Everlasting

by W. J. May

  At this point in the story, Cassiel dropped his eyes to the forest floor. At the same time, Katerina’s head shot up in confusion. She may not know as much about history as someone who had lived through it, but she knew a fair bit about the Red Knight. He was revered throughout the kingdom—her brother’s childhood hero. And he wasn’t exactly known for his merciful side.

  “He did?” she asked in confusion. “He spared their lives?”

  Cassiel’s face tightened with an emotion that Katerina would never understand. Not if she was given seven lifetimes to try. He was quiet for a moment, then he shook his head.

  “No. He didn’t.”

  “The Red Knight tricked the queen,” Dylan took over softly. “The second she surrendered her crown, he told his men to open fire. The Fae had already laid down their weapons. They were kneeling with their hands on their heads. It was a slaughter.”

  Quiet as it was, the word seemed to ring out in the forest, bringing the very trees to life with it. They bristled their branches and whipped out their leaves. Rising and falling in the angry wind.

  “And what happened to the queen?” Katerina asked in a whisper. By this point, she was almost afraid to ask. She could tell by the looks on their faces it wasn’t good. And knew enough about her own people to guess the ending for herself.

  “The queen was killed as well.” Cassiel pushed through his dark reverie and continued walking at a brisk pace. “The Red Knight kept her alive long enough to watch the massacre of her people, then he ran her through with his sword.”

  All in the name of the Damaris flag.

  “But with her dying breath, the queen cried out a wicked curse.” The fae’s eyes flashed with muted triumph, and Katerina suddenly remembered there was another chapter to the story. “The Red Knight had won the day, but he would not live to see another. And if a child of man were to ever again set foot in this forest...he would not leave it alive.”

  I had to ask.

  Katerina froze in place as a bone-chilling breeze rippled through the woods.

  She remembered reading about the Red Knight with Kailas when they were kids. He had been a mighty warrior in the time of the Great War. The most distinguished and feared of all the king’s champions. His campaigns had become the stuff of legends, and even today there wasn’t a child in the five kingdoms who didn’t grow up hearing his name.

  But as epic as his rise to fame had been, it ended just as quickly. No one really knew what had happened. He simply never came back from the Great War.

  The platoon he’d been commanding in the east left a trail of wreckage and broken bodies behind them, but when the king sent a messenger with his congratulations, there was nothing left to find. The messenger returned with gifts still in hand, saying that the Red Knight and his entire army had vanished into thin air. Never to be seen or heard from again.

  Of course, the kingdom was wild with speculation. Many suspected disease. One foul pestilence that had wiped out the entire platoon. Still others theorized the men had fallen prey to the harshness of the land. Caught in a flash flood or wiped out in a blizzard. The wilderness on the outer rim of the kingdom was a savage place. Such things were not unheard of.

  But standing there in the middle of the forest, listening to Cassiel’s quiet words and the whisper of the trees, Katerina was suddenly certain of two things. The Red Knight and his men had never made it out of the forest. And she and her friends should never have come.

  “So...what exactly are we doing here?”

  It was impossible to keep the fear out of her voice, and Dylan cast her a quick glance before forcing a smile. “Oh, come on, you’re telling me you believe in curses now?”

  Both Tanya and Cassiel shot him a doubtful look, while Katerina rolled her eyes.

  “In the last month alone, I’ve tripped through a ghost, sidestepped a hag who was trying to buy one of my eyes, and saw you change into what can only be described as a giant dog. So, yeah. My perspective on all things supernatural has changed somewhat.”

  Dylan scoffed, and opened his mouth to reply but was quickly interrupted.

  “You don’t believe in curses?” Tanya asked curiously.

  He hesitated a moment, then compartmentalized and resolutely shook his head. “When I’m standing in the middle of what’s alleged to be a ‘cursed forest,’ I choose not to believe in curses.”

  Her eyes cooled with a sarcastic smile. “And when you’re not?”

  There was a slight pause.

  “I don’t believe in curses.”

  But even as he said it, he cast a nervous glance around him and picked up the pace.

  They continued like that for some time. Walking swiftly. Hardly talking. Hardly daring to look around. They had gotten to the forest a little after mid-day, and by Katerina’s reckoning the sun should be close to setting. But, strangely enough, it stayed high in the trees. Never faltering or slipping lower in the sky. Like they were stuck in some kind of time loop. Trapped at high noon.

  After several hours in the same fashion, she finally quickened her pace and caught up with Dylan. “What time do you think it is?” she asked softly, not daring to raise her voice.

  He glanced up at the sky, his usual indicator, studied it for a moment, then lowered his eyes with forced determination back to the trees. “It’s not that late. We haven’t been in here too long.”

  Katerina’s throbbing legs and aching belly begged to differ, but she chose not to press the matter any further. Instead, she focused on another. “Are we going to set up camp in here? Because I’d really rather—”

  “Kat, we’re going to get in and out of here as quickly as possible. You have my word.” His eyes flashed quickly around the trees before he muttered under his breath, “I don’t want to be in here anymore than you do.”

  A hundred more questions rose to the tip of her tongue, but she kept them purposely to herself. He was stressed enough as it was. And she doubted he had any answers.

  Instead, she slowed back down, then fell into step beside Cassiel.

  He hadn’t said much since telling the story of the dead queen. It seemed to have taken a bit out of him just to say it. But while he seemed just as uneasy to be trespassing in the woods as the others, in a strange way he also looked very much at home.

  The way he moved with an effortless grace through the trees. The way he didn’t leave tracks like the others. The ranger in Dylan might have accustomed himself to a life spent in nature, but it was the birthright of every fae. A fundamental belonging that ran in their very blood.

  I wonder where he actually comes from. Was it a place like this? A woodland realm? A fallen kingdom, lost during the rebellion? I wonder how many of them survived. I wonder if he can ever go home...

  “I can feel you thinking, princess.” Cassiel shot her a look from the corner of his eye, never slowing his pace. “Can you do that someplace else?”

  There was a hitch in her breathing as her eyes shot guiltily to his face. Then she saw that he was smiling, and she relaxed with a deep breath.

  “Sorry, this is all just...kind of surreal.”

  For a moment, he actually softened. For a moment, that smile actually reached his eyes. But as quickly as it had cleared, his face grew abruptly sad.

  “For me, too.”

  The words touched a place deep inside, and her heart broke as she gazed up at him once more. A king without a kingdom. A prince without a throne.

  All in the name of the Damaris flag.

  That was the moment that all her questions vanished. That was the moment when the words died forever on the tip of her tongue. She had no right to ask them. She had no right to be speaking to him at all. The history books had been written. The die had been cast. And Katerina Damaris certainly had no right to wonder about this lovely fae’s ancestral home.

  But the world outside the castle was nothing like what she thought it would be. At every turn, there was a surprise. And all its wonders and eccentricities never ceased to amaze her.r />
  “I don’t hate you,” Cassiel said quietly.

  Breaking through the silence. Answering a question she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

  Katerina could swear her heart stopped beating as she stared up at him in surprise. It didn’t look as though he was lying. But she didn’t see how it could possibly be true. She tried several times to speak. She tried to understand where that kind of quiet compassion could have possibly come from.

  In the end, she was at a complete loss.

  “You can.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. “I remember the look on your face when you found out I was a Damaris, but I didn’t fully understand it until now. You have a right to hate me, Cass. Especially you. Especially here—”

  “You can’t take the blame, Katerina. And you can’t take credit.” His eyes softened again as they looked her up and down. “You weren’t even born.”

  She held his eyes for only a moment, then bowed her head.

  “But it was my family—”

  “The same family who’s hunting you down? The same family who tried to kill you?” A look of sudden comradery flashed across Cassiel’s face, and his lips curved up in an ironic smile. “There’s a chance the two of us have more in common than you think.”

  Katerina blinked. Looked at the ground. Then blinked again. Her emotional threshold had been reached. A second later, the sarcasm kicked in. She gazed up at him with wide, entreating eyes.

  “Did we just become best friends?”

  “Seven hells.” The fae rolled his eyes and quickened his pace, shooting a look of pained exasperation towards the sky. “You mortals can be so clingy.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  His lips twitched up in a reluctant grin. The type of grin that only Dylan had ever been able to solicit. “Yes. We’re best friends. Closer than that, really. You have a special place in my heart.”

  Katerina nodded wisely. “That’s what I thought. The signs are all there.”

  The fae snorted under his breath. “I mean, I’m still going to kill you...”

  Katerina laughed. A welcome relief after all the stress that had been bottling up. “Don’t worry, I won’t take it personally.”

  There was a beat of silence. Followed by a much longer pause. When Cassiel finally glanced down at her, he looked surprised. As if he’d completely forgotten she was there. “What?”

  She hesitated, staring back in confusion. “What, what?”

  Cassiel shook his head. “You won’t take what personally?”

  Her smile faltered for a second, and a tiny frown creased her forehead. “You said you were going to kill me...I said I wouldn’t take it personally.”

  The fae looked at her with blank, vacant eyes. “...kill you?”

  A sudden chill raised the hair on the back of her neck. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could say a word Dylan raised his hand and the entire group came to an abrupt stop.

  “Hang on... just everyone wait a second.”

  She stared at Cassiel for a second more, then hurried up to the front of the line to see what had happened. It only took a moment to forget the entire exchange, but without seeming to realize it she circled around to Dylan’s other side, putting a casual barrier between herself and the fae. Like a child who shied instinctively away from the heat of a flame.

  Dylan was frowning to himself as he stared out at the trail in front of them. His arms were folded across his chest and an uncharacteristically puzzled look was troubling his handsome face.

  “This doesn’t make any sense,” he murmured, speaking to no one in particular. “I know that we’ve passed this creek already...but we’ve been heading due north.”

  Katerina glanced back and forth between his eyes and the water, while Tanya shifted uneasily on her feet.

  “There’s also the fact that we’ve been walking for the last six hours, but the sun’s still hanging directly above us in the sky,” she ventured tentatively. “Are we going to talk about that?”

  Dylan said nothing, but his frown deepened as he stared out at the trees. It was true that the forest looked exactly as it had when they’d stepped into it, half a day earlier. If Katerina didn’t know better, she’d swear not a moment of time had passed at all.

  “Cass?” he called quietly. “I don’t...” He trailed off, staring once again at the creek. “We’ve seen this before, haven’t we? This is the same crossing as before?”

  Cassiel didn’t answer. The wind picked up in the trees.

  “I don’t like this,” Tanya murmured, one hand drifting instinctually to her blade. “I have a bad feeling about this...”

  “Dylan?” Katerina took a step closer, tripping slightly as a gnarled tree branch caught on her dress. “Can we just turn back? Is it too late to go back?”

  At this point, she’d be willing to risk another avalanche. Anything was better than staying here another second, in the endless sea of sunlit trees.

  Dylan opened his mouth to reply but closed it a second later. His sky-blue eyes swept the woods in front of them, and his heart quickened in his chest. A feeling of intense claustrophobia was settling in quick. A kind of foreboding panic, rising swiftly to the surface.

  “Dylan.”

  Katerina reached out to grab his sleeve, but a branch caught her dress again. She looked down in surprise to see the same knotted piece of wood she’d just tripped over, tangled once more in the fabric. For a second, she didn’t know what to say. It didn’t make any sense.

  Then the branch moved.

  “DYLAN!”

  He jumped around in surprise, just in time to get knocked to the forest floor. He landed hard on his back, spat up a mouthful of blood, then stared up in shock at the trees.

  No longer were they shining innocently in the sun. It was as if the entire forest had come to life. As if the trees themselves had taken up arms against them. No sooner had Dylan pushed to his feet than a root popped out of the ground right behind him, wrapping tightly around his leg.

  “Holy crap!” he gasped, trying desperately to keep his balance. “CASS!”

  But the others were having problems of their own. Tanya leapt forward with her dagger, hacking away at the offending root, but the second the blade touched wood she flew back with a scream. A knotted branch of redwood had twisted violently in her hair. Katerina tried to grab her, but no sooner had she lifted her arm than the very ground she was standing on gave way.

  She fell to her knees with a shriek, staring down in terror as she began sinking slowly into the earth. Like quicksand, the ground came up to meet her. Engulfing her feet. Creeping up her legs.

  “Dylan!” she screamed again, reaching desperately for anything she could use to pull herself out. She was buried up to the thigh now. And it was climbing ever higher. “Dy—”

  A sharp branch whipped across her face, cutting off her scream and filling her mouth with blood. She choked and gasped, trying desperately to pull in a breath as she sank up to her waist.

  “CASS!” Dylan yelled again, still unable to free himself. Instead of being swallowed by the earth, it was as if the tree itself was trying to strangle him. Another three branches had wrapped around his body, and a fourth was snaking its way around his neck. “CASSIEL!”

  It was only then the princess realized that one member of their party was suspiciously missing. It was only then she realized the forest was hardly their only problem.

  Cass?

  The fae was standing perfectly still. Without a shred of emotion. Without an ounce of self-awareness. Without a single indication he noticed that the world was coming to an end.

  When he heard Dylan calling, he slowly lifted his head. With eyes as black as night.

  Oh crap.

  Katerina sucked in a quick breath, her entire body recoiling in terror as the ground continued to swallow her whole. For a moment, she was simply speechless. Then she and Dylan locked eyes.

  “Still don’t believe in curses?”

  Chapter 11
r />   “Cass?”

  Dylan paled in terror as his friend gazed back at him, not a trace of recognition on his face. For a moment he cocked his head, almost as though he was considering, then he swept across the forest floor, pulling out his blade as he went.

  “Cass, wait!” Dylan scrambled back as far as the roots would let him, but it was getting increasingly difficult to move. By now, they had wrapped around his waist and both legs, with a curled hook circling slowly around his neck. “Snap out of it, man! You don’t want to do this!”

  But it was like the fae couldn’t even hear him. He raised the blade above his head with deadly precision, hardly batting an eye as it swung back down to earth.

  “CASS!”

  Dylan twisted in such a way that, instead of decapitating him, as the stroke was clearly meant to, it severed the root twisting around his neck. He gulped in a huge gasp of air, then reached blindly for his own blade, bringing it up just in time to counter the other.

  “Wake up!” he cried in between parries. “Cass, it’s me! What the heck are you doing?!”

  There was a sharp cry as the fae’s blade stabbed deep into his shoulder. Katerina threw her body towards him, desperate to help, then let out a shrill scream as she continued sinking slowly into the forest floor. It was enveloping her cloak, her dress, creeping its way up to her neck.

  It looked like the game was over.

  Dylan was breathless and bleeding. Katerina was just seconds from being buried alive. But in that very moment, just when it seemed like all hope was lost, a blur of color streaked through the air.

  ...as Tanya Oberon threw herself onto Cassiel’s back.

  “You’ve got to rein it in, dude!” she panted, trying her best to keep out of reach as he struggled to shake her. “We’ve all fantasized about stabbing Dylan but do it on your own time!”

  They thrashed around together, spinning in wild circles on the forest floor.

  “Seriously?!” Dylan took the moment of reprieve to start slicing away at the roots still binding him. They splintered apart, one by one. “You think this is a joke?!”