“You’ve got them?” Taiga patted dirt from his pants. He stretched back while Ellio stood.

  Ellio nodded, carefully placing the last Trensony flower into his bag. They’d wrapped a ball of dirt into a cloth and tied the stock and cloth together with twine. “We have three for the hospital, and one,” Ellio turned toward Jule, busying herself with the petals of a fourth flower, “for her to experiment with.”

  Finding the flowers was nothing to Taiga. Though, the real struggle was not making their locations too obviously easy to find. Ellio and Jule were clever, and while Jule seemed easily distractible, Ellio’s calm and collected demeanor made him keen to the smallest of details. Even after running them around in circles for a solid thirty minutes, Ellio still pointed out how quickly they found such supposedly elusive plants.

  Taiga would keep that keenness in mind going forward.

  He whistled for Sweet Bun, who came bounding from the anthill she devoured. She galloped up beside Taiga, snuggling her beak into his neck and giving him a small chirp. He held out his hand, revealing a few grubs he’d scavenged from the soil. Delighted, Sweet Bun slung her tongue to them, latched onto the bugs, and yanked them into her mouth. Some chewing, then she went back to snuggling his neck as a thank you.

  “Where’d you get her? She’s awfully friendly.” Ellio asked once they’d started back down the hill.

  “An auction.” It wasn’t a lie. Taiga and Mouse had, indeed, gotten her from one. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s a glutton who enjoys destroying property and harassing Mouse.”

  “Linlao are rare in Monx.” Ellio braved a pat, which Sweet Bun allowed, before he turned back towards Jule. He said something to her, though Taiga didn’t listen. Up ahead, several villagers waited for them. Their faces lacked smiles or cheeriness, and instead filled him with unease.

  “What is it?” Taiga took several quick steps towards them, leaving Ellio and Jule behind.

  “You,” a man spoke when the others didn’t. “You haven’t gone to the mine, have you? I thought I saw your friend near there. Did he return to you?”

  Mouse? Something hard gripped his stomach.

  “Mouse did leave to make a quick inspection before we did a more thorough check tomorrow.” The eyes of the villagers shifted between them. “Why?”

  No one spoke for several long moments, and Taiga made an effort to keep his breaths even and long to maintain patience. “Did something happen?”

  “There was a small quake. The mine shifted and created a small landslide around it.”

  He stilled. A quake? He’d felt nothing, nor did any of the grasses warn him of anything like that. And Mouse…? He’d only take a quick look, so maybe he hadn’t gotten caught up in anything. Maybe he’d felt the quake and had time to escape. Maybe they’d rush there and he’d already be on his way back.

  But if not…

  He whistled, and Sweet Bun strode up to him. Taiga lunged onto her back, sliding the reins into his hands. “I’m checking on Mouse,” he yelled to Jule and Ellio, “there was a quake.”

  “We’ll follow!” Ellio yelled as Taiga and Sweet Bun took off.

  She obeyed Taiga easily, picking up her pace to a sprint without signal. He repositioned himself in the saddle as she ran. She slid between the trees, slithering around them and following his lead. He sped her on, and her toes slapped onto limestone once they broke free of the trees.

  Boulders and slabs of broken stone blanketed the posts and frame of the mine shaft. Dirt, broken trees, and fragments of grass toppled from the top of the cliff. Pebbles laid spewn from the rocks fully entrenching the mine’s entrance.

  No where did he see Mouse. He leapt from Sweet Bun’s back, running back towards the grasses and dropping his hands to it. “Where is he?”

  Green spread out. Wind rustled the blades of grass as they stretched his magic across them. The leaves shook in their search, rippling his command to every plant their voices could reach.

  And yet not a single one echoed Mouse's location. The last sighting of him was his departure from their safety towards the mine. He’d entered, but never returned. Taiga turned back towards the mine, and a loose rock lost its stability, clacking as it fell to the ground.

  It was fine. Mouse’s body could handle more than the average person. His bones and skin may have held strong during the collapse. It was fine. He was fine. He was sturdy.

  But it didn’t matter how sturdy he was if he had no air.

  His heart jumped, and he scrambled to the rock. His skin pricked and his veins rain cold. “Mouse!”

  He screamed again, his throat nearly choking on pushed back fears, “Mouse!”

  Taiga grasped the closest rock and lunged it away. He’d dig him out if he had to. He gripped his hands around a boulder, trying to loosen it from its place, but it didn’t budge. He climbed on top of it, shoving rocks off it and to the side.

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  Hooves of Ghost rode up from within the trees. But he spared them no glances. Another rock, and then another tossed off the pile. Dirt and mud filled the crevices he made, and he shoveled it off with his arms.

  “Is he trapped?” Jule ran up beneath his perch on the boulder. “Are you sure?”

  “Do you see him anywhere??” Taiga snapped at her, tossing another rock over her head.

  “We’ll get him out!” Her voice shook as she ran to another part of the collapse, and yanked at rocks.

  “Taiga, wrap this around the boulder,” Ellio handed him several rings of thick rope.

  Taiga took it, squeezing behind the boulder and wrapping it around the jutted edges to keep it from pulling loose. Ellio tied it to Sweet Bun, and at Taiga’s nod, she pulled forward. Her toes held their grip, and the boulder jerked loose. He gripped the side of the boulder, and pushed it outward with every ounce of strength he had.

  “Taiga!” Jule grabbed him, and yanked him back.

  “What are you—” The grumbles of the earth drowned him as more rock and mud came loose, sliding over the already blocked entrance and boulder.

  His breath caught as dozens of centimeters of mud and debris flooded over the shaft. Taiga stiffened, and his voice bubbled from him as his fear overflowed.

  He panicked.

  “Mouse!” Taiga drove his fingers into them mud, digging out as much as he could.

  Ellio pulled back on his shoulder, “Taiga, we need help. It’s too unstable.”

  Unstable? There was no time for that. Ellio was right, more could easily crash down and bury them all. But help? To do what? What could these humans even—

  Taiga slammed his palms against the limestone and mud. Magic pumped from him, and he closed his eyes, focusing as deep and spread out as he could. Anything. If he could just find something for his magic to latch onto, then he could use it. He streamed it thinly, branching in every which way, a web for green magic coursing through the stone beneath them.

  Then, it hit. A tree’s great and shriveled root from the tree line behind them. He breathed. It would have to suffice. He arched his shoulders back, yanking the magic and whipping it towards that withered root. His magic clawed into it, and the tree trembled. Then, it accepted, as Taiga knew it would.

  He pulsed magic through his back, shoulders, down his arms and through every finger. He dug deeper, and beckoned the root. Once the magic welled into the tree, he burst the magic from within. The roots shot out from deep within the earth, striked beneath his feet and wriggled its way around rock and stone.

  When the roots passed Taiga, he reined them back, ripping them from the limestone beneath them. Ellio stumbled back as rock flew around them. The roots broke free, and Taiga dug them into the mud. He felt for more magic, and begged the earth to share. But no begging was needed. The grass, trees, and flowers all around the mine already began funneling their magics to the tree, the roots, and to Taiga.

  Save him.

  The roots crushed the rocks embedded in the mud, ripping them out and flinging them to the sides of the mine. Before any further collapse, Taiga wove the roots around the walls and entrance of where the cave should be. He solidified the walls, thickening bark over the roots and hardening them into place.

  The remainder set to work digging through the rocks and mud. Taiga kept the flow of magic constant, and while he heard voices around him, he couldn’t let the concentration break. Sweat beaded down the side of his face. His breath hitched with every magic pulse, straining himself thinner and thinner.

  Bark jutted over his fingers and arm. Yet, no end of the tunnel was in sight. So he pressed on. More magic, more borrowing, more begging. If the magic stopped, the roots would surely follow suit. His veins cracked green, barkening his forearms. The pain gouged his skin, breaking it and splitting around magic and wooden shells.

  But he could not falter.

  A tingle, and wind brushed over him, dancing the grass in the distance. He’s alive. From within the tunnel of mud and stone held up by roots, purples and blues glittered. Light draped over red cloth.

  Deep within the mine’s entrance, a bloodied and staggering Mouse still stood. His shoulders and back visibly rose with every breath, sword in one hand with a blood stained rock in the other. Bodies laid around him, too many to count.

  The cloth of his clothes, torn and red, trembled. Taiga took a step forward, and Mouse’s back flinched. His head turned slightly toward him, and purple plumed from every inch of his body.

  Mouse’s eyes glowed in purples and golds, widened in alert. He breathed hard, faster than he should have. When Taiga took another step, Mouse tensed, whipping towards him and raising his sword.

  “Mouse,” Taiga calmed his own voice, and kept it even. The sound jerked Mouse back, and he scrunched his eyes shut in what Taiga recognized as pain.

  Behind Taiga, Ellio shifted and though it was barely audible, Mouse’s demeanor shifted at it, guard raised and body tense. Taiga turned to Ellio, putting up a hand for him to stop. Taiga slipped his boots off quietly and slowly, before stepping into the dark tunnel with silence.

  “Mouse,” he spoke in a voice he couldn’t hear himself, barely a breath with the movement of lips. Still, Mouse turned to him in response. Taiga’s heart pulled. In what danger had Mouse found himself to push him into such a state? A state Taiga had only seen a handful of times their entire lives.

  “Mouse, you overtuned.” He stepped in front of Mouse, whose eyes followed him despite being entirely unfocused. Something from afar caught his attention, and he grimaced while he searched for it with such eyes. He whined, breaths trembling and frightened, body shaking and throbbing between over-tensed and collapsed.

  Taiga quietly pulled a cloth from his bag, wrapped it behind Mouse’s head, and cupped each end over his ears. He pressed his palms over his ears, and gently pulled Mouse’s attention back to him.

  “You overtuned. You need to pull back.” He spoke audibly this time, nothing more than a whisper. “Focus on me.”

  He struggled, eyes flitting at any possible sound Taiga couldn’t even hear. A cry of agony escaped him, and his legs gave out before re-tensing, locking back into place. He’d overtuned his body, too.

  Taiga glanced around him, to the black bodies and hearts scattered in the small space. How many demons had he faced? And considering his red and shredded clothes, how badly had he been injured? Taiga held back rising emotions. He couldn’t let anything out. Nothing could show. If it did, it would overwhelm Mouse.

  “Listen to my voice.” He refocused Mouse’s attention. “Breathe in pace with me. You’re breathing too fast.” Taiga elongated his breath, slowing it, calming it, in and out.

  “Breathe,” Taiga breathed in, “with me,” then out.

  “It hurts.” Mouse’s throat croaked a mess of sounds.

  “I know.” Taiga nodded slowly and gently. “You need to untune. Pull back. Let your magic go. Let your muscles go weak. Only hear my voice. You’re safe.”

  Every breath and word repeated in a rhythm. In and out. Taiga replayed the same phrases until Mouse’s breath matched his. His eyes slowly focused and his body drew heavy onto Taiga.

  Taiga leaned into him, catching Mouse’s weight as it slumbered. “Taiga, I’m tired.” Taiga only hushed him until Mouse dropped into his arms, asleep.