Flickering Creatures | ONC 2024 | ✔︎

(19) Then Dance Away

The green flames were gone by morning. The bog looked no worse for wear with their passing; they'd burned nothing, and no bodies of Wights scattered the unmarked peat. Made mostly of energy, they had no bodies to leave behind. The only sign of the events of the night before was a line of whitish residue down the middle of the bog. Daphne scooped a little of this up and ran some tests on it in her makeshift field laboratory. She declared the substance safe.

With the Wights dispersed back into the forest, the bog's mist too burned off when the sun rose, soaking the ground with its warm, liquid rays. Bella turned away from the forest's edge. A quick flight through the trees brought her back to Daphne's new camp, camouflaged in a dense part of the forest. Daphne was in the final stages of packing up. Titus was nowhere to be seen.

"He went to test the Wight-lure again," said Daphne, seeing Bella looking around. "I tried to make a neutralizing potion for it, and we think it worked."

"Good," said Bella. "We probably don't want Wights following us back to Hyacinth if you're telling your grandparents you spent Wightnight in Solanum."

Daphne nearly dropped her bag as she blanched. "Oh no."

"You didn't tell them?"

"No, I—Lark sent a letter and covered for me, but—" She fumbled for her bag, stuffing things into it with panic-stricken hands. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."

"I can't help if I don't know what's wrong."

"I won't be back when I said I would be. Lark will worry, too. She'll have to tell my grandparents, and they'll know I was—I didn't want to lie to them, but—"

Bella sighed and landed on the backpack, blocking Daphne's hands and commanding her attention. "Tell me what to tell them, and I'll fly back," she said. "I can be there by this afternoon. It's a lot faster than walking."

Daphne stopped, halfway through bundling dirty clothing. "Would you?"

"Just tell me what to say."

"I can write a letter, but I don't—what do I tell them?"

That was a good question. "You'll have to tell them the truth eventually, if you... if you're planning to press charges. You can tell them I asked for your help."

"Then you might get in trouble."

"Would you rather get in trouble yourself?"

Daphne dropped her gaze. "No."

"Then let me do it. You can say... that I pushed you into it."

"No." Daphne's voice went sharp. "I'm not lying that far. I'll tell them I wanted to help you."

"You don't need to."

"Then I'll tell them I wanted to help Titus." Daphne crossed her arms and stared Bella down with all the stubbornness of teenhood. "He was nicer about it."

"Fine. You wanted to help Titus, then. Do you want help writing the letter?"

Daphne's posture wilted. "Could you?"

"Get a pen and paper. We can do this together."

Daphne was still a kid, after all. She could use a little coaching. By the time Titus got back—Wight-free—the pair of them had drafted a decent list of notes for the letter, and Daphne was working on a draft copy for Bella's review. Titus cocked his head at both of them, got the overview, and added himself to the effort. He seemed to have a talent for reading how words would be interpreted by the receiving party.

Another hour of teamwork later, Bella was fitted with two letters on a string about her neck. She bade her companions goodbye and took off on aching wings, taking care to mask how little she wanted to do more flying. She'd earned herself this. The wind, at least, was in her favor. Bella let herself coast, trying to enjoy the view to take her mind off the events that would ensue once Daphne got back to Hyacinth. Maybe Bryony would be there. Bella hoped not. This would only get harder if she was, and she would worry for Daphne and Titus's safety. Better to get a message to the Covens in Nerium before Bryony showed her face again.