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He stretched his feet out, his boots in tatters like his clothes. Like all our clothes. Raz followed my gaze and laughed. “Let’s fucking hope Lord Wynter is our size, or we’ll stink like fucking pigs down in those tunnels.”
I opened my mouth to say something when Tavion skidded into the clearing, whining. The food in my stomach curdled as I shot to my feet. Tavion dashed to a break in the trees, looked over his shoulder, and disappeared.
“Stay here,” I warned Adele, who nodded, her eyes fixed on that narrow break between the trees. “We won’t go far, just to the other side. If there’s nothing there, we’ll come right back.”
“Don’t be gone long.” Her ruined hands flexed, but she huddled protectively over Anaria.
“We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
I ducked between the trees and caught up to Raz and Tristan, which didn’t take long, given they were standing stock-still, staring at what lay trapped on the other side of the glen, not twenty feet away from us. Tavion circled, head low, jaws snapping.
“Are those what I think they are?”
“Silver Cave Weavers.” Raziel’s voice was hushed, either from fear or to keep Adele from hearing. “But I’ve never seen them so big.”
The carcasses were enormous, bound to the ground by vines and roots, one of them still struggling as the forest slowly crushed the hideous creature to death. A gushing sound and metallic silver fluid flowed out of a swollen abdomen, turning the moss below steaming black.
I’d only seen these hideous creatures once before, high in the mountains to the north, and even then, they’d been the size of a large dog, not the size of five draft horses.
How they hadn’t slaughtered us, I didn’t know.
“The forest is protecting us.” Raz jerked his head to the now dead beasts, seven in total. “The paths, the glen, this.” He glanced back to where Anaria lay. “She made a deal with the forest—with the magic—to save her friends. In return, she healed the damage the Oracle caused. Anaria kept her end of the bargain. I have a feeling this is the forest looking out for her.”
Realization hit me, then.
The dead circle the Oracle had caused, how she’d brought it back to life…
Cold certainty settled into me, along with a bit of relief. “We all sleep tonight.” Raz glanced my way, but I couldn’t stop staring at the dead beasts. “If this is true, then we have nothing to fear, and we’ll make better time tomorrow if we’ve rested. We all sleep, we break camp at dawn, and we make it to the palace before dark.”
* * *
The next daywe passed all sorts of fell creatures.
All of them dead, all of them being slowly consumed by the forest, some little more than bones, one of them leaving behind a carcass big enough for us all to stand inside.
“A Howler,” Raz muttered as we passed, none of us stopping. I was glad Anaria was still sleeping, thankful I had her in my arms. “Four times the size of any I’ve ever seen before.” My friend and I shared a troubled glance.
All these creatures were huge. Some of them unknown inside this realm.
And occasionally, a faint shadow darkened the floor beneath our feet, a Reaper floating overhead, looking for an easy meal. And I doubted the forest could protect us against those.
* * *
We stumbledinto the Wynter Palace just after dark, the last part of the rough climb frighteningly difficult, given the sheer drop off on one side and how utterly exhausted we were.
But locking that door behind us had never felt so good.
I’d carried Anaria upstairs, barely managing the sweeping staircase, stumbling down the long hall to the bedroom, Raz leading the way. “Stay with her,” was all he said, and before I could puzzle that out, he shut the door tight behind him.
I laid her down gently, arranging her so she’d be comfortable, spreading her beautiful hair over the pillow. Almost two days and she still slept, and though Adele had cleaned Anaria’s face, the rest of her was filthy.
As dirty as the rest of us, but somehow, on her, it just seemed worse.
I couldn’t get my fucking heart to stop racing so godsdamned fast. Mud splattered her legs, and her dress…Gods, I couldn’t stand to see her like this. I’d wanted an easy life for Anaria, filled with quiet joys and easy days and every good thing the gods would give her.
Not…this.
I covered her up in a blanket, dusty, but reasonably clean.
