Page 46 of Hexes & Heartstrings (Shifters of Bastion Keep #2)
The newly minted Shadowfold ritual had been Lux's idea, originated and crafted by him after seeing Arthur force shadows into one another.
The ritual apparently only folded perceived shadows instead of real ones, but Bruin guessed it amounted to the same thing—everything the light touched or that was seen by a guardian was scanned for their quarry.
If the ritual didn't find it? It set that piece of land out of sight and brought in a new area, like flipping a page in a book.
And with how immaterial the Umbral was, new ground was quick to replace what was set aside, sliding into view each time a searching guardian turned their back or blinked for too long.
The ritual seemed to be working well, and Bruin made a note to let Lux know he'd done a good job when they returned.
He felt Sergiy taking a seat next to him on the ground, and Bruin wished he could reach out and take his hand, but it was better to leave his circle undisturbed.Still, his presence was a comfort, and Sergiy gave him a smile, as if intuiting his thoughts.
"And now we wait," Sergiy said.
◆◆◆
Russell sat down on one of the flat cushions in the Sage Quarter's community room, staring at the wall.
He didn't know what to do.
After everyone had left yesterday, he'd gone up to Ser's room and sat in front of the fountain that had been his gift to Bruin.
He'd spent hours and hours watching the bear and dragon moving around side-by-side together, grateful for each moment that he could see that his mates were doing okay.
But when he'd taken a bathroom break and returned to find the wolf figurine laying dejected on its side, he'd realized that not only was it after midnight, but he was starving, and he wasn't helping his emotions any by doing nothing.
He'd needed to take care of himself.
His ma and stepmom were out of town. His da and Ser and Bruin were away in the scary Umbral.
But then he'd realized that someone else might also be feeling blue, so in the wee hours of the night he'd left Ser's room and padded down Bastion's halls, his recently gifted blanket that smelled like his mates carried in his teeth, and went to a friend's door.
She'd heard him on the first scratch, and had opened the door to let him in.
"Come here," Rosemary had said, kneeling down. She'd given him a comforting smile as she ruffled the fur around his head and his neck, before giving him a big, soft hug.
"Do you want to stay here tonight?" she'd asked, and he'd whined before trotting over to the floor beside her bed, which smelled like her. It also smelled a bit like Marka, who smelled kind of like Ser, so that was also nice.
With Rosemary bundled up in her blankets and Russell across her legs, they'd both finally found sleep, even if she'd still smelled very worried and scared.
But now in the post-dawn light of a new day, Russell still wasn't feeling much better, and even a full belly and a couple hours of work around the keep hadn't helped.
So he sat.
It was getting close to lunch when he smelled the approaching dusty scent of the new witch, and he saw Arthur poke his head around the corner. The man was red in the face, and smelled nervous.
Had something happened to Ser?
"There you are," Arthur said as he took a seat on a nearby cushion, setting down a bag that looked like one of those doctor's satchels he'd seen in some old movies. "Russell, we need to talk."
He waited for the man to elaborate, then realized that Arthur was probably waiting for acknowledgement.Still, since the witch hadn't immediately given him bad news, maybe it meant that things were okay!
"Mm," he said, giving a single nod.
"Your boyfriend, Bruin.They're on the right layer, and now he's guiding the ritual to find the hidden pocket realm. When I last scried their position, it looked like they were close to being done."
That made Russell feel mixed feelings. On the one hand, this was good news, because maybe it meant that they would be done soon and could come home. But on the other hand, it meant that they were about to fight the big scary spirit king, which was not good news.
He shrugged. "Being done is good."
"Yes, of course it is," Arthur said, pulling out a white kerchief and wiping some sweat off of his face.
"But in truth I am concerned, noble wolf!
I had a magical premonition… sorry, that word means that I had a very big worry that things might not go like they expect.
I think that they will need help. Bruin and Lord Sergiy will both need help. "
Russell sat up straight, thinking. More help than five packs and his da? That sounded bad, and he had no idea how help would even get to them. But though he didn't know the answer himself, he knew someone who would.
"We should tell Lady Galina," he said, standing to his feet and walking out of the room.
"Wait wait wait!"
He heard Arthur bolt up to his feet, and Russell stopped, turning. The dust-smelling witch grabbed his arm, even though Russell wasn't moving any more.
"We… we can't tell her! There's no time for that."
In a rush, Arthur darted back over to grab his bag, and he opened it to pull out a dagger. With an adroit flick, he had it unclasped and unsheathed, and then he stabbed it into the air, cutting a line.
Russell shifted into his werewolf form, his ears flattening back as he crouched. The Umbral, he could smell it!
"They need you," Arthur said, hurrying back over to grab Russell around the wrist. He tugged, and Russell whined.
He whined again as he shook his head. This didn't make sense. Why couldn't they tell Ser's ma? She was smart and clever and a former warlord. She would know just what to do to keep Bruin and Ser safe.
"I don't understand."
Arthur didn't elaborate, just pulled again. "Your mates need help that only you can give. Hurry!"
That didn't explain things, but Russell didn't always understand what people meant, especially strangers. Plus, he'd been told that Arthur was an experienced witch, and he'd heard Bruin and Lux and Rosemary all say that he knew his craft. So maybe he should trust him.
Russell ducked his head, looking askance at the line in the air. Still…
"Oh, that's right, you don't like the Umbral. That's okay, it's okay. I can help with that!"
As he watched, Arthur chanted some phrases in what sounded like French, since that's what Chelsea spoke, and the room began smelling the way that pennies tasted. Once he was finished, Arthur held up a hand, holding out what looked like a handful of smoke.
"It's a spirit of courage," the man said soothingly. "I can bind it to you—temporarily, of course, I assure you!—and then you won't be afraid anymore, and no one will be able to call you a coward. And then we can both go, and help out your mates. Won't that be nice?"
Russell's ears perked forward. He could not be afraid? He would be brave? He could go and rescue Bruin and Ser and make everything better?
That sounded good, but it also sounded wrong.
Besides, Bruin didn't think he was a coward, he'd said so himself!
Yes, sometimes Russell got scared, but hadn't Bruin also said there were different kinds of bravery?
And hadn't he stayed in the Great Hall last month, helping against the giant spirit beast, which his mates had both said was brave and good of him?
There was still something about this situation that didn't seem right, and he could smell that Arthur wasn't telling the whole truth, which wasn't nice of him.
He nodded as he came to a decision, and Arthur smiled, reaching a hand out.
"We will tell Galina," Russell said, and turned to go.
He made it two steps before he felt a hand again grab him, and he turned around, intending to pick Arthur up and set him out of the way.
But it wasn't Arthur's hand on him. Instead, it was a cold, gray, smokey arm with too many joints that stretched twenty feet from the rift, and he gave an alarmed bark.
"Damn it all," the witch muttered."It would have been so much simpler if they'd just brought me along like originally planned."
He saw Arthur make a curt gesture, and Russell managed a single howl before another dozen ghostly arms snapped out from the Umbral rift and dragged him through it.