Teleporting whilst still in the same realm turned out to be a lot smoother and less vomit-inducing than being hurled through a rupture. Gravity seemed to flip around the group and they swung around, melting through the floor and rising up at their location, standing in the same positions they had been when they stepped into the circle.

The first thing Jadon noticed was the temperature. Cooler than the underground city they had left, however not cool enough.

There was grass in place of cobblestones and towering trees instead of houses. A simple set of shed-sized huts spread around a central fire pit. One extremely old lady was smiling from the window of one of these shelters.

“Iarkspur, what the hell did you do?” Jadon said, immediately rounding on the girl who was smiling. Her smile vanished instantly when she realized that them being there meant that she had gone against her word to the group. Against the plan. But she hadn’t planned this, she didn’t think she did at least.

“Iarkspur! You’ve returned home!”

Jadon and the others spun to look at one of the doors to the sheds, flung open and revealing another old lady.

“Who are these delightful friends you have brought with you?” The old lady continued as she moved over to hug Iarkspur, shuffling along with her arms wide open.

“I don’t know what happened,” Iarkspur said, hugging the lady, “we weren’t meant to come here, Levena.”

“Are you saying you aren’t happy to see us?” The one that had been smiling from the window advanced also, the smile still plastered onto her face.

“Of course not, Cytisus, simply surprised.”

“Well, aren’t you going to introduce us to your little friends?” Levena asked, spinning Iarkspur to look at the others, who were all staring at her, quite annoyed.

“Yes, won’t you introduce us, Iarkspur?” Beth said, almost hissing in irritation.

Iarkspur introduced the two matrons to the group and vice versa.

“But where are Maglee and Urlatha?” Iarkspur asked.

“Oh, they’re a little preoccupied at the moment, but I’m sure they’re on the way back now that they know you’re home,” Cytisus said.

“Look,” Beth said, “I’m sure all of this is great and all, but we were meant to go somewhere else. Which direction points us towards High Morr and how long will it take to get there?”

“But child, you were meant to come here. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here, no?” Levena said.

“So why are we here?” Ephin asked.

“Likely because Iarkspur wished for you to come here. That’s the only reason I can think,” Cytisus said, patting Iarkspur on the shoulder.

“But I didn’t, I wouldn’t. These people trusted me to help get them where they needed to go and I did my best in doing that. It wasn’t me,” Iarkspur said.

“Of course, it was, why else would you be here? You simply love your mothers too much to resist returning,” said Cytisus.

“Well, we still need to be going,” Beth said, “so point us in the right direction and we’ll be off.”

“Wait, is there any chance that you know of something nearby to do with ruptures?” Jadon asked. Seeing Beth’s irritation, he explained, “well we’re here and Iarkspur did mention they could help.”

“Well, I said how you could bring back our dead friend, who definitely knew something,” Iarkspur said to the matrons.

“Not without a body, no,” Cytisus said.

“We also agreed that it was unfair on Arledge,” Ephin chimed in.

“Perhaps a compromise then?” Levena said, “we raise your friend’s spirit to converse with for a short time. Perhaps to gain the information without unresting his soul too much. It would make your oh so important detour worthwhile.”

“What do you all think?” Iarkspur asked, turning to the others.

“If it truly won’t hurt Arledge, then yes,” Beth said, “perhaps we can look into whatever he tells us on the way back to where we should already be.”

“It’s also late,” Jadon said, “any chance we could stay the night before we go? I don’t feel like being attacked at night in the forest.”

“You’re already in the forest,” Cytisus said, “but of course, the more opportunity to spend time with Iarkspur before you leave.”

“She’s coming with us,” Ephin said, “right?” Turning to Iarkspur.

Iarkspur opened her mouth to speak but Levena spoke first.

“I think she has had enough adventure for the time being. Judging from the state of you all, you may have too.”

“Don’t you think she should decide?” Beth said, eyeing the old women.

“Don’t tell us how to raise our children,” Cytisus warned, her voice going quiet and losing all pretense of hospitality.

“I think it would be best if we all headed to bed,” Levena said, “as the boy said, it is quite late. You can think on your payment for tomorrow’s ritual to talk to your friend.”

“Payment?” Jadon asked.

“Of course,” Cytisus smiled, “we don’t give out gifts for free.”

Iarkspur’s small hut felt a lot smaller with everyone taking up any potential space to sleep on the floor. Iarkspur and Beth shared the bed, each sleeping from the opposite end. The other three were spread across the floor.

Jadon could not sleep and the snoring of the others was only making it more difficult. He was angry at Iarkspur for going against the plan, however something felt off for him.

He rose from his spot on the floor and, as quietly as he could, opened the door to the shelter.

There was light coming from one of the other shelters, the one that Cytisus had emerged from, smiling as she did.

In the near silent forest, he could hear voices coming from the shelter. He slunk over to the nearest wall and knelt down in the grass, underneath one of the windows. Even if someone walked out of the hut, they would not see him from this angle.

Jadon lifted his head up slightly and looked into the window, there were four old ladies, two that he didn’t recognize but assumed were Maglee and Urlatha. Urlatha was speaking.

“-as we expected.”

“Yes, it went off perfectly and she doesn’t suspect a thing,” Cytisus said.

“They all suspect her,” Levena laughed, “even without reading their emotions, you can see it on their faces. With any luck, they’ll ditch her before we force them to leave without her.”

“Good,” Maglee said, “it’ll be nice to have someone cleaning up around here again. You live like a slob.” Cytisus and Urlatha both laughed at Levena who joined in the laughter after a quick glare at Cytisus.

“Perhaps we can just keep the others too? We could always use more sacrifices,” Maglee mused, but she was swatted across the top of the head by Urlatha.

“No, you imbecile,” Urlatha spat, “they are under the watch of him. We need to get them out of here quickly. Giving them this silly ritual will be the carrot to lead them away.”

“Without Iarkspur,” Cytisus said.

“Of course.”

Jadon took a deep breath to calm his emotions. His anger at Iarkspur had rapidly found a new target. If these women were what he worried they were, they were in serious danger. He couldn’t warn the others though, as currently they were not deemed a threat. If the women were alerted to his fears, they would all be dead before they stepped a foot out of the camp.

There was no sunrise through the windows to wake the group. Instead, a loud knocking on the door of Iarkspur’s shed, followed by the door meeting Ephin’s head and the resulting yelp woke the group.

“It’s time for your ritual and then you can be on your way,” Cytisus said, smiling down at the groggy group. Her eyes lingered on Jadon, who did not look like he had slept for a moment and was staring intently back at her before averting his gaze. “Hurry up, young ones.”

Everyone gathered around the campfire, Iarkspur greeting and introducing the other two matrons to the group.

“Have you decided on your payment for the ritual?” Urlatha asked the group.

Everyone looked at each other hesitantly before Beth spoke.

“What sort of payment did you have in mind? We have a bit of money?” Beth said.

“No, we don’t accept that kind of currency. We would like a deal. Something you value in exchange for this ritual, the information of which you also value. Like for like.”

“I have an idea, but I would like to offer it in private,” Jadon said. If he was right, he couldn’t put any of the others at risk. He just hoped it was worth it.

Urlatha bowed slightly and indicated for Jadon to follow her into the shelter that he had spied on the matrons in the night prior.

There was the fireplace that had lit the room, only slightly smoldering now. Urlatha took her seat once more and waved Jadon to sit in the one opposite her, the fireplace between them, to the side.

“Don’t be offended if my assumptions are misplaced,” Jadon began.

“I cannot guarantee a reaction to something I do not yet know, young boy.”

“Growing up,” Jadon continued, “I was warned of people deep in the forests. People with powers. People who made deals and lived hundreds of years at a time, if not more. Those stories gave those people the term ‘hags’. The deals were rarely simple monetary transactions and always ended badly for those making the deal. Am I on the right path so far?”

“What do you think?” Urlatha said, leaning forward and staring into Jadon’s eyes. He felt them prick with dryness but could not blink, could not look away. “What is the deal you are offering?”

“I give the payment; I see the information of the ritual. We do not include the others.”

“And the payment is?”

“I recently regained use of my leg. I have always relied on my ability to walk, run, jump. Be stealthy. I felt hopeless with one bad leg for barely a couple days. I offer my legs to you, for the deal.”

“Accepted.” Urlatha could barely get the word out so fast. As Jadon was speaking, she had been gradually drooling more and more in anticipation. She let the thin hanging line of spit hit the floor between them as the fireplace roared back to life.

Urlatha stood up and plucked various ingredients from the jars lining the mantelpiece above the fireplace. Now that Jadon could look around again, he saw no beds in this hut, simply rows and rows of jars, containing floating bits of meat in oil, some alive, flying bugs and potentially a couple fairies but he couldn’t make them out properly from the other side of Urlatha.

Urlatha took a wooden bowl and threw the herbs and meat into the bowl and mashed it all together with her fist, the smell making Jadon gag slightly. She tossed the contents of the bowl into the fire, licking the remains off her knuckles, staring at Jadon as she did.

“Speak you questions and your desired recipient will answer,” Urlatha said, the voice now in his head. Jadon hesitated and Urlatha’s voice returned louder. “Speak.”

“Hi Arledge, Jadon here,” Jadon said, trying to keep his voice tempered to not show the terror he was feeling at that moment. “I hope you’re doing okay on the other side. Quick question from the group. Iarkspur said you were trying to stop Douglas Davistone from reaching something in the woods, which is why he did what he did. What was the thing and how can we reach it?”

The fire flared again and spat out the form of a rabbit, out of flames, sitting in between Urlatha and Jadon. It looked up to Jadon and spoke with Arledge’s voice, as if through a tunnel.

“You see the center of my home, the forest clearing. Walk east from the center until you pass exactly fifty trees on your left. You will see a small cross etched into each of these trees, close to the roots. On the final tree, there will be two crosses. Turn north and continue until you meet a river. Follow the river downstream. It will pour into a burrow, follow into the burrow with the stream and you will find a small underground orchard. One of these trees holds something special. Something Davistone must not find. Look for the branch that is not a branch, for it holds the most valuable fruit of all.”

The rabbit turned and flung itself back into the flames, impaling itself on a particularly sharp log. It burst it the fire that surrounded it and was no more.

“Well,” Urlatha said, smiling and slapping her knees as she rose to her feet, “I think it is time that you all got out of here. Don’t you?”

“I would like nothing more than to do that,” Jadon said, scowling up at the old lady.

Jadon went to get to his feet and collapsed immediately.

“Oh, did you forget the deal so soon?” Urlatha chuckled.

“Shut up and help me to the others.”

Whilst Urlatha did laugh quietly the entire way, she helped drag Jadon over to the others. Guy ran over to take the weight and looked questioningly at both of them.

“What happened?” He asked.

“I know where we need to go.” Jadon said, “don’t ask about the legs.”

“What happened to your legs?”

“I said-” Jadon sighed, “We need to go, we have the information and,” he looked at the old women, who were all trying to hide their smiles, “we need Iarkspur.”

Their giggles stopped immediately.

“She has just returned home,” Cytisus said, “she will not be leaving so soon.”

“She can speak for herself,” Beth replied, obviously having waited for this argument.

“Look, we know you forced us over here,” Jadon said, “and we cannot find what we need to find without Iarkspur to guide us. If she wishes to stay, she can return before we leave the forest.”

“You influenced me?” Iarkspur whispered, “I thought I was going crazy.”

“He’s speaking ridiculous lies,” Levena shouted, “if you think you’re going crazy then stay and allow us to heal you back to health.”

“No,” Iarkspur said, “I will return, on my terms. My friends trusted me and you broke that trust for me.”

Iarkspur turned and strode out of the camp, before she could convince herself not to, or face the consequences of talking back to her mothers. Guy carried Jadon out as the others followed Iarkspur. Jadon flipped up his middle finger to the women as they left.

“What happened to you?” Guy asked again once the group was far enough away the camp to feel comfortable sitting down.

“I gave up the use of my legs to see Arledge,” Jadon explained. “Iarkspur, you never said you lived with a coven of hags.”

“What’s a hag?” Iarkspur asked.