Ash (The Underground Series Book 2)

by Melody Robinette

  “Why would you do that?”

  “To save Rion’s life,” Autumn stated, thinking this should be obvious.

  Lucian studied her for a moment, frowning slightly. “You’re willing to risk your own credibility for a warlock? A warlock who broke Underground Law.”

  “I am.”

  Lucian’s eyebrows rose at this. “You are rather unusual, Autumn Oaken.”

  “I know.”

  “If that’s what you wish to do, then I won’t stop you.”

  “Thank you, Lucian.”

  “I will inform the others of your plan.”

  He was in the process of walking away when Autumn called Lucian’s name. He turned with a questioning look on his face.

  “Why do you trust me?”

  “You haven’t led us wrong so far.”

  It felt like they had just taken flight when Sundance started to descend again as they neared Onyx Forest. Autumn’s head throbbed from the amount of thoughts that had run through her mind for the past few hours. Thoughts of the centaurs, of how the warlocks would react to the elves’ news, of Kyndel and Ember, of Cera, of Victor, of Vyra, Autumn’s parents, Avery, and just about everything and everyone else that she could think of.

  The Warriors all jumped down from their pegasi, leaving them to graze in a small clearing in the piney woods. The sunlight filtered through the trees, shining down on the path like sporadic spotlights. Autumn and Luke led the Warriors into Onyx Forest and were almost immediately met by Dan and Evan, the two guards who they’d come across last time. The two warlocks appeared out of the shadows like apparitions.

  “It’s us, guys,” Autumn said before they had time to paralyze anyone.

  “What’re you doing back here?” Evan said rudely. “Sam already said we’d help you.”

  “We need to speak with Sam,” Luke said.

  Dan frowned. “Again?”

  “Yes,” Autumn said firmly. “It’s urgent.” Evan and Dan exchanged a wary glance as the other Warriors shuffled restlessly behind them.

  “Fine,” Evan said. “Follow me.”

  Evan led them down the path into Onyx Forest while Dan remained at his post. It looked the same as they had left it: rows of log cabins with paths running between them, all meeting in the center of town with pine trees spaced sporadically around the small town, warlocks going about their daily routines, many shooting the elves confused and interested glances.

  As they neared Sam’s cabin, Evan turned to face them. “Only the royal elves may enter.”

  Autumn and Luke followed Evan into Sam’s cabin. The warlock leader sat in one of the oversized, claw-footed armchairs reading a book. He glanced up and his face immediately morphed into a mask of surprise and something else. Apprehension?

  “Autumn, Luke, what a pleasant surprise,” he said, setting his book aside and standing to greet them. “Please, sit.” He waved a hand at the other two armchairs. “What brings you back to Onyx Forest so soon?”

  Luke looked to Autumn to answer. She glanced beyond Sam to see Rion standing in the doorway with a look of terror on his face. Her mouth went dry and her heart rate increased. She decided to just dive right in. “The residents of Onyx Forest are in danger,” she said. A shadow passed across Sam’s face.

  “How so?”

  “Information has been leaked to the centaurs about a past incident between a warlock and an elf,” Autumn began, using all of her will power to avoid Rion’s stare.

  “What sort of incident?”

  “I must apologize for keeping this information from you before. I thought it best that as few people as possible know—”

  “What information,” Sam asked impatiently this time.

  “Approximately 18 years ago a warlock and an Atrum, um, created an Ellock.”

  Sam’s expression was dark. “Where did you learn this?”

  Autumn couldn’t help herself as she glanced up at Rion. He was frozen in fear, his eyes pleading with her.

  “Victor Vaun,” she said. Relief followed by confusion washed over Rion’s features. “Victor and I became close when he lived in Arbor Falls and he told me information that he probably shouldn’t have. I kept it to myself to keep the elves and warlocks safe from the rest of the Underground creatures.”

  “Who is the warlock responsible?” Sam asked.

  “I don’t know his name,” Autumn said quickly. “All I know is that he was killed in battle.”

  “I see,” Sam said. “Is there any more information regarding the warlocks you’ve been keeping to yourself that I should know about?”

  “Only that the centaurs have become aware of what Victor is and are now spreading the word around the Underground. Elves and warlocks are no longer safe.”

  His brow furrowed.

  “Your people need to leave Onyx Forest,” Luke jumped in.

  Sam nodded absentmindedly. “That is evident. Where to go is not as clear, however.”

  “You can come to Arbor Falls,” Autumn offered.

  “Has this been cleared with Olympus?” Sam asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Autumn and Luke exchanged a quick glance.

  “My brother and I are next in line for the throne. Our grandfather will respect our decision,” she said, not completely sure if her statement was true. “With the combined power of the elves and warlocks, we will all be better protected. This information is going to spread all over the Underground like wildfire if it hasn’t already. This may very well be the start of the second Underground War.”

  At these words Sam looked up at her with a strange expression. She waited for him to speak. Finally he said, “When do we leave?”

  Runaways

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Sam sent Rion to spread the unfortunate news around Onyx Forest. Autumn and Luke left Sam’s cabin in a rush. The Warriors stood waiting for them under the shade of a cluster of pine trees.

  “Forrest,” Luke called. Forrest immediately snapped to attention. “I need you to send a messenger bird to Olympus. Tell him about the situation with Victor and that Onyx Forest is being evacuated. The warlocks will be seeking shelter in Arbor Falls.”

  “Er—” Forrest began.

  “Just do it!” Autumn said.

  Forrest looked taken aback, but hurried into the woods in search of a messenger bird. The others watched the twins with surprised expressions. Neither of them were used to ordering the others around and vice versa.

  “Uh, I’m sorry,” Ember began, her arms folded tightly across her chest, “but my hearing must be going because I swear I just heard you say that the warlocks will be coming to Arbor Falls.”

  Autumn shot her a warning look. “You heard correct.”

  “When are we leaving?” Avery asked.

  “As soon as everyone in Onyx Forest is aware of the situation and ready to leave.”

  “Do they need help?” Jastin asked.

  “Sam told us to stay out of the way,” Autumn said. “They have to use a lot of magic to ward their houses as best they can, plus, not all of the residents trust us.”

  “Good thing they’re coming to stay in our territory, then,” Ember grumbled.

  “Will you just shut the hell up?” Autumn snapped.

  “Don’t act like this is anyone’s fault but yours, Princess,” Ember growled. “Everything we’ve done has been for nothing. Once the vampires and merpeople find out about Victor, there’s no way they’ll help us. If you hadn’t—”

  “This was not Autumn’s fault,” Crystal jumped in.

  Autumn held her hand up to her friend. “Crystal—”

  “No,” she said, dismissing Autumn’s protest and turning to Ember. “If you would have kept your big mouth shut, the centaurs never would have heard what they did and we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  Ember shot Crystal a venomous glare with something else lingering in her expression. “We had a right to know what we were getting into.”

  “Enough,” Lucian growled. “We don’t have time for
this.”

  “Sure we do,” Ember said. “We have to wait around for the spell-casters to spray fairy dust all over their town while we stand around like idiots.”

  “How do we even know that those horse people weren’t torched in that grassfire,” Edric jumped in. “This could all be pointless.”

  “They weren’t,” Ember muttered. Autumn looked at her in surprise. She stood a few feet away from everyone now, pretending to examine her nails.

  “How can you know that?” Autumn asked.

  “The fire I created could only burn the grass. It was harmless to living creatures,” she stated.

  “You can do that?” Eden asked sounding impressed. Ember nodded curtly. Autumn and Kyndel exchanged a quick glance.

  Edric sighed. “Well, that sucks.”

  “How does that suck?” Autumn asked. “You wanted all of those centaurs to die?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah. Then there’d be no problems.” Crystal, along with most everyone else, stared at him in disgust. Luke looked a bit smug. Edric held up his hands in question. “What?”

  “You’re pathetic,” Crystal said, shaking her head and walking away.

  “Wha—Crystal!” he called, jogging after her.

  Autumn glanced at Luke to see him barely hiding a grin. Then she scanned the Warriors. Jastin and Charlotte were holding hands, Willow and Forrest were whispering between each other, Ember and Kyndel had moved a little ways away from the group to talk, and Eden and Lucian were conversing silently with one another just by looking into each other’s eyes.

  It was sort of beautiful to see that love had managed to stay alive even when everything else was such a mess. Autumn moved closer to Avery, the gravitational pull within her chest kicking in with vigor. He pulled her towards him, kissing her on the forehead. She leaned into him and he wrapped his arm around her. She drank in the feel of him, the smell. He smelled like home.

  It took the warlocks a few hours to complete their spell preparations.

  “Do they fly on brooms?” Luke muttered to Autumn under his breath.

  “We fly without anything,” Rion said from behind them. Autumn and Luke jumped.

  Autumn turned to Rion. “You can fly?”

  “It’s a simple anti-gravity spell,” he said and then lowered his voice after glancing around to make sure no one was listening. “Thank you for keeping my secret by the way.”

  “Of course,” Autumn said and then moved away from him when she saw Sam approaching with his daughter, Tara, and an attractive brunette woman who she assumed was his wife trailing behind him.

  “Everyone has been notified,” Sam said. “I have left it up to their discretion whether they will be joining us or not.”

  “You mean some of them are staying?” Autumn asked, frowning. Sam nodded. “But this is the first place the other creatures will visit. They’ll be attacked.”

  “I am not going to force anyone to leave their homes,” he said sadly.

  “But—”

  Luke cut her off. “Leave it, Autumn.”

  “When will you be heading out?” Sam asked, ignoring their exchange.

  “We’re ready when you are,” Luke said.

  They had loaded up the pegasi with as many supplies as they could hold, packing plenty of water and food for them to keep up their strength for as long as possible. The warlock families with young children had to fashion a sort of baby sling out of cloth strapped to their bodies because the little ones weren’t able to fly on their own while the others sported their own packs of supplies.

  Once everyone was ready, Lucian led the pegasi into the air, followed by hundreds of warlocks. The extraordinary image of them flying weightlessly across the sky with nothing to support them but air would stay with Autumn for the rest of her life.

  They soon left the soothing smell of pine trees behind them and met the ominous rocks and mountains that surrounded Blood Valley.

  In order to keep from being seen, they had to fly higher than they normally would, meaning that they were nearly about to freeze to death. Autumn’s body shook so violently from the cold, she may as well have not been wearing her thick wool coat. By the time the sun set Autumn could feel Sundance shivering beneath her.

  “Lucian!” Autumn called ahead. He turned to look at her. “We need to land soon. The pegasi are freezing up here.”

  “We only passed Blood Valley an hour ago,” he called back. “We need to put more distance between us and the vampires.”

  “The vamps are probably in their caves playing chess,” Luke muttered to Autumn.

  They flew for another hour. Sundance’s breathing was beginning to sound labored and her wings were no longer moving fluidly, but in sporadic beats. Autumn searched the ground frantically for a place to land, spotting a large, square space set in the middle of four oversized boulders.

  “I’m taking her down!” she called to Lucian before leading Sundance to the ground. Her landing was shaky and Autumn climbed off of her quickly. She was unsteady on her feet, almost as if she were disoriented. “Lay down, Sunny.” Sundance collapsed, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

  A moment later the rest of the Warriors landed around Autumn. The other pegasi looked tired and cold, but none of them seemed as bad off as Sundance. Even Thunder stood steadily on his feet.

  “What’s wrong with her?” Autumn said, sounding slightly hysterical.

  “She’s very small,” Willow said in a soothing voice. “I’m sure today’s journey was difficult for her.”

  Forrest bent down beside Sundance and muttered to her in his animal language. His voice was calm at first, and then more urgent.

  He looked worriedly up at the others. “She isn’t answering me.”

  “What does that mean?” Autumn asked, her voice cracking.

  The warlocks were landing on the smooth, stone ground now.

  “What’s the matter?” Tara asked as she approached them.

  “It’s her pegasus,” Crystal answered. “This journey was too difficult for her.”

  “I can fix her,” Tara said, smiling reassuringly. Autumn shot her a wary look and Tara put a hand on her shoulder. “Trust me.”

  Autumn looked at her for a long time before nodding slowly and stepping back from Sundance. Tara knelt down beside Sundance and pressed a hand against the animal’s heaving chest, closing her eyes and bowing her head. Her brown hair fell across her face as she began whispering in a low, rhythmic voice. Autumn couldn’t make out what she was saying, but whatever it was seemed to be doing something. The Warriors watched in awe as the air around Sundance began to blur like waves of heat. Tara’s whispering became faster and the waves seemed to move with the cadence of her words. Suddenly the snowy-white pegasus was surrounded by a shining light, which left as quickly as it came.

  Sundance’s electric blue eyes fluttered open and she climbed to her feet. Autumn approached her cautiously with an outstretched hand. The pegasus leaned forward and placed her nose in Autumn’s palm.

  “That was amazing,” Autumn said breathlessly. “Thank you so much, Tara.”

  The young warlock shrugged with a shy smile. “It was nothing.”

  “It was something to me,” Autumn said seriously, patting Sundance fondly on the neck.

  The other pegasi didn’t need the healing treatment that Sundance had received, but they were given potions by Jynx to warm them up and ease their sore muscles. After the animals had been taken care of, the Warriors basically sat back and watched as the warlocks set up the camp. Somehow they were able to morph the boulders around the site into massive tents and cots.

  The warlocks then came together to put up wards around their campsite to avoid detection. The Warriors watched in awe, obviously developing a new appreciation of the other creatures. Their powers may not have been as strong as elves, but the sheer volume of spells they knew was impressive in and of itself.

  Autumn’s brows came together in thought as she watched the warlocks’ spells swirl around the air. Eac
h Underground creature had so much to offer. Each had a unique and special gift. She tried to imagine what could be possible if only the creatures would come together and share their powers. Come together and live as one. No prejudice. No judgment. No hostility.

  That, Autumn feared, was too good to ever come true.

  Even now, the warlocks and Warriors remained segregated, eyeing one another warily. Autumn would’ve thought that having the entire Underground against both warlocks and elves would somehow drive the two groups together. Apparently not.

  To avoid discovery they didn’t light any fires and kept their talking down to a bare minimum. They were all too exhausted to talk much anyway. Everyone climbed into their designated tents and attempted to get some sleep.

  The Warriors were all in a single tent. By listening to the rustling sounds of the others tossing and turning, it was clear to Autumn that she was not the only one struggling to fall asleep.

  “You should Sing, Autumn,” Forrest said suddenly, causing her and a few others to jump at the broken silence.

  “Sing?”

  “Yeah, so we can fall asleep,” he said, reminding her of a small child seeking comfort from their mother.

  Autumn waited for Ember or Lucian to dispute this, but they didn’t. Taking a deep breath, Autumn Sang an echoing melody that filled the tent like smoke in a sealed glass, furling around them in tendrils.

  She Sang as long as she could until she felt her own muscles relax and her heavy eyelids slide closed.

  They left at dawn.

  A couple of the warlocks cast shield spells around the pegasi so they were able to fly longer and higher without becoming fatigued or chilled like poor Sundance had been yesterday. They made it all the way to the edge of the Shining Sea by sundown, though they were careful to stay a good three miles away from the water. No one knew if merpeople could survive out of the water, but none of them wanted to find out if they could by waking up to a spear in their chest.

  “Do you think the warlocks are afraid of us?” Jastin asked as the fourteen Warriors congregated outside of their new tent the warlocks had made from a trio of trees. He sat on the forest floor with Charlotte leaning back against his chest, his arms encircling her.