by Reilyn Hardy
I didn’t notice right away that the hag redirected her attention from them, and onto me, until it was too late.
The boys disappeared like they were never there to begin with. Illusions. I stumbled backward, and tried to pull my head back into the room, but she was too quick for me.
Only seconds ago, she was across the bridge and in the blink of an eye, she sat perched at my window, gazing at me with starvation in her eyes. Lake water dripped from her hair, and she dropped into the room, before slowly getting to full height. I backed up against the door and she took heavy steps toward me.
The wind picked up again and she smelled the air. Inhaling deeply, the corners of her tattered mouth lifted into a smile, revealing sharp, yellowed teeth. Her animalistic eyes glowed as she stepped closer, focusing on her prey, focusing on me.
“Chronomancer blood,” she breathed. Her breath reeked of mold and rotten fish, a stench more putrid than the odor that came from her body. “I’ve never had chronomancer blood.” She was taunting me. “He didn’t know where you were. He’ll be so pleased to know, he’ll be so pleased.”
I couldn’t move. Frozen, I was petrified by what I was staring at, even as she came closer. I thought about trying for my dagger, but I couldn’t bring myself to move.
She lurched at me, and her hands gripped my neck.
“The blood!” She squealed in delight, and a high-pitched cackle followed, while she felt my pulse beneath her clammy gray hands. She could feel my blood pumping through my veins.
She bit me.
Her teeth sank into my skin just above my collarbone. Still, I couldn’t move. I had lost all control of myself.
“So sweet.” She inhaled sharply. I felt her breath against my skin. “Not at all bitter like your brother’s.”
She shook me from my daze when she mentioned Apollo. I shoved her off of me as hard as I could manage, and she slammed into the wall near the window.
I followed.
This time I was the one gripping onto her neck. I shoved her head out of the opening.
“What did you say?” I growled at her. “What did you say!” I demanded, and slammed the side of her head against the bottom frame of the open window.
“Mae —” her voice is hoarse. “S — stop!”
It was deepening.
“Stop, Mae! Wake up! Mae!”
She morphed right before my eyes, from the glowing-eyed decaying woman of the lake and into my best friend — into Jace — struggling at the window. He was clawing my hands so roughly that he began to draw blood.
“Let — go — of me!” He wheezed, and I finally did.
What did I do? How was I strong enough to hold him down in the first place?
I stumbled backward, holding my hands out in front of me like bear traps. My eyes were wide, I probably looked deranged. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.
Silence filled the room as I backed up. The back of my legs bumped into my bed and forced me to sit down; I stared at my hands. Jace fell back onto his bed but he sat up now, breathing heavily from the altercation.
I still didn’t look at him.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice was raspy.
I frowned.
“Jace.” I faced him finally. “I almost killed you and you’re asking me if I’m okay?”
“But you didn’t,” he replied with a heavy exhale and rubbed his neck some more. “You didn’t. Are you okay?” He asked again.
He made it seem like that was all that mattered. That I hadn’t killed him. The thing was, I shouldn’t have been trying to in the first place.
“Are you?” I asked.
“Well, I’m alive.” He laughed a little. I didn’t. I knew he was trying to ease the tension, but it wasn’t really working. “Your eyes, they... I’ve never seen eyes do that.”
“Do what?”
He stared up at the ceiling.
“They — I don’t know. It was like I was looking up at the sky. Like I was staring at a storm — but — I’m sure I was just imagining it with the lack of oxygen reaching my brain.” He smirked at me and shrugged. He moved his hand away from his reddened neck and I turned away. I got up to close the window.
I wasn’t positive about what just happened.
“You never answered my question,” he said.
“What?”
“Are you okay?”
I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. Was I okay? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to admit that. I couldn’t, but what was I going to do if that happened again?
What if I didn’t let go next time?
I looked from the window, back to Jace. There was a stigma against werewolves, and yet I was the one who was trying to strangle him, not the other way around.
“I’m fine,” I managed a lie as Coin flung our door open, which startled the both of us. He looked only slightly different now than he had last night. Most of his hair was now hiding beneath his cap with only a few dark curls peeking from beneath the material, just above his eyes and a little near his ears.
“You ready?” he asked in a hushed tone. It was still dark out, but the sun began to rise. I glanced at Jace out of the corners of my eyes and nodded. “Well then, let’s go!”
I let the both of them go ahead so I could stay behind and wrap up my hands. His nails had broke through my skin and I was sure he had sliced through one of my veins — not that I blamed him — it was my fault. I tried to suffocate him. I dug out my dagger and cut through the sheet on my bed. I wiped the blood on the bottom of my shirt and wrapped my hands with the strips of material. I felt my collarbone for the bite, but it wasn’t there. Was it really a dream?
I caught up with them on the ground floor of the inn where we grabbed something to eat. I got a couple of eggs and buttered toast while Jace stuffed his face again with an assortment of different breakfast foods. I didn’t understand how he could eat so much — I didn’t understand how he was always so hungry.
Coin kept trying to get me to try the fish but I would decline nicely every time. After what I’ve seen come out of the lake, I don’t think I could ever eat it.
* * * * *
The sun came up while we hiked out of Nevressea and up a grassy hill. It reminded me of the field that headed toward the train tracks, but once we reached the top, they were nowhere in sight. Jace had as much energy as ever and walked ahead while I trudged beside Coin.
“You’re going to get tired of that,” he commented. “Their energy, their strength... their endurance. It’s incomparable to munfolk. You won’t be able to keep up with him, you know, and they aren’t very fond of people who slow them down.”
“I’ve known him for seven years,” I said. “I’ve managed this long. I don’t think he’s as bad as you — or anyone else — thinks he is.”
“Just trying to watch out for you, Mae. You seem like a nice kid. Werewolves on the other hand, not so much.”
I seemed like a nice kid? After that morning, I wasn’t so sure.
“Jace is a nice kid,” I told him.
I let myself fall a little behind and clutched harder to the strap of my bag as we continued to walk. My mind kept crossing to that morning and there were parts of me that really started to regret leaving Newacre.
I left because I didn’t want him to go alone. I left because I thought he was going to get himself killed. Yet — maybe he would be safer without me. At least he would have still been on the train to Barrowhaven.
Maybe that’s what the sign from the forest spirit meant. In the end, his blood would be on my hands.
“How are we getting there?” Jace asked as he jogged back to us.
“That’s where it gets a little tricky. You see, the only way to get to Edgewick is if you fly. There’s an old man, up this way, who enjoys catching winged horses,” Coin told us as he led us further up, and Nevressea was a long ways away behind us now. “And I enjoy setting em free. It’s a nice little game we play, only he doesn’t know he’s playing.�
� Coin shrugged. “But it’s good fun for me. Besides, they aren’t meant to be captured. Especially by men. But the horses and I, we’ve developed a pretty good relationship. They’ll get you there fast. Take away the dragons as his allies so we can prevent him from starting a war or something, yeah? In case he does break free and all.”
Not far up ahead was a large barn beside a small hut with a smokeless chimney. Coin explained that he observed the old man’s habits and he always went fishing early in the mornings.
“They’re brilliant animals,” he said, returning back to the horses as we approach the barn. “I think they’ve started letting themselves get captured because they enjoy the game as much as I do — though this complicates things.”
He picked up the large iron padlock that locked the barn doors shut.
“This wasn’t here before — I’m sure I can pick it — just give me a second.”
Jace grabbed the lock once Coin let go of it. Toward himself and at an angle, he yanked down as hard as he could. The handles ripped right out of the wood and fell at his feet as he broke both doors completely. He dropped the lock that was still in his hands — still attached to the handles — when Coin turned to look at him.
I stared in disbelief, surprised that he hadn’t actually managed to yet rip off my arm every time he helped me up.
“Well.” Coin raised his eyebrows in approval. “That’s one way to do it.”
He turned to me then, and winked.
Their energy, their strength, their endurance…
I shook the thought.
The barn was flooded with natural light from the sun and there standing proudly at the other end, behind a swinging wooden door, were two massive white horses. One with a sprinkle of black specks on its face, and the other, without a spot in sight. They both sported large white feathered wings that were pulled in, coveting the lengths of their bodies.
Coin ran to unlatch the door.
“This is Pippa,” he said as he pointed to the pure white horse, “and that’s Speckles.” He nodded toward the other.
Jace tied his long hair into a knot and approached Pippa. He was confident — or at least determined.
“Watch out though, Pip is a little feisty and — she bites.” Coin warned.
“So do I,” he said and quickly pulled his hand back. Pippa just barely missed chomping on his fingers and she snapped playfully at the air, which was now absent of his hand. She seemed to smirk at him with her eyes, before neighing.
“How do we fly them?” I asked, stepping toward Speckles. I lifted my hand and she nudged my palm with her nose. I couldn’t help but smile.
“It’s easy,” Coin said, “trust them and they’ll trust you. They’re very good at reading people and if they didn’t like you, you’d know.”
He glanced back at Jace for a second before turning back to me.
“You should see how they react around the old man. Oh, and here,” he dug into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of old parchment.
“Is that a map?” Jace asked while trying to keep Pippa from nibbling on the material of his shirt. “How’d you get it?” He nudged her face away again.
“I made it?”
“You made a map? Of Aridete? The whole thing?”
“Of where I’ve been, yeah. That’s what I do. Like I said, I help travelers. I travel, I record, and I make maps. You’d be surprised what people will pay for that. Makes their own journey easier I suppose.”
“Is Glasskeep and Norhurst on here?” I asked, hopeful.
Coin laughed. “It’s funny you ask that. You’re funny.”
“Why is it funny?”
“Oh, you’re serious. You can’t just find Glasskeep or Norhurst, as if it’s there to be stumbled upon. You’d have to be a descendant of their bloodlines. I wouldn’t be surprised if Drarkodon found Glasskeep and destroyed it.”
“But he’s a necromancer. How could he find Glasskeep? That’s the origins of the chronomancers.”
“Well, technically he’s both, ain’t he?” Coin looked down at the parchment and pointed at Nevressea. “So you’re going to travel over the Ashen Hills — you see here —” he dragged his finger toward the drawn cluster of bottomless triangles. “And Edgewick will be right there at the edge of Aridete. It’s far from everything. It’s the munnest place in all of Aridete, but they’ll get you there quick.”
“You mean you’re not coming with us?”
“This is where we part. I’ve got no business there. I told you, I already tried looking. Besides, dealing with the hag in my own town is bad enough. I can’t be running off to Mithlonde.”
He handed the map to me.
I hated that he brought up the hag. I only just shook it from my memory and now her face was most prominent in my mind again.
“I hope I run into you again soon, Mae.” Coin glanced at Jace then, “— And your wolf friend.”
I glanced at Jace too, and he was lodging his foot onto a board of the side fence to use as a step. He stepped up and quickly swung his leg over Pippa’s body, smirking proudly to himself at his accomplishment of getting on there with no trouble whatsoever.
He looked at me, but I was looking right through him. All I could think about was that morning. His throat wasn’t red anymore — not from what I could tell.
I supposed I should be happy about that.
One with the strength to kill, and the other — the courage to resist.
Which one was I?
“Just make sure you fly over the Ashen Hills, okay?” Coin said. “You don’t want to know what lives in there, lurking at the bases.”
“Didn’t you just say Edgewick was the munnest place in Aridete?” Jace asked.
“You wonder why? You can’t get there on foot — trust me — and what lurks there can’t cross water. There’s a lake right on the other side of the hills.”
I frowned a little, I didn’t want to know. I knew of several monstrous creatures that lived in Aridete and I wasn’t interested in running into any of them. The sky it was.
Assuming I could get onto the horse.
Coin made it seem like managing winged horses would be child’s play. It’s easy, he claimed, trust them and they’ll trust you. Jace had gotten onto Pippa’s back with ease, but I was having difficulty with Speckles, who kept looking at me with challenge in her eyes. I dusted off my pants again and got back up to my feet.
“Are you going to let me up or not?” I asked and clenched my jaw.
I was talking to a horse.
There was a commotion happening outside, loud enough that we all turned to look.
“You guys are gonna have to hurry. I think he’s back,” Coin said and darted toward the doors. He peered through a crack in the wood and turned back to us, pointing at me. “Mae! Get on that horse!” Not exactly a hushed tone, but still softer than a normal one.
He whispered loudly and sternly.
I turned back to Speckles who, as if on command, bowed her head and folded her right front leg under herself. She lowered her body down. I approached with caution still. She might have been nice now but this was a horse who kept throwing me off of her back.
This time was different, and she let me climb up. I swung my leg over and Coin waved his arm in the air and the two horses galloped toward him.
The doors of the stable burst open and we took off without much warning. I saw the old man running toward us, holding his floppy hat down with his hand. I could see him yelling, but I couldn’t hear anything from that far down, not with flapping wings right in my ears. Coin started running back toward Nevressea and the old man began chasing him, but he stopped when he realized he was too far ahead. He was too fast and he would never catch him.
He looked up at us again and grew smaller as we flew away.
We were flying.
I glanced over at Jace and he had his arms wrapped around Pippa’s neck. I was surprised that her head didn’t pop right off. His eyes were shut tightly too.
&n
bsp; I smirked.
“Are you afraid of heights?” I yelled.
He opened one eye and shut it again quickly and he shook his head.
“I’m just more comfortable on the ground!” He shouted back, clinging onto his horse for his life. I smirked wider and turned to face forward again. I leaned in closer to Speckles. I ran my hand up the side of her neck and through her white coat, keeping my body close to hers.
The sun was shining brightly now, high in the sky and the rays beamed down on us harshly. But the air was cool and the Ashen Hills were growing in the distance as we got closer.
Properly named, their peaks were white. They faded into a silvery gray and blackened at the base. They imitated large piles of ash.
CHAPTER SEVEN
the ashen hills
We were in the air for hours and had only barely reached the Ashen Hills. The longer we were in the sky, the colder it got. My face stung from the icy air that nipped at my skin, and there were thick, dark storm clouds rolling in, keeping us divided from the sun’s rays. The temperature dropped while the sky darkened. I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“Can we go lower? It’s freezing up here!” Jace yelled at me. He still had his arms wrapped around Pippa, but his hands were gripping at the cuffs of his sleeves so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. I had bumps along my skin and I was shivering beneath my shirt. The material was thinner than I remembered. But I didn’t want to go lower. Mind over matter. Maybe if I could convince myself I was warm, my body would follow suit.
I wondered how long that was going to take.
“Coin said to go over the Ashen Hills!” I shouted back just as the sky thundered and we both look up toward the clouds.
“Yeah well, that won’t matter if we get struck by lightning!”
We were so high up in the sky that the clouds had us surrounded. When I looked down, I couldn’t see anything. It continued to darken and the view grew foggy. I could hardly see in front of me and I could barely see Jace beside me. Even Speckles was beginning to disappear. She didn’t even look real in the fog and I wouldn’t believe she was actually there if I hadn’t been sitting on top of her.