by Candy Crum
A couple weeks before, there had been quite the disturbance in the city. Scarlett could sense a large amount of magic being used, and she was more than interested in figuring out exactly who and what was causing such a disruption in a city filled with mediocre magic users.
She snuck out of the Academy and went on foot. By the time she arrived, the action was over, but the instigator was still present.
She ran across the cobblestones, stopping when she saw four dead guardsmen lying by the gate. Slowly, she walked forward, studying them before coming to a stop. She looked around and saw Cathillian, Arryn's druid friend, lying on the ground.
From his appearance, she would have assumed he was dead, but she could still sense brain activity. His mind was active even though he was unconscious.
A girl clad in black sat on top of him. As she pulled her hands away from him, her eyes drifted up to see Scarlett standing there.
Scarlett smiled. "Well, hello, friend."
Without hesitation, the girl threw her hands out. Scarlett had no idea what she had planned to do, because she was much faster. Scarlett's hands also shot out, and the girl immediately grabbed her head in pain.
Arryn's friend did not move, and she assumed he wouldn't for some time. It was the perfect opportunity.
"You mistake me for someone easily overcome, someone like that young man you sit upon now. I am not your enemy, so don't make me one. I promise, you wouldn’t like the end result," Scarlett had said with a knowing smile on her face.
The girl was in so much pain she couldn't scream, let alone speak. All she could do was groan in response.
Scarlett had lowered her hands, all defensiveness draining out of her posture as she looked at the girl as if they had just met at the market. "I'm Scarlett. Nice to meet you..."
"Jenna," the girl choked out as she stumbled to her feet.
Nodding, Scarlett had said, "Jenna. It's nice to meet you. I think you and I have so much to discuss."
From there, the two had spoken quickly about the Dark Forest, the city, and their mutual disdain for the Arcadian druid herself, Arryn. Scarlett had wanted the conversation to be longer, but she knew someone would come across the dead guards and the near-dead druid lying on the ground before much more time elapsed.
Instead, they had made plans to meet later, and meet later they had. It had been only once, but Scarlett had a much better idea who she was dealing with. Though she was a petty child, she had more reason to hate Arryn than Talia did.
After all, Talia had created her own group, and was clearly twisting them to hate and not trust Scarlett. As far she was concerned, she was simply returning the favor. Now that the remnant were out of commission, the dark druids would provide quite a backup plan.
When Scarlett approached the southernmost edge of the Dark Forest, she was met by a man with dark gray eyes. His long, beautiful face was only made more attractive to her by a scar that reached from his forehead to his chin.
He was tall, taller than most men in Arcadia, but still shorter than Arryn's druid companion Cathillian. At least she thought he was, judging by the descriptions Talia had given her as well as how long his body had looked as it laid half-dead on the ground.
His skin was unlike anything she'd ever seen. He wasn't quite as dark as those who stood behind him, but his skin lacked the normal pigment of any race she was familiar with. He somehow looked gray, although it was a much lighter color than his irises, without looking sickly. It was a strange thing to see, but it worked for him. She found herself very interested in this man
The man raised a hand, signaling for her to stop, which she did. He approached slowly.
"Are you Scarlett?" the man asked.
She nodded. "I am. I'm here to see Jenna. Are you Aeris, her brother?"
He nodded. "I am. She told me quite a bit about you, and I would like you to discuss all that with me. If you are everything she says, then you are welcome to stay. However, if I find I can’t trust you, I promise you’ll not be leaving today."
Scarlett smiled. "Oh, I don't think you'll have a problem trusting me. In fact, I think you and I will be great friends."
"I'm glad to hear that because my sister has gone missing, and I could use someone with your talents to help me get her back."
CHAPTER NINE
Having Cathillian back was more than a welcome distraction, but the reason behind it had been devastating. Learning what had happened to Arryn was a crushing blow. Elysia may not have given birth to her, but she was like a daughter anyway. She was family.
More than anything, Elysia wanted to rush out and search for her, stopping at nothing and leaving no stone unturned to find her. Instead, she was bound by duty to protect far more than a single life, even if that life was important to her.
She had to protect the entire druid tribe.
Though Cathillian had objected, Elysia ordered him to stay with the Chieftain. She had taken Nika as well as several other warriors, including a couple from the Schatten. She knew that team was her best hope in finding out what was happening.
They had spent the entire afternoon questioning Jenna, but she dodged every question. It wasn't until they had made her angry, knowing it was her weakness, that she opened up and gave them any real information. In her rage, they knew she would lack the filter that would keep her secret, and lack it she did.
In the midst of her screaming a string of obscenities and threats, she'd let slip a general location. She’d told them as a threat that the dark druids were not far away, and had plenty of resources.
Immediately, they had assumed that an earlier theory had been correct—the dark druids had, in fact, been living somewhere in the Dark Forest, just far enough away that the druids couldn't sense what the darkness was doing to their forest.
The information led Elysia south. As an Elder and the Chieftain's daughter, she knew quite a bit about the dark druids. She knew what they were capable of, and that their magic was a perversion of her own, but when she approached the southernmost section of the forest, she was not prepared for what she found.
Elysia and her warriors stopped short, their horses stomping and bobbing their heads as they protested advancing any farther. Even Chaos displayed signs of discontent.
Elysia's jaw fell open as she looked around her. The vast difference in land from where her own horse stood and just several feet ahead was far beyond disturbing. The deep, dark colors of the once beautiful landscape looked like the very life had been sucked from it.
Tree trunks were ashy in color, and the leaves were mostly brown. As she looked farther in, she realized many of the trees were missing their leaves entirely.
"What is this place?" Nika asked, only barely able to keep her horse from bolting the other way. "This was once the Dark Forest, but not anymore."
Elysia swallowed, doing her best to hold back the tears that wanted to form as a result of seeing all the death. "It's them. They’ve killed everything here. They made it their home, to use that word loosely. They've been here for a while, and it looks like they're running out of food sources. That's why they want our land. It's lusher than any other part of the forest, and they could survive for years in there."
Nika looked at Elysia. "How is that possible? How do we know this didn't take only a couple weeks?"
"We don't." Elysia shook her head. "All we have to go on is what Jenna said. She said it in anger, so I believe it. She’s never been able keep her mouth shut about anything of importance, which was one more reason she made a terrible warrior. At the first sign of something wrong, she would run and tell all the innocent tribesmen, filling men, women, and children with fear instead of helping her fellow warriors solve and end the problem."
There was a pause, and Elysia heard a heavy sigh beside her. "The horses won't go any farther. Shall we continue on foot?"
Elysia was silent as she stared into the barren wasteland in front of her. Her eyes then turned to search those of the men and women she was responsible for keeping safe
. Finally, she shook her head.
"I’d love to run in there and save the day, but we can’t. The moment we crossed the threshold, they would know we were here, just like we know when they get too close to our barrier. We would be outnumbered, and potentially overpowered. I won't risk your lives senselessly—that would serve no purpose. We came to see if we could find where they were hiding, and we found it. Now we go back and tell the others. Next time, we’ll bring an army."
***
Looking at the sky, feeling the ever-sharper chill in the air and the increase in cold moisture burning her skin, Arryn knew her luck had run out. Because of her initial lack of energy and slow progress toward regaining it, she'd been forced to stay where she'd been dumped on top of the mountain. But now, a storm was approaching, one she would have no power to chase away or survive if she didn't find better shelter.
Her igloo was well-crafted and protected her brilliantly in the weather she had endured so far, but with temperatures dropping farther and a snowstorm approaching, she would need something far sturdier—like a cave.
Before, there would have been no way in hell she could descend any part of the mountain without risking her life, but now she was stronger than ever. That being the case, she was about to use every ounce of her newly acquired energy searching for safety.
Arryn stuffed her cloak pockets with the raspberries she had grown and the meat from the ram she'd killed, both of which were frozen solid. She made her way to the flat section where she had been growing things, where the earth was the most alive because of her magic.
Kneeling, she placed her hands on the ground where the snow was shallowest. Using nature magic as well as physical magic, she pushed forward, searching the mountain for any abnormalities or openings.
The druids had taught her how to do this, but the purpose had been to sense if anyone was cutting down trees or mining within their borders. That was how they monitored the forest and kept it safe.
Arryn had never had a reason to do it—mostly because she wasn't very good at it—and the Elders were the only ones who searched that far out. Only their power was strong enough to reach any real distance.
Since her power had grown significantly since she’d been abandoned on the peak, she was able to get a faint look at what lay below her. After several moments, she found something like a large hole in the side of the mountain. Had Elysia or the Chieftain been there, they would've been able to tell her exactly what she'd found.
If she were wrong, she would be without any form of shelter whatsoever on a section of the mountain she was unfamiliar with in the worst storm she'd ever seen. Her energy, and more than likely her magic, would be depleted by the time she got there.
If she were wrong, the odds of Talia's dark wishes for her coming true were certainly not in Arryn's favor.
She pulled her hands away, took a deep breath, and stood. She couldn't allow Talia to win, not now. If Arryn stayed here, she would freeze to death—there was no doubt in her mind. If she was wrong about the cave, the storm would kill her.
As she stood there, the first few snowflakes began to fall, and she watched the clouds rolling in.
"Well, little buddy," she said, turning and making her way back to camp, her furry rabbit friend in tow, "it looks like I'm heading down the south side of the mountain. You're more than welcome to keep me company. A snowstorm is coming, and I doubt even you would make it up here."
She was answered by the rabbit hopping forward a few feet, twisting his head a bit to the side, and twitching his nose. Smiling, she turned, and he followed close behind.
Arryn grabbed her daggers, rolled and secured the animal pelts to her back using cloth she’d cut from the very bottom of her cloak, and began her descent, moving slowly but steadily. She surveyed the area around her as she moved and realized there were a lot of places too steep to walk down at all. She would have to climb down parts of the mountain, something she'd never done.
The wind had begun to pick up and the snow had become heavier as she descended; Arryn shivered and shook as she traversed the slopes. Several times she’d had to conjure heat without creating an actual fire to keep herself warm enough to stay focused, since she couldn't risk a misstep.
Unfortunately, she was growing weak very quickly.
"You can do this. You can do this. You can do this," she kept repeating to herself. "This is only temporary. You're getting back to Arcadia. You're going to find her. You're going to kill her."
When she got to a place where she needed to climb down, Arryn picked up the rabbit that had followed her and tucked him into the hood of her cloak behind her neck. He was a fat, pudgy thing for a small animal trying to survive in such terrain, and he kept her neck very warm.
Arryn began coaxing herself again as she used a bit of magic to sense the rocks in her path, allowing her to determine how to place her feet without seeing where they needed to go.
"Easy does it. Getting weaker, but that's okay. You've been doing this all along. You get weak as hell and then you get stronger than you ever knew was possible. Then you weaken yourself again, and then you get stronger still. Get to the cave. Get some sleep. Everything will be fine."
She alternated between internal thoughts and speaking aloud to herself, taking solace in the sound of any voice at all, even if it was only her own. When she realized just how comforting it was to speak, to hear a voice, she realized that had it not been for the rabbit, and even her momentary connection with the raptor bird she'd sent for the berries, she would've been far worse off than she was.
Below, Arryn could see a large area of flat earth. The wind was terrible, the temperatures were still falling, the snow was stinging her face, and she needed to rest. She welcomed the flat area, hoping she could find a protrusion of rock large enough to block the wind.
As she jumped down, the rabbit squeaked, not really enjoying the landing. She reached a hand back and gave him some gentle scratches as she walked through the snow to a place just big enough to give her some relief from the wind.
She used the time to catch her breath and warm herself again. As she was standing there, she heard footsteps in the snow. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily as she silently prayed it was another ram. She needed all the energy she had to finish her journey. She couldn't risk using any on another leopard.
A low growl sounded out, and her heart sank. She reached into her hood and pulled the rabbit free, setting him against the wall on the ground behind her in case she needed to fight. She didn't want to risk his life if the worst were to happen.
The footsteps got closer and closer, and she realized that standing there praying for the best outcome would probably be her downfall if she kept it up. Pulling her daggers free of her cloak, she took a deep breath and jumped out from behind the small wall.
Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening as shock filled her. It wasn’t a leopard at all, or anything else she would have expected.
It was a lycanthrope. A massive, snowy lycanthrope, with a dark muzzle.
His eyes locked on hers, red and full of fury. His lips curled back in a snarl, and his long razor-like teeth glistened with drool. He took one step forward, his body bending slightly as his arms extended to the side, his large clawed hands flexing as he unleashed a loud growl.
Arryn took a defensive stance, wondering how she should take him out. Magic would be the quickest and safest, but it would also be the most draining. Physically fighting wouldn't be much better, and it would also be the most dangerous.
Magic, it is. Well, maybe not entirely.
The lycanthrope lunged for her, and she ducked before tumbling out of the way, swiping with her knife as she did. Blood spurted onto the snow, the blade having sliced across the beast’s thigh.
Rolling to her feet, she turned and threw her dagger as hard as she could before he turned back around. The knife pierced the lycanthrope between the shoulder blades, just out of his reach. He growled loudly again; this time it was almost a roar. S
he needed to destroy him quickly before his volume brought the snow down on top of them.
The beast was full of rage by then, made even more powerful by the strong emotion. He was so fast as he turned that he almost looked like a blur. He charged her again, but she was ready.
"Today is not the day I die, you son of a bitch."
She turned her palms up before quickly lifting them as though she were flipping a table. The snow burst from the ground, freezing as it did. Several long shards of ice impaled the beast, the life almost immediately going out of his eyes before he collapsed to the ground only a couple feet in front of her.
Arryn sighed heavily and took several deep breaths. "Whew!" she said in relief. "Sir Cuddlepuffs, I really thought we might be dinner."
The rabbit hopped across the snow to her, and she leaned down to pick him up and put him back in the hood of her cloak as she had before. As she stood there, relishing in the warmth of her little friend on the back of her neck, her eyes drifted to the right, where the lycanthrope had come from.
For the first time, she saw dark spots on the snow. They were several feet away and visibility wasn't the best because of the falling snow, but now that things had calmed down, she could see them.
Looking at the beast on the ground, her eyes were once again drawn to that dark muzzle. She took a step forward and leaned down, her eyes widening when she realized his snout hadn't been dark in color at all. The deep color of blood had been masked by the lack of sunshine and heavy snow.
At that moment, two things ran through her mind. The first was that something had been injured but might still be alive, and the second was that it might be dead and she might have fresh meat as opposed to the frozen meat in her pockets.
While she didn't want to expend the energy to hunt for it, she was pretty sure it was close, given the newly frozen blood on the ground. She made her choice and trekked off through the snow, following the trail of blood.