Page 72 of Finding Her (Lore of the Fields #1)

Once I’d notified Mykie of Faeryn’s disappearance, we were on the move.

I checked the pub while she checked the school.

They were the only two places we thought might feel familiar and safe for my Little Fae to run to.

When we met up at the town fountain, Mykie informed me there were tire tracks left in the grass behind the school, disappearing onto the road that led North.

We had to assume the worst; that Faeryn had been abducted again.

Ragen was stationed at my home in case Faeryn turned up, and Mykie and I were going to invade Tesilvis Forest on a gut suspicion that she had been carted back to the closest factory.

Once I had Faeryn safely out, I would burn the facility to the ground so there was no chance she would ever find herself there again.

Mykie had convinced me that bringing my Silvates was a bad idea, we would likely have to leave them in the forest while we tried to locate Faeryn and break her out.

Not only did the idea of my beloved pets being eaten by beasts make my stomach uneasy, but it would leave us stranded in enemy territory.

Mykie assured me she could get a vehicle from her company resources, but the later she was, the more I worried that idea hadn’t gone over well with the higher-ups.

This was a personal rescue mission, and it had high odds of ending poorly.

I pulled at the fabric that clung to my body uncomfortably.

The black-matte patterned uniform of her organization was designed to be thick, protective, and snag-resistant.

As a result, it was suffocatingly tight and hugged every crease of my body.

I felt nearly indecent when I looked down at the bulge between my hips, but I knew they’d serve me well in the gnarled, dense woods.

The wide hood of a dark van appeared over the horizon. I tensed for a moment; a vehicle was never a good sign. I reminded myself it was just Mykie. The van slowed to a stop in front of me, and a tinted window rolled down.

“They actually gave you one?” I asked, stepping to the passenger side.

“That would imply I made a formal request.” We jolted forward the moment I was seated and the door slammed shut. “No time to deal with the bureaucracy.”

“If you lose your job over this, I’ll find a way to help.” I pulled on the security belt, mostly certain I was using it correctly. “You can have the house when I get Faeryn safely away from the Western Continent. I’m sure between you and me, we can pay it off.”

She laughed. “If I lose my job it’ll probably be a blessing. I’m getting old, anyway.” I knew that was her way of telling me to stop worrying about her. Mykie was in her prime.

There was a strange square in the middle of the car’s driving mechanisms. It housed an illuminated map on it, with a tiny depiction of the vehicle moving along a representation of the road.

It was a degree of technology I hadn’t known was possible, and it only made my stomach turn.

Scientists had developed so much that remained unknown and inaccessible to the general population.

I could only imagine what would be possible for our society with these tools available to the masses.

“Have you driven before?” I asked, noticing the ease with which she rounded sharp curves. Had we been in a carriage, the wheels would have certainly lifted on one side.

“It’s part of our initial training and maintaining licensure annually,” she said matter-of-factly.

I always thought that the inside of a car would be like that of a carriage.

Not so, apparently. There were so many buttons .

I couldn’t imagine knowing what each one did and how to use it in the correct situation on a moment’s notice.

Many of the symbols were standard, but their purpose unknown to me: +, - , , , H, C.

I was relieved Mykie was willing to go on this death mission with me, I wouldn’t trust myself to operate the machine, especially with Faeryn inside of it.

The vehicle was slower than my Silvates.

It took us about twenty-five hours to get to Faeryn before, from midday to near star rise.

At this rate, we wouldn’t make it to Tesilvis for more than a full day.

It was either beating the clock or having a reliable escape route.

I just hoped we were making the right call.

“Do you have a plan?” I watched the stars rise over the horizon and sat back into the seat that conformed to the shape of my torso. I didn’t like the padding behind my neck, it didn’t fit the curve of my spine.

“I have some tools that can measure the magnetic force of an area.” She jutted her thumb to the seats behind us, where two bags sat. “I guess that’s the unintended benefit of building their factories on the fields of the goddesses they steal. They’re easy to track down once you know where to look.”

I scowled. Those fields were sacred ground.

They were intended to provide for those who needed them, not be leeched upon by corporations serving the wealthy.

Was there a goddess who’d been born of that Tesilvis Forest field?

Did she know what had become of her homeland?

I couldn’t fathom somebody defiling Faeryn’s honeysuckle field.

Even with amnesia, she was so intimately connected to it that I knew she’d feel that pain in her core.

She had once told me she saw that field as her true mother, and that her life didn’t truly start until she stepped within its boundaries.

“You alright, Gray?” Mykie peered at me from the corner of her eye, head still trained forward on the road.

“No,” I replied honestly. “But I will be.” As soon as I held Faeryn again in her field of rebirth.

We would go immediately. This time, we’d establish a home there, just on the border, so I could still provide fire nearby during the cool autumns.

The thought of it soothed my frantic heart, I felt my shoulders relax slightly. My love and I, in her field. Safe.

The day I met Faeryn had been the most surreal of my life.

I was taking a vacation on the island, indulging in my culture and the marvel of nature.

That means I spent a glorious amount of time exploring the land on dragonback.

On this particular morning, I found myself unusually far inland.

My stomach was growling, so I’d stopped to forage for berries and bask in the peace of the untouched wilderness.

I thought I’d lost my mind when I saw the curved figure of a nude woman bounding towards me, waving enthusiastically.

My world tilted onto a new axis. The fruits in my hands fell to the grass.

I averted my eyes from her ample breasts that bounced as she trotted to my dropped berries and apologized for startling me.

Respectfully, my eyes remained trained on the sky when she bent over to pick up my bounty.

She was young. We both were. I had never seen golden hair like hers, she told me it was called “ blonde ”. I wasn’t sure she was in her right mind—running around isolated woods naked and all—but found myself enthusiastic to join her madness.

I took that strange woman back to my campsite and asked her questions until I thought her voice might give out, mostly about this strange planet called Earth.

She refused meat, it would make her sick, she said.

When I asked about her species and true form, she motioned vaguely at her body and told me that was it.

I was shocked. Wouldn’t she be completely defenseless in this world?

Thankfully, the dragons hadn’t identified her as a meal.

If she had a place on the food chain, it would be at the bottom.

Hearing about a new species called “ Human ” was odd, but I could accept it.

The stories that followed about her past, on the other hand, were unbelievable.

In the most unenthused tone possible, Faeryn told me she was the daughter of a goddess.

I didn’t believe in folklore or religion, but found myself prepared to worship anything tangential to her existence.

She was divine. Seraphic. Bewitching. She asked me about my knowledge of the gods, and I shared the stories I knew from childhood.

Once I was back home I would make an effort to learn all of the native Trebianna fairytales I could to share with her in return.

Leaving Faeryn on that island after a few days of paradise was torture.

I returned almost immediately and asked if she would move to the Western Continent with me.

Miraculously, she not only agreed, but she was enthusiastic.

I gave her clothing, assured her we could return to the island whenever she wanted, and brought her back to Virylan.

Soon, we were married. I had no clue the selfish invitation to join my society would seal her fate.

By the time I saw the writing on the walls, it was too late.

“Graysen!” Mykie snapped.

“What?” I jerked my head around, looking for a potential threat. “What’s wrong?”

“You were pretty zoned out. I thought you might be asleep.” She adjusted her grip on the steering wheel. “We’re almost there, about to enter monster territory. I need you ready for trouble.”

“Sorry, I’m good.” I ran my fingers through my hair and blinked rapidly. My body hadn’t known sleep for days.

Right. It was a big world with a variety of apex predators who were yet to evolve to a state of personhood.

I didn’t know much about the species found in remote wildernesses; it was a level of taboo survivalism I avoided while a nomad.

These regions were purposely kept off the radar of the general populace, lest we be forced to see what we had evolved from.

Threads of natural superiority were still woven into the tapestry of “ Redeveloped” species.

The wildernesses where our history resided were meant to be forgotten.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I certainly heard the beasts as I drove through the woods that night. My Silvates had cried out in objection many times, and I knew if we stopped for much longer than it would take to grab Faeryn, we would be overpowered.

Night had fallen during my unintentional doze, and the blackness between the passing trees was eerily unnatural.

Mykie’s car cast a bright light from its bow across the road ahead of us, but it only made that which wasn’t illuminated that much darker.

The trees here had gnarled roots and long branches that twisted like knuckled claws flexing around the path we drove.

The moss that hung from them was a sickly green, like the flora were on the verge of death.

We were trapped in a tunnel of overgrowth that only occasionally broke to show a glimpse of the galaxies above.

“Shit!” Mykie shouted, the car suddenly halted and sent my body lurching towards the glass, the seat’s strap locking tight across my chest.

I looked up just in time to see something slowly drag itself back into the trees.

Monstrous and pale, it walked on two legs in a hunched gait and dragged the backs of its oversized, gangly hands along the ground behind it.

Each finger was tinted burgundy, presumably from recent hunts, with long nails curling in towards its palms. Its ribcage was wide, with shadows cast under each bone onto its emaciated flesh.

A furless tail extended from it’s spine that looked unnaturally stiff and lumpy.

The creature’s face was mostly concealed by a layer of stringy, matted white hair, but I could faintly make out the gaunt pull of its cheekbones and the black pits where eyes would be.

“I almost hit that.” Mykie sucked her lips in and hesitantly began to accelerate once the creature had disappeared.

I nodded. “Maybe we should drive slower.” I hated to suggest it, but we’d be no use to Faeryn if a nine-foot-tall nightmare destroyed the car.

The vehicle was loud as it drove over the rough road, but as we progressed into the depths of the forest, disturbing cries began to challenge the machine with their volume.

Beasts howled, screeched, and cackled in a manner that was unnerving even for my fierce friend.

Mykie was stiff as a board, her chest rising and falling evenly.

She slicked her tongue over her sharp teeth as if to self-soothe while maintaining her menace.

“How is your creature education?” I asked, trying to keep my voice even. A group of identical glowing eyes stared through the trees on the edge of the road.

“Not great.” She rolled her shoulders. “I took Anatomy and Physiology IV instead.”

“What’s there to cover in a fourth rendition?”

“Just more ways to kill, torture, and maim,” she mumbled.

The windshield was fogging over as the air became thicker.

Mykie turned a few knobs that adjusted the airflow inside the vehicle.

I jumped when two rods began wiping back and forth across the glass in routine intervals.

The combined changes improved the visibility just in time for us to see a mutilated carcass left for scavengers on the road.

It probably wasn’t “ Human ”, strictly because most of the escapees would have died or been recaptured last summer.

A morbid thought to chase away a different morbid possibility.

“Grab the bag behind me,” Mykie ordered, her voice gaining a level of cool control. She had shut off her emotions to get the job done, and I was grateful. Hopefully, I could do the same.

I pulled the bag into my lap and unzipped it.

“You should see a dark gray cube morphing into a circle at one end. It has black buttons,” she described.

I fished through an assortment of mysterious contraptions until I located something that matched the description. She glanced over and nodded in confirmation.

“Press the large button closest to the round part.”

I did, and the object beeped. Green grid lines illuminated inside of the circle and several red dots lined the rectangle.

“There’s a dial on the side, turn it all the way up.”

My fingers traced the sides until I felt the rough edges of a wheel that rotated when I pushed it. The dial clicked softly as I applied pressure until it wouldn’t turn any further. The grid became splattered with a wash of translucent green.

“Okay, there should be a button with three curved lines next to it, press that button.”

I did so, and the box beeped softly. The beeps continued in intervals spanning approximately five seconds. A green light flashed in tandem with the noise.

“Perfect.” She rolled her shoulders back. “Now we just drive and wait for that sound to speed up.”

“What’s the plan once it does?” I rested the bulky machine on my thigh.

“We conceal the car under some low branches and find the facility on foot.”