Page 118

Blaidd roared against the vines binding him, muscles straining uselessly.

The creature did not even glance at him.

"Your tears," she continued, eyes never leaving Fae's, "were far more delicious than the finest wine." She inhaled deeply, as if savouring the memory. "And your blood…" Her needle-like teeth parted in a slow, widening grin. "When I harvest your soul and bind you to my tree, your Blaidd can only watch…and suffer."

The vine around Blaidd tightened further, forcing him to his knees.

"You will pay," the creature shrieked. "For the wolf who abandoned my mother. For the male who tricked me. For the bloodline that left us to rot."

Her crimson eyes seemed to bleed red as she grinned. "Only your blood will satisfy me."

"Look closely at my creation." She chittered, forcing Fae closer to the distorted tree. The rain had stopped.

The bark in front of her shifted to reveal the horror beneath as faces emerged from the trunk.

Hundreds. Some twisted in agony, some frozen mid-scream. Their features were half-swallowed by wood.

"Look closer," the creature whispered in her ear.

Bowen.

His face was half-formed in the trunk, eyes shut, mouth parted as if trying to breathe.

As Fae stared in horror, the bark rippled and the face moved.

A low groan escaped his tortured mouth.

The creature's laughter was wet and delighted. "See that? He will serve me like the others."

Fae's heart felt like it was breaking as the creature leaned closer.

"There are hundreds," she crooned. "They feed me. And now it is your turn."

Her mouth opened wide while her eyes watched Blaidd. Rows of needle teeth parted as a sinuous tongue glided over Fae's wounds. Ooze dripped down her chin.

A sharp whistle cut through the air. An arrow streaked through the air, striking the trunk with a wet, cracking sound.

Flame erupted instantly. Another arrow followed.

And another.

The smell of fuel bloomed as a hundred voices shrieked from the tree.

The fire raced up the bark unnaturally fast. The creature shrieked and withdrew, dancing to the tune of the flames, but the fire kept growing.

The vines recoiled violently, releasing Kenji and Blaidd; Sulien narrowly avoided landing on his head.

The flames climbed higher, devouring black sap, igniting the grotesque faces embedded in the trunk.

And then—

The moaning began. First one voice, then a dozen. Then hundreds rose in a crescendo.

Low, rising wails tore through the forest as the souls trapped within the bark burned free.

The creature screamed, thrashing as the fire consumed her body, her silky black hair igniting in a burst of oily flame.

The rain restarted harder now, but it could not quench this fire.