Delilah rode up beside me. The path was wide enough, though it wouldn’t have handled three abreast. She let out a long breath. “Now I understand why Father warned us against this place. We’ve been on some odd journeys before, but I’ve never felt any place quite as…alive…as this woodland. It makes Panther want to come out and play, and it makes Tabby want to run for her life.”
“I understand. I was just thinking about how Thistlewyd Deep is one gigantic organism. We’ve become part of it simply by crossing the borders.” I glanced up at the sun. “We’re halfway to noon, I think—” I stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can you hear that?” I could hear the faintest of voices, riding the wind like distant chimes. Closing my eyes for a moment, I let Annabelle lead the way. But a sudden jerk jolted me out of my thoughts. My eyes flying open, I saw that Delilah had grabbed hold of my reins. Annabelle was stopped in the middle of the path.
“What’s going on?” I glanced around. “Why did you stop me?”
“You were starting to veer off trail, that’s why. I can hear the voices too, they’re calling us.” Delilah shouted to Bran and Trillian, who backtracked. “You said there were kelpies near the Seven Grottoes. Are we near there?”
Bran glanced around, contemplating our surroundings, then nodded. “We are, actually. Just through those two bushes to the right lies the path into the ponds.”
I was about to say something when a loud noise crashed off to our left. Annabelle whinnied in fear, then bolted onto the path toward the Seven Grottoes. I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see two large creatures crashing through the forest directly toward our party, and they looked angry, mean, and hungry.
Chapter 11
I GRABBED THE reins, trying to calm Annabelle as we careened through the undergrowth, but she was on a one-way mission to put as much distance between us and those creatures as possible. I gave up trying to stop her and instead focused on holding on for dear life. While I had ridden horses in the past, I had never had any inclination to be a show jumper or any such thing.
Shouts from behind told me that a fight had ensued. I prayed that whatever those things were, they wouldn’t manage to damage anybody in the process. As for me, the last thing I was worried about was getting involved with them. Right now, I’d actually welcome it. Annabelle was careening around rocks and jumping over fallen logs, and I just held tight, trying to gather enough energy to project a calming aura, but it was hard to cast a spell when my main focus was on keeping my seat. I had the feeling if I fell off at this speed, I’d break something—quite possibly my neck. In fact, this was how my mother had died. That sobered me even further.
“Hush, hush, it’s okay.” My words were choppy thanks to the bumps and jolts that accompanied me. Ms. Camille’s Wild Ride, I thought. Toad had nuthin’ on me.
Then, the soft cadence of song hit me again. Oh great, we were nearing the ponds and the kelpies were singing. Annabelle responded, beginning to slow. I tried to ignore the summons. As soon as my horse was trotting instead of galloping full speed, I grabbed out a tissue from my pocket and tore it in two, stuffing the halves into my ears for makeshift earplugs. While it didn’t fully mute the singing, it distorted it enough to where I wasn’t totally entranced. I felt the pull, but was able to force my attention away from it.
I was finally able to gather up my energy. I needed to keep Annabelle from being lured in. Kelpies ate horses, as well as people. While I wasn’t sure of my ability to cast a spell to mute out their singing, there was nothing to do but give it a try. I focused my attention on the area around us.
Kelpie’s song and siren’s lure,
Fade into a general blur.
Silence those who would charm,
Keep them from doing harm.
As the magic shot out from me, every which way, there was a sudden burst of light ahead of us. I shielded my eyes from the flash. Great. What the hell had I done now? I cautiously opened my eyes as the flare faded away and I squinted, trying to see what was going on.
Holy fuck. The entire area ahead of us was one massive blur. I couldn’t quite see the path—couldn’t quite see the ponds that I knew were there. The copse rippled like a distorted wall. What on earth?
Annabelle whinnied, shaking her head as if she was just waking up. I also realized that, except for birdsong and the croaking of frogs, the forest ahead of us was silent. I had muted them, all right. Fade into a general blur. Crap, I had also blurred them too, whatever that meant. I wasn’t sure if the blurriness was an illusion or if I had somehow thrust them into a slightly different reality. As I sat there, cocking my head from one side to another as I puzzled over what had happened, a noise behind me shook me out of my thoughts.