by Kara Timmins
“I didn’t think about that,” Emil said. “Well, it’s a good thing we have the kid here, isn’t it?” Emil looked at a half-asleep Goodwin.
“Goodwin is going off to do something with Malatic for a little bit,” Eloy said. “Looks like you’re going to have to get your own food after all.”
“Going somewhere? Where?” Emil raised an eyebrow.
“Nowhere you would find interesting,” Malatic said. “We won’t be gone long.”
Goodwin scratched the sleep out of the corner of his eye. “We’re going somewhere? Without Neasa and Eloy?”
“Just an errand,” Malatic said. “Nothing big.”
Eloy hoped that Goodwin wouldn’t push for more details. The more they said the trip wasn’t a big deal, the more Emil would start to suspect something. Eloy wasn’t sure if Emil could still make contact with the Vaylars, but he didn’t want to take any risk in sharing the information that they were trying to assemble a resistance.
“When’re we leaving?” Goodwin asked.
Eloy saw Malatic relax.
“As soon as you’re ready,” Malatic said. “The sooner you do, the sooner we can be back.”
Goodwin had eaten and packed his bags by the time Neasa walked out from the trees. She dropped enough wood on the ground to keep a fire lit for at least two days.
“All right, are we ready?” Malatic asked Goodwin.
“Ready,” Goodwin said.
“Okay,” Malatic said. “We’re off. We’ll see you guys soon.” Malatic looked at Neasa, but she returned his gaze without a word. She had lost the sense of anger she had taken into the forest, but she kept her arms crossed and her lips closed.
“We’ll see you soon,” Malatic said again, softer and directed toward her.
She nodded at him and turned her attention to organizing the dry wood.
Malatic’s cocky smile was long gone as he stared at the back of her head.
“We’ll be all right.” Eloy put a hand on Malatic’s back and walked beside him away from the campsite. “Did you find anything in his bag?” Eloy asked after they had walked far enough that Emil wouldn’t be able to hear.
Malatic glanced over his shoulder to see if Emil had moved and grimaced when he saw him trying to help Neasa with the fire.
“I found this.” Malatic pulled reached in his bag and pulled out the fabric Eloy had seen Anso wearing around his head with the embroidery at the front—a sword. “This is Anso’s battle sash. There’s only one like it. They’ll believe that he’s dead when I show them this.”
“Do you think Emil will notice it’s missing?” Eloy asked.
“I doubt it. He had a lot of stuff in his bag. This was probably the least valuable thing he had in there.”
“Lucky for us he had it,” Eloy said.
“Yeah, he’s a real benefit to our cause,” Malatic said dryly. “We’ll go to as many of the surrounding areas as we can and come back in two days. No more than that. We’re just going to have to deal with how many or few people decide to come with us.”
“That’s all we can do,” Eloy said. “We’ll do our best with what we have.”
“Wait, what is going on? What are we doing?” Goodwin asked, catching up from a few strides behind.
“I’ll tell you as we walk,” Malatic said. “I hope you got some good sleep last night, because we have an exhausting couple of days in front of us. You take care, Eloy. Keep an eye on Emil and remember who he is.”
“I don’t think I could forget if I tried. Be safe and hurry back.”
“Will do,” Malatic said.
Eloy stopped walking and watched them walk away. Goodwin looked over his shoulder and waved a few times before they disappeared between the trees. Malatic looked back once, and when he did, he only looked at Neasa.
46
Neasa had finished stacking the wood into three piles next to the fire pit when Eloy returned to camp. She sat with her legs crossed a step away from the small fire, sharpening her sword. Emil sat against a tree ten strides away, facing Neasa and chewing on something out of an oily swatch of fabric.
Eloy sat down next to Neasa. “You okay?”
“As good as can be expected. Every time I think we’re going to get through this big mess of trouble, there’s something worse to deal with.”
“I know,” Eloy said, keeping his voice low. “You ready to go see what we can find out about these Vaylars? I’m hoping we can get some information before they get back.”
“Yeah. I need something to do.” Neasa glared at Emil, whose eyes were now closed.
“Hopefully, things will be uneventful while they’re gone,” Eloy said.
“What are we even doing?” Neasa said. “This is crazier than anything else we’ve gone off to do. And we’ve done some crazy things.”
“I don’t really remember a time in my life when that wasn’t true,” Eloy said with a laugh. “But you’re right. This is the craziest. But it’s the most important. If we can make it through this, everything will be different. People will be able to live their lives without fear.”
“It’ll be something to see,” Neasa said. “We’ll make it through this. I believe it.”
Eloy appreciated her words of encouragement, but her sentiment didn’t make it through her weak smile.
“Emil,” Eloy said.
Emil looked up like a reptile but didn’t move. “Yes?”
Eloy didn’t look away. “We need to see where you last saw the Vaylars.”
“Shouldn’t we wait for the others to get back?” Emil asked.
Eloy stood up. “I don’t think they’ll be back before tomorrow.”
“Interesting.” Emil bunched up the food-filled cloth and put it in the bag at his side. “What could take them more than a day to get?”
“We didn’t tell you because it isn’t interesting,” Eloy said.
Emil stood up. “How do you know what I would find interesting?”
“It’s the kind of supplies that no one would find interesting,” Eloy said.
Eloy and Emil held their stare.
Emil brushed the dirt off his pants. “Fine. I’ll show you where to go. That’s why I am here and not in a warm bed right now, right? It’s not far, but the trees do get dense. Follow me.”
The way Emil transitioned from brewing anger to boredom crept over Eloy, causing his skin to tighten. He reminded himself of what Malatic had said about Emil’s tendency toward violence. Neasa and Eloy followed Emil through the forest until they all had to take out their weapons and hack at the overgrowth of tree branches and reeds. Gnats and flies darted around the tall yellow grasses and hollow stalks. A damp musk hugged around them from the soggy ground.
“This is the place where they always spotted me.” Emil pointed to an area that looked just barely cleared of growth.
“How can you be sure?” Neasa looked around. “There’s no marker from this place and any other we have walked through.”
“Believe me or don’t,” Emil said, “but I know this area, and I know that’s where they went.”
“We believe you,” Eloy said. “You don’t have to go forward with us. Neasa and I are going to go as far as we can until the sun starts to set. There’s no need for all three of us to go.”
Emil turned his body toward Eloy and set his stance shoulder-width apart.
“You don’t want me to go with you?” Emil asked.
“There isn’t a need for you to go with us,” Eloy said. “Go back to camp and relax. You’ve done what you said you would, and that’s all I can ask. We’ll bring you something to eat when we get back.”
Eloy locked eyes with Emil, careful not to look away, and clenched his jaw against the urge to lift his sword.
“If that’s what you want,” Emil said, his tone tipping out of the range of confrontational again, bu
t just barely. “I’ll go back and wait for you at the camp.”
“We’ll see you there,” Eloy said.
Eloy and Neasa watched Emil walk away, and even when they lost sight of him, they listened to the sound of his crunching footfall until it disappeared.
“What are we going to do about him?” Neasa asked.
“Hopefully, he’ll decide that sticking around isn’t worth his time, and he won’t be at the camp when we get back,” Eloy said.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said.
“I don’t think so either, but it would make things a whole lot easier.”
“We’ve had our share of luck. It’s not wise for us to count on any more.”
“You’re right. I don’t know what we’re going to do about him, but I can guess as to where things are headed. We have the advantage on him with numbers, but he’s unpredictable.”
“He’s a madman,” Neasa said. “I can feel it in him whenever he’s close. There’s no telling what kind of things he’s capable of. Maybe keeping that part of his character in mind will help us do what we need to do when the time comes.”
Eloy made a noise that was both an exhale and a groan. “We’ll deal with that when it comes.”
“We’re losing day,” Neasa said. “Are you ready for some exploration?” A look of childlike glee overcame her face like a ray of sun through a break in dark clouds.
“That’s disturbing,” Eloy said.
“What?”
“That smile.”
“Disturbing?” she said with feigned offense. “This kind of outing reminds me of home. It’s like being a kid again.”
“You’re just making it worse,” Eloy said.
She gave him a playful jab in the ribs with the hilt of her sword.
“Let’s go,” she said with a smile, “and stop giggling or someone will hear you.”
“You know, it’s not fair to exploit a friend’s weaknesses.”
“What good is a friend who doesn’t keep you aware of your weaknesses? You ready?”
“Ready.” Eloy tried to reclaim his seriousness.
Neasa took the lead, and Eloy matched her steps just as he had when they were in the forest of Valia.
They walked for a long time without saying anything, and despite the importance of their task, Eloy found himself lulled by the familiarity of it.
47
Moving through the grasses and the reeds got easier as some of the trees fell behind them. Eloy and Neasa walked far enough north that Eloy could see the jagged mountain getting smaller in the distance.
“People have come through here,” Neasa said in a hushed voice.
“Can you tell how many?” Eloy asked.
“It’s hard to say if it’s more than the four we saw or just those four coming through many times. It could be both. It looks like they were careful, but not careful enough to hide themselves from someone looking. That’s good for us. It means we should be able to follow this all the way.”
“How far do you want to go?” Eloy asked as he looked at the long shadows.
“A little farther. The terrain is changing. Can you see?” Neasa pointed at the trees.
Eloy shook his head.
“The density of the trees is starting to thin, and the reeds are becoming more common. Close your eyes and sniff. Do you smell that?”
Eloy closed his eye and inhaled. He smelled the familiar earthy sweetness of fallen leaves, the salty musk of sweat on his clothes, and the hint of smoke in the distance, but he didn’t smell anything he hadn’t sensed before. He opened his eyes and lifted his shoulders.
“Water,” Neasa said, “but not sweet water. It has the musk of sitting water, a body that doesn’t move. Let’s go on just a bit more.”
Eloy closed his eyes and sniffed again. And there is was. Far off. Weak. But there.
“Can you get us back in the dark?” Eloy asked.
“I think so.”
“Let’s keep going.”
As they moved forward, the scent that Neasa wanted him to smell got stronger. The aroma was a dank perfume that ribboned through the sweetness of the trees. The changes in the surroundings became pronounced enough that he could see what Neasa noticed over a thousand steps behind them. The hollow reeds pressed in around them. As the soil started to thicken and suck at their feet, Eloy started to worry that they were going too far into unknown territory. He opened his mouth to say as much, but Neasa brought a shushing finger to her lips. When she could see that he got her message, she pointed to indentations in the mud. Once pointed out, he saw what she saw. Consistent tread had made the muck look naturally chaotic. He nodded to Neasa to tell her he understood the growing danger. She pointed to her left and moved delicately through the reeds in that direction toward an ancient-looking fallen tree.
Eloy followed her in the same careful way, conscious of where his body hit the reeds so they wouldn’t clatter against one another. He didn’t need her to bring his attention to the new smell that tinged the air. The rich aroma of cooking meat over a campfire was strong enough to cover almost anything.
The fallen tree had grown so big in its long life that, even on its side, it reached higher than the top of the reeds. The gray surface crackled as Neasa hoisted herself on top of it with slow and careful movements. Once she had her footing against its side, she motioned for Eloy to join her but froze, her attention locked in shock at what she saw on the other side. Eloy scrambled up to her. When he saw what she saw, his breath locked in his lungs, causing his heartbeat to drum inside of his ears.
The threads of black campfire smoke snaked above the tops of the reeds around them and stretched all the way to the horizon. The Vaylars were everywhere, but the only sound they heard was the sporadic croak of the frogs that made the marsh their home. Eloy gripped the flaking knots of the tree as he steadied himself against the building wave of nausea. Eloy thought back to the night when he had sat at the edge of Anso’s camp. The Vaylars’ camp was different. It had a sense of foreboding. Everything about the Vaylars was meticulous. Even the distance between the smoke had a sense of order to it—equally spaced and equally calculated.
Neasa and Eloy turned to each other and nodded. They had to go. And fast. The space between the reeds seemed darker when they found their way down. The presence of night had pounced upon them. Eloy followed Neasa blindly and faithfully while he kept an eye out for the trees that meant they were headed back in the direction of their camp.
The silent nature of the Vaylars pressed heavy on his mind. They grew in his imagination like a nightmare, and every moment of his retreat felt weighted by the possibility of a spear slash from the shadows. His lungs prickled and burned like they were full of pine needles by the time the markers of the marsh started to dwindle and the forest thickened.
Neasa stopped and bent over, her hands pressing against the tops of her thighs as she inhaled shaky gulps of air.
“I didn’t think there would be that many of them,” she said.
“Is it safe to talk here?” Eloy asked.
“Maybe, but who knows? I just had to stop, just for a moment. What are we going to do? Even if there’s only one fighter to each fire, we wouldn’t be able to take on half. We couldn’t take on half of that half. We can’t take them all on.”
“What choice do we have? They’re going to be our problem whether we retreat to Valia or stay here and try to head them off. At least if we do it here, we can stop some of them.”
Neasa breathed through her nose and blew it out of her mouth in the darkness.
“I thought I was going off with you on some kind adventure, seeing places I had never been, and it would end with a trove of fortune.”
“You and me both,” Eloy said. “Would you have come if you had known it would be like this?” Eloy’s question was hushed, not because he was afra
id of being heard, but because he was afraid of hearing her answer.
She took a few more measured breaths and then stood up. “Yeah. I would’ve come.”
48
The sight of an orange glow at their campsite was the second time that day that a fire gave Eloy a sense of dread. He had been hopeful that Emil would have grown bored and left, but seeing the square-shouldered outline against the light confirmed Neasa’s suspicion—they had had enough luck.
The camp looked mostly undisturbed. Two patches of mashed and crumpled leaves and grasses flanked the fire—the empty beds Goodwin and Malatic had made the night before. Eloy and Neasa took off their bags and swords and sat on the bedding across from Emil.
Emil was chewing on an animal bone. “I couldn’t wait for you two anymore.”
“That’s fine,” Eloy said.
Emil stood up so abruptly that Eloy reached for his sword, but Emil wasn’t attacking. He moved next to Neasa and crouched down, a lump of pink meat in his hand.
“You can have some of mine if you want.”
“I’m not hungry,” Neasa said, looking up into his eyes, “but thank you.”
Emil ran his hand down her braid and brought the tapered tip up to his mouth, resting it on his lips. “You let me know if you want any.”
Eloy started forward, but Neasa put a hand on his knee without breaking her stare with Emil.
Neasa grabbed her braid just below Emil’s hands and yanked it out of his grasp. “I want you to go sit back on the other side of the fire.”
Emil smiled and stood up. “Suit yourself.” He resumed his place on the other side of them and locked eyes with Eloy. “Did you find anything?”
“Not much,” Neasa said.
“Really?” Emil said. “You didn’t find anything?”
“Signs of people who had been through,” she said, “but nothing more.”
“Do you want me to get you something to eat?” Eloy asked Neasa.
She shook her head, her eyes on the flame-framed face in front of her.
“I’m pretty tired,” she said.