by Chloe Jacobs
“Why isn’t it working?” Her fingers dug into the rough bark of the trees that acted as the circle’s silent guardians. She met Isaac’s gaze, unable to hide her desperation and fear. “Do something,” she begged. “Isaac, please. You’ve got to do something else.”
He only shook his head, his eyes solemn and dark. “I’m sorry. There’s nothing more to be done. The Great Mother—”
Suddenly, Greta felt a pop. A release. She pitched forward, one foot landing inside the circle. The invisible shield was gone. The magick had winked out of existence.
“No! Oh God, no.”
She dove through the stand of trees and pushed past Isaac, falling to her knees in the grass. “No, no, no. Luke, don’t you dare!” She bracketed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him into her arms, rocking him sharply. “Wake up.”
The tears started coming. She couldn’t hold them in. “Wake up. You’ve got to wake up!”
He was so still.
“No, you can’t do this,” she sobbed. “Don’t go. Don’t you go and leave me here.” Taking the sprite’s already cool hand between hers, she clutched it close to her chest, dropping her forehead to his. “I’m so sorry.”
At first, she didn’t notice that Isaac’s arms had come around her and he was patting her shoulder, his big hand landing in heavy thumps that jolted her out of her sorrow. She fell silent, pushing against his loose hold until he let her go.
He took her hands, tugging them away from the blood-stiffened fabric of Luke’s shirt. She curled in on herself, but he stayed with her, saying something in a low voice. She didn’t know what. It didn’t even matter. It was his voice she needed. That hypnotic, soothing voice that seemed to numb some of the pain.
After a long time, he pulled her up and started to lead her out of the circle. The weight of her sorrow pushed on her chest, making it so hard to breathe. “No, I can’t go. I can’t leave him there all by himself.”
“I think your pater would want to rest here in the woods. He is one with the Great Mother now, and will never be alone.” He paused and squeezed her hand. “I can take care of him for you, but maybe you should wait in the carriage.”
She shook her head and worked to pull the world back into focus, determined to get control of herself. “No, I can handle it. Staying with him until the end—it’s the least I can do.”
He looked at her for a moment before nodding. “All right. I’ll go to the house and get a spade. Don’t go anywhere.”
Where am I going to go?
When Isaac left, Greta made her way back to Luke’s side. Seeing the dark stains marring his face, she grabbed a clean edge of the sheet and wiped off the blood as best she could, but it was mostly dry now, caked on like a dark birthmark.
Isaac returned and insisted on doing the digging. He stopped only once to peel off his heavy cloak and roll up the sleeves of his white lawn shirt, despite the cold winter air. When the hole was deep enough, he lifted Luke’s body and laid it in the fresh grave.
She pushed to her shaking feet and walked across the grass—already turning brown and crispy now that the magick that had kept it alive through the perpetual Mylean winter was gone. When the last shovelful of dirt locked her mentor into his grave, she stumbled back to the edge of the circle and darted into the trees.
She made it maybe a hundred yards before falling to her knees and glaring up into the night, drawing great gulping breaths into her lungs. The skyline was a black shadow unmarked by endless power lines or the jagged blight of a thousand skyscrapers. Flora that would just as easily kill as nourish. Mountains which refused to bend to any force but that which came from the Great Mother herself. Everything about this place was hard. Merciless.
She swiped her sleeve across her eyes and took a deep breath. Luke had been trying to tell her something before he died.
Agramon.
Chapter Five
Agramon.
What did that mean? Person, place, or thing? Had Luke been trying to name his killer or pass along some last bit of fatherly wisdom that she didn’t get because she hadn’t been in her right mind while he was losing his lifeblood all over her?
Isaac came up behind her. “Are you all right?”
Greta shook her head, knowing if she spoke, she’d lose control again, and forced herself to go back inside the cottage. Treat this like any other job. You’re hunting a monster. It’s exactly what Luke trained you for.
“There’s nothing here for you.”
“I can’t leave yet. There must be something here that will tell me who did this to him.”
He stood behind her, smelling warm and alive, of fresh earth and sweat. “Anyone could have gotten in here,” he said, touching her shoulder. “One of the Lost. Or drifters perhaps.”
“I don’t think so.” The blood on the floor was drying to round black blots that would leave a telling stain in the natural wood grain.
No creature of the Lost could have done this. It all felt much too methodical. “I think Lucius knew who it was. He was trying to tell me when I found him. He said Agramon.” She turned around to look up at Isaac with a frown. “Do you know what that means?”
Isaac’s eyes widened. Before she could ask what he knew, he took her hand and started pulling her towards the door, his brows drawn together. “Hurry, come with me.”
“What is it?”
“It isn’t safe here. If he finds you…”
So Agramon was a person. She jerked out of his grasp. “What do you know about him?”
“I know that he will come for you.”
She stiffened. “Me? Why me? Did this guy kill Lucius because of me? How do you know this?”
He rubbed his neck and glared at her as if trying to decide whether he’d be able to throw her over his shoulder. “He sent his gnomes to do it for him. And more will be on their way.”
“Gnomes?” She curled her fingers into her palms to keep from reaching out and shaking him, her insides crawling with too many emotions. “How do you know this?”
His lips pressed together in a pained expression, but he refused to say anything else.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “I’ll save him the trouble of putting together a posse by finding him first.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” A sharp glower twisted his face. “You have no notion of what you’re dealing with.”
She shrugged and turned away, hiding her fear and despair. “I’ll figure it out, won’t I?”
“So stubborn,” he said behind her. “Is that a human trait?”
“What?” She gasped and swung back around.
“Are you going to deny it?” His flinty stare dared her to try.
“Listen.” She’d figured out that he knew the truth after their conversation in his house, but the way he spat “human” like the very word left a rancid taste on his tongue hurt. “I’m just going to leave. I think it’s best if—”
Isaac stepped between her and the door. She could see the condemnation in his stiff stance, the wariness in his hard gaze. He seemed to be waiting for her to do something revolting and thereby prove that humans were as horrible as he’d been told.
“Why should I let you go?” he asked. “You are the very reason my world was cursed, and you’re the only way for us to be free of it.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Whoa. I know you people have thought up some paranoid crap about humans, but let’s not get carried away. You don’t actually believe all those crazy stories?”
“Humans brought a monster to Mylena that remains to this day. It has leeched into the very ground we live off, the lakes we drink from, the air we breathe, and infected us all. Only by exterminating humans from our land will we be able to find prosperity once more.”
Greta didn’t like the sanctimonious tone of his voice. “That’s bull—”
“Quiet,” he snapped, his inscrutable expression causing her muscles to tighten in readiness. “Who are you?”
She bit her lip. “No one. I’m not
a threat to you or anyone else. I’m just a girl, not some harbinger of great evil. Really. Please Isaac, just let it go. Let me go.”
His eyes narrowed at the sound of his name coming as a plea from her lips. “You’re not going anywhere until we have a talk.”
She crossed her arms and glared at him. “I don’t have time for this.”
He laughed at her. Laughed. The jerk. “At least now I understand where your impertinence comes from. Humans are notoriously irritating and troublesome, are you not?”
And how would he know what humans were like? “You’re no walk in the park yourself,” she snapped. “Arrogant, manipulative smartass.”
He ignored her jab. “Gather whatever you think you might need and meet me at the carriage. You have two minutes. No longer.”
Isaac might not be the biggest, strongest, most menacing thing walking—yet—but the potential was there. He was better suited to his new position than he let on. He already spoke with the unshakable confidence of a male used to getting his way, used to the privilege of his position. Another couple years and he’d be completely intolerable.
Her jaw ached from clenching her teeth so tightly together, but she didn’t say anything. In this world, his will would always be upheld over her own. If he decided to assert his authority, there would be no one to stand up for her.
She found a lantern that had survived the carnage. Needing some matches, she headed for the cupboard across the room. The twin doors of the supply cabinet stood open, one of them hanging drunkenly by only one hinge. The few contents within had been wiped from the shelving and strewn over the floor, but she was able to find a box of matchsticks to light the lantern.
With a soft glow illuminating a small circle of space around her, she pulled out the two empty shelves from the cupboard and turned a hidden latch. The back wall of the unit swung out on a hidden joint, revealing a secret compartment.
She surveyed the selection of weapons still resting neatly in their places upon the high shelf. Knives and daggers. A sword and an axe. A quiver of arrows and a short bow to go along with it, along with a few other fun things. She got what she wanted, and then headed back into Luke’s room.
He’d taken Greta in and protected her when anyone else on this damn planet would have gutted her like a pig and set her rotting head up on a spike. She never figured out why, although at times she thought he’d decided to kill her with exhaustion. He’d tortured her with hunting lessons, weapons drills, and survival training every day until she couldn’t move, but at least it had kept her from giving in to despair when she realized going home was not an option.
No matter how harsh he’d sometimes been, Luke became her friend. He was also a father and a teacher to her. Now he was dead. Now she was alone. She needed to remember this moment. Not the fear or the loneliness—although those feelings were strong enough to tear her apart inside—but the anger. That was something she could use, it would give her strength.
“You are taking too long,” Isaac called from outside.
She gnashed her teeth and left the room, veering into her own small sleeping area. It was just an alcove Luke had set aside for her, with a heavy curtain to give her some privacy.
She grabbed her tiny gold locket and a walnut from the rickety table beside her cot. While she was there, she figured she could use her comb and a change of clothes, so she stuffed them in a bag and walked out without looking back.
On the front porch, she paused. A fairy tale-like crystal coating of snow shimmered over everything, glinting pink in the soft light of Mylena’s low-hanging moons. It was difficult to make out Isaac’s expression in the darkness. She didn’t know what was going on inside his head, but she also didn’t care as long as he let her leave.
She went around him and down the porch steps, away from the post where he’d tied his carriage. Before she took two steps further, he was standing in her path.
Tired, she sighed. “I’m not going with you.”
“And where will you go?” he asked, glaring down at her.
Hell if she knew. It was all catching up with her again. The despair and loneliness. She really didn’t have anywhere to go. Anyone she could trust. Soon, she would break from the strain. She could feel it riding up on her, and couldn’t let it happen here in front of him. “What business is it of yours?”
“As you well know, everything that runs, walks, or crawls in this county is my business.”
Yes, the cool boy from her dreams was definitely gone, and the goblin king had returned. “Is under your thumb, don’t you mean?”
“If that’s the way I want it,” he ground out in a stubborn growl. “Especially when I have to deal with a reckless, bullheaded human with an irrational death wish, stupid enough to take off after forces she should never attempt to face alone.”
“Reckless and stupid? No wonder you live alone—the pretty flattery never stops,” she said. “And there’s nothing reckless about my running down this Agramon monster. I was trained by the best hunter in this entire frozen wasteland.”
“This is different,” he insisted. “This is no common ghoul which has succumbed to the moons. You’re human. You don’t have the slightest chance against one such as Agramon.”
“And what do you know about it?” She waited, but he still refused to answer. She snorted and tried to get around him again.
“Scoff all you want, but you need my protection.”
“You’re going to protect me?” She laughed. “Shouldn’t you be leading the lynch mob out to get me?” Greta’s stomach lurched at the thought. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I look to you for protection.”
“While I don’t doubt you can take care of yourself against an ogre or two, what are you going to do against an entire army?”
“Start a conga line?”
He sneered. “Always you make ill-bred jokes.”
“That’s me. The lowbrow human. How can you even stand to speak to me? Oh wait, because you don’t speak to me. You manipulate me. You order me around. You lie to me—”
“Enough! Tell me where the other renegade humans are hiding and I might be persuaded to keep your secret. I could help you.”
Renegades?
“There aren’t any renegades. No other humans at all,” she answered truthfully. “As far as I know, I’m the only one.”
He regarded her for long moment. “You aren’t the only one.”
“You’ve seen others?” She’d heard tales, but they were old stories and always began with the nasty humans being birthed from a cloud of black magick and set upon Mylena like a plague of locusts, ending with her kind being murdered for the good of everyone, usually by fire or beheading. She stepped forward. “When did you see them? Where?”
Isaac stood his ground. A frown furrowed his heavy brow. “More than a fortnight past, a couple of humans were found poaching in Leander’s county.”
Leander was a powerful gnome king whose county included Rhazua, the largest Mylean city, and the lands bordering Isaac’s territory to the south. She didn’t take jobs in that county often, but if something had gone down, she should have heard about it.
“Even if they were human—which is doubtful—they were probably just trying to find food and shelter.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, and it didn’t matter. We hunted them down.”
“If this happened on Leander’s lands, why did you have to deal with them?”
“The humans disappeared into the Goblin Forest. The gnome king asked for my help, so I took a contingent of hunters out searching for them. We found the first male hiding deep inside the brimstone caves. He seemed no older than the goblin boy we rescued from the ghoul, but he was a mad creature. His fingers were scraped raw and bloodied, as if he’d been trying to dig through the rock with his bare hands.”
Had the boy guessed—like she did—that fire was the key to the elusive portals connecting the dimensions, and tried to get to the molten lava that flowed beneath the surface of the caves?<
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Greta closed her eyes. Four years ago when she’d awakened on a dirt floor in the dark, it had been in the brimstone caves located deep in the mountains bordering faerie lands. Since then she’d been all over those caves, but found no way home.
Shivering, she thought how easily that poor boy could have been her. If not for Luke, she would have been all alone, maybe driven to insanity by the shock of this alternate world.
“Despite his crimes, we wanted to capture the boy without further injury. We were going to use him to lure the second human out of hiding.”
The unemotional premeditation of his admission sent a chill up her spine, until she thought of all the Lost she had systematically hunted down and executed. Was she just the same? As coldly calculating and without mercy? “What happened?”
“He tried to run and slipped on the rocks. He fell over the edge of a cliff. The second boy arrived just as the other fell, and attacked us as well.”
“You killed him.”
He flinched. “He forced me to cut him down.”
“And how exactly did he force you?” She sneered. “Was he armed to the teeth, threatening your life as you threatened his, or just a nuisance you swatted away like a fly?”
Isaac sputtered, indignant. “I wouldn’t have killed him. I wounded him, yes, and I would have taken him to Leander for sentencing, but he managed to escape.”
“So he’s probably dead now, too, and I am the only one.” Tears burned behind her eyes, but she shook them away.
“In our search for the two criminals, we found evidence of more humans hiding in the forest.”
She’d never come across even a hint of other humans in Mylena. In fact, she still wasn’t certain she believed Isaac’s story. She made a beeline for the tree line at the opposite end of the path, but once again, he stopped her.
“Use some sense, if you have any.” He sighed as she tried to shove past him. “First of all, it’s dark and cold.”
“I’ve been colder,” she said stubbornly.
“As the king, I have every right to hold you until you give me what I want. But I find I’m less interested in forcing you than I am in making you see that you can trust me.”
