True North [True North series book 1/3]

I stayed in the door opening until sundown. Then I went back inside, and took the rest of the herbs, mushrooms and nuts I had gathered in the forest out of my satchel. I hung most of the herbs up to dry, and put the rest away. I filled a basin up with hot water, and grabbed some eucalyptus and dried Mitlock.

Tophyn should be fast asleep by now, and I had learned I’d best get ahead of the worst of his coughing fits, which usually happened at night, after he’d been lying down for a while.

I nudged Nysander awake and took him to Tophyn’s bed, where I set the basin down on the stool. Nys took one side of the towel I had brought, and held it over the basin, trapping the medicinal steam. I took the other end and held it over Tophyn’s head.

Nys began softly flapping his end of the towel, fanning the steam toward Tophyn, who twitched and coughed in response. The steam would help open up his airways, and usually resulted in a far more productive cough, clearing some of the mucus in his lungs.

Tophyn coughed until his face had turned bright red, and his eyes watery. He spit up large amounts of thick, green phlegm, some of it tinged with bright red blood. I stayed with him, rubbing his back and scratching his scalp gently until he had fallen back asleep.

He was getting worse — we all knew he was. I had not seen him this sick before. I closed my eyes, picturing the Solvan plant in my head. I imagined it dispersing its rich, brown seed onto the earth below. I needed to get there before the soil could swallow up the seeds — as it was an extremely fertile plant, and once the seeds had started sprouting, they were deemed useless.

Seed of Solvan had incredible healing powers, and was used in many tinctures and tonics — but if you could get it whole — that was where the real magic was. The seed of just one plant would be enough to fully heal Tophyn, I was sure of it.

The only problem was its rarity. Solvan only bloomed once every 4 years, and only if the conditions were just right. But I had high hopes for the deep woodlands, as they were almost entirely undisturbed. People hadn’t been that far out into the woods in years — not even me.

I tossed and turned in my bed until sleep finally took me. I dreamed I was soaring the skies, carefree and happy — no burdens holding me back. I was snapped back to reality roughly by Tophyn coughing so loudly it made the beams that were holding up the attic shake, causing dust and mouse droppings to rain down on my bed. I dusted off the bed and quickly ran back upstairs to aid Tophyn.

“He has a fever,” I whispered to Nys, who had come to join me, “help me get this off him.”

We stripped Tophyn of his damp tunic, turning his weak body over so he was laying on his stomach. I grabbed the small pot of ointment from the shelve above his bed, spreading it onto his back in large circles. Nys wet a cloth with cool water and placed it on Tophyn’s temple.

“Stay with him,” I whispered to Nys, “change that cloth every time it’s no longer cold. Reapply the ointment whenever his back stops looking shiny. There’s more downstairs, in the medicine cabinet, if you need it.”

“Where are you going?” Nysander asked worriedly.

“To the woods,” I mumbled, descending the stairs, “to find Toph some seed of Solvan. Call for Elysora as soon as dawn breaks. I’ll be back before you miss me.”

I left home before Nys could protest. It was chilly out — the crisp spring air clung to me like a blanket. I hadn’t even made it halfway to the forest before the dew from the grass had soaked through the leather of my boots, wetting my socks.

I tiptoed through the forest, going my usual route. I ignored the herbs I ran into along the way, and only made mental notes of where the thick, brown edible mushrooms grew, so I could pick them up on the way back to the house. I had no time to lose.

I followed brook that trickled down from the mountain glacier, stopping only once to have a drink. The water was so cold it stung my hands, and immediately turned my fingers rigid as I used my hands to scoop the crystal-clear liquid out of the stream, slurping it into my mouth.

I flexed and balled my fists repetitively as I continued further into the forest, deeper than I had gone in a long time. I passed by a lot of wildlife along the way, but let them be. There was no use in hunting now, as it would just add dead weight — literally.

I scanned the forest floor as I walked, looking for the Solvan plant. It was pretty easily recognizable — a three-stemmed plant, each stem adorned with a white, five-petal flower with bright red stamens. I had only seen one once, when I was a child. My mother had pointed it out to me on a forest walk. There hadn’t been any seed though — it had already been harvested.

I trod through the forest, deeper and deeper into the maze of trees. I had never been out this far. I looked around, and although the forest looked quite eerie, I didn’t feel frightened. There was a thick, white mist clouding my visibility, and the canopy of leaves above me blocked out most of the moonlight, making it even harder for me to see. But a white-leaved flower would be hard to miss.

A glistening caught my eye. There, a few steps in front of me, was what appeared to be a puddle of some sort. It hadn’t rained in weeks — I wondered where the water had come from. My hand clutched my bow as I approached the small body of water. I crouched down beside it, and peered in. The water mirrored my face unnaturally — like liquid mercury. I looked around confusedly. Where had this come from?

I blew into the puddle, and the surface rippled just like water would. I picked up a stick, and dipped it into the liquid. It came out completely dry — not a drop of the liquid had transferred onto its bark.

I hesitantly reached out my hand, and touched the tip of my pinky to the surface. I felt a strange type of suction where my finger touched the water, like something was pulling me from the other side. Before I could pull my hand back, the suction got stronger and stronger — until all of my hand was pulled under.

I dug my heels into the ground, and whipped my free arm around to grab onto something —anything— as the suction grew stronger and soon, my entire arm was pulled into the silvery liquid. Panic took over as I was quickly pulled further down, and suddenly, I tumbled head-first into the puddle.