Everyone finally settled down to get some sleep. Like every night, they took turns taking watch. Sally’s eyes drifted closed and she hoped that she would speak with Costin again. She hoped that she could tell him that tomorrow she would hold him in her arms. But, it wasn’t Costin she dreamed of. To her surprise, it was Jacque.
“Jacque?” Sally took a step towards her friend. They stood in the forest near a fire much like the one Sally had been sitting at before sleep.
“I’m fighting Sally. I’m fighting, but I need help.” Jacques words were laced with desperation and she looked tired, as if she hadn’t slept in weeks.
“What are you fighting Jacque?” Sally asked. “I’ve tried to help you but I can’t get through.”
“I’m pushing against the spell,” responded Jacque. I’m thinking of everything I can to bring myself back to our world. Fane told me to fight, that you all needed me. Please Sally, help me.”
Sally closed the space between them and wrapped Jacque in her arms. She couldn’t believe how real the embrace felt. Maybe her mind was just that desperate to have her friend back. She felt tears gather in her eyes as Jacque squeezed her closer.
“I’ve been so alone,” Jacque’s words were muffled as she pressed her face into her friends shoulder.
“We’ve been with you this whole time,” Sally tried to reassure her.
“I know. I can hear you, I just haven’t been able to move or respond. It’s like something has wrapped itself around my brain or something.”
“I will get Rachel and we will see if we can help you, okay? We won’t let you stay like this Jac, you need to know that.”
Jacque pulled back from their embrace and collected herself. A slow smile stretched across her face.
“You had better get me awake. I hear that we’re going in to rescue our men.”
Sally nodded with a smile of her own.
“Jen hasn’t started using military lingo just yet, but I figure it’s coming.”
Jacque gave Sally one last nod, as if to say: let’s do this. And then, Sally felt the dream fading, slowly morphing into another dream... one that she would never forget.
Lying around the circle, one by one each woman slipped into her own dream. The Great Luna was blessing them, helping them bolster their wills. They each got to meet with their mates. Brief that it was, they were able to tell them to hold on, that they were coming for them very soon. Tears streaked down their faces as their fleeting moments of time with their men slipped away.
Morning came much too quickly and the chill crept into their bones, drawing them to consciousness. The females were solemn and even Jen was more subdued than ever. But, a sense of urgency, which seemed to grow with every second, danced at the edges of their nerves. They gathered their few belongings, ate some Fae bread, and every now, and then smiled encouragingly to one another.
It was Jen’s singing that finally broke the silence as the words to Leaving on a Jet Plane–Jen style of course, rang out into the gradually lightening forest.
“All our crap is packed, we’re ready to go,
We’re standing here moving too slow,
I hate to tell you all to get in gear.
But the dawn is breakin’, it’s early morn,
The troll is waiting, he’s scratching his horn,
If you going any slower I will die
If you kiss me I’ll kick your ass,
Shove you into the grass,
Let’s just get the show on the road
‘Cause we’re leaving, coming or not,
Can’t leave our men left to rot.
O’Crap, we need to go.