Shadows of the Redwood - By Gillian Summers Page 0,84

circle. That tree looks familiar.”

“They all look the same to me,” Laurie said. She sagged to the ground.

Keelie’s heart pounded. Risa was right. “If we keep walking, eventually the sun will come up and we’ll know which direction to go. At least to get out of the woods.” Meanwhile, Grandmother was in danger.

“Where are we?” Risa asked.

“I don’t know.” Keelie said. “I thought we were heading toward the Grove of the Ancients, but we should have been there by now.”

Laurie shivered. “I don’t want to go there.” She crossed her hands over chest.

“Use your rose quartz. I think we should go this way.” Keelie shone her flashlight down a path with branches intertwining like a woodland arbor, then flipped the beam up. She couldn’t even see the top of the canopy.

Bloodroot’s voice drifted in her mind. Are you sure this is the right way?

You have my grandmother, and I want her back.

Knot forged ahead.

Keelie closed her mind. She knew she was on the right path. She could feel a thread of dark magic. A very powerful source of dark magic, and different from the dark fae magic that she’d felt around Peascod.

“It’s this way. Follow me.”

Laurie looked very afraid. “Why do you always have to go walking into creepy forests in the middle of the night? It’s like a repeating plot line from a B horror movie.”

“It’s not a repeating plot line. I’m a tree shepherd, and helping forests in need, even in the middle of the night, is what I do. I don’t have a choice.”

Risa lifted her hands in frustration. “Will you two shut up?”

There was a loud snap, and Tavyn stepped out from behind the trunk of a giant Redwood.

“Allow me to escort you.”

Risa shrieked, and Laurie stumbled backwards.

Keelie stood firmly in the middle of the path. “We don’t need your help.” She put her hands on her hips. Tree shepherds came to a bad end in this forest, and she was sure that Tavyn was involved.

Laurie leaned close to Keelie. “Are you crazy? He’s a ranger elf. He can get us out of here.”

“Yes, but he’s also possessed by a tree.”

“I didn’t know trees could possess people. I thought he had a bad spray tan.”

“I didn’t know either, until I came to the redwoods. The Ancients are different.” Keelie had been possessed by a tree in the Wildewood Forest, but that had just been for a second.

“Will you two shut up?” Tavyn shouted.

Keelie could feel the power of the Earth beneath her. She felt her fairy and tree magic swirling together like a whirlpool, stretching her skin from inside. But her dark fae magic hadn’t been added to the blend. As long as she kept control of it, the trees wouldn’t be able to draw on it.

Tavyn glared at Keelie. He thrust his head forward, sniffing. “I feel your power. You’re so strong.” He circled her. “The goblins know about you. Herne wants you for himself. They’ve known about you since your birth. They’ve been looking for one like you for two hundred years, ever since their seer predicted that a half-elven, half-human child would be born with the magic of the fae.” He smiled, showing green teeth. “But we found you first.”

Keelie swallowed, trying to process all that he’d said. “I’ve never heard about a prophecy.” And what or who was Herne?

“The elves didn’t know about the prophecy, but the goblins did.” Bloodroot’s voice had taken over Tavyn’s. It was deep and woodsy.

“So, I’m just a half-human, half-elven girl. I don’t have any great power. What use am I to the goblins?” Keelie thought that the less she did with goblins, the better. She shivered.

“You can wield power that the fairies and elves only dream about,” Tavyn-Bloodroot replied. “You can change the shape of the natural world.”

“Oh please. If I could do that, would I be here talking to you?”

A ghostly tree shape formed in the air and floated in front of them. “You’re wanted now.”

Tavyn-Bloodroot frowned. “We’re on our way.” He motioned to Keelie. “Follow me.”

“What if we don’t come with you?”

“You want to see your grandmother again. So follow me.”

There was a muffled cry from nearby.

Tavyn-Bloodroot nodded. “To ensure your cooperation, and Knot’s, we have something that belongs to you.”

A wooden cage was lowered from the tops of the trees. Inside was a wild-eyed Scott.

Risa and Laurie gasped.

Scott saw Keelie and grabbed the bars of the cage. “Keelie, get me out of here. I lost that pink rock you gave me. Hurry, you’ve