Fox Ball

When we landed, I felt something…off in the air. I looked around, letting go of the grip I had on the back of Rose’s shirt, something I must have done while we were traveling because I don’t remember leaving like that. Everything seemed to be the same as we had left it, sans the supplies that had been laid out. In their place was burned sigils. I waited for them to disappear, but they never did.

Now that the adrenaline was gone, the pain from the slashes across my spine started to take effect. I let out a small whimper, looking at the ground. There were only a couple drops of blood. Good. It looks like I’ve stopped bleeding for the most part.

I took a step forward, scanning the environment for my best friend. I heard Rose gasp from her place in the sigil, covering her mouth with one of her hands. “Jesus! Olivia!” She gestured toward my back with her other hand.

For some reason, I thought I would be able to see the damage if I turned enough, but all that managed to do was stretch the skin and cause more ripping in the repaired tissue. I started bleeding more, I could feel it dripping from my skin. I sucked in a breath through my teeth, trying to ease the pain I was feeling.

“Guide!” Rose shouted in the direction of the peaks in the Ruins. When there was no immediate response, she shouted again, “Gui-“, she was cut off by the appearance of the man from the left. “Oh thank God.” She placed a hand against her chest, the man probably having scared her. “Olivia needs some help. That…thing really did a number on her.”

His eyes flittered over to me and the sheepish smile I was giving him, before his eyes grew wide with surprise, mouth falling open slightly. “Oh child. What did you do to yourself?” He asked, seemingly to himself.

I took offense to it anyway though. “I didn’t do shit. That giant wolf-fox thing did this.”

The look on his face portrayed shock, “The thing from your vision?” His voice warbled with an emotion I couldn’t identify.

I nodded, sighing before speaking, “It would seem that Peter has finished his little project.” Speaking of the dark fox, that reminded me. “He was there! At Rose and Derek’s house. I hit him, thinking I had made a connection with his face, but he disappeared into what looked like snowflakes.”

This statement just made his worried look deeper, frown lines appearing on his dark face. “That’s not good.” He turned away from me and started walking toward the hill separating the Ruins and the beach. I glanced over at Rose who was staring out to the sea along with her brother, a worried look on her face before I tried to catch up with him. He was taking long strides, barely even putting his feet on the ground before they were lifted once more. The pain in my back refused to let up, causing my stride to fumble, limiting me from walking too quickly.

“Wait!” He turned around, a frustrated look in his eye. He stood with his arms crossed, waiting for me to catch up with him. “Well you don’t need to have such an attitude.” I muttered underneath my breath.

He must have heard me because that only furthered the look of annoyance, causing me to just sigh. He had never had this kind of reaction to something I told him. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, his face conveying nothing but irritation.

Once I caught up to him, I could see his violet eyes darting back and forth ever so slightly, searching, for what I didn’t know. “What is it?”

“He has mastered his illusions far enough to be able to conjure on Earth while he is still here.”

That made absolutely zero sense to me. “What?”, was all I could manage.

Guide sighed, though this time it held more emotion that just simple annoyance. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what he was feeling, but my gut told me it was nothing good. “An illusion is something that only a powerful kitsune can pull off. It’s basically altering reality for everyone around while he’s pulling the strings somewhere else. I doubt he was on Earth with you, meaning he is much more powerful than we originally thought. An illusion takes years of practice and a whole fuckton of control, but for him to create one on another realm is almost unheard of.”

That scared me deep to the core. There was no way we could fight this man; there was no way we would ever win. I averted my gaze in defeat, staring down at the sand as it merged with the grass of the hill. “What are we going to do?”

Guide muttered something under his breath that I couldn’t quite catch before meeting my stare. “I don’t know.” Was his honest reply.

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After our little heart-to-heart, he told me he was going to go to the Forbidden Forest, alone, and gather some herbs to help heal my back. As much as I tried to insist to come with, he would only tell me, “You need to stay here, just in case something happens. You are their best hope.”

I nodded, partially in agreement and partially in knowing I wouldn’t win this argument.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be back before the sun completely sets.” I glanced over at the ocean, the sun barely rising above the line where sky meets sea. Doubt curled in my stomach like an ache that wouldn’t let up. He didn’t let me voice my concerns, simply heading toward Rose with a serious look on his face. He was going to use her to teleport him, tying a rope around his waist. Once he was finished, he would pull the rope, alerting her that he was ready to come back.

I was super uncomfortable with this, but there wasn’t anything I could do or say to stop him. I could only hope and pray that everything would be okay. We couldn’t risk losing him, he was our best hope at defeating Peter. He had to be alright.

He threw one last look at me, his eyes full of discouragement and something else I couldn’t identify; worry maybe, before he stepped through the portal and disappeared. That look definitely didn’t make me feel any better.

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Time seemed to drag on as we all waited for him to pull the rope. I stood there, gazing at the point where he disappeared, unable to participate in the conversation that my companions were having around me. My thoughts were racing with possibilities and doubts, promises of a safe return and all that could go wrong.

Just as the sun was about to fully set on the horizon, the rope was pulled taut. Rose immediately opened the portal once more and tugged on the other end of the rope. Guide emerged, an easy look on his face. Considering what he looked like before leaving, I was definitely concerned with this. Whatever had happened in the forest made all his worry disappear. I took a step away from him, no quite trusting that he was still himself.

He stepped out of the portal and began walking towards me, a handful of colorful flowers and herbs in his hands. He walked right past me and up the hill, disappearing behind it within a couple moments. I hadn’t noticed this before, but his cane was gone. His gait had been steady all day, not showing any signs of the limp he had before. This only concerned me further. I looked at Rose and Derek, Talia already distracted looking for shells on the beach. They both hadn’t seemed to notice, engaging in their own conversation, heads turned away from me.

Something was wrong and I was going to figure out what.

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“Olivia.” Guide called for me, from the top of the hill. He beckoned me towards him with his hands before disappearing behind the mound once more.

I debated following him for a few moments, only to start making my way up to where he had disappeared. I still hadn’t pinpointed what was wrong, no ideas coming to mind other than Guide not really being himself. Which could only mean one thing, Peter.

I focused my power into my hands, but kept them hidden in the pockets of my jacket, willing myself to be prepared for whatever was about to occur.

When I made it over the hill, I saw Guide sitting near a small fire, a cooking pot over it with something that smelt absolutely awful. I gathered that he was cooking the herbs he had found in the forest.

Once he noticed that I was in his presence, he pointed at a chair sitting near the fire. He started scooping out a dark brown liquid that was bubbling and boiling in the ladle. He placed it into a clay bowl, setting it to the side as I came over to sit. My nerves were shot; I had no idea what to expect, nor did I truly believe that this was Guide, a man I had started to consider my grandfather.

We sat in silence for a couple minutes, my worry only gaining in momentum. My heart was racing, but I kept my breaths calm, trying not to alert the other man to the chaos occurring within me. Finally, he handed me the steaming bowl. I couldn’t help but grimace at it.

“Drink. It will heal you.”

My face twisted as my stomach rolled. I pinched the bridge of my nose, downing the liquid in an act of pure trust, the concoction burning through my mouth and down my throat. It tasted worse than it smelt. I had to push back the urge to gag. That was the most disgusting thing I had ever tasted in my life.

As soon as the hot liquid settled in my stomach, I felt power rush through me. I could feel my eyes burning as they glowed a bright green, my body lifting off the ground, floating over my seat.

A white hot pain took me over, causing me to cry out, tears welling in my eyes as the pain drifted from the top of my head to the soles of my feet, down through my fingertips and even the ends of my hair. Every fiber of my being was on fire.

All of a sudden, the pain stopped and I was filled with light. I could tell that my skin was glowing a heavenly white, lighting up the darkening skies in it’s glory. I floated back down to my seat, settling down as the light eased and I reverted back to normal.

I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I had never felt anything like that before in my life. But all I could think of was feeling it again. The pain in my back all but disappeared as I felt my skin knitting back together. I reached a hand back, feeling the fresh skin. Not even a scar.

Looking over at Guide, ready to share the momentous feeling that had just overcome me, when I noticed the ten white tails shifting in the wind, curling around one another in something that resembled an embrace. I made eye contact with him, his eyes glowing white as the world faded to black.