by Candy Crum
Scarlett laughed. "Took you long enough to ask! And if I'm to be completely honest, I don't know."
Cathillian took a few steps forward, but Scarlett smiled and held up her hand, wagging a finger at him. With her eyes white, he knew she could take him down before he could even get close to her. And if he attempted to use magic, she would know what he planned before he did it. Now he understood why Arryn was so obsessed with shielding her mind.
He had so many regrets. So many things to apologize for.
"You do know. You wanted to take her. You were probably one of the people who kidnapped her," Cathillian said.
Scarlett shook her head. "Actually, I'm not lying. You are correct, I did have a hand in taking her. During the battle with the remnant, we bled her out and weakened her so she couldn't heal easily. Took us a couple days to get where we were going, but we finally dumped her. Talia wanted her to suffer alone before she died."
Cathillian growled, "She isn't dead. I can promise you that."
Once again, the mystic laughed. "Well, I certainly hope not! You see, I need her. I need her to come back to Arcadia with all the rage that has probably been building the entire time she's been fighting to get out of that deathtrap we left her in. I need her to kill Talia. If Arryn’s dead I'll have to change my plans, and I'm not a big fan of doing that."
Cathillian couldn't believe what he’d heard. Though it pissed him off more than he could comprehend, he also felt hopeful. This woman had been one of her captors, and she wanted Arryn to survive.
The woman sighed heavily. "Please don't go and cry on me now. It'll totally ruin the image I have of you. Let me just say, I plan to use that to my advantage later tonight, if you know what I mean." She winked and smiled.
Cathillian could hear heavy hooves and knew his mother and Chaos were coming.
"Oh! Our time is up. I'll be seeing you soon." Scarlett winked again. "Very soon, I'm sure. Tell your mother I said hello."
The whites of her eyes suddenly brightened and pain shot through Cathillian's head, overwhelming him and causing him to slump to the ground. Darkness surrounded him as he fell unconscious.
***
Samuel had failed. The dark druids had proved to be too much for him when a small group attacked from all sides. Celine had managed to take a few down with her newly acquired skills, and Samuel had taken almost all the rest, but one had managed to get through and free Jenna. He imagined that one had been her brother.
As the final body hit the forest floor, Samuel turned to find Celine, and his heart jumped into his throat when he saw her lying on the ground with blood pouring from her stomach and shoulder.
"No!" Samuel cried out as he rushed to her side. He dropped to his knees and slid his arm under her head, his free hand going to the side of her face. "Not again. Please. Don't go. Just hold on, and I'll get ye ta Cathillian or one of the others. Just hold on!"
He could feel a pulse in her neck, but it was weak. Her breathing was shallow, and he wasn't sure if she would make it long enough to reach anyone. He didn't care. He would do whatever it took to save her.
Sliding his hands under her body, he lifted her, struggling to stand. Samuel had lost quite a bit of blood himself during the fighting, and even more energy. His body was weak, even with the fear racing through him.
Samuel tried several times, dropping back to his knees every time. Tears began to fall down his bearded cheeks as he screamed for help, praying someone would hear him.
"Please hold on just a little longer. I'm gonna run and get help. I'm too weak ta carry ye," he pleaded. "I'm so sorry."
As Samuel started to climb to his feet, he heard a tiny groan. He looked down to see her eyes weakly open before shutting again.
"No." It was only a single word, but it shattered him into a thousand pieces.
He pulled her into his lap, cradling her face against his chest as he kissed her forehead. "I've got you. I got you."
He looked down, lifting her shirt enough that he could see the wound. It looked very deep. His eyes shut as more tears escaped to his cheeks, and he pressed his hand tightly against the wound in the hope that he would be able to stop the blood enough to keep her alive until someone else got there.
Please. Please. Please. I was responsible for ye. Ye've saved me arse more than once. Please live long enough so I can save yers.
Samuel felt warm, warmer than he should have, given that he was holding the dying girl in his arms. The heat in his body rose, but was highest in his hands. It didn't matter to him. All that mattered was that Cathillian needed to get his ass back here and fast.
The rearick open his eyes, preparing to search the area again for anyone who might be close enough to call out to, but he was interrupted by the woman in his arms taking a deep breath, her eyes darting open as she sat up and panted for air. They stared at one another in confusion.
As Samuel's eyes focused on hers, he saw a green glow in them, but quickly realized it was the reflection of his own eyes. He quickly shifted his gaze downward, moving his hand away from her stomach to see that the wound had stopped bleeding.
Celine had noticed the same thing, and her hands wiped at her abdomen, cleaning it enough to see that the wound had closed, though it wasn’t perfect. If she moved around too much it could easily bust back open, but he’d done it. He'd healed her.
Celine smiled and said in a whisper, "You did it. Samuel, you used magic to heal me. You saved my life."
Samuel heard voices approaching, but his mind was swimming and his eyes were suddenly heavy. "I…" That was all he managed before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the ground, unconscious.
CHAPTER TWENTY
It took all day and well into the night for Arryn to reach the bottom of the mountain. As soon as her feet touched the green grass she smiled and dropped to her knees, her fingers combing through the blades.
Several times on her way down she’d had to stop to block the cold wind or use a little magic to warm herself. There were also times she had to stop because she couldn't quit crying. Leaving the tigers had been incredibly painful, more than she'd ever imagined it would be.
But no matter how much it broke her heart, she couldn't bring herself to take them from their home if she wasn't truly bonded to them. They weren't hers to keep. Besides, she knew that if the bond had been real, they would've followed her no matter what.
Painful or not, she knew she'd made the right decision.
When Talia and the others had taken Arryn to the top of the mountain, they'd stopped in several places for the others to rest between teleporting. Arryn had no idea where those places had been, so she needed to be careful where she stopped to prevent anything bad from happening.
She came to a small village with only a hundred or so people in its entire population. It was small enough that it wasn’t even mentioned on the maps of Irth she'd seen.
Of course, it was also possible the tiny area had grown, as hard as that was to believe, since the maps had been created.
Keeping her head up, Arryn made her way through the street. There was only one street, so it allowed her to observe everything the village had available. It was late evening when she arrived. The sun had set, though there was just enough light remaining in the sky to illuminate her path.
She saw the sign with an anvil and hammer on it hanging over the door of one of the buildings. She pulled her knives from her belt and examined them. They had been crudely put together, and though she was sure the metal was strong, it had originally been stone, which she had transformed by magic. If she wanted them to be what she'd intended, she would need a blacksmith.
Arryn went over to the shop and knocked on the door, hoping someone was inside and would see her. She needed food—something other than ram jerky. She also needed sleep.
On the way down the mountain, she'd been forced to teleport several times. The distances were small so the magical use had been light, but it had been conjuring heat and healing herself when she'd miscalculated one of her land
ings and nearly broken her leg that had drained her.
She had no doubt she could make it back to Arcadia tonight, but then what? She sure wouldn’t have the energy to do what she'd come to do, which was destroy Talia.
A man came to the door, which pulled Arryn from her thoughts. He wiped his hands on a towel as he stared down at her. "Yes, girl? What can I do for you?"
She gave a nervous smile, having no idea how to ask what she needed to. "I know this will sound strange to you, but I promise there is a reason. Do I look familiar to you?"
Arryn turned a little, allowing the light to strike her face. He stared at her for a moment, studying her features before finally shaking his head. "No, you don't. You do, however, look like you've been through hell."
That statement brought a knowing smile to her face. It wasn't funny to her, but she still found it amusing. "Yeah, you could say that. I spent the last couple weeks on those mountains. Way up at the top."
He looked at her curiously. "And why would you do a fool thing like that?"
"Because I was teleported there and dumped by a heinous bitch. That's why I asked if I looked familiar. They had to stop several times to rest between jumps." Normally, Arryn wouldn't have given out quite so much information, but she felt he was on the verge of helping her, and she needed to know for sure that he hadn't helped Talia.
As soon as she'd spoken the words, his eyes widened before he stuck his head out the door, looking in each direction. "I guess maybe you are familiar. Get your ass in here before anybody sees you."
He grabbed her arm and pulled her inside, taking one last look out the door before shutting and bolting it. Arryn's eyes went black before he'd even turned around. As his gaze fell upon her, he stopped hard, swallowing nervously.
"I take it I'm familiar to you now?" Arryn asked.
The man put his hands in the air, and she saw that they were dirty and calloused. He must've been the blacksmith. "I never saw you personally, not your face anyway. I saw them carrying you. I thought maybe you were very ill. They took you to the Widow."
It was Arryn's turn to look confused now. "The Widow? Who the hell is that?"
The man walked across the room, nervously pulling back the curtains an inch or two to peek outside. "She's been married five times, but none of her husbands have survived. She came here a long time ago. Rumor has it before she moved here, she'd had a daughter, coal black hair and beautiful, but the daddy was never around. He'd left her to take care of the child by herself. No one had ever seen him or knew who he was. Something about the whole situation drove her crazy. She ended up taking a husband when the daughter was around five or six—after she was certain he wasn't coming back—but he died in a barn fire."
When he paused, Arryn asked, "So, what happened next? What about the daughter?"
"She married again when the girl was around ten. He only lasted about six months before he was killed. Drowned in a pond in the horse pasture. The next one came a couple years later, and he caught a fever. People suspected poison, but there was no way to prove it. She married the next one a few years later; that was supposed to be a hunting accident. Then the woman came here, but there was no daughter with her. No one here had ever seen her; only heard about her from people who had traveled south."
Arryn swallowed. There is something deeply disturbing about the story—far more disturbing than she thought possible. "Then what happened? That's only four."
"It was a few years after she lived here. Several actually. That woman was always quiet and withdrawn. Everyone said she was crazy, but when I'd run into her at the market, she didn't seem crazy. She seemed broken. Beaten. She herself had long black hair and porcelain skin. Gorgeous. Of course, I wouldn't go anywhere near her. With a name like ‘the Widow,’ you don't exactly take chances. Well, I didn't, anyway. Someone else did. She'd lived here for several years before she took any interest. He was a friend of mine. They married, even though I warned him against it. Within a few months, he was dead. Hanging."
"And everyone thinks she was one who did it?" Arryn asked.
The man nodded. "Everyone except me, of course."
Arryn shook her head. "Why didn't you believe it?"
His sad smile was unamused. "Because he met her daughter."
Arryn's eyes widened. "What did he say? What was she like?"
The man walked across the room, grabbing a couple mugs and pouring some ale. Arryn imagined it would be cheap and more than likely taste like shit, but she didn't care. She couldn’t wait to taste something other than snow.
"He said she had the most beautiful hair, skin, and face he'd ever seen. She’d come here from just outside of Cella to see her mother after the marriage, but he said his wife swore she never invited her. He also said she was cold and calculating. He met her more than once. He said that every time he saw her, she made some condescending remark about him never measuring up to her father. That her mother was a fool for trying to replace him."
"Talia." The word was only a whisper on her lips, but his eyes widened briefly before he nodded. Something seemed oddly familiar about the physical description and creepy behavior, but the second he’d said ‘Cella,” she knew.
"You know her?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
Arryn smiled. "Who do you think put me on that mountain? I've been there for a couple weeks. I need rest and food, and I need my weapons fixed because I plan to march right into that city and rip her fucking head off. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to pay for any of it."
He handed her the mug of ale with a smile on his lips. "My name is Roger. I don't have much to offer, but I have shitty ale, food, and a bed you can sleep in while I work on your weapons. My services are yours, and you don't have to worry about paying for them."
"You don't even know me. Why would you help me?" she asked.
"I saw them bring you through the village. I saw that woman. It was only a flash, but when I saw her and where she was heading, I knew it had to be her. Talia. She killed my friend. She killed several people's friends. Fathers, sons, brothers—whoever they were to someone else. And when she brought you here, I let her walk right by because I was terrified of her. I wasn't man enough to confront her, mostly because she had a group with her. Regardless of all that, if you survived that long on the mountaintop by yourself with no resources, there's no way in hell I'm gonna stand in your way. You're more man than I ever will be."
"Thank you—" Arryn was interrupted by Roger suddenly darting over toward the window. "What is it?"
His eyes widened as he looked out the window, and his jaw dropped. He just stood there, unable to speak.
"Roger? What is it?" Arryn asked again.
"I've seen some pretty big animals come through here when it's at its coldest in the mountains. They come down to hunt sheep. But I ain't never seen anything like that."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Arryn felt warmth rushing through her as hope filled her chest. If it's you, scratch on the door. Twice, no, three times. Scratch twice and then pause before the third. Please, please, please.
Tears filled Arryn's eyes but didn’t spill over as she watched the door, terrified to open it. She could've handled anything on the other side, but if it wasn't them, she didn't want to see whatever it was.
And if it was them… She didn't use magic when she spoke the words to herself. She only thought them. If one or both was her familiar, her true familiar, they would hear the command through the link—through the bond.
Arryn's body went rigid when there were two scratches at the door. Roger looked at her as though she were crazy when a big smile spread across her face and a tear spilled on each cheek.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She shushed him and held up a finger, waiting for just a moment. And then it came, the third and final scratch. Arryn ran for the door, and Roger nearly tripped as he darted after her, trying to keep her from opening it, but he was too late.
As the door opened, the giant snow-white tig
er leapt at her, knocking her to the ground before lying on top of her and rubbing her face all over Arryn's. Arryn wrapped her arms around the big cat, scratching her and kissing her cheek. The cub ran up and pounced on her, too.
"So… I take it we're not going to be their dinner?" Roger asked.
"No," Arryn said, giggling. She sat up, and the tiger stepped around and grabbed her by the cloak to lift her off the ground. When Arryn was finally back on her feet, she looked at Roger with a huge smile on her face. "They're mine—and I’m theirs!"
***
Amelia, Elon, and Marie had made it to the Dark Forest without issue. They approached from the eastern side, having decided it would be the easiest route to travel. The governor of Cella and Maddie had caught up to them with his Guard and what few people he had been able to get out of the city. They would all seek asylum in the Dark Forest, free of Talia and whatever else might come their way.
A thick wall came into view; Amelia knew the druids would sense them coming soon. Holding up a hand to halt everyone, she reined in her horse and waited for the rest to follow suit.
The governor and his son rode forward to flank Amelia. "What is it?" the governor asked.
The Chancellor pointed toward the barrier. "That's the entry point to the real Dark Forest, where the druids are. I'm going to approach alone so they don't think the worst."
The governor nodded, his expression revealing nothing but concern and admiration for Amelia. She turned and began to walk her horse toward the barrier.
As she approached, she heard a voice from above. "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Amelia looked up, but she saw no one. That made her nervous, but she knew the druids weren't murderous. They wouldn't hurt her for no reason.
"My name is Amelia, and I am Chancellor of Arcadia. I have been helping Arryn and Cathillian. I was forced out of the city, and I brought all the innocent people I could manage with me. We are all refugees seeking asylum, for now."
There was a pause before the druid spoke again. "Those don't look like any innocents or refugees I've ever seen. They look like warriors."
