11.19.2017

Thomelisa Taken, Pt XIX

(By the way, if you're still scratching your head thinking, "What the heck IS a cockchafer, anyway?" here is a nice little video about them.  I, personally, think they're cute, and think it's terribly unfair how Andersen was all, "Soooo ugly!")

***

I moved silently up the hill and through the grass to the little copse.  It seemed unlikely that your average cockchafer would be disturbed by my presence- most insects only took notice if you actively threatened them in some way- but there was no point in taking the chance.  The kind of bug that would snatch a girl might just be smart enough to realize someone might come looking for her.

The sky continued to darken as I climbed, and the wind began to pick up, carrying with it a wet, heavy scent.  More thunder rumbled, closer this time.  It was just as well I’d be in the trees soon, although it didn’t seem to me that they were thick enough to provide proper shelter.  Clover and daisies grew in riots among the trunks, which meant they received plenty of sunshine.  Just beyond the trees I could see a rich green cornfield stretching out, neat and orderly, for as far as the eye could see.  This land was owned, then.  Well, hopefully I wouldn’t encounter the farmer- I had no time for human nonsense at the moment.

I came within three feet of the trees and halted, eyeing them warily, and listening more carefully still for the low drone that might indicate the passage of a cockchafer.  There was nothing, however- at least nothing I could hear over the rising wind.  I fought the urge to use a Summoning spell- too many cockchafers in the world for that to do me any good- and instead took a steadying breath, and entered the wood.

The trees, although not particularly close, did act as a bit of a windbreak, which was nice.  Above me their branches danced, and the occasional leaf was pulled free to chase the its destiny to far off lands.  I thought of how light my daughter was, how light the cockchafers were- and what poor fliers- and realized that while rain might not interfere with my hunt, this wind certainly would.  I frowned, and pulled my pack off my back.  Interfering with the weather was always tricky- and honestly it was a bit late to stop anything.  But perhaps I could use a Shielding spell, writ large enough to encompass the trees?  That seemed like it might do the trick.

I had a pair of shielding spells ready in my gloves, charged and ready to cast- I’d need to do a bit of tinkering, to get what I wanted, but it was certainly do-able.  And thus, a few minutes later, I was suddenly surrounded by silence.  And then, not three heartbeats later, the decidedly odd sound of a summer downpour hitting (and streaming down) an invisible, magical shield, just above the treetops.  For a moment I stared, taken by the prettiness, and then I refocused on the task at hand.

I began to walk slowly around each tree, looking closely for any sign of insects.  And insects I found in plenty, but no cockchafers.  Not until the third tree I inspected did I find any trace of the bugs- and then what I did find made my heart sink like stone.

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