“That’s it?” Rose brushed a lank curl from her face and surveyed the rickety bridge that stretched across the river. Killian worried for the aged pylons that challenged the churning river.
“No, the ford is further downriver.” Lars shook his head, frowning at the map. “I’ve travelled this way before with Father, but I don’t recognize this area at all.”
“But why build a bridge here?” Rose stared at the rushing waterfall.
“There used to be trouble with trolls further downriver. But that was probably a hundred years ago.”
“About when this bridge looks like it was built.” Rose crossed her arms.
“Oh, not quite a hundred,” a voice laughed.
Rose and Lars whirled and drew knives in unison, Killian growling around their legs.
“Oh, my! I should have said something sooner!” The speaker held the skirts of her dress, the same green as the churning river, and dipped a curtsey. “I’m Kaja.”
A pair of translucent wings, beaded with glistening droplets, unfolded from her back. The shimmering membrane swirled with faint colors between the bony framework stretching it tight—a shape reminiscent of a fish’s fin.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” The faery spread her hands wider. “Word has been spreading through the waterways to look out for you.”
“Why?” Lars lowered his knife.
“I know we’re not generally helpful,” Kaja said. “But there’s a sorcerer out there with a spell to wipe us out.”
“That’s why he needs me?” Killian growled.
Kaja nodded, reaching down to smooth a hand over Killian’s laid-back ears.
“We’ve sent messages to Myrnius. They’ll be watching out for you.”
Lars echoed Killian’s growl of thanks.
“Thank me by getting rid of that sorcerer if you see him.” A wild and ferocious expression twisted Kaja’s face.
“Do you know anything about a missing Ranger?” Rose leaned forward in undisguised eagerness.
Her eyes widened as Kaja flung her arms around her in a hug.
“Alfar said you were looking for your father.”
“Have you seen him or heard anything?” Hope trickled into Rose’s voice.
“I don’t know where he is now, but a Ranger crossed weeks ago heading west,” Kaja said. “Rangers haven’t been around this bridge in years, so maybe it was him.”
Rose’s smile was too small to be real. Killian nudged her leg and she brushed his ear.
“Oh, but there’s someone looking for you!” Kaja perked up. “A knight came to that village the three of you helped—a rather attractive one, too, rumor has it.” She giggled. “He figured out it was you, Prince Lars, and that you were alive, Prince Killian, but—you know…” She gestured to Killian’s wolf form.
“What knight?”
“Oh, I didn’t quite get his name. I heard it all secondhand from a trout who overheard the villagers on the river. But I did catch a glimpse when I went upriver, and they were watering their horses. The sigil was a two-headed Wyvern, which doesn’t exist—”
“Uncle Einar!” Lars’s face brightened in excitement. “He’ll make sure Father knows you’re not dead!” He grinned down at Killian, who thumped his tail on the ground.
“Should we find your uncle and tell him what’s goin’ on?” Rose glanced up at Lars.
Lars’s smile faded. “We could…”
Killian shook his head. He didn’t want any more of his family to see him under the curse and travelling in a large company of soldiers would also draw unwanted attention. Assuming Uncle Einar would even allow us to continue our journey.
Lars met his gaze, his thoughts apparently running parallel to Killian’s own.
“He might let us keep going, but I don’t know about Father…”
“I’d be sent home?” Rose frowned.
Lars scuffed the ground with his boot. “Most likely.”
Kaja clasped her hands behind her back and twirled slowly.
“Then forget it.” Rose stammered as she watched the faery.
“We should probably put more distance between us and them,” Lars said.
Rose glanced down at her feet with a frown. Killian didn’t blame her. His paws ached and his shoulder still twinged.
Kaja stopped twirling and clapped her hands. “Oh, let me help! I’ll take you to the next village by boat.”
“Boat?” Lars’s eyebrows pulled together as he scanned the bank—and its lack of vessel.
Kaja waltzed to the river and plunged her hand beneath the swirling water. Foam whisked away, and the water piled atop itself before smoothing into a high-prowed vessel. Kaja wiped her hand on her skirt and winked at them.
“That will hold us?” Killian’s companions seemed to share his doubts. Though large enough for all of them, he just didn’t quite trust the building material.
Kaja laughed and Killian couldn’t help but open his mouth in a wolfish smile.
“Magic!” She wiggled her fingers. “You won’t even get wet. Though all of you could use a wash.”
Rose flushed and tugged at her hair.
Lars took the lead, stepping into the boat as it obligingly drifted closer to the shore. Rose accepted his help into the boat. Killian waited until they settled on the bench before hopping in. The watery craft did not even rock in response, and he lay down in the wide prow.
Kaja clambered aboard and sent her creation out into midstream with a wave of her hand.
Once they passed under the bridge, they picked up speed. From the wild grin on Kaja’s face, Killian suspected they outpaced the river. Rose’s hand clamped the side of the boat, but Lars’s grin almost matched Kaja’s. Killian sat up to better enjoy the wind tousling his thick fur.
The next village was over an hour’s ride downriver. Kilian didn’t even want to think about how long it would have taken them on foot.
Kaja stopped the boat a good distance upstream. “I’d rather not be seen by any more humans. They tend to get overly excited when they see a faery.”
She took their thanks with a beaming smile.
“Good luck to you.” Kaja hugged all three of them. As she stepped back, her smile faded. “I don’t have to warn you about how dangerous sorcerers are. Sometimes you can’t trust your eyes or ears, so always trust your instincts.”
She sounded like the Ranger who had trained Killian. There was a hard edge to her now, nothing like the twirling water faery of that afternoon.
“Be careful. Blood will be spilled before your task is complete.”
An uneasy feeling tugged at Killian’s paws. Alfar had said something similar. Lars and Rose nodded, hands tightening on their weapons.
Kaja assessed them as a commander would his troops.
“Creator bless and guide you.” And then she was gone, whirling back to the boat and sending it back upstream.
They watched until her shimmering wings disappeared into the gathering dusk before turning to the village lights twinkling in the distance.
“Is it just me, or did she seem a little…” Rose hesitated. “Crazy?”
Lars glanced back upriver. “A little. But my experience has been limited to one other faery.”
Rose hitched her pack higher and shrugged. “Still. Think she was right about one thing. You both need a bath.”
Lars shoved her, and she stumbled sideways with a laugh.
“Speak for yourself! Not quite living up to your name.”
“So clever!”
Killian ignored their banter as the fresh evening breeze swept across the village fields, carrying the scent of corn and furred animals. He veered off the path, now focused on dinner.
“Killi!” He paused, looking over his shoulder at Lars’s call. “We’ll meet you outside the village.”
Killian barked once, then loped away.
*
As Killian disappeared into the low hills, Lars began to head downriver to the village.
Rose caught at his arm. �
�Do you smell that?”
The evening air carried the scent of the river and earth. It took another moment before he caught the sickly-sweet stench floating by on the light breeze.
They both paused, unease prickling along Lars’s shoulders. I should know what this is.
A growl came from the dim light to his left and Killian slunk forward, hackles raised as he peered at the boulders that rested in their path.
Lars’s heart stuttered a beat as the rock shifted.
Rose beat him to the realization.
“Troll!” she hissed.
“Go!”
They backed away, hoping they could vanish into the hills without the trolls noticing. No such luck.
“Where are you going?” A deep voice spoke, smooth as the flowing river. Pinpricks of green flared in the dusk as the boulder grew and shifted to a figure taller than Lars by a foot.
“Run!” Lars shoved Rose’s arm and they took off in a sprint, Killian running beside them.
Lars gained only a few yards before a thick tendril erupted from the earth, wrapping around his leg and bringing him crashing to the ground.
“Lars!” Rose skidded to a halt.
Killian bounded to his side in a second. Lars tried to jerk his leg free, but the root anchored into the ground.
Lars waved at them. “Keep going!”
Rose hesitated, drawing her knife and hacking at the root.
“Rose, you and Killian get out of here!” He tried to shove her away. The root tightened against her efforts, and he fought a grunt of pain.
“Yes, run. It makes it so much more fun for us.” The voice spoke again.
Rose dropped a curse and instinctively moved away, but not fast enough. The earth leapt in a new tendril, grabbing her knife hand and dragging her to the ground. She fell with a cry, twisting and trying to yank free.
A feral growl ripped from Killian. His ears flattened against his head and he dropped to a crouch.
“Killi, don’t!”
The troll chuckled. “You’d think you’d have more sense than your human companions.”
Killian dodged with a yip as the earth shifted beneath him. He squirmed away from another tendril with a growl, and Lars heard more irritation than threat in the noise. Killian barked, an impressively deep sound, lunging forward.
Lars drew his own knife and stabbed into the earth holding him prisoner.
Killian is going to get himself killed.
A grumble broke from the troll and the ground shuddered as a dark shape landed in front of Killian, releasing an ear-shattering roar. Killian flinched, turned tail, and disappeared into the dark hills.
The troll straightened with a laugh. Lars sawed frantically at the strange binding around his leg. The earth grabbed his hand and slammed it to the ground, breaking his grip on the knife.
“I’d hold still, little man,” a feminine voice spoke, and Lars twisted his head enough to see the shape of a second troll looming above him.
The troll reached down, freeing his hand into a crushing grip. She forced his wrists together and bound them in the same earthen bonds. The first troll hauled Rose to her feet after similar treatment.
“Come along, humans,” the male said. “You’ll walk, but I think you know what happens if you try to run.”
The female shoved Lars between the shoulders and he lurched forward. Rose stumbled against him, her hair hitting his face as she whirled to glare at the troll.
The trolls only laughed and prodded them forward. The faint lights of the town faded into the night as they were forced away from the river and into the empty hills.
Lars tripped on an uneven hillock in the darkness and, aided by the troll, he tumbled down into a depression ringed by hills. Rose managed the descent with a bit more grace, still hitting her knees beside him.
“Now, let’s see what we caught.”
A fire flared to life, its sudden light blinding Lars. He finally dared to open his eyes to look at their captors.
The trolls crouched in the center of the dell, the fire casting shadows around their bulky forms. Their light brown skin, as craggy as the dried earth they sprang from, was spotted with small green growths—the source of the sweet scent.
The female’s dark hair, woven with pale yellow flowers, reached to her hips, and the male’s was spiked in matted tufts. They weren’t ugly; they actually had the same lonely beauty as the hills that rolled for miles.
Lars pushed himself upright, Rose helping as much as possible with bound hands, as the male narrowed his eyes at them.
Don’t let a troll touch you, his ranger training screamed in his mind. The troll’s green eyes glistened mockingly in the firelight as Lars tried to back away. Tendrils jumped from the earth, wrapping around his chest and yanking him to the ground.
“Lars!” Rose struggled against the new bonds that circled her legs.
Lars cursed as the troll pressed a smooth hand against his forehead. Pain lanced between his eyes, but he couldn’t shake off the troll.
“Well, well, looks like we have a prince on our hands.” The troll chuckled. “Not a very good one either.”
“Get off me!” Lars futilely ordered as the troll invaded his mind. His vision spun as memories surfaced and darted away without his consent.
“That’s interesting. Your little dog isn’t so common after all.”
The female came up behind him and peered down at Lars. “What?”
“That wolf is this one’s brother under an enchantment. Oh, the cause of some bitterness, I see. A sorcerer!” The troll spat.
“I thought I smelled magic on the three of them,” the female said.
Lars’s head pounded against the troll’s touch and the coppery tang of blood coated his tongue.
“What else can we find in here? Green eyes. Hmm—she’s lovely. What does she see in you?”
“She doesn’t,” Lars gritted, driving a knee up into the troll’s side. The male growled in mild irritation, but he removed his hand after a few more seconds.
A relieved gasp broke from Lars as the pain faded. But the bonds tightened against his struggle as the troll turned to Rose.
Rose spat in the troll’s face as he loomed over her. The troll flinched away, hastily wiping the spit from his face.
“You’re in his mind too. You want to know what he thinks of you?”
“Not really interested.” Rose twisted her head away, only to have the troll wrench her back around with a large hand.
“This one’s trying to prove herself to the world, even though she thinks she’s not good enough.”
The female clucked her tongue in mock sympathy. Her companion laughed and turned back to Rose who paled under his touch. But the troll frowned.
“There’s a different magic around you. Just as old.” The troll fixed green eyes on Lars. “Wolves and sorcery here too.”
Rose sagged back with a soft cry as he released her. The troll straightened.
“The earth whispers of the passing of a sorcerer,” he said. “A powerful one. It fears for the faeries.”
“If he’s going after the faeries, is that a bad thing?” The female’s face cracked in a trollish smile.
“Perhaps not. But I think he needs that wolf.”
“We have them. Do we turn them over to the sorcerer? He’s not far.” The female twisted strands of her hair into a braid.
Lars’s heart lurched painfully hard. How far? Killian!
“The wolf maybe. We’ll keep these two. We came this way looking for blood, did we not?”
“But a prince?” Doubt creased the female’s face and her fingers started on another braid.
“Not sure anyone would mourn this one.” The male kicked Lars’s leg.
Lars couldn’t ignore the sickening truth.
“Besides, royal blood would sweeten our fruit like nothing else.”
“Well then!” The female clapped her hands together. “Where did that wolf go?”
A growl rumbled through the nigh
t air and the trolls turned as one. Lars’s heart plummeted as he recognized the sound. He twisted to see the fire reflected in bright circles.
“Killi, no,” he whispered.
But another growl broke from the right and then the left. The firelight cast far enough to illuminate the striped muzzles of two of the wild dogs that lurked in Calvyrn’s hills.
“Well, well,” the male sneered.
Killian growled, and rage flashed over both of the trolls’ faces. Killian leapt forward, snarling with another round of insults, judging by the way the male troll’s face darkened. Killian’s tail lashed from side to side as the wild dogs added their barks.
“Change of plan. Kill them all!” The trolls lunged, and the dogs and Killian vanished into the darkness.
The trolls’ shouts echoed behind the deep bays of the dogs as Lars and Rose were left alone.
“Is he mad?” Rose squinted into the darkness, as if she could see beyond the hills.
“Possibly.” Lars tried to twist against the ropes that pinned him to the ground, but they didn’t budge. “We need to get out of here.”
“Don’t really fancy being bled dry t’ water their fruit trees?” Rose futilely tugged at the bonds around her legs.
“Not very much, no.” Lars growled in frustration. We’re not getting out of here. That annoying voice of reason nudged his mind. “Any ideas?”
“I’m trying. Trolls…” She grinned. “Water.”
Lars paused his struggles. “What?”
“Water. They hate water. It kills them, washes them away like mud.”
“I’m not seeing enough water around here to kill them when they get back.”
“I know. But these roots are their magic. What if it works on them?”
Lars held his bound hands up for inspection. Grass, dirt, and roots had been twisted into rough fibers. Even a small blue flower sprouted from the rope. “It’s worth a try.”
“I think I can reach my waterskin.” Rose stretched her bound hands around to the pack still slung over her back. The trolls hadn’t disarmed them either.
It took some creative maneuvering, but Rose freed her waterskin from the pack and uncorked it.
“Here.” She tried to lean over to him.
He shook his head. “Get yourself free first.”
The Wolf Prince Page 9
