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Valerian went to remove his arms from around my waist, but I placed my hands on top of his. “No,” I said, “It’s okay.”
“I only wanted to make sure you wouldn’t fall… and that you would be comfortable.”
“I was clearly too comfortable.” I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have fallen asleep and left you to keep watch.”
“Don’t apologize. Colbolt has been alert enough for all three of us.”
I smiled at the back of the Maukibou’s head, then rubbed his furry neck. “He’s a good boy.”
Colbolt grunted, warm puffs of steam issuing out of his nose.
“He has been waiting for us,” Valerian said.
“That’s incredible.”
“It is when you consider how long we have been gone.”
“Do you know how long it’s been since we left?”
“By Colbolt’s estimates, over a year.”
“A year? Colbolt told you that?”
“He’s told me a lot of things… he has seen hardship and strife the likes of which he could not have imagined the day he was made to leave our side.”
“Colbolt… what happened?”
“Arcadia has changed. Colbolt’s accounts are limited to his perceptions, so he couldn’t tell me how exactly things have changed, but he was there the day Windhelm’s troops arrived at the edge of the forest with intent to cut it down.”
“Windhelm did this…”
“First they destroyed the trees, then they drove out the Moon Children, and then they unleashed a number of Souldirges into what remained of the forest to ensure nothing else would live here.”
“Did he see where the Moon Children went?”
“East, away from the castle, and away from what remained of their ancestral glade. It was a mass exodus of wolves and Fae.”
“Radulf…” I said to myself, shutting my eyes. “Why would Windhelm have done this?”
“I’m not sure, and neither is Colbolt. He chose to remain in the forest even after the Souldirges were introduced. He’s been fighting them off ever since, but there are many of them, and with each fight they take more and more of him. He is glad we came back when we did… he is glad to see his friend.”
I rubbed Colbolt again, cringing slightly as my fingertips touched what felt like scar tissue underneath some of his mottled fur. The poor thing… to have waited for us for so long, fighting off those horrible creatures and surviving the injuries they dealt. It made my heart break all over again.
I caused this.
I did.
“Do you know where he’s taking us?” I asked.
“Somewhere safe, as far as I can tell. We seem to have avoided the main roads, but we appear to be headed in the direction of Lysa. Why, I can’t say, and neither will he.”
“He must know where he’s going, right? You didn’t ask him to bring us to Lysa.”
“I didn’t, but Lysa may be the best place for us right now.”
“Why Lysa?”
“Fate changed around us, Arcadia is different, but I can still feel my connection to the safehouse I keep in the city. I’m not yet strong enough to reach it with my magic, I’ll need to sleep first. But if we can get to it, we’ll have somewhere safe to hold out.”
