his vision remained clear. He trained his steps to the south until he found a tiny trickle of water cutting through deep cliffs. He followed it down, down, down into a cavernous gorge south of the farthest mountains.
It wound through trackless peaks until it widened in a hidden meadow of rolling, grassy fields. He traced a line of willows to a huge pool of flat water.
He collapsed on the bank and gazed across the sparkling surface. “I’m here. I came back.”
I knew you would. You know what you have to do.
He inhaled a long breath and dragged himself to his feet. Now that he had finally gotten here, he felt no pain at all anymore, just the deep, abiding exhaustion of draining himself to his last ounce of strength.
He gazed across the pool, unblemished by a single ripple. It answered all his questions for him. As he stood there, an abiding, peaceful sensation filled him to the brim and overflowed. He knew what he had to do, but in the end, it seemed so easy, so obvious. He wondered that he ever questioned it at all.
The voice fell silent at last. It no longer plagued him with doubts. It left him in this tranquil silence where he could enjoy the moment as long as he needed to.
Then with a sudden burst of energy, he vaulted off the bank and dove headfirst into the cool, dark depths.
CHAPTER FIVE—HOLLY
Holly covered her eyes and did her best to get her brain working. “Let me get this straight. He had what on his what?”
“He had a brand on his forearm, right here.” Garret pointed at his arm. “It was burned into the skin with threads of what looked an awful lot like an infection spreading through the muscle. It looked fresh to me.”
“And it was in the shape of a willow touching water?” Edwina asked.
Holly turned to the witch sitting next to her on the couch. “What does it mean?”
“It means he got branded by the Fair Dryad, obviously,” Johnny interjected from the love seat. “That’s what he said, and I think we can believe him. He ought to know where he got that mark if anyone does.”
“How could he possibly have gotten it from the Fair Dryad?” Keller fired back. “That’s impossible. The Fair Dryad is a kids’ fable.”
“Clearly not. He wouldn’t have mentioned it if he wasn’t pretty certain where the mark came from.” Johnny glanced up at Garret, who towered over him, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Isn’t that what he said? Why should we second-guess him?”
Wyatt cleared his throat from the dining table, where he listened to the exchange. “Um, excuse me, but does someone mind explaining what this whole Fair Dryad thing is all about? I’m not from around these parts.”
“It’s real simple.” Trevor sat forward in his chair—which turned out to be Pearl Smart’s old chair, the carved chair Johnny made for her. The friends had reconstructed it after using its carved back to defeat Augustine van Bell.
Trevor turned around and traced the exquisite figures of people, animals, flowers, and vines. He located a magnificent depiction of a beautiful female leaning over a still pool.
Willows and flowers draped the surface. The woman seemed to blend into a curved weeping willow. Her arms and figures so closely matched the swoop of the branches that she almost rose out of the tree itself. Her little fingertip grazed the water and made a circular ripple.
Holly gazed at it holding her breath. “It’s beautiful—magical. What does it mean?”
“The Fair Dryad was a Muse who fell in love with a bear shifter,” Trevor told her. “He visited her pool every day and tried to get her to use her magic to further his own aims.”
“That’s what the story says,” Keller cut in. “We don’t know if it’s true.”
Trevor ignored him. “The problem was that he was firstborn of his clan, and he fell in love with the maiden.”
“The first maiden?” Holly asked. “Phaedra Glint?”
“We don’t know who it was because the story doesn’t name her. It only says the maiden.”
“Which means that it could be anyone,” Keller added. “It’s just a story that means nothing.”
“Except that Loch is gone,” Garret cut in, “which means that it definitely means something. We just don’t know what.”
Holly turned back to Trevor. “So what happened?”
“Our shifter hero wanted the Fair Dryad to use her power to make the maiden choose him as King. The Fair Dryad, being the jealous type, tricked him into promising to pay her