And it's time for another chapter of And The Forest Whispers. Shion has officially been rescued from the village of Kronos and is with Nezumi! Not only that, but Nezumi apparently went to Shion's cabin and got a few of his things for him so the villagers of Kronos couldn't destroy them.

So, what's going to happen next? Let's find out!

Comments are always welcome! I love being able to reply to y'all and hear what moments stuck out the most. I adore hearing back from writers when I comment on their fics, so it makes me ecstatic to be able to reply to all of you!


CHAPTER ELEVEN


Shion's ears rang as he drifted back into the world. The gray stars at the corner of his sight disappeared, giving way to the beautiful wooden slats stretched across the ceiling. The soft purple glow of the flower charm―Shion's flower charm, taken from his cabin by Nezumi's hands―glittered against the walls. He'd pulled most of the warmth and strength from it in his sleep, and the glow was dim and weak.

Shion nestled into the comfort of the mattress. He'd been curled beneath the heavy coverlet for far longer than he would have liked, drifting in and out of consciousness above a wave of exhaustion and illness. The strength from the flower charms had worked the worst of the toxins out of his system, leaving nothing but a weak sensation of pain in the tips of Shion's fingers and toes.

He squinted in pain as he eased himself into an upright position. The muscles in his spine ached. He felt as if he were still waking up, moving through a vast ocean made of syrup. The throbbing at the back of his head faded as he pulled himself from the bed, but something was off. He'd never lost this much time before. He'd slept far longer than he'd intended, but he'd never unconscious for days.

Despite the memories of the events that led him to spend days laid up in bed, Shion felt weightless and warm. Peace swept over him, the first real sense of calm he'd felt since that fateful night when Nezumi had stumbled into his cabin, blood spilling from the slice in his shoulder.

He couldn't tell what time of day it was. For all he knew, it could have been the middle of the night, the moon rising high above his head and spreading a soft silver glow across the snow. The room he slept in had no windows, but Shion didn't feel concerned by their lack of presence.

Shion swung his legs over the edge of the mattress. His bare toes brushed the wooden floor, warm and comfortable and kept well-maintained by the magic that'd radiated from the drained charm. Shion sighed sleepily and pushed himself off the bed, the fabric rustling beneath him as the coverlet fell away from him.

It was only now that Shion realized he wasn't wearing the same tunic and slacks he'd been wearing when he went to church the day he'd been poisoned. He'd been dressed in a comfortable, loose white tunic and a pair of slacks that clung to his hips without the assistance of a belt. The tunic was just a bit too long for him, the hem brushing the tops of his thighs and hanging around his collar bone.

Shion crossed the room and shouldered the door open. He peered out into the cabin.

Like the room he'd been sleeping within, the rest of the cabin was crafted of strong wooden slabs and completely without windows. There was only a single room beyond, a step down from the bedroom.

Unlike the room Shion had been sleeping in, however, the room beyond was heavily decorated with crystals and dishes crafted of polished wood and stone. Charms hung from the walls in a rainbow assortment of colors, crafted of flowers Shion had never seen before and jagged crystal shards held together by firm thread. Radiant scents tickled Shion's nose as he stepped out of the room and into the den of magic.

Tendrils of magic brushed against his skin, lulling him into a sense of security while he wandered through the room to admire the charms. A little fire pit sat in the far corner, surrounded by two plush chairs draped with pretty blankets woven from soft fabric. Dying embers flickered in the pit, a clear sign that someone had been there not too long ago. Shion could feel the lingering echo of another person inside the cabin-they'd disappeared some time ago, leaving Shion alone in the cabin as a clear sign that they trusted him not to harm them when they eventually wandered back home. Or as a challenge.

Shion shook the thought from his head. No. The Mao weren't like the villagers in Kronos. And Shion understood that the Mao village must have been where he'd been brought. No other village would so blatantly flaunt magic, and no other village would risk taking in a witch.

The cabin Shion had woken up in didn't seem like a place he should fear. The Mao could have eliminated him if he was the threat the villagers in Kronos believed him to be. Shion had been unconscious, unable to defend himself with any of the paltry spells he comprehended. If the Mao had wanted to kill him and leave him to freeze in the middle of the forests, they could have and certainly would have.

He wandered slowly toward the single door in the cabin. He couldn't see anything of the weather outside, but the lack of another person inside the cabin gave him hope that it wasn't the middle of the evening.

As he approached the door, Shion spotted a black robe hanging from a small hook on the wall. Beside it was a note written in black ink on a small strip of white parchment. Shion squinted and leaned forward, reading the note with the light radiating from the hundreds of glowing charms.

You're probably cold, so wear this if you decide to go outside.

Nezumi

Shion sucked in a deep breath. His chest clenched, a feeling of excitement washing over him. He knew, in that instant, that Nezumi had intended both the robe and the note for him. Shion reached out, plucked the robe from the hook, and drew it on.

The scents of lavender flowers tickled his nose, and Shion snuggled down into the comfort the robe provided. It was far longer than he'd anticipated; it brushed the tops of his calves, providing a shield between him and a world of mystery. He stood in front of a large, wooden door, in a cabin owned by someone Shion couldn't identify, clinging only to the stories he had of the Forest Folk.

But Nezumi had rescued him.

Nezumi had brought him to this sanctuary and nursed him back to health.

Nezumi wouldn't have done all that just to slaughter him. Nezumi wouldn't have brought him to the Mao village if he thought they would harm him for what he was.

Shion's nerves relaxed as he nudged the wooden door open and stepped outside.

The early morning world outside the cabin was bursting with color. Even with the dusting of winter's wind swirling through the air, Shion could see thousands of flowers peppering their way across the ground. Sweet, beautiful scents tickled his nose. Shion couldn't help closing his eyes and inhaling them, the dust of magic flickering around him. These flowers―endless amounts, species Shion had only seen in books―were suspended by magic, sustained even when the weather dropped below conditions their blooms could naturally survive.

The wooden cabin Shion had walked out from was crafted of deep cherry wood with a gentle layer of symbols scratched into the sides. The edges were smooth and neat, applied with a delicate hand. Shion could feel the magic radiating from it, too, warding off the chill from the winter world.

The ache in his body from the remnants of the belladonna poison disappeared beneath the magic flickering around him. He breathed in the magic and let it wash over his tired, sore muscles and work its way through his bones. These flowers were sustained by a form of magic Shion had never perfected―had never encountered―but he pulled it into his body and converted it steadily into energy, working it gently through his system and flushing out the sickness from the poison.

He stood in only a robe, but the chill from the snow couldn't touch him here. Around the cabin, it was springtime, a beautiful assortment of purple buds and roses popping from the soil. Shion had no doubt that they would glow in the middle of the night, radiating their energy for the world to see.

The world of the Mao was filled with magic and light.

Shion stepped down onto the stones, his bare feet dancing along the ground as he walked toward the end of the fence. There weren't many buildings nearby, and it reminded him of his own cabin back in Kronos. His heart ached as Shion remembered his home, his animal companions thriving in the wooden walls and rafters. He missed them all in that moment, so painfully it nearly made him collapse to the ground.

Stop it, he scolded himself. He'd left Kronos behind. There was nothing there for him except pain and misery.

Yoming might have orchestrated his poisoning, but the hunters hadn't found him in the woods. Perhaps they were still searching for him, skulking through the trees in their heavy cloaks, spears clutched in their hands, desperately seeking a glimpse of him. Maybe Yoming assumed one of the creatures dwelling in the shadows had gobbled him up, leaving nothing to find. Or perhaps Yoming had figured out that the Mao had located him and brought him to their hidden village, and he'd retreated to Kronos to wait the vengeance of the Forest Folk.

Shion supposed it didn't really matter. He wouldn't return to Kronos. And the men and women of Kronos were too terrified of magic to venture into the woods. Even if they did push through their terror and risk the darkness, Shion suspected the Mao had wards around their village that kept it well-hidden from outsiders. How else could magic thrive so blatantly?

Shion stopped dead in the center of the walkway and closed his eyes. He inhaled, deeply, and tasted the fresh scent of lavender and vanilla.

Magic. True, unfiltered magic.

Shion had only dreamed of such a place.

When he busied himself with housework and gardening, he daydreamed about a world where he could perform his magic in plain view of his peers. He imagined a village full of witches like himself, folks who used their magic to heal the sick, suspend the lifespan of flowers and ward off winter's chill, and protect their loved ones from harm.

He'd crossed the seas to find a place where he could perform his magic in relative secrecy. None of it had mattered in the end. The church dragged him to the alter to perform tests that had no real meaning, and Shion lived his life in isolation. Kronos hadn't been the safe haven he'd anticipated when he made the painful decision to leave his hometown―in fact, it'd become a prison he'd never pictured escaping.

He stood in the center of the walkway, the wind washing over his hair and his cheeks, brushing away the memories of the poisoning and the village that'd tried to murder him. He gripped the robe tight and smelled the flowers, listened to the rustle of nature's song through the surrounding tree branches, and let himself disappearing into the promise that the world didn't want to destroy him.

"Oh, you're awake."

Shion turned, staring out into the surrounding forest.

Stepping out from the long column of trees was a familiar figure in a black cloak, so stunningly beautiful that Shion felt his breath leave him in a rushing wave. Nezumi's silver eyes flickered beneath the hood of his cloak, which he reached up and shoved back as he approached the walkway and surrounding garden.

Shion relaxed as Nezumi approached the fence. Unlike he had when he arrived at Shion's cabin the first time, Nezumi undid the lock keeping the tiny gate closed and stepped inside without a second thought. Shion took a step back to give him some space to enter, putting just a few slivers of distance between them.

"Good morning," Shion said, muffling it beneath a yawn that he hoped masked the rapid thumping of his heart. "It is morning, isn't it?" He glanced around at the fog in the distance, the buttery sunlight trickling in through a small crush of clouds that protected the snow from melting.

"It is." Nezumi looked amused at the wonder that stretched its way across Shion's face. With the expanse of snow stretching out behind him, he looked more like some hulking black raven than a human being. The sharp angles of his features didn't help, either, giving him an almost bird-like elegance that made Shion's stomach feel as if he'd swallowed a handful of butterflies.

"You slept for another two days," Nezumi informed him.

"I did?"

"You must have been tired." Nezumi leaned against the fence and gave Shion a wide grin. "You kept mumbling in your sleep, so I assume you must have been having good dreams."

Shion heard the implication in his words, and his shoulders shot to his ears in embarrassment. "I don't dream," he said, huddling down into the neckline of the robe to hide the heat flaring up in his cheeks.

"No? Then, perhaps you were remembering something?"

"Not at all," Shion retorted.

It came out far more defensive than he would have liked, and the result was immediate; Nezumi smothered a laugh, and Shion burrowed his face into the robe so Nezumi wouldn't see how embarrassed he was and keep goading him. A steady heat radiated in the air between them. Despite the embarrassment lancing its way through his veins like a fiery parasite, Shion couldn't help the tiny smile that tugged at his lips.

"Well, whatever you were thinking about, don't worry to much. I wasn't around for the worst of it, and the Elder probably just tuned most of it out."

Shion blinked. "The Elder?"

"Yes, the village elder." Nezumi jerked his head toward the cabin. "That's his home."

Shion turned and looked back at the place he'd been dozing in for the past several days. From the outside, it looked simple and vacant, not a window in sight. The thick roof was thatched and strong, sturdy enough to ward off the worst of winter's storms and comfortable enough to keep the summer heat from roasting the innards.

"Oh," Shion said thoughtfully. "I thought this was your cabin."

"Nope. It's a witch's cabin." Nezumi cocked his head to the side. "You couldn't tell?"

"I could. I just thought―" Shion furrowed his brow, not entirely certain what he'd thought. So much had happened in the past few days that, even now, his mind continued to whir and spin.

Nezumi watched him, his expression cool and calculated. Shion hadn't known him for long, but he already suspected that his strange new companion wasn't one for nonsense. Eternally in control and constantly searching for any possible way to avoid a situation, Nezumi watched the world around him and surveyed its details. He might not have been a witch or crafted entirely of magic the same way Shion and other witches were, but Nezumi had lived his life surrounded by magic. Intertwining it into his daily life and using the runes etched into his clothing to hunt flawlessly, to sneak through the woods like the creature of legend Kronos believed him to be.

"I brought you to the Elder's cabin," Nezumi explained slowly, "because I have no training with healing. At least, not when it comes to poison."

"But... you were there."

"I was." Nezumi shrugged. "The Elder taught me how to soothe the fever. He said flower charms would help you absorb the magic and work the poison out of your system on your own, and so"―he gestured back to the cabin, to the assortment of flowers scattered across the yard that seemed as if it'd stepped out from another season entirely―"I went to your cabin and brought some of yours back."

Shion folded his hands in front of his stomach. "Thank you," he murmured, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Nezumi averted his gaze. "Don't mention it."

Shion lowered his gaze―safe from those piercing silver irises that cut him to the bone every time he saw them. Since the moment Nezumi had breezed into his life, just before the beginning of the snowfall, Shion hadn't been able to erase the memory of those blade-sharp eyes glittering in the darkness of his cabin. He wasn't certain he ever wanted to forget.

"I came to check on you," Nezumi said, pulling Shion from his thoughts. "But since you're awake, I thought you might want to take a walk through the village."

A comfortable warmth settled in the pit of Shion's stomach. Little pinpricks peppered their way across his bare arms, and he'd never been so grateful to be wearing a robe and hiding himself from Nezumi's ever-searching gaze. "I'd like that," he murmured.


To Be Continued...