A Month of Midnights

IX

Wandering through a forest aimlessly is like waiting in an empty room for someone to free you. You see the door in front of you. All you have to do is open it. Just take a step, lift your hand, and open it. But you can’t. You have the motivation, the desire, and even the willpower to leave the room, but you’re still stuck there. Someone has to come get you. Someone has to open the door for you. And it’s beginning to feel like that someone is dead.

Being lost becomes quiet dizzying. The trees all look identical, and the crunching of the withered leaves under your feet becomes a reminder you that you haven’t yet found your way. The forests of Istoria are an endless maze that, with no map, can become your prison. We passed by many villages and kingdoms, all more prosperous than Chorio’s villages put together. Still, none of them were home to the Writer. We asked, we searched, but it was to no avail. Queen Golde promised the way would be revealed when the two items were collected. Well, we had them both, and nothing had been revealed to us besides the fact that we were still lost.

Did Maleficent lie? Perhaps we do need the real Sword of Truth, my doubtful thoughts kept nagging at me.

Minnie assured me every time I asked that with ten days left in the Month, there’d be no guarantee we’d have enough time to retrieve the other sword and find the Writer. So now we meandered dismally through Istoria. With each day the same routine was repeated. It was decided that there was no point in hurrying to a place we didn’t know. As a result of this, Dane was taken off Rudy’s back and walked alongside us, his rope tied to the saddle. Late afternoon crawled by us sluggishly, and I slipped down and walked parallel to Dane. Rudy was the only one who separated us. only Rudy separated us. I looked at Dane regretfully. After the kidnapping, my conscience began screaming at me for doing such a terrible thing, especially to an old friend. It told me I was truly becoming evil, and it made me cry more than once.

I walked around Rudy to join Dane who did not seem to notice my presence. Trusting my judgment, though the others would have told me not to, I reached up and untied his gag. Dane looked at me vacantly. “Why’d you do this to me, Blyss?” he croaked. Upright, atop Rudy’s back, noticed Dane was ungagged. He watched suspiciously but did not insert himself.

“I can’t find the Writer without you, Dane,” I answered, “but you turned me away. You called me villain.”

“Because you are one,” Dane suddenly hissed. The blood vessels in his eyes expanded in a frightening manner. “Face it, Blyss, you were never going to be Sleeping Beauty. You doubted Istoria, and you never did normal things like the rest of us. You’re just like your father.” Dane spat in my face and held up his chin proudly. Since the Month of Midnights began, I had been in a constant battle to subdue every evil temptation. Occasionally, I made exceptions, and today was one of those days. No one insults my father.

“You know what, Dane? Even if my magic consumes me entirely, I will never be as disgusting and dirty as you. And even when your princely magic reaches its fullest, you’ll never be more than a sniveling coward,” I snapped. I regagged him and walked away. Dane glared at me, but I chose to ignore him. And to think I could’ve married that pig, I thought as I walked up next to Rudy. Upright pulled out the Sword of Truth and pointed it at Dane.

“Your days are numbered,” Upright threatened, and the sword illuminated brightly for a very long time. I diverted my attention to stroking Rudy’s neck. The sun, dragged by an invisible weight, had been pulled down and partly shielded by the mountains when Rudy stopped walking. He stood there, still as a statue, and bored his eyes into something ahead of him. I pressed my palm to his shoulder blade and felt his body quivering and humming. I briskly walked in front of him and put my hand on his forehead.

“What’s going on?” I curtly asked him. There was no answer. I pulled away my hand and looked at Rudy.

“What’s wrong with the horse?” Upright asked. Minnie rose up anxiously.

“I-I don’t know,” I stuttered. I put my hand back on Rudy’s forehead.

“Rudy, talk to me!” I ordered anxiously in my thoughts.

“Get...everything...off,” Rudy wheezed. His voice was faint and distant. It was traveling away from me. I removed my hand.

“Get off,” I ordered. Upright obeyed and leaped onto the ground. Minnie flew to the dwarf’s side. I worked tirelessly to remove the saddle. Upright held the end of Dane’s rope and pointed the sword at the prisoner’s side. Dane willingly remained still. The second all the gear was freed, Rudy galloped away madly. The saddle slumped to the forest floor as we watched him bolt away. Silence enveloped us all.

“He talks to you doesn’t he? What did he say?” Upright asked, still looking to where Rudy had disappeared.

“Only to get everything off,” I said breathlessly.

“What do we do now?” Minnie asked. No one answered. Several minutes went by. We all waited for him to come back, but he didn’t.

“I say we leave him. We don’t have time to waste,” reminded Upright.

“No,” I said, “It’ll be night soon. Let’s just stay here for now.” Upright shrugged and began collecting kindling as he was already accustomed to. Minnie flew over and hovered by my face.

“Go find him, Blyss,” she said softly. I looked at her solemnly.

“What about you and Upright?”

“We can make it a few hours on our own,” Minnie chuckled, “but we need you to bring him back.” I hesitated at her suggestion. In that moment, I felt torn like a ragdoll between two little girls. I couldn’t just abandon Upright and Minnie. I needed them just as much as they likely needed me. But a stronger, more persuasive part of me wanted to go find Rudy. The choice I made altered my life’s course remarkably.

“Go,” the faery urged.

“Blyss,” Upright cut in. He brought Dane with him as he walked closer. “You think you’re gonna need this?” he asked offering up the sword. I smiled and shook my head.

“I’ll be back by nightfall. If I don’t find him by then, we’ll leave in the morning,” I said gently pushing away the sword. If something happened to them while I was gone, I wanted them to have the weapon.

“We’ll be here waiting for you,” Minnie promised. I nodded and slowly turned to walk.

“Wait!” Upright interjected. “What if something happens, and you’re not back by morning?” I looked between him and Minnie.

“Then leave,” I said with a heavy heart. “Don’t give up finding the Writer.” Both Upright and Minnie looked at me with great regret in their eyes, but neither of them refuted my order. I bid them goodbye and walked towards where Rudy gone. My feet sifted through the papery leaves as I swiftly walked deeper into the trees.

“Rudy?” I called several times. He never replied. The sun continued to sink, and darkness was only an hour away. I wrapped my cloak tighter around my arms. Gusts of the wind played tag amongst the trees, and I was caught in the crossfire.

“Rudy? Where are you?” I called in a frail voice. My flimsy leather boots sent frigid reminders from the cold ground below that time was running out. I felt tears of weariness rise up, but I didn’t have enough strength to even let them fall. A sudden rushing sound paused me in my tracks. Following automatic instinct, I put my hood up to cover my hair and small horns. As I walked forward, the rushing sound suddenly clarified into the sound of water. A few steps closer, and I could tell the water was moving fast. The ground came to an abrupt stop as it overlooked a river that cut deep into the earth. I was standing on top of a cliff that jutted straight down into the foamy rapids. I scanned the river and surrounding cliffs but found no sign of Rudy, horse or human. If I hadn’t been standing so close to the loud water, I might’ve heard them come up behind me.

“Sweetheart, whatya doing out here?” a man cooed from behind me. I whisked around and found three men circling in towards me.

“A pretty thing like you shouldn’t be alone in the woods, especially this close to ole Temptations,” the second man said, looking me up and down like a fresh kill. His thin lips spread over his teeth in a troublesome smile.

“Wouldn’t want you fall over the edge. Takes you right down to Big Blue’s place if you survive,” the third spoke cryptically. “Yeah, betcha don’t know who Big Blue is. Of course, you don’t. He’s one of the forgotten ones. Don’t know why the Writer insists the Story keep being retold. Just provides more danger for the cute ones like you.”

“Who are you? What Story do you belong to?” I asked trying holding my ground. All three snickered and exchanged impish glances.

“Sweetheart,” the first one said, “we ain’t got no Story. We Madmags.”

“Madmags?”

“Mad magics. You know, cause we’re mad all the time. Pretty clever name, don’t you think?” said the third one. The other men rolled their eyes at their companion’s stupidity.

“We’re just like you. Magic was bestowed upon us, and we was told we were gonna be nothing more than some hotshot’s butler or manservant. We wasn’t so keen on that idea,” the first one explained.

“Why didn’t you just go to the Writer?” I asked. The three snickered again.

“Sweetheart!” said the second one. “The last Holder of the Histories told us the Writer could only be seen by ‘important’ literary figures. So we said, ‘Well, if we ain’t important then you don’t need us.’ So we skipped town. Ditched our Stories and created a heap full of trouble for the Writer to find our replacements.”

“And now we roam Istoria freely, not bound by any script, not bound by any rules. We control the magic,” said the third. They inched closer to me, forcing me back towards the edge of the cliff.

“So, little girl,” began the first, “it looks to us that perhaps you’re looking for the Writer too. Is this so?”

“Yes,” I answered flatly. I couldn’t let them know I was scared of them.

“What’s under the hood, girlie?” the third suddenly asked.

“Her hair, i***t,” retorted the second.

“Nah, something’s there. I can see it,” the third insisted. “Lift up your hood.”

“No.”

“Better do what he says,” the first man warned. “He’s not as nice as me.” I looked back at the third man. He pulled a knife out from the back of his belt and flashed it towards me.I tried to summon my magic like I had at Sirens’ Lake, but I couldn’t get my emotions under control. The buzzing in my toes and fingers sporadically came and went. I was on my own. I slowly raised up my hands and pulled off my hood.

“She’s got little horns!” cackled the second man.

“I knew it!” the third bragged.

“Shut it, you two!” the first man ordered. It was clear he was the leader of the little Madmag pack. He walked closer to me, and his hooligans followed. “You gonna be Maleficent?” he asked. I nodded warily, and he chuckled.

“Sweetheart, you’d be a fool to think the Writer is actually gonna help you! Who’d replace you? Absolutely no one. But I’ll tell you what. You don’t have to die at the hands of some pretty boy prince. You can join us and be free. Use your magic however you want,” the first one offered. I looked at all three of them. Part of the offer I wanted more than anything. I could be free, and I wouldn’t have to live such a terrible fate. That being said, I knew I’d spend the rest of my life on the run from the law with three slimy men who called themselves Madmags. I didn’t like the picture that idea painted.

“No, thank you. I’m sure the Writer and I will come to some understanding,” I said amicably. “Now, I’ll just be on my way.” All three men in unison stepped tightly together and blocked my path.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna rethink that offer?” the second one asked in a darker tone.

“It’s a one time deal,” the third one pressed.

“Please let me pass,” I said looking frantically between the three of them. They stepped forward, and I stepped back. I felt my heels wobble over the edge. The leader of the pack lifted his hand and began to twirl my hair in his fingers. I swatted it away, but this only made him laugh.

“Sweetheart,” he said huskily, “it’s better if you just come willingly.”

“Move out of my way!” I demanded as I tried to run past them. All three of them pushed me back to the edge.

“She’ll boost our numbers, won’t she? She’ll get the others motivated,” said the third Madmag, rubbing his hands greedily.

“You bet she will,” confirmed the leader. He lifted his hand to twirl my hair again when he was interrupted by an unknown cry.

“Jump!”

Of course, I was too scared to actually listen. Someone swung a large dead tree branch over the Madmags’ heads. My rescuer pushed through them and wrapped their arms around my waist. Together, we fell over the cliff and into the vicious rapids below.

“Rudy?” I gasped as we fell. He did not respond but rather placed one hand on the back of my head and pushed me tighter against his chest.

The water gulped us hungrily. Ferocious currents shoved us forward down the river. Rudy let go of me and held on to only my hand as we fought to resurface. Rudy suddenly jerked me upwards, and my face broke the water. Even as I took in fresh air, water splashed at my face and tried to choke my with its frothy white waves.

“Blyss!” Rudy managed to scream loud enough for me to hear. “Rocks ahead!” I strained to see over the water that kept tugging me down like the sirens had in the lake. Sharply pointed rocks emerged from the waters like cursed spears. I gripped Rudy’s hand even tighter as the current dragged us back under. To no surprise, the waters were colder than the outside air. Bitter, glacial swirls of water pushed past me and stung my skin. We weaved almost successfully through the rocky spears. My leg was the only casualty, it being scraped by a smaller rock hidden beneath the surface. Thankfully, the temperature of the water quickly numbed it. As we passed the last rock, something violently tugged me back. I screamed as it almost snapped my neck. Rudy, clinging to my hand, looked back quickly. My cloak was caught on an underwater spear, but I couldn’t move my neck to unsnag it. I began to choke from both the cloak and the water seeping into my mouth. Rudy fought the current and climbed up my arm to meet me face to face.

“Get it off, get it off!” I screamed with all my might. Rudy moved my wet hair from my neck and quickly untied the knot. The momentum of the current and the sudden release jerked me forward in Rudy’s arms, and we somersaulted forward. Everything after the rocks slowed down. I didn’t bother opening my eyes until I felt my feet brush against a flat bottom. Paralyzed by cold and fear, Rudy had to pull me over to a small shore. It was filled with tiny, smooth pebbles that rattled as we crawled onto them. Rudy collapsed by my side once we were safely out of the river. His panting was loud and tired, and he buried his face into his arm. I weakly reached out my hand and placed it on his shoulder.

I gratefully whispered, “Thank you for saving me.” Carefully, he turned his head and looked at me with a goofy smile.

“Consider the favor returned,” he chuckled though his eyes were too tired to open. We stayed there awhile on that little beach regaining strength and building up body heat we had lost in the river. Only the tip of the sun still bravely peaked over the mountains now, and the chilly air only grew colder. Without a cloak, and in a wet dress, I shivered and chattered my teeth. Rudy noticed me curling up into the pebbles, and he pushed himself to his feet. Taking his hand, Rudy helped me up.

“I wish I had a coat to offer you,” Rudy apologized. I smiled and looked down at my feet.

“You saved my life. I can live without a coat,” I insisted.

“Well, when you put it like that,” Rudy said chuckling. Both weak from the river, we used each other as support as we traipsed back into the forest.

“We’re not going to find the others tonight,” I said.

“Tomorrow then?” Rudy asked.

“I told them to move on if we weren’t back by morning,” I said, now rueing what I had ordered Upright and Minnie earlier. Rudy sighed.

“We’ll find them,” he assured me. Between the two of us, we gathered enough dead wood to make a fairly large fire. We huddled as close to it as we could, desperate for the heat. More concerned with survival than uncomfortableness, I clung to Rudy’s side as we sat by the fire. He understood what I was doing and didn’t seem to mind. The tips of my fingers were still numb, and I reached out my hand to the fatty flames dining heartily on the wood. Rudy grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand back.

“Be careful, Blyss,” he warned gently. I tucked my hands into my chest and slowly warmed them that way. Rudy’s gaze fell downwards, and he noticed the blood seeping through the skirt of my dress. “May I?” he asked in reference to my wound. I nodded and almost immediately reddened when his fingers brushed against my skin. He gently moved the fabric up to reveal the injury on my calf. Thankfully, it wasn’t very deep. Still, Rudy ripped off part of his shirt sleeve to make a tourniquet and a bandage for the wound.

“Rudy,” I asked as he worked, “is this another trick? Are you actually human?”

“I do believe so,” he answered with an unreadable smile. I frowned which he unfortunately noticed. “What, you don’t believe me?”

“Well, let’s see. I’ve hit my head, been tied up by faeries, had a fire speak to me twice, shoved off a bridge, almost eaten by sirens, I kidnapped someone, oh, and I’ve almost drowned in a river. Forgive me for being skeptical of anything good.” Rudy laughed through his nose.

“I think I can put your doubts at ease,” he said, the corners of his mouth rising. He rolled down the hem and began to lean in towards me. I furrowed my brow and leaned back. I had watched the girls and boys my age; I wasn’t completely clueless.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I said sharply. Rudy rolled his eyes.

“You really think I’d do that?” he asked, referring to something I wasn’t sure I entirely understood. I looked at him suspiciously.

“Well, what were you planning to do?”

“Will you let me show you?” Again, I looked at him suspiciously, deciding if I trusted him enough yet.

“Fine.”

Rudy smiled and leaned in again. I held my breath and readied my fists should he try anything I did not approve of. He lifted his hand to my chin and brought my face to his. New feelings pounded inside me that sent my magic through the roof. If it vibrated anymore inside my blood, I’m sure it would have ripped through my skin. Rudy closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against mine.

“Believe me now?” I heard him somewhere in the blackness. His thoughts were stronger than the last time I heard them.

“Couldn’t you just put your hand on my forehead instead of leaning in and letting me make all these assumptions?” I snapped right away.

“Yes, but watching you squirm was surprisingly delightful,” he laughed.

“Show me something,” I requested. “Then I’ll know it’s really you.”

“As you wish.” Rudy’s voice echoed away, and the blackness turned blue. The aqua color floated and danced back and forth. Sunlight beamed down through the water, sending kaleidoscopes of color twirling up and down. The colors shifted and blurred. Suddenly, a floating figure materialized and outstretched their hand. Another hand took it, and the sunlight grew larger until the blueness disappeared. I saw my own face, dripping wet and eyes red. I remembered crying just before Upright freed us from the net, and I dove into Sirens’ lake. Blyss from the memory looked directly at me, er, technically Rudy and smiled. She looked down at the lake water in embarrassment. My attempt to hide my blush back then had been useless. He had seen it all.

The memory clouded and shifted once more. Now everything seemed grey and bleak. I saw more water, but it wasn’t calm like the lake. Again I saw myself looking into Rudy’s eyes, this time in terror. I recognized the rocks behind me and understood that this memory was much more recent. Another shift in the scenery, and I saw myself in a stable with a flurry of busybodies behind me. We were at Queen Golde’s castle. Rudy showed me memory after memory, each one with me in it. I saw myself fall over the bridge again, be captured by Maleficent-created guards, even back to the memory he had once shown me before, where I was sleeping on the forest floor after crossing into Istoria. I pulled away from Rudy’s forehead.

“Alright, I get the picture. It’s you,” I said feeling flushed. Rudy raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t like seeing yourself?” he asked curiously.

“Well, there’s a reason I’m not the Evil Queen saying, ‘Mirror, Mirror’ all the time,” I joked. Rudy laughed and looked back at the fire. The one vision I saw of him, the first one he showed me, did no justice to his actual face. His hair was as black as the night sky above him, and it fell into neat curls. His eyes were round and kind, and they crinkled at the corners when he smiled. The few freckles he had gave him a boyish charm, but the rest of him was nothing of a little boy. His hands were tough and firm, and he had broad shoulders that kept his posture decent. He was by no means a scrawny young man, but he was not a burly giant like some of the men in my village. It was so strange looking at the real Rudy after all these weeks. Sometimes I had forgotten there was a man trapped inside the horse I rode. Now that he was here in human flesh and bones, I felt like I was meeting him for the first time.

“Rudy, how was it in the first memory you showed me I could see your face but not in any memory after?” I inquired.

“Well, it wasn’t technically my memory I showed you. Queen Golde sort of gave that one to me so I could show you what I looked like,” Rudy said, not breaking his focus on the fire. I supposed this made sense, but my curiosity was still not appeased.

“I see that look on your face,” spoke Rudy. “You’ve got more questions.”

“Will you let me ask them?”

“You can ask all you like. I just might not answer,” he replied with an amused grin. I hesitated before speaking.

“Okay, well, I’ll ask the obvious one. How are you human? Isn’t your magic supposed to be getting stronger? Shouldn’t you be becoming more of a horse?”

“First of all, that’s three questions. Which one do you want me to answer?” Rudy asked. He clearly was stalling for the sake of entertainment.

“All of them, Rudy!” I said shoving his shoulder. He laughed playfully.

“Okay, okay, let’s see if I can answer all three. When the Storyteller gave me my magic, because she bestowed the wrong kind and then tried to reverse it, I got combinations of magic made for humans and for animals who turn into humans, like the mice in Cinderella. My horse magic was stronger at first, but with each midnight I could feel the human side of me crawl back and collide with the horse magic. That’s where my visions and thought projecting come from, I think. After you almost died at Maleficent’s castle, I began to feel really strange, almost sick. The human magic increased much faster. Then today came, and I definitely knew something was wrong. I felt separated from the physical world, and then the weird vibrating came.”

“I felt it too,” I said, remembering when I had touched his thick shoulder.

“I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I knew I couldn’t carry any of you. I felt terrible running off like that, but it was good that I did.”

“What do you mean?” Rudy sucked in his lips and winced.

“I like you too much to tell you,” he admitted with a shudder.

“That bad?”

“Let’s just say, parts of me turned human quickly...and parts of me didn’t.” Rudy muttered the last part shamefully. The subject was instantly dropped. It only came up again in my nightmares when my imagination desperately produced wild scenarios of what Rudy had gone through.

“Moving on,” Rudy chuckled awkwardly, “I was laying there still recovering when I heard the river. I had dragged myself to the edge when I heard all this talking. I looked over, and farther down the cliff I saw you and those-”

“Madmags,” I finished for him. He looked at me oddly, but I shrugged. “It’s what they call themselves.”

“I heard some of their backstory,” said Rudy, “but at the time I was more concerned with you.” I looked at the fire, hoping the bright light would mask my blush better this time. “I grabbed a branch, waited for the right moment, and, well, you know the rest.”

“If you hadn’t been there, Rudy, they would’ve taken me,” I said recalling the nasty looks on the Madmags’ faces when they appraised me.

“What about your magic? You scared away the sirens with it,” said Rudy. I shook my head.

“I tried, but it wasn’t working. I freaked myself out, and I couldn’t control it,” I explained to him. I was still disappointed in myself for that. Rudy looked at me quietly. I bit my lip and spoke again. “What were you supposed to be?” Rudy blinked oddly and looked at the trees instead of me. His eyes were glossy and wet. “Rudy?”

“As much as I hate your i***t friend Dane, I was actually supposed to be like him,” he whispered.

“What do you mean?” Rudy put his hand on the back of his neck and heaved a weary sigh.

“The Storyteller told me what everyone in my village already knew. I was going to be a prince.” My mouth gaped open.

“Prince? For which Story?” I asked with wide eyes. To be chosen for any role in Istoria was rare but to become a prince or any form of royalty was a miracle. If I hadn’t already been expecting Dane to become Prince Philip, I would have been just as stunned when he received his role too.

Rudy gave a little smile but still did not look at me. “I was going to be Prince Charming and rule an entire kingdom. I had wanted to be him since I was a little boy out sword fighting with sticks. It was all I wanted. I didn’t even care that I’d have to marry a girl I’d barely knew or have to smell thousands of girls’ feet. Being noble and saving the day? That’s what I wanted. And I almost had it.” Rudy’s pain was palpable as he spoke. I could easily empathize with him. Despite my protests againsts Istoria, I still had high hopes for Sleeping Beauty. When something like that is drilled into your mind from the time you’re a child, you become ever so fixated on it.

“But the Storyteller mixed up your magic,” I said. Rudy nodded.

“She told me I had been chosen to be Prince Charming, but when she got up, she fell and hit her head. She rushed the spell, and it was too late. I barely made it out of my village before I transformed. The poor Storyteller had to track me down to give me instructions.”

“But why a horse?” I asked. Rudy chuckled sadly.

“My last name. It’s Horsefield.”

“Rudy Horsefield?” It was Rudy’s turn to shove me.

“I know it’s not as cool as Blyss Bannon so don’t rub it in,” he laughed.

“No, no, I like it. I think it suits you,” I said warmly. I detected a little redness in Rudy’s face too that I was sure wasn’t from the fire. At least I wasn’t the only one blushing now. “So if we find the Writer, that’s what you’ll ask for? For your magic to be fixed so you can go be a prince?”

“I guess so, but I was kind of liking the horse thing,” he laughed. The corners of his eyes lifted up. “If there was a way I could go back and forth between horse and human, then I’m pretty sure I’d be unstoppable.” He mocked a high society disposition and was pleased to see that he had made me laugh. His eyes wandered up and fixated on the small horns peeking over my hair. Self conscious and embarrassed, I quickly began adjusting my hair in hopes I could cover them up

“What are you doing?” he asked though the answer was obvious.

“I don’t want you looking at them. They’re awful, I know,” I said. Rudy scowled and lifted his arms. I sat still as he moved my hair away.

“You look fine, Blyss,” he said lifting away strands that had fallen in my face. “Don’t be ashamed because of me.” He suddenly paused and looked directly at me, piercing any facade I could have put on. A moment of silence passed, and I gently nudged Rudy away. He blinked twice and seemed to return to normal.

“We should get some sleep. We need to find the others in the morning,” I said beginning to turn away.

“Is your moron friend still with them?” Rudy asked in bitter reference to Dane.

“He was when I left,” I replied. “Why do you hate him so much?”

“He’s rude and spineless. He doesn’t deserve your friendship,” Rudy abruptly snapped. I chuckled.

“I wouldn’t exactly call us friends,” I said. Rudy paused to see if I was lying.

“Good,” he firmly replied. He turned away and laid down to rest. This ended our conversation on an unexpected low note. I turned the opposite way and laid down. With the decreasing night temperatures, I gradually scooted closer to the fire. Occasionally, Rudy waked to stoke it, adding more hunks of wood to keep it satisfied and burning hot. Towards midnight, the fire itself seemed to quiet along with the rest of the forest.

At first it began as just restlessness. While I felt the usual burning, it seemed Rudy felt something like molten daggers puncturing him from all sides. He tossed and turned and almost rolled into the fire. I lifted my head weakly to see how bad he was suffering. Rudy’s breathing sped up rapidly. I crawled on my knees to where he lay. He was sweating buckets of water, and tears streamed down from his eyes.

“Blyss,” he whimpered in quiet agony, “why does it hurt so much now?”

“Humans are weaker than horses,” I figured. I realized how not comforting that sounded. The midnight pain I felt soon faded into the background as I tended to Rudy, making sure he didn’t stick his thrashing limbs into the fire. He gripped my arm and screamed out into the night, lifting his chest upward in an unnerving manner.

“It’ll be over soon,” I promised him. Seeing him writhe reminded me of my first midnight. I could still hear my own screams traveling through the lonely forest. I had no fire to keep me warm, and I had no one to tell me I’d make it through. Rudy put his hand over his eyes, but I could still see all the tears pour down the sides of his face. I tenderly moved his hand away.

“Don’t be ashamed because of me,” I whispered, echoing his earlier words to me. Rudy smiled but still closed his eyes. For a while I remained sitting there as Rudy’s breathing slowed down, and his grip on my hand relaxed.

“It never hurt this bad as a horse,” he explained softly. “The only time it even came close was after we went to the Queen. The night I kicked you into the river.”

“Upright saved me that night,” I recalled. Rudy rolled his eyes.

“I used to hate Upright and his smug little face,” he spoke resentfully.

“Yeah, but you like him now, don’t you?” I grinned. Rudy tried to hide a smile.

“I suppose he’s alright,” he admitted. I looked down at his hand that still held onto mine.

“How are you feeling?” I asked. Rudy shifted to test his muscles and limbs.

“Better,” he answered. I smiled and gingerly pulled away my hand, but only he tugged on it tighter.

“Don’t go,” he asked fervently. I sighed, realizing I was too tired to argue. I laid down next to Rudy and looked at the stars above.

“We’ll find them again, right?” I asked, verbally admitting to myself that I had little hope.

“Of course, we will,” Rudy answered. I still felt doubtful. Rudy turned on his side, wincing at the soreness from his magic, and faced me. I turned to face him as well.

“We’ll find them, and then we’ll find the Writer. The Month ain’t over yet,” he said with an assuring smile. “Now get some sleep.”

“Well, after you woke me up, I don’t think I can,” I smirked. Rudy scooted closer and put his hand on the side of my face. His forehead touched mine. He showed me Upright, Minnie, and myself all talking round a campfire a few nights before we had captured Dane. Upright was actually laughing for once, Minnie’s wings were beating excitedly, and I was glowing with joy. I didn’t remember ever looking that happy since before my father was alive.

I felt Rudy pull away from my forehead, and I slowly nodded asleep.