by Candy Crum
“Stop standing around before you die,” Arryn said, clapping him on the shoulder before running back into the battle.
As Elysia raced through the forest, she saw several Arcadians who had made their way across the threshold and were attacking the forest from the inside. Magicians were throwing fireballs, or simply spreading the fires that were already there.
Chaos ran forward, rearing onto his hind legs as Elysia slid off his back. As Chaos came back down, he kicked two Arcadian magicians in the chest, crushing their ribs and sending them to the ground panting for air.
Pulling the bow from her back, Elysia nocked her first arrow and loosed it, hitting a man in the leg before moving onto the next.
"What are you doing?" Ryel asked. "Quit maiming them. Kill them!"
The Chieftain and Zobig ran up, the black bear slamming into two men and pinning their legs with his front feet as his master attacked with his staff. "Save any that you can, Ryel. This is the work of a dark mystic. These men are innocent."
Ryel groaned as he went to work, cutting men down while trying to not to inflict life-threatening injuries.
A deep whine sounded, and the forest floor began to quiver beneath their feet. Along with the intense crackling of the fire, Elysia could hear one of the larger trees behind them beginning to give way.
"We have to get out of here!" Elysia called to the others. "The trees are starting to buckle."
The Chieftain looked up after taking another man down, having cracked him in the head with the butt of his staff. "The rain isn't touching the fire. The oil will have to burn off, or we will need physical magic users to stop the flames."
Elysia was about to respond when loud, determined cheers approached from just beyond the tree line. Turning, Elysia saw the governor and his men come running in, armed with staffs instead of swords—though they had those lashed to their belts.
"We have to take the fight to them," Elysia said. "They're trying to flee."
"Daughter," the Chieftain said. "We have to face the possibility that we might need to let them. This fire is magical. It's not going burn out anytime soon. If they get far enough away, the flames will die, but the longer they stay the longer these fires burn. You know as well as I do that we face losing much more than we have already."
"Move! Now!" Ryel shouted as the crackling tree began to crumble even faster, coming down before their very eyes.
Within seconds, the Chieftain was back on Zobig, and he pulled Elysia up with him as they charged out of the flames and onto the open battlefield. Elysia called for Chaos, making sure he got out safely as well.
As the black bear leapt the flames at the edge of the forest, Elysia's eyes were opened to just how big a conspiracy this had been. It didn't look like the entire Arcadian force was there, but there were no less than a third of them. If she were a betting woman, she would think maybe close to half. They had been fully prepared, and had come knowing exactly what to do.
She had no doubt that was Scarlett's doing.
Looking around, she saw several of their men on the ground, druid warriors who had lost their lives fighting Arcadians while fearing the loss of their home. As she and the Chieftain began to take in the horror they saw before them, Elysia saw Arryn fighting.
"Too many lives have been lost," the Chieftain said. "Arryn has turned some of the Arcadians back to her side, but it won’t be enough. We have to stop the fire before it claims the entire forest."
Elysia didn't want that. She didn't want to let them go, but she knew he was right. The druid warriors were more than capable of fighting the Arcadians and winning, but not while the fear of losing the forest—their home, their source of food, and the habitat of so many animals—was at the front of their minds.
"Pull back!" the Chieftain shouted.
He stepped forward, throwing his hands out as he did. His eyes flashed neon-green and the grass grew wildly, wrapping around all the druids he could see and pulling them free of the battle. Elysia swallowed as she looked at Arryn.
The young woman’s gaze was focused and her posture set. Elysia followed the direction in which her eyes were staring to find Scarlett, eyes white as she did her best to control her people.
Realization hit Elysia. If Arryn went for Scarlett, it wouldn’t end well. She had to stop her. She had to save her.
When it had become apparent that flight was no longer an option—bolts of lightning having struck the ground to keep them pinned—Scarlett had dismounted and headed into the battle, doing her best to control her people and keep them focused.
She only needed a little bit of magic for mind control. She was doing her best to save what was left for Arryn and the fight to come.
She had a feeling she would need it.
In the distance, she caught sight of a black bear, bigger than any she had ever seen. It exited the Forest with two druids on its back. That certainly wasn't good news, since she thought one of them might have been the Chieftain.
She turned to her left, trying to find Arryn. She needed to know where all her enemies were before she could continue.
Unfortunately for her, Arryn had been a bit more dangerous than she had given her credit for. The girl had known exactly how to fight in this unique situation and had been ready for anything and everything Scarlett threw at her.
Scarlett saw scattered bodies everywhere, but they weren't dead. Those men were alive, and they were looking at Arryn with admiration, even though they couldn't get up to fight any longer.
She had regained their trust, more than likely having knocked loose the mystics’ control with severe trauma to the head, only to show her true colors by allowing them to live. Scarlett could see the images floating in the men's minds. She was a goddess to them, and they wanted nothing more than to fight by her side.
Others, those that she hadn't physically damaged but had managed to get through to mentally, fought by her side. They needed to leave soon, or Scarlett would lose everything.
Just as she was about to call for a retreat, Scarlett felt hatred burning into her from the other side of the battlefield. She looked across it; Arryn's eyes steadily locked on hers. A dark smile crossed the girl's face as she broke into a run.
Scarlett turned and raced back to her horse, mounting as grasses began whipping through the battlefield and snatching up the druids. It seemed as though the Chieftain was calling for a retreat as well, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to stick around to find out.
She also wasn't about to challenge the most powerful druid in the world.
Arryn had already taken down more than a dozen men, and Cathillian was not far behind her. He had nearly matched her numbers, but he wasn’t quite as fast since she had a staff to work with. So far, she had only had to kill two, and Cathillian had killed four. Given how many they had fought, she couldn't complain about the result.
She wouldn't allow them to have died in vain, though. She wouldn't allow anyone on that field to have died in vain.
When her eyes found the prize, she had been waiting to claim, she couldn't help the immense feeling of satisfaction that rose in her chest. She ran through a play-by-play of what she would do to Scarlett in her mind.
But fantasy just couldn't cut it. She wanted the real thing.
As she ran toward the mystic, she could hear Elysia calling to her over the sounds of violence. The druid called her name over and over, but Arryn wouldn't take her mind away from what she wanted most.
Something snaked around her waist, stopping her mid-run and yanking her back. When she landed, she was face to face with Elysia. "What the hell are you doing? I had her. I had Scarlett!"
Elysia only nodded. "I know, and I also know what I’m about to say won’t make sense, but she's the least of our concerns right now. If the forest burns to the ground—and it is well on its way now—we’ll lose everything. We’ll have nothing to save."
Shaking her head, Arryn insisted, "No! I have to get her. I have to stop her!"
"Arryn! Stop. Plea
se look around you. The Forest is in flames. Our brothers and sisters are dying out there, because all they can focus on is losing their home. We have to stop the fires. My father and I have tried, but we need a physical-magic user to make that happen."
Arryn turned and stared at the damage that had been dealt to the Forest. The fires had grown taller since she had gotten there. It was unreal to see so much of the forest gone in such a short time, despite the drenching rain.
Arryn searched for Scarlett, but she was completely out of sight now, and most of the men who had come with her had retreated. The physical magic users who were still alive had left with Scarlett as well. The rest were dead on the ground or incapacitated.
With Scarlett gone, the battle was beginning to wind down. There was no point in chasing her. First, they would save the Forest, and then…
Then she planned to make good on that promise she had made to Cathillian.
She planned to rip Scarlett limb from limb.
21
Arryn hadn’t felt anything so gut-wrenching since—well, since watching Scarlett force hundreds of people to doing something they wouldn’t normally do, effectively destroy her home.
Letting Scarlett just walk away had ripped her apart, but Elysia had been right. That bitch’s time was coming—soon. Arryn had another job to do right then.
After she had walked into the blazing Dark Forest, she realized Elysia had made the right call. The areas where the fire had begun had burned themselves out, but nearby areas still burned brightly. The fire was spreading quickly, despite how much rain had fallen.
Arryn had instructed the Chieftain and Elysia to hold back on the rain they had conjured while she and the other magic users worked, so they could conserve their energy for when it would matter most. It had taken nearly two hours for Arryn, Amelia, Celine, the governor, and the other friendly physical magicians to reduce the fire enough for the water to begin to take effect.
The Chieftain, Elysia, and Cathillian stepped in then, calling on their combined powers to bring in a heavy, soothing rain.
“The ground will be made rich from the death here. No tree or animal will have perished in vain. Each one will feed the next generation, helping us to regrow this section of the Forest to be even stronger than it was before,” the Chieftain had told them as the rains fell.
The birds, squirrels, and other small animals went to work bringing acorns and other seeds from the healthy parts of the forest and spreading them on the injured, but hungry earth before them.
Amelia, Celine, Samuel, and the natives of the other areas of the Valley watched in wonder. They never would have believed something like that could even be possible. It was like an oasis; every creature linked to the next by the druids they encountered every day.
There wasn’t another place in Irth like it.
When they arrived back at the southern village, Arryn and Cathillian were sent to the river to tell the older druids and the children they had protected that it was safe to return home.
Arryn had never seen anything quite like the tiny barrier the children and the elderly had created. It was thicker and far stronger than the barrier protecting the internal parts of the Dark Forest where the druids resided.
Nothing would have gotten in.
Once the elderly had been filled in on what had happened and they had left with the children, Arryn took to the river, walking just far enough in that she could sit peacefully inside without being washed downstream.
She crossed her legs as she had in the Temple and closed her eyes, turning her nose to the still cloudy sky as she let what little sun poked through touch her.
“How are you doing?” Cathillian asked, interrupting her peace.
She sighed, silently motioning for him to join her. He sat next to her and reached for her hand, their eyes briefly meeting as she took it and wrapped her smaller fingers around his. Each wore the expression of someone who had lost much, but knew they could have lost so much more.
The look of someone who mourned what was gone as they struggled to allow themselves to see the light. It was there, but they both needed the time to accept what had happened.
Arryn’s eyes closed again as she returned her gaze to the sky. “Why are you worried about me? This was your home before it was mine.”
“I know that. I just… It’s your home, too. Always has been. I think even back then—ever since the moment your mother brought you here with even a sliver of hope we could help—this was your home.”
She gave him a sad smile while keeping her face to the sky. “Thank you. I needed that.”
“You’ll always have a home here, you know. You’ll always have a home wherever I am. No matter what.”
Tears filled her closed eyes. So much had happened in such a short time. Samuel coming into her life that day by the river had changed her world forever. She had grown in ways she hadn’t even known possible.
It seemed that as soon as one journey ended the next would begin, and she had no idea how to handle it at times. But Cathillian had always been there to help her. He drove her crazy at times, but that had always been his way of distracting her.
There were moments when she wondered if he pissed her off on purpose just to keep her mind focused on something small and insignificant—like the anger she felt for him—instead of the larger, more threatening picture, like the one they faced now.
“I have to tell you something,” he said, worry pulling at his voice. “I know you don’t remember, and I know you’ll be angry. It’s okay to blame me, but I promise I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
The tears that burned her eyes fell from under her closed lids and spilled down her cheeks. She hadn’t realized he had been carrying that kiss with him all this time with guilt. She knew what he was about to say, and it broke her heart for him to know he felt guilty for something she had done.
It was true that she hadn’t remembered it initially, but Amelia had shown her what had happened. And even though she wished it hadn’t happened as it did, and even though she would have preferred it wait for a time when she wasn’t drunk out of her mind and war wasn’t threatening them, she didn’t regret it a bit. She didn’t want him to either.
“I remember,” she said, her voice weak from her tears.
His hand squeezed hers. “You do?”
She lifted their clasped hands from the water, bringing the back of his to her mouth and kissing it before lowering them back into the water.
She shook her head. “Please don’t feel guilty. I don’t.”
Her throat tightened as she heard his breath catch, and her chest felt like it might explode. She couldn’t process this. In her mind, she fought between this being the worst time possible for such a discussion, and the absolute best.
But Cathillian had brought it up, not her. As she sat there, trying to meditate but failing because her mind was so cluttered, she realized it didn’t matter at that moment what confusion she felt. It wasn’t all about her. He always considered her feelings—even now when his home had suffered so greatly and he had lost friends he had known since the day he was born.
After all that, he had still come to check on her. She wanted to be there for him.
Even if they were never to be anything more than friends, he was her very best friend, and he needed to know that she was okay. He needed to know they were okay.
As she thought that over, she realized now was the perfect time to discuss it—because her best friend needed to. It was the perfect time because they were about to be forced to put all losses—from the forest, the men and women, and the animals—aside while they pressed on. While they went back into war to avenge those lost and those who would be still, and he needed to know.
She opened her eyes and looked into his. They were always a deep jade, but they seemed to shine right then, even in the low light.
“Yes. I remember. I didn’t at first. Actually, Amelia showed me what happened. But once she did, it all came back.” She paused as she wa
tched his brows crease, worry on his face. “I wouldn’t change that, Cathillian. Well, I wish I hadn’t been in that condition, but otherwise I don’t regret it at all.”
He sighed heavily, a cautious smile on his face. “I was scared you were going to beat me.”
She smiled. “Good man.”
She felt his hesitation as he squeezed her hand once more before letting go. It seemed like there was more he wanted to say, but he was quiet—for once—as he faced the river again.
Taking a deep breath, Arryn rose to her knees and leaned toward him in a single fluid movement. His eyes widened as she placed her hand on the side of his face, turning him toward her.
Before she could do anything further, he wrapped his arms around her and tackled her to the ground, his lips finding hers. His long hair fell around them, and she ran her fingers through it as his hand gently caressed her side.
After he finally pulled away, he stared down into her eyes as he lifted his hand to stroke the side of her face, the pad of his thumb grazing her lower lip. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
She smiled. “It’s good to know all those girls weren’t full of shit.”
His mouth fell open as his eyes widened, a deep laugh quickly finding him. “Damn. You sure know how to ruin a moment, don’t you?”
She shrugged, smiling with him. “Hey, I’m just saying… I’ve had to listen to that for years. Not that I cared. ‘Cause, you know, black heart and all.”
He laughed again and she shifted, catching him by surprise as she threw him to the side before leaning over him and kissing him once more.
“And you’re always surprising me. Especially that black heart of yours.” He winked.
She sighed as she stared down at him. In that moment, she wasn’t sure if she was grateful their time was limited, or if she hated the fact.
“I can tell by the look on your face that you’re about to ruin all this,” he said, still smiling as he brushed loose strands of her hair back over her ear.
