Chapter 13

Back in the meadow, Anya was caught in a nightmare she couldn"t escape. Like the one when she brought the dog back to life, it didn"t feel like a dream but a memory.

An army was camped in a snowy forest around her, the smell of iron and horse sweat in the air. Warriors stamped their feet to keep them warm, their eyes looking expectedly at her. She turned to where a small black goat was waiting on a blood-stained altar, its liquid pupils wide from whatever drug it had been given.

Anya pulled a knife from her belt, its handle carved like a snarling bear. She cut the goat"s throat, its fresh blood warming her frozen fingers as she smeared it on her rune stones.

"Shamanitsa…" a deep voice said behind her, a warning to hurry.

Anya ignored the tsar. He was impatient. She didn"t care. He had raped her every night since he captured her, his lust his biggest weakness. She promised herself that she would watch him die.

Anya took a deep breath and started to sing. It was a song without words, but power echoed around her as she clutched her runes. Finally, she let them go, and they scattered over the forest floor. She stared at them, reading what they wanted to tell her.

"Victory," she said. For the army only. He would die, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at his stupid, doomed face.

"Thank you. You are free to go, but if you"ve lied to me, I"ll kill you," the tsar replied.

Anya nodded, keeping her eyes downcast and respectful as she collected her rune stones and headed into the forest. As she reached the top of a cliff, she looked at the clashing armies.

Tuoni appeared beside her, wearing black leather armor with a sword on his back. He smiled down at the bloodshed beneath him.

"Kill him for me, as painfully as possible. I want him alive enough to feel as crows pluck out his eyes," Anya said, her bloody hands clenched in rage.

Tuoni put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face his merciless and beautiful black eyes.

"Remember this, Anya. Dreams have power. They show old truths you are too blind to see on waking. They make you remember memories lost in the blood flowing through your veins. Remember her magic. Remember what she did when you wake," he said, and then with a laughing smile, he pushed her off the cliff.

Anya jerked awake desperately,sucking air back into her tight lungs. She was sweating, her shoulders hurting where Tuoni had pushed her. She could smell burning flesh, and her brain was humming with the tune of the song with no words.

"What"s happening to me?" she whispered, staring at her dirty hands. Anya started as Yvan crashed through the trees, pulling her to her feet.

"We have to go," he said urgently. "What just happened?"

"I was dreaming," Anya stammered, wiping the sweat from her face.

"You were projecting your magic everywhere. I can feel it pulsing off you," Yvan snapped as he tossed his bag over his shoulder. "Dreams have power in Skazki, and yours just sent out a magical beacon saying, "Here I am." Gods know what it"s going to attract."

"What does it matter who it attracts? There"s no way Vasilli could"ve caught up to us yet," Anya said, unable to keep the tremble out of her voice.

"You don"t understand," Yvan muttered.

Anya stopped moving. "Then explain it to me."

Yvan grabbed her arm and forced her to jog alongside him. "Skazki isn"t like the human world. It has fewer rules. There are immortal old gods, monsters, and magic users that control the Otherworlds. We call them Powers. Those who live here in Skazki have allegiance to one or the other to gain favor and protection. When someone with magic enters the realm of a Power, they know and will try to make you obligated to them. It"s a lifetime bond if you owe them a favor."

"They couldn"t be interested in me because of a nightmare! If they want anyone, it"s you and that fucking bird," Anya argued.

"You have magic! You don"t know how to use it, which is worse because they could mold you however they like."

"They can go to hell. If I can"t use it, no one can," Anya said stubbornly.

"Grow up, Anya! Think about what you are saying. These beings are so powerful, they could make you believe anything. One spell, one cantrip, and you would be their willing slave. You can"t protect yourself, as you proved with Vasilli and his compulsion. You are defenseless against them, and I won"t be able to stop them from taking you."

"It"s not like I could help it, Yvan," she said, her voice small.

He let out a sigh. "I know. That"s what makes it even worse."

Anya looked at the endless forest surrounding her. "Do you even know where we are?"

"As soon as we find a road or a village, I"ll figure it out. Skazki changes when you aren"t paying attention, just like the rest of the Otherworlds. I"m focusing on getting as far away from the forest as possible. Thanks to your dreaming, who knows what will follow us."

"I"m not going to apologize for something I had no control over, Yvan, but I"m sorry for yelling at you. Angry is better than scared, and I"m terrified," she admitted.

The hardness in his eyes shifted, and he loosened his grip on her hand. "I know. I am too. I"ll try my best to get you through this, but you"ll have to be patient with me. I"ve no experience dealing with an untrained shamanitsa," Yvan replied.

Anya smiled up at him. "Me neither, but I"ll try not to fight with you too much. Deal?"

"Deal."

Anya followed Yvan until they stumbled through the trees and onto a dirt road. There wasn"t a single house or person in sight.

"Which way?" Anya asked, her ribs aching from trying to keep up with Yvan"s long strides. He was standing rigidly, staring at something past her left shoulder.

"Should I turn around?" she whispered as the hair on her neck rose.

Yvan shook his head. "Get behind me."

Anya did as she was told, turning back around as a rider moved from the forest"s edge and stopped in the middle of the road.

He had a shaggy long beard and hair the color of dried blood. He was filthy and matted with gore, his red eyes glowing in the failing light. In one hand, he held a long, crude spear covered in old blood and rune marks. His horse was massive and was the same bloody red. Eikki"s horror story of such a creature came back to her.

The Red Rider, servant of Baba Yaga, stood before them with rage in his eyes. Anya hid behind Yvan. "This can"t be happening."