Previously on LW:

Stuck in the fairy village in the forest, far away from the outpost they were initially meant to reach, Hailey and her friends struggle to organize themselves to fight an enemy much superior in number. While the Outlanders come closer, Aiden and Hailey have managed to talk to the mysterious whispers that surround the Great Tree and ask for help.

     Chapter 25

Around us, the branches of the trees circling the village stirred as if shaken by gusts of wind. Yet not even a breeze disturbed the still air. The ground shivered again. Roots crawled up like blind snakes seeking light, intertwining with those of neighboring trees. Branches reached out to each other, tangling into an impenetrable mess.

     "Wow, if trees did that all the time, it would be much easier for birds," Aiden commented. "They wouldn't even have to build nests."

     I was too stunned by the sight to acknowledge his comment.

    "This is what your hair looks like in the morning," Aiden whispered in my ear.

     "Hey!" I slapped him away, but he easily dogged my hand. "Way to ruin the moment."

     Aside from the quiet rumble of the trees, a hush had fallen upon the clearing. Everyone had stopped in their tracks and backed away from the phenomenon, their mouths open in silent shock.

     As branches knotted tighter, light, which was already dim, became scarcer. When the trees finally froze, a wall of woven wood surrounded the clearing. Greenish light filtered down from the thick canopy, casting strange shadows on the ground. The noises of the forest, the chirping, the scratching, the whistling, and the shuffling, reached us as if lifetimes away. I had the unsettling sensation of being cut off from the rest of the world, as if we were trapped in a huge, green bubble, underneath an old lake, lost in time.

      One by one, little dots of light appeared at the base of the Great Trees, fluttering up into the air. Fireflies. A shout of glee rang out, breaking the silence and prompting new ones.

     Chase landed next to me. "Did you... Am I imagining this?"

     Aiden laughed. "I know right? That was totally awesome." He held his hand up to me for a high five, to which I complied.

     "Do you really think we did this?" I asked.

     "Well, you heard the creepy voices. I annoyed them, you made peace with them, and they did their thing. Okay, so it was mostly them, but they couldn't have done it without us."

     Chase chuckled, but it was short lived. "This raises a whole new set of problems, though."

     Aiden's eyes widened. "You're right. How much food supplies do you think they have here?"

    The voice of the Elder One interrupted us. The whole clearing fell quiet again to listen. "Everyone, your attention please. I am speaking in English so that our guest may understand as well. As you have seen, the village's defenses have been raised. The trees will not let anyone of ill-intent through. A messenger has just been dispatched to inform those of us outside of the village of the development. Yes, if you are a fairy you can actually go through the branches. No, you really shouldn't. Kids, if you want to get into some mischief, come help make smoke bombs and sleeping darts. Sneaking out of the village is not adventurous, it's just plain stupid. Thank you for your attention."

       "Have the other tribes been warned?" Someone called out.

     "Yes. So has our friend in the mountain. Do not worry about them, but they do rely on our efficiency in making the forest safe from these invaders. Any more questions? No? All right. As you were."

     "Well," Chase nodded, "that solves a lot of possible issues already. Looks like we can even leave to get food, Aiden. Aiden?"

     I looked around. Aiden was flying a few yards away. "There. What is he doing?"

     We opened our own wings and caught up with him.

     "I can't see her anywhere." He chewed his lower lip.

     "Autumn!" I gasped when I realized the peculiarity of her absence. "I thought she was just calming the peryton or something, but I didn't think that-"

     "Hey!" Chase interrupted. "It's fine. She's safe."

     "Where is she?" Aiden asked. "I can't see her near Juno and Grey."

     "She's not in the clearing."

     "What?" Aiden and I gave strangled cries.

     "Chill. She's with Zarasa."

     "Oh, that's better," Aiden mocked. "I can see now that I had nothing to worry about. If she's in the company of that oversized, bipolar chicken, alone in this nice, friendly forest, we definitely should just chill out and not worry about her."

     Chase cuffed him in the back of the head, with a bit more force than necessary. "Aiden, you're my best friend, but if you insult Zarasa one more time, I will punch you. Also, you idiot, thanks for the trust. Obviously, I'm completely stupid and sent Autumn out to be killed."

     "Okay." I put a hand on each of their arms. "Why don't we land and talk this out? Chase, where exactly is Autumn?"

     We dropped to the ground. Chase sent a glare to a few curious fairies, who just rolled their eyes.

     "Autumn left an hour or so ago. She's going to the outpost to get backup. Zarasa is carrying her there and will protect her if needed."

     "You couldn't say so earlier?" Aiden threw his hands out.

     "Excuse me, I didn't want to interrupt your one-on-one time with a tree. Also, if you can believe it, I actually had stuff to do other than lounging on the grass."

     "Guys!" I snapped. "I get it. It's stressful, we're under attack, everybody needs sleep, and the only proper food we've had today was stupid fruit. Fighting isn't going to get us anywhere, though."

     "We're not fighting." Aiden held his hands up. "Just sharing information in a forceful manner. Now that I've been informed, I understand that Autumn is the only one of us who can read a map and thus was an obvious choice for this mission. Doesn't mean I wouldn't have liked to be in on it and wave her off, but still. I get it."

     "See? We're good." Chase turned to me.

     My lips twitched up. "Good. When will she get back?"

     "The outpost is safer than here, so I... strongly advised against coming back. Unfortunately, she's not a soldier, so I can't boss her around. She also hinted that while she respected my opinion, she wasn't going to listen to it."

     "So in conclusion?"

     "An hour? It depends how quickly the outpost can dispatch people to help us. The bulk of our armies is already occupied."

     His sentence was an unwelcome reminder to the situation outside the forest. If the king had seen the enemy army coming down to the forest, he would be getting even more worried about me. If he hadn't... Then it wasn't a good thing either, for us or for any citizen in nearby areas. I silently berated myself for the mess I had created.

     "Just out of curiosity... Are there a lot of people around the forest, near the northern border?"

     "Don't worry." Chase put a hand on my shoulder. "The citizens will be kept safe. If the Outlanders think they can use the forest as a shortcut into Aeolian land, they've got another thing coming."

        Still, his words didn't manage to reassure me completely.

     "While we're one the subject of our lovely neighbors," Aiden said, "where's Aric?"

     "Tied to a tree so he doesn't wander off." Chase looked towards the direction I supposed Aric was located. "There's no sign of his pet lizard. Avoid going to see him unless you want to trade place with his guard, though. He's not very happy with the job he's been given." He looked up. "Here's one of the messengers. Let's see what news he has of the outside world."

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Hi everyone!
Thank you so much for your patience these last few weeks!!
I only have one exam left to go, so this stressful time is almost over and I'll be able to go back to my regular updating schedule :) (and I'll also get to answering all your comments and messages!)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and by popular demand these cute little balls of fur came to wish you a good weekend:

What are you going to do on your days off? This little one is definitely gonna sleep in.