“The hag’s,” Kade murmured, eyeing the expanse of ivy with a darker expression, almost suspicious. “Her domain is much... larger than I expected.”
“No kidding,” Florian laughed, straightening up to survey it. There didn’t appear to be any obvious entrance underneath the ivy, but perhaps the further in they went, the more they could find. The green blanket seemed to have a slightly uphill incline to it, though it was hard to tell considering how it rolled with trees and mounds. “I guess we’ll keep going?”
“I’m sure she’ll know we’re coming,” Kade sighed, stepping closer to Florian and looking down at the vine that he had touched. Only the leaf had crumbled to ash, but now that he was looking, he noticed that the vine had seemed to recoil—only slightly, but it was an inch or two back from where it had been before. “Something this powerful... I’m sure it has more than one layer of protection.”
“Good,” Florian said firmly. He could sense Kade’s uncertainty, but so far nothing had convinced him that seeing the hag would be anything but a positive. The other man’s suspicion was warranted, he supposed, but Kade could be the one to worry. More than anything, Florian wanted answers. “I’ll go first if you’re scared.”
Kade scowled down at him, but Florian only grinned up in response, and after a beat of silence a good-natured laugh escaped the back of Kade’s throat.
“You know I’m not scared,” he sighed, moving to take the lead once more. “Just practical. Unlikesomeone.”
Florian snorted with laughter, but followed Kade without any further fuss. Where they stepped onto the vines, the leaves underfoot darkened and crumbled, leaving behind a perfect image of their footprints in the foliage. Each step sent the same familiar burst of magic tingling against Florian’s skin, quickly fizzling out as the leaves beneath withered away. Other than the slight sinking feeling and audible crunch, the blanket of vines seemed easily traversable, so they continued with cautious steps.
As the surface started to incline slightly, though, there was more give to the vines underfoot, and it seemed to create an even layer beneath them. The vines were tightly knit together, but seemed to have lifted off enough from whatever was underneath that their footing became less sure and more wobbly.
“I bet her swamp is underneath somewhere,” Florian said, his arms held out to help him balance, as they cautiously climbed the hillside. “We just have to figure out how to get in.”
“Easier said than done,” Kade sighed.
The vines underfoot didn’t grow any more stable as they made their way uphill, then downhill, the terrain remaining uneven and strange. The shapes beneath the ivy were at times recognizable as trees or clusters of rocks, and at other times were just strange, mostly shapeless lumps that could have been anything. It did seem to be getting steadily higher up, though, as even the points where it began to decline would eventually go back up at an incline even higher than the one that they had ascended previously. They were ants crawling along a lumpy blanket: the thought would have made Florian laugh if he weren’t so out of breath.
But they didn’t spot any sign of an entrance beneath. They had been clambering over the foliage for hours, but Florian hadn’t seen anything that looked like it might grant them entry. It was getting close to the time that they would normally set up their camp, but trying to put their little structure together on such uneven terrain was likely going to be useless. Kade hadn’t said anything, but Florian could sense his growing tension in the way his brows knit together, the stiffness of his movements, and the way he constantly looked back and forth for any sign of a reprieve in the distance.
“Do you think we could just cut through and drop down?” Florian finally asked.
“Something tells me probably not,” Kade sighed, looking back at him. “If it were that easy to get through, I don’t think it would be a very good defense.”
“We could at least give it a try,” Florian said, shrugging. Kade was probably right, but if it really were so simple and they didn’t try, then they would feel like fools afterward. Kade hesitated, looking first at Florian, then down at the thick carpet of vines beneath them. They had slid down into something of a little valley between two hills, and the plants beneath them felt wobbly, like there was nothing supporting them underneath. If they were going to try cutting through, this would probably be a good place.
“If you want to,” Kade said, and when Florian reached for his own sword, Kade shook his head. “At least let me.”
Florian opened his mouth to protest, but stopped himself. If Kade was so concerned about it, maybe it would be best to let him handle it. So instead of insisting that he could do it himself, Florian nodded and stepped back, gesturing for Kade to go ahead. Kade drew his sword, eyeing the vines beneath them suspiciously. After a moment, he reared back and plunged the sword down. The blade cleaved through the plants easily and was buried to the hilt.
“See?” Florian laughed, only to stop as the plants beneath them quivered with movement. He could feel a swell of magic in the air, the grin falling off his face instantly. “Shit,” he cursed, drawing his own sword—Kade had sensed it too, and pulled his own sword back, lifting it in a defensive stance.
From where Kade had cut into it, several thick vines—no, thick ropes made of several vines twisted together—shot out from whatever was beneath and grabbed him, one encircling the arm that held his sword, one wrapping around his waist, and a third strangling his startled cry around his throat.
“Kade!” Florian exclaimed, moving to swing at the thick ropes, but Kade’s free hand shot up with fingers outspread.
“Stop!” he managed to choke out. Florian hesitated, unsure—but the moment was all he had, as the vines pulled down hard; and with a startled shout, Kade was pulled beneath the surface. The movement stilled almost instantly, and Florian ran in a panic up to the spot where he had vanished. The small hole he had cut with his sword was marked by the black, crisped edges of the dead plants; but even as he looked, smaller vines were twisting up to take their place.
“No, no, no,” Florian panted, pulling back the creeping vines. How had they pulled Kade through? The hole looked tiny—the vines themselves must have moved and closed back over quicker than he could track with his eyes. Desperately, he pushed his hand through the hole in the vines. It went through, but he could feel more vines trailing along his skin, trying to push him back out and close the gap that he had created.
“Let me through,” he growled, letting magic surge from his mouth as he said it. He hadn’t truly expected it to work—after all, there was no one there to hear his command and act upon it. Jerah had drilled into his head over and over again that fae magic had to have a target, someone or something to hear and understand the command, something to bear witness to the magic of their words.
But somehow, as if they had their own consciousness, he felt the thin vines still and fall away; and before he could process the strangeness of it, the blanket of vines opened up underneath him, and he plunged into darkness.
