Hackii's Arc

Chapter 4 of 7

The pink fruit still warmed Hackii's hands, but the wood had turned strange. Every path looked like the last. Ferns closed behind him. He walked until his legs ached, and the trees grew huge, red-barked giants whose crowns blocked the sky. Somewhere beyond them the court would convene tonight, at the dark moon. If he missed it, the fruit meant nothing. He was lost. A white shape sat between two giant trunks. Frostwhisper. The frost-furred wolf watched him with ice-blue eyes, calm as a cat that owns the room. Hackii's stomach dropped. This was the fae who had taken his name. Now it waited on the only path out. "You wander in circles," Frostwhisper said. "The wood hides itself from the nameless. It always has." "You did this," Hackii said. "You took my name and now I cannot find my way." "I took what you offered." The wolf rose and stretched. "But I am kind. I will lead you to the border, in time for the moon. And I will give your name back." Hope jumped in Hackii's chest, then curdled. Fae gifts always cost. "For what price?" "The fruit." Frostwhisper's gaze fixed on the pink orb. "Your gift for the queen. Trade it, and walk free with your name." Hackii held the fruit tighter. Without it he was a fool with nothing. With it he had a reason to stand before her. His name or his gift. He could not keep both. He thought of the queen. She did not know him. A name spoken by a stranger meant little. But the hollowfruit she prized above all things. If he arrived with it, she would look at him. That was worth more than a word. "No," Hackii said. "Keep my name. I keep the fruit." Frostwhisper's ears flicked. It had not expected that. "Then find your own way, nameless man. The dark moon will not wait." Hackii dropped to one knee. Near the wolf's paw lay a fallen branch, long and heavy. He did not reach for it. He had no sword, no threat that would frighten a fae. He had only what he carried. "I will not trade the fruit," he said. "But I have this." He pulled the lavender from his coat, the last dried sprigs from his old nest. "You smelled it on me the day we met. You liked it. Lead me out, and it is yours." The wolf leaned in and breathed the scent. Something in its eyes softened, just once. "A small thing. But freely given." It took the lavender in its teeth. "Follow. Mind your feet." Frostwhisper slipped between the red trunks. Hackii ran after, the fruit safe against his chest. The trees thinned. Ahead, the sky opened, dark and starless. The border. The dark moon was rising. He had his gift. He still had no name. And the court waited past the trees.