by K.N. Lee
Energy buzzed through me.
I saw a golden egg, already cracked and moving, jostled by the baby shifting within. My vision pulled out, showing me a dark, cavernous room lit by a few meager torches interspersed between messy bookshelves and tables littered with assorted baubles and oddities. Then there was a hallway and a window cut into the side of a craggy hill. I saw this all as if through the eyes of a person walking backward very quickly, twisting through trees and over rocks and finally ending where I sat. Though the path was winding, the mapped directions stayed in my mind as if I had walked it many times. I knew exactly where to go.
Now, to forget. Soon that path would be the only thing I remembered.
The locket lifted from my chest as if pulled by an invisible hand. The locket opened with a pulse of energy that knocked the shapeshifter several paces away. Golden light streamed from the locket. I heard Ariana’s voice spill from within.
“Remember,” she said.
I scrambled away from the stone, and the locket fell onto my chest, its magic spent. While the shapeshifter was still dazed, I spun on my heel and fled in the direction the stone had shown me. I didn’t take the chance of getting closer to Tor — to whatever was pretending to be Tor — to grab my sword. I left it behind and ran — ran as if everything that mattered depended on it.
16
I ran through the trees like I was possessed. I ran so quickly that my eyes had no chance to focus on anything, yet I found that I didn’t need to focus. The shapeshifter had been right about the stone: it would show me the way to go. I knew the way so well that I could have traveled it with my eyes close. I didn’t need to see through my tears.
I hated this place, genuinely hated it in a way I had never hated anything before. Though I was relieved to put distance between myself and the shapeshifter, my heart was broken, knowing how I had been betrayed. Knowing that the man I had left behind wasn’t Tor at all. That monster had once been someone, maybe someone a lot like me. Someone who got lost. Someone who found the heart of the Woods and just wanted to go home, only to be transformed and forget what it was they were searching for. What a miserable existence, always searching, always lost.
Part of me wanted to go back and help. But help how? The shapeshifter couldn’t be reasoned with. Their loneliness had infected them like a disease. I didn’t know how to help it. But I could help Kadria. And Goodboy. And Goodboy’s child.
The egg was hatching. I had to get to it before Inejor had a chance to make his wish.
I ran blindly, following the map in my mind, ignoring the tears streaming down my cheeks. For the first time since I entered the forest, I let the fear and disappointment crash over me. Sobs wracked my body as I stumbled along, knowing exactly where to put my hands and feet, ignoring the creepy whispers of the Woods around me.
I wanted to go home. I wanted to know that Kadria was safe. I wanted Goodboy to save her baby. I wanted to forget that any of this had ever happened.
I lurched to a stop at that thought. Panting, I leaned against a tree to catch my breath. No, that was all wrong. I didn’t want to forget. I never wanted to forget anything again. Though it hurt, I wanted to remember every horrible detail of this wretched adventure. I would rather remember the bad times than forget the good ones.
I wanted to remember because the shapeshifter couldn’t. I wanted to remember so I never took for granted what I had again. I wanted to remember so that, if by some miracle, I survived this whole ordeal, I could run home into Hannah’s arms and tell her how much I loved her. I couldn’t remember the last time I told her I cared. I didn’t say it enough to anyone.
I never wanted to forget.
I couldn’t stay here for long. Even as I stood catching my breath, I could feel the forest pressing in on me. I wiped the tears from my cheeks and kept running. I ran until I found a familiar craggy hill.
It had a big door built into the side, but the heart of the Woods hadn’t shown me the door. It had shown me the way around the back, in through a window. So I walked around the perimeter of trees surrounding the hill, ducking out of sight as a summon strolled leisurely by. I crawled closer until I saw the window hewn into the rocky surface. I looked to ensure that the summon wasn’t looking my way and bolted up the side of the hill, reaching instinctively for the handholds the stone had shown me. The window was just big enough for me to fit my shoulders and hips through.
I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness. I wasn’t alone in this room. I could hear voices arguing.
“If we don’t do something soon, he’s going to bleed out.”
There was a bookcase beside the window. I used it to awkwardly climb down to the ground, moving quietly so I wouldn’t give myself away.
A familiar voice boomed above the others.
“If Her Highness refuses to do what the warlock asks, she must have a good reason.”
It was Tor — the real Tor. My heart lurched with excitement and ached with sadness all at once. It was perhaps the most complicated tangle of emotions I had ever felt.
“I am not doubting the princess—” Another guard’s voice drifted toward me as I slowly inched closer, hiding behind bookshelves and tables. “I just don’t understand why she won’t use magic.”
“My magic is the same as his.” The guards fell silent when Ariana spoke. “You have seen the way his magic works. Is that really what you want?”
There were a few grumbled replies.
I was finally close enough to see them. They were all gathered in the center of the floor, within the confines of a glowing circle. Ariana paced and wrung her hands anxiously. Tor’s tunic was ripped, revealing a nasty wound beneath. His skin was darkly bruised, and three distinct claw marks marred the flesh. He had been injured by a summon when Inejor attacked us. The shapeshifter didn’t get that detail right.
Tor and another guard bent their heads together, fashioning something out of torn scraps of cloth. Most of the guards had ripped off their sleeves and the hems of their tunics to donate to the project. One guard lay with his head in another’s lap. Even in the dim light, I could see that he was pale. He cradled a crudely bandaged stump of one arm against his chest.
There were five people in the circle, including Ariana. The other four were guards, one of whom was badly injured. We had left Silverleaf with eight guards, including me. That left three guards unaccounted for. Based on the designs on their tunics, I could see that one of the missing guards had been riding on horseback. The other two had been walking. The man comforting the injured guard had been the one walking next to me.
“Whatever we decide to do, we need to do it fast. The egg is already hatching.”
“Not if we can help it,” Tor growled, his voice slightly muffled by a scrap of cloth he held between his teeth. “It’s just about long enough. We have three helmets left. That gives us three shots to bring that egg down before it hatches.”
They were fashioning a slingshot out of cloth and helmets. They must have figured out that Inejor wanted a wish and decided the only way to keep him from his wish was to break the egg before the magic activated.
But that would kill Goodboy’s baby.
I considered making my presence known, but before I could, the door banged open. The guards hastily hid their project by sitting on it.
Inejor strode through the open door, flanked on both sides by summons.
“Tick, tock, Ariana,” he said in his grating voice. “Your time is up. Tell me what I want to hear, or the next thing I chop off will be a head.”
17
Ariana straightened her shoulders and raised her chin in proud defiance as Inejor approached.
“Oh, don’t give me that,” Inejor complained. “How did you end up so noble? It’s ghastly.”
“I chose my path. I will not stray from it.”
“Not even to save their lives?” He gestured dismissively at the guards. “You would rather watch them die than help a poor old man? Perhaps you aren’t as good as you think
you are.”
The summons had started circling the room, sniffing the ground as they walked. Could they smell me? What if they found me here? I slid under a table, my heart pounding as the nearest summon drew closer. I could see now that the summon had a diamond-shaped patch of gray fur on its chest, right between its front legs. One stab would destroy it if I could hit it just right. But then everyone in the room would know I was there.
“I tire of this game,” Inejor said. “It is time for action. The egg will hatch soon. Its magic is powerful, but it will only affect those who are present when it hatches. Help me find the child before that egg hatches or else I will use the wish on you. You’re tainted by goodness, but that’s nothing a wish can’t change.”
Ariana would not back down. Rather than cowering, she held her ground. For the first time since I met her, I truly believed that she was a princess. She held herself with dignity. “My answer is the same,” she said. “I will not help you find her.”
Inejor howled with rage. “She might not even be alive, you know! The Woods might have killed her by now, all because you refuse to help me. If I could find her myself, I would have her already. But no. She’s too young, too unfamiliar to me. Not enough essence for me to grab onto. But you know her perfectly. You could find her. You could save yourself! I would let you go if you would just give me the child.”
“I will not sacrifice my daughter to save myself!”
“You could just make another one.”
“No. I won’t help you. I would rather she die innocent in the Woods than live a life of misery as your slave. I was my mother’s apprentice. I wouldn’t wish that life on anyone. I made a vow to never use dark magic again. I will keep that promise until the day I die.”
Inejor stomped his foot in a tantrum. “Your will is not more powerful than magic! If I can’t use the wish on the girl, then I will use it on you. That was my original plan, after all. You were trained by your mother. You would make a fine apprentice once I break your will. But the girl, a fresh slate, having inherited her mother’s and grandmother’s talent — oh, she would be the best apprentice. Give her a few years, and we could leave this nasty forest. Conquer a city. A kingdom! I could live like a king. No one would dare challenge me with her by my side. They say a warlock is only as good as their apprentice. I intend to be the best, so I must have the best.”
The summon turned down a row of bookshelves. I wiggled out from under the table and slipped behind a crate filled with fabric. I had to get to that egg. If I could take the egg, Inejor couldn’t use the wish to bend Kadria or Ariana to his will. But how could I get to the egg? It was nestled in pillows that softly glowed with magic, proudly displayed where everyone could see. Inejor was only a few steps away, and he glanced at the egg every time it moved. No way would I be able to sneak close enough to grab it without him or his summons seeing me.
The door Inejor had come through opened again. I watched in horror as more of Inejor’s summons dragged a bound and struggling Goodboy into the room. Her big wings knocked things off of shelves as she tried in vain to escape the vines wrapped around her. When she saw the egg, her fight increased.
I didn’t know if she was aware that she was speaking to me or if she had projected her thoughts to everyone in the room, but no one reacted as if they had heard her.
“What are you doing, bringing that filthy creature in here?” Inejor stalked toward Goodboy, clearly annoyed. His irritation became a shriek of glee when he saw what Goodboy held against her feathery chest. She held a sobbing, terrified Kadria. “You’ve brought me a present!”
“Kadria!” Ariana took several quick steps forward, stopping just before the edge of the circle, which pulsed in magical warning.
“Mama!” Kadria’s voice was a mix of terror and delight at the sound of her mother’s voice.
Inejor approached the bound gryphon. Goodboy shrieked in anger, snapping at Inejor’s hand when he reached toward her. The warlock muttered something and clapped his hands. Goodboy froze. He crouched beside her, pulling a knife from his sleeve and cutting the ropes.
“No, no, no!” Kadria yelled through her tears, trying to disappear into the feathers of Goodboy’s chest.
Inejor grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away from Goodboy. He had clearly never dealt with a toddler before. Kadria quickly overpowered him, writhed out of his arms, and hit the ground running.
“Mama!” she cried as she ran toward Ariana.
Ariana knelt inside the circle. Kadria collided with an invisible wall that must have been caused by the magic ring of purple light.
“Mama!” Kadria pounded her little fists against the wall, furious that her mother was so close, yet out of reach.
“Oh, my sweet love,” Ariana said.
Inejor stood and fixed his rumpled robes. “What a darling reunion,” he teased.
The spell on Goodboy had worn off. Without the concern of hurting Kadria, the big gryphon fought with increased ferocity against her bindings. The summons were having a hard time keeping her down as she snapped the vines with her sharp beak and talons.
“Silence!” Inejor howled. “I have what I want. Keep the child. Kill everyone else.”
18
“Oh, Inejor, always so ... brutish,” a voice rang out from the doorway.
Before the summons even had a chance to attack, Inejor hastily waved them off. Standing in the doorway was a tall woman with long, gray hair. She swept into the room as if she owned the place, wrinkling her nose as she skirted around Goodboy. The guards appeared as confused as I did, but Ariana and Inejor knew the newcomer. They both stared at her with undisguised horror.
“Y-you’re alive,” Inejor stammered.
The woman laughed. “Of course. The don’t call me the Horrid Witch for being a pushover.”
“Impossible,” Ariana whispered. Her hands pressed against the invisible wall, as close to Kadria as she could get. Kadria was the only one who couldn’t care less that the Horrid Witch had just arrived. She was still in full-on tantrum mode, attacking the wall with all of the ferocity of an exhausted child.
“What are you doing here? What do you want?” Inejor demanded, struggling to maintain his composure.
“What do you think I’ve come for, you fool? That’s my daughter you’re about to kill.”
“Our daughter,” Inejor corrected.
“You’re my father?!” Ariana did not sound pleased to hear this.
Now I was even more confused. Ariana’s abusive mother was the Horrid Witch? Her father was the psychotic warlock? Then how was she also a princess? Was I missing something?
The Horrid Witch waved him off. “See? She doesn’t even know you exist. She belongs to me. I have come to claim what is mine.”
“But you’re dead!” Inejor shrieked.
“Do I look dead to you, you miserable scab?” The Horrid Witch gestured to herself as she walked closer, and a little to the side, positioning herself on the opposite side of the golden egg. Inejor had to turn his back on the egg to watch her. As she moved, the Witch made direct eye contact with me.
I froze. I didn’t realize that I was visible from the doorway. This whole scenario reminded me of a lesson about predators and prey. My tutor had delightedly scribbled drawing after drawing of animals eating each other, a bigger and nastier predator added each time. The most dangerous predator in the room had just spotted me.
But the Witch didn’t call me out. Instead, she looked from me to the golden egg and then returned her attention to Inejor, so smoothly that he didn’t notice she had ever looked away.
She was distracting him on purpose.
So I could grab the egg.
“Fine. Take Ariana and leave.”
“I want her child as well.”
“No! That’s not fair! You’ll ruin her — just like you ruined Ariana when you stole her away from me! Of course you got first pick! You’re always so pushy. I wanted the girl, but no! You had to keep her for you
rself! And I got the scrawny boy, who was a useless twit and ran away. I won’t let that happen to this child. The child is mine!” Inejor’s voice grew louder and harsher as he spoke. He was terrified of the Witch.
Of course he was.
The Horrid Witch was his greatest fear.
I reached for my sword before realizing it was gone. I had left it back in the heart of the Woods. If a summon came charging at me, I would just have to run for it.
Get the egg.
While the witch and warlock argued, I crept as close to the egg as I could under cover. For the last couple paces, I would just have to run and hope I got it before the summons got to me and gored me open with their antlers.
And once I had the egg — then what?
The egg was starting to glow. I was running out of time.
“I didn’t invite you here! You shouldn’t have been able to pass the threshold without me inviting you in! I have this whole place rigged to keep you out!”
“Oh, that plan worked so well. You always were the lesser student of the Dark.”
“No! Take that back, you horrible old hag!”
I sneaked out of my hiding place, moving slowly toward the egg. The guards sat up straighter, noticing me.
“Just look at this mess you’ve made. I would have handled it better.”
“You and your bloody contracts! You’re just jealous of me!”
“Jealous? Of you? Ha!”
Ariana noticed me. She covered her mouth with relief.
Just a little closer.
Goodboy saw me. She stopped struggling. Instead, she focused on cutting herself free with slow, calculated movements.
I reached for the egg. I could almost touch it.
Kadria saw me.
“AV’RY!” she shouted.
Blast.
I hurried forward, scooped up the egg, and hunkered down behind the pedestal it had been sitting on. The egg was surprisingly heavy and warm. I could feel it shake in my hands as something moved within it. The glow was getting brighter. My fingers tingled in response to the magic.