The Blood Forest (The Tree of Ages Series Book 3)

by Sara C. Roethle

  One of his men screamed not far behind him. He turned, and could barely see enough through the snow to notice an oddly armored rider as he wielded a long sword against another of his men.

  Óengus turned forward again and kicked his horse. If these riders were somehow causing the snowfall, now was not the time to fight. He nearly toppled from his horse as something struck his shoulder. The creature’s tether tugged free from his half frozen hand, and she disappeared into the blizzard. Unable to chase after her, he lifted his blade to fend off the armored rider’s next attack. It did not seem that there were many of them, but the snow was causing great confusion amongst his men, removing the advantage of their greater numbers.

  He slashed again, and the rider fell away. Óengus kicked his horse forward through the trees, seeking cover from the blinding snow. Warm blood flowed down his back from the new wound in his shoulder, saturating his uniform. More of his men screamed behind him.

  While perhaps in that moment he should have been fearing for his life, all he could think was, Keiren will not be pleased.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  K ai flicked his eyes from side to side, one hand on his reins and the other on a dagger the Aos Sí had provided along with a horse. He wasn’t sure if it was the unfamiliar weapon, the dark surrounding trees, the crispness to the air, or something else that made unease clench his gut like a fist. He and his remaining party, who’d also been supplied the same, had eventually reached the Sand Road, but had opted for riding on a parallel side path. That way, they would hopefully spot any travelers on the road before they themselves were spotted. While the Aos Sí had equipped their new mounts with everything they might need for their journey, they were still now only three, just he, Anna, and Sativola, none of them possessing magic like Finn or Ealasaid.

  The fist around his gut dug its nails in at the thought of Finn. His only comfort was that he knew Iseult would take care of her, but . . . he wanted it to be him. He wanted to be the one to race back and protect her from Oighear, but what could he do? He was a weak human, utterly useless in a world that now seemed to be overrun by magic. He lifted his hand from his dagger to stare at the scar on his palm. Though the skin should have been slightly deadened to touch, it felt more . . . alive than the rest of the skin on his body. Right now it was burning.

  Anna abruptly halted her horse. “Do either of you feel like we’re riding into a trap?”

  He turned and peered at her face, barely showing in the shadow of her hood. She rode with her back hunched, as if a great weight was on her shoulders.

  “I’ve felt nervous since we reached Migris,” Sativola grumbled from her other side. “And I’ll continue to feel nervous until we reach a city where men still dwell. If we’re walking into a trap, well, it wouldn’t feel different than any other day.”

  “You’ll learn to tell the different between nerves and traps,” Anna snapped, “if you have a wise bone in your body.”

  Ignoring their bickering, Kai peered around at the surrounding trees. Though the air was chilly, there was no sign of snow. Still, he did feel an air of portent, and he could not decide if it meant something bad was coming, or if he simply expected something bad after everything else that had happened. He flexed his scarred hand uncomfortably.

  They had ridden almost constantly since leaving Oighear’s domain, intent on reaching Garenoch. They didn’t want Finn, Iseult, and Bedelia to reach the burgh before them, and leave once they saw they weren’t there.

  “Do you see that?” Anna hissed, pointing past Kai’s face. “Is there a stream nearby?”

  He looked in the direction she was pointing, noting the subtle mist gathering above the ground. While it wasn’t an abnormal sight in their moist atmosphere, he was quite sure he’d never view acts of weather and nature as normal again.

  “I say we take our chances on the road,” Sativola said warily.

  Kai wanted to agree, but part of him hoped the mist was unnatural. Not all magic beings they’d encountered had been malevolent. Perhaps if this was such a creature, it might have crossed paths with Finn. The Trow, for one, seemed to flock to her.

  “Go to the road if you wish,” he muttered. “I’d like to see what this is all about.”

  As he watched, the mist increased.

  Without another word, Sativola turned his horse and trotted in the direction of the road. Kai supposed he couldn’t blame him, especially after he’d been caught dancing half naked in the moonlight.

  He startled as Anna stepped her horse up to his side.

  He turned his gaze to her, though he still could hardly see her face. “You can wait on the road too,” he advised. “I know you’d rather not see anything . . . magical, if you can help it.”

  Her shoulders slumped as she sighed. “Yes, the problem is, I can see such things, far better than you. I fear you won’t know what to do without me.”

  He shrugged. “True.”

  He would have said more, but the mist had reached their horses’ hooves, and had begun to climb upward. It hit his nostrils, and suddenly he felt overwhelmingly sleepy. He fought his eyes as they attempted to close. Perhaps this had not been such a wise choice after all. He slumped forward in his saddle, unable to remain erect, only vaguely aware of Anna slumping beside him, muttering, “You owe me for this.”

  As hard as he fought, his world went dark, then it was as if the strange trance had never happened. He sat upright, blinking at the misty woods around him in confusion. He felt alert and in control of his body. He turned to observe Anna in much the same state.

  “What happened?” he whispered.

  “The gray,” she groaned. “We’re part way between the gray place and reality.”

  He cringed at that revelation, but didn’t have time to reply as a cloaked form stepped out of the mist.

  “You,” Anna gasped.

  Kai peered at the cloaked figure. Its body was clearly feminine, draped in a silky black robe. Other than the determination of gender, he had no idea how Anna knew who it was. The face inside its hood was hidden from view.

  “Yes, I,” the woman replied. “Forgive me for not properly introducing myself before. I am Móirne.”

  Her voice sounded oddly familiar to Kai, yet he couldn’t quite place it.

  “I see you have lost track of my daughter,” the woman continued. “Or perhaps you left her on purpose.”

  Daughter? Kai thought. Could it be . . .

  Móirne pulled back her hood, revealing a face almost the twin of Finn’s, save a more angular jaw, blue eyes instead of dark hazel, and brown hair instead of dirty blonde.

  “Do you know where she is?” Anna bravely demanded.

  Kai was glad that she did, as he was still too stunned to speak.

  “She is safe,” Móirne replied, “for now. She travels with some of the lesser denizens of our kind. They will aid in her journey for a time.”

  “Then why are you here?” Anna asked. “Or are you really here.”

  Móirne quirked the corner of her lips in a very un-Finn-like smile. Finn’s smile was always broad and warm. This woman’s was secretive. “I am not truly here, you are correct. I’ve come to ask a favor,” she turned her gaze to Kai, “of you. You may not remember, but you owe me almost as much as you owe my daughter.”

  “You helped her save me,” he recalled. “She told me what happened the next morning.”

  She nodded. “Yes, and now I need your help. I expect you will not refuse.”

  “If it will aid Finn, I will give you whatever you wish,” he replied.

  She smiled a little wider. “Perhaps she was right to save you, and it’s actually quite convenient for me. I need you to draw the attention of my people. I’ve done my best to hide Finn from them, but her magic shines brighter every day. It draws our people to her like moths to a flame. Soon I will not be able to protect her, but I can still buy her time to finish what she started.”

  Kai’s heart began to race. He’d heard enough of the Cavari to know
drawing their attention was unwise. He couldn’t let them find Finn. He might only be human, but if he could help, he would. “Tell me what to do.”

  “Kai, you cannot,” Anna argued, placing a gloved hand on his arm.

  He shook his head. “Tell me what to do,” he asked again, his gaze remaining on Móirne.

  She approached him and stood beside his horse, which remained eerily still, as if asleep. From the folds of her robe she withdrew a shiny gold locket, dangling from a fine gold chain. “This belonged to my daughter,” she explained. “She left it with me before she-” she cut herself off, a sad look in her blue eyes.

  Shaking her head, she held the locket up to him. He took it gently in his palm, trailing the chain across his fingers.

  “Wear it,” she instructed, “and along with her blood running through your veins, it should draw their attention. Continue on your intended course, but keep to the woods. Once you make it to the next burgh, you should be safe for a short while. They are as of yet ghosts in this land, unable to fully enter the world of man, yet do not mistake me, if they catch you in the wilds, they will kill you. They will pull you into a place like this,” she gestured to the surrounding mist, “and you will not leave alive. It is only the energy of so many humans in one place that disrupts their weakened magic.”

  He stared down at the locket thoughtfully, trying to commit every word she spoke to memory. “So make it to Garenoch, and they will not be able to harm us?”

  She shrugged. “They may call other Faie to do their bidding, just as they have done in other cities and burghs, but it will take them time to muster such forces. Enough time for Finn to complete her task. After that, they will not be able to control her.”

  Kai draped the chain around his neck. “I will do as you say, but how will I find Finn afterward?”

  She smiled sadly. “If she so desires, she will find you. Let us hope she will still be the same woman you remember.”

  He opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but suddenly she was gone, along with the mist.

  Anna eyed him sternly from within the shadows of her hood. “You’re a fool.”

  He grinned at her, elated with the small shred of hope Móirne had given him. “I never claimed to be anything else.”

  “AND THEY’RE NOT afraid of you?” Corcra asked from her perch on Finn’s shoulder.

  The rest of her kin buzzed around them, occasionally alighting on Loinnir’s fuzzy white head for a rest. For once, the sun was shining warmly on her face. Loinnir’s gait was smooth and comfortable beneath her, her wound had been properly stitched with pixie thread, and she’d just eaten another portion of the honey bannocks provided by the Aos Sí.

  She began to shrug her shoulders, then halted the gesture, not wanting to topple Corcra. “They’re my friends,” she explained, referring to her missing companions. “Why would they be afraid of me?”

  “Your magic,” Corcra replied. “All humans fear magic, except for the few who can wield it themselves, and those just fear being found out and associated with the Faie.”

  “Two of my friends have their own magic,” Finn smirked, thinking of Anna, “though one doesn’t like to admit it.”

  “Hmm,” Corcra buzzed. “Be that as it may, I imagine they still fear the Faie.”

  Finn nodded. “I must admit, I fear some of the Faie myself. The Trow have been very kind to me, but others have not been as . . . pleasant.”

  Corcra hummed in agreement. “Yes, there are more violent, dark Faie, just as there are more violent, dark humans.”

  “I suppose that’s true,” Finn muttered, “but my friends are as light as they come.”

  Corcra chuckled. “I’ll have to take you at your word, as I don’t plan on conversing with any humans any time soon.”

  Finn laughed. “Well I appreciate you speaking with me. I feel hopeful now that there are other Faie as kind as you and the Trow.”

  A few of Corcra’s people circled back from the path ahead, then came to buzz around them in a cacophony of tiny voices that Finn found difficult to decipher.

  “The road you seek is just ahead,” Corcra explained. “This is where we must part ways, and you must leave Loinnir behind.”

  At that moment Loinnir reared her head backward and shook out her mane, dislodging the few pixies who rested there.

  “Hmm,” Corcra murmured, maintaining her perch on Finn’s shoulder. “It seems she would like to remain with you, but I do not know . . . ” she trailed off as both her and Finn’s attentions were drawn by Loinnir’s horn.

  The air around it seemed to shimmer, then it slowly faded from sight.

  “Well that solves that, I suppose,” Corcra mused.

  “You mean she’ll really stay with me?” Finn asked hopefully, feeling immense relief, not only that she wouldn’t have to walk, but that she wouldn’t have to be alone.

  “She’s chosen you,” Corcra explained. “She says you are her new queen.”

  “Well she has my gratitude,” Finn replied, “but as I’ve already explained, I am no queen.”

  Corcra simply shook her head and took flight. “We’ll see, lass. We’ll see. We’d appreciate it if you’d ride out on the road first. Draw the immediate attention of anyone who might be around to see, so that we might fly unnoticed high overhead.”

  “Of course,” Finn replied. “And I hope to see you again.”

  Corcra hovered in front of her face and smiled. “Aye, lass. And we’ll keep an eye out for your friends. If they are as friendly toward magic as you say, perhaps we can pass your message along to them.”

  Finn grinned. “I’d appreciate that. We cannot seem to stop losing each other. It would be nice, for once, if I were the one to do the finding.”

  Corcra gave her a little wave, then flew up high as Finn rode out onto the road.

  Finn looked both ways to see a small caravan of travelers not far off. Quickly deciding that her promise to Corcra was worth the risk, she urged Loinnir to trot toward them, drawing their attention as the pixies flew high over the road to the relative safety of the woods beyond.

  ANOTHER DAY CAME and went as Iseult and Bedelia waited in their cell. Apparently Oighear had defeated the contingent of men, as the occasional guards that passed by seemed unworried. Iseult had hoped the men would prove enough of a distraction for him to escape, but it seemed few were a true match for Oighear.

  He stood at the sound of footsteps while Bedelia remained slumped against the wall on the stone floor. The slight illumination from the lanterns in the hall increased as someone approached with a torch. Iseult was surprised to see Oighear herself, in her glittering white gown. Normally, she had pairs of the Aos Sí bring either him or Bedelia up for questioning. She had never come down to them before.

  She tugged at something on the end of a leather cord until a struggling Naoki came into view. Before Iseult could help himself, his eyes widened ever so slightly.

  “Ah,” Oighear observed, her eyes intent on his face. “So you’ve seen this creature before?”

  A moment later his subtle giveaway wouldn’t have mattered. Seeing him, Naoki rushed toward the bars of the cell, chittering frantically. There was a leather cord tied around her beak, and a few thicker ones around her wings, holding them down. Seeing the creature Finn dearly cared about in such a state filled him with rage.

  “The men who encroached upon my lands were being led by this creature,” Oighear explained. “We questioned one of the soldiers before he was killed. Apparently, their Captain was seeking out a girl with long blonde hair and dark eyes, along with a man fitting the description of your other companion with Dair blood. You can imagine why I found all of this wonderfully interesting.”

  Iseult glared at her. He could already guess her plan, but would let her say it first.

  “The issue is,” Oighear continued, “that this creature seems to fear my soldiers. She will not continue her tracking.”

  Relief flooded through Iseult, there was hope yet.

 
; Finally Bedelia stood and staggered weakly to the cell bars. “So what do you want?” she growled. “Why are you telling us any of this?”

  Oighear smiled wickedly. “I thought the creature might recognize you. Perhaps you can coax her to do her job.”

  “Never,” Bedelia and Iseult said simultaneously.

  “Forgive me,” Oighear replied, demurely raising her free hand to her chest. “I was not asking your permission. You will accompany me, and a group of my most loyal followers. We will find the Cavari girl, and she will lead us to my shroud.”

  Iseult shook his head, having realized her plan after all. Though he had never been fond of magic, he wished for it in that moment, if only to strike Oighear dead. His hands flexed on the bars of his cell until his knuckles turned white.

  Just before he would have made an attempt to grab her and slam her against the iron bars, Oighear stepped back. Five Aos Sí warriors came into view, iron chains and other bindings in hand.

  “Naturally, you’ll be walking while we ride,” Oighear explained. “Though the chains can be quite heavy, I expect they won’t slow you down.”

  Iseult eyed the warriors approaching him. He could attempt escape now, but with Oighear standing out of reach, the odds were not in his favor. Perhaps once they were on the road, he and Bedelia could make their escape.

  Oighear turned to one of the Aos Sí not holding manacles or chains. “Make sure my horse is well prepared,” she ordered, “since my proper mount seems to have gone . . . missing.”

  The insight that Oighear’s mount of choice was not available did little to comfort Iseult. One of the Aos Sí opened the barred door to his cell. He sighed and allowed the remaining warriors who entered the cell to thoroughly bind him. Following his lead, Bedelia did the same, though she eyed him curiously, as if hoping for a plan.

  He subtly shook his head. He had nothing at the moment. Still, while Oighear’s presence would complicate things, being out in the open was preferable to rotting away in a dungeon. The self-proclaimed queen had her weaknesses, and a long journey would only give him more time to find and exploit them.