Bab 404: A tasty fruit

Gabriel had taken time to learn the fastest pace his horse could keep up without becoming overly exhausted.

He traveled as quickly as the beast would allow, even jogging beside the animal at times to save its energy. He had to catch up to the group as quickly as he could.

It was the most time he'd spent alone since the Darkness. That thought occurred to him on the fourth night, when there was no moon. The stars and small fire he'd built were enough to keep him calm, but the lingering thought at the back of his mind kept him from sleeping terribly well that evening.

Gabriel focused on the puzzle of what was happening to the world during his endless hours in the saddle. He talked aloud to Evey, who despite all attempts otherwise, had followed him on this journey. When the dog ran off to catch a rabbit or explore, Gabriel spoke to his horse, or to Gwen, though he wasn't sure she could hear him. Before he'd left, Finn had explained a little more about her and Roland's encounter with the Fae.

The fact that the Fae couldn't, or wouldn't, open portals was concerning to him. If he needed help, or if the human race did, would the Fae be able to do anything at all?

He thought of his time with them in Faeland. He spoke of it very rarely, since only a handful of people knew he had been there.

Despite his young age, he carried the memories closely. The days, the nights, the food, the games. The Fae were childlike and playful in many ways. He probably knew them better than any other person.

"I could go for some of that green fruit about now," He said as he entered another copse of trees. They were getting sparser. He'd checked the map an hour ago, and he was fairly certain he was getting close to where they should be.

Ah, that fruit. It had been round, but with strange ridges on the rind. It broke open easily and had sweet, tangy yellow juice in it. He'd eagerly slurped far more than his fair share down during his time there. He'd wanted to take some home with him, but Gwen said it would confuse people to have food from another world around.

Even at that age, he figured out that it must have something to do with the seeds. It would garner a lot of attention to have a strange tree bearing otherworldly fruit sprout up in Klain.

Of course, he hadn't known at the time that he would become a permanent resident there. He had wondered if Father would take him back to the ruins of their village and rebuild… How must it look, now?

Over twelve years had passed since it had burned. There was probably nothing left at all to indicate a village had ever been there. The wild would have overgrown the area and absorbed it back into nature.

A funny thing, how nature heals itself eventually. He wondered how the sea would fare. Would it be able to dilute and neutralize the poisonous water by virtue of its vast size?

The ruins of the Cetoan settlement were already heavily worn away by weather and acid. Once, if ever, the wildlife returned, it would quickly be as if man had never lived there.

The melancholy turn to his philosophical musings was cut short when his horse paused to stomp the ground.

"What is it?" He asked, leaning forward.

The horse snorted and backed up a couple of steps.

"Something wrong with your foot? Step in something weird?" He asked. Evey yipped beside him.

A small rock was all that was in the path. Wait, was that a rock? Gabriel dismounted to look more closely at the object, which seemed to be growing in size.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, grabbing the horse's bridle and moving the animal back. He drew his sword with the other hand, preparing for whatever might happen. Something could come through, if the portal was large enough, and he didn't know what world it might go to.

He'd encountered the occasional sparkle on his journey, but nothing large enough to make the ground move perceptibly.

He wasn't sure whether to focus his gaze on the ground as it moved or above it, where the portal was likely to appear. His brow furrowed. The portal over the sea had been high in the sky. The sparkles were varying heights… this portal, when it opened, could be anywhere between the ground and the sun, he supposed.

That did nothing to ease his nerves as he watched the rock jut out of the ground further.

As Roland had described, its growth accelerated to a point where Gabriel felt the need to move back in alarm. When it reached about the size of a large stewpot, it suddenly stopped.

He looked around, curiously, and then up. Just in time to jump out of the way before something hit him in the head.

In a panic, he let go of the horse and brought up his sword. Evey whined beside him.

Something had been thrown at him, but from where exactly?

There was a large tree, whose branches swayed in the breeze. Perhaps something had simply fallen from them…

He looked down to pick up the object that had almost given him a concussion. It was green, and ridged. His heart beat faster in his chest. Opening the piece of fruit, he eagerly bit into the sweet, juicy center.

The flavor was every bit as wonderful as he remembered.

"Gwen!" He shouted. "I can't see the portal!"

"I'm here," The familiar voice called. He squinted into the tree's thick foliage and could just see the shimmering edges of the portal he'd missed before.

"Thank you for the fruit!" He called, glad for the intuitive confirmation that the Fae could, indeed, hear and see humans even though they weren't currently portaling to their world.

"We don't have long, Gabriel. You need help?"

Gabriel nodded. "I need to find my friends, Victoria and the others," He said. "Please help me."

"Who would you like to find? Victoria, or the others?" Gwen asked.

His heart nearly stopped. Why wasn't that the same request? Was Victoria separated from the rest of the group? Surely that was a terrible sign!

"Victoria! I want to find Victoria!" Gabriel made a quick decision. "Is she safe?"

"Leave the road. Ride North until you reach a lone pine tree in a field. Then West until you find a stream. Drink from it. You will find her there." Gwen replied.

"And the world ending, can we have any help with that?" Gabriel put in. Was that too much of an ask? He didn't want to impose, but, well, the worlds were colliding and humans needed all the help they could get.

"You have the greatest Helper, and more will come to meet the dangers that will arrive. Be careful, but do not fear. The cracks in the walls are widening. The time is short. Humanity must prepare."

"You told Roland that," Gabriel chewed the inside of his cheek in brief thought. "How do we prepare?"

"Allies, and fortitude. Be ready, all the time." Gwen's always-enigmatic advice would have made him chuckle if it weren't so serious.

"Any other advice?" He asked hopefully.

"Do not despair. Goodbye, Gabriel," The Fae's voice cut off suddenly as the portal collapsed on itself.

"Bye, Gwen." He sighed. "Looks like I've got work to do."

He mounted his horse as his emotion swelled. "Victoria's alone? Why?"

The messenger birds in the cage on the back of the saddle had no reply to him either. Gwen hadn't specified how long it would take him to get to her. With trepidation, he pressed the heels of his boots into the horse's flanks, urging it to a quicker speed.

Hopefully he was close enough to make a difference to her. Gwen hadn't said she was in danger, but how could she not be? Even if she were simply, say, lost from the rest of the group, she didn't have the survival skills to make it alone in the wilderness!

If she'd wandered off, he would be angry with her for her foolishness. If something terrible had happened that separated her involuntarily from the others, then speed was even more of the essence.

"Please Gwen, help keep her safe." He whispered, though he knew it was likely useless. Gwen was able to hear, obviously, but it seemed she couldn't interfere unless a convenient portal opened.

In one hand, he still held the green fruit, and took a hasty bite of its sweetness to pull himself back into the moment. Fear was irrational. He had so little information, and the emotion did nothing to improve or change the situation. It could only cloud his judgment.

A dozen scenarios ran through his mind. The ground had shifted suddenly, causing her to be separated from the wagon. She'd gotten lost. Some horrible creature had come through a portal and taken her. Gargoyles? His eyes tightened.

He only knew that if anything happened to her, his life wouldn't be the same ever again.