I was in a swamp.
Frowning, I reached around for the canister across my back. I didn’t remember any swampland noted in the area. Hurriedly, I withdrew the map and reviewed it in greater detail. I hadn’t bothered to take it out of its canister until just now.Where am I?Where am I? Where am I?My heart thumped wildly as I studied the parchment with renewed intensity. Visually traced its key landmarks and features.
I wiped away the sweat forming on my brow.There.A small subscript. A few words written across an illustration of a forest that made all the difference. Words I’d failed to notice when I first studied the map in preparation for my outing.Fae crossing.
I had just stumbled into one of the Fae courts. And I had no idea how to get back out.
CHAPTER THREE
It was humid and the air smelled like fresh rain. I slapped my neck, swatting at a fly.This is not where I’m supposed to be.Not in a swamp. Certainly not inthisswamp. Taken from Adrasea in a whirl of magic. Transported directly into the Spring Court. Just like you could enter the Autumn Court from Uvrakar or the Winter Court from Kothia. But I had no idea it would be so easy to accidentally stumble across the boundary.
Archlord Ailmon must be pleased the magic was still active. Either way, I was decidedly less pleased. I’d never asked to enter his domain.How am I going to find my way out?Back home, the Autumn Equinox had recently come and gone, but here, the land remained locked in an eternal spring. I shivered as the rainfall intensified, soaking into my pants and plain tunic.
I touched the dagger at my waist, convincing myself it was still there. I would need to be careful. There was ancient magic here, capable of tricking the senses. And creatures that lived by long-forgotten rules. The Fae weren’t governed by many laws, but there were a few principles they held sacred. They did not abide oath-breakers or thieves.Here’s hoping they take a more lenient stance on unintended trespassers…
The rustle of wings drew my gaze skyward. The raven circled overhead. “You followed me! I guess our fates are intertwined now,” I solemnly told him. Taking a deep breath, I pictured the compendium on Fae lore that lived in my study, a thick emerald-green tome. At the moment, knowledge was the best weapon in my all-too-limited arsenal.
The Fae used to have the realm all to themselves. It used to be composed of their four courts, each intimately tied to its respective season. Until, that is, the land began to do something unexpected. It began to grow, to expand. Some claimed the Fae grew careless and finally lost control over their own magic. Others, that the land had always had a mind of its own. Enter the dawn of humans and the five kingdoms, which quickly grew powerful in their own right—something the Fae didn’t see coming.
Around a thousand years ago, after a long and bloody war, the five kingdoms emerged victorious, securing their autonomy. In the end, the Fae failed to expand their territory. In the end, they were forced to retreat back, magically sealing their borders in the process. But not completely. There remained a few entryways into each court. Fae crossings. Left behind from the war, waiting to lure in unsuspecting people simply trying to take a pleasant stroll without being unceremoniously dumped into the middle of a swamp.
“That’s the difference between learning the history of the realm and living it,” I remarked wryly to the raven, who was flying low, hovering just above my left shoulder. With an admittedly overly dramatic sigh, I resumed tugging on my other boot, trying to dislodge both of my feet from the mud. “I shouldn’t have strayed so far from the island. But I justhadto venture somewhere new. And now look where it’s gotten me!” I tugged even harder on my boot, putting my back into the motion. “Ugh!” A splatter of mud hit my cheek, which I promptly wiped away, before I finally managed to pull myself free.
My annoyance only grew as I fixated on what might have been. A quick trip to Adrasea. Back in time for dinner.Wouldn’t that have been nice?If I were smart, I would have stuck even closer to home. Visited Solaris instead of Adrasea. I could be sauntering somewhere familiar, basking in the kingdom’sever-present warmth and sunshine. Somewhere Faekind and humankind peacefully co-existed. But no. Here I was, damp from rainfall, desperately trying not to splatter anymore mud onto my clothing. My tunicstartedthe day as a lovely green shade.
I didn’t have to worry about Fae crossings when visiting Solaris. Because King Filvendor accomplished what no one else had managed during the war. He joined the Summer Court and the human populace together into a brand-new unified kingdom. His victory had substantially increased the number of people in the realm with Fae blood flowing through their veins, people like me.
A frog’s loud croak split the silence.
I blew out a breath of air. No matter how much I wished otherwise, I wasn’t in Solaris. I’d chosen to journey elsewhere. And now I had to live with the consequences.It could be worse.At least the Spring Court venerated life and revelry. I could have ended up in the Winter Court and been worried about freezing to death. I swung my head around to survey my surroundings.
My options forward were thick mud or shallow, murky water. There was a patch of dry land behind me, back in the direction I came, but it would require me to trudge through the swamp to reach it. The Fae crossing really had spit me out amidst a stagnant, waterlogged swamp.
It was comforting to know I possessed Fae Sight, the ability to sense magic. It would serve me well here—I would be alright. I’d never had much occasion to test its limits, but I did presume it was the reason Kaylin selected me as her apprentice, choosing me out of all the other children at the orphanage. The type of child who could adjust to life on a magical island. Being entrusted to the orphanage’s care since birth, with no family to come calling, must have been equally appealing. Then again, whether my ancestry would help or hurt my chances in theSpring Court was debatable. Irrefutably, a trace of the Summer Court lived in my blood.
And Fae animosity ran deep.
I covered my nose, fighting the urge to gag, as a putrid smell suddenly assaulted my senses.
A raspy voice cut through the clearing. “Bones…I smell bones…and delicious…skin.”
I felt the faint tug of magic, a hypnotic pull, accompanying the sickening words—like something wanted to convince me it meant me no harm. I shook the feeling off, discarding the compulsion like an ill-fitting pair of pants.
“Come to me… Bones…”
A bolt of fear coursed through my body, quick as lightning. I stood frozen in place, eyes wide, staring at the hulking monstrosity headed in my direction. It was vaguely amphibian, its squat face drawn into a permanent, frog-like scowl. In place of hair, long tendrils of algae hung limply from its head. Large boils, actively oozing a slick, viscous liquid, covered the majority of its sickly green skin. When it opened its mouth, it flashed a jagged line of teeth. Using its long arms, it pulled itself forward very, very slowly through the sludge. It paused to sniff the air—trying to locate my scent.My heart beat louder, loud enough to drown out the flies buzzing around my head.
I needed to run or hidenow. I made to move, only to find myself stuck in the mud. The monster ambled closer. Grabbing one leg at a time, I wrenched myself free yet again, but I wasn’t gaining nearly enough ground, each step far too laborious. If I couldn’t run, then hiding was my only option. I looked around wildly. Up—I needed to get up higher, climb a nearby tree like the towering elm in front of me. But I was too far away from its trunk.
With shaking hands, I reached into my satchel and withdrew the length of rope I had packed from the garden shed. I focusedon the closest tree branch that extended overhead. If only I could get the rope up and over its sturdiest limb, I might be able to pull myself up that way…
My first toss fell short.
I pulled the rope back, frantically trying again. And then again. The putrid smell of decay grew stronger. With a desperate cry, I flung the rope once more, my hope rapidly diminishing. The raven dove, catching the rope, and agilely draping it over the tree branch in an impressive aerial maneuver, such that one end of the rope dangled down from either side of the branch. I grabbed both strands of rope and started to climb.
I didn’t dare look down, afraid I would see the monster and lose my nerve. Instead, I focused all of my energy on the rope. My abdominal muscles clenched painfully as I ascended, repeatedly placing one hand in front of the other, drawing on every last ounce of strength left in my body. I reached the tree branch and crawled over it, lying flat on my stomach, gasping for air. If I craned my neck upward, I could see the raven situated on the branch above me.
A single ebony feather floated down slowly from where the raven perched. Before I could spend much time worrying it had been injured, the feather hit the ground, and an unnatural darkness erupted into life.
