if he didn’t need the help. Then I started running.
25
Mae
I ran in the direction of Alastair’s shout. He might have been a mage, but he was also a friend, and I hoped maybe more someday. He had expressed interest, but that was about it. I never really knew where I stood with him. Now wasn’t the time to ponder that though. I needed to get to him and fix whatever was wrong.
I heard scream, this one even more desperate sounding than the last. Picking up my pace, I hoped that the effort of getting to Alastair wouldn’t make the wounds on my stomach worse. My body already felt like shit after using my magic and being attacked by a giant spider-woman-thing, the last thing I needed was to tear or rupture something important.
That being said, I’d rupture, tear, split whatever and do anything to get to Alastair before he made that sound again. Although, the sound was the only thing helping me find him as the grounds became foggy by the woods. The ground itself was getting mushy and squelchy underfoot, as though the area may have been a lake at some point in time and still collected a lot of water.
Murmurs danced on the wind. I made a split-second decision and followed the murmurs, hoping that they led me to my mage and not another terrifying creature. The alligator men may have only appeared in the swap by the tent we’d been in, but who was to say he didn’t have friends hanging out in other marshy areas. I mean maybe he was friends with a toad-boy or frog-woman. Anything was possible at this point, and it was starting to mess with my mind.
It was only that thought that had me refocusing.
The mutterings that I could hear were getting louder and more jumbled, but it definitely sounded like Alastair’s voice, which propelled me forward. I hoped he wasn’t injured and could get himself out of wherever he was with only a little help, because I was starting to feel weak. My magic use had certainly taken even more of a toll than I’d originally thought.
When I rounded the corner of a tent, I could see a shape huddled on the ground pressed up against one of the big red stripes that ran the length of the canvas. An arm shot out and swatted at something invisible.
“Alastair?” I said softly as I approached, not wanting to scare him and get a blast of magic for my trouble.
“Mae?” he answered.
I could tell his head had turned toward me and that he was probably looking for me, so I walked faster as I called out, “I’m here.”
“Mae, you have to run before he gets in your head,” Alastair cried as he raised his balled up hands and started punching and smacking himself in the head.
I rushed the rest of the way, no longer caring about any magic that may have been clinging to him, and pulled his hands away before he hurt himself. My gaze traveled over his face and body, taking in the scratches and torn clothing, it only stopped when he looked at me. His stare was that of a man haunted.
“Alastair, what’s wrong?” I asked gently.
“We found something…a head, but not the one we were looking for. This one—” His voice cut off as though he was having trouble bringing himself to say the words. “It had two faces, Mae, one of which was still alive. How can a face be alive on a head that’s no longer attached to a body?” His voice had gone high, as though he was getting hysterical, which was unusual for Alastair. The mage was one of the most calm and collected men I’d ever known.
“Can you show me?” I asked, hating the question as it left my lips, but I had to know how much danger we were in.
“I can’t go back in there,” Alastair said, shaking his head vehemently.
“Okay, that’s okay. Can you stand? I can take you over to Ellis, and you can help each other while I investigate and try and find Hunter,” I said, pushing to my feet and offering the mage my hand.
He took it and pushed into a standing position before doubling over and clutching his ears with both hands, like he was trying to block sound from entering. “No, no, no,” Alastair repeated over and over again.
“Alastair, what’s wrong?” I asked, stooping down so I could see his face.
“It wants me to hurt you,” he