Dreamwalker's Bride - Chapter 356

Chapter 356: Careful progress
Mia watched as Ford joined hands with her family members. Staying together. Good.

Daniel was sandwiched between Anaisa and Grandpa, with Ford leading the way and Grandpa bringing up the rear.

“Gonna miss that horse,” Her father murmured to himself, “but I can’t say I’m disappointed with the call.”

“Do we throw anything?” Mia threw a look at her father before concentrating on the monster again. “There are four of them, but they are people. They can be quieter than the horses jumping in… and maybe we shouldn’t risk waking it.”

“I think we wait, and watch carefully.” Seth said. “I’ll keep an eye on… well, they’ll be invisible, so I can’t really watch them, I guess.”

“Can you see the monster?” Mia pointed, and after a moment, he nodded.

“Just barely, the outline.”

The combination of the animal’s natural camouflage with the lack of direct sunlight so far this morning made it particularly difficult to see the monster. Its stillness only enhanced the near invisibility of the predator.

“All right. You watch it, I’ll try to track their progress,” Mia could look for them and at least be semi-successful in figuring out how far along they were, especially from this angle, further from the ramp they would be coming up.

Of course, it was unlikely she would be able to keep her concentration solely on them. She would switch between looking for them and monitoring the monster, just in case her father lost sight of it.

Seth raised one arm, his signal that they were ready. Ford raised his, and then disappeared, along with the four others.

Climbing into the pool would be the biggest part of the challenge. Not having hands free to do it would mean a bit of awkwardness, but the alternative of being tied together would limit maneuverability in the event that some needed to run, or be separated.

Mia grimaced at that possibility.

Through her magic, and with the help of the occasional ripple across the water, she kept meticulous watch for the people’s progress. It was slow. Slower than she wanted it to be.

She wanted it to be over!

When her father had woken her such a short time before, she’d been horrified to not only have fallen asleep, but also be unconscious when Ford left to go get another horse!

After all, what was the use of her if she wasn’t awake to make sure everyone and everything was safe?

She’d berated her father firmly and repeatedly, while he simply raised an eyebrow until she calmed down enough to realize how childish she was being. Getting on to her parent for not waking her sooner was beyond immature.

Thankfully, she’d been able to rein it in before Ford came back across the water. She hadn’t even taken it out on him… much. Of course she did have a little sarcasm to dish out, but she attributed that at least partially to the limited sleep she’d gotten.

Mia had woken next to Ford’s bedroll. Him not being in it, and her father being the one to rouse her, was rather disorienting. What had the situation been, exactly?

She hadn’t asked, afraid to rock the boat right when this very important task was nearing completion.

“Come on, Ford,” She whispered more to herself than anyone else. The only one who might be able to hear was her father, who until recently hadn’t felt kindly towards the young man at all. The recent turnaround was a surprise, but could it last?

Another ripple. She stared at it, noting its position and dreading that the small disturbance might finally wake the monster.

She looked for it, but its position had not changed.

Seth didn’t comment either. Her gaze flickered to him, but he was concentrating solely on what he could see of the monster’s outline.

Both of them seemed to be holding their breath, anxious for this ordeal to be complete.

The relatively carefree days around the canyons, through the grasslands, and even to some extent in the forest, were something Mia found herself missing. Her courage and her patience were wearing thin, haggard.

But there was still far to go. Were they halfway now? Perhaps more? She could hardly judge distance at all from what she remembered of her vision in the cave.

She knew there were mountains, and then a tunnel into a cavern. A vast grove of golden, bejeweled trees around an obsidian castle. The similarity between that carved structure of onyx stone and this apparently natural formation of white chalky shelves struck her for a moment.

From afar, this could very well appear to be the high walls of a castle rather than a naturally formed cliff of pale minerals and hot springs.

Shaking off that distraction, she focused again on finding the group of her loved ones drawing closer, bit by bit.

A little further, a little closer.

On the far side of the pool, the lone horse they’d left behind to make its way back down suddenly began to neigh and stomp. Mia blinked, confused. Was the mare angry about being left alone? They’d sent her down, why had she stopped?

Why was she upset now?

The horses on this side responded, calling out to the lone member of the herd, and Mia grimaced. The noise, would it–

She searched for the monster, and spotted its long, thick tail beginning to move.

“No,” She whispered as the creature stirred. “No, please no.”

“Mia–” Seth no longer stared at the white-scaled behemoth. He was looking up. Beyond her.

She didn’t want to tear her eyes from the monster’s movements, but a sharp crack seemed to split the sky in two.

The lightning was close enough to stand the hairs on her arms on end, and the thunder threw her heart out of rhythm for several beats, such was the force of its presence.

“Get to the horses,” Seth seemed to say more to himself than to her. “We can’t let them panic and stampede.”