My head hurt.

Like, really, really bad.

How hard did William hit me? And for that matter, where are we now? If I wake up in some random place one more time, I might just scream.

"Where are we?" I wasn't even going to open my eyes. Maybe it could become a game. I could randomly guess my location, then someone could tell me.

Because this was just getting all too common.

When I got no answer, I repeated my question, still squeezing my eyes shut. When that got me no answer, I gave up and let myself see where I was.

It looked almost the same as before, just with no William and no evil-man-who-wasn't-evil.

There were trees as far as the eye could see. Just trees.

It was still.

So, I did what any sane person would do while in the middle of an abandoned forest where no one else was after being chased by things that want to kill them.

I shouted.

My head didn't appreciate that.

"Hey, William! Where are you?"

My only answer was a flurry of birds taking off from a tree.

I gulped down the lump in my throat. Everything was fine. No big deal. Will was just... getting food.

Oh, who was I kidding? He didn't eat and never thought about me eating. I was lost.

Dead girl walking.

I shook my head. "Shut up. You're not dead and you're not going to die. Hush and find William."

My legs listened.

I started walking--I don't know where, but I went. Every few minutes, I'd shout to see if anyone was near.

There wasn't an answer.

I flopped down. There wasn't as much snow as there had been in Dulcia and Arium. Blades of brown grass stuck out of the ground, spiking over most of the white slush.

I cleared my throat. One more yell. That was it. Then, I'd be on my own.

Please answer.

"William?" I shrieked. "William, where are you?"

Nothing but the sound of silence was my answer.

Tears pricked my eyes. There had to be someone. I couldn't be alone.

I'd never been alone.

My heart pounded in my chest. A tear slipped out from my eyes and slid, down, down my cheek and to the ground.

I stared at the spot it hit.

Get up. Stop being a baby and move. You don't have time to wimp out.

For the first time in what felt like forever, it was just me I heard in my head. No one else.

It was nice.

I pushed myself up and started moving. The only country that was often too warm to have snow was Luschon. Will must have been close.

My fingers brushed against the bark of a tree. It was smooth, unlike any tree I'd ever touched. I paused for a moment, staring at it.

Then a someone grabbed my shoulder.

I jumped back and yelped. Fire appeared in my hands before a thought entered my mind.

A pair of dark brown eyes widened to the size of saucers. The boy held up his hands in surrender, all the while screaming "It's me! It's me!"

My response was something like throwing myself onto him and wrapping my arms around his neck. "William!"

He let the hug go for about ten seconds, and right around the time I realized what the heck I was doing, then we both backed off fairly quickly. I looked him over. He was different. Still wood, but his eyes had changed. They were more human instead of painted.

The grimace he had before he smacked me--his face can't move.

Speaking of...

"What exactly did you do earlier?" Carefully, I touched the bump on top of my head. It still pounded. On the plus side, Rosinka hadn't opened her fat mouth recently.

He smirked.

I frowned. He shouldn't have been able to do that.

"Cognitive re-calibration." He poked my arm. "I hit you really hard on the head."

"How'd you know that would work?"

He shrugged. "I didn't."

Almost like he didn't realize it, his right hand darted up to just above his heart, where the gash was. In less than a second, he moved it away.

"Here," he sighed. He moved his hands to the top of my head and touched the bump.

Tears rose to my eyes. Every half-touch was painful, and now there was wood that scraped against it.

William closed his eyes, then opened them again. When he moved his hands, there was no pain.

"Better?"

I rubbed the spot. "What did you do? It's gone!"

There was no immediate answer. Will swayed slightly as a breeze blew past. He clenched his fists. "I healed you. Don't ask me to do again, because I can't."

"Why not?"

Not that I was planning on having to be healed anytime soon.

He gave me a 'shut up' look. "I think that was the last of my magic. I used it all moving you and Merlin."

"Merlin?"

As if to answer my question, the vampyre man appeared at William's side. I yelped and scrambled back, but didn't get ready to melt him to a puddle.

Merlin's reaction to me was the same as mine was to him, except he used Will as a human shield.

"Whoa!" William slid to the side. "She won't hurt you, Merlin."

The initial shock of someone appearing all of the sudden dwindled down. A twinge of anger replaced it.

I clenched my fists. "You sure about that, William?"

"Yes." He stuck his hand out, stopping me from moving, and all the while trying to keep vampyre-man out from behind him. He glared at me. "You won't hurt him. Let him speak."

I met his gaze and narrowed my eyes. There was no challenge though. I owed him enough.

With a huff, I waved my arms. "Fine. Talk."

Will shoved Merlin so he was close to me. The man squirmed. The wind blew his hair so some of it flew into his eyes.

I don't blame him. I'd have been scared of me too.

William touched his shoulder again. "Merlin is half-murae, half-human. I met him in Dulcia, at the castle, after my parents died." A spark of sorrow lit his eyes.

"How is he half?" I turned to Merlin. "How are you half?"

I wasn't expecting him to answer, but he did. His voice was soft and whispery, with each word gliding to the next like silk. "Power did not... uh... take hold all the way."

"You speak our language!"

Will punched me. "Of course he can. How do you think I've been talking to him?"

"You said that whole 'hashn' thing in Arium. I guessed you just knew it."

He planted his face in the palm of his hands, laughing. "He told me what it meant!"

"Oh." I started to grin. When Will lifted his head, he caught it and smiled back.

I turned back to Merlin. "Okay, so the murae-izing didn't work?"

He shook his head. "Left me half-human. I have same abilities muraes have, but age."

"How did you and William come across each other?"

"I left muraes. Leader has little control over me, so I left long time ago. Found small wooden boy in woods, decided to help."

"Oh." Somehow, there were no words to say what I was thinking. My gaze traveled down to the mur--to Merlin's side, where an inky black oil dripped from a slash at his ribs.

I pointed at it. "Is that from the muraes?"

He nodded. "I got Carrielle's cavalier. Was being followed."

William nodded as if to confirm what Merlin was saying. So, I wasn't going to get all fireball on Merlin anytime in the near future, but I still didn't trust him.

I bit my lip. "Fine. Let's go."

William started to go first but stopped. His knees started to give out.

Merlin caught him. "Prince?"

Prince?

I was too distracted by Will to ask. He held his arm to his shoulder, right where the gash was. Red painted the outside of the hole. Some of it went from paint-like to a liquid, where it dripped down onto the slush.

Will watched it with his mouth open slightly. He grabbed Merlin's shoulder and squeezed tightly enough that it looked like his fingers would touch.

"William?"

He met my eyes. "It's fine. I'm fine." He straightened, still holding onto Merlin's arm. "Repercussions from the magic earlier."

I stepped closer, holding my hand out so my fingertips barely brushed his chest. When I pulled away, my skin was red.

Blood.

I picked up some of the slush on the ground and used it to wet my fingers in a half-wash. Will watched me the entire time. 

"How are you bleeding? Wood doesn't..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say next. My breath hitched in my throat. "Wood doesn't bleed."

He nodded to Merlin, then took my moved his head to tell me to come. I did, still waiting for my answer.

A few minutes passed before William spoke again. When he did, his voice was sad and he didn't look at me. "Wood doesn't bleed, but humans do."

"You're turning back?"

He barely nodded.

Panic started to build up in my gut. Why, I don't know. I should've been happy he was becoming human again, but there were no good omens in what was happening.

"Is this my fault?" I asked. "Is it because you healed me? If it is, you can take it back." An idea hit me straight-on. "Or I could heal you!"

"No!" He stopped and held up his hands. "No, you can't. Healing transfers. What was wrong with you went over to me, which didn't affect me because--" He tapped his head, "--I'm still wood. If you were to try it on my though, I don't know what will happen."

We stopped moving. "Magic doesn't work like that, either," William continued. "What happens, happens. There is no taking it back."

"But--"

"Curly." William smiled a small smile. I know we both acted older than we were, but this time, he looked so much older than thirteen. "It's alright. We have a job to finish."

He let go of Merlin and took the lead. He wasn't even wobbling anymore.

We followed without a word.

_____________________________________

Yay! Another chapter!

Also, thank you FairytaleCommunity ! Their winter contest prompt was what inspired me to write this.

(I actually won something. (⊙＿⊙) That never happens 😂)