With each pounding footfall, each haggard inhale, each painful beat of his heart, another incriminating, self deprecating thought ballooned in his head. In between them his anxieties rose like air too hot to breathe; was Shiro in pursuit? What about the faeries? Was he now being hunted? What would they do to him if he was caught? Lance could feel the crawling sensation of many eyes upon him and he resisted the urge to look over his shoulder, to double check that he was truly alone once more in the deep dark woods. He didn't want to risk the truth, or to slow himself down.

Just in case though the boy took random twists and turns, growing more and more lost with each one. He wasn't thinking about that though, only that he had to get away. As if he could outrun the sudden doubts that filled him. What if this book didn't have anything useful in it? Had he grabbed the wrong one?

Stumbling he coming back to himself, surprisingly, in the clearing between his home and the forest. It took a moment for his exhausted brain to process how in the world he had managed that, before he swiftly dove down beneath the tall grass, hoping he hadn't already been spotted.

It wasn't the best idea to hold his breath right after running so hard for so long and a wave of dizziness washed over him. He risked gasping in a few ragged breaths, clutching the book tightly to his chest. When he neither heard his name nor was hauled up by his father or mother Lance finally peeled the ancient tome from his torso.

It looked so very old, the leather backing warped and cracking. The spine crooked. If there had ever been lettering on the front, a title or an author given, it had long since faded and flaked away. Large as it was old, many age stained pages between the bindings.

Okay so… so maybe if he had grabbed the wrong one… maybe he could hock it online for a decent amount right? It felt expensive, so heavy in his arms. Maybe he could get enough to buy a better damn doctor for Rachel to see…

Or perhaps he could just, trade it back to Shiro for some actual help.

Either way, he wouldn't know if the book was bunk or not until he cracked it open. And here was as good a place as any for a not so leisurely read, hidden by the tall grass, late afternoon sun still warm upon his back.

The cover quite literally creaked as he lifted it, propping it in his lap.

There were not many times that Lance could focus easily on a book. And one like this would easily have him distracted with the texture of it, the scent, the handwriting itself, for each of the pages was covered in small scribbled notes.

But he had a goal and so began to scan the pages with a feverish intent.

At first the boy though that perhaps the days activities had finally caught up, compounded upon his over all physical and emotional exhaustion, for it was almost as if the words were blurring before his eyes. It was taking longer for him to translate each one. Nothing seemed to be in order, and the first couple pages looked like nothing more than recipes of some sort, like what he could find in his abuela's cookbook, though they were all medicinal. There was no way medicines could be this easy to make…was there?

Except as Lance took a closer look, he realized that some of the directions were a bit… odd. Starting this tonic at the dark of the moon, and this tincture over here had to steep for an entire cycle… whatever that was. That oil was to be blessed by…. The sun in… mars? And they only grew weirder after that. Some didn't even specify a medicine. Words Lance didn't recognize and couldn't quite translate began to pop up.

And was that a love spell?

He shook his head. He wasn't supposed to allow himself these sort of distractions dang it!

Lance's heart was already sinking. If this was really all that was in this book than it was well and truly useless to him after all. He flipped through the pages more fervently, rubbing at his eyes when the letters on the parchment began to swirl together…

But as he focused his gaze once more the characters continued to shift, his eyes began to ache with the strain, until entirely new words were formed.

The next page that Lance turned too was filled with detailed sketches of leaves and petals instead of only words. Some had labels next to them, lines that pointed out which part of a plant was usable for some such remedy. He was able to move more swiftly through these, trying not to linger on the beautiful drawings. But eventually even those began to change and shift. The differences almost unnoticeable at first. But soon enough he began to see human like features amongst the flora. Until he came upon one that looked almost like… Allura! Words like faerie, spirit, and demon were all used interchangeably, and others he didn't quite recognize but sounded out none the less… seelie and unseelie.

Lance pulled his gaze away from the graphic visage, but with each turn there were yet more creatures, humanoid beasts with claws and wings and horns.

The boy couldn't help but gulp. At least he'd run into a pretty one.

Closing the book he dug the heel of his palms into his lids until stars burst on the back of them. He took a deep breath.

He didn't know why he would be surprised after everything else he'd already seen that day, but he felt like he could cry tears of relief now. This truly was a magical text! But frustration still coiled like poison within him. It was already such a long book… and he was a slow reader to begin with… how was Lance going to read through it all if every time he looked new information was popping up? Yeah it was cool but completely unhelpful at the moment. He needed to refocus, hanging a few key words bright in his mind. He wouldn't concentrate on any one page alone.

"I don't need any of this." He muttered, the sound closer to a sob than he would like to admit.

In his hands the book warmed and a small jolt of energy, similar to when he'd been touched by the fae, and by Shiro, danced across his fingertips.

He opened the book once more, curious and wary. The letters were blurring together in an inky whirlwind, reforming faster than before. He almost grew dizzy with it, but a phrase caught his eye.

"-Wait, wait!"

As if the grimoire were listening to him the characters slowed and stopped, the movement lessened to a mere vibration. It took a moment for his own eyes to stop swimming and when he was able to center again Lance almost wasn't able to find what he thought he'd found…

But there it was, a mere note in the margins. It wasn't even a full paragraph long.

'a horned one will grant your wish with but a trivial exchange, a simple price.'

Lance's heart skipped in excitement. This was exactly the type of thing he was looking for! He wanted to read faster, but at the same time he didn't want to miss any important detail.

'For thus but three items are needed, and but three simple actions taken. The first, by far the easiest, an item of great personal value. Take this and bury it at a crossing of roads. The second a stang—'

Lance paused for just a second, what the heck was a stang?

'—of blessed rowan wood, placed above the item laid to rest. And finally a single flambeau, the color of a wish fulfilled, lit.'

That was it? That couldn't be it. He read it over a few more times, sure that he'd misunderstood something, before checking the back of the page, just in case there was more. Sure Lance didn't quite understand what a few of those words meant, but he could figure it out. He would figure it out. He had too.

Decisively Lance slammed the book shut. The start of a plan formed in his mind. The first true smile in days graced his features. First thing first thought.

It was time to get Tiburoncito.