Chapter 46

                                    

                                          
When she steps into the clearing, the trees curl around her in an embrace. She places her hand against one of the branches.
                          
"Hello."
                          
Happy. Friend. Where?
                          
The tree is happy that she has come back, and it wants to know where she is going. Rowan smiles. "I'm going to the river."
                          
Why? Safe.
                          
"It's safe there too, don't worry."
                          
Here. Safe.
                          
"But I want to go to the river. I need to see Andrian."
                          
Stay!
                          
The tree wraps itself tightly around her, preventing her from leaving. She struggles, kicking and thrashing. The tree doesn't budge. It doesn't free her, but it doesn't tighten either. Her hand catches on a twig and a line tears down her arm, blood leaking out. Rowan freezes. The blood continues leaking down her skin, but something else is touching her. She glances down. A leaf is pressed against her arm, keeping the blood from leaking down.
                          
"What?"
                          
Protect. Safe. No harm.
                          
Rowan frowns. "Why are you keeping me like this?"
                          
River. Safe. The way the tree says safe, it means that the river isn't safe.
                          
"Because it's not here? In the clearing?"
                          
No. River. Danger. Here safe.
                          
Rowan sighs. "Why is the river not safe?"
                          
Man. Sun. Green. Fire. The tree trembles at the word fire.
                          
"Are you saying that the Seelie Lord is at the river?"
                          
Yes. Healed?
                          
Rowan looks down at her arm. The bleeding has stopped, but it is still an angry line from her wrist to her elbow. It's a deep gash. She doesn't know how the bleeding stopped. Based on the size of the cut, she should still be bleeding.
                          
"I'm not bleeding anymore, but I should be."
                          
The tree is smug when it responds. Healed. Good. 
                          
Rowan gasps. The tree healed her? The leaf pulls away from her arm and is promptly absorbed into the wood. The tree is keeping her blood from the Seelie Lord. It stills, keeping her in the cocoon of wood. Rowan frowns.
                          
"Are there other parts of the river that are safe?"
                          
Will lead.
                          
The tree releases its hold on her and she stumbles at the sudden gain of control. She looks back at the tree, whose branches are withdrawing. "How will you lead me to a safe part of the river?"
                          
One of the branches jabs toward her, like its pointing. Rowan turns to see the trees in are lighting up away from the clearing. She frowns. Are they going to try to lead her out of the part of the forest she knows again? She wants to go to the river, not somewhere else. Rowan sighs. She won't know until she finds out. She starts walking, letting the glowing trees lead the way. They don't try to take her as far as they did last time, and it doesn't take her long to hear the river. She grins and starts running toward it, eager to see Andrian again. But when she actually steps into view of the river, she frowns. Rapids. That's where the trees led her. How is she supposed to use rapids to get the kelpie pocket realm? 
                          
She's pretty sure she needs still, calm water, or something close to it. She stays at the edge of the bank, hoping that she'll find some pool of water. But the rapids keep going on and on. Will they ever stop? The sound disappears all at once. Rowan stops in her tracks, confused. She heard the river, but now she can hear nothing. She glances around her. The river is still moving but it is silent, despite the rapids. If she thought the river was sentient, she would think it was afraid of something. A wind stirs up around her, cold and vicious. She turns to look toward the trees.
                          
"Hello? Is anyone there?" 
                          
There is no answer, but she begins to notice something about the trees. They are all birch trees, and they seem to be reaching out toward her. Rowan steps away from them, towards the water. Her foot splashes into the water and she pulls it back out. She is trapped between rapids and the Ghillie Dhu. Great. Their shadows stretch as they reach out towards her. She doesn't have long until they reach her. She looks back at the rapids, then back at the trees. 
                          
The way ahead of her is blocked, and she doesn't need to look back the way she came to know that they have sealed that off too. She clutches at the protection rune. The Ghillie Dhu keep reaching for her.  If they catch her, they will enslave her. She doesn't want that. If she goes into the rapids, she could get hurt or die. But if the river takes her to a pool of water where she can go through to the pocket realm, she will be safe. Rowan glances at the Ghillie Dhu again. There is only a couple of meters between her and them. She looks back at the river. She might have a better chance there. She could at least find some way to escape and if she gets hurt, she will heal.
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What will she choose? Will she go to the rapids or try to run? What do you think of the Ghillie Dhu? What do you think will happen next? Tell me your thoughts!
                          
Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!
                          
~Goddess of Fate, signing out.