However, Wolf managed to help her to the top of the hill under her own power. When she reached the crest, she collapsed, not caring that sharp stones jabbed into her back. She stared through the wrinkled-finger branches of the trees that blocked the moon, though the light of the rays still made it down to her face.
Stasis sat near her, caressing Eva’s head, giving her a few quick swigs of water from her canteen. “I’m sorry, Eva,” she whispered.
Eva barely moved her head, but her eyes pulled over slowly to meet Stasis’s. “For what?” Weak words hovered just at her lips.
“I shouldn’t push you so hard. I just know that if the Raiders make it to the Black Lands before we do, we will never be able to keep you safe, even with the help of the Strikers.”
Wolf and Jahn set up the fire, ignoring Stasis and Eva. The wood cracked and popped as the fire gained momentum, and the orange light from the flame rested on Eva’s face, though she still lay on the ground.
“What are the Black Lands?” Eva asked.
Stilling rubbing Eva’s head, Stasis set her canteen between her legs and stared at the fire. “The most frightening place I’ve been.” Her lip trembled after she spoke.
“Frightening?” Eva asked, regaining some strength in her voice as she too gazed at the flame. Contained fires tended to have a soothing effect on her.
Stasis nodded. The Black Lands are sun holes, places throughout the kingdom where the sun cannot enter. Few have heard of the lands, and even fewer have seen them.”
Eva pulled herself onto her elbows, still lying on her back. “Why is that?”
“You can’t see them. Many who have been to the Black Lands have marked them on their maps and gone back unable to find them.”
“Then how can we ever hope to find them?” Eva asked.
Stasis shook her head, positioning her lip to the side, disappointed. “We can only hope.”
Eva let her head hang back, keeping her eyes on the invasive moonlight. They were traveling to an unknown land that they could only hope to find. What if they couldn’t find it, especially since people had marked their maps only to discover that the Black Lands had been lost? She would have to face the Raiders, and this time, there would be no escape except through death.
“Can we not just run and hide?” Eva asked, reverting back to the lack of confidence that she had when she lived in the Green Planes. Yet even the question seemed to have answered itself. There was no hiding, not with the Haunt looking for her, and not with her sister, Lord Sekah searching for her.
Sister, she thought. What kind of sister lives to kill her own flesh and blood? The question made her nauseous.
“We can’t risk that,” Stasis replied. “Our only other option for reversing the curse is to take you to the king’s courtyard. Even if we could somehow cut through the Helions and the Dissenters, the king would have our heads before we got to his gate.”
Eva sighed and pushed a few of the sharp rocks away from her elbows. Now that her energy was slowly returning, she had begun to care about not just resting, but the comfort of her rest. Stasis kissed Eva on the forehead and went to set up her blanket so that she could rest also. Wolf and Jahn had already begun preparing their makeshift beds for the evening.
The fire seemed to be getting hotter, the flames reaching farther skyward. Eva looked at the blaze, and it stood still, not shifting with the wind. The tips of the flame seemed to be angled to the north, sucking the fire in one direction.
She sat up, fully this time, examining the blaze. The wood had all been consumed, leaving nothing except the flames. “Jevar?” she called, keeping her eyes on blaze.
Wolf did not respond, probably too invested in his work. Stasis’s back was to the flame, and so was Jahn’s. Eva stood and walked to the fire. She could feel her heart thudding within her as the firelight, void of ashes, spiraled up and to the north in one long stream. “Jevar,” she called again, more forcibly this time.
Wolf turned to her, and his eyes shot open wide. “Put it out!” he yelled, racing over to the flame and thrusting his heavy boot through the bottom of the blaze. A few unconsumed twigs launched out from the other side as he stomped them, but the fire was still ablaze.
Eva stepped back, cutting her eyes from the fire to Wolf. Stasis whipped around, panicked. “What’s happening?” Eva asked, afraid.
“A Helion…” Stasis replied. With that, the fire swirled upwards towards the trees, spiraling in a tight coil and shooting out in a stream to the north.
A deep roar crackled, sounding like a beast that had swallowed a fire, barreling from the north. The trees from that direction burst into flames one after the other. Thick black smoke rumbled into the sky, as heavy branches smashed against the ground, smoldering.
Another deep growl came from the north followed by the silhouette of a beast that walked on two legs. Horns as long as Eva’s hand protruded from the beast’s head and hooked back slightly. Its skin was orange, heated by the flames, and its ribs covered the outside of its chest like bone armor. Three claws reached from each of its shoulders, and it walked as smoothly as a man. From its backside, a long tail whipped back and forth as it eased towards them.
The beast inhaled, sucking the fires from the burning trees, filling its jaws with streams of the blazes. Its skin cracked, and a smoldering liquid like lava dripped onto the ground from the crevices, hissing as it burned the leaves beneath its feet. As the Helion walked, it left footprints of glass as it scorched the dirt. It opened its mouth to roar. Lava spilled down the sides of its slender jowls. A deep sinister growl erupted from its throat that made Eva’s innards rumble.
“Jevar!” Eva shouted, her voice shredding through the fiery darkness.
The Helion held its hands out, sucking in more of the flames. Thick globs of lava accumulated in its palms. It shrieked and slung a handful of the fiery liquid at Stasis. She jumped to the side, dodging. The thrown lava left a burning trail behind it.
“Genevieve, stay back!” Wolf demanded. His body vanished where Eva could no longer see him. The Helion puked out a stream of fire as thin as a chain, grabbed the tail of it, and swung it around like a whip.
Eva dropped to the ground, ducking the fire chain before it cut into her. The chain snapped and spiraled around Wolf’s disappeared figured. Wolf reappeared in plain sight, screaming. A burned line had circled its way around his torso, scorching the fur of the wolf pelt, and leaving charred flesh around his abdomen where the pelt did not cover. Wolf fell to the ground, holding his belly, moaning.
Stasis snatched off a pouch of her Essence, keeping her eyes on the Helion. She dumped a handful into her palm and balled up her fist. The Helion cracked the whip at her in a swipe overhead. Stasis rolled out of the way, and the fire smacked the ground, scorching leaves and twigs. Ashes whisked upwards from the swoosh of the fire whip.
Throwing her hand over her head, Stasis flung the handful of Essence at the beast, creating a tinkling sound as the Essence descended like blue pollen. As the Essence touched the creature, flecks of ice formed on its body. The Helion roared as the ice flecks sizzled into steam. The remaining Essence that trickled from the sky never touched its flesh.
Eva cowered back, afraid as the Helion’s blazing eyes met hers. Lava leaked from its cheeks, and it snapped its head upwards, inhaling more of the fire. The beast spat out another chain of fire, grabbing it with its free hand and smacking the ground with both links of fire as it stalked towards her.
“Stasis! Help!” Eva covered her face with her arm, looking at the beast over the crest of her elbow.
Stasis slung a dagger at the beast that lodged in the Helion’s neck. The Helion did not turn to her. The steel of the blade melted and dripped down its shoulder. The hilt burst into a tiny flame, leaving only ashes. The beast swung the whips around, slashing the ground and leaving streaks of glass from the scorched dirt.
Eva sobbed into her elbow. “Please don’t kill me! Please.”
The Helion put its fists together
, whipping the chain at her. As the fire chain reached up, the beast brought it down at Eva. Specks of fire dripped to the ground, nearly touching her head and catching her hair on fire.
“Stop!” she demanded, eyes closed. In that moment, the crackling of the fire ceased. She opened her eyes, and she could still see the Helion. Wolf was on the ground, still moaning, but slowly this time, and Stasis stood near her, yelling something that Eva could not understand.
Eva looked up, watching the fire whip as it came down to strike her. Confused, she stepped to the side, and in a moment, the whip smashed down against the ground where she once stood.
Stasis rushed to her, grabbing her face and looking her over. “Eva!”
Eva pulled away and faced the beast.
“High. Dodge. Run. Close. Dagger. Heart.” The whispers spoke to her and she listened.
The Helion raised the whip above its head again, smashing the fire down at her. Eva dodged to the right, ripping off her rounded dagger and rushing in on the beast. She could feel the heat smoldering from its flesh even from a short distance away. She looked at his bone-armored ribs, and she realized that behind his ribs, there were no fires. Before the beast could respond to how close she had gotten, she clenched her dagger and pierced it into the beast’s heart.
The Helion squealed with its head up to the trees. It dropped the fire whips and covered its chest with both hands as lava leaked from its lips and pores. The fire whips sputtered around dangerously on the ground and extinguished. The Helion dropped to its knees, fiery eyes looking up as it collapsed over.
The fire that covered its body cooled, leaving a leathery pelt as thick as a boar’s. The trees around Eva still smoldered, tossing smoke into the sky. The howling coyote had long since ceased, and the Helion had been laid to rest.
Eva looked at her round-hilted dirk. There was black blood on the blade as if the beast’s blood had been charred. Hesitantly, she wiped the blade in the dirt, streaking the blood, then slid it back in its sheath.
Wolf had managed to pick himself up to one knee, though he still covered his stomach with his arm. “It seems that Genevieve has saved us,” he said, wincing through breaths. One of his axes lay in the dirt where it had probably fallen from his hip.
“It seems she has,” Stasis replied, smiling.
Jahn was standing, brushing himself off from where he had fallen in the dust, trying to escape the beast. “I am no match for that creature. It feeds on fire and lightning.”
Stasis walked over to Wolf, pouring water onto his wound. He held his arms up, scrunching his face together as she dabbed the burn with a cloth. “This is why we cannot stop,” she said.
“Aye.”
“You’re fortunate the wolf pelt is so durable, or the fire chain might have ripped you in half,” Stasis said, still tending to parts of Wolf’s flesh where the whip had burned. She dabbed at the mark with a soft, woven cloth. When she pulled the cloth away, there were speckles of charred flesh and dark red blood clinging to the fabric. Without hesitation, she tucked the cloth into her bag and stood, patting Wolf on his shoulder.
“Why did the Helion come after us?” Eva asked. “Was it because of the fire?”
“No,” Wolf replied. “Fire or no fire, the Helions can sense heat. They feed off it. You’re not any safer just because there is no blaze.”
“Those beasts actually eat fire?” Eva asked.
“Not just fire,” said Stasis. “Heat. It’s not uncommon to see them swallowing the sun’s rays at the peak of the afternoon. Heat’s probably not too filling. Perhaps that is why those beasts are always feeding.”
Eva had slain the beast somehow. The voices had saved her. Though the night was warm, a chill slithered up her spine. What if the voices had been wrong? She knew the answer. The fire chain would have sliced her in half. She could see the moon reflecting off the glassy, scorched dirt, and she knew that this could have been her, dead and charred.
“We cannot rest here,” Jahn said, wringing his hands together.
“Because of the heat?” Eva asked.
“No, Madam Genie. Because my nerves will not allow it.”
Despite the fatigue in Eva’s bones, she trudged along with the others through the night. Every sliding rock, every brushing of the trees, and every rustling of the bushes made her insides melt with fear. Would she have to face another Helion? The voices only came when they wanted to. Perhaps next time she would be dead before she heard the faint whispers. If the gods were watching her, she only hoped that they had somehow found her favorable.
CHAPTER 22
THE FOLLOWER
Eva’s days seemed to be running together from sleeping during the day. Every time she awakened, night had fully fallen. She wasn’t sure if it was evening or early morning. She lay in the soft grass, with the side of her face resting on her satchel, looking into the darkness of the woods. The forests all looked the same, especially at night — only darkness and trees filled with howls and hoots.
Despite their recent encounter with the Helion, the others had started a fire. Eva was not ready to begin traveling, so she pretended like she was sleeping for just a bit longer, though her joints were stiff, and she desperately wanted to stretch.
Jahn was still sleeping, as Eva could tell by his heavy snores that seemed to shake the leaves from the trees. Listening, she could hear Wolf and Stasis whispering to one another.
“What if we can’t find the portal?” Stasis asked.
“Then gods be with us as we fight the Raiders.”
“And what if they too have forgotten us in their folly?”
“Then may my axe grant me the power to slay them all, both Raiders and gods alike.”
Stasis laughed, and Eva could hear something that sounded like the two of them kissing.
“You have to quit the walkers,” Wolf said.
“The sisters are all I have.”
“What about me? Am I no one?”
“Jevar, it’s not like that. To leave the walkers is to quit everything I’ve ever known. Besides, who’s to say that you won’t run off with some other woman the first chance you get?”
A solid thud thumped into the ground. Eva jerked up, stretching quickly, trying to pretend she had been sleeping. She saw that Wolf had slung his tomahawk into the dirt, the handle pointing skyward.
“What’s the fuss about?” Eva asked.
Wolf was standing, staring sharply at Stasis who was still seated and looking up at him. “Nothing of concern,” he said, yanking his axe out of the dirt.
Jahn’s snoring stopped, and he made disgusting sounds with his throat, searching for some hidden mucous deep from his insides. “I suppose we are to be leaving soon,” he said in a choking groggy voice.
Wolf kept his cold eyes focused on Stasis. “I suppose we are.”
Eva did not want to let on that she had been awake, especially after seeing Wolf so furious. Though she did have a few questions that she would ask Jahn later.
The four of them continued north, arriving at the smaller town of Dalton’s Bridge around the bend of the mountains. Soon they would be headed to the east towards the Black Lands, but Eva certainly craved a nice bed and some warm food that wasn’t stale bread or pecans.
They arrived well past the sun’s wink, but the town was alive. A wooden fence enclosed the city, and wooded houses, more like huts, speckled the town. Men and women carried their goods from building to building, either trading or dropping off their items with whomever was inside the huts.
Candlelights danced in the shuttered windows, and rhythmic clapping paced along with a fiddle a few houses down. They went to the inn, and Stasis paid for her room as well Eva’s.
The inn was quiet. The innkeeper was a slender man whose stomach was unusually large, probably from his fill of beer and barley. Eva’s boots clicked on the wooden boards, and the silence inside the building made her feel that the innkeeper would have her hide. He did not say anything, but his dark brown eyes followed her impatiently
.
Jahn motioned to the others to sit by the fireplace that crackled and roared, puffing smoke up the chimney. A bear pelt rug was placed underneath the round table in the common area, and four chairs surrounded it.
Eva could see the black eyeballs in the bear’s head as it lay there, flat and dead with its mouth agape. Calmly she sat down at the table and locked her fingers together. Her orange hair dangled over her shoulders.
Jahn seemed graver than he did before. The white hair on his face appeared paler, and the lines on his face seemed darker. His orange eyes flicked to each of them. He pulled out his pipe and stuffed it full of tobacco. Parts of the leaves got jammed underneath his already dirty fingernails.
“What is it, Jahn?” Stasis asked.
“Kibitzer,” he demanded. “Do not refer to me as anything less.”
“Yes, Kibitzer.” Stasis dropped her head, embarrassed.
Wolf sat up straighter than before, perhaps realizing that Jahn’s niceties had somehow gotten lost on the road over.
“Ian is dead,” Jahn replied.
Eva gasped. Her insides tightened, and she felt helpless. Ian, the one who had looked after her while she was in the Raiders’ camp had died. Her saliva became thick, and her eyes fought back the tears. “What happened to him?” she asked.
“Murdered,” Jahn replied. He grabbed a match, struck it on the table, and held it over the tobacco bowl, taking a few draws to heat the tobacco. Smoke leaked from the sides of his lips and from out of his nostrils.
Wolf pulled off an axe and set it on the table, spinning it slowly. “Have we discovered why, Kibitzer?”
Jahn sucked in a few more drags and pulled the pipe away from his lips. “The why is not important, for we all know why he was killed. A man with his knowledge compromised the entire Raider army. How is the question.”
Eva could hardly speak. She had secretly convinced herself that she would help to set Ian free once she was able to go back for him, but now she would never see him again. Or worse. He would become a Raider himself. Dead. Searching for a hope that he would never find.
The Girl with the Scar (Dark Connection Saga Book 1) Page 22