The twins looked like they had both sucked on lemons when they finished their thought blocking brews. Larue laughed lightly. Basil had run over to the sink because he thought he was going to be sick. Birdie was running her tongue across her teeth trying to remove the girt left behind by the drink. Larue just watched as they continued their silly melodramatic actions for another few minutes, shaking her head. It wasn’t as though she’d made the drinks extremely strong. She had put only the barest minimum. While the siblings continued with their antics, Larue opened her mind up. She had to be sure that the magic she had done was successful. Larue could hear the animals outside the barrier, the conversations of the trees, and the whisperings of the wind. However, she heard nothing when she focused on the twins. She focused on Birdie first and heard only a high pitch ringing that hurt her ears. The same sound resounded in her head when she focused on Basil. The sound was so harsh that it felt like Larue’s ears were bleeding.

“What’s wrong,” Birdie asked Larue after taking in the pained expression on her face. Larue’s ears had drooped down far enough that they nearly pointed to the ground.

“Nothing, the drinks are working,” Larue said, taking her focus off of Basil and Birdie’s minds. “Anyone or thing that tries to read your mind will feel like their mind his being hacked with a machete. This will deter most creatures, but anything stronger then me will be able to shrug off the shroud I’ve just created.”

Larue turned around and closed her eyes briefly to shut herself off from nature. When she was no longer hypersensitive she turned back to the twins. Their nausea seemed to have gone away at this point.

“Now, I want you to purposely think about me. Think at me,” Larue told Birdie. She couldn’t speak to Basil yet. His mind was still closed off.

Birdie stared at Larue intently as she focused on her. Larue stared back, gently coaxing her to focus harder. Eventually, Larue heard the whisper of a voice.

“…can you hear me? Larue?” Birdie thought. Birdie’s internal voice was just as light and strong as her speaking voice.

“Yes,” Larue replied. “Now you know how to reach out to me. When you are done all you have to do is stop focusing on me.”

Birdie’s eyes went wide. She could really hear Larue in her head. Her internal voice was the same warm deep tone that Birdie was used to.

“Okay, I can do that,” Birdie said. Before Birdie could break the connection Larue spoke again.

“Wait, please let your brother know how to reach out to me so that I can teach him how to open and close his mind,"Larue requested.

Birdie nodded and gradually closed her mind. Then she turned to Basil and relayed what Larue had told her. Basil turned to Larue once his sister finished explaining what Larue said. Her big black eyes reflected his image back to him. He wondered if Larue could see herself in his eyes. He closed his eyes and focused on her.

“Larue,” his mind called out.

“Congratulations,” she said in response. Basil suppressed a sigh. Her voice was as calming as always. “Now you can talk to me whenever you want. Oh, I should tell you, it may be in your best interest to keep our connection open. That way I can reach out to you without feeling like I’m being stabbed through the eye. It’s up to you though.”

Basil thought about it for a moment. “Will you be able to hear my private thoughts too?”

“No,” she answered. “Only your active thoughts.”

“Okay,” Basil agreed, “but how do I close it if I need to?”

“Just think of an image that represents your ability to cut me off.”

“Like a closing door?” Basil asked.

“Exactly,” Larue said. “Whenever you want the connection to end imagine closing that door. Closing that door will close me off.”

“Got it,” Basil replied, logging the information away.

Larue ushered both of the twins into the living room, grabbing her bag to take it with her. Once all three were in the living room she addressed them both, Birdie out loud and Basil mentally. “I read your mother’s letter. She has asked me to take you to Wakinyan and protect you, so I will. I owe her.”

Birdie smiled in relief. She knew that getting to her uncle would be much more difficult without Larue.

“Gather your things, leave anything that isn’t valuable,” she told them. “We’ll be leaving right after. The quicker we get there the better.”

“Get where,” Birdie wondered aloud.

“North Dakota, the Badlands,” Larue replied. “Now get packing.”

Basil and Birdie left Larue to gather their things. Larue went to her work bench to gather various dusts. When she was done her pack was at least two kilograms heavier. She then grabbed her bow and arrows, which further added to the weight of the bag. Lastly, she tied her mask to one of the belt rungs of her leather pants. She waited by the door until the twins were ready. Basil came first, putting on his black leather jacket and shouldering his backpack. Larue noted that the jacket smelled like Takoda, who she had met once in her travels through New York. Basil had tied his shoulder length hair in a knot at the base of his neck. Larue though it looked good, even with the flyways that had escaped the knot. He was some much taller than her, which was impressive because she herself was just shy of six feet.

“What?” Basil asked her when he noticed that Larue had been staring.

“Sorry, its nothing,” she replied. “I’m just thinking.”

Basil squeezed her shoulder briefly. To his surprise Larue didn’t scowl or forcibly remove his hand when he did.

Birdie was next to join them. Larue realized then that they were almost looking one another in the eye. It was rare for her to find a girl nearly the same height as her. Birdie wore her leather jacket from yesterday; the one that smelled like Mapiya. Like her brother, Birdie only had one bag over her shoulder.

“Are you ready?” she asked them. When they both nodded she opened the door and all three of them stepped outside. They walked to the edge of the barrier. Larue promptly stepped through, but Basil and Birdie hesitated. They didn’t want to be sick again. The pair were taking too long, so Larue reached back through and pulled them out forcefully. They both felt lightheaded but were able to recover much quicker than the first time they had gone through. Apparently leaving was much easier than entering.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Basil said.

“It will get easier every time you pass through,” Larue confirmed.

“Thank God for that,” Birdie practically sang.

Larue just laughed. “Which one?”

“Oh, I guess whichever one is listening,” Birdie said with a shrug.

The group set off at a brisk pace heading back to one of the park’s official hiking paths. When they reached it, Birdie and Basil turned back in the direction of their truck. Larue turned in the opposite direction. When she looked over her shoulder Larue saw the twins were far behind her.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going!” She called out.

The twins turned at the sound of Larue’s voice and saw her standing with her hands raised in a gesture of annoyance. Larue waved them over towards them.

“We were heading back to the truck,” Birdie said. “Why else would we be heading back to the entrance?”

“We’re not taking the truck,” Larue stated.

“What do you mean not taking the truck?” Basil cut in.

“It would take nearly two or three days to get to North Dakota by car. My way is faster. Also, iron and steel are like poison to a Fae. I’d probably die before we arrived.”

They had no idea. Larue couldn’t blame them, Fae weren’t exactly keen on sharing info, but she wasn’t about to willingly sit in a metal deathtrap. Larue started to walk again, this time with twins following behind her like ducklings.

“How are we going to get to North Dakota without a car?” Birdie asked.

“You’ll see,” Larue replied cryptically.

Three hours later the group had just finished walking up the path that lead to the Cloud’s Rest mountain range. They were up nearly 9,000ft in elevation, but the top of the range was a plateau. When Larue let them rest both Basil and Birdie collapsed to the ground and took off their bags.

“What the hell,” Birdie moaned. “I did not sign up to climb a freaking mountain today.”

Basil said nothing but reached into his bag and pulled out a large water bottle. He drank from it in deep pulls before passing it to his sister. Basil had taken his leather jacket off about an hour into the hike. He had tied it around his waist. His white t-shirt was soaked through with sweat. He looked at Larue and saw that she was not nearly as affected by the trek. She too had taken off her bag and drank water, but she hadn’t even broken a sweat. Larue finished her water and squatted down to put the bottle back in her bag. Birdie lay on the ground feeling her heart race in her chest.

Larue stood up and walked to the edge of the plateau nearest to where Basil and Birdie sat. She took a deep breath then placed two fingers in her mouth and let out the loudest whistle that she could muster. The sharp, high pitched noise echo off the mountain range and into the forest below.

“Why did you do that?” asked Birdie, who was now sitting upright.

Larue didn’t reply. She just rolled her eyes.

A few moments later, gusts of strong wind swept over the mountainside. Birdie looked up to find the biggest bird she had ever seen descend from the sky. The bird was a California Condor that was nearly as big as a bus. It landed like a rock directly in front of Larue and screeched. Birdie quickly shuffled back, all of her tiredness forgotten. Basil did the opposite. He got closer. The bird was magnificent. Basil could tell that its head was longer and wider than his body.

“I thought Condors were extinct,” he told Larue.

Larue’s laughter graced his mind. “Only the non-magical ones.”

The behemoth bird stretched out its wings and shook its feathers casting a shadow on the trio. Larue turned around.

“Basil, Birdie, I’d like you both to meet my familiar Anrok. We’ve been together a long time,” She said, gesturing behind her. At the sound of his name the bird screeched again. “He’s our ride.”

Basil got closer until he was standing next to Larue. Birdie approached more cautiously. The last thing she wanted was to have her head eaten by the hungry bird. Larue threw her bag onto Anrok’s broad back and jumped up. When she was seated she reached down to help Basil up first. Birdie took some coaxing, but eventually allowed herself to be pulled up. Larue laughed internally. For a girl named after birds she didn’t appear to like them very much. Larue checked behind her to make sure the twins were situated and holding on tight. She then let out a shrill yelp. At the sound Anrok flapped his wings until he gained altitude. Then he flew east.