Taste of Darkness

by Maria V. Snyder

  The sergeant gasped when I reached the edge of the vines.

  “You get used to it,” Odd said.

  I stepped between the vines, trying not to harm the Lily. Exiting the tunnel, I paused, breathing in the fresh air. The sun hung low—late afternoon. We had left in the morning, not that it mattered below the earth, but Ryne had wanted my ribs to heal and for me to get a good night’s sleep. As if that was possible. Dreams of Kerrick and Tohon had sabotaged my rest. At least my ribs no longer caused me pain. Just a dull ache that should disappear soon.

  A handful of Lilys grew nearby. As soon as I approached, the scent of vanilla dominated. Peace Lilys. They didn’t even twitch when I rested a hand on their petals.

  “It’s okay,” I called to the men. “They won’t hurt you.” I searched the area, seeking Death Lilys. None.

  When I returned, Hogan sat cross-legged on the ground. He sketched on a piece of parchment stretched across his lap. Working fast, he drew the landscape with a piece of charcoal.

  “What are you doing?” Odd asked.

  “Drawing landmarks,” Hogan said.

  Confused, Odd glanced at me.

  “Do you know where we are?” I asked him.

  “No.”

  “Neither does Hogan or Ryne. That sketch will help them figure out where this tunnel leads to.”

  Odd nodded.

  “We did find a rudimentary map of the mines,” Hogan said. “But it was old and doesn’t show half the shafts we’ve discovered.”

  If only Kerrick was here. He’d know our location the instant he touched the forest. While Hogan worked, I wandered among the greenery, trailing my fingers over the leaves and along the rough tree bark.

  Most of the Pomyt, Casis, Vyg, Sogra, Lyady, and the northern half of Ozero Realms were wooded. On a color map of the Fifteen Realms they appeared like a green belt south of the Nine Mountains. No surprise that lumber and mining were the top two resources for them. Farming dominated the realms of Zainsk, Sectven, Tobory, Ryazan, Kazan, and the southern half of Ozero. Bavly Realm extended into the Southern Desert and they sold the high-quality sand used in making glass wares.

  Of course, all the trade and sharing of resources died when two-thirds of our population died. Not enough workers to plow the fields, mine the sand, or cut trees. Not enough manpower to stop the marauders and outlaws from running amok. Not enough craftsmen to provide goods and services. It had been utter chaos. A dark time when the people executed healers because they blamed us for unleashing the killer among them.

  I’d believed we had nothing to do with the disease, but I’d since learned the healers did indeed cause over six million deaths. They’d been experimenting with mixing Death Lily toxin with Olaine pollen as a way to heal those pricked by the lethal Lilys. Instead, it had triggered the plague.

  Did all my colleagues and friends deserve to die? Or just those few who lost control of their experiment? Tough questions.

  And now Ryne hoped to return us to peace and prosperity. Or rather a semi-peace. The leaders of the Fifteen Realms squabbled like siblings over things like mine rights and border issues. Minor compared to Tohon’s army of the dead.

  “Avry...hello?” Odd waved a hand in front of my face.

  I focused on him. His brows were pinched together.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Hogan’s finished his sketch and wants to get moving to the next blocked exit.”

  We headed back, joining Hogan at the threshold.

  “How many more of these—” Odd gestured to the Lilys “—do we have to check?”

  Ah, the reason for his scowl.

  Hogan consulted the map. “Four more.”

  Odd gave me a sour look. “Gee, Avry, if this how you treat your friends, I’d hate to see what you do to your enemies.”

  * * *

  We spent the next couple days trekking through the Victibus mines. I made and discarded a dozen plans to rescue Melina as we moved through the forest. Peace Lilys blocked the next exit, but at the third one a small Death Lily grew. Not big enough to snatch a man yet, its petals reached as high as my hip.

  “Is that...” Hogan backed up a step.

  Odd laughed. “It’s just a baby. Can’t hurt a full-grown man.”

  “Should we pull it?” Hogan asked.

  “No. It has a flower and is still dangerous.” I stepped between him and the Lily. Before the plague, teams of people would cull the young Lily plants before they flowered to save lives.

  “But we might need this exit.”

  True, but these plants had a sentient core. “Let me talk to it.”

  “Uh—”

  “Don’t ask,” Odd cut in.

  I knelt next to the Death Lily and extended my hand. With a high-pitched hiss, it parted its petals and grabbed my arm. Two barbs pricked my wrist. Toxin flowed in me, but it wasn’t strong enough. Semi-detached from my body, I connected with the Lily’s consciousness. However, the connection remained weak. I caught a glimpse of another Lily, one fully grown a few miles away.

  “How do you know where it is?” Hogan asked after I’d recovered. “We don’t even know where we are.”

  How to explain? “The Lily showed me a map of the area. Like your sketch, but in my mind.”

  “And you trust this?”

  “Yes. And we need more toxin. It’ll only be a short detour.”

  “But Prince Ryne—”

  “Will be very happy to be able to eliminate more dead soldiers with the toxin we collect.”

  Hogan glanced at Odd.

  Odd shrugged. “Just so you know, she’s going whether you agree or not.”

  “You can wait here if you want. We’ll be back by sunset.” I hefted my pack.

  Hogan tried again. “Prince Ryne ordered us to stay together.”

  “Then come on—you’re wasting time.” I strode north. “Besides, what can happen? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Now you’ve done it,” Odd said, catching up to me. “Never invite danger.”

  “How’s that inviting danger?”

  “Asking ‘what can happen’ is a challenge to fate. It’s like asking fate to throw something our way.”

  “That’s a silly superstition.”

  “To you.”

  Uh-oh. Had I hurt his feelings? I glanced at him. Instead of wounded puppy dog, his expression remained serious. I remembered Odd was from Ryazan Realm. “Is this a Ryazan belief?”

  “No. Soldiers don’t tempt fate. We don’t brag or boast, which is different than being bold and aggressive. We aren’t cocky, just confident. Well, the good ones are.”

  “But you brag all the time at camp.”

  “About stupid stuff, not the important things. You’ve never heard me come back from a patrol and brag about how many enemy soldiers my squad killed. Or how we ambushed them while they slept.”

  True. He’d bragged about stealing the last cookie from the mess tent or about dumping Ursan in the mud during a training session. Actually he’d never seemed to tire of teasing Ursan over that one.

  “I understand and I’ll be more careful in my...word choices from now on,” I said.

  “Thank you,” Odd said.

  We walked in silence for a while. While Odd and I moved with the sounds of the forest, Hogan didn’t. He needed the silent training. The afternoon sun warmed the air and drove off the damp chill. Tipping my head back, I enjoyed the heat of the sunlight on my cheeks. We’d been overnighting in the tunnels for the past two nights. I hoped Ryne’s new infirmary location wasn’t inside a cave.

  After an hour, we reached the Death Lily. It grew among a dozen Peace Lilys, the largest cluster I’d seen since I’d been harvesting the toxin.

  I dropped my pack and approached. It s
natched me in one quick gulp. Impressive. Pain jabbed my upper arms. Then I broke free from my body, flowing into the roots of the plant and joining with its soul.

  Joy and contentment pulsed over my arrival. I smiled. Death Lilys didn’t get many willing visitors. It wished to help me and it showed me its entire network of Death Lily plants, offering the toxin sacks from them all. A generous gift. Committing as many to memory as I could, I concentrated on the locations.

  Then I asked it about not taking Ryne’s soldiers.

  Show me, it said. It desired a mental picture of every person in Ryne’s entire army.

  I can’t. Another way?

  No response. Perhaps I could mark the Death Lilys with paint to warn Ryne’s men. But then Cellina’s army would figure it out, too. And I didn’t mind if the Lilys ate them.

  Another memory occurred to me. It wasn’t nice. When I’d been a prisoner in Tohon’s castle, I’d learned how to kill a full-size Death Lily. With its toxin. If I sprinkle it on the ground below the flower, the toxin would be absorbed by the Lily’s roots. It would die. But just the idea... I hated it. However, it might be the only way to make those exits safe for Ryne’s army.

  Seeds, the Death Lily said.

  What kind of seeds?

  Mine. It showed me an image of a deer grazing under a Lily. A breeze shook the leaves and a handful of oval seeds showered on the animal’s back. Eventually a noise startled the deer and it ran off, carrying the seeds. Protect seeds. Make new.

  Understanding dawned. If Ryne’s soldiers wore those seeds, would they be protected?

  Yes.

  Will you—

  Yours.

  But nothing happened. What’s wrong?

  Others. Another image rose in my mind. A squad of a dozen soldiers wearing Tohon’s uniforms crept up on Odd and Hogan.

  Alarmed, I fought to be released. I need to warn them!

  Too late.

  Odd spun, pulling his sword. Hogan leaped to his feet and yanked his weapon—a long thin blade. Both had daggers in their other hands. Outnumbered six to one, the fight lasted mere moments. Disarmed and forced to their knees, Odd and Hogan surrendered to the squad’s leader.

  Their situation was all my fault. Guilt and fear pumped in my heart.

  The leader—an older man with wide shoulders and a powerful build, pointed to my pack on the ground and asked Odd, “Where is your other member?”

  Odd glanced at the Death Lily. “Eaten. Damn fool got too close.”

  “What are you doing out here?” the leader asked.

  Odd refused to answer.

  More. The Lily showed me a large number of other squads moving east through the forest.

  Not good. Did Ryne know they were here? Why were they so far from their main forces in Vyg? What was Cellina planning? The answer clicked. She dangled Zabin’s strategic military position to lure Ryne south. Meanwhile she sent her forces north in the hope of sneaking up behind him.

  The leader motioned to his men. They manacled Odd’s and Hogan’s hands behind their backs and pulled them to their feet.

  “Bring them to camp. If they don’t talk, we’ll feed them to the ufas,” the leader said.

  Bad. Very bad. I had to rescue them. Right now.

  KERRICK

  At first, Kerrick fought to remain inside his body and not spread throughout the forest. He concentrated on the vines growing on him. On the moist earth cushioning his body. On the dirt wedged under his fingernails.

  Then he struggled to hear the wind shake the tree’s limbs. The call of the birds. The rasp of air filling his lungs.

  He inhaled the scent of wood smoke. The mist of pine. The faint aroma of vanilla.

  Jolted by that smell, he clung to it. Memories flowed. Promises remembered. He pulled the scent toward his core, anchoring his consciousness to his body. Now he perceived touch, sounds, and smells all at the same time. Progress.

  Other sensations intruded. Hunger. Thirst. Cold. Aches.

  He awoke. Heart-shaped leaves obscured part of his vision. Sunlight flashed between them as they danced in the breeze. Kerrick tried to brush them away, but he couldn’t move. After a bit of wiggling, he discovered the vines not only blanketed him but held him tight.

  Stretching his senses, he reached for his connection with the living green. Except it wasn’t there. Well, not the way he remembered it. Before, it required effort for him to draw magic from the forest. It was a conscious decision to form a link. Now there was no need to tap into the power. It already resided within him.

  With a mere thought, he commanded the vines to release him. A ripping sound accompanied multiple stings of pain along his skin. As the vines retreated, cold air caressed his body, sending ripples of goose bumps.

  Kerrick sat up. His stiff muscles protested. His pants had been destroyed by the roots. Blood welled from a number of throbbing cuts along his torso, arms, and legs. The vines’ roots had left creases on his brown-and-green skin. He held his hands out. They, too, matched the colors of the forest. His survival instinct had probably kicked in when he passed out, camouflaging him from danger. He’d worry about it later.

  He rubbed the ache at the back of his neck. Had he collapsed or had someone knocked him out? Memories swirled through a thick fog.

  Slowly the events that had led to his current situation assembled. Seeing Flea. The fight with Tohon’s dead ufas. Cellina and Sepp. The attack on Quain. Avry!

  With a surge of energy, Kerrick stood, but he leaned against a tree as dizziness threatened to topple him. He needed food and water. How long had he been out?

  He sniffed the cool air. Crisp and sharp, it no longer held the humid earthy scent of summer. A few red, yellow, and orange leaves littered the ground. Early fall. Panicked, he pushed through his jumbled thoughts, searching for answers.

  Avry had stabbed Tohon. He smiled. That’s my girl. Flea had awoken Quain. And some sergeant had nicked him with a blade treated with...Death Lily toxin. Memories of being sick made him queasy anew. Kerrick sank to a sitting position.

  Had he died? Was he dead? A ghost of the forest? He dismissed that silly notion. He hurt too much to be deceased. But how did he survive? Avry? No, she’d be with him. Plus she couldn’t heal those infected with Death Lily toxin.

  And then he remembered the voice of the living green. Had it saved him?

  No, the living green said in his mind.

  Then who? he asked.

  You did.

  How?

  Your magic.

  But my magic doesn’t work that way. And the living green had never spoken to him before he’d gotten sick.

  Mirth. No voice that you’d understand.

  But now I can.

  Yes.

  Why?

  You are of the forest.

  But I’m alive.

  Yes. Alive like trees and plants.

  Kerrick’s temples pounded. Definitely alive. But how much time had passed? The living green showed him a tree’s small growth—its measure of time, but not helpful.

  Concentrating on his immediate needs, Kerrick pushed all his other concerns aside for now. First he found edible berries, roots, and nuts with ease. A stream nearby quenched his thirst. As for clothing, Kerrick decided to stay camouflaged until he could slip back into the infirmary cave. He’d left his pack and the rest of his clothing with Avry.

  Avry. He remembered her emotional reaction to their reunion. She had thought he’d died fighting the northern tribesmen, and then when he’d been poisoned she’d kept him at arm’s length most of the night.

  Did she believe he’d died again? He hoped not. Hurrying northeast, Kerrick noted the location of the various patrols and avoided them. He had awoken much farther from the cave than he recalled. As he drew closer, he slowed. No one
guarded the front entrance. Not good.

  He looped around to the back. Deserted, as well. Waiting proved difficult, but he didn’t want to walk into an ambush. Well, not naked and unarmed.

  After an hour with no signs of activity, he stepped from the forest. Or rather, he tried. A force dragged him to a stop. Pouring every ounce of strength into his legs, he managed a couple more steps. But his feet acted as if they’d grown roots and he stumbled to another halt.

  The pull to remain in the forest was like no other he’d encountered. If felt as if an invisible net had been thrown over him and tied to a tree’s trunk. Perhaps it was the living green’s way of warning him. He drew power and the force eased. Odd. He stepped closer to the cave, but the force increased. More magic meant more distance.

  Not stopping to analyze it, Kerrick gathered as much power as he could and sprinted. He had enough energy to confirm the cave had been abandoned and to find the message from Flea.

  Weak and drained, he crawled from the cave toward the forest. Each inch a relief until he collapsed just past the border.

  As he lay panting and spent, he’d realized he hadn’t needed to use his magic to find food or to locate the soldiers. That had required no effort. Unlike leaving the forest, which required a feat of strength and considerable endurance.

  The living green’s comment repeated in his mind.

  You are of the forest.

  CHAPTER 6

  I had mere moments to act. Once Odd and Hogan were taken to the enemy camp, I’d have no chance to rescue them. I considered my options. One—wait until they were out of sight, drop down from the Death Lily, and chase after them. Then what? It was twelve against one.

  Two—drop down before they left, surprising them. Then what? It was still twelve against one.

  Three—I had nothing. What did I have? A Death Lily and a dozen Peace Lilys. But they didn’t know the others were Peace Lilys.

  Vines? I asked the Lily. Grab the men? Will the Peace Lilys help?

  Yes. They go.

  Drop me down, I’ll distract them while you and your friends ensnare them. Okay?

  Yes. Taste them?