Mira Felweave's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Mira followed the stream until the village torches faded behind her. Her arm still bled. She needed a name — someone outside the village who knew old curses — and she had none. Wandering the woods blind would only put her in front of the next hunting party. She stopped where the water pooled and tried to think like the man who used to think for her. He had always said: when you don't know the road, find someone who does. She smelled mushrooms before she saw the boy. He drifted a hand's width above the moss, translucent, a cluster of pink and violet mushrooms where his hair should have been. He was cupping his palms around something bright and counting under his breath. A firefly. Then he opened his hands and let it go. Mira froze. Her claws slid out on their own. She waited for him to scream and run like the others. He turned. He looked at her ears, then her claws, then her face. He smiled. "Seven," he said. "You made eight." A second firefly lifted off her shoulder. He watched it climb. "I'm Oliver. Do you want to play?" She could not remember the last time anyone had asked her that. Her claws pulled back a little. "I need help," she said. "I'm looking for someone who knows curses. Old ones. Someone the village can't reach." Oliver tilted in the air. "The shrine lady knows things. Not a lady. A fox." He pointed through the trees. "There's a stone place with jewels. Flowers on it. She sits there sometimes." "A fox." "Wrong color," Oliver said. "Blue marks. She tells fortunes." Mira's breath caught. A fortune-teller was not a healer, but a fortune-teller would know who was. "Show me." He floated ahead between the trunks. Mira followed, keeping her claws down. He did not look back to check if she was still there, and that felt stranger than anything. The shrine stood in a small clearing. Pale stone, vines, bright stones set into the carving, flowers heavy on every ledge. It glowed faintly in the dark. On the low step sat a fox the color of storm water, thin green marks running along her flank like writing. A rose was tucked behind one ear. The fox lifted her head before Mira spoke. "Chimera girl," she said. "You've been bleeding a trail since the village. Sit down before something else finds it." Mira sat. Her hands shook. "Can you tell me who can break what I am?" The fox studied her a long moment. "My sight has been cursed. Half of what I see now is lies." She flicked her tail. "But your answer isn't in the cards. It's in a book. Pale stone tower, west. There's a song in it that unbinds fused things." "Who has it?" "A man who does not want it read." The fox stood. "Walk with us at dawn. You are not safe alone." Mira nodded. For the first time since the drainage tunnel, she knew where to go.