“Oh, Aurielle, ye of little faith,” Callan said. “I can tree walk all three of us. And you might be our secret weapon. Hollis has a fern affinity, so you can counter some of his moves.”
“He’s quite a bit stronger than me, from what I’ve heard, but I’ll help if I can,” Aurielle said.
“And what should I do?” I asked.
“You are going to serve as the distraction.” Callan grinned.
“Oh, joy,” I said, voice dripping with sarcasm. But I knew it was a good plan. Without access to my powers, distracting Hollis was one of the only ways I could actively contribute. “Do you have any idea where he is?”
“I can confidently guess he isnothiding in a fern hollow. Hollis’s style is flashier. I’m sure he’s in the center of the orchard, lighting up as many people from Team Autumn as he can. Let’s tree walk in that direction and see if wecan find him.”
We climbed out of our hiding spot, and Callan used wind to help Aurielle and me climb the tree. Aurielle’s legs were shaking as she stood on the tree branch twenty feet off the ground. “Maybe I should wait in the hollow, and you two can go and take down Hollis,” she said, looking at the forest floor far below as if she was going to be sick.
“You can walk between Briar and me,” Callan directed, glancing to me to make sure that was okay. I nodded. “I’ll create wind binds around both of you so that even if you slip, the wind will grab you. But youwon’tslip. Just stay right on my heels, and you’ll catch the trail I’m making.”
The gentle confidence in Callan’s voice must have buoyed Aurielle because she nodded. “Let’s do it.”
We began to walk, and I felt Callan’s binds snap into place around my lower back as the three of us walked. If I hadn’t successfully tree walked in the past using my powers, I probably would have been way too nervous to risk such a maneuver, but instead, I was… exhilarated. It was good to be tree walking with Callan again, even if there was someone between us.
I scoured the ground as we walked, occasionally seeing students tagging each other out with their lights. The crowd seemed to have thinned substantially in the fifteen or so minutes since the game had started. A grasses affinity was sending a ripple through the grasses along the ground and grazing the heels of anyone it passed, making them screech. One girl was lying in a field of flowers, the chrysanthemums and goldenrods having stretched over her so that she was invisible except for a small hole for her nose and mouth.
Finally, the commotion increased, and I spotted ferns rustling all along the forest floor.
“I think we found him,” Aurielle said, confirming my guess.
Several of our fellow Team Autumn students were walking away from the area covered in glowing green dust.
“What now?” I asked. My gaze darted through the woods, andI caught sight of a few other flecks of orange and green lights at our level. There were other tree affinities here, and not all of them were on our team.
“Aurielle, do you think you can draw the attention of some of those ferns? You can do anything that would break Hollis’s concentration,” Callan said.
Aurielle nodded. “I’ll think of something.”
“Good. Let’s stop here.” Callan paused as we approached a large Douglas fir. Callan coaxed the branches into forming a small platform for us to stand on.
“Aurielle, start messing with the ferns once Briar is on the ground. Briar, walk with your lantern around the perimeter of where the ferns are most concentrated. Do you see?”
I studied the forest floor and nodded.
“I’ll get as close as I can from above then drop down and surprise him. Everybody ready?”
When Aurielle and I nodded, a breeze tucked under me and floated me to the ground. I lifted my lantern and began to walk. As I made my way around the ferns, they began to slow and reversed direction.
“What are you doing?” I heard a voice call. I froze and held my breath but then realized the sound had come from a ways off. It continued, “Why are you spinning that way?”
It must have been Hollis, picking up on Aurielle’s interference.
Every step felt like I was about to engage a mousetrap. If Hollis—or any other Team Summer student—saw me, I was done for.
After an excruciating minute of waiting for Hollis to notice me, a twig snapped behind me, and I jumped. I spun around, and my eyes widened as I made out the figure of Meadow, completely covered in moss, emerging from where she had been pressed against the front of a tree. She had been completely camouflaged by it.
Meadow lifted a finger to her lips. Even the light of her lantern was mostly dimmed, moss having grown over its glass panes.
I could do nothing but watch, transfixed as Meadow passed me like an earthen goddess. Meadow moved in silence until she was ten feet from where Hollis was holding court, taking down any would-be challengers.
I glanced overhead and saw Callan perched there, ready to attack.
But Meadow made her move first. She darted forward and lifted her lantern, which was rapidly clearing of moss. The area began to illuminate with her orange light as—voice calm and clear—she said, “Lux dispere.”
