by Candy Crum
Relax. You’re safe now. There are too many to heal completely, but I made an exception for you, she sent to the Chieftain.
He smiled and nodded. "Thank you. What has happened?"
The village has been evacuated, and almost everyone is here. I helped get people free and then stayed to heal those who were badly injured by the smoke. Some were just dizzy, but others had passed out. Unfortunately, some were lost.
Rage filled the Chieftain. How easily the dark druids had attacked, using a single poisonous plant. He could never even imagine fighting so cruelly, but even if he had, it wouldn't have had the same effect on them.
And that was a weakness.
"Has anyone seen Arryn? She went missing before all this happened. And young Corrine. How is she? Is she all right?"
Clara nodded, grabbing his hand to comfort him. The young one is just fine. She’s awake now and sitting by the edge of the river, healing and resting. As far as Arryn goes, I haven't seen her, and I don't think anyone else has either. But I do know that if it hadn't been for Arryn, we would all be dead.
"What you mean?"
Arryn sent Snow after us. Elysia spoke to Snow, so she saw the images. Arryn stayed in the middle of all that smoke and sent Snow back to warn us. She was going to try to blow the smoke out.
Dread filled the Chieftain as he looked toward the village. "But all of us are here, and many were damaged in some way by the smoke. If it reached the village, she was unsuccessful. That means she must've fallen."
Clara swallowed hard as her hand gently covered her mouth. I hadn't thought of that. Oh, my God. We have to clear the smoke and look for her.
Another warrior ran into the area, searching until he locked eyes with Clara. Running over, he saluted both her and the Chieftain. "The smoke is regressing. Elysia and Cathillian have been blowing it out of the village, but it seems to be dissipating on its own as well."
"Has anyone seen a dark druid?" the Chieftain asked.
The warrior shook his head. "No, not one."
Clara looked confused. Why would they launch such a successful attack but not come into the Forest? I have to say, this was the best plan they've ever had, and it was working flawlessly. Why would they just leave?
Realization struck the Chieftain. He sighed and shook his head, his nostrils flaring in anger as his eyes closed and his fists clenched. "They would only leave if they had what they wanted."
"What did they come for?" the warrior asked.
Clara gasped as she looked at the Chieftain in both shock and horror.
The Chieftain loosened his fists before tightening them again. "Arryn."
16
Walking through the Forest was always bumpy, but alternating between being carried over someone's shoulder and being dragged on a makeshift stretcher was far worse.
As Arryn was moved through the Dark Forest, she slipped in and out of consciousness, mostly when she was being jostled the worst. At that point, she preferred her abduction by Talia and Scarlett—they had been gentler, even with slitting her wrists along the way.
Several times along the way, she was awake, but unable to move or speak. That was slowly starting to change.
She could feel the pounding in her head, the throbbing ache threatening to split it in two. Then she began coughing again, unable to stop. She threw up all over herself once because she was unable to roll over, and one of her captors hit her for it, which knocked her out again.
She had no idea how long she was unconscious that time, but when she awoke, that splitting headache was far worse. Her entire body hurt—she imagined that was from the poison as well as the rough way she had been handled.
"Good morning, Sunshine," an unfamiliar voice said to her.
It was still very dark outside, so she knew she had either been out a full day and into the next night or less than a few hours. "This sun sure as shit isn't shining here, Lord of Darkness."
Though she didn't know exactly who he was, and she couldn't see because her vision was still affected by the smoke, she could feel the coldness inside him. He was a black pit of hatred. It could have been any of them, but she had a feeling it was Alaric. Her second guess would have been Aeris, but she knew his voice.
She would never forget it.
The man laughed, and the sound wrapped around her like an icy blanket that had been left outside in winter. Chills raced all throughout her body, further alerting her to the danger she was in.
"You're a funny one," he said.
She smiled, though everything around her was still blurry. "You know, I hear that a lot."
"I believe it. I also believe it gets you in trouble, doesn't it?"
She snorted. "You have no idea. So, Sir Darkness, why don't you do a girl a favor and give her the name of her captor?"
"Judging by the fact you're not looking at me, I'm assuming you can't see. If you could, you'd know that your little nickname suits me. My name is Alaric, but I'm assuming you've heard that name before."
She narrowed her eyes, her lips parting just a bit as she pretended to think. "Alaric. Isn’t that usually accompanied by ‘dick’ or ‘jackass?’"
There was a pregnant pause, and she found herself wondering if she was about to get hit again. Finally, he said, "I suppose it is, where you're from."
Brushing off her momentary fear, she smiled and nodded, and pointed a finger even though she had no idea where she was pointing. "Then yes! I have indeed heard of you. Say, does anyone around here have anything without any surprises in it to drink? I don't fancy the taste of mildew, and poison doesn't sit well with me either. It's embarrassing and all, but…" she leaned forward a bit though it hurt, lifting her hand to the side of her mouth as if to share a secret, "stomach problems. Those pesky poisons go straight through me, if ya know what I mean. Plain water will be just fine." She winked.
She heard a stifled laugh across from her, and she sat back. Well, at least he found her amusing.
"Thirsty, are you? Or are you just trying to get under my skin?"
She sighed. "Funny story. I was walking through the woods with my white tiger and a bunch of fog rolled in, but it wasn't fog at all. It was actually a poisonous cloud of smoke." She snorted, faking an amused laugh. "Some asshole pumped a noxious cloud of… Well, I don't know what it was, but it left my throat a little dry." She quietly croaked out that last bit with a disgusted expression, touching her fingers to her throat to exaggerate her discomfort.
And though she was messing with him as hard as she could, she really did hope he might give her some water. Her throat really did hurt, but she wasn’t going to play nice. She would suffer before she did that.
"I'll have someone bring you some water, and it won't be tainted with anything you don't know about. I trust that you will be on your best behavior here, because if you're not, your father will suffer for it."
Her eyes narrowed again, and she was serious this time. "Won't be tainted with anything I don't know about? What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"Like I just said, I won't add anything you don't know about because I trust you'll be on your best behavior. Even so, I can't exactly let you run around at full strength, now can I? That would be stupid on my part, and despite what you may have heard, ‘stupid’ is not a category I fall into. You will be given a tea that will not make you sick, but it will weaken you."
Arryn opened her mouth to speak, but he was quick to interrupt her.
"And you're going to drink it without a fight, because if you don't your father will suffer the consequences. I rather enjoy your sense of humor. In fact, I rather enjoy you. You amuse me. I didn't think I would like you, but I do. Let's keep it that way, shall we? No harm will come to you while you're here, and if anyone does harm you, be sure and let me know."
Arryn was beginning to perceive shapes, and she could see him sitting across from her in the moonlight. "What will you do, spank them?"
He laughed. "Arryn, you and I are going to be great friends. If anyone dares harm
you, I'll kill them. I will kill them to show you exactly how serious I am about our friendship. You are very important."
When she swallowed, her throat felt like there was sand grinding against the membranes. "Why am I so important to you? What do you think you'll get out of a friendship with me? And exactly what type of friendship are we talking about here, because I have some boundaries about just how far my friendships go."
She heard another light laugh and saw the shadows in front of her moving, so she assumed he was shaking his head. "Nothing like that, I assure you. But you are important. You are the key to me winning this war. You're going to help me fight Alexander. You're going to claim the Dark Forest for me."
She looked at him incredulously. "And why in the hell would I do that? Even if I had problems with Alexander—which I don't, and never have—you just tried to kill me, and you tried to kill a lot of other innocent people."
His features were finally coming into focus, and she blinked several times. She took a deep breath, hoping it didn't show, when she saw his burnt-charcoal-colored hair, his dark-gray skin, and his ghostly light-gray eyes.
"You'll do it because I have your father. If you don't…" He paused, smiling. "I'm betting you think I'll say that I'm going to kill him. But you should know, Arryn, my dear friend, that it's so much worse than that. I will take him apart slowly, piece by piece. I will make you watch as I dismantle him inch by inch. Do you know how long it takes a man to die at that rate?"
Her eyes narrowed as she stared him down, and her rage built. The gentle sound of thunder lightly rolled, and the wind started to blow a bit. His eyes widened as he sat there, a smile spreading across his face as he watched green slowly bleed into her dark-brown irises.
"You should know that threatening me is never a good idea. You should also know that when I get out of here, I'm going to open the pits of hell myself and send you there like Alexander should have years ago. Mark my words, because I don't make promises I can't keep."
His smile widened as her eyes grew greener and greener and clouds slowly began to move into the area. "Looks like it's time for that tea, yes? They were right about you, you know. You truly are everything they said. There's no way in hell you should have recovered that quickly, but you did."
He stood, laughing again. "Arryn, remember what I said. We're going to be great friends. The sooner you realize this, the sooner I can let you and your father go once the Dark Forest is mine. And you have my word, I will let him go in one piece as long as you help me."
Alaric waved someone over, and they brought a steaming mug. She eyed the man with disgust, trying her hardest to call active magic, but she couldn't. It was right there, but she couldn't touch it.
"Now, now, don't be a bad girl. Drink some tea, get some sleep, and we’ll have a family reunion first thing in the morning."
Arryn knew her only choice was to bide her time. If she made any wrong moves while she was weak, her father would be harmed in unimaginable ways.
Unable to see straight anymore because of her intense rage, Arryn lifted her shaky hands and accepted the cup. She took several drinks and handed it back.
"Good girl," Alaric said, before turning to walk away. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning."
The sun had finally begun to rise on the Dark Forest, and nearly everyone who could be healed had been. Echo had flown north to the unaffected villages to recruit healers. By the time they reached the southernmost village twenty were dead, and many more were injured or close to death.
The Chieftain and Elysia made their way through the groups that had elected to stay by the river until their homes could be fully cleaned. They checked on everyone, and assured them things would be fine.
The plan was to take all bedding and anything else water-sensitive out of the homes before removing the leaves that acted as roofs. Once that was done, rain would be called, and the homes would be flooded, washing away any toxins still clinging to the wood or other items inside.
Once that was done, they would be aired and left to dry before the leaves were grown back, once again forming the thick protective roof.
When Elysia and the Chieftain went back to the village, a pissed-off Cathillian awaited them. "Arryn is nowhere to be found. No trace of her anywhere. We have groups of warriors out looking for her, but we’ve come up with nothing."
The Chieftain was unsure what to do. He had never thought this possible. He had made a mistake by not giving into Arryn. They had wanted only her all along. If he had gone he might have spared his people this act of war, and it would have made Arryn happy.
He should have helped her go after her father right away, but he had believed in his heart that he was doing the right thing.
To go after Christopher without knowing exactly what they were up against would have risked the lives of many of their warriors. And if they had lost too many, there would have been nothing stopping the dark druids from taking the Dark Forest.
It was possible they had her now. It was possible she was dead or would be soon, or worse. He had to get her back before they hurt her. He needed to get Christopher back as well, as he should have done in the first place.
But what could he do at this moment? Everyone was exhausted and weak. Over half the village had been affected horribly, and a good portion of those who hadn’t been affected had at least in some way weakened themselves healing everyone else.
They were in a worse situation now than they had been before the attack, which only added to his regret.
"What are we going to do? They have her, and I damn well know it. This can't stand, Grandfather. I lost her once, and I'm not fucking doing it again," Cathillian ranted, his nostrils flaring, and his fists clenched at his sides.
Elysia turned to her father. "He's right. We can't just let them take her. I know we have the entire tribe to think of, but if it weren’t for Arryn, a good number of us, including you and Zoe, would've been dead. And yes, I'm well aware she was more than likely trying to get out of the Dark Forest, given her earlier actions. That doesn't change the fact that she stopped and sent Snow back to save the rest of us. She sacrificed herself for us, and we can't repay that by letting her suffer whatever fate they have planned."
The Chieftain sighed, a long uncomfortable pause falling as he debated their words. Once again, he was worried about his people as a whole, in comparison to a single life. Logic told him he needed to protect the many, not the one.
But his guiding rule—family above all else—told him he needed to get his ass south.
Cathillian's expression turned even angrier, and the Chieftain held up his hand. "If we attack right now, we will fail. It doesn't matter if we take the entire druid army with us, we will die. We are all too weak. They plan to use her against us. They're not going to kill her, or they would’ve left her dead body in the Forest for us to find. We’ll take the next few hours to rest. After that, we move south. There's no way in hell I'll let them get away with it."
Though Cathillian still seemed pissed off, he clenched his jaw and nodded, accepting what his grandfather had told him. "Four hours—that’s it. We've all learned how to meditate from Zoe, so we can gather more strength on the journey there. No excuses."
He turned and walked away, leaving Elysia and the Chieftain standing there in silence.
But on the sidelines was someone quiet, someone subtle, someone who was used to being unseen. Corrine moved backward, gauging each step carefully so she didn't make a sound. She had heard every word, and knew Arryn was in danger.
Arryn had taught her a great many things, but the best were faith and love. She had taught her those things did exist, and good people existed, too. She had taught her family was worth living and dying for.
Arryn had also taught her that putting family above your own wellbeing was what you did when you truly loved someone.
As a vine unrolled from a tree above her, wrapping around her extended arm and down around her waist, Corrine said, "They won't go right this minute
, but I will."
17
Waking up was a little too familiar for Arryn. Everything under her felt rocky, and her neck was bent in an uncomfortable position.
She was in a cave.
She sighed as she struggled to sit. Her face was toward the wall, so she rolled onto her back and did her best to push herself upward. Her head still ached, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before—just a dull thrum of pain.
It took a couple minutes, but she was finally able to sit with her back against the cave wall. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
The light was very dim, cast by a few torches mounted down the long tunnel. Her eyes wandered around the cave, adjusting as she tried to see her surroundings.
She realized she wasn't alone. Across from her sat a woman who looked familiar to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but her attention was drawn to the footsteps to her left. A man was pacing back and forth, shaking his head wildly as he mumbled something unintelligible.
He moved his hands quite a lot, and he laughed at random before striking himself on the side of the head. After he did that, he would go back to pacing again, shaking his head and mumbling.
Her mind raced as she watched him, although she was unable to see his features in the low light. A deep pit of worry formed in her stomach as he paced. It couldn't be! She refused to believe it.
"Arryn," he said, shaking his head again as he mumbled something else.
She only barely understood what he had said, but there it was—the evidence. When her name rolled off his lips, tears began to stream down her face. There was no doubting it.
That was her father.
Ten years. She had waited ten years to see him, and there he was. But it wasn't him… not really.
She opened her mouth, but another voice filled the small area. "Don't speak to him, Arryn. Not yet. We need to talk first."
