"This spell I found will help strengthen my connection to the magic," Penelope said as she greeted Seraphina outside the fairy dwelling.

She walked through the trees looking for the sickest leaves. Some of them had started to turn black. The gray bark was starting to ooze. The tallest branches of the tree were sagging until they almost touched the ground. It wasn’t just the trees. The moss had patches of gray throughout and some of the ends had turned yellow. The grass stuck up at weird angles with black tips. It was clear to Penelope that they would need to move across the two territories to find all the places that plant life was suffering. It would also be helpful if they could find at least one druid. Until she knew what they were dealing with, however, she wanted to wait.

"What will that do exactly?" Seraphina asked. She handed Penelope a can of soda and popped the top on hers.

"Thoughtful," Penelope said. "Thank you." She pulled out the things she’d gathered for the spell. "It will tell me what kind of magic this is, be it fairy, witch, or other."

First, Penelope walked around in squares starting with a small one and making her way outward into the forest. She carried sage with her clearing the air so the spell would be successful.

"What else is there?" Seraphina asked looking, amused, as she watched Penelope walk in the same pattern over and over. Penelope’s reply was to raise a brow at her and put a hand on her hip.

"There's all kinds of magic out there Seraphina. Some doesn't even have to come from paranormal creatures."

"Like trolls?" Han had been a silent observer, but suddenly he spoke up. His eyes widened and he started to wring his hands. It was cute, but strange for a large man to be afraid of tiny creatures.

"I don't know for sure, but I don't think trolls are a real thing," Penelope said as she gathered leaves from the sick trees to add to her potion.

"Good; they creep me out." Han nodded and looked around him as if confirming there were no trolls in the woods. Penelope smiled at him.

"So, what's going to happen once you determine who is behind this?" Seraphina asked.

"They'll come after me. I'm sure. It will be instant, when I connect with them." Penelope had performed spells like this before, to determine where magic was coming from, but it that had been when she was learning. There was no one waiting to hurt her or her friends, if she failed. Now, this was important.

"Oh really? I better be prepared then." Han backed away from them and Penelope watched his body shimmer once, and then again. He went down onto all fours and his hands and feet grew larger. His face elongated, and hair sprouted everywhere. His clothes disappeared and were replaced with a thick coat of black fur. His eyes remained the same bright green and stood out even more against his black coloring.

Penelope stared for a minute. She'd not seen this side of Han - he was a huge bear. He was a beautiful bear. He went back into the woods to hide, she assumed, from whoever came to get her.

She put the leaves into a small bowl she'd brought along with some dandelions and several other herbs. She pulled the bag out and dropped in some of the things she’d gotten from the magic shops with Han. Everything she’d had to buy had grossed him out, so she threw everything in the bowl as quickly as she could. He’d retched when she’d accidentally dropped a frog’s leg.

“You eat live animals.”

“I do not; I’m not a freaking lion. I’m a bear. I eat live fish, that’s different.”

Penelope smiled and dropped the leg into the bowl. Bringing out a small knife she cut the end of her finger and let a small drop of blood fall into the bowl. She brought the finger to her mouth and sucked at the wound. Her least favorite part of any spell was having to cut herself. She recited the spell from the back of a take-out menu. Man, she was a modern witch. She’d written it all down, while they’d dined at Falls Diner and then taken the menu with her.

At first, she thought she’d done it wrong but then the essence of the magic giver came to her. It felt familiar and if she didn't know any better it felt like it could almost be her own blood. At first, a warmth of familiar comfort spread over her. She almost felt nice in its caress; but, then she shivered at the sudden change in feeling. All of the paranormal creature’s malice was on its way towards her.

Who would be around that she didn't know she was related to?

As she recited the spell again, the connection grew stronger and suddenly there was someone in front of her in a cloak. It swept the ground and billowed as they moved. A thinner cloth covered their face, hiding the identity from her. The person was a little taller than she was, but that was all she could tell. The cloak did its job of covering any identifying features. She could tell this wasn't the one to whom she was connected. This figure kicked her bowl over and struck her across the face. She fell back and was preparing to use some battle magic on them, when a loud roar stopped her.

Han ran from the woods, full speed at the cloaked figure. As he approached the attacker crouched down and jumped onto Han's back, sticking a knife into his shoulder. Han bellowed in pain and took off through the woods with the man or woman on his back. As soon as they had disappeared another cloaked figure walked out of the woods towards them.

This was the one Penelope had felt. She could tell they had strong magic and she moved her hands up, with a spell, just as one came hurtling at her. The force of it almost knocked her down, but she stood her ground and threw a spell back at her opponent. The spell was blocked and returned so quickly that Penelope couldn’t keep her footing. She was thrown hard, into a tree and felt herself almost pass out. Small sticks and pieces of gray bark stuck into her skin. Stars floated above her eyes, as she lay uncomfortably draped over a fallen tree. She felt a warm liquid running down the side of her face.

Dazed, she didn't know where her attacker was until she heard Seraphina yell and stood up to see her leap onto the back of the cloaked culprit. She tried to get the cloak off but rather than be revealed the mysterious person threw her off with a spell and stalked towards where she landed. Seraphina was thrown across the forest but luckily missed all the trees.

Despite Penelope’s body telling her to flee, she ran at the cloaked figure. This time she was thrown farther, narrowly missing a huge boulder. She didn’t miss the ground and her body reacted the way it should when you encounter blunt force trauma. It screamed at her and she struggled to breathe normally.

Dae and Sima came running each with axes and swords. They let out terrible yells as they ran. This caused the cloaked figure to run away and Han emerged from the woods by himself. He morphed back into a man and fell to his knees. Sima and Dae wasted no time going to his aid.

"Han let me help you," Dae yelled.

Sima got there first. However, he walked right past them, straight to Penelope.

"Are you okay?" He extended a hand to help her up and she took it.

"Yes, just got the air knocked out of me." Penelope was touched that he cared.

"You're bleeding," he said touching her cheek lightly.

"Dae, fetch your doctor at once. Tell him Penelope is injured. "

"Han, you literally have a knife in your back," Dae said.

He looked around, trying to see, but just ended up doing several circles. Finally, Sima put her hand on his shoulder. "Stop, turn around."

Penelope could only see the end of the knife sticking out of his shoulder. Her stomach turned as she tried not to imagine how long it was. Dae told him they were going to count to three and pull it out. Sima grabbed the end and Han nodded. When Dae hit two, Sima pulled the knife out. Han yelled, and Penelope hit the ground in a faint.