Riley fell a little behind, looking at the forest all around them. By all appearances, they seemed to be walking through perfectly normal trees, but even Lani could tell they weren't walking in the same direction as the trees were moving. Something was completely off.

  "This is why we were lost, right?" he asked the young man excitedly. "Magic?"

  He nodded. He was really the quiet type, Lani noticed, even down to the way he walked. Despite all the branches, leaves, twigs and other flora littering the forest, he didn't make a sound.

  "...So you were watching us for a while," Lani realized aloud. "There's no way you couldn't sneak up on us."

  He smiled. "I was waiting."

  "For what?"

  "To see if you would tell her."

  He fell silent as they approached the edge of a clearing ahead. Riley caught up, still looking a bit windswept. They walked through a set of trees, pushing through the needles to emerge into a wide open clearing. Lani gasped aloud, and Riley echoed him a second later.

  A stone archway stood before them, with vines crawling up each side and twirling together to form a thick connection at the top where the capstone was missing. Through the arch, a path of stones set into the grass lead to a small, perfect wooden bridge that looked like it had grown out of the ground of its own accord, handrails and all. The bridge arced gracefully over the clattering stream, passing by a small garden on the opposite side that was bursting with life. The path split, curling away to several wooden cabins on the opposite side of the clearing.

  Their guide lead them through the arch, and instead of crossing the bridge, he took them to a larger structure on the near side of the stream. Lani and Riley looked around like tourists. Riley lifted her camera, about to take a picture, but their guide materialized next to her and put a hand on her arm.

  "Please," he stated simply.

  She nodded. "Sorry… Force of habit."

  They approached the entrance, a huge winged set of wooden paneled doors with intricate relief carvings filling a grid of eight squares top to bottom. They swung wide before Lani could get a good look. Their guide ushered them inside.

  The place was cozy, but clearly meant for meetings of some kind. Two fireplaces sat on opposite ends, both lit with crackling fires that seemed to burn without touching the wood underneath. Elegant wooden tables and chairs lined the main section, and at the far end, she sat waiting for them. Her chair was specially designed with a higher seat to keep her at an even level with the rest, and had a wide space for another to sit alongside.

  She wore the same robes as their guide, even more elaborate and embroidered. Around her neck was a necklace with an eight-pointed star, set with many gemstones. A tattoo of the same symbol adorned the side of her neck, barely visible from the front underneath her silvery hair, while more gemstones and charms dangled from her wrists. She was short, but not so short that she would be considered a dwarf — and none would ever mistake her hard, fierce expression or aged eyes for that of a child.

  Lani knew instantly who she must be.

  "Welcome," she called, and her voice echoed like an ethereal spirit, an otherworldly presence behind her words.

  A girl and an old man flanked her on either side. The girl was probably the same age, though much taller, and with brown hair instead of Cinza's silver-gray. The man had short, thick black hair and an even thicker beard that threatened to swallow his face. He smiled genially, but she was nothing but stern, untrusting glares.

  "Hi," said Lani. Riley echoed him a second later. They took seats opposite the trio, while their guide leaned in and whispered something in Cinza's ear.

  "Thank you, Makoto," she replied, and he bowed again before retreating from the room. "Give Ruby my love."

  "Oh my god, you're her, aren't you?" said Riley breathlessly. "You're… you know. Her."

  Cinza smiled, clearly amused. "Well put."

  "And who are you two?" asked the girl brusquely.

  "Nikki, they're our guests," said Cinza, putting a hand on her arm.

  Nikki leaned back in her chair, frowning. "After what we just went through the last two days?"

  "Makoto trusts 'em, so I do too," the old man chimed in.

  "My name is Lani Makaio," said Lani suddenly, drawing their attention — and Riley's. "I'm an agent for the FBI's National Security Bureau, and partner to Jeremy Ashe, the special agent who was tasked with figuring out what happened to Rallsburg. Jeremy and I both found about magic a couple weeks ago when he fought alongside Hailey Winscombe in Tacoma. And today… today I was awakened too."

  He called a spirit to appear in front of them. The old man stood up in shock. Nikki sneezed. Cinza suddenly looked very interested.

  "That's quite a story," she commented, while Nikki sniffled. She sneezed again, hard, and Cinza plucked a tissue from her bag. "Please, release your spell. I'm afraid Nikki is allergic to such magic."

  Lani dismissed the spirit. "That's a thing?" asked Riley, raising her eyebrows. "Magical allergies?"

  "Indeed," said Cinza.

  "It's the worst," added Nikki, blowing her nose.

  "You were sayin'?" prompted the old man, nodding at Lani.

  "I met her," said Lani.

  "Who?" asked Riley, but Lani knew that Cinza and her companions wouldn't need any more explanation. It was obvious now, between their robes and her hair, what their real unifying force was. They weren't followers of Cinza, not in the slightest, no matter what the world had concluded so far.

  They, like Lani, were together to follow her.

  Cinza nodded, and a genuine smile warmed her face. "Miraculous, wasn't it?"

  "Twice over," he added excitedly. "She actually saved my life once before. When we went up to Vancouver to find Mr. Morozov and Mr. Rhodes."

  Cinza raised her eyebrows. "Really? How so?"

  Lani recounted the story, and all four of them hung onto every word — Riley with a bit more confusion than the rest.

  "You've been truly blessed," said Cinza as he concluded. "We're honored to have you among us."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "I feel honored," he said, looking around. "This place is… is…"

  "Magical?" supplied Riley, grinning.

  Lani laughed. "Yes."

  "And what about you?" asked Cinza, turning to her. "I must ask, how did you arrive here?"

  "Well, I thought I was leading him around," she said, nudging Lani. "But apparently he was on the real adventure and I was just along for the ride."

  "I couldn't have done it without you," he replied.

  "Aww," she shot back, rolling her eyes — but she smiled anyway, which made him feel warmer than either of the fireplaces could do.

  "Are you awakened?" asked Nikki, interrupting them.

  "...Nope," she replied. "I'm still not really sure what that means, or how to do it or whatever."

  Cinza looked at Lani curiously, but he didn't say anything. Grey-eyes' words still echoed in his head, and he couldn't exactly reply there on the spot. She turned back to Riley. "Would you like to be?"

  Pressure flooded into the room. Lani had assumed it would be a quick, easy answer. After all, he'd shown it wasn't dangerous, right? She'd just say yes. But… Riley was silent, gazing back at Cinza thoughtfully.

  "I… I'm not sure."

  Cinza nodded. "There's no pressure. It's always a choice. We'd never force anyone to awaken."

  "I appreciate that," said Riley, sounding relieved.

  "Might I ask why? Just out of curiosity, nothing more."

  Riley nodded. Under the table, her hand found Lani's, entwining with his fingers and gripping it tight. "My parents were… well, pretty superstitious. They already believed in stuff like this long before we found out it was real. They also… both of them went crazy. Really crazy…" She trailed off. "I'm sorry, it's not something I talk about much."

  Cinza held up a hand. "Please. You need not say more if you're uncomfortable. Anyone here is allowed a fresh start if they want it."

  "Thank you," said Riley, smiling gratefully.

  "But," Cinza went on, "and I'm sorry, but we can't let you stay with us if you aren't awakened."

  The warmth in the room vanished. Lani had to look over at one of the fireplaces to make sure the flames hadn't suddenly gone out. Riley's hand squeezed his tight as she spoke, voice trembling. "But… why?"

  Cinza sighed. "Because the world has decided we aren't allowed to exist. Not yet, at least." She held up her hand, palm open and flat to the ceiling. An intricate design of stars appeared in midair above it, shining and twirling through each other in a mad dance. "Even something as simple as this has driven men and women to mad slaughter. Look at how they leap over themselves today. Half beg to be awakened themselves, not understanding what that means, and the other half would wish us gone."

  "I—"

  She shook her head. "I don't wish to assume that you mean us ill will, but we've been betrayed once already this week. Trust doesn't come easily to me, or to many of my companions. With the opponent we face, I cannot rightly allow anyone into our home that isn't one of us in body. You need not believe as we do, but I must insist at least on the former."

  Lani decided to interject while Riley sat dumbfounded. "Come on. What if I vouch for her?"

  "You just met her today, didn't you?" Cinza pointed out. "I don't mean to dismiss your powers of judgment, but I can't rely on them."

  "But…"

  "It's okay," said Riley, standing up. She hadn't let go of Lani's hand though, and it followed her to her feet. "I can… I can go. I'm sorry."

  "Wait!" Lani cried, leaping to his feet. Everyone stared at him, waiting. "Let her stay. Just for a little bit. While she makes up her mind. If she still chooses no, she can leave after that. Okay?"

  Cinza paused, watching the two of them carefully. Nikki leaned in to whisper something in her ear, and she nodded. As Nikki got up and walked away, vanishing into one of the curtained-off rooms at the other end of the cabin Cinza spoke again, her voice echoing through the hall. "That… would be acceptable."

  Lani felt the warmth flood back into the room, just as Riley squeezed his hand again. "Thank you," she said, and Lani saw a tear fall from her eye. "Thank you so much."

  "Is there anything you two need? Did you leave anything in the forest?"

  "Well, there's a jeep," said Lani. "It's up by the cliffs near the ridge, north of the cell tower."

  "If you'd like, Makoto can bring it back here for you." Cinza nodded at the door, where Makoto had materialized from of nowhere. Riley dug the keys out of her pocket and tossed them towards him. It was a bad throw, but the keys shifted direction in midair and landed neatly in his hand anyway.

  "Cool," she breathed. As he turned to leave, she hurriedly added, "There's a camera and tripod chained to the front. You can just put them in the trunk."

  He nodded and vanished.

  "I'm afraid our guest cabin isn't quite done," said Cinza apologetically. "We only just started preparing for larger groups a couple weeks back, and we've been rather… preoccupied since then."

  "We do have a tent," said Riley, patting her long bag.

  "If you like. You're also welcome to sleep in here. The fires will burn forever so long as you can feed them a little magic, so it stays quite warm."

  Nikki came back into the room, looking worried. She whispered something in Cinza's ear. Cinza nodded, and as Nikki disappeared again, she turned to the old man. "The show's about to start, and it doesn't look good."

  "Well, can't be missin' that," he replied, not looking excited in the least.

  "What show?" asked Lani, surprised.

  "Hailey Winscombe just flew out to meet with the FBI. Very publicly," she added, irritated. "Today's not going to be a good day." Cinza got to her feet, looking a bit ill. "Rufus can show you two around, if you like. You're welcome to visit anywhere in the Greywood you like. Nothing's off-limits, but most of the other cabins are personal residences, so please give them their privacy." Her expression and tone got darker. "Don't enter the woods without an escort, under any circumstances."

  "Uhh… what?" asked Lani, surprised.

  "Rem'ber that bit where we don' play nice with strang'rs?" said Rufus. "We go' pre'y good at defendin' our home sins May."

  Before she walked away, Cinza turned back to them and bowed slightly. Her charms and jewelry jangled as she did, and her eyes sparkled with light. "Welcome to the Greywood."

----------------------------------------

  As they laid out the sleeping bag near the fire that night, Riley watched it crackle with fascinated eyes. "So you can just… feel it?" she asked.

  "Yeah." Rufus had taught him how to find the fire's enchanted logs and feed them more magic to keep them burning. They already had a strong supply, and he fed them a bit more to keep them alive until morning. The effort took a lot out of him, but he was already planning to go to sleep anyway, so he didn't mind.

  "I'm… I'm still thinking about it," she answered, to his unspoken question.

  "I get it, really," he said. He laid down on one side of the sleeping bag, grateful for the nicer pillows that Matthew brought him. "If you have to go, I understand."

  "But you're staying here, right?" she asked.

  "...Yes. This is…" He trailed off.

  "What?"

  "It sounds too cheesy," said Lani, embarrassed.

  "I love some good cheese."

  "It feels like this is my destiny."

  She didn't laugh, to his relief. Instead, she sat down — and instead of getting in the bag as he expected, she laid on top right next to him and pulled the blanket over them both. Her long bag sat next to them, just a few feet away.

  "It doesn't sound cheesy," she said softly.

  "No?"

  "I mean, I don't really believe in destiny or anything like that," she went on, "but what do I know, right? Magic turned out to be real, so who knows what else might be?"

  "She saved my life, then she saved it again when I awakened. It doesn't feel like coincidence," he explained. "Meeting you, too. It can't be."

  "So now I'm your destiny too?" she asked.

  Lani's face lit up red. "I mean—"

  Riley laughed gently. "It's okay. I don't mind. I didn't really think anyone would ever say something like that about me." She hesitated. "I kinda like it."

  Lani smiled. She leaned forward and kissed him, and he returned it, with the fire crackling nearby and the sound of the stream rattling along outside.

  "All right, let's get some sleep," she said, finally breaking it. "Even if I end up only staying here a few days, I want to make the most of it."

  Lani nodded. He grinned, since he hadn't told her about the second trick with the fires. He sent the command like Rufus had taught him, and suddenly all the light went out. The whole cabin was plunged into darkness.

  "Whoah," she murmured. "But… it's still warm."

  "Yeah," he agreed.

  "Magic, huh?" She laughed. A few minutes later, she was asleep. As Lani started to drift off, he felt her moving in her sleep — and slowly, she came to rest next to him, pressing up close for warmth.

  He wondered what Jeremy would think, knowing how Lani had come so far in only a day when he'd been investigating for months without any kind of progress like this. Thoughts of Jeremy were driven away by the magic he'd found, including his ability to summon spirits which was almost totally unlike anything Cinza's people had shown him. His thoughts of magic were driven out yet again by memories of Grey-eyes — her awakening him in the tent, their conversation, and how she had saved him from near-certain death up in Canada.

  Thoughts of Grey-eyes were replaced, finally, by the long, exciting couple of days he'd spent with the exciting, adventurous young woman, still gently clutching his hand while she slept next to him. Lani's eyes slid closed and his mind faded away with that warm thought.

  He finally felt content. He wasn't searching for answers anymore, or for a reason, or anything else so existential and philosophical. He didn't need to keep moving, after having migrated across oceans in search of a place to stay. The spirits filling the world around him had shown him the way.

  Lani was home.