by Jack Whitney
He didn’t reach for her this time when she turned to leave down the hall. The thick air followed her, and her raven didn’t speak as they walked through the castle down to the gates. Her insides were fuming. She willed her breath to catch, feeling herself on the verge of panicking at any moment. The grip the raven had on her shoulder tightened, and its calming energy filled her core, bringing her breaths back to normal just as she reached the doors.
She quickly wiped the tears from her face and held her head high upon seeing her youngers and Lex waiting on her.
Lex’s gaze widened and she stepped in front of her at an instant. “Are you—”
“I’m fine,” Aydra said quickly. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TEN
THE WOMEN TRAVELED east for three days, and had finally reached the edge of the Forest just as the sun began to set. Aydra insisted they set up camp near, but not too near, the Forest edge so that they would hear the noises of the Noctuans upon their waking.
It was the first night of the Dead Moons.
And Aydra knew their thirst and hunger would be plentiful. She also knew they would more likely not be so bold as to leave the Forest on this first night, so she felt comfortable being so close without fear of being eaten alive.
Lex had caught a rabbit in the clearing, and was preparing it as Aydra sat watching Nyssa struggle with her bow. Her raven squawked at Nyssa’s golden eagle sitting beside her, and the pierce of the eagle’s cry echoed around them. Aydra laughed at her bird’s frustration.
“I’m still trying to work out how a golden eagle found you,” Aydra said as she eyed the beast.
Nyssa didn’t look away, instead gritting her teeth before suddenly letting loose an arrow towards the makeshift target they’d made. The thud of it landing off center made Nyssa’s nostrils flare.
“I think your target is off,” Nyssa argued.
“Exhale the fire,” Aydra said sternly.
Nyssa’s nostrils flared at the mantra, but she huffed and gripped her bow tighter in her hands. “Breathe in the smoke,” she muttered.
Aydra’s gaze traveled over her sister’s defiant facade, and she felt a smirk slip onto her lips.
“Hey Lex—”
“Yes, my Queen,” Lex replied.
Aydra took the day crown off her head and tossed it in the air towards her Second. “Hold my crown.” Stepping up to the spot her sister was on, Aydra pulled her own arrow through and let it fly.
It landed with a thud in the middle of their target.
“I think you’re giving excuses,” Aydra said with a raised brow.
Nyssa glared at her. “Show off.”
A huff of amusement left Aydra’s lips. “Says the one with the eagle.”
The sharp whiss of a blade cutting through the air and then tump of it shearing Aydra’s arrowhead startled them. A knife had landed in the same spot as the arrow, and the noise of someone crunching on an apple averted the Promised daughters’ attentions to behind them.
Lex chewed on her apple and gave Nyssa a wink. “Aim for the middle next time.”
Aydra snorted and clapped her hand over her mouth quickly.
Nyssa’s nostrils flared in Lex’s direction, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “You two—”
“You’ll learn nothing with those temper tantrums,” Lex cut in as she took a seat on a fallen log. “Shut up and pull another arrow. You’re a daughter of Promise. It should be instinct.”
The eagle flapped its wings in protest, and Nyssa quickly shook her head at it. She spoke with it in a different dialect that Aydra didn’t understand, but she heard the eagle telling Nyssa she could take one of Lex’s eyes. The thought amused Aydra.
Wind swept past them so forcefully that they were almost knocked off their feet. The fire Lex had worked so hard on blew out in an instant, and the sun all but disappeared as though a shadow had swept over it. Purple engulfed the landscape.
Trees cracked and bent as the forceful wind pulsed through the heart of the Forest.
And then a lone howl pierced the quiet wood.
Aydra felt a swell rise in her chest, a smile on her lips, and she looked fondly towards the Forest of Darkness.
“There she is.”
The Ulfram wolf’s howl was joined by the rest of her pack. It echoed through the air, and Aydra closed her eyes as the wind circled them.
“Only you would look so happy at the noise of a deadly creature waking for the first time in seventy-two days,” Lex said as she started trying to light the fire once more.
“No creature deserves to have to sit and wait for moon cycles to align before they can be released from their curse,” Aydra argued. “Besides, her howl is beautiful.”
Nyssa was staring at the darkening wood, her mouth slightly agape, as the Ulfram creatures continued to howl into the wind. Aydra wrapped an arm around her sister’s shoulders and pulled her out of her daze.
“Come sit. We can hear their songs together,” she told her.
A shriek so high-pitched that Aydra’s eardrums pulsed, cut through the air. Nyssa jumped at her side.
“What was that?”
“Aviteth,” Aydra answered. “Noctuan brother of the Aenean Orel. Looks much like your eagle except black, and also taller than you.”
“They say that screech you just heard pierces the ears when you are near it and causes your eardrums to bleed. You are still alive when they begin to consume your flesh,” Lex chimed in.
Aydra sat down around the now lit fire, expecting Nyssa to sit as well, but she simply stood, staring between them. “Okay, now I just feel like you two are making this up.”
“I honestly wish we were,” Lex assured her.
Nyssa’s eyes widened, and her weight shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not sure I understand,” she managed. “Why are we here?”
“Because learning these beasts might be the difference between life and death one day,” Aydra argued. “The Noctuans are beautiful, powerful, creatures. They deserve the utmost respect for their way of life. Yes, they are different and born in darkness, but their ruthless blood thirst is not their fault. There are Noctuans who do not prey as well as those that do.”
“Name one,” Nyssa said incredulously.
“Noirdiem,” Aydra said. “Berdijay. The Bygon. The Bullhorn. Wyverdraki—”
“You’re telling me the great Wyverdraki dragons are not bloodthirsty?” Nyssa interjected.
“I am saying they would not eat you if you would just respect their realm and authority,” Aydra said.
“They’re not pets, Drae,” Nyssa argued. “They’re wild animals.”
“Wild animals that you are going to get to know tomorrow night. Period.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE SUN WAS just beginning to set.
They’d entered the forest earlier in the day, intent on learning some of the scape before night fell so that they would be familiar with where they were. They’d helped Nyssa more with her bow, and for some of the day, simply relaxed while Lex told stories that made Nyssa eye her in a wild way.
But they’d overstayed their welcome in the Forest, and now were almost caught deep inside it with the sun setting. As much as Aydra wanted Nyssa to meet the creatures, she did not want to do it so deep inside with no easy way out were something to go wrong. They were retracing their steps quickly back to the edge of it.
The abrupt cry of the Ulfram wolf startled Aydra’s horse. It shifted, rearing up violently on its hind legs, causing Aydra’s hands to slip from the reins. Aydra flew backwards into the air and her back hit the ground, head thrown back against the trunk of a tree. She could hear the noise of Nyssa speaking to her horse as it continued to whinny and buck against the sound of the Noctuan creatures’ calls. Aydra shook her head, trying to rid the spinning of her mind.
Which was when she felt something wrap around her ankles.
A shadow consumed her core. She gasped for air and opened her eyes to nothing but black and silence around her. Trappe
d. Her voice cried out into the void. She searched around her, but there was nothing. Not her sister. Not her Second. Not their horses.
Just black.
She closed her eyes and pulled for the creature that was consuming her.
Let me out, she told it.
The tense silence that filled her told her it did not expect to be heard. Her eyes opened once more, and in front of her was a mirror. She was standing in front of it, naked. Her own grief-stricken eyes stared back at her.
You cannot scare me, she continued. Let me go.
The mirror vanished into smoke. Everything spun around her. And then—
She gasped for air, thrown back into reality as a ragdoll.
Hands were on her cheeks, and the noise of Nyssa shouting in her face made her ears hurt.
“Shut up,” she groaned. “I’m fine.”
“Drae!” Nyssa’s arms wrapped around her desperately. “Drae, I thought you were dying—”
“I’m fine, I—” a sudden pain shot through her ankles, and she pushed Nyssa back so that she could see her feet. Red hand print whelps and bubbled blisters stared back at her. She could feel the searing pain of it in her bones, and she grunted at herself under her breath.
“Come,” Lex said, wrapping an arm around Aydra, “We need to leave before they come back.”
Aydra grabbed hold of Lex’s body and nearly gave out as soon as she tried to stand. Her knees buckled at the agonizing pain shooting through her, and she shook her head quickly. “Nope, put me down. Down!”
Lex sat her back down and then hovered over her. “We have to leave. You’ll need to get on my back.”
Help.
The noise of her horse’s voice filling her ears made her heart stop. She looked up and saw it lying down between two trees ahead, and she could see the same reddened whelp around its ankle.
“No—” Aydra started to crawl towards it, ignoring the protests of Lex and Nyssa. She sat down beside it and rubbed its cheek.
It’s okay. I’ve got you, she promised it.
“My Queen, there is nothing we can do,” Lex said. “The Noctuans are waking. We have to leave.”
Aydra didn’t look away from her horse. “Go get help,” she told them. “Go. Now.”
“We cannot leave you—”
“And I will not leave her,” Aydra interjected.
“But the Noctuans—”
“Are friends. Now go,” Aydra cut Nyssa off. She looked up at them over her shoulder, her jaw tensing at the sight of their bewildered faces. “I will be fine. But I will not risk the two of you’s safety. I made a mistake coming this far inside so late. I am injured. It will call to the ones that may not heed my words. You have to get out of here. Now.”
The pair did not move.
Aydra was quickly losing her patience.
“Go! Now!” Aydra nearly shouted.
“My Lady, I cannot leave you,” Lex told her.
“Yes, you will,” Aydra insisted. “Your orders are to take care of my sister. Go to the Village of Dreams and see to it she is safe. Find someone there with a cart that can help you come back to retrieve us. I am not leaving her here to die.”
“But…” Nyssa crouched down in front of her. “What if the Venari find you?” she said with widened eyes. “What if the Noctuans—”
“My orders are to take care of you,” Lex interjected to Aydra.
“And I am giving you new orders. As your Queen, I demand it,” Aydra said sternly.
Lex’s jaw tightened, but she nodded nonetheless. She grasped Nyssa’s shoulders and pulled her up to her feet. “Come, princess. We must go quickly.”
“No! No, I’m not leaving her—”
“Nyssa, we must go!” Lex nearly shouted. “You will see her again—”
“By any means necessary,” Aydra called to Lex.
Lex’s hand struck Nyssa’s cheek. Nyssa gasped and stared at her with wilding eyes.
“You—”
“If you think I am going to give my life for your kicking and screaming, you are wrong,” Lex hissed, her hand in Nyssa’s face. “Your sister is hurt, but she can take care of herself. If we stay here much longer, we will be eaten or worse. You will listen to me, princess. Now get on your horse and shut up.”
Nyssa’s mouth ceased movement, and she looked towards Aydra.
Aydra raised a brow. “Listen to her,” Aydra demanded. “It could mean your life.”
Lex was staring sternly down at the princess when she turned again, but Aydra didn’t miss the smirk and wink Lex gave her when she met her gaze. Aydra clenched her jaw to keep from smiling.
The noise of their horses’ hooves on the dirt quickly vanished just as the sun set around her. Aydra was torn between starting a fire or keeping herself in the dark so as to not attract more Noctuans than she would already.
But as the chill of the forest surrounded her, she decided she would rather die swiftly in the teeth of a Noctuan than slowly in the cold.
She’d just got the fire started with what she could crawl around and find when she felt creatures familiar to her coming up on every side of her. Her horse began to shift hysterically, but she placed a hand on its neck and tried to calm it.
A low growl cut through the silence of the rustling winds. And slowly from the darkness, emerged one of the most beautifully menacing wolf creatures she’d ever seen.
Sharp yellow-green eyes pierced the darkness. The slender of its elongated narrow wolf-nose rose into the light of the fire. It was crouched down as it came into the light, teeth bared.
The alpha female.
The sheen of her dark silver fur vibrated in the firelight. Five feet tall at the tops of its tall pointed ears. Black lines like shadows lined beneath her eyes and down the sides of her nose. It inched closer, and she saw one of its great paws press into the dirt just feet away from her.
Which was when she felt the breath of another standing directly to her right. Her head twisted just slightly to see it towering above her, white fangs flashing. The rest of the pack was black in color, opposite from the female, with silver shadows beneath its eyes and down their noses.
Aydra allowed their core to consume her, and when she opened her eyes, she was filled with the voice of its kind.
Hello, alpha, she acknowledged the one standing in front of her.
The alpha gave her a slow blink. Queen Aydra, it knew. It has been long since your last visit.
How do the moons treat you on this round?
Enough with the small talk, Sun Queen, it said, sitting back on its haunches. Tell me why I should not eat your filly.
Because I know the truth of you. I know you have more pride than to hunt and eat something that was not worthy of preying upon.
The alpha stared at her for a long while, long enough that she heard the tree canopy rustling over her head. The amount of creatures entering her core consumed her to the point of nausea. Voices, all questioning her presence filled her ears. She had to shut her eyes tight.
Who is she?
Why is she here?
Why is she not dead?
Can we kill her?
The horse is a good meal.
Who dares come in our realm?
What stranger is this?
Aydra’s hands pressed to the sides of her head, and she doubled over as she tried to push them out. Their voices overwhelmed her. Asking the same questions over and over. Her breaths were shortening. She didn’t know the creatures in her head. There were too many. She couldn’t shake their cores inside her. Hungry. Bloodthirsty. Alone. Scared.
Who is she?
Who is she?
Who is she?
SHUT UP! she finally shouted into the darkness.
All noises silenced.
Her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes widened around her, and although she could not see the creatures in the trees and sitting in the darkness, she felt them all heed her words and listen at once.
My name is Aydra Ra
venspeak. I can hear all of you. I feel your pains. I mean you no harm or intrusion. I am hurt. My horse is injured. I am simply waiting on my companions to return.
The Alpha settled down on the ground in front of her, its paws crossing over each other.
Then we will wait with you, it told her. Our darkest brothers will not harm you.
The Ulfram beside her laid down and sat its great head in her lap. Her chest swelled with gratitude for the beasts surrounding her, and she poured it into the cores of each of them in an attempt to show her thanks to each for not only sparing her life, but also protecting her from the Noctuans who would not have such mercy on her.
An hour passed in silence. She felt her eyes drooping with exhaustion, but she dared not sleep. Despite the promise of the creatures surrounding her, she did not know what might consume her if she let her guard down. So she stroked the head of the Ulfram lying in her lap, and let the smells of the forest fill her.
Until she heard the noise of hooves pounding the dirt once more.
Venari, the Ulfram told her.
It didn’t surprise her. She’d assumed they would find her. She only hoped she knew who it was.
“Well, well…” came the mockingly deep voice of the one she had least wanted to find her that way. “If it isn’t the Sun Queen.”
Aydra’s jaw tightened, and she felt her nostrils flare as she looked past her to the left to see three men on horses. “Venari King,” she said through clenched teeth as he dismounted his horse.
His smug smile was the first thing she saw illuminated in the firelight she’d made. Faint curly scruff danced along his long, angular jaw and above his lips, and his green eyes were hooded beneath his dark brows.
He continued to smirk as he pulled his long walnut hair into a thick bun atop his head, his taut muscles flexing as he moved them. Two other Hunters dropped to the ground from their own steeds, and before she could move, Draven had crouched in front of her.
