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Neith

“O h shit,” I reply. “What does that mean?”

“It means that we aren’t safe and that a breach that wasn’t there yesterday is suddenly there today, and I don’t know how.” Ransom replies with a heavy frown.

“Do you know where the breach is?” Evander asks.

Ransom nods, “Yeah, we need to get it fixed up now. We can’t risk leaving it open and something else coming through. There are worse things than Scavengers.”

“Let’s go,” Reed mutters.

I have absolutely no idea how we’re going to fix the breach, but before we can head into the woods to find the breach, Mael does his thing, and I end up on his back again. I guess that’s his way of telling me that he’s coming with us.

As I glance up with a smile, I’m shocked to see that the kelpies that were standing the closest to the guys, and the ones that I am assuming gave the guys their names, move so that they are knelt down on their front legs so the guys can easily climb on their backs. I guess none of them fancy launching the guys onto their backs like Mael does to me. I can’t say that I blame them. The guys aren’t exactly small men.

The guys look incredibly confused, and none of them make a move to get on the kelpies.

I smile and decide to help them out since we are on a time crunch, and we don’t have the time for them to figure it out by themselves.

“I think they are offering to take you to the breach,” I suggest, and Mael whinnies in response, which I’m hoping means that I am right, and the guys aren’t about to get eaten.

“Really?” River asks excitedly.

His kelpie snorts and nudges River’s leg. Apparently, that’s all the encouragement that River needs to get on, and his kelpie, the dark, murky green one, stands up, looking pleased with itself.

How is it that the kelpie somehow has a similar personality to River? If I didn’t know any better, then I would think that it meant something and wasn’t just a coincidence.

The other guys are still hesitating and honestly, I get why. Kelpies are very well known for how vicious they are, and yet they are standing with us, offering to take us to the breach so that we can fix it. That kind of behavior is unheard of.

“We just helped them, we saved them from being killed, and they have given you guys their names,” I say, and they all look up at me and River sitting on the kelpies. “Anyway, when are you going to get another chance to ride a kelpie?”

“Good point,” Raiden replies. He pats his kelpie’s neck and then slowly climbs up. His muscles tensing like he is preparing to launch himself off, just in case the kelpie decides to attack.

Obviously, it doesn’t and soon all of the others are climbing up as well.

“We need to get there quickly,” Ransom says. “I’ll take the lead.”

“Got it,” Evander replies, and we all take off.

We thunder through the woods, and it quickly becomes apparent to me that the kelpies' speed doesn’t seem to be hindered by the fact that they are on land. I always thought that they had to stay close to a water source and couldn’t move far away from it, or it would seriously affect them and their magic, potentially even killing them. I guess I was wrong because we are traveling quite far from the lake, and they aren’t showing any signs of being affected at all.

I’m becoming more and more eager to get into the library that Raiden says they have in the house, because I am very quickly realizing that the books that the humans have on supernaturals are filled with more lies than truth.

To be honest, it makes sense. Supernaturals are relatively new to the Earth Realm, well, that the majority of the humans know of anyway. Supernaturals have been coming over from Trieneliea and all of the other realms, actually, for thousands of years, and certain government entities knew about their existence. Still, it wasn’t until the mass evacuation of Trieneliea and the subsequent shutdown of the portals that meant that the supernaturals couldn’t get back into Trieneliea, that those authorities that had known for a very long time of the existence of supes had to announce to the rest of the humans that supernaturals existed and they were here to stay. There were too many of them to hide their existence any longer, and the government's hand was forced.

Obviously, the government then gave out various books and did educational videos and all that shit to educate humans as quickly as possible on supernaturals, and over the years, those have been added to, and humans like to think that they know pretty much everything that they can about most supernaturals. My original point, which I somehow managed to derail myself, was that it makes sense that humans don’t have all of the information on supes because it would make the supernaturals vulnerable, and I don’t think anyone would voluntarily do that to themselves.

It wouldn’t exactly be a smart thing to do.

I want to know the truth, not because I want to use it against the supes or inform the humans that I have proof that everything they’ve been told isn’t the entire truth, that would be ridiculous. No, I want to learn the truth because I want to learn. I love knowledge, and any opportunity that I have to learn more always makes me extremely happy.

For example, with the kelpies, they are behaving in a way that is completely the opposite of what I have read about them. Granted, I haven’t read that much about them, but even the small amount that I have read is somewhat contradictory to the behavior that the kelpies are showing us. I know that some of the kelpies' behavior is out of the norm and not just behavior that I don’t know about because of the way that the guys are acting, they are just as surprised as I am. I didn’t know about their eating habits or even that they were hunted for their hearts and scales so that they could be sold at the Obsidian Market, and I have spent a lot of time at that market, both selling and buying.

I am just going to have to add the kelpies to the list of things that I need to research in the guys home library. The list keeps getting longer, and at this point, I think I’m going to need longer than just a day to get through everything as thoroughly as I want to. That’s okay though, because once I know where it is I can go back there whenever I want.

That’s of course, assuming that Raiden doesn’t mind. I get the feeling that the library is his domain, and I don’t want to force my company on him.

A snort from Mael brings me out of my thoughts, and I duck just in time to miss a stray branch that would have smacked me in the face if he hadn’t alerted me to it.

Reaching out, I pat his neck and say over the sound of the wind racing past us, “I have no idea how you knew that I was tuned out, but thanks.”

Even though it’s the afternoon, the trees here are massive and their canopies stretch so wide that they are touching, meaning that very little light is getting through the leaves and reaching the forest floor. It’s giving the woods an eerie feel.

I really hope that nothing else has managed to get through the breach. Those Scavengers were nasty, and the guys' property is obviously pretty massive, which means that something could be hiding on it for days before we manage to find it. The guys have the place pretty heavily warded, nothing should be able to get in, and the fact that the Scavengers got through is concerning to say the least. It’s worrying me that we don’t know for certain. Ransom didn’t get alerted to the fact that there was a breach in the first place, so there is no way to tell if anything else has come through.

At least, I am assuming that there isn’t, I could be completely wrong.

The terrain suddenly gets a lot more difficult, and it occurs to me that I should probably be paying a lot more attention than I am. One because I need to concentrate on riding so I don’t fall off, but also because if anything else has come through the ward breach, then I need to keep my senses on the surroundings so that I don’t miss anything trying to attack us.

Finally, Ransom slows his kelpie and hops off, prompting us all to do the same.

“It’s here?” Evander asks, looking around at the seemingly normal looking part of the woods.

We aren’t even in a clearing. We’re just surrounded on all sides by trees and rocks. It doesn’t look like anything special, and I can’t see the breach, magic isn’t visible like that, but I have to admit that something does feel off the longer that we are stood here, and I hope that it’s because of the ward having a hole in it and not because we are about to be attacked by something else that has come through.

No, thank you. I have reached my limit for weird creatures that I have to fight for today.

“Just tell us where you need us and what you need us to do,” Reed says to Ransom, who is studying the breach and can obviously see something that I can’t.

I wonder if because it’s his magic that made it, that means that he can see it? That is definitely a question to ask at a different time.

“This is worse than I thought. I’m not going to be able to repair it by myself. I’m going to need you all to give a small amount of your magic as well. Just like when we first put the wards up,” Ransom explains.

The guys look surprised, but they all nod in agreement.

“I know we don’t know what I am, but I’m happy to help if I can,” I offer, feeling a bit ridiculous because I don’t have any real power to lend them.

Ransom nods, taking my offer seriously, which I appreciate, “Yes please. We need all the help we can get. Don’t touch the ward though. You won’t be able to touch it until I’ve given you the all clear that I have closed it off. We have no idea how you will react to it, and I don’t want to risk it.”

I frown, that doesn’t sound very good at all, but before I can reply Mael makes a really weird sound. At least it sounds weird because it's coming from a kelpie and I have no idea how he’s making the noise, but the sound itself is fairly normal, it’s a whistle. It’s sharp, but changes pitch several times.

“What’s happening?” I ask when he stops.

Mael looks at me, and I swear he’s telling me to wait, although I don’t know what I am supposed to be waiting for.

“I don’t know,” Raiden replies with a frown. He looks at the kelpie that he rode here on, “Is it a warning?”

The kelpie shakes his head.

“Okay, well at least there’s that. I guess that’s mildly reassuring,” Griff mutters. His hand is still on his kelpie’s neck and stroking him, even though he’s now standing on the ground next to him like the rest of us.

My eyebrows raise. I think it’s pretty interesting how quickly they all seem to have bonded with the kelpies. Then again, I bonded really quickly with Mael, and he gave me his name just like the other kelpies have given the guys their names.

There has to be something more to it. A reason.

“We need to get started,” Ransom says as he looks around at all of us. “We can figure out why Mael did that later."

As Ransom opens his mouth to explain more about what is expected and what we all need to do, there is a sudden rustling in the woods all around us, and I become very sure that we are being approached by multiple things. Everyone drops down into a defensive crouch, their magic and their weapons ready. My sword is once again back in my hand, as I study the surrounding area, including the trees because I know of multiple creatures, supernatural and not who use trees to get around the woods.

Imps start to drop from the trees, standing still and holding up their hands to signify that they aren’t here to attack us. I spot Flin but before I can ask why he’s here, and then threaten him not to send me to another realm, the spirit guides walk out of the woods too, Winston, Wallace, and even the bear, wolf and fox who I haven’t seen since I called to them all that very first time.

“What’s happening?” River asks, standing still for once, his eyes on the creatures in front of us.

Again, everyone is stopped from answering when even more creatures start to appear from the woods. I can see tiny little sprites and rock trolls, which are pretty much what they sound like. They are about knee height, all muscle, and carry around rock clubs. They have gemstones of different shapes and sizes embedded into their foreheads, which are supposed to mean different things, and even the women have very masculine features. They like to stick to the woodlands and are very rarely seen by humans or supernaturals. Yet there are ten of them here, including one who must be their chief judging by the way he is dressed. They don’t say anything, they just stand silently and watch us.

We all stay silent for the moment as we watch the tiny sprites fluttering in the air, their wings keeping them afloat, they look like fairies in human story books, but unlike in those books, these ones are deadly and big tricksters. They aren’t attacking though, they’re just watching us, just like all of the other creatures.

“What’s going on?” Evander asks carefully, his weapon still in his hand, just in case.

I’m unsurprised when it’s Winston that steps forward to explain what is going on.

“We are all here to help close the breach and to lend our magic so that no more creatures can come through like those Scavengers,” Winston explains.

“Are they the only things that managed to get through?” Doc asks.

Winston nods, “Yes, but if it is left open then more will come, and that would not be good.” His eyes dart to me.

“What?” I ask.

“We need this place to be secure, Neith. We have already mentioned how dangerous it is for you,” Winston explains.

I frown and pull a face but don’t say anything because now is not the time.

Ransom nods, “Great. We need to get this done quickly. Since there are a lot of us that are putting my magic in, I’m going to do it one at a time with the guys, then each of the spirit guides. After that I will then do the rock trolls as a group, the same with the sprites,” his kelpie snorts, and he smiles, “then the kelpies and finally Neith.” He looks at me and adds, “That way, you can see what everyone else does, and you will know what to expect. As I said before, it is really important that since you are human, you do not touch the ward while it’s in this activation mode where I am funneling the extra magic in it. Once I have closed it back off and fixed it, there will be no issues with you passing through it.”

“Okay, that makes sense. Don’t touch the ward that I can’t see anyway until you tell me it’s safe to,” I reply. Then add, “And thanks for including me in the lineup.”

I’m not entirely sure that’s the complete reason why I am last, I think it may be because I have the least amount of magic, if any, to lend the ward.

Ransom continues, “Doing it this way also means that I can build up the layers and make it extra strong.”

Turning to Mael while everyone gets organized, I ask, “You called them, didn’t you?”

Mael glances down at me, intelligence in his sapphire blue eyes as he nods, confirming my theory.

I reach up and gently stroke the side of his face, “Thank you.”

“Alright, one after the other, you guys lay your hand in mine, and I will start building the layers. I already added my layer when we were on the way here, but it won’t hold for long without everyone else’s.” Ransom explains to everyone and then looks at the groups of creatures, “If you guys can get one of you to touch me and then all hold hands, I should be able to siphon from all of you.”

The creatures all nod that they understand but don’t verbally reply and I’m guessing that it’s because we wouldn’t understand them.

I watch with rapt interest as the guys lay their hands on Ransom’s forearm, and I feel the magic build and then suddenly release when he makes a hand gesture and sort of flicks the built up magic at the space in front of him, which I assume is where the hole is.

I’ve already mentioned that I don’t know as much as I would like to about warlocks or many supes, but I do know that they are supposed to use trigger words or incantations, and Ransom is obviously doing a very complicated thing right now, and yet he’s simply gesturing. His lips aren’t moving, and although he is concentrating really hard and has a little dip between his eyes to prove this, he isn’t tense at all.

It’s pretty fucking amazing to watch.

As he cycles through all of the creatures willing to lend their power to keep this place safe, that uneasy feeling that I had when we first arrived here disappears. I can feel the strength of the ward grow. Ransom is incredibly powerful, he isn’t even tiring, and he should be by this point. I know that everyone else is lending their magic, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t doing anything. He still has to shape it, mold it, and direct it into the right place, and he is doing that bit all by himself.

“Are you ready, Neith?” Ransom asks, looking back at me and holding out his hand.

I smirk as I pick my way through the underbrush toward him, “Thanks for including me but I’m probably not even going to give you a whiff of power to add to the ward.”

Ransom is honest in his reply as he says, “Maybe not yet, since your supernatural side is only just beginning to reveal itself, but I would still like the ward to recognize you. Especially since with everyone’s help, I have made it a lot stronger and added an alarm of sorts that will let me know if there is a breach again. I had an alarm built in before, but this one is more complicated and therefore stronger. The ward now needs to be able to recognize you so that you can come and go as you please and don’t need one of us to escort you.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” I reply. “Let’s do this.”

As I go to grab his forearm like everyone else has done, he grabs my hand instead and winks at me as he squeezes it once, making me smile. “This may feel weird. I would normally tell you that you shouldn’t feel anything, but we know that the normal rules don’t seem to apply to you since you can feel magic when you aren’t supposed to. If at any point it becomes painful, you tell me. Doc is going to be keeping an eye on your vitals anyway, just in case, so he should know if anything goes sideways.”

I nod, a small flutter of nerves in my belly.

I feel Ransom’s magic build in the air and a small tug on something, but it doesn’t really do much as it feels like whatever it is that Ransom is trying to access with his magic is resisting him.