Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 276

Chapter 276: Invisible
Ford was exhausted. He’d gotten used to sleeping outdoors, and now he even had a fine tent to camp in, so long as he set it up far enough away from the group to not be spotted.

But that was tricky, as he also needed to be close enough to follow them at the beginning of the next day.

He had worried to himself that he would become visible while he slept, unable to keep himself and his things and the horse masked.

For that’s what he was doing, he decided. Masking pain, masking himself, masking everything else.

Not letting himself be seen.

It was a fitting power, he begrudgingly decided in the end. He’d not shown his true personality to many in his life, bearing a gruff and surly exterior with sarcasm as a shield as many miners did.

Even amongst Mia’s family that week in their home, he’d worn politeness like a veil. One that Mia often ripped through as she’d irritated him.

Her nightmares bothered him more than he could say. That first night after leaving the cave, he watched her father and grandfather take turns waking her. The cries were enough to rouse Ford, even at the distance he’d kept.

The second night, he’d left his horse and things out of sight nearby and crept up beside Mia to hold her hand as she’d slept, invisible the whole night.

He almost thought she’d noticed him when she woke, and quickly withdrew. She seemed to shake off the feeling if she’d noticed anything out of place, but she had to suspect…

In the barn, when she’d snuck up on him sleeping, he’d held perfectly still, wondering if he were invisible.

Then, she’d spoken to him. Clearly, sleeping negated his powers and robbed him of the chance to remain a figment of their imagination.

In a panic, he’d willfully gone invisible again rather than answer her.

Incredibly childish and non-confrontational, but he was exceedingly glad he’d done that instead of talking back when Seth walked into the barn a moment later.

Ford was barely able to mask the horse as well before Seth caught them.

It was taxing, using magic to mask more than himself, so now, following at a distance, he mostly just kept himself invisible. As soon as anyone began to turn and look back, he’d hurriedly mask the horse before they could see it in full.

People saw things all the time, surely no one would think twice about thinking that they saw an animal. Deer were common enough, from what he’d observed.

The first night after the group left the house behind, he considered sneaking closer to hold Mia’s hand again. He didn’t know how she’d slept inside the house, but from the dark circles under her eyes he didn’t think it had been well.

Now, however, she shared a tent with her aunt.

That was a boundary Ford was certainly not willing to cross. Besides, the redhead likely packed quite a temper. Ford did not want to risk being on the receiving end of it on the chance he was caught.

And so, he camped nearby but out of sight, about to set up his tent, when he saw another fire being lit… behind him.

Intensely curious, Ford stood and glanced at his little campsite-to-be. His supplies were invisible, even to him, while they were cloaked, which was also a reason he didn’t mask his own horse most of the time; seeming to hover above the ground was a sensation he did not particularly care for.

His magic seemed to be fairly limited in range, and so going to investigate would mean leaving his tent and horse visible to anyone who happened by.

Glancing towards Mia’s camp, where everyone had retired to their tents, except a salty-looking Seth who sat keeping watch by the fire while facing off into the far horizon, Ford decided it was worth the risk.

He kept himself cloaked as he moved across the ground towards the other fire. Ford was a good distance behind the group, and this fire was a short distance behind him, so he wondered if Seth would have been able to see the fire at all.

Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps the man’s attention was so focused on what lay ahead that he neglected to thoroughly examine what was behind.

As Ford grew closer, his steps slowed. He hadn’t fully figured out whether people could hear his footsteps when he was masked this way. He didn’t think so.

There was no small tent, only a little fire, a horse, and one person. Could it be a coincidence? Some traveler had crossed their path going a different way and was unrelated to their journey?

The wilderness in this direction was rather vast. Ford couldn’t imagine someone traversing without staying on the road to guide them, but sometimes people were strange.

He crept closer.

The person was facing away from him, lying down near the fire for warmth. It reminded Ford a little bit about his own journey from Foundrel to this country, except he hadn’t had the benefit of a horse.

Creeping around the side of the fire in a wide circle, Ford examined each of the possessions. The horse was a fine animal, from what he could tell, and the saddle of good quality leather. There was a pack of food lying slightly open–Mia had told him not to do that before, as it could attract animals that might steal the sustenance. This person was obviously less experienced with camping than she was.

They were also fairly petite. Ford frowned as a thought occurred to him, but he didn’t dare even wonder at it for more than a second without more information.

He finished his wide circle, seeing that the person was asleep in their bedroll, the lower half of their face covered by a blanket and most of the rest sheltered by a wide brimmed had tipped down over their eyes. And yet, Ford was absolutely certain,

It was Daniel, Mia’s cousin.