to land by them, though it threw dust into the air.

“What was it you two said?” Nautia asked. “She’s always nervous, you’re always paranoid? It seems she’s gotten less nervous, maybe try being less paranoid.”

“I just think we should have run into some resistance by now,” Gervas said.

“Who?” Nautia asked. “The prince who nobody wants to listen to? Even if he is after us, which frankly he likely is, he’s looking for a phoenix. While I’ll be the first to admit the great flaming bird is hard to miss, she’s not exactly flying around. There’s probably some rumors flying around about a great dragon turtle going upstream, but if we’re lucky we’re going faster than that rumor can travel.”

“And if we’re not?” Gervas asked.

“We’re probably dead anyway,” Nautia said. “We’re depending on the grace of fae. If half the stories are true we’ll get out of here but there’s no telling where we’ll end up. I’d worry about there not being enough resistance after we’re actually almost home. Right now? We’re going from guaranteed death to likely death.”

“Still feels too easy,” Gervas said. “There’s no way they’re just going to let us go.”

Nautia gave another sigh before glancing up towards her. “Can you hear this, Petra? Oh, I’m sorry. Yvette? Is he always like this?”

Yvette just gave a low chirp and shrugged her wings.

“No wonder you’re always so nervous,” Nautia said before glancing towards him. “They’re not. I doubt they expect us to go this way.”

“What does that mean?” Gervas asked.

“Like it or not, we’re penned in,” Nautia said. “If we try going to the sea they probably have them blocked and watched. If we were smart, we’d be going there anyway. The fae are nothing more than a desperate gamble. Yet, for some reason, we’ve decided to take them as our first option.” She then glanced towards Yvette. “Then again, considering the company you keep, I guess you don’t really have a lot of other people you could turn to.”

Yvette suppressed the urge to screech at that. It wasn’t her fault that the Mage’s Association branded her in such a way. She didn’t want to hurt anybody. All she wanted was to be herself. If they’d just let her be that, she wouldn’t have this issue at all.

“It’s not her fault,” Gervas said.

“I’m not saying it is,” Nautia said. “But it does make things harder. It’s the only choice we’ve got at this point, doesn’t make it any less stupid or dangerous.”

“You don’t have to travel with us,” Gervas said.

“Like it or not, my best chances of survival are with you two,” Nautia said. “Even without that, though, it’s not like I don’t owe you two. You did save my life and who knows how many lives of my people.”

“Great to know we’re still so valuable,” Gervas said with a hint of annoyance. “I’ll keep first watch tonight.”

“Not going to trust the alarm spells?” Nautia asked.

“Not tonight,” Gervas said. “We’re close, but we’ve still got a bit of ground to cover before we’re out.”

Yvette gave a light squawk, lifting her wings into the air. She just received confused looks. She spread out her wings and made a glowing symbol of the number two appear in front of them.

“I guess that means she wants to take second watch,” Nautia said. “Fine, I’ll take third. Mage, would you mind making us some shelter?”

Yvette gave a small nod before once again she spread her wings. The ground began shift and reshape itself. She started by raising small, rocky protrusions in a wide circle around them, before sinking the ground under them a little bit. Then she lifted a small tunnel of rock and dirt up and over them, giving them shelter from the elements. She tried to ignore the fact that she had, effectively, made them a nest with a roof. It was a crude thing and she would collapse it once they left, but for now it would hide them well enough from prying eyes as well as keep them somewhat safe from the elements.

Nautia sighed and moved a little closer to her. “Say what you want about this whole ‘being a phoenix’ thing of hers. At least she’s a lot warmer like this.”

“Surprised the cold bothers you,” Gervas said. “I’d imagine it was a lot colder under the water.”

“The sea can be quite warm if you know where to go,” Nautia said. “Admittedly, I do prefer it colder when I’m underwater. But on land it’s a lot harder to endure. Don’t know why, it just is. Maybe being dry makes me more sensitive.”

Gervas gave a small nod. “Just try to get some rest. We’ll be out of here soon.”

“Maybe if we’re lucky we’ll find some real food to eat in those woods,” Nautia mumbled softly.

Yvette felt a small wave of guilt washing over her. She didn’t really feel hungry anymore, at least not in the way she used to. She seemed able to draw energy from the winds and rain now, but she wished she had the ability to do more than just give them the few fish she managed to snatch in their travels.

Once they were in the woods, though, things would be better. Just a little longer, she was sure.

------

Yvette looked around, struggling to wake up. She felt like her mind was in a strange fog. Gervas and Nautia were both sleeping soundly besides her, resting against her legs.

Wasn’t he supposed to wake her up when his watch was over? Maybe he’d just forgotten.

Yvette drifted off once again, the sound of soft, gentle giggling lolling her back to sleep.

------

Yvette awoke with a start, spreading her wings and shattering the dirt and stone around them.

“What?! What happened? What?” Nautia asked, looking around wildly. “It’s morning?”

“More like afternoon,” Gervas said with a light groan. “What happened?”

“You tell us,” Nautia said. “Phoenix, what about you?”

Yvette shook her head before glancing to Gervas. He’d never woken her for her watch, so surely he must have seen something.

“I don’t know,” Gervas said. “One moment I was keeping watch, the next it’s… where are we?”

Yvette blinked a few times and looked around. The nest she’d made for them to sleep in was there, although she had broken it.

But they were definitely a lot closer than they had been. In fact, they were on the edge of the forest now. Where before she would have sworn they had been at least mile or two away.

“I… I don’t like this,” Nautia said softly, staring at the woods.

“I think we’ve been invited,” Gervas said.

“Friend of yours? Mage?” Nautia asked, staring up at her.

Yvette slowly shook her head. Something had definitely happened last night. She looked around, but it looked exactly like where they had stopped to rest for the night. Except now they were so much closer.

Gervas stared at the trees before glancing back down to towards the river. Finally, he spoke up. “Did… the forest move?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nautia said. “A forest can’t move.”

Yvette blinked before taking off, flying into the air.

“Wait, come back!” Nautia yelled after her, but she ignored it.

The higher up she went the more she realized Gervas was right. They hadn’t moved. The forest had. The river they had been on curved off into the distance, just like they had come up. But the forest seemed to go on forever. Worse, rows of trees had seemingly grown out from the forest to come closer to them, like a giant arm reaching out.

Gervas was right. They hadn’t moved, the forest had. She flew down once more, landing by them.

“Was I right?” Gervas asked.

Yvette just gave a small nod before, once again, she began to shrink down. Within a few moments she was a human. “The forest is reaching out towards us.”

“Is that good or bad?” Nautia asked.

“I have no idea,” Yvette said. “The people of this country are scared of those woods, but there’s no way for us to really know why. Either way, I think they want us to come in.”

“We’re not going to though, right?” Nautia asked.

“We don’t really have a lot of choice,” Gervas said. “It’s that or turn around.”

“Really?” Nautia asked. “Why can’t we just keep going in another direction? Any other direction? We don’t have to go into the weird, traveling forest.”

“I think we do,” Yvette said softly. “But think of it this way. Whatever it is could have attacked us in the night. It didn’t. So maybe it’s just lonely.”

“Or maybe it thinks if it moves a forest after us that we’d be insane to actually go inside,” Nautia said.

“I guess it’s up to you, then,” Yvette said. “I’m going in, Gervas?”

“Not like I have much choice,” Gervas said. “It’s not like I can let you go off on your own.”

“See?” Yvette said. “So, what’ll it be, Nautia? Come with us or find another way?”

“Not really leaving me much choice, are you?” Nautia asked, her voice filled with annoyance.

“We never asked to come to this country,” Yvette said. “They took us. At least this time we have a choice.”

Nautia gave a soft sigh before glancing towards the trees. “I guess.”

“Think on the bright side,” Yvette said. “Whatever is there obviously wants us to come. If they were just going to kill us, why move a whole forest towards us?”

“Ah, delightful,” Nautia said. “So likely just worse than death, then?”

“Eh, I died once,” Yvette said. “It’s not as bad as you’d think.”

“Yvette, please don’t,” Gervas said with a light sigh.

“Sorry,” Yvette said. “It’ll be fine. I’m sure. Just have a little faith, right? Fae-th.”

Nautia just glared at her.

“Maybe, uhhhh, I’ll… try to get some fish or something for you two,” Yvette said softly. “You must be pretty hungry.”

“Don’t,” Gervas said. “Don’t go off alone.”

“You two need to eat something,” Yvette said. “You have to be starving. Unlike you two, I kind of get energy from like… ummmm…”

“Something is still wrong,” Gervas said. “I can feel it. Like something is poking at my mind. It almost… itches.”

“Of course something is wrong,” Nautia said. “The forest up and moved towards us. Yet, for some reason, we’re going towards it. This is insanity.”

“It’s not just that,” Gervas said. “There’s something else. I can feel it. It’s… well…”

Yvette gave him a small nod. If he said they should stick together, she trusted him. If there was something tampering with their minds, he’d be the one to know. She glanced towards the trees again. They didn’t feel inviting, they felt frightening. Dangerous. But they didn’t really have a choice. Go forward and possibly be okay, or turn around and definitely not be.

“So what do we do?” Nautia asked. “Just walk in? You want to go talk with the fae on an empty stomach?”

“If we go anywhere, we should go together,” Gervas said.

“Well, unlike Yvette, we can’t turn into giant birds made of fire, ice and lightning,” Nautia said. “We don’t have the tools to fish and, unless I’m mistaken, we don’t have anything we’d need to hunt. I’d rather not eat a bunch of berries I find in a forest filled with fae.”

Gervas gave a soft sigh before glancing back towards Yvette. “Fine. Just stay close, okay? We’ll travel on a light stomach today. Don’t transform, either. Can you use your other magic?”

“I can,” Yvette said, though now she couldn’t help feeling even more uneasy. What if there was something she was missing? Something important? She glanced back towards the treeline. The forest had up and moved towards them in the night, what was it trying to say? Was it a warning? An invitation? A threat? Something else entirely?

She just desperately hoped she was making the right decision. On the positive side, the phoenix part of her was bubbling with as much confidence as ever. Assured that nothing could possibly threaten them. She just wished she could hold such confidence.

------

Gervas was right. Within a few steps of walking into the forest, she finally understood what happened. When they turned around and saw the trees surrounding them and the river, as far as the eyes could see. Nothing but trees. The forest had never moved.

They’d been in it all along.

“There’s no turning back now, is there?” Nautia asked softly.

“I don’t think that has been an option since we came onto shore,” Gervas said softly.

Light giggling filled the air. “They came, they came,” a happy, sing song voice said.

“Oh noooo, these ones aren’t frightened, are they?” a second voice said.

“Of course they are,” a third said. “But maybe what they’re fleeing is much worse?”

“Aren’t they so interesting, though?” the first said. “One of them a twisted knot of magic, all bundled and hardened to the point it barely even functions.”

“One woven and re-knitted,” the second said. “Made anew in the leviathan’s image.”

“But the third, the most interesting of all,” the third voice said. “Shattered and broken, a writhing mass of life and magic, trying to form something solid.”

Yvette reached down and grabbed Gervas’ hand tightly. She glanced down and saw his hand was on his sword, ready for whatever danger would present itself.

Suddenly a small orb of white light, barely bigger than her fist, came flying out from the trees, hovering in the air ahead of them. “Hello, there. May I have your name?” it asked.

A pixie.