Someone placed a hand on my shoulder as all became still once more, and when I turned around, Vanessa was staring at me in a way she never looked at me before.
“Cole… thank you,” she whispered with trembling lips. “Y-You saved my life.”
“Of course.” I nodded. “We need you, Vanessa. I’d never let anything happen to you.”
“Still… thank you,” she repeated after a pregnant silence, and it took her a long moment before she pulled her hand away from my shoulder and then cleared her throat. “Well, Cole, why don’t you use those extraordinary powers of yours to get us out of these fucking woods once and for all?”
Chapter 4
A rich orange sunset washed over us when we reached the outskirts of the colorful, holy woodland, and I could see the borders of the sea-stone kingdom from where I stood. Then a cool breeze swept past my face and pushed back my hair, and I took in a deep breath and briefly closed my eyes as I enjoyed this one peaceful moment. I was utterly exhausted, and I knew there was no point heading toward the sea-creature infested realm when dusk was quickly approaching. Besides, we hadn’t agreed on a plan on how to sneak into the kingdom, so I abruptly stopped in my tracks and turned to face the others.
“Let’s make camp here,” I ordered, and before Vanessa could argue, I shot her a small frown. “There’s plenty of space to set up tents, and it will be safer to travel by morning light. Trust me, Professor. I know what I’m saying.”
“I suppose you’re right, Cole,” she sighed after a long silence, and I could see the surprise in everyone’s eyes as she wordlessly hopped off her elk and rolled up her sleeves. Then she began to set up two tents on opposite sides of each other before flashing me a tight smile. “There… that should be enough distance between us. Hopefully, I won’t hear anything that will disturb my sleep, for once.”
“Let’s make a small fire before night falls,” I said as I ignored her comment and then turned to look at Alexander and the other familiars. “Go hunt for your meals and then bring us back something. We’ll need something in our bellies before we go to sleep.”
Yes, Cole, Alexander replied in my head before he took off, and the others followed after him either by flight or foot or, in Ursula’s case, slithered. We won’t head too far.
“Good,” I said before they all disappeared from view.
“Gather the wood,” Vanessa ordered, and we swiftly obeyed her command.
I knew everyone was exhausted and weary from the fight and the journey through the woods, and the air was filled with thick tension as the professor watched us all with steady eyes. I felt her unwavering gaze fixated on me and turned to look at her, but when our eyes met, she didn’t look away or even scowl like she usually did. It was a peculiar minute, and I wondered what she thought as she gazed into my eyes.
Then Circe broke the unusual moment with one of her random questions.
“Do any of you reckon your familiars will change any more?” she asked with a pale, arched eyebrow. “I mean… how do you know when they’ve fully stopped growing?”
“You just know,” Vanessa muttered, and her bright blue eyes turned to look at the blonde Wicca. “You still don’t remember your familiar from your past life?”
“No,” the serpentine witch said as she shook her head, “but maybe someday I will.”
“It’s possible,” the professor sighed before she sat down against a tree and folded her arms across her chest. “You’ve cast ancient spells from out of nowhere, so I’m sure the memory will return to you someday.”
“I think we’re powerful enough now to create our own familiars,” Marina said as she stared at Circe and then at Vanessa. “Once we return to Scholomance, that is.”
“You mean if we return,” Vanessa whispered as she stared down at her feet. “As you all saw, I nearly died today. Even I cannot predict what the future solidly holds for us.”
“You’d be safer if you were a part of the pact,” Circe said in a perky voice, and Vanessa’s eyes instantly turned ice cold.
“I’m not even going to respond to that, Miss Circe,” the professor snarled as she shifted uncomfortably on the ground. “It’s not an appropriate question.”
“But it wasn’t even a question, it was a state--” the blonde witch continued, but I raised my hand and shook my head.
“Let it go, Circe,” I said in a firm but gentle tone.
“Yes, master,” she replied before continuing to quietly pick up scattered bits of wood.
Once we gathered enough logs and sticks to make a decent fire, Vanessa pulled out her wand and aimed it at the small pyre we put together.
“Illuminana,” she said in a tired voice.
A ball of fire spurted from the tip of her wand and lit the wood up, and as we gathered around in a circle, we warmed our hands by the fire and sat in silence for a moment or two. No one said a word until we heard a sudden rustling of leaves, and we breathed a sigh of relief in unison when we realized
