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Late into the following afternoon, Geryon understood what Valerie meant when she said he might find approaching her home uncomfortable.

The air was cloying and thick with magic, making it hard to breathe. The magic told him to turn around, but not in fear. No, more like it was telling him there was nothing for him here, that there was no need to go this way.

He even forgot why he was going through the forest, constantly shaking his head to rid himself of the dizzying haze. He found no relief.

More than once, his body turned away of its own volition. He even slowed, occasionally having to force himself to catch up. The only thing keeping his paws moving forward was Valerie and her sister, a beacon through the confusion.

He couldn’t look away, even for a second, or he would lose them. He couldn’t smell them over the magic, and their voices were distant, no matter how close he got.

I smell dozens of different magical essences. It was as though he was walking into an area heavily filled with Witches. He feared she was luring him to his death with just the number of different energies hitting his senses.

He knew she wasn’t.She warned me.It was good she had. He may not have tolerated it if he didn’t have prior knowledge. He would have just picked them both up and fled with them in his hands.

It was a brilliant defence. She said they’d managed to live here for centuries. With so many kinds of spells and wards in place, telling him different reasons why he didn’t want to go this way, it was no wonder they felt protected.

It eventually lifted, right before they came to a large clearing with a cute stone-and-wood cottage in the centre. There was a chimney, but the smoke he could smell was softer, near clear, as though to hide it from a distance.

There was glamour above it where the trees were, but this tree in particular shading them looked far too tall in comparison to the others surrounding it.

They must have an illusion in place so it cannot be seen from above.How else would Dragons have missed it?

He was thankful the ring of spells and magic had lifted, so he could focus without his thoughts being pulled astray. It was like they were in the eye of a storm.

Making himself comfortable by laying across a branch, he stuck his head through the leaves so he could watch while remaining hidden.

“Mamma!” Kaeylyn shouted, accidentally yanking on Valerie’s arm when she ran towards the house.

A woman hanging out washing turned her head. Her hair was white with subtle streaks of red, and her skin was tanned with freckles dotting her shoulders and face. She looked more like the child than Valerie, who seemed to look nothing like either of them.

“Kaeylyn?” she gasped, before hiking up her dress so she could run as well. “Kaeylyn!”

With obvious relief and happiness written on her face, she met the child in the middle of the clearing and scooped her into her arms. She even began to cry.

Geryon frowned at Valerie, who stopped moving just past the trees, like she didn’t want to step closer.Why isn’t she joining them?

At the commotion, two other women appeared.

A girl with blonde hair and pale skin walked out of the house cautiously. The younger one that followed nearly pushed her over and stumbled as she ran down the pebble walkway. She had darker skin than the rest, and her long brown hair fluttered behind her head.

They all smell similar.He examined all their differences as he thought,Do they have different fathers?

“I was so worried about you, my dear little Kae.”

Their mother was much older than the rest of them. Geryon could tell she was near the end of her life cycle for a Witch.

There were tears, lots of hugging, but none of it involved Valerie, who stood off to the side.

“Aldora, take her inside.” She turned her head to the blonde as she pushed Kaeylyn towards her. “Feed her well and give her a bath.”

The pale one, who he guessed was Aldora, nodded, but glared in Valerie’s direction. She even turned her nose up at her before taking Kaeylyn’s hand. He figured the other woman was her sister Carwyn, and her eyes crinkled like she felt sorry for Valerie before she took Kaeylyn’s other hand.

Geryon didn’t understand why they weren’t embracing her as well.She brought their sister home. I expected to see a grand reunion.

Once they were gone, their mother approached Valerie.

“You brought your sister home, Valerie. I knew you would, I knew you would save her.” There was a spark in her face. It was easy to see the gratitude in it, the relief.

“Yes. I could not bear to know she was taken.”