Previously on LW:

Hailey, Bree, Chase, and Zarasa find Aiden tangled in a net of vines, badly wounded. They bring him back to the fairy village to be healed.

Chapter 29

Outside, the fight was winding down. According to the scouts, the Outlanders were separated and tired. Those who could fell back. Others wandered deeper into the forest, searching for an exit.

"We'll wait until they're exhausted enough and lead them back to their lands," the Elder One reassured me. "We're not heartless."

"And we'd rather avoid rotting bodies all over the forest," one of the scouts added helpfully.

"Um, okay, good. And what about the trees?" I gestured to the wooden walls surrounding us. "Do I have to talk to the Great Tree again?"

"The trees need to regain their energy. Slowly, they are straightening up, opening around the village. Then they will fall asleep for several hundreds of years, and we will care for them just like they cared for us."

    "Oh, okay, well good then." I stifled a yawn. I was dead on my feet.

    "Hailey," Chase called me, gesturing for me to come closer.

    I excused myself to the Elder One and complied.

    "Aiden's asleep," he said. "He's going to be fine..."

    "But?" I stayed on my guard.

    "His wing is badly damaged. It'll take time to heal and might never go back to the way it was before. He'll also have a few permanent scars."

    I pushed away the worry for his wing. "At least he's okay, and now he's safe."

    "Yeah. Resting will do him good, too. We should probably follow suit. I can barely stand, and I'll admit that you've looked better."

    "Hey!" I protested, mainly for show.

    "But you do pull off the exhausted look better than anyone I've seen."

    I laughed. "Stop trying to save your butt with strange compliments." I yawned. "I wouldn't say no to a nap, though. As it is, I could never make it to the outpost."

    "Most exhausting all-nighter I've ever pulled off," he mumbled in agreement as he pulled me by the hand towards a sheltered area. The floor was covered in thick leaves and feathers, somewhat between a carpet and a mattress.

    "Fairies made this for us." Chase all but fell down. He closed his eyes and patted the sport next to him. I laid down and had a fleeting thought for the events of the day before falling into a deep sleep.

    ***

    "Wake up!" A voice yelled.

    Chase's wing was covering me like a blanket. I carefully moved it out of the way as he grumbled something incomprehensible. I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

    "Oh, hey, Bree."

    "Rise and shine, Princess. I brought some water for you guys to splash on your face. Who knew these huge coconut-like fruits could make such good water bowls?"

    "Thanks." I stepped outside and accepted the bowl-like container. "That's actually really thoughtful of you." These few hours of sleep had done me a world of good.

    "Yep. I thought you'd like to see Aiden. He's up, and the fairies brought some stuff for us to eat."

    "Aiden's up?" Chase stood up with a yawn. He brushed a few feathers out of his hair, which reminded me that mine was going to be impossible to detangle.

    "Thanks, Bree." He reached out to grab the second water bowl. Bree had others ideas, and dumped it on his head before he could even react. "Hey! What was that for? It's cold!"

    "When I say 'up,' it's now, not three minutes later. Follow your girlfriend's example. Now liven up, soldier!"

    She walked away, a clear sign for us to follow her.

    "Honestly," I turned to Chase. "You didn't find this the tiniest bit predictable?"

    He huffed and stomped away after Bree.

    I smiled and caught up with him, lacing my hand with him. "The behavior of a true second in command."

    "The hairstyle of a true princess," he retorted.

    "Shush. No comments about the hair."

    "Yes, Your Majesty." A smile appeared on his lips despite himself.

    Ahead of us, a blonde girl in the Aeolian uniform was helping Aiden out of the shaman's hut.

    "Aiddie!" I let go of Chase's hand and ran up to him. "How are you feeling? Can I give you a hug?"

    "Ew, no, not a hug from you," he teased. Despite the bags under his eyes and the amount of bandages that covered him, he was smiling. He opened his arms, and I was careful to hold him lightly.

    "Look at you, Mister I-go-on-solo-missions-behind-everyone's-back." Chase patted his uninjured shoulder. "Getting hurt so you can have all the girls worrying about you... You should be ashamed."

    Aiden rolled his eyes. "You guys need to stop acting like I was on my deathbed."

    Chase's mouth tightened.

    "Maybe you should have thought of that before you got yourself wounded," Bree said. "Thank you, Faith," she told the girl, "you can go now."

    Faith nodded and gave a quick dip of her silvery blue wings before flying off.

    "Wow, first name basis already?" Chase teased.

    "Shut up. Literally five of them have the same last name; it's a pain. We need to start giving out serial numbers or something."

    "I call 80085!" Aiden said.

    We all gave him weird looks.

    "80085. You know. If you write it by making the numbers square-ish, it spells – "

    "Oh, grow up," Chase groaned.

    Bree slapped Aiden on the back of the head – then apologized profusely when she realized what she had done.

    "Sorry! I'm so used to doing that when you say something stupid, I didn't think – "

    "It's fine." Aiden snapped, before sighing. "I'm tired of being babied."

"Oh, stop complaining," I said. "In a few days, you'll be wishing they paid as much attention to you then as they do now." Still, I patted his shoulder in comfort. His hair had grown longer (if only my hair would grow this fast) and it made him look younger. Combined with his disgruntled face, he looked like a scolded puppy. Only his right wing broke the picture. It was splinted and thus didn't move with the other, and too many feathers had been broken and were missing.

    "Come on, let's eat. That'll pick you up," Bree said, a bit abruptly, as if she had been reading my thoughts.

    "Aideen!" Mikoy interrupted us, speeding down towards Aiden followed by his sister and a few other friends.

    The white-haired shaman appeared out of nowhere and snatched him before he could jump on Aiden. After a few words in the rapid tongue of the fairies, whose sounds were becoming familiar, the children gave a collective sigh and flew away, but not before Mikoy gave Aiden a conspiratorial wink.

    Another fairy brought us some food, and the shaman picked out a few items for Aiden and checked from a few paces away that he ate it all. During our meal – was it a breakfast? Time had become confusing – I noticed the trees around the village were more spaced out. Their highest branches still tangled, but one could now easily pass between them lower down. I took that as a sign the forest had fallen back asleep, my mother with them.

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I know what you're thinking, "well that was lame, no one got injured in this chapter! There isn't even a cliffhanger!" but oh, well, what can you do.

Here's a cute fawn as an apology. Also, if you can't tell, I was not inspired for the chapter title. Ideas welcome.

Thank you to @savagekqeen for the beautiful cover at the top!

Also I saw at one point that this was number 20 in Fantasy, so nice! Thank you, everyone!