Chapter 26

Chapter

Twenty-Six

TRESSYA

The horses pawed at the ground, jostling in the line, eager to be away. With a head covering pulled up across my face to disguise myself as a man, I'd maneuvered my horse alongside Andriet. Then, to my annoyance, Bloodwyn nudged the nobleman on the other side of me away and took his place. I had to stay close to Andriet, and if Bloodwyn hoped to trail me, then maybe it was a good thing. That way, I could keep an eye on them both.

Given the number competing in the trials, we were in a tight line with little room to move. Bloodwyn's leg press firm against mine, while Andriet's and my horse's rumps bumped together. We'd yet to begin and already the smell of horse sweat filled the air.

Behind us, on a makeshift wooden platform, sat the king. Beside him sat Princess Cirro. The queen remained absent, still sick in her bed, but alive, according to Andriet, who'd spent the night before the caravan departed for the Ashenlands, sitting by her side. Behind the royal party stood two Salmun, their presence as ominous and dark as the ladened sky. Orphus was not one of them. I craned my head along the line, thinking I may see him on a horse, ready to join us in the Ashenlands, but no.

My gaze landed on Radnisa, standing at the front of my tent. She'd been unusually happy this morning, and now she wore her smirk so wide it was hard to miss from this distance. Turning my attention from her, I inadvertently met Bloodwyn's gaze.

"She looks pleased with herself."

"She's thrilled to see me disappear into the Ashenlands."

He leaned over his horse. "My offer from this morning still stands, you know."

I cast a sly glance around me. "I don't want you killing anyone. Not even those who deserve it."

He sucked in a noisy breath. "You drive a hard bargain."

"It's a warning. Not a bargain."

Bloodwyn winked at me, but I said no more because a herald rode to the front of our line.

"If you stick with me, I'll see to it you return alive," Bloodwyn said as I strained to make out what the herald was shouting.

Bloodwyn leaned forward to catch a glance of Andriet. "I suppose you'll be sticking with him."

"Shut up. I can't hear what he's saying."

"He says we stand little chance of finding our first object or even surviving our first trial. And if we were smart, we'd stay in our tents, drink ale, and fornicate."

"We'd all be happier if you took that advice."

"If you joined me in my tent, I'd knot the ties at the entrance tight and make sure no one could open them."

That distracted me, as did the instantaneous vision of being wrapped up in his bedsheets. I turned my head toward him, only to receive another of his winks. Dammit . That wink of his was growing on me.

"You wouldn't be disappointed, princess."

I snapped my head away before he caught the twitch of my smile. Right now the trial should take my full concentration. I had to make sure I never lost sight of Andriet once we were in the trial. But with Bloodwyn beside me, the constant urge to glance at him became as persistent as night and day.

In my periphery, I saw movement on the king's platform and turned to see the king rise from his seat.

"This looks like it. You sure you won't take me up on my offer?"

"Never." I kept my face turned away, so he wouldn't see that I'd lost the war with my smile.

"You realize if I'm occupied in my tent, I'm not chasing your darling little prince around the Ashenlands, and you have nothing to fear."

The king began his speech as I whipped my head around to face Bloodwyn. "You think I fear you?"

"No. I think I'm slowly succeeding in working my way under your skin."

I shook my head.

"Admit it. I make you smile, something you haven't done in a long time. Am I right? Perhaps I make you think a lot of other things."

I tried to frown against the truth of his words. He would never know how many times I thought about him. Not one time were any of those thoughts pure. "You're right. I think of sharpening my blades." I turned away before he noticed how hard it was for me to keep my frown.

"At least I'm in your thoughts. I'm sure a lot of other men haven't even got that far."

Trumpets sounded, then a heavy thunder of hooves as the line of horses took flight, leaving me dazed, my horse prancing on the spot as I held her reins tight. Andriet was gone from my side. Curses, so was Bloodwyn. Both raced neck to neck, their horses' hooves nearing the death line demarcating the Ashenlands.

I dug my heels into my horse's flanks and let her have her head. She shot forward, but I was already far over her withers, urging her into a gallop. Ahead of me, dust billowed up, obscuring my view, as the line of horses galloped across the parched ground.

Damn you, Bloodwyn.

I urged my horse for more speed, and she gave me all she could. The death line drew near, and then my horse shot across it and onto the dead ground. Dust billowed around us, filling my nose, clogging the back of my throat, and even finding its way underneath my clothes to scratch against my skin. I coughed, then reached for the cloth I'd used to cover the lower half of my face.

I couldn't see where we were heading, or the surrounding riders, and neither could I hear the thunder of hooves from a hundred horses or more. I bent lower over my horse's withers as an itch tickled my nose. The itch grew and grew, and before I could stop myself, I sneezed.

One blink with the sneeze was all it took. I opened my eyes to find the Ashenlands had disappeared, so too the open ground upon which we'd raced. In her speed, my mare lost her footing on the dense roots and went down, sending me over her head. I landed on my side, my shoulder hitting the trailing end of a root.

My head spun, but my horse's gentle whinny brought me back to the present. Thankfully, the mare was on her feet, unharmed. My shoulder throbbed, my hip ached, and my head was in a total muddle, so I wasn't sure I was so lucky. Growling as I stood made me feel a smidgeon better.

"Damn, you, Orphus." He was but one of many who cursed this land, but he made the best target for my anger.

Surrounding me was dense forest with no end in sight. All around, roots rose like deadly snakes. Carpets of dull green creeper threatened to strangle the fat trunks of the trees, and moss turned the black loamy soil into a slippery floor. The canopy, knitted like a web, blocked most of the natural light, surrounding me in an eerie gloom. Not a sound penetrated the thick, warm air. Beads of sweat broke across my forehead, the moisture dribbling down into my eyes. I pulled at my collar, feeling a restrictive heat prickle against my skin.

"Andriet," I cried. Not even my echo returned to me.

I didn't know which way was forward and which way would get me out. Damn Salmun trickery. At least everyone would be stuck like me, meaning Bloodwyn would find it hard to hunt Andriet down.

"Easy girl." I doubled back and took my horse's reins, then encouraged her into a walk. She walked without a limp, which was one mercy I would be grateful for.

"It's on foot from here." I found speaking to my horse eased my nerves. Neither did I feel so alone.

Our objects were supposed to call to our subconscious. As long as we didn't oppose our instincts, we would be led toward them, or at least in the right direction. Apparently.

I stopped and inhaled deeply, allowing my eyes to drift closed. Andriet had said that a competitor needed cunning, but perhaps cunning began with starting slow and listening. I wasn't sure what I was listening for, but if my object was going to guide me, I needed to be attentive, whether to the sensations within my body or the sounds of the forest.

At first, I heard silence. Then a distant melody wafted through the trees. I opened my eyes and turned in a circle, confused about the direction it was coming from. I saw nothing but the gloomy darkness, thick trunked trees, and a creeping fog, sliding over the roots and crawling around my feet, which had not existed before. I held my breath, finding the strains of music over my heartbeat, going from my left.

I gathered the horse's reins and guided her around the trees toward the growing sound of the song, until the trees fell away, and I stood on the edge of a lake. In the center of the lake, dancing above the eddying fog, was the spirit of a young girl, glowing almost as bright as the sun. The fog glistened and glowed around her. She twirled in a circle, so the lower half of her ill-formed body twisted into a knot of bright glittering starlight.

When she spied me standing on the edge of the lake, she stopped.

"Oh my. It's a woman." Her voice was high and child-like.

She glided across the top of the lake toward me, trailing the dregs of her ill-formed legs behind her, then stopped in front of me.

"Poor thing, she must've lost her way."

"I kind of did."

Her eyes looked about to pop from her head. She pointed to her chest. "Me?" It was all she could say in her surprise.

"Yes, I see you. And hear you."

She gasped, her eyes growing impossibly wider as she attempted to slap her hands against her cheeks, only for them to sink through her skull. "You're speaking to me?"

I nodded.

"That's never happened." She spun up into the air, dizzying up into a spiral above my head, squealing in glee, before settling down in front of me again.

"You're my best friend," she declared. "We're going to have so much fun." She tried to grab her long plait, now falling over her shoulder, but her fingers kept missing and sinking through into her chest.

"What's your name?" I asked.

She stopped fussing with her plait. "We can make this into a game."

Great. I would have to stumble on the spirit of a child. "I don't have time for a game. I need to find my friend."

Her face brightened. "That's the game. You guess my name, and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

Frustration threatened to consume me, and I shook my head. "I want to know where my friend is and which way is out."

"But you're a woman. They don't allow women to join the trials."

"Good, you know about them."

"We all know about them."

"There's more of you?"

"There are many villages full of us."

How many villages were caught within the Salmun's curse? I frowned, wondering what these lands were like before. Shaking myself of the thoughts, I said, "If you know about the trials, then you must know about the objects and where the Salmun have placed them." Maybe that was an impossible ask, but I had to hope.

"You're silly. The Salmun don't put them anywhere."

"That makes little sense."

"Yes, it does. Now can we play my game?"

I blew a breath. "I have to find my friend. Maybe someone from your village?—"

"No. You have to play my game." She shouted in her high-pitched voice. "That's what friends do." She folded her arms with a frown. "We're good friends now." Her brow smoothed. "We'll be better friends soon."

I couldn't help the feeling of unease that shot through me. Her words reminded me of Scregs. I had to lose this spirit.

"You can't go," she said as I gathered my horse's reins. She shot forward, and I jerked my arm away before she could touch me.

"Wait. I'll give you three guesses."

What if there was a special reason I'd found her? "Three guesses for what?"

"My name. Three guesses for my name. If you get it, I'll tell you all about my village, and my family, and the things I've seen."

"Which way to find my friend, the object, and the way out. That's all I want."

She scrunched up her nose, tilting her head to the side and pressed her lips together as a smile spread across her face. "You're not playing."

"I can't guess it in three."

I wanted nothing more than to get away from the annoying little spirit, but I was now sure I'd ended up in this exact spot for a reason.

She tilted her head to the side again, her gaze focusing off beyond me, like she was listening for something. Maybe if I threatened to leave, she would give in and surrender her name, then perhaps I would get what I wanted.

"I have to go." I half turned.

"No. You can't. That will break the rules."

"Rules you've created."

"No. The rules of the trials."

"What rules?"

Her eyes flittered over my head. "Oh, just those rules," she said absentmindedly.

"Where is your village?" If I found an adult spirit, I may be in luck.

"You'll know soon enough."

Creepy tingles flared across the back of my neck. I spun to look behind me, following her gaze, but saw nothing. "I think it's time I left."

She smiled, and the tingles multiplied. "You could try."

My horse let out a whiny, then reared up beside me, and the reins slipped through my fingers. I grabbed for them, but the mare lurched forward and raced off through the trees, gliding over the exposed roots with speed.

"Dammit," I yelled.

"Don't worry. You don't need your horse anymore."

"What do you mean?" I growled at her, but she'd returned to staring over my shoulder.

I spun to see something large and black lurking in the distance. Its shape was indistinct, but the white glow of its eyes pierced through the gloomy forest.

"Now it's too late," giggled the spirit child.

She'd played me, all right. The game was a ruse to keep me here long enough for her pet to come.

"You'll be my friend forever."

Drawing my sword, I moved away from the edge of the lake to give myself room. The creature clambered through the canopy, jumping from tree to tree, its claws chipping bark and leaving deep slashes in its wake. Coat as dark as a starless night, slit-like holes for ears, four long limbs, it loomed above me, gums peeled back to reveal long, blade-sharp teeth. It was like nothing I had seen before.

It pounced, landing without noise where I'd been standing, but I had long danced away. A swipe with my sword met only air. It rose onto its back legs, and I ducked low as its blade-like claws tried to slice me in two.

With all those roots to trip on, the ground was my disadvantage. I couldn't take my eyes off the creature, but neither could I avoid looking where I stepped. Luckily, the creature's strike was slower than I expected, but the beast blended nicely into the gloom of the forest behind.

Discipline. One calming breath.

I jumped over a large gnarled root, looking for more space. In my periphery, I caught its next attack and ducked. Diverting left, I felt the breeze of its strike over my head. Before I took another breath, it brought its left arm down to gouge a chunk of exposed root on my right, then rumbled a frustrated sound deep in its throat.

The next root I missed and staggered, flailing to keep my feet with the sound of thumping stomps lumbering behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see the spirit girl wafting from the lake to follow behind, but the beast soon obscured my view of her.

As I ran, I scanned the forest for a better position. I had no hope of wounding or killing it from here. The lumbering thumps of its heavy tread vibrated up through my feet as I dodged behind a thick trunked tree. Next came the sound of ripping bark and littering fine shavings upon me. Curses, it was climbing into the canopy.

I darted away from the tree, hopping over the roots. The glow of the girl rose over my shoulder, spreading its light into the forest in front of me. Overhead came a rustle of leaves, a snap of a branch.

Glancing up, I saw it leap to the tree I was rushing for. I doubled back, but the spirit girl's glow blinded me, and I tripped. I fell hard, losing my sword, my stomach hitting an exposed root. With the jarring impact, I bit my tongue.

I scrambled to my knees. My sword . Thanks to the girl, I'd lost my night vision. I crawled on the ground, skimming my hands around for my sword, but a loud crack from behind sent me scurrying to my feet.

I needed another calming breath, but my training had not prepared me to fight a creature more than double my size, with claws and teeth for weapons, on treacherously uneven ground, half blinded by light. I gritted my teeth as I lunged away, abandoning my sword.

The crack was a fat branch, collapsing under the creature's weight. The spirit girl's light created shadows in the deep crevices of the roots as she wafted alongside us and spread out as shimmering ripples across the lake beyond.

I couldn't allow myself to be caged between the forest and the lake, and it was no help to me if it didn't know how to swim because neither did I.

A heavy stomp rattled the ground behind me. Dagger in hand, I darted forward, stumbling over more roots in my haste.

"Give up," the girl shrieked.

I growled, then foolishly glanced at her. "Never," I shouted.

The beast lumbered along behind, stripping up roots and tossing them aside as it came. In her excitement, the spirit girl wafted closer, brightening the forest floor around me. As the light hit it, the beast suddenly jerked right and took to the trees.

"Stop," the girl shrieked. "You'll love it here with me."

I didn't stop, but I couldn't keep running. I had to be smart.

Something hard hit me between my shoulder blades as I leaped clear of another root. I staggered, lost my footing and went to my knees. My pounding heart and will drove me to my feet again, but halfway up, I was hit in the back again. A sharp pain lanced my side as I was knocked to my stomach. The ring of a chink echoed through my head, but I was concerned more with my dagger as it skittered from my hold. I tried to roll right but found my left side pinned.

A looming darkness obscured the spirit's light as the beast reared overhead, its claw piercing my smock, nailing me where I lay. The beasts glowing white eyes leered over me. With my right hand, I reached for my other dagger, only to realize the chink I had heard was the beast's claw hitting the hilt of my other dagger as it severed the sheath from my belt. Miraculously, its claw had missed my skin.

"A short time. That's all. Then it will be over," the girl said, her voice coming from afar.

She'd retreated, drawing her light away. Because… Probably not. Maybe.

The beast lowered its head and roared. I turned my head away, as it breathed its rotten breath over me, and I drowned in a stench of sewers and decay.

This is not it. It's not. I won't let it be.

The beast lowered its head, releasing another roar, and I held my breath, turning my head.

Gritting my teeth, I tried to pull myself free of its claw. Dammit . I was wedged tight. Its mouth hovered close to my face. My attention caught on a sharp fang as it snorted and snuffled, sniffing me. My heart beat so fast it hurt my chest and strangled my lungs so I couldn't breathe. The pulse of my blood hammered through my ears. I wouldn't die.

Aetherius . My soul word surged into my mind. Aetherius . I shouted the word in my head, fearing the powerlessness of my impending death. The power of spiritweaving flowed within me. I funneled it outward, searching, seeking, until I latched onto the spirit girl.

"Come here," I demanded, but nothing happened.

My lungs released. I gulped in air. "Come. Here," I commanded again.

I felt the feeble struggle of her small and fragile mind as I pierced the veil dividing the living from the dead and slammed through her, destroying her free will.

"You're cruel," she whimpered, fighting against me and failing.

The forest grew brighter as she neared. The beast reared up, then roared, thrashing its head from side to side.

"Hurry," I shouted.

It was as though the sun had risen. A brilliant glow flooded over the beast, transforming its outline into a silhouette. It rose high on its hunches, releasing a deafening howl, then launched up into the trees and lumbered away.

"You're mean, and cruel, and no longer my friend," the girl yelled, folding her arms across her chest.

I slowly rolled to my side, wincing at the pain, and sat up. "Now you'll tell me where I can find my object."

"I don't know. I'm not telling."

"I'll command you again. I think you'd prefer to do it willingly."

"You can't. You can't. It's wrong."

Pressing my lips tight, keeping the groan inside, I rose to my feet. "I'm not staying in this cursed place any more than I have to, so you'd better tell me."

The girl floated backward until she was out over the lake once more. I followed her, about to call on my soul word to command her, when I spied a rippling glow from beneath the water. I stepped up to the water's edge and peered in.

It was a dagger. Of course. Something significant to me.

"There. It's yours. Take it." She pouted.

"I can't swim."

She smirked. "That's a problem."

"You'll have to get it for me."

She giggled, but the sound was more evil than nice. "I'm a spirit. How can I do that?"

The same way Truett had touched me. He'd pierced the ethereal divide long enough to touch me lightly on the arm. Spirits couldn't do that on their own, so I must've done it for him unconsciously. Pulling the dead through the veil into the realm of the living was the greatest of a spiritweaver's power. It wasn't a true life we gave them, or a true body they gained, simply a poor semblance of what they once had, the ability to touch and feel again, but there were still many limitations. Death was death, it could never be evaded.

If I could pull her through long enough to retrieve the dagger, I was out of the Ashenlands.

"I need it. And you'll get it for me."

"Shan't."

"Shall I enslave you to my command again?"

She shook her head.

"Then do it." After her prank, I struggled to feel any compassion toward her.

She dived, not a ripple or splash in her wake. I closed my eyes, allowing my soul word to surface. Aetherius . It rose, splintering the boundaries and expanding my mind beyond the limitations of this earthly realm. This time, I cradled her mind like an infant and gradually pulled her toward me. Her presence brushed alongside me, her awareness a tickle in my mind. She didn't fight what I was doing, even though I felt her anger.

I opened my eyes and watched the wavering glow below the water grow ever closer to the surface. She broke through, this time with a splash. Blade held high, water brimming at her chest, she came toward me, wading on the bottom of the lake because…she now had legs.

Slowly the water receded down her body, then finally she stopped in the shallows, a broad smile splitting her face. "It's oozy and squishy," she giggled.

I held out my hand. "My dagger."

Her eyes blew wide. "I can feel everything."

I tried to grab the dagger as she waved her arms in a wide circle.

"Sorry. It won't last. You can't stay on this side."

"But…You can't. No. I don't want to go back."

I released my hold on her, feeling her essence shrink in my mind like sinking sand.

"No. Stop! You can't."

As the young girl became a spirit once more, the dagger plopped into the shallows. I swiped it up as she cursed me using words someone so young should never speak.

The moment the dagger was in my hands, I felt a tug in my stomach and the forest swirled around me, its gloomy hues melding into one stream. My stomach roiled as I was jerked off my feet, then thrown onto them again, but I lost my balance and tumbled onto my aching side. I rolled and lifted my head to see the tent city rising in front of me.

The dagger had disappeared.