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Smoky took one look at the Autumn Lord and backed up. I swallowed whatever was left from my lunch. When a dragon obeyed without question, whoever was giving the orders had to be packing a butt load of power. I forced myself to step forward.
Camille swung in behind me. "I've got your back," she whispered, her voice shaking.
I thought about her journey to Grandmother Coyote and wondered how she'd managed to weather it alone. The gods knew, I wouldn't want to be facing the Autumn Lord by myself. Nope, not going there. Not even remotely brave enough.
I stared at his hands, wondering whether to take them. A little voice deep inside urged me to go ahead. Running on instinct, I clasped his hands in my own.
Fire and ice. The shock almost knocked me over. One hand felt like it was burning up, the other like it had frozen solid. As the two opposing forces raced up my arms to meet at the base of my neck, they sent me reeling toward him. I stumbled into his arms, and he enfolded his cape of leaves around my shoulders and pulled me close.
From within the confines of the cloak I could hear Camille and Smoky shouting and then a noise shook the meadow like thunder, and all was silent. I struggled, but the Autumn Lord's grasp was strong, and he held me so tightly I could barely breathe. I struggled to shift form but couldn't do it. His magic was too strong, so I focused on breathing.
Inhale…
… the damp odors of decay and mildew, of bonfires at midnight swirled around me. They rode in on a gust of north wind, the boreal wind, murmuring tongues of ice and frost, the chilling touch of autumn.
Exhale…
… I slowly expelled the air from my lungs, taking with it a hint of the cold. And again.
Inhale…
… the taste of graveyard dust and dead man's hand on my tongue, and then he leaned down and kissed my forehead, marking me with a burning flame that scorched its way into the core of my being.
Exhale…
… and as I released my breath the second time, he let go, and I stumbled back, tripping over a loose root and falling on my tailbone. I scrambled away as best as I could, half scooting, half kicking myself along the ground. Camille let out a gasp and dropped to her knees beside me. I glanced up to see the others shaking themselves, as if they'd just woken up. Smoky motioned caution to Zach and Morio, warning them to stand their ground.
I stared up at the Autumn Lord, who stood silent and waiting. As Camille helped me to my feet, I realized that my forehead felt odd, as if something had embedded itself on my brow. I turned to her to ask if she could see anything, but before I could open my mouth, she started, staring at my face.
"Oh, Kitten," she said in a low voice. "Your forehead!"
"What is it? I can tell something happened to me, but I don't know what." Her expression was scaring me. Had I suddenly turned into a frog-girl? Or the creature from the Black Lagoon—who, as it happened, resembled the lemurans, one of our aquatic Crypto races back in OW?
Camille reached out and gently touched my forehead. "Delilah, you've got a black scythe branded on your forehead."
"What? What the hell?" I scrambled to my feet and whirled on the Autumn Lord, who was still standing, a silent figure. "What is it? What did you do to me?" My anger seeped through my fear, and I charged forward.
The Autumn Lord looked down at me—he easily stood six five—and gave me a cunning smile, his lips quirking the tiniest fraction at the sides. "You come seeking information. There will always be a price to pay when you call upon the world builders. Everyone who seeks my help pays me something."
I hesitated, wanting to argue that it wasn't fair, that he hadn't offered me a choice, but one look at his eyes told me it would do no good. What was done was done. There was no backtracking, no turning around, no running.
"What did you do to me?" I asked again.
He gave me the barest of shrugs. "When it's time, you'll know. Now, ask your questions before I get bored and leave." He motioned for us to sit on one of the nearby windfalls.
I hesitated, then led the way, wondering what had happened to me. Would any of us emerge from this unscathed? I took a seat on the mossy log.
The Autumn Lord sat beside me, and I scrunched away as far as I could without appearing rude. He gazed at me. "It's been awhile since anyone was foolish enough—or brave enough—to seek me out," he mused. "What do you want to know?"
I took a deep breath. Not too deep because I could still smell the smoke and graveyard dust and bonfires raging around him, but enough to steady myself.
"We're looking for information on a group of spiderlings. Werespiders. The Hunters Moon Clan. You rule over all spiderkin, so we thought you might be willing to help. They seem to be in league with demons from the Subterranean Realms, and we're worried they're working for Shadow Wing."
Zachary surprised me. He broke through his fear long enough to speak up. "Do you know why they're killing my people? I come from the Rainier Puma Pride, and the spiders are slaughtering us."
The Autumn Lord blinked, the first time he'd shown any sign of surprise. He pursed his lips, and a cloud of frost came whistling out from between them to form a tablet of snow in his hands. I craned my neck to see if there was anything written on it, but all I could make out were some strange glyphs.
After a moment, the tablet melted away. "You are all in danger. Kyoka has returned to life; he's taken a new body."
