He lets me go and darts off into the fog covered forest while I mentally start to count. Jadestorm brushes up against my legs with a humming purr. I reach 20 wands before bending down to pick up a leaf I have spotted through the fog, twirling it around my fingers. As I continue to count to 100 wands whilst looking around with the leaf in my hand. I look down at the ground, trying to find more leaves and glance toward Jadestorm, who now sat in between my legs looking very wise. With a small giggle, I reach 90 wands and set my leaf down to pick up Jadestorm, putting him in my spell bag.
"100!" I yell, letting Quintin know I'd now be catting now.
As I strut down the creek bed, I notice footprints in the mud moving toward our spot, deciding to follow them. I start thinking they might be Quintins. Excitement rushes through me as I think I'm about to win the game fairly quickly. I rush down to the creek floor, landing in mud before taking off after the tracks again. Jadestorm bounces around in my spell bag along with all my other books. I place my hand on the bag to delay the bounces of my steps. Now running through the mud, I find the footsteps trailing off out of the creek and onto the bay above, showing a decent direction for where he went. With the fog slowly depleting, I can barely see the tracks of Quintins shoes zig zagging through the mud, as though to throw me off. I start to hum the old nursery rhyme the fairies were singing as I turned around a log to find Quintin laying there looking amused.
"Ah ha! I found you! I won!" I say with excitement rising in my throat.
"Yes, yes. It seems you have. You are the queen of cat-and-mouse. Are you not E?" Quintin implies trying to keep his own excitement from rising.
I start to giggle while noticing the sun sitting atop of the forest leaves. Taking a glance at Quintin, I pet Jadestorm and note that the shoes Quintin was wearing were not the same as the track. I pushed it off, suggesting they were my tracks. Quintin gives me a curious glance before standing.
"Would you like to play another round? I can be the cat," he suggested.
An eager grin crossed my face as I replied, "Yes, I know the perfect spot to hide. You'll never find me!"
With a smile, Quintin turns to start his count as I race down the side of the creek, cutting off at the fallen tree. Taking a right, I turn to another fallen tree, looking around for a spot to hide. I had told Quintin I had one, but I truly didn't. So now I have to search for one, looking up in trees, under the creek bed, in logs, and even in more mud caves. None of them were perfect or at least to my liking. I end up strolling through the forest, looking for a decent spot. Jadestorm gives off a peculiar sound as he hops out of my bag and down to the ground. As I follow him, I note the surroundings of the area, so if Quintin never found me, I could get back and scare him.
Jadestorm walks over to an old shed sniffing it before turning away as though the spot was no good. He then turns to the tree beside the shed and scratches on it. I glance back at the shed and wonder which is best. Walking over to the tree, I pick up Jadestorm, setting him in my spell bag. I then grab a branch and start to climb; I only stop when I hear footsteps crunching the leaves below me. I peek down at the ground to see Quintin walking into the shed without a clue for where I am.
With a whisper, I ask Jadestorm. "Do you think we should scare him?"
Jadestorm replies with a cautious meow before stepping out of my bag onto the tree branch, we were sitting on.
I take his meow as a yes and pluck him back up right back into my bag. I slowly climb down the tree, trying not to make much noise. As I near the end of the tree, I hear Quintin murmuring something to Jubkin. With a low snicker, I peek through the window to see Quintin going down a secret hatch under a chair. I watch with amazement and wait for his return below the window. I hear more steps harboring in the shed. With a cautious glance, I grapes my hands on the wood window frame as I see Quintin emerge from the hatch with his father.
"She's not here," Mr. Persephone says with disappointment.
I gasped at the sight, standing up in shock before I saw Mr. Persephone pointed at me.
"There she is! Go get her boy!" Mr. Persephone demands of Quintin.
I turn, tightly grabbing at my bag before dashing into the forest, holding my bag and hat with Quintin, following behind. I take a glance back before jumping over a fallen log to see Mr. Persephone has joined Quintin on the chase. With a scream rising inside me, I ran faster than I could in training, jumping over logs and mud sinks. Jadestorm hisses in my bag before giving off a feral meow as Quintin reaches for my bag. I dart to the right, grabbing a small tree and swinging me to the left right in between Mr. Persephone and Quintin. As I dash through the forest, I hear Quintin running after me telling me to stop so we can talk. I push his voice out of my head until I hear nothing but the sound of footsteps crunching on the leaves and sloshing in the mud. Jadestorm hunkers down in my bag with a hiss of fear as I jump over the creek, feeling as heavy as a brick with fear.
Landing on the ground with a thud and jerk of my head, I scramble to start my run, slipping on the muddy leaves.
WHOOSH, CRACK, FSHH
Fire starts in front of me as I try to run, turning to the left. I take a look at Mr. Persephone and realize he's throwing fireballs at me to stop me from running away. With a startled jolt running up my legs, I whip my head back and continue to scurry on the ground, crawling away before running. Quintin jumps over the creek as Mr. Persephone levitates over. He had actually tried to kill me. The thought kept running through my head, pushing me forward to get back to the town, away from my crazy friend and his father. Quintin had lured me here. HE was trying to kill me. Thoughts running through my head all in a circle. Why? What did I do?
WHOOSH, CRACK, FSHH
I let out a shriek of pain as one of Mr. Persephone's fireballs clipped my leg, sending me tumbling into a pile of mud and leaves. Jadestorm flies out of my bag with it wrapping around my body in a tangle. My hat went straight into a mud puddle. I turn myself over to find Mr. Persephone standing over me with a grin on his smug face.
"See, it's not that bad when you just stop," he remarks with a snicker.
I let out a muffled cry as he poked my charred leg with his cane. I turn my head and see Quintin by a tree, standing awkwardly looking as though he's about to cry. I tried to ask him for help, but before I could, Mr. Persephone stopped me.
"Now, now. He can't talk to you. We made a deal. You got the girl you are free to go now, boy," Mr. Persephone announces whilst taking his gaze off me to glare at Quintin.
Jadestorm backs down into my bag that's been tangled around me while Mr. Persephone looks at Quintin. I feel him wriggle around through the books. I try to place a hand over him but am stopped when he lets off a low growl, alarming me not to. I set my hand above my charred leg and try to figure out a way to get out of here. I look around and see a fairy flying away with a peony flower. The flower for healing. The thought hits me, and I try to remember the healing spell from my book I learned a few moons ago. Was it Alter nep? No, maybe Queze-ten? No, it was Episkey!
I take a disappointed look at Quintin and then back at Mr. Persephone. I have to distract him somehow, but how? I think of making Jadestorm run out, but I'd not want to hurt him more than our fall. I try to think of more, but in the midst of my thinking, a troll comes stumbling out of a mud cave from the noise. Trampling through the leaves and small sticks the troll charges toward Mr. Persephone makes him have to dive out of the way. I flinch as Mr. Persephone and Quintin try to attract the troll with spells and enchantments. I lean over so they don't hear me and try my own chant.
With a muffled voice, I chant, "Episkey!" Then again, "Episkey!"
ns 15.158.61.54da2
