Tree of Ages Box Set

by Sara C. Roethle

  Kai glanced back at Finn to see her worried expression. He turned and patted her shoulder in comfort as he opened his mouth to say something, then seemed to think better of it. He withdrew his hand quickly to his side, and turned away from her.

  Finn looked down at her feet, feeling dejected, as they walked on.

  They walked on and on. Many times, Kai thought he smelled a whiff of smoke along the way, but it was always gone a moment later. He was sure the smell was just his senses playing tricks on him. The island was clearly void of life, at least the part they were exploring.

  The path had widened enough that Finn was able to walk by his side, though she didn’t so much as glance at him. No one had spoken after discussing the lack of noise on the island, and Kai would not be the first one to break the silence. In fact, he would do his best to not contribute to any conversations at all, at least where Finn was concerned.

  He needed to distance himself from her. If everything went according to plan, Iseult and Àed would be waiting somewhere on the island to take Finn away from him. Even though he’d travelled with them all before, Kai doubted he would be invited along. He couldn’t abandon Anna regardless. No, he would return to the ship with Anna, and they would sail away, forgetting that the strange “tree girl” ever existed.

  Kai’s heart gave a little leap as he remembered Naoki. Surely Finn would at least like to return to the ship to fetch her new friend. Kai shook away his thoughts. Even if the island wasn’t their final parting, Finn wanted nothing to do with him, and he had no part in her world. He was a mortal man, and knew little about Finn’s people or her purpose. It was better this way.

  He caught a whiff of smoke again. He looked to Finn to see if she smelled it too, but she was studiously ignoring him, and Anna had ventured further ahead down the trail, and would disappear around bends in the path until they hit a straightway.

  He glanced at Finn again and frowned. It would all be over soon.

  Finn scowled. Over the past hour, Kai had continuously glanced at her. She noticed, but chose to ignore it. There was a strange smell in the air, like woodsmoke, but with the scent of some sort of herb she couldn’t quite place. Many times she thought to ask Kai if he smelled it, but she resisted. If he was going to turn up his nose at her, she would do the same to him.

  To increase her discomfort, her feet were beginning to ache, and the satchel she carried felt heavier by the moment. In it, she had two water skins, flint and steel for lighting fires, and enough food to last one person several days.

  Anna came into view as they continued walking. She had stopped in the middle of the trail to wait for Finn and Kai, looking dangerous with blades at her hips.

  She pursed her lips in thought as they reached her. “Do either of you smell smoke?”

  Kai nodded, looking relieved for some odd reason.

  “Does it mean there’s someone else on the island?” Finn asked, knowing that it did. Perhaps Iseult and Àed had arrived. If not, then perhaps the party should be worried. She had no desire to find out what sort of people might dwell on such a remote island.

  Anna frowned and looked up at the darkening sky. “We should make camp.”

  “With no fire,” Kai agreed.

  Finn’s heart sank. The air was already chilly, and the sun hadn’t fully descended. Come nightfall, they’d freeze.

  Anna nodded her agreement and walked away from the path, presumably to find a camping spot. Finn’s feet screamed as she followed, wishing they could just camp right by the path.

  Of course, people like Kai and Anna knew what they were doing, so Finn didn’t argue as they walked for twenty more minutes, until Anna found an area she deemed suitable. The clearing was small, as the trees were closely spaced, but there was enough room on the even ground for three bedrolls to be set up.

  It was just starting to get dark, but Finn was more than ready for sleep. She was no stranger to long journeys, but something about being on a ship for such a prolonged period of time, followed by the long walk, had her legs feeling ready to give out.

  Wordlessly, the trio unfurled their bedrolls. Anna took the middle spot, with Finn and Kai on either side of her. Finn felt uneasy being so close to her would-be captor, but given her only other choice, she accepted her fate.

  Soon enough, Finn was in her bedroll, shivering and waiting for sleep to take her. She tried to calm her nerves as her mind remained active, but to little avail. Kai had sworn that Iseult and Àed would meet them on this island. Finn longed to see them. To feel safe again. Nothing about her latest journey had felt safe, though she could admit, it had all been rather exciting. She could have done without the visit from the reivers, as she was still uncomfortable with what she’d done, but the rest hadn’t been terrible.

  She pushed away the horrifying memory of the man’s flesh rotting from his hand, then her mind leaped to what Anna had said about seeing Finn’s mother. She had never considered the idea of having parents, though she supposed they must have existed at one time. Still, she had no desire to meet them. Perhaps Anna’s vision had been a memory of the distant past, and Finn would not have to worry about her parents either way.

  She shivered, and not just from the cold. If her parents were Cavari, she hoped to never find out about their existence.

  She tossed herself onto her back, unable to find comfort on the hard ground. She turned her head to glance at Anna, but all she could see was a mess of dark hair sticking out of her bedroll. She could make out Kai’s shape lying on the other side of Anna, but little else.

  She turned her eyes up to the sky as another whiff of smoke filtered into her nostrils. It was stronger than before. She waited motionlessly for Anna or Kai to comment, but they both seemed to be sound asleep.

  With a grunt of irritation, she struggled out of her bedding. She’d gone to sleep fully clothed, with her cloak wrapped around her for extra warmth, so there was no need to get dressed. She paused just long enough to slip into her boots, lacing them up tightly around her ankles.

  She’d just go for a short walk, remaining near enough that Kai or Anna would hear her if she yelled. Then she’d be able to sleep. She would close her eyes, and before she knew it, the sun would be up and they’d hopefully have just a short walk to their final destination.

  She moved in the direction of the path, taking care to step lightly. The moon was full enough to provide ample lighting, though she still worried about tripping in the leaf-strewn soil. The air around her was hazy, and the smell of smoke was becoming consistent.

  She continued walking, curious as to what could create such a strange smell. The smoke grew thicker as she moved onward. It stung her eyes and made her feel slightly dizzy. Nervous, she was about to turn back when she heard a voice.

  At first, it was just the barest of whispers, almost imperceptible, but it sounded like it was saying her name.

  Finn looked over her shoulder, through the dark trees that surrounded her, yet something had changed. The trees seemed different, and there was no sign of the sleeping Kai and Anna in the distance.

  Finn, the voice whispered again.

  Finn found herself walking forward, as if compelled by something unseen. The smoke grew thicker as she walked. Her vision began to blur. She trudged onward as the voice called to her once more. She had to find the source. There was no other choice.

  She pushed through the vegetation that stood in her way, barely noticing as it snagged at her clothing. A distant fire came into sight. It had to be what was creating all of the smoke.

  Mo gealbhan beag milis, the voice said again. Finn’s eyes began to water, partially from the smoke, and partially from some long-forgotten memory, tickling at the edge of her senses.

  She continued onward until the fire came into sight once more. The fire towered above the tree line, perhaps fueled by a tree that was taller than all the others. She knew with a sudden surety that she’d seen such tree before, standing above all that surrounded it, in some distant past life she could not f
ully recall.

  The fire filled the dark night air above it with smoke, illuminating the outpour with its flames. If it was a tree on fire, and she was quite sure that it was, it should have been burning faster, and the flames should have been catching onto the foliage around it. Yet, the fire remained stationary.

  She stared at the flames in awe as a sudden gust of smoke-filled wind blew toward her. The acrid stench filled her lungs and she began to cough. Realizing that perhaps the burning tree was the Archtree, she lifted her arms to cover her nose and mouth with the loose fabric of her sleeve. She knew she should go back to Kai and Anna, but she felt disoriented, like the smoke had muddled her thoughts. She pulled her eyes from the distant fire to her immediate surroundings, wondering which way she should go. Perhaps she’d come from the area to her left? No, that wasn’t right. Hadn’t she been following a voice? As she continued to grow increasingly dizzy, she was overcome by smoke once more. She bent forward and coughed, as her remaining senses seemed to leave her entirely.

  Bedelia watched in the darkness as Finn coughed and tried to cover her mouth and nose with her sleeve, surrounded by the smoke of the Archtree. She held the damp cloth around her mouth a little tighter, though she had to admit, the idea of inhaling the smoke was appealing. She wouldn’t have minded a few illuminating answers, but her orders did not include interacting with the tree, except to light it on fire.

  To her way of thinking, it would have made sense to grab Finn right there. She was Keiren’s actual target, after all, but Keiren claimed she was protected by unseen forces. Bedelia did not doubt the claims, recalling when Finn brought the earth up to swallow the wolf creatures whole. Anyone protecting someone with such a fearsome power, was someone she had no desire to interact with.

  She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she continued to peer into the darkness. Her wound had healed in record time, though the veins beneath the skin of her leg still flowed with black, as if inundated with Faie poison. She glanced down at her leg instinctively, though it was covered by her tall leather boots, over black wool breeches. When she glanced back up, she gasped.

  Finn was gone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Finn instinctively reached for her chest as she was jerked backward by the collar of her shirt. Someone pulled her from the trail into a dense thicket surrounded by trees. It was all Finn could do to keep her feet on the ground as she was pulled farther backward, then jerked down to a crouch.

  Anna’s face came into view inches from hers. “Someone was watching you,” she hissed, voice barely audible.

  Finn looked back to where she had been standing, but her movements felt slow and clumsy. She didn’t see anyone or anything out of place, except for the smoke. Turning back to Anna, she said, “I don’t think anyone else is there,” keeping her voice down.

  Anna’s face was paler than usual, especially in the cool light of the moon, and her eyes were bloodshot. She held a rag up to filter the smoke from her airways. With her sleep mussed hair, she looked a bit mad. She glared at Finn. “I can see things others cannot, remember?”

  Finn nodded, not wanting to argue. The smoke was making her feel dizzy. “The fire-” Finn began, her words muffled as she covered her mouth once more.

  Anna cut her off with a nod. “I know. I believe it’s the Archtree.”

  Finn took a shaky breath, then held her throat, overcome with the need to cough. “The smoke-” she sputtered, trying to remain quiet.

  Anna nodded again, and gestured for Finn to follow her in a low crouch away from the trail as she explained, “I know. If drinking a tea made from the leaves can answer ones most burning questions, it stands to reason that inhaling the smoke would do the same. We need to hide before we’re overcome with whatever is going to happen.”

  Finn hurried after Anna silently, glad that at least one of them seemed to still have a hold of her wits. The memory of the voice she’d heard when following the smoke echoed through her head, though now the words seemed fuzzy. She couldn’t quite remember what the voice had said.

  Once they had gained some distance, they stood upright and hurried back to where they’d made camp. Kai was up and about with a worried look on his face. He heaved a sigh of relief as first Anna, then Finn came into view in the moonlit darkness. His hair stuck out at odd angles, and his shirt was askew, as if he’d just then climbed out of his bedroll, realizing the women were gone.

  “Thank you for scaring me half to death,” he chided. “Where were the two of you? What’s all this smoke?”

  Anna and Finn closed the distance between themselves and Kai.

  “It’s the Archtree,” Anna explained as she crouched to begin rolling up her bedroll. “At least, I believe it to be. Someone has set it on fire, and perhaps that same someone was just watching Finn as she stumbled about by herself on the trail for who knows what reason.”

  Kai took a step toward Finn and looked her up and down, as if to assure himself that she was well. “The smoke-” he began.

  “Yes,” Anna cut him off. “We’re not sure what magical properties it might have, but I’m not going to miss my chance for answers. We must make for the tree. Either we try to put it out, or the smoke will have some sort of effect on us.”

  Kai and Finn both began rolling their bedrolls as Anna finished hers. Finn felt nervous as Kai glanced at her.

  “Why did you wander off?” he asked far too gently. Wasn’t he supposed to be mad that they’d left him alone while he slept?

  Finn frowned, once again recalling the voice, though the memory seemed even more distant now. “I-” she began, then stopped. “I’m not sure,” she explained. “I remember not being able to sleep, then I smelled the smoke. After that, I didn’t quite feel like myself.”

  Kai tightened the cinches around his bedroll and stood. Seeing Finn’s bedroll freshly secured, he offered her a hand up. She took it gratefully, feeling somewhat unsteady. What had the voice said? Trying to remember was driving her mad.

  “Let’s go,” Anna demanded, seeing that Kai and Finn were both ready.

  They gathered the remainder of their supplies and began to walk in the darkness toward the scent of smoke. Anna led, avoiding the path, which was probably for the best if someone really had been watching Finn.

  Finn stumbled continuously as they plodded along through the darkness, boots catching on hidden roots and clothing snagging on brambles. She was at least grateful that she no longer wore skirts. Breeches provided such ease of movement that she wondered why any woman would choose to wear skirts, though most that she’d seen did. In fact, the only women Finn had seen in breeches were Anna and Bedelia. Her thoughts turned to her lost friend, and she felt momentarily ill. Was Bedelia even still alive? For the hundredth time she cursed Anna for kidnapping her before she could give Bedelia the tincture that might save her life.

  The smoke grew thicker as they walked. From the low point of view, with foliage obscuring their sight, it was difficult to catch a glimpse of the actual blaze, but Anna seemed to know where she was going. She had been there before, after all, if only in her mind.

  They pressed onward. Finn felt a mixture of elation and fear. Soon she might have answers, if the tree didn’t burn completely to ash by the time they reached it. Perhaps they could make a tea from the leftover powder. She still wasn’t entirely sure what she would ask. She wanted to know just where she came from, why she’d been turned into a tree, what the Cavari really wanted from her, and also about the shroud. If Iseult had not made it to the island yet, he might miss his answer, which meant Finn would need to ask it for him. She sighed as Kai helped her over a fallen log. She wasn’t sure she could bring herself to use her one question on the shroud, and she didn’t think Iseult would blame her if she didn’t. Surely there was another way to find it?

  She flinched as she stubbed her toe, teetering awkwardly with her overstuffed satchel bouncing against her hip. The smoke was becoming unbearable, making her dizzy. Perhaps they’d have their answers even
sooner than they thought, else they would die from lack of oxygen.

  The settlers groaned about lack of food as they journeyed onward. Maarav had claimed that his ship, along with a small settlement, was only two day’s worth of riding away, but Iseult doubted the claims. There was no settlement this far north to be found on any map, save the reiver camps, which tended to not remain in one place for an extended period of time.

  They’d been lucky enough to happen upon a fresh spring for water the previous evening. With the threat of the reivers nipping at their heels, they hadn’t much time to explore for resources. Iseult felt it safe to say that they weren’t being followed, as the well-supplied reivers would have caught up by now, but wasting time was still a risk. He tried to clear his mind of what might be happening to those who’d stayed behind. Though more troubling still, was the thought of unsuspecting burghs eventually falling under attack at Conall’s command. An Fiach had to be taken care of first, but with the magic users, and the addition of the reiver fleet, Iseult would not be surprised if the troublesome faction soon ceased to be.

  The settlers, who’d had the wherewithal to drag a few horses along, took turns riding, giving extra time to the women and older folk among them. Iseult had offered his horse up a few times, though the animal was bred for war, and many feared riding him. Even with the help of the horses, there wasn’t a single person among the group who wasn’t tired or hungry. Ealasaid seemed hardly able to keep her feet as she walked along, the hem of her dirty blue dress dragging in the coastal sand. An elderly woman rode Ealasaid’s horse, and had fallen asleep upright in the saddle. Her loud snores, the occasional hungry grumble, and the sound of the ocean kept an odd rhythm as the sun slowly made its way across the sky.

  “There,” Maarav pointed, riding up beside Iseult to get his attention.