The Veil Weavers Read Free

looked the same – pale, dark around the eyes, and tight-jawed with the effort of paddling. “Why are you tired? I thought your paddles were magic.”
    Eneirda leaned close to Greyfur and hissed, “ Sssst! Tell him.”
    I don’t think she meant us to hear, but sound carries well on the water. “Tell us what?” I said.
    Maddy glanced at me and leaned forward to listen.
    Greyfur shook his head at Eneirda and spoke. “Our magic is weakened by magic leaking, tss . This journey is difficult for us.”
    “ Sssst! ” hissed Eneirda. “Tell them all.”
    Greyfur sighed. “As magic leaks out of our world, we are weakened. We ate muskberries to build magic, as many as we could. Tss . Now we hope we are strong enough to reach Castle Mountain.”
    “That is why,” Eneirda added, “you must warm yourselves.”
    Maddy slipped her ring off her finger and looked through it at Greyfur and Eneirda. “Josh,” she whispered, “you can see their magic fading.”
    I held up her ring. The magic that had radiated off Greyfur and Eneirda so strongly was paler now, and thinning in spots. So I decided to try. My magic had weakened in the human world; now, as I concentrated, it flowed faster, filling me. I imagined myself surrounded with magic, and immediately felt warmer.
    Greyfur had been watching – he nodded his approval.
    “What about Maddy?” I asked.
    “ Chrrr . Maddy too,” he said.
    “How?”
    “Wrap her in magic.”
    I took a deep breath, determined to try. I pulled magic into my hands and drew it around Maddy, imagining a bubble of warmth. Maddy made a face but sat still as I experimented. Magic began to flow, and slowly I surrounded her.
    She relaxed as the magic warmed her, but she frowned at me. “You have too much magic,” she said. “It’s not right for a human.”
    But I loved it, and so did the crows. They circled closer above me, as if they could feel my magic.
    “ Tss . Humans used to have magic,” said Greyfur.
    “Really?” asked Maddy. “What happened?”
    “They became busy with other things, hnn , and forgot.”
    “And now it’s gone.” Maddy sighed. “Except for Josh.”
    “Not gone. Out of reach for most humans. Chrrr . There is always magic, even in human world.”
    “There is?” Maddy asked, her eyes shining.
    “Yes. Tss . Think about it.”
    Maddy sat pondering. Then slowly she smiled and started a list. “Art. Music. Babies.”
    Greyfur nodded. “Birth.”
    “And death?” she asked, hesitantly.
    “Of course,” said Greyfur.
    “Then,” she said, hesitating again as she thought about it, “why does it matter if magic leaks from your world to ours?”
    Eneirda hissed, and the crows cawed.
    Greyfur just nodded. “There is more magic here, hnn . You feel it?”
    We both nodded.
    “When magic leaks from our world to human, tss , we have less. That harms us.”
    “We care for magic,” said Eneirda. “Humans waste theirs. Sssst! So we have much. And they have little.”
    We were all silent after that, deep in our own thoughts. Eventually I slept, lulled by the rocking of the boat.

    I woke as the boat ground onto gravel, coming to a stop in total blackness.
    “I can’t see a thing,” said Maddy.
    “ Humans ,” muttered Eneirda.
    “Do you have your firestone?” asked Greyfur.
    Of course. I reached into a pocket and pulled it out. I held it in my palm, smooth and black, and let magic fill me. Slowly, gold threads within the stone began to glow. I focused more magic into it, and the stone cast enough light for Maddy and me to see as we stepped out of the boat onto a pebble beach.
    The wind was sharp, and it was hard to hear anything over an enormous roaring. Even with my firestone, I couldn’t see beyond the edge of the river and a small pocket of beach. Either clouds had blocked the moon, or we were somewhere the moon couldn’t reach, somewhere narrow and dark and cold.
    “Now we wait for dawn, hnn ,” said Greyfur.
    “We just wait?” asked Maddy. She sounded nervous