Dust (Of Dust and Darkness) - By Devon Ashley Page 0,70

were enslaved and didn’t leave at their own volition, “but I never thought there would be so many Hollows.”

“I wonder why your own Hollow didn’t tell you that.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they thought a lot more pixies would leave in search of them if they knew. Where are we on this map right now?”

“Well, it only shows pixies, but my best guess is right around here,” he says, poking his finger at the forest on the left side of the map, far from any Hollow.

“Oh, wow,” I cheerlessly reply, assessing the distance between here and my Hollow. “I don’t know what the distance scale is on this map, but that looks like a long way to go on foot.”

“It is,” he says, sighing. “About a hundred and fifty kilometers I think.”

“A hundred and fifty kilometers!” I scream. “Might as well make it a million! I can’t walk that!”

“I’m thinking you won’t have to. Look,” he says gently, motioning me to follow his finger as it traces the map. “There’s a river that flows most of the way. You’ll have to walk quite a ways to get there, but your legs will be as fresh as they can be. Follow this trail until it bends and keep walking straight through the forest to hit the river. Once you’re there, make a raft and travel all the way to here, right before the waterfall. Then you’ll have to pick up on this trail to take you the rest of the way. It’s definitely going to take some time getting there on foot, but it’s not impossible, Rosalie.”

Mother Nature, that’s far. I hide it well, but I’m already feeling a little defeated inside. And that’s just the traveling part. I’ll still have to forage for food, find safe places to rest – because without wings, I could very well end up an easy meal for some carnivore hunting in the woods. Then there’s those monstrous beasts guarding the prison.

“What about the spriggans? Will they come after me?”

“Best guess…” he says, pausing to think as he absently rubs his chin and squints his eyes. “Probably. Finley won’t be able to risk you telling any Hollow that they’ve been swiping pixies for slave labor. And I’m not going to lie, Rosalie. Spriggans are pretty dumb, but they know how to survive…and track. Once you’re in the river, I don’t think they’ll be able to pick up your scent, but I suggest any time you’re in the forest, smear your skin with any kind of scented flower you can find. And change it often so they won’t know what to follow. But never for one second think you’re safe. Always be looking over your shoulder and be suspicious of anything your instincts are picking up on.”

I can’t help but dwell on the number of times he uses the words your or you’re. . You’re going to have to find your way. You’re going to have to find shelter and food. You, you, you. Not a single we’re in the bunch.

I really am going to have to do this on my own.

I release a long, deep sigh. This is suddenly becoming very real, and dangerous. A lot will have to go right in order for me to get home again. But part of me feels dead inside, because in order to get Poppy and my fellow pixies back, I’ll have to give up Jack, who now means more to me than any of them. Sans Poppy…I think it would sadden me as much to lose her permanently too.

“Well, getting out of this cave will be easy enough. What about the prison boundary itself? Last time I ran smack into the spriggans’ campsite. Where’s the best place to get out of here unnoticed?”

“Not possible.”

My chest sinks. “Not possible?”

“What I mean is that it’s not possible to avoid their campsite. It doesn’t matter which direction you choose to go in. Once you pass through the barrier, the magic automatically dumps you at the edge of their campsite.”

“Well,” I huff. “That’s….crap.”

Amused, Jack huffs too. “I figure our best bet is to pass through around two in the morning. The spriggans should long be asleep and after watching them the last couple of nights, they don’t seem to have anyone stay up and stand guard.”

“Why would they? I’m the only one that’s ever tried to escape and I did it in the morning light right under their noses. Those pixies can’t get out of that pit. Even if we had stood