"What do you mean?" It was Sica who spoke this time. He was staring at Zelda with a bit of annoyance. Somehow, Wara thought, he had collected a different meaning from what Zelda had said.
"I mean exactly what you think. We need to stay here and wait."
This did not sit well with Nak. "If you think for one second that you can disappear anytime you like and then come back to order us around then you are highly mistaken."
Yhra and Wara stared at each other in bewilderment. Both Sica and Fjammi seemed to have expected this outburst as they did not look surprised. Zelda herself did not seem offended but instead she looked amused.
"I have higher authority over you yourself and you know it." This seemed to shut Nak up but not pacify him as he stood from where he sat behind the fire and stormed off. Yhra rushed after him, either to question him or calm him, no one knew.
The sky had completely darkened by now as the fire grew brighter.
Sica cleared his throat and continued like Nak's outburst had not happened. "We cannot stay for too long, the creatures..." He passed and stared at the grinning woman. "They ran from you."
Zelda offered no reply as she stared at the fire. She did not react even when Wara rose up and walked deeper into the trees.
Sica turned his head to watch her but then immediately turned back when he saw her bunch up her skirt and crouch down.
He tried to ask Fjammi something but the boy had immediately disappeared to appear where Wara had occupied. He stared at Zelda with eyes the size of pebbles and immediately announced. "It is time for you to fulfill your promise."
Zelda nodded and grabbed the boy's hand. After a while, she began to whisper to him in a language that was foreign to Sica's ears.
The boy slowly lost his colour as she continued and then when Zelda paused, his flames were sent into a frenzy. He immediately let out a groan as they extinguished themselves as quickly as they had burst forth.
He ripped his hand away from Zelda's hold and then Sica saw the tears in his eyes.
Wara returned then but did not even acknowledge anyone, rather, she found a spot to lie in and then slowly drifted off to sleep.
That night, Wara dreamt of the past.
***
"How much further do we need to go?" Cloelia complained. "We have been walking in random ways. I am starting to doubt whether we are not lost."
As always, Pax did not reply her but instead made another sharp turn between the trees. She pressed her back against the large tree and pulled Cloelia along. The shifter opened her mouth to protest but then stopped.
She had suddenly stopped at the sound of hoofs and stones being crunched under a wheel. Pax's first thought was to convince whoever was being carried to allow her in but then she took a good look at her companion.
Her hair was wild and messy. Her clothing was too tight instead of loose as she needed to be able to throw them off easily when shifting in order not to rip the clothing. Her shoes were in a worse than wear state.
Pax knew that if she appeared with the shifter, the shifter would be taken for an unregistered slave with the humans.
Pax did not know why this side of the world did not exactly have the veil obstructing them from the human world. She knew exactly where she was but could not understand why it worked differently.
From what she knew, the veil was like a loop, curved around the earth in order to separate magic from the humans but then this one did not have it.
Cloelia tugged on Pax's sleeve to ask what the matter was and Pax finally noticed the carriage has stopped. She hoped in her heart it had gone further than her ear could reach not that it had stopped.
Her heart sank when she heard the crunch of leaves rhythmically. "Someone is coming." Cloelia whispered.
They stood still as still as the tree. Pax tucked her skirt between her legs as she hid, hoping whatever stopped the person was not related to them.
After a while, the footsteps grew faint and then the sounds of the wheels grew further away.
Pax let out a sigh of relief and then turned to stare at Cloelia who had opened her mouth to speak.
"I am supposed to be following you but here I am, trying to find the way instead." Cloelia shut her mouth on hearing Pax's words.
"You said you were supposed to follow a song?" Pax asked after a while. Cloelia nodded and then Pax shook her head.
"But you have not been hearing it. Tell me, why exactly do you feel we are lost?"
Cloelia paused and stared back at her. "Are we not lost?" The question was sensible but it sounded like nonsense to Pax. "You tell me. We have been walking for half the day but since a few hours ago, you kept complaining that we are lost."
This gave Cloelia a reason to think hard then she answered Pax. "The voice who spoke to me. They could not have gone far so I reasoned that we might follow where they came from but then this morning, I found no footprints. No scent."
High in the trees, something watched them with a grin. Its white eyes and mouth looking down on them in amusement.
Pax seemed to notice this and her eyes widened. "So it is true." She thought to herself. Then she turned to Cloelia. "That was because what spoke to you was a shadow. The song is a shadow that you are meant to follow. We need to find a place where the beasts refuse to venture into but for that, I will need you to shift."
Cloelia took a step back. Shifting was an advantage to some and a curse to others. Everytime she shifted to her natural form, the shift to assume the skin of a human became tuturous.
She slowly convinced herself that she was doing this for the lady and then she began to strip.
She knelt to the floor when all her clothing had come off and then the first bone shifted.
She let out a cry that startled Pax as if she had not expected it. Slowly, the bones shifted to rearrange themselves and Cloelia let out a pained cry each time. Soon, she was screaming in pain and crying until her features assumed that of a naked wolf.
She howled in pain as the skin tore apart to let out the fur. As soon as the transformation was complete, the wolf collapsed to the floor, whining in pain.
With this experience, Pax finally understood why "They" were determined to remove the veil. If the veil was removed, then the Dies Lucis goes with it and so does the curse.
After a while, the wolf slowly gained strength and then the shadow dropped from the tree, it waved its hand to them in a beckoning motion and began running.
Pax climbed stop the wolf as it gave chase after the shadow, leading them towards the song.