Lily Pondwhisper's Arc

Chapter 12 of 12

Lily knelt in the dry grass with the wrapped clock against her chest. Aurelia crouched beside the freed caster, her gold freckles still glowing from the sphere's magic. The caster breathed slow against the rock. But Lily could not rest. Mothman had followed the clock's trail before. He would follow it again. If he found her before she hid it, he would take back the clock and the caster both. "He's coming," Lily said. "He always comes for what he buries." Aurelia did not argue. She reached into her dress and drew out a black chest ringed with glowing runes. "For the clock," she said. "It holds dark things still. He won't sense it through the seal." She set it in the grass and lifted the lid. Inside was dark and quiet. Lily hesitated. "If I close it, I can't watch the veil." "The veil holds. The chest hides. Choose." Aurelia's voice stayed flat, but her eyes flicked to the treeline behind them. Lily heard it then. Dry wings, dragging over branches. Red light bled through the trunks. Mothman stepped into the open, his gaze fixed on the bundle in Lily's arms. "The clock," he said. "Give it back." Lily's hands shook. She looked at the chest, then at the caster who could not run. She could not fight him. She could only hide the one thing he wanted most. She laid the wrapped clock inside the chest and slammed the lid. The runes flared. The aura of the seal swallowed the clock whole. Lily felt the trail go dead, like a scent cut off. Mothman stopped. His head turned, searching. The pull that had led him was gone. "Where," he said. "Buried," Lily said. "Like yours." Aurelia raised her glowing rod. Light burst from its tip, and from the light rose a shape—wings spread, scales blazing neon, a dragon towering over the grass. It was not real. Lily could see the trees through it. But Mothman flinched back, and that was enough. "Run," Aurelia said. Lily grabbed the sealed chest. Aurelia hauled the caster up by the arm. They moved fast through the grass while the false dragon roared behind them. Mothman's red eyes tracked the light, not the fairies. By the time the dragon faded, they had reached a low bank thick with reeds. Lily pushed the chest deep into the mud and wet roots. The runes dimmed under the water. The clock was gone from the world, and from Mothman. She sat back, breathing hard. The caster leaned against Aurelia, alive. The curse held broken. Mothman had lost the trail for good. "He can't take what he can't find," Aurelia said. She wiped mud from her hands. "But he still has Moon Child." Lily stared toward the far dark. The clock was safe now. Nothing stopped her from going back. "Then we go get her," she said.