"Run!" Elodie cried to Fen, who sped off toward the forest's edge with renewed vigor. Carpets of trillium and clover raced past, her vision blurring into a dizzying phantasmagoria of foliage. Elodie had never seen a creature run as fast as Fen could, but the roots and branches kept pace and blocked them at every turn. Elodie had to lean down into Fen's fur to keep from being smacked off his back by brambles flung like lassos.

Faster, still, he ran. He had clearly been holding back up until this moment, as now he moved so quickly underneath her that he was no longer bestial and muscle, and was instead akin to mist pulled by a breeze. To her horror, she watched with wide eyes as the scenery itself was aging past her. Trees cracked through gnarled layers of ring and bark, only to crash and fall into moldering piles of decay that fungi fed on moments later. She watched a newborn doe amble on weak legs, stumble into a fully grown pelt with rippling fur and flounder into a pile of maggot-infested bones the next moment.

And still, Thalia's voice taunted them. "Elodie, Elodie," they cooed in a silky tone carried between the rustling leaves above them. "Where have you gone, Elodie? You know I'm going to find you."

Fen came to a stop so abruptly that Elodie was glad she had his fur clutched in a death grip or she would have fallen off. When she poked her head up to see what could have stopped him, a chorus of growls and snarling maws greeted her. Animals of the forest had rallied to surround them, eyes like daggers. Weasels and foxes gnashed shining teeth and elk brayed in protest of their momentum.

Protect Fen, she instructed her muse.

You only need to say how her muse responded with glee. It was practically drooling with excitement at the idea of violence.

Tendrils of fur lifted Elodie into the air and set her down behind Fen. Bones cracked and twisted, and he grew into the size of a dire wolf, no longer sleek and agile but with dense layers of defensive muscles. "Stay back," he told her.

Elodie found herself at a loss for words, her mind blank where there should have been paragraphs. Can you give him a shield? she tried.

A bear lurched forward, and Fen tried to leap to the left, wherein he slammed into a wall of ice created by Elodie. She winced. In her head, her muse snickered.

"You know that isn't what I meant!" she hissed, frustrated enough to speak out loud.

From behind her, she heard hooves moving through the brush, thunderous and fast. More of them? An alarm rang through her body. The noise caught the attention of several foxes and fishers, which wove through the legs of other creatures. Nimbly on the tips of their paws, they moved like water, engulfing her legs in knots and forcing her to stumble back onto the ground. Fen took several claws to his sides as he kept the larger animals away from her, but as sticky, red blood began to pool in the snow, she knew he couldn't withstand the assault forever.

Fear clouded her thoughts. Help me protect him!

Which would be preferred, a sword you can't use or a spear you can't lift? Her muse, for some awful reason, enjoyed this.

Why won't you listen to me?!

You should worry less about the gelert and more about yourself.

Elodie gasped as a shadow moved around her. Horns sprang from the shadow, and Elodie turned to see an elk rearing above her. Fen looked on helplessly from the bear he was pinned under. The elk's cloven hooves raised in the air, and she squeezed her eyes shut as they came down.

Clang!

Her body was barreled out of the way just in time by the weight of a larger person. They skidded across the ground, and when her jumbled gaze finally righted itself, an axe sunk into the ground with a hefty thump in front of her as a protective barrier.

"Braum?!"

Shielding her from the forest creatures was the crown prince. He wore study, banded warden armor with a fur collar that tickled her cheek. He kept one arm around Elodie to keep her out of the range of the elk's hooves, and with the other, he pulled his axe up, knocking off small clods of soil and snow that collected around the blade.

He didn't need to swing it. The elk's head jerked as arrows pierced into the side of its temples.

"On me," came a steady voice over Braum's shoulder.

Warden-Commander Emerys stood with a bow raised, the tension in the bowstring released. Even with his leather armor, Elodie could see how strong back muscles rippled to make the motion look effortless. He plucked the string like a harp, and another arrow pierced into the elk's side to be sure. A death toll bellowed from the elk, and it careened sideways.

Several wardens filed in line beside Emerys, an assemblage of swords, axes, and bows raised. Elodie's heart swelled at the sight of the prince and the warden-commander. She was so happy to see not just a savior, but these two specific people. Although it had only been a handful of days, it felt like ages and like being reunited with family. The feeling evaporated when the wardens encircled the bear that pinned Fen and advanced.

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"Are you alright?"

Elodie gave Braum an addled look, mouth agape, but managed to sputter out, "Y-yes." She winced a little and more truthfully added, "Mostly. What are you doing here?"

A pained expression crossed his face in knit brows, but he bent down and put a gloved hand on her head. As he covered her head, he spoke with a gentleness unbefitting the chaos around them. "Saving an orator that disobeyed an order. I'm glad we made it in time; we've been trying to find you for weeks." His hands were broad, and the motion calmed her. He was larger than the danger, larger than the woods themselves. Elodie felt him the embodiment of safety.

So the fairies never did deliver my messages... she thought with disappointment. Bitter bile rose in the back of her throat. She felt so stupid for unquestioningly believing Thalia's promises.

"Wait ... weeks? I've only been gone-"

A barking noise interrupted her, followed by a loud snap that made them both swivel their heads in unison. Elodie's pale eyes widened. "Don't hurt him!"

Behind Braum, rabbits and foxes scampered back into the forest away from the wardens, who were now advancing on Fen as their next target. The gelert, for his part, had his jaws agape, drool mixed with blood dribbling down his chin. Elodie felt a surge of magic and emotion well from within.

Not a word passed between her and her muse, but as she ran over to Fen, the air filled with a tense sparking sound. Ice ruptured from the ground between Fen and the wardens, a prismatic shield to separate them. Elodie threw her arms wide, despite the terrified expression on her face. The wardens looked at it in awe, gripping their weapons tighter.

Braum looked between Elodie and the ice with amazement. Recognition then dawned on his face, and his expression soured. "So now you're protecting the fox that tricked you."

Elodie shook her head. "He did, but it was a misunderstanding. He helped me escape. He's ..." Her heartbeat quickened, and she declared, "He's my friend. If they hurt him, it's like hurting me. Call them off." She kicked a heel back, and the ice wall grew taller in emphasis. Then she remembered who she was talking to and meekly added, "P-please. Your Highness."

The wardens were stunned by Elodie's declaration and looked to their commanders for answers. Braum's eye twitched with irritation as though he had a diatribe to launch into, but he chose restraint instead and said, "Leave him be. Our goal is getting Lady Elodie to safety." Under his breath, he muttered, "We can decide what to do with him after."

"There's our demon prince," Elodie heard Emerys murmur.

With the command given, the wardens stepped back. There was an awkward shuffle of movement as wardens tried to make themselves less threatening, sheathing their weapons and holding their hands up. Fen eyed them all waril as an animal backed into a corner, but eventually he relaxed and trotted around the ice block to Elodie's side.

Fen and Braum eyed each other warily, and with Elodie caught between them, Emerys stepped in to shift the conversation as a neutral fourth party. "We should keep moving. There's no telling when more of them will come back."

Fen moved to Elodie's side and touched his wet nose to her cheek. She reached a hand up to stroke his muzzle in return.

Braum seemed annoyed by the motion but put aside his quarrel to say, "Right. Emerys, can you get us back to the horses?"

"Oh, sure. How hard can it be to return to the horses through the magical, evil forest?"

"I don't know, which of us is a master pathfinder that's been following tracks in the woods since he was three?"

Emerys heaved a sigh and said, "We've no choice but to try. Come- we came from this direction."

The company nodded and began to step away, back the way they came. Elodie bit her lip and clenched a fist in her chest.

Braum noticed her hesitation and prompted, "What's wrong?"

Elodie was startled and chirped back, "Ah ... no ... it's nothing, it's just ..." Fen curled his wispy tail around her legs, and the warmth gave her strength. "Thalia will probably be expecting that. They know we want to leave, so they'll move the exit if we go outside the forest." She bit the nail of her thumb in thought.

Fen's jaw unhinged, and his voice came out, which made a few of the wardens step back in surprise. "Oberon?" His dark black eyes looked ahead, having already guessed Elodie's plan.

"We could go there and buy time for an extended oration."

"I don't like it." Hackles rippled on Fen's back.

"You said it was the only place Thalia wouldn't go."

Fen's eyes narrowed, and he said, "I've never seen them go there ... but that doesn't mean they won't."

Elodie looked down at the ground, defeated. Fen was right. It was probably safer to do as the others said and make for the prairie as quickly as possible. She had already wasted time bringing the idea up.

"I don't follow," Braum asserted bluntly between them, "But if you think that place gives us a better chance, show us the way." With the decision made for himself, he strapped the axe back into two leather loops around his waist.

Fen shook his head, "Your horses won't ride fast enough, and they don't know the way through the woods." He paused, debating something internally like he wanted to say more, but settled on, "I'm the only one that can likely evade their gaze for a time if we hurry."

Elodie put a hand on Fen's side, and he lifted her onto his back in a fluid, practiced motion. "We'll go, Fen and I. We can be a distraction, and you can-"

Fen's eyes widened and his body lurched with surprise as Braum yanked at the fur on his hind leg to heft himself up behind Elodie.

"Escaping on a dog without me," he said, amusement creeping into his tone. "Where have I heard this before?"

Elodie hesitated and then scooted forward against Fen's wishes so he had room to move up.

"Emerys, protect the others and regroup with us," Braum instructed as he adjusted himself on Fen's back. Despite an initial wobble, he acclimated. She was vehemently aware of him as his arms dropped on either side of her to grip Fen's fur low and tight, as he would a horse's reins. There wasn't much choice except to be squeezed between them.

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"Double my pay when we get back," Emerys complained, but his eyes were sharp with determination and calculation.

"You'll have to take it up with Minister Alden," Braum said with a confident smile. "Let's go, dog," Braum announced, gently tapping Fen's side with his boot to annoy the gelert.

Which it did.

"I am going to drop him."