Burning Shadows

by Jennifer Anne Davis

  Vidar hurried over, the other Krigers joining him. “What happened?”

  Anders released me and took a step back.

  “There’s a new Skog Heks in Nelebek,” I revealed. I quickly told them about my encounter in the forest with her.

  “How did she lure you to the cabin?” Damaris asked.

  “It felt as if there was a rope tied around my body, pulling me toward her.”

  “Have any of you felt something similar to what Kaia is describing?” Vidar asked. The Krigers shook their heads, many giving me wary looks.

  No one else felt the pull because the other Krigers did not have a seedling of Heks magic inside of them as I did.

  “I’m glad you’re back,” Vidar said. “We’ve all been worried about you.”

  “What do you want to do about the new Skog Heks?” Marius asked.

  “Her name is Norill,” I informed them. “And I’m thinking that if there’s a new Skog Heks, then there must be a new Grei Heks. After all, everything has to be in balance. Maybe she’s in the old Grei Heks’s hut?”

  “That’s a sound conclusion,” Vidar said, an odd hitch to his voice.

  “Let’s return to the cave,” Anders suggested. “It’s getting late.”

  When everyone started heading toward the mountain, I seized Vidar’s arm, stopping him. “Can I speak with you privately for a moment?”

  “Of course.”

  Anders hesitated, but Vidar waved him away, so he left with the Krigers and Damaris.

  “What is it?”

  “Do you remember the note from Grei Heks?” I asked. He nodded. “I found the exact same wording in a book my father owned.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  I pulled the book out of my pocket, thankful I hadn’t lost it, and opened the cover. Vidar read the faded words. He tried to say something several times, but never did.

  I’d thought about this moment the entire time I traveled through the forest today. The key to getting Vidar to go along with my plan was to present it in a logical way that would help our cause. I cleared my throat and said, “While the Krigers are preparing to face Morlet, I want to go there, to the foot of the rock, to see what answers are there waiting for me.”

  He closed the book and handed it back to me. “You want to leave, go to the valley of Berg on the other side of the mountains, in the hope of finding this place?”

  When he put it like that, it sounded farfetched. However, I knew this was a journey meant for me. I planned to go with or without his permission. “Yes.” I put the book back in my pocket.

  He rubbed his tired face. “You can’t go by yourself.”

  “Why?” I demanded. “You travel alone in the forest all the time. And you’re the future king.”

  “I’ve been around for over a hundred years. I know my way around the forest and can defend myself with a sword.” I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he placed his hands on my shoulders, squeezing. “Don’t get yourself into a tizzy. All I’m saying is you need to have someone with you.”

  Of course. Because I was only a girl and sixteen. I bit my tongue, so I wouldn’t say something nasty.

  “If one of the Krigers agrees to accompany you, you can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

  He removed the medallion and handed it to me. I took it and accepted his terms.

  ✧

  “I need to relieve myself,” I said to Gunner, who was on guard duty for the night. Everyone else was asleep in the cave.

  “Very well,” he said. “I’ll go with you.”

  “No,” I replied, folding my arms across my chest. “Absolutely not.”

  “You can’t go alone.”

  “I will not have a man watch me pee.”

  “Fine,” he said, relenting. “Take Damaris with you. If you’re not back in thirty minutes, I’m coming after you.”

  I rolled my eyes, but readily agreed.

  Damaris and I climbed down the mountain to the forest floor. “Why didn’t you just let Gunner go with you?” she asked, yawning. “He could have turned his back if privacy is what you’re concerned about.”

  I went deeper into the forest. Damaris, still half asleep, stumbled behind me. I needed to make sure there weren’t any identifying markers nearby. Once I found a good area surrounded by trees, I removed the medallion and faced Damaris.

  There was no easy way of explaining my situation, so I decided to be blunt. “Somehow, I have the ability to communicate with Morlet.” She stared at me, not responding. “I need you to hold the medallion. If I become restless or too much time has passed, place the medallion against my bare skin.”

  Her eyes widened. In the darkness, they looked black, reminding me of Norill. I shivered.

  “Are you sure this is wise?” she asked, seemingly wide awake now.

  She didn’t question how it was possible, and I wondered if she had somehow known. “He won’t hurt me,” I assured her. “And I only have to talk for him for a moment. It’s about Norill.”

  She carefully watched me. “Very well. There is one problem. A human can’t touch the medallion unless he or she is a Kriger or cursed.”

  I’d forgotten about that. “I’ll place the medallion over there.” I pointed to a boulder a dozen feet away from us. “Then, if it becomes necessary and you need to use it, you can use your skirt to pick it up. Or maybe only touch the chain and not the actual medallion.”

  She gracefully knelt on the ground, her eyes never leaving mine. “How about you do this quickly, so I don’t have to intervene?”

  I tossed the medallion on the boulder and sat down next to her, leaning against a tree trunk. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to reach out to Morlet.

  The king stood framed in one of the twelve openings in the round tower room, the chilly night air drifting in.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked. Skog Heks had beaten me to the brink of death in this room.

  “I live here,” he snidely replied, his back to me as he gazed outside.

  “No.” I remained at the edge of the room, afraid to enter. “Why are you in the tower room?” Etched on the center of the floor were odd markings—my dried blood smeared over them. Morlet had said this room enhanced magical abilities. He planned to lure and kill the twelve Krigers here.

  “I can feel Norill better from here.” He turned around and faced me. “What happened today?”

  I quickly told him about my encounter with the evil witch and how his magic had given me the physical strength to fight her off.

  “Why did you allow her to lure you to the cabin? I thought you were stronger than that.” He folded his arms and paced about the room, his hood on, concealing his face.

  “We were somehow connected. The second we reached the cabin, the link severed. If you hadn’t loaned me your magic, I’d be dead.” My toes touched the edge of the room, but I didn’t want to step inside.

  His shoulders stiffened. “I wasn’t sure it would work,” he replied. “That’s why I only gave you a sliver of what I possess.”

  A sliver? I shuddered. What he’d given me had been immense, powerful, and pure evil. Thoughts of destruction and hate had surged through me when I wielded his magic. “How do you live with it?”

  “Not very easily.”

  I hesitated, and then stepped inside the room. “What does it mean that we have a Skog Heks inside Nelebek’s borders?” I secretly wondered if he brought her there. After I had killed Skog Heks, he’d been devastated he couldn’t get rid of the magic any longer. Since she was dead, it had no one to return to. Now with Norill, he could return the power as he’d wanted.

  He paced around the perimeter of the tower, his cape floating behind him. I stepped further into the room, now standing in the middle in the exact spot where my head had been smashed and my ribs broken.

  Morlet prowled around me. “Nothing has changed. I will kill the Krigers, my magic will return to Norill, and the curse will be broken.”

  I noticed he said Krigers and
not my name. “You plan to kill me?” I asked, wanting to hear him say it.

  “I do—just as you plan to kill me.”

  Did he have as hard of a time coming to terms with killing me as I did with killing him? “Why have you helped me so many times?”

  “To keep you alive so that I can kill the Krigers and end this once and for all.”

  “I don’t think so,” I whispered. “There’s more to it than that.”

  He stopped pacing and pushed his hood back, staring at me with his blue eyes. “Why do you seek me out now that you have the medallion to block our connection? Especially since you’re engaged to… Vidar.” He said his brother’s name with disdain and something else—jealousy?

  Now was the time for honesty. “I come because there is a part of Espen in you.”

  His eyes flashed with a mixture of pain and malice.

  I forged on. “Allow the Krigers to kill you. Let us end the curse.”

  “It doesn’t work that way.” He bitterly laughed. “You felt the magic—it has a mind of its own. It will not let me sit idly by while you kill me. I am but a pawn.” He pulled his hood back on and glided closer to me. “Norill is on her way. I think it best you leave before she arrives.”

  “Why is she coming here? Did you summon her?”

  His hand reached out, snatching my arm. “Please, don’t hurt me,” I begged.

  He leaned down and whispered in my ear, “I couldn’t hurt you, even if I wanted to. And I hate you for that. I swore never to allow another woman to be my weakness.” He released me and severed our connection.

  My eyes flew open.

  Damaris was sitting next to me, worry written across her face. “Are you all right?”

  I rubbed my eyes. “Yes.”

  “What happened?”

  “Let’s head back before Gunner comes looking for us.”

  Damaris reached a hand out, helping me to my feet. I took the lead as we headed back toward the mountain.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Damaris said from behind me.

  “Of course.”

  “Will you be honest with me?”

  I reached the base of the mountain. Instead of climbing, I turned to face her. “What is it?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.

  “Why do you speak to Morlet? Why have any sort of a relationship with him?”

  I folded my arms, shivering from the chilly air. Warmth suddenly filled me, along with a desire to be honest. “Morlet is not as evil as everyone thinks. He’s cursed—just like Vidar and Anders. He made a mistake and has been paying for it for over a hundred years.” I couldn’t believe I just admitted that out loud.

  “He has killed thousands of innocent people and committed unspeakable, atrocious acts. He is a monster and deserves to die.”

  I’d felt his magic and knew the evil desires it possessed. The second he had acquired Skog Heks’s magic all those years ago, he transformed. If only there was a way to take that magic away from him without killing him.

  “Kaia,” Damaris said, an odd hitch to her voice.

  “What?”

  “You don’t feel sorry for the king, do you?” she asked, coming closer to me.

  “When the time comes, I will do my duty as a Kriger and kill him.” It wasn’t going to be easy murdering someone I knew, but I would do it.

  “Good,” she said, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “Because I’d hate for him to manipulate you in order to have the upper hand. It would only lead to your death. I might not have magic inside of me, but I’ve seen enough evil during my lifetime to know what men are capable of.”

  Something flashed in her eyes, making my skin go cold. What horrors had Damaris faced? I knew nothing about her. Squeezing her hand back, I silently vowed to change that.

  While sitting around the fire eating breakfast, Vidar nudged my side. “If you want to go, you should leave today.”

  “Are you certain?” I asked.

  “The weather is good. While you are gone, I will investigate if there is a new Grei Heks.”

  I nodded, suddenly nervous to ask someone to accompany me. It wasn’t as if I needed a nurse—I was sixteen. “I’m traveling to the town of Berg on an errand. Would one of you care to go with me?” I fumbled with the end of my shirtsleeve, hoping no one asked what the errand was.

  “Now?” Marius asked around a mouthful of food. “We’re preparing to face Morlet.”

  “I gave Kaia permission to go,” Vidar interjected. “You will continue to train even though she will be gone.”

  “How long will the journey take?” Oddvar asked. I’d seen him spar with his weapon, the broadsword, on multiple occasions. Blessed with extreme endurance and wicked skill, he’d make an excellent traveling companion.

  “Probably two fortnights,” I answered.

  Henrik whistled. “That’s mighty ambitious to think you can make it to Berg and back that quickly.”

  “What if something happens to you?” Stein piped in.

  “Kaia is more than capable of making the journey alone,” Vidar assured him. “However, I want someone familiar with the land to accompany her.”

  I wanted to kiss him for his confidence in me.

  “Are there any volunteers?”

  “I’ll go,” Anders said, jumping to his feet. “That way the rest of you can remain here to practice.”

  The idea of traveling alone with Anders for so long both frightened and excited me. I tried not to smile as I went over to my bedroll and started packing for the trip.

  Damaris joined me a moment later, handing me a filled waterskin. “Are you sure it’s wise for you and Anders to travel alone together?” she whispered.

  “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be?” We’d just journeyed to the capital together.

  She shrugged. “Perhaps because you have feelings for him.”

  I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

  “Call it a woman’s intuition. Besides, I see the way you look at him.”

  “We’re just friends,” I told her. That was all we could be since I was engaged to Vidar.

  “For your sake, I hope that’s true. I’d hate to see you with a broken heart.”

  “Why?” I asked. “You barely know me.”

  “You seem like a nice person who is in a difficult position. It all seems rather unfair.” She clasped her hands together. “All the Krigers are doing so much, sacrificing everything, to end this curse. You more than anyone. I wish I could help.”

  I cinched my sack closed. “It was my father’s dying wish that I end the curse and marry Vidar. He liked knowing I’d be taken care of.”

  “Ah,” she mused, understanding dawning on her face. “So he didn’t know about your feelings for Anders.”

  “No.”

  She chuckled. “You just admitted to having feelings for Anders!”

  Shock rolled through me. “Hey! That was rather tricky.”

  “Sorry,” she said. “But it is obvious you care for one another.”

  “It doesn’t matter. I have to end the curse.” Which meant marrying Vidar.

  “That’s why you’re going to Berg, isn’t it?” she asked. “It has something to do with the curse.”

  “Yes. I need to make sure Vidar and I are supposed to have a child together. We can’t afford any mistakes.”

  “What if Vidar misread the curse and you don’t have to marry him? What will you do then?”

  Standing, I shouldered my sack and felt my pocket for the book. “I have no idea.” Because if I wasn’t supposed to marry Vidar and conceive his child, that could only mean one thing—and I wasn’t prepared to consider that possibility just yet. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  “Safe travels.”

  I grabbed my bo staff and said good-bye to my fellow Krigers. After a bear hug from Henrik and a kiss on the forehead from Stein, I climbed down the mountain to where Anders stood talking with Vidar. When Vidar saw me, he leaned in closer to his friend, whispering in his ear. Anders gave a curt no
d, and then strode into the forest and out of sight.

  Vidar turned to face me.

  “Where did Anders run off to?” I asked.

  “He’ll be back in a moment.” Vidar rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, there’s something I need to discuss with you before you go.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be careful—I promise.”

  “No, that’s not it.” His cheeks had a tinge of pink to them. “When you… ah… return, we should marry.”

  A lump formed in my throat—I had known this was coming, so I wasn’t sure why hearing him say the words made my skin prickle. I nodded and readjusted my sack.

  He sighed. “I wish you were happy about the situation.”

  “Are you?” I asked, caught off-guard. I remembered him flirting with the merchant’s daughter, positive he had feelings for her.

  “What I mean to say is that we don’t need to have a loveless marriage.” He forced a smile, but his hands balled into fists, the tendons in his arms protruding.

  “What is it that you’d like from our union?” I asked.

  “We are going to have a child together. I want us to be friends and lovers.”

  “I don’t care for you that way, and I suspect you don’t care for me in that way either.”

  “We are friends. The love will come in time. You just have to be open to it.”

  Right now, I had to journey to the other side of the mountains to decipher the riddle. Dealing with feelings and love were not high on my priority list. “Can we discuss this when I get back?” I reached my hand to my bo staff, connecting with it to relieve my building frustration and tension.

  “I’m talking to you about this now so you can have time to consider it while you’re gone. When you return, we will marry. I’d like a willing partner in this marriage.” Vidar’s bright blue eyes flashed with pain.

  “I understand.” It wasn’t as if he chose this path either. He, too, was forced into this predicament because of the curse.

  Leaves rustled, and I glanced to my right. Anders headed toward me.

  Vidar hesitated a moment before stepping forward, wrapping me in a hug. “We can do this. I know we can.” He released me.

  Anders stopped ten feet away, his eyes focused on the ground, his face cold. The assassin persona was back. And here I thought we’d have a pleasant journey to Berg.