Cael woke her, where she had fallen asleep by the mossy rock by the giant tree she had started to think of as their special tree. The light from the rising sun was just starting to poke it's beams of light through the tree branches.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly, the ever-present wheeze in his voice not as pronounced this morning.
She smiled up at him, sitting up and stretching before her mind caught up with her and she remembered the night before.
"Oh! Here!"
Reaching into the deep hollow under the tree that they used to store things in, she pulled out the satchel of herbs. They had wilted a little overnight but would still do the job.
"I need you to take these to the Yegg and tell them they will cure the sickness if boiled into tea."
He took the satchel hesitantly.
"I try to avoid them if I can," he sighed.
Mira tilted her head to the side, as she had seen Vraela do, remembering her words from the night before.
"Cael, they obviously see you going into the forest.." she trailed off, giving him a knowing look.
He sighed and pulled his knees up, resting his head on them for a moment.
She let him get his thoughts together, fighting the unease in her gut. He deserved a chance to explain.
"They threatened to kill my mom, Mira. I have to go into the forest every day to try and find you and when I do, I am to bring you back to them. Every day it takes me, they hurt her a little more, but I just can't do that. I can't hand you over to them. I love my mom and it hurts to know that they're doing this, and I just…" his words left him in a rush and tears were threatening in his eyes. He sucked in a breath and started coughing and hiccupping.
Mira hung her head. Had she known his mother was being tortured because she wouldn't leave the forest, she would have left a long time ago, and he knew that.
"I have a plan Cael, to get them to leave, but I need your help. I know they won't be gone long, but it should be long enough to do something that will hopefully keep them away forever. It won't be easy for you though," her voice caught in her throat as she realized he would want to help plant the seeds and she couldn't let him. There was no way his body would let him continue until they were done, and it was going to kill him.
"If you *cough* have a plan, I *cough* will follow it as *cough* best I can. I can't keep doing this, Mira," he finally whispered, getting his hiccups under control.
The coughing subsided as she held out the satchel of herbs. "Take them to the Yegg. I know they won't last long, but tell them when they return for more, I will go with them and perform my magic for them. I can't go now because I am… making my magic strong enough to leave the forest," she ended with a nod. "They don't know that I don't have magic so it should convince them."
"Ok, but what will you be doing while I do this?"
"As soon as they leave, truly leave, I will come and I'll need to talk to everyone in the village. I'm going to need their help to do the next bit before the Yegg return."
"You don't really plan to go with them when they come back, do you?" he asked softly, reaching out to run a finger down her cheek.
"No, Cael. I plan to make it where they can't ever get back into the forest ever again. And if what I plan doesn't work, and they return, I will hide here in the forest forever."
She smiled at him, as he tried to muster the energy to get back up. His body had shrunk in on itself even more than it had been when she first met him. Huge dark circles under his eyes showed just how much he was struggling. She wondered when he had eaten last and shoved the thought aside. Once the Yegg were gone and the wall was grown, she would try and figure out how to help him more. Maybe Vraela could help her find better herbs to help him breath and give him more energy.
As he hauled the satchel up and headed towards the village, it took everything in her to not join him, to help him carry that weight, but she knew she couldn't. If this was going to work, she had to wait until the Yegg were gone to leave the forest.
Sneaking to the very edge, she watched from the hidden depths of a bush as he talked to the Yegg. They snatched the satchel from him, ripping through the herbs as if seeing what all was inside, and knocking him to the ground without a backwards look.
Gritting her teeth in anger, she clutched the seed pouch and waited. It only took them a few more minutes to get on their horses and ride out of the town. She watched as Cael's mother and sister rushed out of the house they had been held inside and hugged him while the men disappeared over the horizon. Counting slowly to thirty, she finally stepped out of the forest and headed towards the village. There was no telling how long they would have before the men decided to return.
"You took your time returning, witch," spat one of the men from the village. His face was sunk in and his clothes hung on him.
Fighting the urge to return to the forest, she took the time to look at each person as they all emerged from their homes, having watched the men leave. They were all skin and bones, having to tie their clothes with bits of rope and twine to keep them from falling off of them. None of them had any energy and her heart sank for a moment. How could she expect any of them to help her as Vraela said they must when they could barely manage to walk across the village?
Once they had all assembled, she turned and looked at Cael's mother. Both of her eyes were black and bruises covered her arms. Mira could only imagine what other injuries she had hidden under her clothes.
"I'm sorry it took so long for me to return, but I had to take the time to prepare the magic that will save the village," she said carefully, speaking loudly so her voice would carry to everyone before her.
They shuffled their feet, concern and confusion mixed with a little hope playing over their faces.
"You were right in calling me a witch, and I am sorry it took so long, but this magic is very potent. I needed to make sure it was done right so no more people could come who wished harm on the village."
"What exactly is this magic?" asked one of the other men, suspicion clear in his tone and face.
"It will cause no harm to any of you, but it is too powerful for me to do alone. I must have help from those of you who are willing. I caution you," she paused, looking around at them as they glanced at each other, murmuring softly, "those of you who are willing to help must be able to finish once we start. If even one of you fails to continue until the magic is complete, it will all be for naught."
She ended her words with her gaze landing on Cael. She hoped he understood what she was saying.
"What do you mean? What do you need us for?" asked one of the women, clutching her shawl to her with white fingers.
"I can see that most of you are weak, probably because the Yegg ate all your food and you are starving. The task I need you to help me with requires physical work. If you volunteer to help me, you must understand you cannot stop until we are done, even if you grow weak."
"But what exactly are we doing?" demanded another man. "We understand that we can't stop, but how can you expect us to agree to help, without even knowing what you want us to do?"
Mira nodded, looking down at her small pouch. She wasn't sure how this small amount would be sufficient to cover the distance that was necessary, but she believed it was part of the magic.
"I have magical seeds that will grow a great wall to keep the Yegg out. We are to plant them in the gap between the forest trees that leads to our village, in a straight line. We mustn't stop planting until the entire gap is filled or it won't keep them out."
"In that little bag?" laughed a man from the back.
Many of them erupted in either laughter or incredulous comments. Some even threw their hands up and turned to leave. Mira stood there waiting. Some were looking at her thoughtfully, not saying anything and the hope she had, started to spread.
"I don't know that I can survive planting that entire space," said one woman, stepping forward, her hands shaking as she wrung them before her. "But I do know I definitely won't survive if those awful men return."
Another man stepped forward with a nod. "I thought at first it was ridiculous that you could possibly have enough seeds in that tiny bag for the entire space and was going to go back home, but she's right. If those men come back, we're too weak to fight much at all and as it is, this winter will probably be the last for many of us if we don't do something. If you say those seeds are magic, then I'm gonna guess you have magic to spread them over that whole space. As long as we don't stop, does it matter if we take small breaks?"
More and more of the people began to step forward, discussing ways to keep each other moving when their bodies screamed to stop, and Mira let them. Her eyes were glued to Cael as he fought with the realization that he probably couldn't help. He finally looked up at her and nodded. He understood, but he wasn't happy with it.