Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 300

Chapter 300: Eyes
Ford answered Mia’s tugging signal with his response, and wondered what she was thinking.

He knew from the journey towards the cave that her magic didn’t take a lot of her concentration.

His didn’t either, honestly. Effort, but not constant thought. And left to his own thoughts now, while physically tied to a woman no one in the world could see right now… was a bit of an odd feeling.

Scanning the forest ahead and all around, there was absolutely nothing unusual. Anywhere. A more boring place, he couldn’t have found. The occasional squirrel or bird was all that crossed their path.

It was… tedious. Especially since he wasn’t even steering his horse; it just followed where it was pulled.

Ford breathed deeply of the forest scents. A fine mixture of evergreen and deciduous covered the ground and grew into a tall canopy above. There was much to see and yet very little. The ground was mostly bare; it seemed not enough sunlight got to the ground to support the growth of anything but the occasional shrub or mushroom.

Tugging three times, he came to a stop and used a knife to carve his mark into another tree to lead the others along the way. He hoped he was doing so often enough for them to easily follow.

He’d never had to lead anyone before. Technically he wasn’t even leading now; Mia was leading and he was just helping.

At least he was helpful now!

Shame burned in him when he remembered how helpless he was so short a time ago. Back when Mia had to help lift him up on his horse and get him down from it. Back when she fed him and led him where he wanted to go and kept him warm at night.

Well, he supposed he did help with that last part.

Ford was shocked at the pride that filled him as he became the sort of man that Grandpa called… well, a man. Ford had known mining, and only mining. Now he knew the basics of at least a dozen small skills, and felt much better for it.

He wondered if Mia thought of him differently, now…

As he finished carving, he sighed, though no sound left his lips. Was it lunchtime? The forest remained a similar brightness as it had so far today. He couldn’t really judge the sun’s position accurately. Was it straight overhead now?

He squinted up into and through the leaves above with little success. Maybe Mia would have a better idea than he did.

Looking around and listening carefully for any danger, Ford waited a moment before letting his magic terminate.

Before his eyes, Mia appeared on her horse. Both animals, his and hers, remained strangely calm as they watched each other come out of thin air. Mia was more surprised than both of them put together.

She stared at him with a startled gaze for a moment before whispering.

“Is something wrong? Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” He smiled. “I just wanted to ask… what time do you think it is?”

His stomach rumbled loudly, and she pressed her lips together.

“Has it been doing that for long?” She asked with mild amusement.

“I’m not sure,” He admitted. “I can’t hear myself…”

The woman looked up into the canopy as he had just a moment before.

“Uh… oh.” She froze, and Ford had a deep sense of wrongness in him. His eyes followed hers.

Above them, dozens–no, hundreds—of eyes had appeared, looking down at them from the branches. Ford tensed, and immediately made them both invisible again. It would severely hamper communication, but… those eyes!

How unnerving they were!

Though Ford knew they couldn’t be seen… or could they? He was still incredibly nervous. His horse began to move again, pulled by its tether to Mia’s.

They turned around, back the direction they’d come. The others had to be warned before they stumbled into… well, whatever this was!

Ford, having no reason to look forward, continued to stare upward.

The eyes did not track their progress, and for that he was exceedingly grateful. They searched around, and a few swung lower onto close branches.

Their curly tails gripped the trees. Elongated limbs on small, furry bodies gave them an oddly cute appearance. One face turned towards Ford and he felt the urge to look away. The enormous yellow eyes seemed to bore into him.

What were these animals? Why so many? Were they intelligent? Territorial?

The pace increased as the humans got further away from whatever the things were. Ford hung onto the saddle, paying special attention to the rope around his wrist.

He was glad, exceedingly thankful, even, that the entire group had not come together. He would not have been able to hide them all for long enough to be comfortably away…

But as the distance they covered increased, his worry began to mount. Shouldn’t they be back to where the others were, by now?

At least, close?

Finally, through the trees, they came into view. Grandpa was fixing the shoe of one of the packhorses.

Ford dropped the cloak just as they drew near, startling the group.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Anaisa’s worried voice rang out first.

“Creatures,” Mia said breathlessly.

“What kind? What were they? How large?” Daniel bolted upright with interest.

Ford held out his hands to show him. “Only about that big, but there were hundreds of them, up in the trees. We didn’t see them at all until I stopped my magic for a moment to ask Mia a question.”

“And then they appeared?” Grandpa’s brow furrowed.

“They were looking down from the branches. I hadn’t been looking up to see if they were there before,” Mia glanced at Ford, and he nodded.

“I had. There was nothing only seconds before, and then as soon as we made a sound, they were all staring at us. I made us invisible again immediately. A few came down to investigate, and we fled.”

“So you think they’re dangerous?” Grandpa clarified. Ford shrugged. He’d been startled by them. If they wanted to be dangerous, of course they could be, but… they hadn’t shown any aggression. They hadn’t been given much of a chance to.

“I’m not sure,” Mia frowned. “But I do know I was looking for the safest route. So… if they are dangerous, any other way will be moreso.”