Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Gasric strode outside and we were pushed along behind him. We were marched into the woods but there was something strange about the path on which we tread. A thin layer of dirt covered the ground but my feet clopped against a consistent mess of hard stone. I scuffed my foot against the dirt and revealed a neat row of rough cobblestones.

We followed the forest-consumed path to what had once been a sizeable clearing. The trees some fifty yards out stretched high into the sky, but those closer were half the size. The cobblestones stretched out and formed a circle around a low stone wall in the center of the meadow.

We were shoved over to the low wall and my heart nearly gave out when I saw the dark depths contained inside the low walls. The interior stretched beyond sight but not beyond sound as Gasric plucked a small stone from the ground and tossed the rock into the well. The stone rattled for what seemed like an eternity before it finally landed on something that shattered beneath the impact.

Gasric set one foot on the low wall and grinned at us as he gestured to the well. "What do you think of this, friends? This is the Pit of Sacrifices. When Eall's band of pathetic werewolves still knew about their fangs and claws they would drag their captives to this very spot where the trees are the oldest in the whole of the woods. The forest thrived on sacrifices, and so they were tossed in to be fodder for the earth. Now you will feed the earth and feed my interests."

Gasric stepped back and nodded at his men. We were pushed forward toward the abyss. I tried to drag my feet but one of the wolves merely lifted me by my bindings and hefted me onto the low wall. I shut my eyes against the impossibly long drop below us.

Cal's low voice cut through my terror. "Millie, you must shine your light on our foes."

I tried to focus. A faint warmth surrounded me, but the bone-chilling cold from the depths of the earth dampened it to nothing. Tears sprang into my eyes as I shook my head. "I can't."

"What's this?" Gasric shouted as he pushed my captor out of the way and grabbed a hold of my hand bindings. "Trying to get free with some paltry magic? This'll teach you!"

He tossed me over the low wall and into the abyss. My scream bounced off the walls and created an echo chamber of terror. The darkness swallowed me up, but a light burst out of my body that illuminated the slimy stone walls. It also illuminated the bottom far below me.

A pile of white bones awaited my arrival.

I flung my arms up in front of my face and braced for impact. The light around me grew brighter and I felt my descent slow. My breath caught in my throat as I peeked through my arms. The bottom came up fast, but it was more like a drop of ten feet than a hundred as I fell onto the pile.

Good thing, too, because the bones were as sharp as they were numerous. My light began to fade, but not before Cal dropped beside me. He, too, had been slowed by my magic and fell with merely a hard thump onto the pile.

Cal sat up and shook off the dust from the long dead. He managed a faint smile. "That was an admirable start, Millie, if a bit delayed."

I sat up on my shaky arms and stared in horror at the death around us. Countless skulls grinned back at us. My light flickered and faded.

"Focus, Millie!" Cal hissed as he crawled on his knees over to me. "You need to focus on using your magic to fly us out of here!"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and grasped my shaking hands in front of me. "H-how do I do that? I don't even know how I did it just now."

"Force of will," Cal reminded me as he set himself down by my side. "You must force your will over your magic. Just now during the fall, your desire to survive allowed you to gain mastery over your magic. You can do so again."

I choked on a laugh. "I'd rather not have to go for another hundred-foot drop."

Cal's expression was grim as he met my eyes. "If you don't get us out of here then we will not need another drop. Time and deprivation will ensure we meet the same end as the innocents upon which we are seated."

I dropped my eyes to the bones that lay beneath us. There was no way to tell how deep the bodies were piled, but I knew I didn't want to be added to the collection.

"Alright," I whispered as I gingerly climbed to my feet to stand above the bones. "Let's see what I can do."

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the faint warmth that surrounded me. My focus was mixed in with a silent prayer. This had to work. I had to make this work. For Cal. For myself. For Ben.

For Ben .

A fire was kindled in my heart at the thought of never seeing him again. I wanted to see his smile and hear his laugh, at least one more time. All that was between that chance and where I stood was a stupid wall and those vicious wolves.

Was I going to let a couple of hairballs stop me from seeing Ben again? Hell no.

The light around me exploded. A gust of wind blew up underneath me and whipped my hair up above my head. The bones rattled and shook, and the dust that had clung to them was sent sailing into the sky. I heard faint shouts above us, but those were drowned out by the shaking bones.

I expected Cal and me to be sent shooting into the sky, but something far different happened. The light around me sank into the bones and the jumbled mess began to arrange itself into the long broken bodies of the victims. I nearly lost my concentration when a bone flew out from beneath my foot and attached itself to one of the forming creations.

I whipped my head to Cal who had pressed his back against the wall to keep out of the way of the rearrangement. "Is this a good sign?" I shouted above the wind storm.

He opened his mouth to respond, but a look of surprise came upon him and he drew his arms forward. The manacles had dropped behind him and picked them up to examine the open bindings. "This is far from what I expected, but most definitely not unpleasant."

The bones continued their merry work rebuilding bodies and connecting them with my light. The finished skeletons tried to scurry up the walls, but their bony fingers couldn't find enough handholds to carry them up. The rattle-bones after them climbed onto their shoulders and reached higher, with others scurrying on top of them and slowly building up an ever-rising wall of bones.

I started to get the feeling that they were being greedy, however, as my energy began to wane. The light around me carried downward into the pile ever faster so that the whole bony floor of the pit glowed. Skeletons now leapt out from the pile and scurried onto the shoulders of their stacked brethren.

One of the bones underfoot slipped out and in my weakened state I lost my balance. I braced for a hard fall onto some pointy bits, but instead I fell against what felt like a hard piece of wood. My heart skipped a beat when I found myself staring into the grinning face of one of the bone fellows. This one was particularly large and was easily able to heft me over his broad shoulders. I wrapped my arms around its neck bones and the skeleton stalked toward the rising tower of its bony brethren.

Cal was likewise hefted onto the shoulders of another large skeleton, and together our riders climbed the mountain. My legs swung freely behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to watch my light reach to the bottom of the pit. Hundreds of skeletons now lined the walls and they had nearly reached the top of the pit.

Shouts came from somewhere above us and I glimpsed the terrified face of a wolf man. The man disappeared as the skeletons finally reached the top and climbed over. Screams could be heard and feet stampeded, but all that was drowned out by the rattle of the bone army I had created.

We, too, reached the top and I breathed in the fresh scent of the old forest. My skeleton escort set me down on the ground and I found myself standing in the middle of destruction. The tents had been torn to shreds and the gear scattered to the far reaches of the clearing. The werewolves themselves had cleared out. Not even Gasric had stayed to fight my private army.

But then, how could anyone fight what was already dead?

I turned to face the pit and watched as the skeletons pulled all their brethren out of the hole. The last of the bonies merely looked up at the sky and opened their mouths as if truly smiling. Then, one by one, the skeletons collapsed into piles of dust. A gentle breeze blew through the ruined camp and took away the bodies.

Cal sidled up to me and softly smiled at the empty field. "It appears your magic has not only freed us but has done those poor souls a good deed."

"Compliments later," I scolded him as I grabbed his hand and dragged him toward the woods. "Escaping now."