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“What am I supposed to be looking for?” Searching the trees, I saw nothing but endless green, violets, and blues. The branches undulated in the wind…or perhaps they were just moving on their own, dancing it seemed.
“The Wild Hunt is preparing a feast tonight, to prepare for the impending arrival of the Sluagh. Look closely, and you’ll find some of our hunters on the heels of a storm saber herd.”
A saber herd… I’d never seen a hunt in the flesh. Sabers were monstrous in size, scaled like dragons but long and slithery—like a snake–with powerful legs ending in claws the size of my arm. There were a few of them among the steeds that Vazden and I had been caring for.
Cadoc banked and dipped, and I sucked in a sharp breath as we broke back through the trees. Branches swayed with the impending storm, causing Cadoc to veer this way and that, dodging them expertly. “They only hunt in thunderstorms when the forest floor turns to mud. See how they move?” We dipped lower and lower, until shapes began to form in the darkness below us.
Shafts of moonlight cut through the cloud cover, funneling through the trees, but it was just enough light that I could finally make out the way the ground seemed to undulate. As my eyes adjusted finally, I realized that it wasn't the ground that was moving, it was a mass of writhing, slithering storm sabers rushing in one direction as a host of faerie hunters closed in from behind.
There were at least twenty faeries, some with wings that flew right below us, holding spears tipped with sharp, onyx points. Wingless fairies propelled themselves through the maze of wide tree branches, running along them and leaping from tree to tree with impossible speed and accuracy. They moved in a tight formation, shouting into the night their warrior cries, which echoed off of the trees. As we got closer, the stampede of rushing sabers sounded more like the crashing thunder of a waterfall.
Lightning flashed, lighting up the forest as we followed from above. I tried to keep track of the hunters as they moved, but they were too nimble and swift. Several spears flew through the air, some of them bouncing off of the scaled backs of the sabers, then getting crushed under their heavy feet. Other arrows made purchase, embedding themselves beneath the scales, deep enough to cause the creatures to stagger and slow.
We flew above them until the rain began to come in bursts, dipping and weaving through the trees, listening to the roars of the fallen sabers when they died. Cadoc explained that sabers were used primarily for making armor and a good source of meat that could be preserved and used for long days of travel. Their scales were similar to a drach’s in that they were nearly impenetrable, unless you were incredibly skilled in finding their weak spots.
When the hunt was coming to an end and the thunderstorm began to taper off into a light drizzle, Cadoc circled back around, rising above the canopy of trees, heading back toward home. Home… Was that what the Void Wood was now? Could I really call it my home when the princes were already so eager to sell me to the Sluagh?
A part of me didn’t think I’d ever have a place to call home again. It didn’t exist for me anymore, not after everything that I’d done. Not after everything I now knew, not only about myself, but about Faerie…about my mother.
My real home was miles and miles away, in another realm entirely. My home was in a warm, little potion shop by a crackling fire, sipping wine and tea with Neera.
Kyre
We landed on the top of the auction house where the thick, moss-covered roof flattened out to a platform of sorts. The rain had stopped halfway into our flight back, and the wind chilled me as it whipped my hair around my shoulders and dripped off of my wings.
Cadoc shook his wings out, water droplets splattering everywhere. Then he neatly tucked them behind him, raking his fingers through his long, wet hair that hung in a black curtain around his face.
The sound of music and voices pulled my attention from the faerie prince’s penetrating stare. Turning my back on him, I made my way over to the ledge and looked down to where hundreds of burning lanterns lit up the trees several levels down. Faeries were everywhere, more of them than I’d seen in one place thus far. They came and went dressed scantily in gossamer dresses, or even naked entirely.
There were pixies fluttering all through the trees, their colorful wings shining in the lantern light. Their giggles filtered up to me like bells.
Already, I could see faeries intertwined, perched up on the railings of bridges, devouring one another as hands roamed and moans floated through the night. Some were dancing, while others were drinking or feasting, glutting themselves on meats and berries displayed on golden platters, crystal goblets of deep-red wine in nearly every hand. Even from up here, I could recognize the sounds of a revelry in progress.
Cadoc joined me on the ledge, watching the faeries below us, and I wondered if it weren’t for my presence, would he be down there with them right now? Did I care? I wasn’t so sure. I scanned many faces, searching for a particular pair of slitted, yellow eyes, but didn’t find him. Neither could I find a familiar head of luminous silvery hair, or molten-gold tattoos or a broody, blue-eyed male.
I tried so hard not to think of Haelo at all, unless I was actively plotting his demise…which seemed to be occurring far less these days. It wasn’t that I despised the princes. I knew they were only holding me to the deal that I willingly made, knowing exactly what the odds of my continued survival would be. I hadn't gone into this blind.
“You’ve never witnessed a true revelry, have you, pet?” Cadoc asked, breaking the surprisingly comfortable silence. The nicknamepetdidn’t have as much sting to it as it normally did. I looked at him, finding him already studying me.
“Humans don’t really have revelries. They mostly get drunk in dusty, old taverns and end up brawling until someone loses an eye and their dignity, then do it all over again the next night.”
Neera and I had paid witness to many of those tavern brawls in the two years I’d spent in exile. The slums were dirty, wretched places, but I always thought that there was a simple kind of joy in the improper, ugly things of the world.
“And they callusthe savage species…”
“Humans aren’t all that bad, you know,” I said, weakly attempting to defend the life I’d left behind me. He gave me a wry look, and I laughed. “But I understand your point. They’re just misguided, is all.”
“And you?” he asked. “Are you still under the misguided impression that we’re all monsters?” His sharp teeth shone in the darkness as he spoke, and I found myself staring at them closely. They suited him, I decided. Made him more handsome. More striking.
I thought about it, not answering him immediately. Perhaps I’d been misguided at first. After living in the shadow of humans for nearly thirty years and hearing legends and stories about the monstrous faeries who dwelt in Faerie…maybe I had let them convince me that I, too, was monstrous.
“Maybe you could show me how wrong I was,” I said, backing away from the ledge. I was feeling bold tonight, like I wanted to step out of my own skin for just a little while.
“And how should I do that?” He stepped closer slowly, his night-filled eyes holding promises that I knew he was absolutely ready to keep. His smile was wicked, his claws were lengthening, and his wings shifted behind him, making him larger than life as I stared up at him. “I can show you a great many things, little faerie. All you have to do is say the word.”
My heart gave a sudden lurch as he stepped even closer. He smelled like fresh rain tonight, and his skin, still wet from the storm, shone like wet earth. Cadoc was beautiful in the strangest way—in a way that scared and thrilled me at the same time.
“Unless you’re afraid of consorting with the enemy…” His smile stretched wider, and his head tilted sideways as he pressed in closer to me. His claw-tipped fingers hooked a strand of my hair, moving it over my shoulder. “Although, I think my brothers might have beat me to it.”
