A chorus of “Yes” followed. Satisfied we were as ready as we could be, I motioned for Hans to go in front with Thor. Elan and I would follow, then Greta and Kendall. After them, Tyrell and Jason would follow, and then the guards.
Thor and Hans set foot into the borders of the village and Hans let out a gasp.
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s…no way to describe this. There’s magic at work here, but I have no clue what kind.” Hans looked at Thor. “What do you think?”
Thor hesitated. “I have felt this before, long ago. In a battle. I can’t recall which one—there were so many, but I remember this feeling. Sorcery runs deep here.”
“Not Lyon?” I asked, praying we weren’t dealing with the Order of the Black Mist again.
“No, this is no magic from humankind, whether Theosian or pure mortal.” Thor jerked around, staring intently at a swath of bushes. “I could have sworn…”
Hans drew his sword. “We’d better arm up. Be careful, Your Majesty.”
I slapped my thigh and my whip came off in my hand, glowing and crackling. As I stepped over the boundary line demarcating the entry to the village, instantly, I could feel what they were talking about. Wyfair felt haunted. It felt abandoned—no, I thought, not abandoned. But…in stasis. As if everything had suddenly come to a halt.
It was then that I caught sight of one of the Frostlings. He was beautiful, looking carved out of the ice fields themselves. His face was smooth, as was his body, but the energy around him whispered “male” and so I knew it was a “he.” But he wasn’t moving. He stood frozen, staring at something in his hand.
I walked over, carefully, but making enough noise that he should have heard me. Instead, he remained silent as the grave, immobilized. Hesitantly, I reached out and tapped him on the arm, but even then, he neither spoke nor moved. Worried, I tried to see what was in his hand, but whatever it was seemed to have vanished.
“What’s going on?” I turned to Hans, who quickly advanced to my side.
“I have no clue. But he seems to be unaware of us.”
“He seems to be unaware of everything. What—” I stopped as Zed shouted something from across the street. He was standing by another building, peeking in.
As he jogged over to my side, we all gathered around.
“Your Majesty, there are more of the Frostlings inside the building, all frozen. They look like they were right in the middle of everyday activity when whatever it was—happened. The whole village seems to be caught in some sort of magical stasis.”
Slowly, I nodded. “Stasis” was right. They weren’t dead—or if they were, it was unlike any death I’d ever seen. They didn’t even look hurt. Then again, I had no clue what an injury to a Frostling would look like or whether they showed any response to pain.
“Fan out, check the rest of the village, and hurry. We don’t know if whatever is affecting them can affect us, too. We don’t want to get caught if it can. In fact, Elan, Jason, Zed, you three come with me outside of the village borders. Thor, would you keep an eye on the others? Search the village as quickly as you can for anything that looks out of the ordinary.”
I hustled my ass back over the border, breathing easier as the heavy pall fell away and it once again felt like we were in the woodland. I leaned against Thor’s chariot, contemplating what might have happened. Speculation wasn’t an answer, but at least it might give us possibilities to consider.
“Ideas? I’m open.”
Zed glanced over his shoulder. “Who can use magic that strong?”
“Given all the world has been through in the past eight years, I don’t even think we can begin to answer that question. Jason, you’re a mage. Tell me, how powerful would you have to be to cast a spell to freeze an entire village?”
Jason’s depression seemed to have vanished. He was staring at the village, his face lit up with curiosity. Jason was a thinker. Give him a problem to solve and he’d dig into it like a bog-dog and hold on until he mastered it.
“Honestly, there are few who could manage it, at least out of the mages I’ve known. I can’t be sure, of course, but a spell that powerful would be beyond most of the sorcerers that I’ve ever met. I don’t know if it’s an actual paralysis spell, or whether it’s a stasis spell. Whatever it is, you would have to have a buttload of experience to cast it. You’d have to be far older and more experienced than I am, that’s for sure.”
At that moment, there was a shout from the other side of the village. Wheel came racing back, a look of dread on his face.
“I found… I found…” He paused, leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.
“Take it easy, but tell us. Is an enemy on the way?” I craned my neck, attempting to see if anybody was approaching, but all I could see were Thor and the others still poking around the village.
“No—I don’t know. But I found a couple bodies on the other side of the village. They’re torn to bits, like the ones in the campground.” He winced as he straightened.
“Frostlings?” I couldn’t imagine lycanthropes being able to take down a Frostling.
“No,” he said as he stretched. “No, I think they’re human and I’m guessing there were three of them, though it’s kind of hard to tell.”
Thor and Hans were headed in that direction. I wanted to yell at them to be careful, but they knew all the precautions and wouldn’t do anything rash.
I rubbed my head, feeling a headache creep toward me. “The lycanthropes can’t have developed magic this powerful. They’re too chaotic to handle it. They can’t have done this.”
“I concur,” Zed said. “They’re many things but they aren’t magically inclined. And even if they were, I doubt if they’d have the dedication and genius to pull off this sort of spell.”
We waited until Thor and Hans returned. Thor was carrying a large, bloodstained bundle and I had the horrible feeling I knew exactly what was in there. He lay it down gently by the chariot and silently pulled a shovel out of the cabin.
“We bury the dead,” he said. “I’d pyre them but we don’t have the luxury of time to stick around to make certain the forest doesn’t catch fire.”
“Lycanthrope attack?” I asked.
He nodded. “Most likely. We found prints. There aren’t many creatures who leave such distinctive marks when they run. I’m not sure who these people were, but…”
“Zed, you and the other guards had better have a look at them. See if you can recognize who they are, so perhaps we can find the next of kin.” I didn’t like ordering my men to look upon the face of horror, and maimed and mutilated bodies were definitely that, but on the off chance Zed or the other guards had seen these people, I wanted to be able to tell their families. Not knowing was the worst thing of all. I’d been through it several times and it was never easy.
Finally, everyone gathered back by the chariot. Elan was looking queasy.
“I recognized them, Your Majesty. They’re from Verdanya. They’re scouts, for the king. No doubt they were attempting to woo the Alezakai into some sort of trade deal or something of the sort. We’ll have to notify my…” She paused, then said, “We’ll have to notify the king.”
“We’ll do that as soon as we get back to Willow Wood. For now, bury them.”
Elan presided over the interment. We couldn’t do much, but Thor made quick work of digging the graves, and Elan stood witness. Then, without a clue of what to do about the Frostlings, we gathered back in the chariot and set off again.
BY NIGHT WE had come to the land bridge leading over to Green Lake. We made camp beside the narrow strip of land that crossed the junction where the Horned Owl Inlet met the Wild Wave Inlet. Thor started a merry fire and offered to roast a goat for us, but we had brought supplies for a few days. I liked goat, but I was in the mood for bread and cheese and apples. I toasted a piece of bread over the fire, then held the cheese in the flames till it began to melt, and smea
red it across the bread. As I bit into it, the taste of the mellow, golden cheese hit my mouth, followed by the crunch of the toast, and I sighed in pleasure.
I was sitting beside Hans, Thor, Greta, Elan, and Jason. The guards sat apart from us, ever watchful even as they ate. We were under the cover of a band of trees, but close enough to what was left of the road that we could be seen by passersby. I had been leery of going any farther into the woods given there were bands of lycanthropes wandering around, though we had come quite a distance from Wyfair and there was no hint that they had been through here. But neither had we come this way in a long time, and for all we knew, they could have started their own village along the road.
“What are you thinking about?” Jason asked me, handing me an apple.
I took it, polishing it on my cloak. “Lycanthropes. The world and how far we are from where we started. You’ve seen more change. You’re a lot older than I am, but in thirty-eight years, I feel like I’ve lived three lifetimes over. The first with my mother, the second with you and Shevron after Marlene was killed, and the third, when the world blew up again.”
He nodded, staring at his hands. “You’ll get used to it. I feel that way too, though compared to someone like Tam, I’m a babe in arms. Everything cycles. Everything has its time.”
I hesitated for a moment, then asked, “Jason, why did you come? I’m not sorry you’re here, but…”
“But why did I take a chance on my mental health and venture out?” He glanced at me.
I nodded. “I suppose you can put it that way. Your sister is worried about you, you know. She talked to me before we left.”
“And Elan, no doubt, is worried as well.” He let out a soft breath. “I think I’m ready to rejoin the land of the living. Being stuck out on the realm of Chaos broke me, in some ways. I’ve never felt completely whole since then. My daughter deserves a father who isn’t afraid of his own shadow. Aila is so…vibrant. So filled with life. But I notice she’ll defer, pull back when I’m around. I think she senses my conflict and she doesn’t want to make it worse. I won’t have her growing up having to stifle who she is out of fear it will hurt me or make me feel bad.”
“So you’ve decided to face the hordes? Scare yourself awake, so to speak?” I cocked my head, holding his gaze. “It takes a brave man to admit he needs help, and an even braver one to face his own fears for the good of another. Do this for yourself, though. You deserve to spend the rest of your life free from your fears and memories.” I held my hands out closer to the fire.
“I did blame you, a little. I can tell you that now. I know you made the only choice you could. I told you to go. I told you to leave me. But…I think a little part of me thought I was more important than the rest of the world. So I blamed you. But a few years back, I realized just how selfish that was. I don’t blame you anymore.”
Jason took one of my hands, holding it lightly. At one time, that act would have set off a host of longing in me. After Jason took me in, I had developed a puppy-love crush on him, but he never returned the feelings. Oh, he loved me, but he never could love me the way I had hoped. When I gave up the dream of Jason, reality had hit in the form of Tam.
“I’m glad you don’t blame me. I understand why you would—it tore me up to leave you there. But it’s over and done and Lyon is, I hope, forever lost in the realm with the Elder Gods he loves so much.” I squeezed his fingers. “And you have Elan and Aila. And I have Tam. And we have a life, even if it’s not the one we envisioned a decade ago.”
“In some ways it’s better,” he said. “The government was corrupt. Society was rocky and becoming more precarious. Now, we rely on ourselves and we make the rules. You’re a good queen, Kae. You and Tam…you belong together.”
“We do.” I winked at him. “We should get some sleep now. Morning will come early and we’ve got a ways to go, though I’m sure Thor’s chariot will get us there in one piece.”
As we stood, ready to crawl back inside the chariot to sleep while Thor kept watch, there was a rustle from the nearby bushes. By the light of the fire, I caught sight of a glint of tooth and fang as a band of lycanthropes burst out of the woods, pouncing on us before we could draw our weapons.
Chapter 6
THEY CAME OUT of nowhere, surrounding our camp. There were at least twelve of them, running on all fours as they surrounded us in a semi-circle, snarling and snapping with their jagged teeth. Their muzzles were disfigured, an odd cross between human and wolf, and a dangerous light gleamed in their eyes as they jockeyed for position while trying to avoid the fire. They carried no weapons, but with their teeth and sharp claws, they didn’t really need them.
I slapped my thigh, my whip coming off in my hand. As I raised it, the leather began to spark and flame, and I moved away from the others so as not to accidentally strike them.
Elan and the guards were immediately en pointe, drawing their weapons and spreading out in front of me. Behind me, Jason let out a shout. Hans and Greta strode forward, their swords out. And Thor… Thor strode forward, Mjölnir in hand.
The lycanthropes froze as he came into view. Whether they knew he was a god, I wasn’t sure, but they eyed him warily. Then one of the lycanthropes let out another snarl and leaped forward to tackle Wheel, who met the attack with raised sword.
I wanted to be in the thick of it, but if I moved to join the guards, they would focus on making sure I didn’t get hurt, and that would endanger them. So I waited, whip ready in case the creatures should break through.
Thor began to jog, whirling his hammer over his head. He let it fly as he cleared the fire. Mjölnir went whirling toward two of the lycanthropes, taking them down as it skidded along the ground, knocking them over like bowling pins. The creatures whimpered, one letting out a shriek, as blood spattered from the impact.
The other lycanthropes paused as the great hammer rose and flew back to Thor’s hand. Unfortunately, so did the guards. Wheel’s opponent took advantage of his hesitation, launching himself onto the guard and knocking him to the ground. I was about to race to his side when Elan leapt into a whirling kick, managing to kick him square in the side of the head, sending him reeling sideways. Wheel scrambled off the ground.
Greta and Hans had engaged another of the creatures, and between them, they were dodging his claws while taking turns attacking. Their blades were hitting true, but lycanthropes were tough. Even though the creature was bleeding from numerous slashes they had managed to land, he was still on his feet, though he seemed to be slowing.
Elan plunged her sword through Wheel’s attacker, square in its heart. When it collapsed onto the ground, she smoothly withdrew her blade and turned to survey the rest of the camp.
Fortune and Shawna were tackling another lycanthrope, following Greta and Hans’s lead. Tyrell had backed away, drawing glowing glyphs in the air for a spell of some sort, while Kendall protected him, engaging one of the creatures who headed their way.
Behind me, Jason was stripping, and the next moment, he flew over the camp in his hawk form, shrieking as he swept down to attack another one of the creatures, landing a blow to its face with his talons.
I was champing at the bit, wanting to fight, when a rustling from behind startled me. I whirled to see that one of the lycanthropes had taken the opportunity to sneak around and now it was coming directly at me. I raised my whip and began to swirl it overhead, the flames sparking as it turned. Just before the lycanthrope reached me, rearing up on his hind legs, I let the whip fly, bringing it down to slash across the creature’s face and body. It drew a neat line from his nose down across his stomach, the flames igniting his fur and leaving a deep gash in its wake. Apparently, I had put so much oomph into it that I sliced open his abdomen. I grimaced when I realized I had managed to eviscerate him. His internal organs steamed in the night air as they slithered to the ground. The lycanthrope looked down as though he wasn’t sure of what had just happened, then clutched his stomach and toppled over.
Thor had sent his hammer at one of the two remaining beasts, and Elan and Wheel took on the last. In his hawk form, Jason had managed to blind his opponent, and Shawna darted over to finish him off. Another moment and we were done, standing in the middle of the bloody encampment.
I slowly lowered my whip, easing back toward the chariot. “Are there any more, do you think?”
Thor held up his hand for silence. He closed his eyes, and then, after a moment, he shook his head. “I don’t hear any nearby. But there’s a smell…” He bent down to sniff one of the dead lycanthropes. “I know that scent. I’ve smelled it before.” He paused, then shrugged. “It will come to me. Meanwhile, everybody get in the chariot and I’ll stand guard till morning.”
“Are you all right, Your Majesty?” Zed said, eyeing me closely.
“Yes, I’m fine. Startled and worried, that’s all.” I glanced around the group. “Did anybody get hurt? And where’s Jason?”
Just as I asked, a great hawk came swooping down next to the fire, and a moment later, Jason stood there, nude and looking shaken. Elan silently handed him his clothes and he quickly slid into them. Everybody was fine, minus a scratch or two, but it was obvious that if Thor hadn’t been here, we would have been toast.
“What do we do about their bodies? They’ll attract other scavengers,” Elan asked.
“Never mind. I’ll take care of it. Into my chariot.”
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