Memory's Wake Omnibus: The Complete Illustrated YA Fantasy Series Read Online Free Page B

even faster. Why didn’t she recognize me? Have I changed that much? He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a mirror. That sort of thing lost its meaning out here in the woods, until today. Seeing her again made him think of things he hadn’t thought of for half a lifetime. Things like mirrors, showers, soap.
    The hunters were far behind by the time he slowed and dropped back to the forest floor. He brought his hands up in front of his face. Black earth and muck painted his pale skin. He picked up his pace again, heading to the nearest stream.
    He stopped abruptly. He wasn’t thinking straight. He’d finally found her again, and lost her within the same moment. Washing could wait. He had to go after her, and he would need help.
    “Mina?” He didn’t call loudly. She always heard him anyway. It was up to her if she came or not. He knelt down on a patch of moss between the vast trees and lichen-covered boulders, preparing himself to wait for her arrival.
    “You didn’t have to call me. We’re already here.” She giggled behind him, her voice more familiar to him than his own.
    He stood back up and turned to see Mina, accompanied by a large host of other fairies. No matter how often he saw them, he never got over the sight of the fae. It made his heart ache and beat faster just to be in their presence. He’d learned names for some of the forms of fae he had seen in his life here. Piskies, elves, sprites, fairies, gnomes, names he knew from the myths of his childhood. Mina would have been a sprite. Her true form was tiny, glowing, a dazzling flicker of sparkling light. But he knew she could take other forms, as could most of the seelie fae. Despite their names, their categories, they were each unique, changeable and perfect.
    Before him now, Mina stood as tall as he did, able to look him straight in the eye. Her vibrant fiery hair lifted around her with a life of its own. She flashed a heart stopping grin at him. A dozen more sprites shimmered in the branches nearby. Watching from behind tree trunks, a few also took larger forms, some with skin tinted green or gold, some with wings, some without. He recognized Yvainne amongst them, walking – gliding – toward him, her clothes woven from strands of cobweb silk, blossoms and dew drops that drew delicate patterns across milky skin and hung in flowing waves.
    “Something new has come to the forest that will affect us all.” Her voice tingled in his ears.
    He knew his place, and bowed. “It’s her. The one I waited for.”
    Mina scowled.
    Met with silence, he continued. “Men too, and a dragon. They chased her and another girl into the troll caves.” His heart lurched. That split second decision he made could have killed her. He’d planned to follow, keep her safe, but then the cave entrance crumbled, separating him from her again.
    Yvainne’s eyes fluttered, irritated maybe, or bored.
    “I want to find her. Can I... Could you help me?” He knelt down, bowed further, holding his breath.
    “You should know she is not right. Within her there is something unnatural, something dangerous. She is not the way you remember her.”
    “Please.”
    Yvainne turned her back on him and began gliding away.
    He jumped to his feet, taking a step after her. “Please!”
    “We will be following her.” Irritation clear in her voice, she didn’t turn back to look at him. “She needs to be watched. Mina is coming with us, so I assume you will too.”
    She faded out of sight while her last words still rang through the air. Other sprites around her twinkled and vanished like stars disappearing at dawn.
    Mina remained standing next to him. “ Her. ”
    He turned around with an apology on his lips, but Mina already grinned at him, her eyes sparkling. He was used to it now, how her moods shifted so fiercely. He smiled back at her. He couldn’t help it.
    “They know where she is. We’ll follow later,” Mina said, all chimes.
    He itched to leave now. After so long, he