Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“Nay. But it was obvious he believed Driochmor held it.” Kilham nodded briefly. “You search for something yourself.”
“Everyone searches for something.”
“But you search for someone.” Kilham’s gaze lingered on him. “Did this someone enter Driochmor willingly?”
Kaelan answered without hesitation. “Aye.”
Silence settled briefly between them before Kilham spoke again. “Perhaps he does not wish to be found.”
Kaelan’s eyes hardened slightly. “That changes nothing.”
For the first time, genuine interest stirred visibly in Kilham’s expression. “So, you hunt him.”
“I seek him.”
Kilham leaned back slightly upon the bench. “Be careful of what you seek, Kaelan. You may not like what you find.”
Chapter Twelve
A Cave
And a Warm Misty Pool
Bria hurried through the village paying little mind to the wary stares that followed her. Her thoughts raced too quickly to settle, one colliding into another until she scarcely knew which troubled her most. Winnie’s words still echoed relentlessly inside her mind.
One of us.
One of Driochmor’s own.
It was impossible and yet…
Her pulse refused to steady. She needed to find Kaelan.
The certainty of that rose above everything else.
Winnie had explained how to reach Elder Kilham’s cottage, but Bria’s thoughts remained too chaotic to focus properly. She missed the narrow turn between two stone cottages entirely and only realized it moments later when the path led her toward the forest edge rather than deeper into the village.
Frustration tightened inside her.
Drawing a steadying breath that did little to calm her, she turned back quickly, forcing herself to pay attention this time.
Then she saw it.
A large fire pit burned brightly, weathered stones circling the flames exactly as Winnie described. Beyond it stood a larger cottage built of dark stone and timber. An older man sat upon a weathered wooden bench and beside him stood Kaelan.
Relief struck her so suddenly she nearly stopped walking altogether.
Kaelan looked focused on what the older man was saying, yet the moment she stepped past the fire pit his attention turned instantly toward her. As though some part of him had sensed her presence. Or perhaps, it was what he wanted to believe when it was her footfalls he heard.
The moment that Kaelan saw her expression, he moved toward her without hesitation. His hand closed gently around hers before she could speak.
“Bria.”
Instantly warmth spread through her, followed almost immediately by something deeper and far more unsettling.
Concern.
His worry for her settled hard enough inside her chest that she nearly staggered beneath the strength of it. She jerked lightly against the feeling, pushing it away before it could settle deeper within her.
Not now.
Right now, she did not want to feel him. She did not want comfort. She only wanted… “I want to leave.”
The words rushed from her before either could speak.
Concern deepened in Kaelan’s eyes. “Bria—”
“I have had enough of Driochmor.” Her voice tightened despite her efforts to steady it. “Enough strange talk and half answers and people claiming to know things about me that cannot possibly be true.”
Several nearby villagers glanced discreetly toward them before quickly pretending not to listen.
Bria cared little. She folded her arms tightly across herself as though holding the confusion together by force alone. “I want to return home to Willowmere.”
“That might not be possible,” Kilham said.
Bria turned to him. “Why not?”
Kilham regarded her calmly beneath thick silver brows. “You may leave only if Driochmor allows it.”
The strange certainty in the elder’s voice instantly deepened her frustration.
“What does that even mean?” she demanded.
Kilham made no effort to soften the answer. “The forbidden land decides who remains and who leaves.”
Bria stared at him in disbelief. “Land does not make choices.”
“Driochmor does.”
The quiet conviction in his words unsettled her enough that she looked instinctively toward Kaelan.
What disturbed her most was that he did not appear surprised.
Her brow furrowed sharply. “You know of this?”
“I know Driochmor is unlike other lands.”
“That explains nothing,” she said, frustrated at responses that held no answers.
Kilham rose slowly from the bench then, the movement carrying more strength than his years suggested possible. “Many who enter Driochmor believe they may simply walk back out whenever they choose.” His gaze shifted briefly toward the dark forest surrounding the village. “Some discover otherwise.”
Bria felt unease stir hard within her chest now. “What do you mean, otherwise?”
The elder clasped his hands loosely behind his back. “Paths change. Forests close. Trails vanish where they once existed. Some seeking escape find themselves walking in circles for days only to return to where they began.” His eyes settled on her again. “Others never find a path out at all.”
A chill crept slowly along Bria’s spine.
Without warning, she remembered the moment she and Kaelan had turned to leave Driochmor. The forest had shifted around them almost immediately, growth thickening unnaturally until the way behind them vanished entirely.
It was as though the land itself had sealed shut.
Kilham noticed, understanding slowly dawning across his face. “You have already seen it happen.”
Bria looked toward Kaelan, reminding, “The forest closed behind us.”