by Imogen Elvis
CHAPTER TWELVE
Briar slipped out of the watchtower while the pale colours of dawn were still fading from the sky, and lifted her face to the first rays of the sun. How she’d missed this, the crisp spring mornings when the ground was covered in a mantle of delicate dew, spider webs hanging between blades of grass like pearl strung necklaces, and the sun was just peeking over the horizon. The feeling of being alone was warm and comforting.
“You’re awake early.” Kade stepped out of the tower behind her.
“Couldn’t sleep.” A long pause. Now that Lara and Rowen were here, they could get back on the road to Trava. There was a definite feeling of hope on the wind this morning.
“I’ve been thinking.” Kade paused. Briar’s bright mood faded at the serious look on his face. “I’m not so sure you should come with us after all.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Somehow, in light of the conversation she’d overheard the night before, that simple statement left a lot of the story out. Briar took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts. So he didn’t want to help her anymore. The weight of disappointment was heavier than it should have been. She hadn’t realised until now just how much she was counting on Kade’s company, and his protection. And now… But it wasn’t the end. She could still get to Trava on her own. Which, after all, she was going to do in the first place.
“I suppose we part ways here then.” Briar could beg Kade to take her, but he had no obligation to do that, and she had too much pride. “Thank you for your help so far. I can make my own way from here.”
Kade hesitated again. “Briar, the Nameless Ones will kill you the moment you try and rescue your sister. There’s nothing you can do to save her. Trust me, I know.”
A bitter taste flooded Briar’s mouth. So that’s what this was about. What Kade didn’t seem to be able to understand was that there was no way she was going to abandon her sister. She lifted her chin. “Thank you for that advice. I’m still going.” Briar turned and stalked towards the tower. She may as well leave now if this was how he was going to be.
“Briar.” Kade’s hand closed around her arm, pulling her to a stop. “Your sister is most likely dead at this point.”
“You don’t know that.” Briar shook his hand off. “They didn’t kill Ava in Osman. Why would they kill her now?”
“I understand you want to help her, but this isn’t reasonable. None of this should have ever happened, but you shouldn’t put yourself through all this for a vain hope. Let me take you to the nearest village. You’ll be safe there.” His voice grew gentler. “What happened to Ava is not your fault.”
Briar pressed her lips together. She’d seen the Nameless Ones capture Ava. Her sister was alive. But Kade’s words did spark doubts, not in Ava, but herself. After all, she was just one person, and they were so impossibly strong. If Mistress Rhosmari couldn’t beat them, even with the help of a soul singer, how did she stand a chance? But she couldn’t abandon Ava either.
“Where can I take you?” Kade pressed, as if he could feel her indecision.
He wasn’t going to give up until she agreed, was he? Briar’s shoulders sagged. “There’s a village to the west of here. Astar. It’s maybe a morning’s walk. But I can take myself there.”
“I’d rather make sure you were safe.” There was real sympathy in Kade’s eyes, and that was maybe the most hurtful thing of all. “I’m sorry for your sister.”
Briar turned away and hurried back to the tower to gather her belongings. She didn’t need to be safe, and she certainly didn’t need his sympathy. What Briar needed was Ava, and as soon as she got rid of Kade and his friends, she’d be right back on the road to Trava. Astar was a chance to get away from Kade, nothing more.
She lingered inside the tower for a few extra moments, finalising her plan and calming herself. By the time she stepped outside again, her satchel slung over her shoulder, Kade was deep in conversation with Lara and Rowen.
Briar waited in the entranceway, stiff and awkward, holding her head up so Kade wouldn’t see how much his disbelief hurt. There was nothing he could say that she hadn’t already thought of. But at the same time, to hear the words parroted back, and to have her fears and doubts about her ability to save Ava thrown in her face, that hurt more than she expected.
Kade broke off when he saw Briar standing, waiting. “Ready?”
She nodded.
He turned back to Lara and Rowen. “I’ll see you two in Trava.”
“Take care.” Lara gave him a quick hug. “And try not get into any more trouble, alright?”
“I’ll do my best.” Kade turned to Rowen, clapping him on the shoulder. “Good luck. I won’t be far behind you.”
Kade heaved his pack onto his shoulder and set off down the hill with Briar trailing in his wake. Glancing back, she watched as Rowen and Lara headed northeast. She ached to follow them, to get back on the northern road, and make her way to Trava, but instead, she forced herself to face forward. She'd be free to go her own way very soon. All she had to do was get rid of Kade first.
The morning passed in silence. As they travelled through the hills, Briar spotted a few familiar landmarks, reminders of her old life. Three standing stones on a rise, outlined against the pale blue sky. An ancient tree split down the middle from a lightning strike, the bark still blackened and burnt. Beyond that, an overgrown path winding up the side of the steep slope ahead of them. Briar’s breath hitched, and she slowed. Her feet knew that path only too well.
“Thank you for the company.” Her voice sounded stiff and strange to her ears. “I’ll be alright from here.”
“I’d rather take you the whole way.”
Briar forced a smile she didn’t feel. “This track leads right to the village. I’ll be perfectly safe.” She took a deep breath. “Thank you for taking me this far, Kade. You had no obligation to. I appreciate your concern.” Misguided, heartbreaking concern, but at least he cared even a little. Which was more than anyone else ever did.
“You’re welcome.” Kade met her eyes with an earnest gaze. “Will you be alright?”
“Of course.” Briar made herself smile again. “Good luck on your journey, Kade.” She turned and strode up the path, not trusting herself to say more. He was only trying to keep her safe. But that wasn’t what she needed anymore.
Now that Kade had carried out his obligation, Briar expected him to leave immediately, but when she looked back, he was still there, standing under the split tree, watching as she climbed the hill. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled under his gaze, and she breathed a sigh of relief when the steep slope finally hid her from his sight.
Briar’s feet stumbled on the all too familiar path, now slowly fading away into the hillside. Once upon a time, she swore she would never come back here. Look at all her promises now. There was no need to go the whole way to Astar, but now she was here, Briar couldn’t stop herself from following the path down into the village.
The first glimpse was a punch to the gut. When Briar thought of Astar, she remembered it as a bustling little village, filled with cheerful hill folk, their doors always open and their hearths always warm. Sleepy sheep herders with tiny cottage gardens that always had that one patch of flowers blooming whatever the season. Barefoot children scampering through the pale spring grass. Her family. Her home.
The reality was a sobering contrast.
The cozy cottages were now a cluster of burnt-out shells huddling in on themselves, their very stones blackened and decaying. The stumps of the wooden wall that had once surrounded the village now stood at strange angles like grotesque watchmen. Grass and weeds reclaimed the path under Briar’s feet, nature itself slowly sweeping away every last trace of the people who once lived here. And it was so quiet. Even the birdsong died away as if the birds themselves sensed the tragedy of this place.
Briar’s plan didn’t include actually going to Astar, but her feet traced the once familiar path of their own
accord, carrying her past the crooked log wall, and into the derelict village beyond. It was like every step took her back in time to a place where even her memories didn’t want to go, and yet she couldn’t stop.
The streets teemed with ghosts. Nana Brinda sitting by her door, her eternal knitting in hand, soaking up the morning sunshine. Hordes of children scampering between the cottages, chasing each other in endless games of ‘snake’. Mama standing outside their house with her wash bucket, laughing as Ava and Briar played around her.
Briar couldn’t remember what her mother’s smile looked like.
Her home was a ruin. Nothing to distinguish it from the other hovels, except for the aching pain in her chest. The thatched roof had turned to ash. The shutters and doors were gone, leaving the house with a dead-eyed stare. All that remained were four crumbling stone walls, opening into an interior choked with weeds. A tear traced its way down Briar’s cheek. This wasn’t home, not the way she knew it.
Briar closed her eyes and stepped back into her home as she liked to remember it. Mama sitting in her rocking chair, mending one of Ava’s tunics. Watching the curly wood shavings fall from Papa’s knife as he whittled a stick into a bird. Sitting next to Ava, eyes open wide as he spun tales of the past. Basking in the warm glow of the hearth while the wind howled outside.
And then the fire.
The air smelled faintly of ash and finality. The charred remains of Papa’s chair, the table, and one of the beds, still stood inside the cottage, blackened and crumbling. In the far corner, something blue stood out against the dark earth. Briar dropped to her knees beside the twinkling shards of pottery. Mama’s favourite jar. She scooped up a fragment of blue and brushed off the dirt. Another tear rolled down her cheek, and she hugged the shard to her heart.
A shadow darkened the door. Briar half turned, more weary than startled. Kade stood silently in the doorway. He didn’t look surprised, or even angry at her deceit. Just sober. He offered Briar his hand. She allowed the blue shard to slip between her fingers and let Kade help her to her feet.
“Let’s go.”
Briar nodded silently. She let Kade lead her back through the village and out into the clear air of the sunlit hills. As she walked, Briar fixed her eyes on the horizon, wide and unseeing, as she walked away from Astar for the last time. She would never come back to this place.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kade broke the long silence first, as they strode through the rolling hills with Astar rapidly falling behind them like a dark shadow on the horizon. “Did you know the village was deserted when you asked me to take you there?”
“Yes.” Briar smoothed down her habit with hands that still shook slightly. How could anyone forget that?
“But if you knew, why did you go there?”
“Because you make me doubt that I can do this.” Briar’s words rang with an honesty that surprised her. “And I can’t afford to doubt myself. Not if I want to save Ava.”
“What if you can’t do it, though?”
“Then I’ll find out by trying. This isn’t about me.” Briar turned earnest eyes on Kade, willing him to understand. “This isn’t about me needing to prove something. This is about Ava. There is no one else to help her except for me. We lost everything and everyone we had either back in Osman or there in Astar. I might not have a chance, but I won’t know until I try.”
“You really are determined to go ahead with this crazy plan, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Briar said simply.
Another pause. “So, what now?”
“You re-join your friends. I continue on my way.” Briar took a deep breath. “I appreciate you trying to keep me safe, Kade, more than I can say, but this is something I have to do. Ava is all I have,” she added in a voice so low she wasn’t sure Kade heard it.
Kade raked his fingers through his hair. “I can’t just leave you here.”
“It’s alright.” Briar tried to smile. “You have your own journey. I don’t want to hold you back. I just don’t want you to stop me.”
“I’m not just abandoning you in the middle of nowhere on some crazy quest.” Kade met Briar’s eyes. “I just don’t want you to put yourself in so much danger for no reason. I know what they can do.”
Briar held his gaze. “I do too.” The weight of Mistress Rhosmari’s belongings resting on her chest never let her forget the awful power of the Nameless Ones.
Silence fell between them. Overheard, a single bird called, the lonely sound echoing over the hills. Briar folded her arms, feeling suddenly vulnerable in the quiet.
“If you’re so determined, then come with me. At least then I’d know that you got to Trava safely,” Kade said finally.
Everything in Briar wanted to jump at this chance, to say yes so she wouldn’t have to be on her own. But she’d been burned the last time she accepted this same offer. “You didn’t think it was a good idea before,” Briar said slowly. “And you barely know me, not enough to care whether I reach Trava or not. Why would you want to help me?” No one cared this much about her, especially not someone she’d known for literally two days.
Kade hesitated. “I wouldn’t be able to face myself if I left you here when I could have helped you,” he said finally. “You’re so determined to do this, whatever I say, and I can get you to Trava at least. Though that’s all I can offer I’m afraid.”
“It’s more than anyone else has.” Briar gave him a sad smile. “Thank you, Kade.”
“Thank me when we make it to Trava.” Kade rummaged in his pack and brought out a map, stained and creased with use. “You know this area. Is there somewhere nearby we can stay for the night? I’d rather not face those wolves again if I can help it.”
Briar pushed all her memories and doubts away and scanned the map. Just keep facing forward and pushing on. One foot in front of the other. That was all it took. One foot in front of the other until she got where she wanted to go.
As evening drew near, Briar caught sight of a little village up on the next hillside. That must be Nestin, which was the place they aimed to reach by nightfall. It was almost the twin of Astar with its high log walls, squat cottages, and wide open gates welcoming travellers in. After the fire destroyed her home, most of the people from Astar went to the neighbouring villages, like this one. A lump formed in Briar’s throat as she eyed the village. Not from homesickness of course. How could she be homesick for a place that no longer existed?
As they drew near, Briar caught small snatches of music played on pipe and drum echoing through the soft twilight. Colourful lanterns hung from the log walls, seeming to float, while, through the open gates, she could see people dancing through the streets. Her heart gave a little squeeze at the familiarity of it all.
“I think they’re celebrating the spring festival,” she said, a little wistfully.
“Spring festival?” Kade raised a questioning eyebrow.
“A party to celebrate the arrival of spring. It’s traditional.” Briar looked up at him curiously as they approached the gates. “Don’t they have spring festivals where you’re from?”
“No.” Kade paused in the open gateway and scanned the crowd. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay here during the festival.” He tugged his hood down over his eyes, even though it was evening and the last of the sun was already fading from the sky.
“Why not?” Briar gazed at the dancers, and her heart yearned to feel a part of it all again. “I thought you were worried about the banewulfs.”
“I am. But staying here is not a good idea.”
Before Kade could say more, a young woman, only a little older than Briar herself, broke free of the crowd, a smile quirking up the corners of her lips. “Happy spring to you both. Welcome to Nestin.”
“Happy spring.” Briar dipped her head in greeting. Her eyes narrowed a little as she looked at the young woman’s face. Why did she seem so familiar? “We were hoping to find somewhere safe from the banewulfs to stay tonight, but this looks like a bad time�
�”
“Banewulfs?” The young woman’s eyes widened. “They should have headed north by now. Of course, you must stay here.”
Kade cleared his throat. “Thank you, but-”
A name tugged at the back of Briar’s memory. “Hana?” She blurted the name before she could stop herself.
The young woman frowned slightly. “How do you know my name?”
It was her. Briar took a half step forward, almost too eager now. “I’m Briar. From Astar?” she added at Hana’s look of confusion.
Recognition glimmered in Hana’s eyes. “Briar? Bless the Tree.” She threw her arms around Briar in an overly familiar hug. “It’s good to see you again.”
Briar gingerly returned the embrace, patting Hana’s back awkwardly. They had never really been on hugging terms before, and it felt even stranger now. “It’s good to see you too.”
Hana released her after an uncomfortably long time and stepped back. “Well, we can definitely find space for an Astarian, for old time’s sake, you know?”
“Thank you.” This was far friendlier than Briar expected. Back in Astar, she and Hana knew each other, but it wasn’t like they were best friends. And after the fire-well, time changed everything it seemed.
“Why doesn’t your friend take your bag to my house, and you and I can catch up a little?” Hana turned to Kade. “It’s the very last house in the village. Under the ash tree. You can’t miss it.”
Kade silently reached for Briar’s bag, glowering at her from under the edge of his hood. Her fingers tightened on the strap of her little satchel, but after a moment she slipped it off her shoulder and handed the bag to him, already missing the freedom it gave her.
Hana linked arms with Briar, giving her hand a pat. “There, now we won’t get separated.”
Being left alone with Hana, no matter how friendly she was now, suddenly seemed like a bad idea. But before Briar could suggest Kade stay with them, he was gone, taking both their packs with him. And then there was just her and Hana and an ocean of unspoken words between them.