Page 110 of Spark of Sorcery

Fox

The waxing moon splatters light through the leafless branches of the trees, splinters of silver radiating down onto the forest floor.

I drag the back of my hand across my face, wiping the blood away and stepping into a curtain of moonlight. I tip back my face and let the light play out across my face. It’s nothing like sunlight. There’s no warmth or radiance to it but as I look up, I can see the dust swirling in the air, caught in the moonbeam, sparkling vibrantly.

Sparkling silver.

Not golden.

I close my eyes and groan.

Because my thoughts once again stroll to the golden-headed girl with the angry green eyes. Briony Storm. I can’t stop thinking of her. Night and day. Day and night.

And even now, out here deep in the forest where even the night-time animals are too frightened to stir, I can smell that delicious scent of hers in my nose, making my stomach growl and my cold heart stir.

It’s so vivid, so real, for a moment I can almost imagine she’s here. Out in the woods too.

I snap open my eyes, and my head whips around.

I am not imagining that scent.

It is real.

It is here in the woods.

She is here in the forest.

I take a long inhale, deep into my lungs, letting her scent rush through my mouth and my nose and my throat.

And then I frown.

There’s that other smell too. Lizard. The one she denies. The one I’ve continued to catch the faintest hints of since that first day I noticed it. Now strong and clear in the night’s air.

I move quickly and silently through the forest, hugging the shadows and avoiding the moonbeams now.

I catch her voice on the wind. Hear something whip through the air. The sound of branches snapping.

I race through the trees chasing that scent, hunting it down.

I think I hear her laugh. I think I see the flash of fire in the distance.

Where is she?

I close the distance, but she’s moving away, deeper into the trees.

There is no one with her. She is alone.

Anger spirals through my gut, burns in my chest.

Alone in the woods at night.

What is she thinking?

Doesn’t she know there are monsters?

Doesn’t she know there are monsters that wish to hunt her down?

I force myself to turn back the way I came. I retrace my steps. I stumble as far away from her as I can and then I freeze.