My practice sword fell from my numb hands as Evelyn rapped me hard across the wrist with the flat of her blade. It tumbled to the dirt and kicked up a small cloud of dust.
I flexed my fingers, trying to work out why they weren’t responding. I picked up my sword and stood, settling back into my stance, but Evelyn shook her head.
“Hand me the sword,” she commanded.
I did as she asked but had to ask. “Why?”
“Because the sword isn’t your weapon,” she said, her tone terse. “I can make you a half decent swordswoman, but you’ll never excel at it. You’re strong, and have decent reflexes and coordination, but the sword isn’t for you.”
Heat crept up my cheeks, and my heart beat fast as I fought to keep her cold gaze. She laid out the facts in a mechanical fashion, and I appreciated her blunt demeanor, but I couldn’t lie that it didn’t sting to hear.
I kicked at a pebble near my foot, tearing it from its home in the ground and sending it on a short journey to rest by a patch of grass.
“So what weapon is for me, then, if not the sword?”
Evelyn finally lost her frown. A slow smile spread from the corners of her mouth, and she bared her blindingly white teeth to me. “That’s what we’re going to find out.”
A half dozen weapons later, and after a half dozen new cuts and bruises marred my pale skin, we’d finally found a weapon that suited me, according to Evelyn.
“Nice shot,” she said, after I fired my third arrow at the target stuck to the tree.
“Thank you,” I replied, blushing crimson.
Evelyn’s praise was just as off as her cold contempt, and like it, I didn’t know exactly what to make of it, but I was happy that she was pleased. After three hours of disappointing her, it was nice to succeed in her eyes.
She walked over, took the arrows out of the tree, and brought them back to me, holding them aloft. “That bow is the only one I had on hand. I’m surprised you can draw it back. It’s got a sixty-pound string on it—that’s not light for someone of your size.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled.
“Just be careful with it. It’s made from the horn of a storm dragon, so it’s damn near priceless.”
Her brilliant eyes swept over my body and rested at my arms and shoulders. She walked behind me and placed her hands on the nape of my neck.
“Your form is off a tad, but that can be easily fixed.”
Her hands traveled down my skin, pushing or pulling my arms and shoulder blades. She lingered over my hips, and her warm fingers dug into my thighs as she twisted them into the proper position. I trembled under her touch, wishing in the back of my heart for her to keep lingering, to explore my flesh further.
A stiff breeze blew through the trees, chilling the beading sweat on my skin and causing me to shiver. It snapped me out of my reverie and back into the present.
Focus! I’m just wasting her time if I don’t pay attention to her lessons. Thankfully, she didn’t notice my lapse in concentration, as she was focused entirely on correcting my poor posture.
When she finally stood, she stepped back and looked me over. She smiled. Just a tad at the corner of her mouth, but it was unmistakable.
“Do you feel how your hips and feet are positioned, how precise your spine and shoulders are aligned?”
I focused on my body, tried to feel each individual muscle as I stood stock still and absorbed the difference in how I felt now versus my posture before. I was more grounded now. I had much better balance, and it felt good.
I nodded just slightly, not moving too much in case I slipped and put myself off balance. “I feel much more stable. It’s night and day compared to before.”
“Good. Now, draw back your bow.”
I did, focusing on all of my muscles. From my neck all the way down to my toes, dozens of muscles worked in tandem as I drew back the string and aimed an invisible arrow at the tree. It was easier than before. As easy as breathing.
“Okay, carefully release tension on the string, but do not let go. Never dry fire your bow,” Evelyn commanded.
I released the string and let out a breath. Tension flooded out of my muscles as I lowered the bow.
“Good, now staying in position, nock an arrow and draw it back.”
I did exactly as she ordered, never faltering as I plucked an arrow from my quiver at my back and drew it back.
“Don’t release it just yet. Hold it, and just breathe, listen to the world around you.”
My hearing was better than most, and I picked up the sounds from a hundred different sources. The horses, grazing in the plains, and the dozen of men and women milling about, cooking, talking, and drinking. Gil and Makenna, off by themselves, whispering sweet nothings to each other away from most everyone’s prying ears.
Adam was in the field, playing with his shades, trying to better control them.
And Evelyn was next to my ear. Her sweet breath tickled my nose, her heartbeat loud in her chest.
“There’s too much noise. I can’t concentrate.”
She nodded. “Of course there is, but you have to focus, eliminate the unnecessary noise and focus of the one sound that truly matters.”
“Which is?” I asked, straining from holding the arrow back for so long.
“Your heartbeat. It’s the most important sound to an archer. Listen to its rhythm. Feel it pulse in your breast, down your veins and in your fingertips. Feel it pulse through the bow, and in the space between heartbeats, release your arrow.”
I focused, ignoring my screaming muscles to listen to the beat of my heart. It was just as she’d said. It pumped loud in my ears, flowing through my chest toward my hands, and it thumped against my bow again and again.
I waited until I knew exactly when the beat would end, and I loosed the arrow.
It sailed through the air, uttering a soft whistle as its war cry and slammed home in the center of the paper target fifty feet away.
A cheer rose from a group of bandits who’d stopped to watch Evelyn train me. And despite them being bandits, scum of the earth, I couldn’t help the little bit of pride that welled up inside from their cheers.
Evelyn clicked her tongue. “Not bad, not bad.”
I wanted to keep practicing, keep the momentum going, but my aching muscles and screaming stomach said otherwise. We’d been training for so long, and we’d neglected to eat anything, so I was ravenous beyond compare.
Gill and Makenna made room for me on the log next to them and offered me a bowl of charred meat and vegetables. It was bland, the chef not having half the cooking skill of Sam or the others, but food was food, and I was starving. I scarfed it down while watching Tegen and Cheira as they scampered around the woods.
We’d spent hours training and wasted most of the light we’d had left. So we set up camp here for the night. I helped where I could, carrying huge armloads of firewood and helping to set up our tents, but we had more than enough manpower, so there wasn’t much for us to do. Evelyn ran the bandits ragged, and they were too scared of her to argue.
I was weary from the training and called it a night early and headed to my tent to get some rest. As I lay down, though, my mind began to wander. My body was bruised and aching, but my thoughts raced like birds through my mind. Calm down and get some sleep, I told myself, rolling over and shutting my eyes tight.
But it was to no avail. I was awake despite my protests.
All right, well if I can’t sleep, then I guess I’ll keep practicing with my magic.
I sat up, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes, feeling for the magic in my soul. It came at my call, spilling from within my chest to crawl its way toward my mind. It submerged me in a pool of verdant mist, and I was no longer in a tent in the woods. I was home.
A tidal wave of thoughts, emotions, and spirits flooded around me, drowning me in their need to be answered, but they weren’t what I needed, not tonight, at least.
There was a specific spell that my mother used often, her chitin
sword, but I knew there was more than that lurking below the surface, I just had to find it.
“How may I assist you, my queen?” the warm voice asked next to my ear.
I need spells, Aspect. Weapons.
With a subtle tone of acceptance, the presence of the Aspect faded away. I floated in a sea of warmth for a time until a tug pulled my soul deeper in the mist. I was pulled further and further in, when I suddenly slowed, and a dozen thoughts floated past my face. Each one was a spell, but I needed to find the correct one and pull it out with me.
It took some time, but I found the one I needed and reached out my hand. It dissolved into nothingness when I closed my hand and filled me with insight. I had what I’d come for, and I’d stayed too long. I couldn’t linger in the Hive Mind, or I risked not being able to find my way out again.
When I came back to myself, I was weak. My body shook with fatigue, and sweat poured in rivers down my face and neck.
But resting in my hands was a glossy black bow comprised of chitin, gleaming even in the darkness.
“Beautiful,” I said, smiling down at it.
I let the spell fade back under my skin and downed a mana potion from my pack. With my shaking limbs calmed, I turned in and got some sleep.
In the morning, we packed up camp after a light breakfast and set out at a steady pace to try and make up for lost time. The bandits rode in front, and the five of us brought up the rear on Evelyn’s orders as we approached the Silvanus Darkwoods.
They came upon us quickly, and tall, wide trees rose up in an ocean as we approached.
Gil whistled appreciatively. “Damn, never been this close before, but those are some big-ass trees.”
Makenna snorted, and the others burst into laughter.
“You’re not wrong. For a place named Slaughter Woods, it’s really rather quaint, isn’t it?” Evelyn asked to herself.
Cassimere and a few of his men circled around and went to speak to Evelyn as we reached the edge of the woods.
“What do you want us to do?” he asked, his speech faltering as he kept casting glances over his shoulder at the tree line.
“Send a few men in, see what happens,” she replied instantly.
He sighed, looked over at his men, and shouted. “Ricky, Jones, go check it out!”
Two burley men with tanned skin and unwashed hair shouted in response but broke from the main group and edged their horses closer. As they reached the edge of the trees, they stopped turned back around and just glared hatred at Cassimere before heading into the woods and out of sight.
Nothing happened for a long moment, and everyone held their breath, just waiting for something to happen.
An ear-splitting shriek pierced the air, followed immediately by another one. And then there was silence once again.
“Well,” Gil said, turning around to stare at us. “At least we know we’re in the right place.”
Chapter 14 - The Widow
When the two bandits never came back out from the forest, it was clear we would have to go in next. I volunteered, because with the children, I had the best chance of getting through without harm. The others, Gil especially, were vehemently against the idea.
“It doesn’t make sense for us all to go in when that risks everyone,” I said, raising my voice.
“What also doesn’t make sense is letting you and the kids run off by yourself and you winding up dead. Duran would kill me if I let anything happen to you. Not going to happen, missy.”
I wanted to argue more, but when Makenna and even Adam rallied against me, I knew I was fighting a losing battle.
“All right, fine. You win.”
“If you’re all done arguing, we’re going in,” Evelyn called from the center of the bandits.
With nothing else to do, we headed in.
The four of us brought our horses towards Evelyn so we’d all be together. I didn’t like the idea of us being separated when something inevitably went wrong.
We pushed into the forest, and I was surprised. For a place that was touted as evil, with a nickname like Slaughter Woods, it was actually remarkably lovely. The trees were tall and luscious. Dense foliage and thick, winding branches gave the appearance of a web crisscrossing multiple trees in a random, yet beautiful pattern.
The forest was beautiful, yet still, as if nature had sensed a predator and hidden itself away. There were no birds chirping or animals scurrying. It was a quiet place, and that set my teeth on edge.
I didn’t like the quiet. It meant something was wrong, and I quickly told the others what I was feeling.
“Well, why don’t you use your magic and see what’s up with the place?” Adam suggested, leaning toward me to whisper.
“Whispering is pointless, Adam. The Arachne have nearly as good hearing as I do, and I’m sure they’re already well aware of us.”
He replied, but I didn’t hear what he said. I was busy concentrating on my flow of magic, letting it pour from me as I scanned the surroundings. I quickly took hold of the nearby insects and found exactly what our problem was.
I broke out of the spell and raised my hands sharply. “Everyone stop!” I hissed, waving at them frantically to quit moving.
Makenna and the others listened instantly, stopping their horses in seconds, but a number of the bandits either didn’t hear me or didn’t care enough to stop. They continued to ride forward across the pristine jungle floor, unaware of what loomed just overhead.
As they crossed some imaginary line, death descended from the treetops.
Dozens of Arachne warriors dropped right onto the foolish bandits, slaughtering them with practiced ease. Most of the bandits died in seconds, torn to pieces right in front of us. A few escaped the initial massacre and ran for their lives, screaming at the top of their lungs. They didn’t get very far.
The Arachne hadn’t changed much in a thousand years. They still looked the same as I remembered. Each of the warriors were lean and agile. Rippling muscles and no hint of fat on their frames. Each one was tan, though the shades varied, and they all wore fibrous clothing, woven from nature. It clung to their skin as if part of their bodies as they stared us down with calm dispassion.
Their faces were the most striking part of them. Long, angular, and regal features that only accented their eyes. They pierced through us, small and slanted as every color of the rainbow stared back at us.
One of them, a tall, broad-shouldered male with red and yellow spotted eyes, spoke in a harsh voice. “Get the stragglers,” he commanded in Rachnaran.
He bore a rough, puckered scar on his shoulder in the shape of a triangular hourglass. It denoted him as the commander of the Widow’s guard. Which made him the best fighter of the Arachne. He would be strong and fast beyond measure, and even with my considerable strength, I didn’t have the skills to beat him, let alone match him.
“Be careful, he’s dangerous,” I said.
The others nodded, but Evelyn stared him down and smiled. Oh, she’s not thinking…oh, yes, that’s exactly what she’s thinking. Evelyn was sizing him up as a challenge, and that wouldn’t end well for anyone.
“Peace!” I shouted in Rachnaran. “Peace!”
The warriors stopped when I spoke, confusion abounding on their faces until Tegen and Cheira bounded from Lacuna to them. Both of them spoke in hushed whispers that even my hearing couldn’t pick up from that distance. Before a minute passed, the Arachne stood down and motioned me forward.
I climbed off Lacuna and threw my hood down, letting them get a good look at me. A few raised their eyebrows, and a few gasped. They stared at me as I walked toward the commander who was taller than I’d originally thought. He nearly matched Gil in height alone.
“An entomancer?” he asked, flicking his eyes up and down.
I nodded, trying to keep the fear off my face. It was difficult when I was staring up at a warrior bred for combat and who could probably kill me without blinking.
“You rescued our brood from slavery?”
“Yes, though not without the help of my bonded.”
“I understand, but this is not my decision to make. You will come with me, and the Widow will decide your fate.”
He spoke with such conviction and finality that if we questioned him, or tried to argue, I knew we’d be dead before we could get the words out.
“Of course,” I said and turned back to my friends, walking to get back on Lacuna. “We do as they say and follow them. If we don’t, we die.”
“I can take them,” Evelyn said, scoffing.
“No, you can’t. They’re strong, well-coordinated, and will swarm us before we could even draw our weapons. Trust me on this,” I pleaded.
She looked like she wanted to argue, but Adam rode beside and smacked the back of her head. “None of that now, sister of mine. Let’s listen to Eris and not start a war with the spider people, shall we?”
“Fine,” she grumbled, easing into a more passive stance.
Our exchange did not go unnoticed by the warriors who stood a dozen yards in front of us in a large pool of blood from the bandits. With a jerk of his head, the commander ordered us to follow him.
We rode through the bloody remains as the stench of blood filled the air. “Ugh, it’ll take forever for the smell to leave my clothes. This is why I like killing with poison. It’s less messy,” Makenna said, pinching her nose as our horse’s hooves squelched underneath the dead flesh.
“I just wonder what they’re going to do with the bodies?” Gil asked.
“You don’t want to know,” I replied.
“Now I’m more curious.”
I didn’t really want to answer; it was a barbaric custom, but he wanted to know, and it wasn’t my decision to keep the information from them.
“They eat them,” I said, sighing.
“Lovely.”
“You asked.”
Gil and the others thankfully quieted down as we rode through endlessly thick forests. The only thing that made traversing through it possible was the small and worn trails we crossed as the Arachne led us deeper into the woods.
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