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Silas reached into one of the saddlebags and handed Mara a bread roll. “Here.”
A fly landed on the roll and Mara squashed it, a thick yellow gunk spreading over the roll and his hand. Mara threw the roll into the grass and wiped his hand on his leg. “Leave me alone,” he shouted.
Silas laughed.
Several hours on, the red grass was replaced by a much shorter, yellow grass that looked dead. Best of all, the flies were gone. There were still some small clouds of tiny ones, but they spent most of their time bothering Vala.
Silas turned Vala sideways. “There, where the sky becomes dark, that’s the Shadow Forest,” Silas said.
Mara looked around to see bright blue sky in all other directions. “Is it raining just there?”
“No, those clouds are always there, keeping the forest dark. It’s said the first assassins many years ago were priests who worshipped the god of darkness. Their worship saw the forest protected by the god. No army has ever taken the castle inside. These days, none even try.”
Mara couldn’t think of anything worse than a forest that was always dark. “Are there things like Mother in that forest?”
“No, only the Shadows. The forest is dead otherwise.”
“Dead?”
“Yes. No light means the trees have died.”
“Are the Shadows people?”
Silas got Vala moving again. “There are many things said about what they are. Some say they are disfigured men who keep their faces covered. Others believe they are not human, rather beasts conjured by the priests to replace them. You will hear yourself that they certainly sound human, but I do not know of anybody that has seen a Shadow’s face.”
Over the next few hours, Mara’s imagination ran wild. He’d pictured the Shadows as towering red-eyed beasts with wings beneath their clothes, capable of crushing the heads of the people that attacked the castle. He often peered around Silas to see the dark clouds getting closer, each time hoping that, somehow, they’d get further away. They didn’t.
A loud crack of thunder sounded, and it made Vala neigh and pull hard to the left. Silas shouted and brought her back under control. They passed into the shade under the clouds which swirled above them. Occasional flashes appeared inside them between the thunder.
“Take me back,” Mara said.
Silas didn’t answer.
Mara poked him in the back with the cover of his blade. “I want to go back.”
Silas turned and looked him in the eyes. “It’s a long walk back to Talon from here. Get off now if you want to.”
Mara jumped off Vala and landed on his hands and knees in the dry mud.
“You’ll freeze to death if you cross that plain by night.”
Mara rose. “I don’t want to go in there.”
“All this darkness and noise is to scare away those who are not meant to be here. You have nothing to fear.”
Mara looked ahead at the rows of grey trees in the distance and the pitch-black beyond them. It looked like there was plenty to fear.
Silas slid off Vala. “Come.” Then walked toward the trees.
Mara stared at Silas’s back. I’m not going with him, I can go back to that village. I’m not going in that dark forest. Another crack of thunder had Mara running to catch up with Silas without thinking.
They walked together to the edge of the forest. Everything was grey, a fine powder hung in the air, and it looked like a layer of ash covered the thin trees and forest floor.
“Okay, boy,” Silas said, “you must walk until you find the castle.”
“You’re not coming with me? Why can’t you take me there?” Mara said.
“Our journey together ends here. Our paths will cross again, I am sure of it.”
