"Wake up, Flametail."

I jolted awake—then immediately had to close my eyes again as the sun's rays hit me without warning.

That was when I smelled it. Blood. Blood and meat.

A carcass of some small animal greeted me when I reopened my eyes. I didn't know what kind. It was maimed beyond recognition and I didn't wait long enough to try and discern its species. I was upon it in a matter of seconds.

"So, this is where you wandered off to."

I paid the voice little heed as I filled my mouth, and then my stomach, with the warm, gooey insides. My body was practically on autopilot as I ripped free chunks and chewed and swallowed. Only after the body was little more than skin and bones did I have the presence of mind to examine my surroundings.

            It wasn't the hill in the park, or the abandoned ticket booth. I was standing in a patch of grass near a road. One look of the yellow and brown houses and I knew I was no longer dreaming. No way would I ever dream about this neighborhood when living in it was like a living nightmare.

"You are fortunate I found you when I did. My lady was but mere moments away from reporting your disappearance to the Community. No doubt they would have sent the Hunter after you, before long."

Hornroot was situated in a nearby tree, looking down on me sternly with his yellow eyes—as he is want to do from time to every other time. I pawed at my eyes, as best as I could manage, before meeting his gaze with a mighty fine disinterested one of my own.

"Well, gee, Horny, thanks ever so much. Don't know where I'd be without ya."

Again, I wasn't so sure if he could hear the sarcasm I tried to lace out in my thought-out words, but I did enjoy how he seemed to pause as his feathers bristled. He squinted his eyelids and I could swear the owl was leering at me.

"I had forgotten you could speak now," he finally admitted, before taking off into the air and landing beside me on the patch of grass. "While your attitude still needs some adjustment, the timing is fortunate. My lady has a task for us."

Whatever other sarcastic reply I had planned fell away almost at once. Did he mean I would get to do something other than eat and sleep? I got up from the ground to better show my interest. In response, Hornroot took off into the air again.

"Come," he said, flying in—where I assumed—the direction of the Lady's house was. "Time is short. We will discuss along the way."

With an exaggerated grunt, I got my legs moving after the over-sized bird. I considered thanking him for the food, but then imagined several, in-character, smug responses from him and thought better of it.

...

Few words were exchanged between Hornroot and the Lady. I did take note of the way she grabbed his elbow after changing him, but otherwise we parted ways with little event.

I didn't see my Master once that morning—not that I minded. Whether it was because of my presence or not, she spent most of her time up in her room—'studying', as Hornroot put it. Studying for what, I could only guess. Did witches still go to normal school?

Well, whatever. It wasn't my concern. If it meant that I'd be seeing less of her, then it was fine by me.

"In short, we are going into a nearby city to speak with a free witch in order to ascertain where her allegiance lies."

Once again, Horny's grainy voice interrupted my train of thought. I considered continuing my glib treatment of my fellow familiar, but decided against it in favor of acting interested in this 'task'. If the owl wasn't just being glib with me, then there would be a lot more 'tasks' coming my way if I did this one well. And, even if it was in service to other witches, it was still miles better than moping around feeling sorry for myself.

So, in that regard, I decided to give my two cents on this new information. "If she's a free witch, then doesn't that mean she doesn't have an allegiance?"

Good, good, I thought to myself (hoping this part wouldn't be translated to something Horny could understand). I knew the old bird would get right into explaining how I was wrong—but, at the same time, my little quip should show him that I had learned something from Fawn's teachings.

"Normally, yes," Hornroot responded as he gave a little approving nod. He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead as he continued. "But this witch is a special case. Sonya Whitfield—or 'Son', as she prefers to be called—is a free witch who works indirectly for the Community. The city she operates in holds the highest density of people per capita in the entirety of the territory that Wildwood oversees."

I was already finding it hard to pretend to be interested. I even had to stifle a small yawn that was building. But, like the ever loyal servant, I pressed forward. "Isn't it the Stalwarts job to oversee the people and witches in the community?"

"Yes, it is," Hornroot agreed. I tried to ignore the impressed tone he somehow inflected his words with. "But this community is far too large for one Knower—even one with Knowledge such as his."

"Doesn't exactly help that he isn't very good at his job."

Again, Hornroot nodded. "So, you saw how he acted with my Lady. Good." He shot a yellow eye in my direction as he maneuvered the car around a bend in the road. "Then you needn't be surprised that the Community was in desperate need for aide in keeping the know-nothing population in check. Son had pledged her allegiance to this cause, in return for complete freedom with how she chose to keep her end of the deal."

That caught my attention. "Well that's just a problem waiting to happen. So, what, she's gone 'too far' and now the Community is sending us in to clean up their mess?"

Hornroot clenched his jaw, but still did not take his eyes off the road. "No. Nothing Son has done—the drug trafficking, prostitution, or murdering—has given the Community cause for concern. If Son has kept with her end of our arrangement, none of them should even know we are approaching her."

It was starting to fit it all into place, but there was still one missing piece. I waited for Hornroot to supply it, but he didn't seem inclined to. Not until I asked.

"Hornroot, what are we doing?"

"We are determining how strong Son feels in regards to her allegiance with the Community and, if possible, if she could be persuaded to betray them."

"That...is absolutely insane."

I didn't really have any better way to put it. I didn't know much about the Community of Wildwood, but what I did know didn't exactly make me want to go making enemies out of them. Witches who could make you lose your memory, who could look like anyone, who could age you drastically with just a touch. Fawn technically counted amongst them and I knew, from personal experience, she could easily beat me—and my friends—in a fight, even if we all tried to attack her at once. The crippled and broken-minded version of her I had first met those two years ago was nothing compared to the Fawn I now called my teacher.

Plus, there was Mary. Even if I was forced to—

Mary. Ash. My dreams. The pills. The plan. To reunite with my friends in our dreams. It all suddenly started to flood back into me. My dream self had finally caught up with my awake self...or something like that.

Ash had said she would help, but I didn't even know where to start—

"My lady feels it is necessary," Hornroot went on, cutting through my thoughts yet again. Though, little did I know, he was about to drop a bomb. "But we are arriving at the city and there is something you need to know before we meet with Son."

I didn't like how he waited again for me to ask. It was almost as if he didn't want to tell me, even though he more than likely was ordered to. "And that is?"

"You've met Son once before, only you did not know her name at the time." Hornroot then turned his full attention to me, even though he was still driving. "She was one of the witches who received a familiar."

It took me less than a nanosecond to go through the process of elimination. Not the Stalwart, not the Madame, and not Maple.

Son was Stallion's Master.

...

*Author's Note*

A pretty short chapter this go around, but maybe it's a nice break from the big chapter and bonus chapter we had last week. Either way, serious shenanigans are going down and you guys won't want to miss the next chapter. It's gonna be a doozy.