Green Fox Chapter 16

The doll danced with wooden movements, a head of wool lolling to the side held up by small hands. Tired eyes followed the arm to a smiling face. Jax, the youngest of Talia’s children, whispered to the boy at her side, and they both giggled as they crawled away under the table, leaving Cosi alone in the corner. He rolled onto his back, covering his face with a hand, as pain pulsed behind his eyes, receding to the back of his skull. His entire body ached, and his skin felt dry and taut as a drum. Thoughts of his gran filled his mind, and he silently prayed, asking Liandra to watch over her and Dren during his absence.

With Liandra at the centre of his thoughts, he reached out to her as Boden had taught him. Sometimes the connection was easy, other times it took him a while, but he always found his way to Liandra’s light. It had been there before he even knew what it was. But as he opened his heart to accept the light, he found it dulled and so weak that it was as if a curtain had dropped between them. He pushed, disturbed by the barrier, angry that something would stand between him and the goddess, but as he tensed his body, a tingling spread across his skin, and he remembered the fire as it erupted from his fingers. “How are you this morning?” Talia asked from the table, where she’d been engrossed in writing in a book. She set the quill down and regarded Cosi with a thoughtful expression. “You had a restless night, so we thought it best to let you sleep. The others are in the cavern, preparing for the journey.” “I’m...” Cosi struggled to find the right words. At that moment, he felt both achy and energised, a feverish energy bubbling within him that sent goosebumps rippling across his arms. Talia raised an eyebrow and then stood up. “Is it that bad? Well, I have just the thing to wake you up.” A kettle simmered on the heat rock, another marvel that Tam had introduced to the humans. An earthy aroma wafted up from the concoction, and Talia gave it an appreciative sniff.

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