Markus felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. "You're right."
They traveled in awkward silence through a forest that seemed empty apart from birds calling up in the trees. That should have been comforting, but instead it felt ominous.
For the rest of what he thought was a day, the tense silence lingered. They also saw a few more of those blinding flashes, which led Markus to doubt his theory. Maybe they were random.
They traveled for days, weaving through the darkness. Alana wanted to light her staff, but with Jakob to guide them, she didn't need to.
Their food supplies dwindled to nothing after perhaps a week of travel. With a choice between starvation and potential poisoning, they decided to eat the food from the forest. No one got sick, so they assumed it was safe.
Over time, the acute pain of Rik's loss faded, but a dull ache remained—a void that Markus would never fill. Even the sullen Rik of late was preferable to having no Rik at all. Whenever Markus closed his eyes, he could see Rik's bright red hair and grinning face. In the silence, he could hear one of Rik's dumb jokes, imagine their life growing up in the forest.
He wanted to cry, but he couldn't. A part of him still clung to the idea that Rik was alive, that they hadn't found him—as unlikely as that seemed. He had to cling to hope, for it was all he had. The end of their journey seemed years away.
"I feel like we'll never find our way through this forest," he said at their campsite one day as they ate red berries they'd found on nearby bushes.
"Don't think like that," Alana said. "The forest is not endless. We have to be close."
"I wish I could be so sure," Jakob said, sounding bitter, and he had every right to be.
"I've seen maps of the Empire," Nadia said. "We're close."
"This place really isn't that bad," Alana said. "With those strange flashes of light, we've rarely had to deal with any monsters."
Markus shook his head. "I still think that's strange. This place hasn't seemed anywhere near as dangerous as it was supposed to. Now that I think about it, a whole lot of this quest has been easier than I expected. I'm not saying it's been easy, just that it hasn't been impossible. You'd think Warrick would've made it impossible to cross the Empire."
"You're forgetting a lot," Nadia said. "Remember the canyon in the desert? It runs the entire length, north to south, of the Empire. Without the staff and the knowledge of how and where to use it, crossing the canyon would be impossible. And then there's the river. Without the staff, we would have lost more of our party, possibly everyone.
"Not only that, but I don't see why Warrick would make it impossible. He never intended to stop contact between different parts of the empire, just to make it more difficult. Those he favors do get around the empire, and even as terrible as Warrick is, I know that he views himself as someone trying to make a better world. These places are simply a means to that end. They reduce the ability of the Order to organize, but they aren't meant to punish us."
"You sure about that?" Markus asked. "What about Crayden, then?"
"I still don't understand why he destroyed Crayden. It falls well outside his normal behavior. Yes, he said it was because the Order had grown too strong, but it's not as strong as it used to be. Why now?"
"I don't know," Alana said. "Maybe he's simply evil."
"Maybe," Nadia said, but she sounded uncertain.
Markus put an arm around Nadia. "He is evil. I don't care how he justifies what he does. Maybe he doesn't go around torturing people for fun, but that doesn't mean he has good goals in mind. Anyone who could destroy a city like that, killing all those innocent people, is evil in my mind. And he needs to pay for his crimes."
"Yes, he does," Nadia said, "and we're almost there. I can feel it."
The ground vibrated faintly.
"What was that?" Jakob whispered as the vibrations intensified—a rhythmic patter, like footsteps.
Markus's chest tightened. Whatever was shaking the ground was huge. He prayed that it would go away, knowing all the while that it wouldn't. Not this time.
"I think I might now what this is," Nadia said.
"What do you mean?" Markus asked.
She kept her voice low. "If we're as close to Bradenton as I think, that means this is the monster that attacks that city every night. It's said to be taller than any building."
Markus groaned. "That's not what I want to hear."
They fell silent, waiting as the ground quaked more and more fiercely. Markus had the bad feeling that it didn't matter how silent they were. A monster like this, if it came close to them, would find them. Like the other beasts of the forest, it had surely evolved to have strong night vision. Or perhaps Warrick had created it that way.
The ground trembled more violently, Markus's heart pounded a mighty drumbeat, and his legs trembled so much he could barely stand.
Tree branches cracked nearby. A fetid smell filled the air.
The next thing Markus knew, something enormous and hairy wrapped around him and lifted him from the ground. He tried to scream, but he could barely breathe.
Chapter 53
Rik had lost all sense of time. The forest was a never-ending sea of black, illuminated only by the dim orange light of his staff. The longer he walked, the more trapped he felt.
Those strange flashes of light had kept the monsters away, but Rik and Garet remained alert. Garet's injuries had not become infected, and Rik's head no longer hurt with every movement.
A growl sounded, louder and lower than what Rik usually heard. He tensed, peering into the darkness, but saw nothing. Heart pounding, he turned to Garet.
"Get rid of the light," Garet whispered, his expression tight with worry. Rik did so and felt more trapped than ever in the total darkness. They had to have light if the monster attacked.
Leaves rustled in the distance. Twigs snapped. Another growl, louder and closer.
A branch cracked. More rustling. Heavy, threatening steps. Closer. Rik turned, looking for Garet, but could not see him in the dark.
The steps became louder and louder, and Rik couldn't take it any longer. He lit his staff.
And looked right into the monster's large eyes. It was the size of the largest bears back home, with two pairs of eyes and a mouth ringed all around by knifelike teeth. It let out another horrible growl, filling the air with its putrid breath. Rik gagged and retreated.
"I told you to keep the light off," Garet said.
Rik launched a burst of fire at the monster, but it kept coming at him. He retreated and found himself in a corner, backed against a thick cluster of trees. The monster leapt atop him.
He pushed with all his strength, fighting to keep its claws away. His staff thudded to the ground next to him, and darkness smothered him. The beast's stench was worse than ever as its claws ripped at Rik's light tunic.
Then he heard Garet's quick steps, a sword being drawn. The beast growled and rolled off Rik's chest.
Rik crawled along the ground, struggling to get his breath back. Garet was grunting. The monster was growling. Rik felt useless, scrambling in search of his staff. His chest stung, but the scratches didn't feel deep.
"Some help!" Garet shouted.
At last, Rik found his staff. He picked it up, lit it, and found the monster. Garet was dancing away from it, using trees as cover, but it was closing on him. Rik tried to think of something that might work.
He fired a jet of water at the monster, then relit his staff. This time, the monster shrieked, turned away from Garet, and advanced on Rik, its four eyes glowing in the staff's magical light.
Rik tried a surge of lightning, and the monster finally fell. The yellow lightning danced all around it, illuminating the dark. Rik kept the spell going, and the monster eventually stopped shrieking, stopped writhing. Sweaty and exhausted, Rik let the spell fade. Then he relit the tip of his staff, shining its light upon Garet.
"You okay?" Rik asked.
"A few scratches. How about you?"
"Sa
me. I guess we should get moving. There could be more of those things."
They walked again, making their way by the dim glow of Rik's staff. For hours and hours, they walked. They didn't talk for fear of attracting attention, and Rik was ready to disable the light from his staff at a moment's notice.
When the ground shook, Rik turned to Garet. "You feel that?"
"Yeah, and I don't like it."
They fell silent and stopped moving, waiting for the ground to shake again. And it did, over and over in a steady rhythm. Rik fought to keep his legs steady amidst the growing tremors. He let his staff go dark and waited in the darkness as the monster came closer.
But then the steps faded into the distance. Strange.
A scream sounded somewhere off to their right, and Rik felt a mixture of relief and terror. The others were still alive, but for how long?
"We have to do something," Rik said, lighting his staff again.
Garet frowned in the orange light. "I'm not sure what we can do, but you're right."
* * * * *
Nadia thought she was going to suffocate, but then the monster released her. Her stomach lurched as she plummeted toward the ground. She closed her eyes, ready for excruciating pain, but then she landed in hot water, briefly submerging before swimming to the surface.
She looked for the others. It took her a moment to realize she could see again. Flickering orange light filled the forest and revealed the rest of the party.
"What's going on?" Markus asked.
Nadia noticed just how hot the water was, and a dreadful thought twisted her stomach. "I think the monster is cooking us."
Markus's eyes went wide. "Well, isn't that just great?"
"Let's think through this calmly," Alana said.
"That's rather hard at the moment," Jakob said.
Nadia forced herself to stay calm as she checked their surroundings, noting that they appeared to be in a giant wooden bowl, likely suspended above a fire. Three vines, tied into a knot around a high branch, kept the bowl hanging in the air.
"I have an idea," she said, pointing at the knot. "I might be able to weaken those vines with a few well-placed arrows. It won't be easy, but unless anyone else has a better idea, it's the best we have."
"It sounds ridiculous," Jakob said, "but I have nothing, so you might as well give it a try."
Nadia pulled some arrows from the quiver on her back, and her stomach clenched. There were two problems. One: she'd lost her supplies when the monster grabbed her. Two: of the dozen arrows in her quiver, only five were unbroken.
Markus swam over to her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm only going to have five shots at this."
"You'll have to make them count, then," Alana said.
That was easy for her to say. She wasn't the one trying to hit a miniscule target while floating. Nadia had made a lot of shots in her life, but nothing like this. The pressure felt as if it were crushing her. She could barely breathe.
She turned to Markus, trying to maintain a calm mask. "Can you swim down to the bottom and hold me?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
The water had grown hotter by far than any bath she'd ever taken. She turned to Alana. "Can you use your staff to make the water colder?"
"I've already been doing that. I think it would be killing us otherwise."
Nadia's stomach sank. "You heard her, Markus."
He took a breath and was about to dive beneath the water when the world trembled around them. Everyone looked up as the monster's enormous hand came into view, covered by thick brown fur. It reached down toward them. With a surge of adrenaline, Nadia swam to the side of the bowl—anything to make it harder to grab her.
But then she turned in horror to see the monster grab Jakob. He screamed before the hand closed around him, lifting him out of view. Then there was another scream and the loud snap of bone.
"Oh, my god!" Alana shouted.
Nadia's stomach twisted into sickening knots, but she tried to clear the images from her mind. She didn't need them right now.
After eating Jakob, the monster stomped away. Nadia had no idea how long it would be gone. She nodded to Markus, and he swam beneath the water, grabbing hold of her legs a few seconds later. Her balance was far from steady, but this was the best chance they'd have.
She nocked an arrow on the bowstring, took a deep breath, and aimed, trying to ignore her pounding heart and growing grief. She hadn't been close to Jakob, but he was a good man who had now left a family behind. He didn't deserve to die like this, so senselessly.
The first arrow flew, and she watched it with bated breath. It struck the knot exactly where she'd intended, but nothing happened. Four arrows left. She let Markus up for a breath, he ducked beneath the water again, and she prepared her second shot.
Please, God, let this work. Her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest. She aimed carefully, then let the arrow fly, but Markus shifted at the moment she released it. The arrow went astray, missing the branch. She swore silently and let Markus up again.
"Did it work?" he asked, catching his breath.
"Not yet. You moved right as I let the arrow go. You'll have to go under again."
He dived beneath the water without question, and she resolved to hit the vine this time. She focused on her shot, blocking out everything else. When the arrow flew, her aim was true.
But the vine showed no sign of snapping.
Two arrows left. Her chest felt tight. She let Markus up again. Thus far, she had heard no sign of the monster's return, but her thoughts had become a chaotic mess, and she could barely restrain her panic.
Markus put an arm around her. "You can do it, Nadia. I believe in you."
She was amazed at the calm he projected, mostly because she could tell how scared he was.
"He's right," Alana said, face pale in the flickering light. "You're one of the smartest, most capable people I've ever met."
Nadia offered Alana a faint smile. In this moment, something about her reminded Nadia of Kara, and that allowed Nadia to get her breathing under control and restrain her racing thoughts. Kara had gone to the Shadowed Land in helping Nadia on this quest, and Nadia was not going to waste that sacrifice.
"I'm ready," she said to Markus. "It'll work this time."
"I know. I trust you, Nadia."
But did she trust herself? As he swam beneath the water, taking hold of her legs again, she steeled her determination. This was no different than hitting a target at the archery range. Besides, she'd already done it. She just needed to hit the right spot, let her instincts guide her. Two shots left. She had to make them count.
She let the arrow fly, her stomach twisting as it left the bow. The arrow struck the knot, and nothing happened. Her heart sank. She felt like crying. Again, she had to let Markus up for air. One shot left.
Then she heard it: a faint ripping sound. The knot was coming loose.
"Get to the side of the bowl," she said. "We need to make it tip over."
They all swam to the same spot, moving with urgency. With the loudest tearing sound yet, the vine let go, and the bowl plummeted. Nadia prayed the impact with the ground wouldn't kill them, that they wouldn't end up in the fire.
The bowl hit the ground with a jarring impact, and Nadia slammed against the side, but the bowl did tip, and the flood of water deposited them on the muddy ground. Nadia sat there a few moments, trying to catch her breath, the world spinning around her.
"Come on, Nadia," Markus said, helping her to her feet. Dazed, she started running, Markus and Alana beside her. They were all soaked, and their feet made loud squelching sounds with every step.
"Which way?" Nadia said, heart pounding like a drum.
"I don't know," Alana said without stopping. "Let's hope we've chosen correctly." Then she checked her compass. "Wait. We should be going the right way."
Soon they left the light of the monster's clearing behind. At the speed they were running, they couldn't make their way in the
dark, not without Jakob. Alana lit the end of her staff, and they followed the narrow path, the ground trembling again.
Markus pointed. "Look up ahead. I think I see light."
Nadia squinted into the distance and did see a pinprick of light. "Please let that be the other side of the forest!"
They hastened their pace, running so fast Nadia tripped over a couple of large tree roots. All she could think about was that light. And the monster. Both were growing nearer. Her legs ached, and her breathing came in sharp gasps.
Closer. The light brightened. Closer. The ground shook. She didn't look back. Alana let her staff go dark, and they could still see their surroundings. They hadn't been imagining the light. Now she had to hope it wasn't another monster's clearing.
Her legs carried her as fast as she could go. Maybe thirty feet left. Markus and Alana panted beside her, hanging so close they were almost touching her. Every few seconds, the ground shook more violently.
They were almost there. She could see the end of the trees, the beginning of grassy hills, and she urged herself to go faster, pushing through her exhaustion like never before.
The monster grabbed them.
Chapter 54
Rik and Garet reached an empty clearing where a large fire burned. Some kind of giant wooden bowl sat sideways on the damp ground. They moved closer to examine the site. Rik's heart had climbed into his throat.
"It probably ate them already," he said, fighting against tears.
"We don't know that. Maybe they escaped."
"At the size of that thing, I doubt it."
"We've escaped bad situations before," Garet said. "We can do it again."
Rik wasn't so sure. Maybe their luck had come to an end. The Rik of a few weeks ago would have believed anything was possible, but now he'd seen the world in all its cruelty. There was no fate, no God, nothing to keep you alive but your own abilities.
"Well, they're not here," Rik said. "We know that much. So either they escaped or they're dead. Either way, we shouldn't hang around here."
"You're right. The monster might return."
With a heavy heart, Rik followed Garet out of the clearing and back into the darkness.
Empire of Chains (World in Chains Book 1) Page 45
