Forbidden Forest

  ****

  Forest insisted they take a break in the afternoon. They rested under a large tree and shared a snack. Forest tried not to think about how Syrus had held her hand all that time and then abruptly let go of it as if she had an infectious skin disease. She told herself to stop being stupid about it and it was nothing to feel injured over, but since it had happened, she now skirted around him, careful not to touch him at all. They moved about each other like magnets of the same charge.

  Syrus drank from one of his bottles and was now absentmindedly eating Fruit Loops out of a sandwich bag. Forest ate a granola bar and drank a personal sized carton of coconut water as quickly as she could, wanting to get moving again.

  “How much progress have we made?” he asked, talking for the first since she’d given him her MP3 player.

  “Not that much, and we aren’t making anymore sitting here.”

  Syrus smiled nastily. “Is that your charming way of saying, ‘Syrus, get off your butt’?”

  “As you like it.”

  Syrus chuckled and put everything back into his backpack. They headed off, continuing up the rocky hills. Forest hoped that he would go back to listening to music but she had no such luck.

  “Do you think it will be difficult to locate Maxcarion once we are in the Wood?” he asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Have you ever met him?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she said again flatly.

  “Do you think Philippe is aware that a wizard is living the Wood?”

  “I don’t know. Why don’t you listen to music and stop asking me questions?” she said testily.

  Syrus was quiet for a while, but when she looked at him, she noticed that he hadn’t put her ear buds back in. The terrain was getting worse, and both of them were beginning to feel physically taxed. An hour passed in silence, and Forest was feeling more and more uncomfortable. She thought about trying to begin a conversation just to break the tension but found there were no words in her. She would open her mouth hoping to say something trivial and close it again, at a complete loss. Maybe Syrus wasn’t bothered by the silence. His face remained impassive, but she could see the weight of his thoughts under the surface.

  Two more silent hours passed, and the evening began to blossom over their heads. The only bonus Forest could see to them giving each other the silent treatment was that they traveled much faster. If they kept a steady pace, they would reach Kyhael before the moon achieved its zenith.