“I can gather the starlight and project it around us,” Dulindir offered. “That should provide us enough illumination to continue our quest.”
“Great,” Fetter grumbled. “Starlight from an elf. In the rain.”
Thaddeus wondered how the elf was going to gather the starlight. Did he have some kind of magic bag he carried? Would it be bright enough for them all to see in the dark? Or maybe it would be too bright. Did all elves have the ability to gather starlight and use it to see by? Plodding along on autopilot, Thaddeus continued to mull over Dulindir’s statement until he fell into a hypnotic rhythm.
Shadows drew together and spread throughout the forest. To Thaddeus, it seemed as if the world outside the Lost Forest was an entirely different country, continent, or even planet. There within the trees, with barely a glimpse of sky, it was easy to lose track of time and place.
Darkness quickly took the woods. Thaddeus realized he was squinting to be able to see the ground ahead of him, and had just considered stopping to dig his flashlight out of the pack when he walked into Fetter, who had stopped in front of him. His shout of surprise startled both of them, but then Teofil placed a hand against the small of Thaddeus’s back as he came up behind him, and Thaddeus’s nerves stilled.
“You okay?” Teofil asked.
“Yeah.” Thaddeus touched Fetter’s shoulder, feeling him jump slightly. “Sorry I ran into you.”
“It’s all right,” Fetter said. “I thought I saw Astrid stopping ahead of me.”
“Astrid?” Teofil called out. “Dulindir?”
“We’re here,” Astrid said from the darkness ahead of them.
“How about some of that starlight, Dulindir?” Teofil said.
“It takes a moment. You mean gnomes can’t see as well in the dark as elves?”
“We can grow a hell of a nicer garden,” Fetter replied.
“That’s not much help out here, is it?”
“As the human of the group,” Thaddeus spoke up, “I could use some light to see by.”
“He’s working on it,” Astrid said. A moment later, Thaddeus heard her sigh as she sat down. “May as well take a rest while Dulindir conjures up the starlight.”
Thaddeus hesitated before sitting down. He was already wet from the rain, but did he really want to sit on the drenched ground and let the cold soak into him? As if reading his thoughts, Teofil tugged on his hand and directed him a few feet away. Thaddeus’s toe thumped against something, and he crouched down to touch the wet and mossy surface of a fallen tree.
“Can you see very well in this dark?” Thaddeus asked as he sat on the tree. “I didn’t even know this was here.”
“Better than you can, I’m sure.” Teofil sat beside him and put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him close against him. Thaddeus sighed at the warmth of Teofil’s touch soaking through his wet jeans and shirt. “There’s a spell to conjure up a floating ball of light, you know.”
“Oh yeah?” Thaddeus let out a sigh. “I’ve got a lot to learn. I can’t even begin to imagine casting a spell.”
“You’re smart. You’ll pick it up quick,” Teofil said.
“I hope so.”
“Why so unsure?”
“I’ve only recently learned this about myself, you know? And the one person who might be able to teach me how to conjure spells is my father. For all we know, he could have died already and this side trip is just a distraction.” Sudden, hot tears surprised Thaddeus, and he wiped stubbornly at his eyes. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to get all emo on you.”
“What’s emo?”
Thaddeus couldn’t help a smile. “It’s short for emotional. Basically I was acting more than a little emotional. Sorry.”
“You’re not a bit emo,” Teofil said, pulling him into a hug. “And you’re allowed to be scared. I’m scared, and I bet, if Astrid and Fetter were truthful, they would tell you they’re scared as well.”
“He’s right,” Fetter said from the dark not very far away.
“We are,” Astrid added from Teofil’s side of the log.
Thaddeus groaned at the knowledge Teofil’s siblings had been listening to him, but he mumbled, “Thanks,” in spite of his embarrassment. He considered that the worst part of a journey—perhaps even more than the need to sleep outdoors in any weather condition, go to the bathroom in the woods, and find their own food—was the lack of privacy. He and his father had always given each other their own space, and with no siblings to share his room or his father’s attention, he’d had it pretty easy. Teofil’s family was great to welcome him so quickly, and he was grateful they accompanied him, but it was more than a little overwhelming to deal with the high emotions that ran between Teofil, Astrid, and Fetter.
And now they’d added an elf to their group, and Thaddeus sensed elves and gnomes appeared to be a bit standoffish with each other.
As he thought about Dulindir, Thaddeus suddenly realized he could see Teofil beside him, Fetter off to his right, and Astrid to Teofil’s left. The humid air around them seemed to be alive with light, and he could now see the fern fronds quivering beneath the rainfall.
“I can see!” Thaddeus exclaimed.
“Hey, me too,” Astrid said.
They looked at Dulindir standing a bit farther off. His blond hair shone in the dark, and Thaddeus realized the light was coming from the elf’s long locks.
“You’re projecting starlight from your hair?” Thaddeus asked, feeling just a bit ridiculous at the question.
“I am,” Dulindir said with a smile. “It’s a little trick we forest elves have kept secret. Our hair is our source of power.”
“Like Samson,” Thaddeus said.
“Who’s Samson?”
“Is he a wizard?”
Thaddeus was surprised for a moment at their lack of knowledge of the Bible, then reminded himself they were not human. His father had not raised him to be at all religious, but Thaddeus had picked up Bible stories from the few friends he’d had. He could still recall the surprised expression on some of their faces when they found out he didn’t attend church and had never read the Bible.
“It’s a Bible story,” Thaddeus said. “Samson’s strength came from his hair.”
“What’s a Bible story?”
Thaddeus took a breath and tried to think of a way to describe it. Then he decided he was too tired to make the attempt. “I’ll explain that another time. Now that we can see, should we continue walking?”
Fetter and Astrid groaned, but Teofil got them on their feet, and they resumed following Dulindir through the wet forest, the light from his hair a beacon among the dark trees.
Some time later, Thaddeus realized the ground he stepped on felt spongy and soft. Then his next step came with a splash and water up to his ankle.
“It’s flooding,” he said, coming to a halt. Ahead of him, Astrid stopped and looked down, her eyes heavily lidded, and Thaddeus assumed she had been half asleep as she walked. Teofil came up behind him, and Fetter followed a moment later.
“Great,” Fetter said. “The forest is flooding?”