The cold night air burned in Ealga's lungs. The night had swallowed her whole now. The road vanished behind as she fled from the monster that gnawed away at the mystical prison of apple trees. The snarls it made had faded some time ago. The lantern could only do so much to illuminate the terrain as she crossed through the brush at a full run. It was a surprise that she hadn't slipped or broken an ankle. It was never her intent to learn to hunt or navigate through a dark forest such as this, but it was clear that a threat didn't need to simply be faster than her. They would only need to wait for her to snare her foot on something to cause an injury she couldn't recover from.
Ealga started to slow before she came to a full stop. Luckily the satchel wasn't hung at her side anymore. The extra weight would have made it even more difficult to make her escape. Every single muscle in her body seized suddenly. They wouldn't obey her will to move. Then she collapsed to her knees panting as she did. Every one of her ragged breaths stole away her energy. She began to shake with fatigue under the weight of her exertion.
At her side, the lantern burned low. It wasn't a lack of fuel; it was something about how Ealga had pushed herself so hard. There was a connection between it and her. It was good to have the light that wasn't too bright.
"Come on! Hat Seeker, we can't just sit here."
"I can't move. It hurts too much." Ealga fought the urge to vomit.
Nimby fluttered into view touching Ealga's face. She seemed genuinely concerned for her. It felt good to have someone close by. To attempt this trial alone would have been so terribly awful.
"I don't feel right. I feel like I am sick."
"Child," Nimby's voice took on a tone that was utterly different from the usual child-like whimsy she usually expressed, "Your magic is beginning to seed now. You'll feel better in a moment."
Ealga weakly looked at her companion, "What? What do you mean?"
"Don't you worry, Hat Seeker. You'll feel better in a moment. I'll be right back!" The faery flew away without waiting for a response.
It wasn't long before Nimby returned, but the whole while Ealga just sat and shivered in the dark. Thoughts of the wolf monster crowded her mind. Still her muscles didn't allow her to move. She was just paralyzed into a lump depending on a mythological creature to do… whatever it was she was doing.
"Here." Small hands touched Ealga's face. She opened her eyes as they'd closed a moment before. Nimby hovered there holding another berry with her hands outstretched.
"Eat."
Ealga couldn't lift her hand, so she opened her mouth and waited. Nimby dropped the fruit in. Ealga chewed. The juices flowed down easily and eased the pain in her lungs and throat. Ealga's voice came back soon after.
"Nimby, I'm feeling better."
"Of course! Fruit is wonderful. We should be going though. It could be chasing us soon." Nimby glanced around a moment to make sure that her prediction wasn't coming true immediately.
"Did I make the apples turn into trees like that?"
Nimby looked back at Ealga like she was half stupid, "Yes, Hat Seeker. I didn't do it. Certainly." She folded her arms authoritatively.
"I-I've never done something like that before. It just happened." Ealga's body started to respond again if ever so slightly.
"You're beginning to understand what you can do, Hat Seeker."
"I am?" Ealga just thought about that for a moment. She should be terrified right now. She should be trying to run again. Hide. Shouldn't she?
Ealga looked at Nimby with a serious expression, "I can't beat something like that wolf monster thing. We've lost the road. I'm supposed to stay on the road. I don't even know where I am right now. How am I going to get to grandmother's if I can't find the road?"
"I can help. I can get you back to the road." Nimby smiled with an unmistakable confidence that couldn't be ignored.
"You'll have to be careful though. We mustn't go back the way we came. We'll need to go through the goblin village to get back to where we need you to be. Yes, yes, we will."
Ealga tried to stand up. She pushed herself from the ground and found that her legs would support her. Then she noted that Nimby said they would have to go through a goblin village.
"Goblin. Village?" Ealga asked.
"Mmhmm! Weird ugly creatures with greedy eyes and they stink sometimes. They make houses out of wood and mud. Greedy things. They horde stuff for themselves all the time. Stealing whatever they can."
"Can we go around it?" Ealga didn't like the thought of trying to go through another dangerous place to get back to the road.
Nimby shook her head, "If we try to go around it we'd take too long. Or worse the wolf could come after you when you can't run easily."
Ealga sighed feeling something like lead on her whole body. It may be more dangerous, but if it got her out of the forest faster then she wouldn't argue. Besides, goblins didn't sound as terrifying as the wolf monster anyway.
"All right, we go through the goblin village."
"I know. I just said that we would." Nimby announced.
Ealga groaned as she took up the lantern again. She didn't have the strength to even be exasperated with Nimby's odd mannerisms. With some effort, she put her mind toward walking. A few paces later her muscles stopped aching so much. There was some tension, of course. There was no telling when the wolf would break free. When it did, she didn't want to be anywhere near it.
The trees that had imprisoned the wolf monster on the road had been her own magic. At least, that's what she felt Nimby meant when she'd said that the seed was beginning to grow within her. Then afterward a strange fatigue that made it impossible to move herself. Maybe that had been from all the running though.
Maybe not.
Regardless, she was now headed to a goblin village to get back to the road. Goblins apparently liked to steal and were greedy. Hopefully, they didn't see her cloak or lantern as something more than a fancy garment or tool. If she lost those things, she'd never make it to her grandmother's. She'd never get home either.