by Bec McMaster
Precisely the last thing we should do. "We rode in here with twenty men," I pointed out. "We're down to sixteen, and we just made it into the most dangerous part of the forest. Everything that's happened so far has been the forest warning us. It's about to get serious. If we separate into smaller groups, we leave ourselves vulnerable."
"Girl's afraid of her own monsters," said Hussar.
"Remind me how many times you actually hit the volgur?" I replied, with a smile that had too many teeth in it. "Oh, that's right. None. At least I sunk an arrow in its eye. I'm fairly certain I didn't see you standing in its way."
Hussar's face blackened and he took a step toward me...
"That's enough," Evaron snapped, holding his hand out. He transferred his glare from Hussar to me. "Both of you."
He began pacing. "Neva has a point though. We've already lost four men. I would prefer to return victorious, with every man left in this company" —the men cheered— "and splitting up makes it easier to pick us off. We'll send out small scouting parties, ahead of the main group but within easy earshot. Cas?"
Cas nodded. "Aye."
"You'll be my head scout. You and Neva, as she knows these woods. We keep an eye out for anything that might lead us to the firebird, and we make our scouting methodical so we're not doubling back on ourselves. Every man needs to be on guard and ready for anything." His gaze returned to Cas. "As much as I understand your need to protect me, I think a two man guard will be best. Jur and Helmick, you two can take the first shift. If we're attacked, the pair of you will fall back to me. The rest of the group must work together to repel the creature. Think like wolves, and use each other to distract and hamstring. Any questions?"
"What are we looking for?" One man called, raising a hand.
"Neva?" Evaron turned to me.
How to say a little without saying a lot? "The firebird makes its nest of wood and resin according to the Old Ways. All the better to burn when it renews itself. Only one can exist at a time. That's about all I know."
"Superstitions and sweet nothing," Hussar muttered, as he started tugging something out of his pack. "Prepare yourself, lads."
They began rubbing some sort of unguent on their skins.
"What's that?"
Prince Evaron handed me some and I sniffed it, and then screwed my nose up.
"A flame retardant," he said. "The Fire Priests use it."
Convenient. "May I ask how you're going to trap the firebird? After all, if it bursts into flame, then there's not going to be much more than a handful of ashes to present to the king."
"We have nets," Evaron replied, "spelled by the Fire Priests of the Way of the Light. They'll counteract the firebird's flames, and trap it within. They prevent a creature from using its magic."
"And then what?" I couldn't help thinking of what Galina had told me. The firebird needed to stay in Gravenwold, or the Darkness would be free. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought.
"We take it to Caskill, preferably alive. If we can't then we take its heart. Hussar has a magically sealed glass container in the chest Marron's been carrying. My father's priests said he'd need to eat the heart."
That sense of wrongness kept creeping up my spine. How was I going to mislead them?
Maybe we'd never find it? The Heart was vast. It stretched all the way to the mountains that had once been the borders of the empire. Maybe it would be too late... I couldn't rely on that though.
You could kill the prince, something whispered.
No. Ashes, no. But the thought set me thinking.
What if Prince Evaron had a—relatively harmless—accident? Perhaps that might prevent our mission, and require the men return to Caskill.
I cringed at the thought of crippling him somehow, and caught Cas watching me as he looped rope around his palm and elbow, making a tight coil with it.
If there was anyone who was going to keep Evaron safe, it would be him, and I didn't know how I felt about that.
Just because I want something, doesn't mean I can have it...
Curse him. Why had he said that?
Okay, hurting the prince was probably out of the question. I was a scout. I was going to have to mislead the party.
"Let's move out!" Hussar bellowed, in that barrel of a voice, and we all armed ourselves.
The men mounted up, leaving me and Cas on foot, which suited me perfectly. This wasn't the sort of forest that made riding easy. I handed my pack off to one of the men, freeing my body to move fast. Someone had given me a quiver of their own arrows—Marron, perhaps—and I thanked him, though they weren't as well crafted as mine.
"Something on your mind?" Cas asked, as we both moved ahead of the party.
"What makes you say that?"
"The look on your face." He ducked beneath a branch, and held it out of my way.
"You've only known me a few days," I argued. "You don't know my expressions."
"I read faces, Neva," he muttered, looming over me in the shadows of the trees. "And I can smell that bitter sweat scent that means you're nervous, see the way your gaze kept dropping when Evaron looked at you, the fluctuation of your pulse flickering in your throat..."
I stared at him.
"You don't want us to find the firebird," he said, giving me a gentle nudge in the middle of the back.
Behind us, the men moved noisily. Evaron's blond hair gleamed like a halo, though he wore the same stark hunting leathers the rest of the men did.
If Evaron dies, then all your problems go away...
What?
"Doesn't it seem wrong?" I blurted, falling into place beside Cas as we jogged through the trees, and trying to shake off the morbid thought. Maybe a part of me was more bloodthirsty than I thought.
"It's the way of the world. The strong make the rules. And the king is strong."
"It doesn't have to be. And I didn't take you for a man who just gave in." It was clear I couldn't fool Cas, but could he be an ally? "I had a dream last night..."
I quickly told him about Galina and everything she'd said, though I kept the details vague enough so he wouldn't be able to find the Well of Tears.
"It knows we're coming for it. What if we kill the firebird and it upsets some sort of cataclysmic chain of events? What if the Darkness rises? People would die."
"You had a dream, Neva," he said sharply. "A dream sent by a witch. What if she was lying? Witches aren't known for their benevolence. And why would she protect the firebird? What's in it for her?"
He doesn't want to believe you...
"She wants to protect the forest." My protest sounded weak, even to my ears.
No. Galina wanted me to be her successor. That's what she really wanted. She'd spared my father nearly twenty years ago, so he could give birth to me.
So why didn't she want us to hunt the firebird?
Don't trust Galina. Kill her.
"What is with the killing?" I muttered.
Cas stopped in his tracks, a frown darkening his brow. "What do you mean?"
I blushed. "I don't know. Nothing. I feel weird."
"Weird, how?" His voice turned insistent. "I feel strange too. Kind of... hopeless."
Our gazes met.
"I want to kill everything," I blurted.
"That's not normal." He drew his axe, and searched the woods around us. "Something's messing with our minds."
And there was one creature that could do that.
"Shit." I pressed my fingers to my temples.
"The witch has to be close," he said. "Be on your guard. Any thoughts that don't seem normal, any slight wavering in your vision... We know she can pull you into a dream, but she might be able to lead us into a trap too. Have you got any salt? Or iron?"
I withdrew my dagger. "Only this sort of iron."
"Make sure you're touching it."
Silence fell, unbroken by any sort of bird song. There were fewer evergreen trees here, only the stark bones of those whose leaves had fallen.
And righ
t in front of me was an enormous ash tree, which still held all of its leaves. Its base was almost as round as one of the tables in the inn.
"That tree shouldn't have all of its leaves," I said, taking my dagger and scratching the bark of it.
"Not an illusion," Cas said, but he looked up too. "And you're right. That's not a normal tree." He tugged a leaf off it, revealing a couple of black spots. "It's also sickening."
"Do you think we should alert the men?"
He glanced behind him. "I'll tell Evaron. Don't go anywhere."
Then he jogged off, and left me alone.
I circled the tree. The bark was old and gnarled, almost looking like a face in places. Pressing my hand to the bark brought a flash of vision: tree roots knotted deep and tight around something, as it silently screamed.
Cut me down.
I jerked my hand off the bark, closing my fingers into a fist. It felt as though something slimy coated my palm.
"Vashta's ashes, what was that?" I whispered, to myself.
What if this was one of the thousand trees that guarded us from the Darkness? What if Galina had been telling the truth?
Cas returned, breathless from the run, and I knew he'd tried to hurry back. "What's wrong?"
"Touch the tree," I insisted, "and tell me what you see."
He reached out, pressing his palm flat against the bark, and—
Looked at me.
"A tree?"
I didn't want to touch it again, but it had set me thinking. "I saw something when I touched it." I explained about the twisted shadow trapped by its roots. "I don't know what to think. I had my hand on my knife the entire time, so it wasn't witch-driven. If Galina's telling the truth, then we kill the firebird, upset the balance, and my village is going to be one of the first to be slaughtered by the Darkness. If she isn't..."
Then the king died if we didn't kill the firebird, and Prince Rygil took the throne, no matter which way I looked at it.
Cas took my hand, inspecting it. "There's no residue on your skin."
"What if its not the witch sending us those thoughts?" I slowly looked up. "It wanted me to cut down the tree. There's only one reason something would want me to do that. Galina said the trees trap the Darkness."
Even as I said the words, some sort of haze seemed to be clearing from my eyes. Everywhere I looked, the light seemed a little brighter.
"You think it's the Darkness?"
"I seriously don't know what to think."
"If Galina's telling the truth," Cas said, squeezing my hand, "then I'll help you stop them from killing the firebird. No matter what it costs Evaron. The Darkness is... a more immediate threat than the Fire Priests. We can deal with them later."
I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed. He took a startled half-step backward, then slowly his arms curled around me, full of warmth.
"Thank you," I whispered. I couldn't do this alone.
Cas's hand cupped my chin and tipped it up. For a breathless second I thought he was going to kiss me again, but he only nodded. "Keep your eyes open. I'll watch your back. Let's go find your witch—or the firebird—whichever we encounter first."
And hope the Darkness didn't find us first—for if it could tamper with our minds, then what else could it do?
The attack happened several hours later, when we were watering the horses again.
The sun was slinking toward the horizon, and the light had dipped. Night would only be an hour or two away, which meant we needed to set up camp.
"Keep an eye out for somewhere to camp," Evaron called, as the horses strode into the river, sucking down water.
"Here," Cas said, propping his boot up on the rock beside me as I knelt to fill my water skin a little farther up from where the horses drank. There was a piece of meat jerky in his hand.
"Thanks." Salt exploded through my mouth as I bit into it, trying to soften the meat with my saliva.
He unscrewed the cap on his metal flask, took a swig of it, and then offered it to me. My eyes nearly watered when I smelled the brandy within.
"Easy up," he said, as I choked on a mouthful of fiery liquor. "It's strong enough to put hair on your chest."
"Vashta's... tits." I coughed, as he screwed the lid back on. "Where did you get that?"
Cas's head jerked up, and instantly I turned to stone.
"What is it?" I hissed.
He stared intently through the gloom, his eyes darting here and there. "Thought I heard something moving, but I can't smell anything. Only the forest. And Hussar."
Tension dissolved, and I rubbed the back of my neck. "Good thing he's been downwind all day."
"No weird thoughts?"
"Nothing." Not since I touched that tree. "You?"
"Occasionally," he muttered, his fingers curling around his axe handle. "Hussar's pissing me off."
"That's not weird."
"No, but I want to do something about it. Something permanent."
I touched his hand and Cas sighed, closing his eyes and bowing his head. The hard line of his shoulders softened. "Thanks."
The wild look in those eyes was fading as he looked down at me, leaving him more man than wolf. It didn't scare me. Cas wasn't entirely human, but I was starting to learn him. This man was a protector, not a predator. His innate sense of honor was stronger than most of the men I knew.
And it felt like my touch calmed his inner beast.
He reached out with his other hand and wrapped a finger around one of my springy curls, his hard mouth softening into a smile. "Now I feel normal again. Why isn't it affecting you anymore?"
"Who knows?"
Galina did. My own smile fell. I wasn't a witch, was I?
Something shifted out of the corner of my eye.
"What is it?" Cas demanded, as I stood, reaching for my dagger.
"I thought that tree just moved."
We both stared into the gloomy woods. The trees here were prone to redwood and pine, which meant thicker growth than the bare trees elsewhere.
"Just... my imagination," I said, as nothing else shifted.
"Maybe." Cas glared through the trees. "Something doesn't feel right."
"We should get moving." Find a camp, somewhere with at least a few natural fortifications to keep anything Gravenwold could throw at us off our backs.
There was a glimmer of movement behind me. I spun, staring back the way we'd come.
"Now I'm starting to feel like something's watching me," I muttered. "Something definitely moved out there."
"What is it?" Evaron called.
"Don't know," Cas growled, his side pressing against my back. "Something's out there."
The men all drew sharp steel.
"Cursed creepy trees," someone muttered.
Indeed they were. The trees pressed in on all sides. Some of the horse's whickered and danced on the ends of their reins nervously.
I could almost see the branches rustling, as if something moved along them. My chin tilted up and I stared into the canopy, seeing the shivering limbs. It could have been the wind. Or maybe...
A face seemed to stare back at me.
I blinked, and I was staring at the knotted whorl of a hole where a branch had long ago broken off. My eyes were playing tricks on me.
Behind us, one of the men suddenly screamed, and a crashing sound echoed.
We whipped around, but all I saw was his startled face and clawing hands as he vanished up into the canopy. His sword hit the ground, and then crashing sounds echoed through the branches above, as if something whipped him through them.
"What was that?" Hussar demanded, his face pale.
It was the first time I'd seen anything other than a sneer on his face. Who knew? Hussar owned other emotions.
"What's out there, girl?" he snarled at me.
"I don't know," I snapped, turning in slow circles.
Was that branch moving?
I blinked again, and there was a deer skull, pinned high in the tree.
W
hat in the Darkness?
It was as though my vision suddenly shifted, putting a dozen puzzle pieces together so I could see the shape emerging.
Not a tree. Not branches.
Not human.
A monster, carved out of wood and tangled vines. The blood started draining from my face.
"Draugur!" I bellowed. "We're surrounded by draugur!"
It stood almost twelve feet tall, its skin brown and its limbs longer than most humanoid creatures. Wearing a long deer skull over its face like a mask, complete with antlers, it turned those hollow eyes sockets toward us, and my breath caught in my throat.
It wasn't just a skull, after all.
"Vashta's tits!" a man breathed.
Draugur. Trees given shape and life. Suddenly its lean sinews looked a little more like vines, and clay dripped from its skeletal ribs, beneath its skin of moss. More shapes emerged, moving slowly. Over a dozen. Maybe two dozen. Everywhere I looked, the trees seemed to be moving. Somewhere in these woods, we were dealing with a witch.
I wonder who that could be?
"Hold your formation!" Evaron bellowed.
The draugur swarmed the prince as though they intended to cut down our figurehead, and too late, I remembered what Galina had said about killing him.
"To the prince!" Cas bellowed, steel screaming as he drew his sword and a dozen other men echoed him. "Protect the prince!"
Hussar screamed in rage, and began slashing wildly at the draugur, his teeth bared. Evaron worked at his side, darting in with his sword like quicksilver, then away again.
But swords were not meant for creatures like draugur.
The sharp edges glanced off the draugur's woody arms, shearing off pieces of bark and moss but not causing enough damage. One of them backhanded a soldier, and he flew past me, slamming into a tree behind me in a steely clash.
I lowered my arms. He'd nearly kicked me in the head as he sailed past.
"Axes out!" Cas bellowed, turning to the spare packs, and hauling out one of the enormous woodcutters axes. There were two more, and he hefted one toward Hussar, then another to a guard whose name I couldn't recall.
I drew my bow, and stood there in indecision. I was a hunter, not a warrior. Steel flashed in the firelight as someone lit a torch to help us see, and men screamed as the draugur waded into them, ripping and tearing with arms of ash and alder, redwood and pine. One took a swipe at Cas, and he ducked the blow in a blur of movement, sending his axe shearing through one of its legs.
