by Zora Marie
She shrugged and walked outside.
“Wait, where are you going?” He followed and watched her climb the tree that was enchanted to prevent anyone from climbing. He knew Zelia well enough by now that her ability didn’t surprise him, and he watched with crossed arms.
~
She climbed through the branches that twisted around to form the platform that hid high in the tree’s canopy. Once past the platform’s floor, she pushed through the last of the branches that formed the walls of the room.
Eadon sighed and shook his head. “The tree helped you, didn’t she?”
“Do you think you can take Kniteoff without me?”
“We have dealt with worse dragons than him far before you were…” Eleanor cut short.
“Created? Yes, I know. The thing is, I’ve felt his presence. There’s something more to this than the tales of ancient dragons.”
“That’s even more reason for you not to go, if he can sense you coming,” Eadon said.
“This is not just about a dragon. There is something more going on here. You want me to find peace. Well, I can’t do that until I understand the reason behind everything that’s happened. Please, do not hinder me. I will go with or without your blessing.”
Eadon sighed, and Eleanor wrapped her arms around him from behind, putting her chin on his shoulder. “You know we cannot keep her. She is not the little girl we once knew.”
Eadon seemed to deflate at her words. “I know…”
“It’s okay, I’ll come back. Even if he eats me. That would be a first though.” She cracked a smile as she tried to ease his worry. “Really, I’ll be fine. I’ll even try not to get eaten.”
His internal turmoil was etched across his face.
“Fine,” he conceded, “but you are not going on your own.”
“Didn’t figure I would be, wouldn’t be much help if I died in my sleep on the way. I don’t know how long it takes me to come back from that. Might be years or even decades of being trapped. I couldn’t tell time in the cave, so I’m not keen to take that risk.”
With her worries spoken, she leapt to a new topic, “Do you think Nikolas would come?”
“Why?”
“We need to go around the mountains, and it would be faster to go north. He’s from The Wild, if anyone knows the paths, he would be the one. Besides, if I don’t get there soon, Connan will go without us.”
Eadon pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, go find your brothers. And Zelia, use the ladder.”
“You’re just no fun,” she teased and disappeared down the hole in the uneven floor. The guards at the bottom of the ladder frowned at her and she remembered them giving her the same look when she was little, perhaps for the same reason they did now.
~
She left the tree, knowing her brothers would likely be outside. “Alrindel, have you seen Skylar? Or Nikolas?” she asked when she found him and Lighnif training by the lake.
“No, but they should be around soon. Why? What are you up to?”
“We need to leave soon, and I was hoping Nikolas would come with us.”
“Are you still worrying over his relation to the gods?” he asked.
“No, well,” she clenched her teeth for a moment, “yes, but that’s not why I’m looking for him. We need to get to the Mountains of The Old Ones and the Faithful Mountains lie between here and there.”
“But the southern roads are safer.”
“The northern paths are faster from here, if we don’t get lost.” As she finished, Skylar approached from the pasture.
“Lost? Where are we going?” Skylar glanced from Zelia to Alrindel. “Kniteoff… I thought Eleanor and Eadon were trying to keep you from going.”
“Did you really think that would work?” she asked.
“Let’s see,” he made an extravagant pause as if thinking, stroking his shadow of a beard as he did, “no and I don’t think they did either.”
“So, Nikolas is your friend, do you think he will go with us?”
“He already planned to go. How about you start packing up, we’ll head out tomorrow morning?”
“Already done. I don’t have much.”
“Yet you possess more weapons than most men.” Skylar messed up her hair, and she cringed when she pulled away. “Maybe we should wait a few more days, give you time to heal.”
“We should leave now,” she countered. “We have a long road ahead of us. I’ll heal on the journey.”
“Promise not to push yourself to the brink of death this time?”
She shifted her feet in the snow. “No, you know I can’t promise that. The value of my life sits differently from most and I need to learn to accept it.” Her jaw quivered as she searched for the answer that lay just below the surface. “It’s only a curse if I let it be.”
8
When Zelia climbed out of bed the next morning, she tossed her armor, extra clothes, and other belongings, into the pocket dimension. As she withdrew her hand from the rippling ball, she jumped as something fury brushed her hand.
She snatched the furry object and pulled it from the portal. A fur trimmed riding dress hung from her grasp. It was light blue with a white fur trim that was as soft as velvet. Dain had outdone himself once again. Nothing but the best from Hyperia’s fashionista extraordinaire. She couldn’t help but put it on at once, the warmth and beauty of the dress enveloping her as she pulled it on over the accompanying leggings.
She spun around, admiring the dress and leggings, but stopped, blushing, when Skylar stepped into the doorway.
“Where did you get that?”
“The portal, Dain made it for me.”
“And just who is this Dain?”
She couldn’t help but grin at his teasing tone. “A friend. I had forgotten this was in there.”
“Um, hm, okay then. We’re ready to go whenever you are.” He picked up her cloak and bag, then tossed the cloak over her head.
She sighed and pulled the cloak around herself. “Just let me slide my boots on and I’ll be ready. Meet you by the main entrance?”
“Don’t take too long or we’ll leave without you.”
~
She walked the halls to the stoop below her room, some small part of her saddened not to see Linithion on her way. She stepped outside and let out a long whistle. Bête Noire trotted up, and she used the tree to climb on. “You ready for another trip?” she asked.
He bobbed his head as he walked towards the main gate. “I’m just glad you’re not leaving me here.”
“What? You don’t like it here?” she asked. He snorted and shook his mane. “Alright.” She couldn’t help but laugh as the twitch of his ears and tail told another story. She had a feeling that he enjoyed chasing Elves, particularly the one who tended the horses. That, and he had likely found a mare or two to bother.
“That’s all you’re taking?” Eadon asked when she rode up. Skylar, Nikolas, and Alrindel were just climbing onto their horses. Nikolas rode a chestnut horse that shifted uneasily beneath him. It surprised her that Eleanor and Linithion were not there to see them off, but she suppressed the urge to ask about them as Eadon would tell her if he knew or rather wanted her to know.
“No. Skylar has my pack, and I put some extra supplies in a portal.”
“Alright, I just don’t want you relying on your powers.”
“I’m not, that’s why I have those things in the portal. Skylar, I can carry my own pack.”
“Ha, no. You’re supposed to be taking it easy. Come on, I’m not getting any younger.”
“Alright. Goodbye Eadon. Would you tell Linithion and Eleanor I bid them farewell?”
Eadon nodded. He was still standing there as they crossed beneath the waterfall and onto the tree root bridge.
As soon as they were over the river, Zelia sighed and s
tared up at the morning sky. She could still see two stars. It was the dimmer of the two she stared at. “Rogath,” she called in her thoughts. “Rogath.”
She could feel he was there, listening, but he held his silence.
“Rogath, I know you’re there and I know you’re still mad at me. But, please don’t block me out at night.” She knew the past would haunt her more outside Eleanor’s reach, and Rogath was her main hope of respite. Besides, without him her thoughts turned unbidden to Linithion.
Had she been wrong to push Linithion away? No, she’ll only get hurt. They’ll use her like they tried to use Alrindel. She shook herself and pushed those thoughts away. She needed to focus on making things right with Rogath.
Later, someone handed her a piece of laygoose bread and her thoughts were so focused on reaching Rogath, on piercing the veil he had strung up, that she didn’t taste the sweet bread as it melted in her mouth.
“Zelia?” a voice shook her from her thoughts as Bête Noire slowed to a stop. “Are you alright? You seem a little distant,” Nikolas said.
She glanced up to see the sun was setting and wondered where the day had gone. “I’m fine, thank you for asking.” In the corner of her eye, she caught Skylar and Alrindel sharing a glance.
“Enthreal has asked us to join him for the evening, so we’ll cross the river and stop for the night,” Alrindel informed them.
Enthreal? she thought. I know that name, but who is he?
They crossed a tree root bridge and pulled to a stop as a nimble figure jumped down before them. Outside of Elyluma the Elves lived in the treetops rather than within the tree’s trunk.
“Good evening!” the green clad Elf welcomed them. “My, it has been a long time since I have seen you.” He helped Zelia from Bête Noire.
“That it has.” She stared at him for a moment. Enthreal? Oh, Lighnif’s older brother.
“Took you a second to recognize me, no worries. You still an expert tree climber?”
“Should have seen her climb up to the high platform yesterday,” Nikolas told him. Both the Elves and Skylar stared at her. “I take it that that’s a bit of a feat, even for you?”
“Um, you could say that.” Enthreal smiled at her with appreciation as even he, a plant mage, could not climb Eleanor’s tree thanks to the enchantments that helped keep others from being able to spy on them. “Well, come on then, up we go.” He jumped and swung onto the lowest branch, then offered his hand down to her.
“Thanks.” She pulled herself up and made it halfway up the tree before he even had a chance to stand on the first branch.
“At least some things do not change,” Enthreal said.
Once she reached the house hidden in the tree, she kicked the rope ladder over the edge, and it clanked against the trunk. “There you go, Nikolas.”
“Well, you’re just no fun,” Skylar teased as he climbed up.
Enthreal’s home was a single platform and a set of walls formed from the branches and needles of the tree. It was a cozy escape from the chilly breeze. He had chosen a huge pine tree, and she wondered how he kept the sticky sap from his home, yet she couldn’t deny that she loved the smell of pine.
Even with the rope ladder, Nikolas was last into the house and sunk down against a branch that stuck through the floor with a grunt. “I’m staying on the ground next time.”
Enthreal gave a heartwarming laugh and handed him a bowl of soup. “Well, your climb does not go without reward. You know, you are the first wolfblood I have ever seen in a tree.”
Nikolas gave another grunt and slurped his soup as Zelia stared at him. But he’s not just a wolfblood. He’s a demigod, but he doesn’t know it. For a moment, it was on her lips to tell him, to explain so he could know, but she realized that telling him would do no good and saying the god’s name outside of a curse would only bring unwanted attention. She sat near the corner, away from the others, as if it would keep her from saying something unwise.
“Are you alright?” Nikolas asked when he looked up from his soup.
She shook her head, realizing she had been staring. “Yeah, sorry.”
Alrindel shifted in the corner of her vision, but Enthreal walked past him with a pat on his shoulder. He buzzed around the room for a moment, laying blankets out, then sat down beside her with crossed legs.
“Here, drink this.” Enthreal handed her a cup, and she swirled its contents, staring down into it before taking a sip of the warm fragrant liquid. It reminded her of something Eadon would have her drink when she woke from nightmares as a small child, but there was something different about it.
“You know,” Enthreal went on, “they say the eyes are a window into the soul. Of all the people I’ve met, your eyes hide more layers than any other. Maybe those you are closest to are blind to it, but I see the questions that lie there.” He reached out and gripped her hand as it lay in her lap. “You may have changed, but you are still worthy of their love. Now come on, no sense in sitting over here by yourself.”
He pulled her to her feet and sat her down next to Alrindel. They chatted about Eleanor and Eadon, and about the upcoming events including the yearly dance under the stars on the darkest night of the year, and for a time Zelia could feel a little of the warmth and happiness she had once known as a child. Until it was time to sleep, when there was no escaping the relentless parade of horrible memories. As her eyes closed, she found herself in a black void, a cloudy dream of one of her deaths, she guessed. Part of her wanted to leave that place, but some piece of her felt relieved that she wasn’t torturing someone in this dream and it dulled the pain she felt.
The next two days they traveled on and it became a pattern. By day, Zelia chatted with the others about this and that and sometimes even smiled and shared a joke with them. During lulls in conversation, she caught herself thinking of Linithion’s touch, her kiss, and she jerked her thoughts away, forcing her attention to shift and focus on fixing things with Rogath. Not only did she need to fix things with him, but he was a stark reminder of why she couldn’t get too close to Linithion. At night, alone in her own mind, she felt as though she were drowning in memories as her mind fought to sort things into their proper places.
They had just settled around a fire for the night on the third day, when something moved just beyond the trees.
“Who’s there?” Zelia projected her voice and nearly startled the others out of their skin.
Linithion sheepishly appeared from the woods. With her head lowered, her hair glowed orange in the firelight. Zelia was conflicted. Part of her was happy for Linithion’s presence, but then she wanted her to be with Eleanor where she was safe.
“Linithion, does Eleanor know you’re here?” Skylar asked.
“No, but I left her a note so she will not worry.”
“Too late to send her back on her own now, we’re already outside of your territory,” Nikolas’s voice was a rough grumble.
“I’d just come after you again.”
“One of you could take her back and make sure she stays,” Zelia pointed out.
“No, she’ll just follow us again and then she might get hurt,” Skylar countered. “We’ll stop by the Drakeon Empire and send a snowy owl to Eleanor to let her know she’s alright. Then her father can decide what to do with her.”
“You can take me with you.” Linithion shot him a glare.
“Enough. We’re not going to do anything about it tonight, so let’s get some rest,” Zelia glanced at the others, but not at Linithion.
Skylar nodded. “Alright, I’ll take first watch. You guys get some rest.”
Nikolas nodded his agreement, then his expression lightened as he remembered something catching everyone’s attention. “Before we get too far into The Wild, I wanted to remind everyone to avoid killing any wolfbloods, even if they attack us. We’re in the packs’ territory and we want to keep our heads.”
“Zelia, I’m sorry.” Linithion sank down beside her, but Zelia just turned on her side with her back to her. I know you are, Zelia thought and drifted off to sleep.
9
The next day went on in silence and much to Zelia’s dismay, Linithion rode with her since Bête Noire was the least laden of the horses. They rode like this until the branches of the trees grew so low, they could no longer ride their horses. Zelia reached out to ask the trees to move their branches, but they were dormant, their mumbles too slow and quiet for her to make out. Everyone was a little on edge as they slipped from their horses and continued up the steep path. They were at the base of the far northern peak of the Faithful Mountains, where the snow-covered path wound up and down with steep hills and thick forests. The higher they got, the narrower the path became and the deeper the snow was. She could have walked on top of it, but Nikolas and his horse led the way, carving a rough path through the snow. Bête Noire’s frosty breath froze in her hair as he followed behind her, his chin occasionally brushing her shoulder. Linithion walked in front of Zelia.
Snow crunched beside the path, and Zelia stopped.
“What is it?” Alrindel peered around Bête Noire as the path was wide enough for only one horse and left little room to pass.
Linithion nudged her, but Zelia didn’t answer. Her gaze was fixed on the snow-covered brush beside the path where cold eyes gleamed. When the creature’s gaze shifted to her, it gave a snarl.
“Wolves. Don’t hurt them!” Zelia shoved Linithion back and a bolt of snarling gray fur smashed into her. A yelp came from the path ahead. From behind, she could hear frightened whinnies and curses as other wolves launched themselves at her companions, pinning them to the ground and in the bushes.
“Stop!” Zelia squeezed the word out in the language of the animals with the last of her breath.
“Call your pack fellows off, Shika. We are friends. And get off the girl,” Nikolas snarled, speaking in animal tongue.
“You heard dear Nikolas,” Shika called out to the others, though she remained planted on Zelia herself.
