“Astrid!” Teofil was up on his feet moments later, shouting over the swiftly moving dark water. “Fetter!”
Thaddeus groaned as he stood beside Teofil, the ball of light still hovering overhead and illuminating the river for a good twenty feet all around them. “Astrid! Fetter! Dulindir!” As he shouted their names, he pulled the smashed mooshberries from inside his shirt, flinching at the sticky berry juice left behind. At least the rain had stopped sometime while they’d been in the water.
“Astrid was swimming toward the spot where Dulindir went under the last I saw them,” Teofil said. His voice was tight and tense, and Thaddeus wished he knew what to say to somehow reassure him.
“We’ll find them,” he said. “They’re both very smart and really stubborn.”
That got the small smile he was hoping for, and Thaddeus reached out for his hand. “Come on. Let’s walk downriver and keep calling out for them.”
The ball of light followed along with them, floating above the river as they picked their way around trees and puddles of river water on their way downstream. Now and then, Thaddeus looked up, still amazed he had conjured it.
“I was as shocked as you are,” Teofil said, catching him staring up at the light. “I didn’t know where any of you had gone to, then this ball of light erupted from the water, and I saw your hands splashing the surface. By the time I got to you, your head had popped up.” He stopped and tugged on Thaddeus’s hand so he would come to a stop as well. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Me too,” he said, then hugged him tight. They clung to each other a moment, the light illuminating them.
“Teofil!”
The voice startled them both, and they pulled apart. Astrid and Fetter were carrying Dulindir around a fallen tree, Dulindir’s feet dragging behind and his head hanging down. His wet hair was like a thick, dimly glowing curtain that obscured his face.
“Astrid!” Teofil shouted. “Fetter!”
“You’re okay!” Thaddeus chimed in.
The ball of light he had conjured flickered a few times, then went out. Its glow went with it, leaving them in darkness again, relieved now only by the low glimmer of Dulindir’s hair.
“Why’d it leave?” Thaddeus asked, more of himself than Teofil.
“We must not have needed it anymore.” He smiled and took Thaddeus’s hand. “Come on, let’s go meet them.”
They hurried through the trees, and tears filled Thaddeus’s eyes as he watched Teofil hug Astrid first, then Fetter. Thaddeus was surprised when Astrid approached and grabbed him in a strong hug as well, and he wrapped his arms tight around her. When she pulled away, Fetter came up and gave him an uncomfortable hug, which Thaddeus awkwardly returned. It was odd, but still made him feel good.
“How is he?” Teofil asked. He knelt beside Dulindir where Astrid and Fetter had carefully laid him on the soft, wet ferns.
“He’s been unconscious since we found him washed up on the shore,” Astrid replied. “If his starlight hadn’t kept going, we might have walked right past him.”
“Will he still be able to direct us to the well, do you think?” Fetter asked.
Teofil looked up with a frown. “How about we let him wake up first and worry about that after we see how he’s doing?”
Fetter shuffled his feet. “I was just asking for Thaddeus’s father’s sake.” He glanced at Thaddeus, and then looked back at Teofil. “It’s just taking us so long to get to the well.”
“We know, Fetter,” Astrid said. “But we can only do so much. Dulindir could have died.”
“All of us could have,” Thaddeus added, shivering when he remembered the water sprite floating just inches away, staring dispassionately at him as if waiting for him to drown.
Miraculously, Teofil’s bag hadn’t been swept downstream, and he handed some berries, leaves, and oils from it to Astrid to tend to Dulindir. Thaddeus still had his backpack as well, and he wondered if the things inside would ever dry out as he let it fall off his shoulders before he sat on a log. Teofil came to sit beside him, holding plantain leaves and the dark, thick stuff Miriam had given them.
“Let me see your hand,” Teofil said.
“It’s fine,” Thaddeus said. “See to Dulindir.”
“Astrid is doing that,” Teofil said. “Let me see it.”
Thaddeus held out his hand, and Teofil angled it toward the faint glow of Dulindir’s hair as he inspected it.
“The abrasions are better, but they’re still open and raw. We should cover it again.”
Teofil’s touch was gentle, and Thaddeus smiled as he watched him work.
“You’re good at that. Your mother taught you well.”
“He didn’t spend enough time with our mother to learn that from her,” Fetter said casually from where he sat leaning back against a tree a dozen feet away. He saw the looks Thaddeus and Teofil both gave him and flashed a sheepish smile. “Sorry. Private moment. I’ll stay out of it.”
“Too late,” Teofil muttered, going back to Thaddeus’s hand.
“Where did you learn this? If not from your mother?”
Teofil shrugged as he finished securing the plantain leaves around his hand with a thin piece of vine. “Leopold, I guess. Or maybe the fairies.”
“Well, wherever you learned it, you’re good at it.” Thaddeus inspected the leaves and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
Teofil kissed him quickly. “Glad to do it.” He returned Thaddeus’s smile, then looked at Astrid. “How’s Dulindir?”
“Coming around, I think.”
“Is he speaking?” Fetter asked, jumping to his feet.
“No, but his hair is brighter.”
Thaddeus looked, and sure enough, Dulindir’s hair was glowing stronger. “That’s gotta be a good sign, right?”
“Who knows with elves. Could be his dying breath.”
“Fetter!” Astrid and Teofil said together.
“What?” Fetter asked.
“It’s not my dying breath,” Dulindir said, his voice weak but steady. “So you can put away the party poppers and bunting, Fetter. I’m going to pull through.”
Astrid knelt by Dulindir and helped him sit up. She sat beside him, an arm around his shoulders, and hugged him tight against her.
“Take your time and warm up,” Astrid said, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. “Get your strength back.”
“Yes, indeed,” Fetter said. “Get your strength back. You’ll be needing it to lead us the rest of the way to the Well of Tears.” He paused, then asked, “How much farther, do you think?”
“For Flora’s sake, Fetter!” Teofil shouted. “Let the poor elf wake up before you start badgering him about the well. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were the one we were traveling to the well for instead of Thaddeus.”
Before Fetter could reply, Dulindir pointed off away from the river. “No worries, Teofil. I shall keep my word and lead you to that accursed place.” He looked at Fetter. “It’s not much farther now. Just a day’s walk is all. We shall be there before the sun sets tomorrow.”