“What about your lands, the plains of the fauns and centaurs?” asked Prince Damron. “Might your parents and tribe leaders be wise to consult in such a matter? They may have knowledge we do not.” Hoxley blinked and slightly cocked her head to one side as she considered the suggestion.

  “The idea has merit.” she said. “The only drawback is that the plains lie due south of the eastern kingdom. That puts us closer to the stronghold of the people we mean to evade. In all honesty I have no plan of my own so I must propose the idea to the group to consider. It is them who must walk the distance and put themselves closer to danger.

  “What about the other witches from Spellvale?” asked Morell. “Might we find shelter with Ignatius, Robert and Siouxsie’s people?”

  “The witches have abandoned Spellvale to head south to the caves.” Said Robert.

  “But that could be a solution.” added Atticus. “In times of being outnumbered, using the lay of the land to one’s advantage is key to fighting. The openings to the caves are small and would be easy to defend. Two or three fire slingers such as yourself could stop a hundred soldiers when they try to bunch together.”

  “A fine plan!” said Loxo “Let us consult the witchfolk that we might drink of their knowledge and fine wine! Witches and pirates are cousins you know. We should all be graciously welcomed!” Ignatius rolled his eyes but seemed convincible.

  “The pirate and soldier have sound advice.” Nodded the witch. “If we can manage to slip past the patrols and reached the southern caves, our elders might have news and knowledge we do not. They may even have a solution to all this catastrophe! It’s been a long night for this pair and we’ve quite a jaunt ahead of us. Let’s get just a little rest and we’ll set out before dawn.”

  “Has anyone a better plan or objection to voice?” asked Hoxley. Nods to the negative washed through the group like a wave. “Then it’s decided.” She thumped her spear upon the ground. “We’ll seek the wisdom of the witches in the caves south of Spellvale. Gather your things and get a light rest. We’ll depart just before first light. The woods to the east should provide excellent concealment if we stay away from the roads and trails.” Morell grunted with discomfort as he poked and prodded at the red skin where the acid had touched him. “Does anyone have a remedy for Morell’s pain?” she asked.

  “In the few cases where we’ve come into contact with such things…” Ignatius said as he got to his feet while cradling his sister. “We’ve found that pouring milk over the burn can help to neutralize the effects of acid.”

  “Where are we to find a farm nearby where milk could be found?” asked Atticus.

  “What about Hoxley?” asked the prince.

  “What about me? She asked.

  “Couldn’t you…?” the prince stammered. “Give him some of your milk?” Hoxley’s eyes almost crossed with shock.

  “Do…do you think I’m a cow?” she asked, a little agitated as she waved her spear about to showcase the form of her back half. “Does this look like a cow to you?”

  “No, you’re a faun but I was thinking…you would have… um… milking parts.” Robert watched it all unfold. When the building glee in his chest could be contained no more it erupted in the loudest, rudest laughter ever expelled.

  “Ha!” The witch guffawed as he pointed at the boy. “The dimwit thinks fauns have bovine udders!”

  “Robert!” Ignatius chided him.

  “Your highness,” Hoxley continued. “I assure you I’m quite lacking in the ‘milking parts’ you’re referring to.”

  “I milked a bull once.” offered Loxo.

  “Did you?” asked Robert with some surprise.

  “No, he didn’t!” Interjected Hoxley with a tight-lipped scowl.

  “As a matter of a fact I did!” the pirate said with his hands on his hips. “I’ll have you know it was about ten summers ago and I, being a precocious young lad, had already found the pleasures of wine, and after being convinced by my uncle to accomplish such a task, I set out….”

  “Loxo!” Hoxley shouted as she pointed her long spear at his face and stomped an angry hoof. “You are not to add one more word of whatever grimy story is about to jump off that tongue of yours or so help me I will remove it!”

  “Fine.” The pirate accepted with a deflated tone as he looked to Robert. “I was…making a joke.”

  “Now then!” said Hoxley as she reached back into her saddlebags for an item within. “We have no milk to ease Morell’s pain, but I believe I have a little bit of healing save which may help with the irritation. In the meantime, I suggest we get one last bit of rest before we start off again. If Siouxsie’s lightshow has attracted the attention of Lord Baltus’ soldiers it would be unsafe to linger here for too long.” Everyone gathered their things and went back inside the ruins of the temple and Ignatius took care to build Siouxsie’s hammock for her before delicately placing her within it. She shivered a bit from the cold night air and Robert removed his own cloak and hat to lay over her.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “I’ll not have my sister walking about without a proper cloak and hat.” He said. The twin then wrapped his white blanket about himself and leapt into his own web of belts to sleep. Once there, he extinguished the glowing gel. Meanwhile, Morell sat patiently with his arms crossed while Hoxley used a few fingers to apply a gooey slime to the red areas on his skin. It stung terribly but he summoned the courage to grit his teeth and tried not to let the pain show.

  “What is this?” he snorted. “It smells terrible!”

  “It’s a planet extract.” She said. “It reeks terribly for which I’m sorry, but it should aid with your burns.”

  “Should or will?” he asked.

  “Should, I hope. I once burned my hand on a campfire and Siouxsie gave me some of this to aid with the sting. How is your ankle?”

  “It hurts less now that Ignatius used his wind magic upon it.”

  “Good. We set out before first light so you’ll have to do the best you can. Get as much sleep as you can. It’ll be time to leave before you know it.”

  “Will Siouxsie be alright?” he asked.

  “Yes, I should think so. She may have overreached her ability by casting that last spell. From what I can see, she may need more time to recover before she’s her usual self again. Ignatius mentioned that it was a monstrous gel that cornered you. Do you know why such a strange creature would do such a thing? How did it lure you into the basement?”

  “It-it was…” he stuttered before falling silent.

  “It was a what?”

  “It …it changed its form to look like Siouxsie. I couldn’t tell it wasn’t her because it was so dark.”

  “What did it say to you to make you follow it away from the group?” she asked. Morell looked around to make sure no one was listening. No one was paying any attention as they prepared themselves for sleep. He motioned for her to come closer and he lowered his voice to a whisper.

  “It spoke like Siouxsie and it said it had a kiss for me. Don’t tell anyone.”

  “Such a strange thing, Morell.” She whispered back as not to embarrass him. “Only a few of us in the whole land know of your feelings for her. How could such a reprehensible creature we’ve never met before know such closely guarded sentiment?”

  “How many know?” he blurted.

  “Shhhh.” It doesn’t matter. Morell, I understand how you feel about her.” She said with a comforting hand upon his shoulder and a glance over that shoulder to look upon Ignatius stroking his sister’s hair as she slept. “But you have to be careful. Sometimes the heart can lead us astray and as much as we want to feel the whole entire world with our hearts, every now and then we have to pause and think about where our hearts may blindly be leading us so that we can stop and think about if it’s what’s truly best for us.”

  “I can’t help what I feel.” He said, hanging his head a little.

  “That’s the way it should be. Our hearts beat faster for some more than others. Whether you’re a land travelling boy or a spell casting witchly girl or something in-between…” she tapped the tip of her spear upon her right horn. “You have as much a right as anyone to feel what you feel for anyone you feel but in doing so you must be true to yourself and live for what’s best for you. Sometimes our hearts can lead us astray to follow fancy and fantasy when we should be keeping our sights on where our hooves are leading us. Sometimes we fall hard when we’re not paying attention. What’s more, sometimes our friends can’t always bail us out of trouble if we’ve gone too far off the path to follow our fantasy too far. You got lucky tonight that Siouxsie was able to get you out of there. I was certainly helpless to do anything. Perhaps I’m ranting. I suppose what I’m trying to say is that every day in every way you should follow your heart’s desire to reach its contentment. But don’t forget to keep your wits about you so that you can be the best you that you can be to continue following whatever or whomever your heart desires for as long as it desires it. If it’s a witchly girl you desire, be the kind of person a witchly girl would be proud to choose as her own. You have to be comfortable being yourself by yourself first before you’re truly ready to invite someone to join you. You’re not half a person without the other half, Morell. You’re always whole, being everything that you already were and are. And sometimes, people come into our lives that make us want to share everything we are and love with them so that they feel comfortable enough to share with us everything that they are and everything they love in return. It’s in that time that those two wholes…kind of…join.”

  “What happens then?” he asked.