I moved from one home to the next, peering inside each one, but as I circled the glade, worry nagged at me.
“Where are the fairies?” I asked.
“Has the magic affected them?” Rolf asked.
“I’m sure it has, but they couldn’t possibly all be dead, could they?”
“Oi!” Brodnik called from the center of the glade. “Over here!”
We followed the sound of his voice until we found him standing in the center of the flower forest.
I stopped, shocked at the gory scene that lay before me.
Dead fairies lay in a heap on the trampled ground. Their chests had been ripped open. In horror, I realized their hearts had been removed. My stomach sickened, and I stumbled back into the flower forest.
Rolf and Brodnik inspected the scene closer, but I stayed away and instead reentered the flower forest, trying to keep from heaving. Sweat broke out over my skin. Dizziness overtook me, and I collapsed to the ground before I fell.
The death of any fae creature was a tragedy, but fellow magic users felt the loss acutely. It was a deep, raw pain that tore at the soul. The feeling was hard to describe—it was an emptiness, a rawness that felt as if it would never heal. Tears misted my eyes, and I gulped in deep breaths to keep my composure. I’d been trained to help others deal with loss, but in medical school, they didn’t teach classes on coping with the loss of magical creatures.
Fairies were arguably the most magical creatures on the planet, and they only ever used their magic for healing or nature spells. I’d never in all my life heard of fairies dying in such a sadistic manner.
I shut my eyes tight, trying to get the horrific image out of my head.
Rolf and Brodnik returned. They stood several feet away from me, looking at me with guarded eyes. Neither of them thought to offer any encouraging words, but I didn’t expect them to. If Kull were here, he’d know what to say. He’d know how to fill that awful, empty void growing like a cancer in the pit of my stomach.
Kull, where are you?
“They didn’t die a natural death,” Brodnik said, “although I suppose that’s obvious. There is an evil at work on this island. I fear that if we do not leave soon, we may become part of the slaughter. We must make haste back to camp immediately.”
“Can I help you stand?” Rolf asked me.
I shook my head. “There’s no need,” I answered and limped upright.
As we made our way back to the beach, the quietness of the forest was overwhelming. There were no crickets or birds, no sounds at all except for our own footsteps.
We stepped onto the beach once again.
Someone walked toward us.
Focusing, I realized it was my father wandering along the shore. As he drew closer, I noticed his shoes were missing and his clothing was torn. The blank, hollow stare in his eyes made me run to him. Rolf and Brodnik followed.
“Olive,” my father said as his haunted eyes met mine. “Your mother,” he whispered hoarsely, “she’s here.”
“What?”
He gasped for air. “Help me!” he said right before he collapsed.
“Father!” I knelt beside my dad as he lay in a heap on the beach. He stared overhead with wide eyes. His lips were cracked, and dark blood was drying on his hands and face. I almost didn’t recognize him.
Rolf and Brodnik knelt beside me.
“Kasandra.” Father said my mom’s name in a hushed whisper. “She was here. I saw her.”
“Are you sure?”
“I—I don’t know.” He rubbed his forehead where I noticed a small gash. “Please, help me.”
“Let’s get him to the camp,” Brodnik said.
The two men took my father between them and carried him down the beach until we spotted the fire. Someone had stoked the wood, and the flames burned large and bright once again. I found a blanket and spread it out over the sand. The two Wults placed my father on the blanket. Rolf pulled off his canteen and offered it to my father, who took a small sip.
I inspected my father’s head wound. It wasn’t a large gash, but it looked deep, like a puncture from a blade or claw. I used my handkerchief and some of the canteen’s water to clean the cut. Luckily, it had stopped bleeding.
“How did you get this?” I asked him.
He shook his head.
“Father,” I repeated, “how did you get it?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he motioned for the canteen. After a few more sips of water, he seemed to focus. “In the forest,” he finally answered. “I thought I saw your mother. She led me deep into the jungle. I tripped and cut my head on one of those cursed thorns. I blacked out after that. I don’t remember coming back to the beach.”
“But how is that possible? How could you have seen Mom here?”
“I don’t know. I don’t understand it. But I do know that I saw her.”
“Did you speak to her?”
“I tried to. She never answered me.” He turned away, and his voice grew quiet. “She hasn’t changed, has she?”
I squeezed his hand. Everything about this situation was weird. “No, she hasn’t changed. Most people think we’re sisters.”
He nodded. “I think I should rest now.”
“Yes, I agree.”
I tried to stand when he caught my hand. “If you see her, please tell me.”
“I will.”
He nodded, seeming satisfied, and closed his eyes.
I didn’t understand how my mom could be on this island. She had no way of traveling here. And how would she have found it in the first place? It made no sense.
It did, however, make sense that he was being afflicted with the same hallucinations that Kull and Ket had experienced while on the ship. For my father to be having such vivid hallucinations now meant the magical malady was growing more potent.
This wasn’t good. Everything about this island gave me the creeps. The quicker we could find where to
