Page 81 of Demure
You’re not done yet.
“I’ll do whatever is needed.” She offered the strange internal whisper, her voice sounding foreign even to herself.
Be prepared to pay the price.
The voice whispered inside her head. But before she could ask what the price was, or second guess her decision, everything went black; her last thought of the glowing pink eyes slowly coming closer, and the bolt of pain shooting down her spine.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sierra opened her eyes to see streaks of sunlight weaving their way between the branches of the trees. The light pink sky was barely visible as a light wind caressed the various levels of the tree branches that stretched above her head.
Sierra didn’t know how long she lay there, appreciating the nature around her, until the events of the night before came rushing back. She shot up, running her hands over her body and face.
Well, other than the pointed ears, everything felt the same as it was before. Holding her arm up to inspect it closely, she rolled her wrist back and forth. There were no signs of the lesions, but then again, there hadn’t been any before the ritual either.
Secretly, Sierra hoped that this meant she would never have to worry about them again, but she also knew that there was a chance that they were just gone temporarily, as her skin had been clear prior to the transformation. There was also the fact that Gaia had mentioned a price. Though she didn’t remember much of the initial pain, she was a bit worried there was some long-term cost she should be preparing to pay. Of course, there was the fact that she probably couldn’t see her family again, something which she was currently trying to repress. She would deal with thoseimplications and their corresponding emotions when she wasn’t sitting in the middle of an unfamiliar forest.
Sierra rolled her neck, realizing the more she moved, the more aware she became of the aches in the various parts of her body. It felt somewhat akin to sore muscles. She groaned as she pressed her hand against one particularly sore muscle on her flank. It had been a while since she had felt this kind of pain.
Once she finished inspecting her body, she began to look at her surroundings, groaning with each step. Seeing it for the first time in daylight, it made total sense why this place had been the right spot.
Although the ground was dirt riddled with rocks every few feet (something her aching muscles reminded her of as she looked around), just beyond where she lay was a small pool that reflected the trees and the color of the dawn sky, and the air here was quiet and more peaceful than other areas of the forest she had been in previously.
Remembering her final moments with the pink eyes, Sierra crouched down to look underneath the bushes, but there was no sign of the badger.
As soon as her short investigation was done, Sierra realized two things simultaneously: one, becoming Fae had not improved her sense of direction any as she still had no idea where she was, and two, it was highly possible that she had been asleep, or knocked out, for more than just one night. Her muscles felt so stiff that she may have slept through two nights, and possibly an entire day. If her stomach or bladder were any indication, then this was certain to be the case.
Sierra stood, walking over to the water. Refreshed after a splash to her face and a long cooling drink, she caught her reflection in the water and evaluated the planes of her face. Although her ears confirmed she had transformed to some extent, the rest of her still looked the same. Sierra was still wearing the red dress, and although it was dirty for having laid on the ground for who knows how long, she had to admit that it suited her.
After she had finished drinking and washing what she could while remaining fully dressed, Sierra stood and looked around, wondering what she was supposed to do now. It didn’t seem very safe to just start wandering the forest, but she knew she couldn’t just sit there either. Her stomach growled its agreement.
Sierra closed her eyes and stretched out her arm, her pointer finger making her body one large spinner. Then she spun around a few steps. When she opened her eyes, she was slightly dizzy, but this was the way she was going to go.
Figuring this was probably a dumb idea, but not seeing any other option, Sierra began picking her way through the forest in the direction she had pointed. A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that she should hurry, but she had no idea why, and it was difficult not to get distracted by every flower and plant she saw as she passed through the forest. Even though she didn’t look any different, her eyesight had changed, allowing her to see the intricate forest details more clearly than she ever had before.
Sierra came across several bushes with fruits, and while she was too afraid to eat something she didn’t recognize at first, eventually overcome with hunger, she ended up shoving some sort of berries from a bush into her mouth as fast as she could, hoping she wouldn’t regret it later.
The day passed quickly as Sierra simply enjoyed the world around her. She noticed that she no longer felt fatigued as quickly as she had as a human, and when the sun began to set, she continued on her way, enjoying the sights of the forest courtesy of her new night vision.
Toward the end of the day, she came across a clearing in the trees, and there were small floating lights hovering at about the height of her chest. She tried to get closer to investigate if the lights were made by large bugs, or something else, but every time she came close, the lights floated a respectful distance away. After trying this several times, she decided just to sit and enjoy the beauty of the lights, letting go of the fact that she didn’t know what they were. She was so busy focusing on the lights that itwasn’t until a large shadow fell over her shoulder that Sierra realized she wasn’t alone.
With a gasp, she tilted her chip up to see one of the elipags looking down at her curiously. Sierra held her breath; she had no idea what she was supposed to do around these things. She was sure Aislan had mentioned before, but as she racked her brain, all she could remember was that they were herbivores but still dangerous.
Sierra remained still as the creature lumbered in front of her, moving its large limbs slowly as if it didn’t have a care in the world. She hadn’t been this close when she was with Aislan, and it had been dark, so she hadn’t noticed before how the animals were covered with a short layer of fur, which made a spotted pattern across the elipag. Without realizing what she was doing, Sierra raised her hand, running it across the side of the creature. The fur was soft and delicate, and she couldn’t help but think this Sidhe creature was some type of weird elephant leopard hybrid.
The animal turned to look at her, not seeming to mind that Sierra’s hand was on its side. Its blue eyes glimmered, but Sierra swore she could see a smile on its face.
Need a ride?
Sierra’s hand flew to her mouth as she let out a surprised squeak.
“You can speak?” she gasped.
The creature merely tilted its head.Not your language, no.
What kind of non-answer was that? Sierra waited for the creature to whisper something else in her mind, but she had a feeling this wasn’t really speaking so much as understanding. Remembering the way the badger had spoken to her during her ritual, she wondered if this was a connection with nature she now possessed.
Something like that. So, ride?
