The Archer Queen

by Blake, Nova

  We slept the night in the branches of a tree, mostly to avoid any predation. Most of the birds in our realm weren't the kind to eat you, and thankfully we didn’t have any native monkeys in Terebellum. It was those beings who walked on two feet and four who we had to worry about the most, and I doubted they'd bother to look up.

  The next day we set out again, regaining our bearings and setting off along the road. But by the time the sun reached its apex it was clear that we'd lost our way. I, for one, could not find the road anywhere.

  "Should we go back?" Thomas asked. He was glaring at the greenery, as if that would make things clearer.

  "No," I said. "I don't think we could find our way back even if we tried."

  "So…" He raised an eyebrow at me.

  I pressed my lips together, biting back a retort. "Just give me a minute," I said. I took a deep breath and reached out, trying to see if the Mark on my arm would give me any suggestions. Much to my surprise, I did feel a tug.

  But it seemed to be drawing me further away from where I thought the road was.

  Despite my scepticism, I had to start trusting this magic. It had saved Orla’s life, which meant it could do good things. "This way," I said, and then moved into the lead position, gripping my bow in my hand.

  I loved the way Thomas fell in behind me, his trust in my abilities had always given me confidence. He didn't seem to have a need to be the big man in charge, or to compete with the other hunters, which was a rarity, now that I thought about it. Even I wasn't immune to the desire to rise through the ranks or one up the others.

  We walked for hours in silence, up and down valleys, deeper into the forest where the trees were so tall, the canopy so dense, that there was a perpetual twilight. And still the Mark drew me on. That burning sensation never quite fading unless I moved away from where we were meant to be going.

  "Jae?" Thomas asked.

  I turned to see him bent over, palms on his knees as he caught his breath. We were climbing a particularly steep hill, and we hadn't had a break for some time.

  "Time for a break? Why don't we get to the top before we stop," I suggested. My legs burned too, but it felt like we were close now. I had to remind myself that this burning need drove me though, not him. I tried to soften my tone, to be more considerate. "If you get there first, we can stop and kiss for a while?" I raised an eyebrow, and then laughed as he straightened and rushed past me.

  Well, that was one way to get him moving. I'd store that information for later use.

  I rushed after him, but his legs were longer and he breached the top of the hill seconds before I did. He turned and pulled me in for a deep kiss, slowly walking me backwards until I was pressed between the trunk of a tree and him. The bark was coarse against my back, but I didn't care. All I could focus on was the feel of him against me, the sensation of his mouth on mine, his tongue, his lips, his taste.

  "Worth the ache in my legs," he said between kisses.

  "Good." I smiled against his mouth, then kissed him again. "I hope that never changes."

  "I don't know why it would." His hand slipped under my tunic, grazing the skin of my sides, creeping up until he could slip it across my nipple. "I've wanted more than friends for so long…"

  I pressed closer to him, trapping his hand between us. A low rumble sounded, but it hadn't come from him, and it certainly wasn't me. We froze, listening.

  "What—"

  "Shhh," I hissed, turning my head so that I could try and catch the sound again. I had no idea what had caused it and that made me nervous.

  Thomas stepped away from me, lifting his bow and nocking an arrow. I did the same and we moved in different directions, backs to each other for greatest protection. The Mark on my arm burned, but I didn't let it distract me. Running now would only make whatever this was worse.

  A thick fog seemed to rise from the ground, enveloping our feet and weaving through the trees. My heart pounded harder and I had to force myself to breathe slowly, to stay calm. But I didn't know the area here, and we couldn't see the ground. I knew we were on a hill and the chances of tumbling down the side and hurting ourselves was high, even if that rumble didn't signify something more menacing than mist on the way.

  "Jae?" Thomas whispered. The sound was muffled by the fog and I turned on the spot, only then realizing that I couldn't see him at all.

  "Thomas!" The panic in my voice was clear. Could whatever was hunting us have brought the fog with it? Surely not. Magic had dimmed in our lands, and beasts weren't known for being able to conjure mist. "Find a tree. Stay close to it," I urged, trying to locate one myself.

  I let my bow drop to its sling, re-quivering the arrow. There was nowhere near enough visibility to safely shoot an arrow, and I didn't want to risk hurting Thomas, or even myself. I wasn't even sure whether I felt safe using a blade, but I couldn't be weapon-less. The hairs on my arms stood on edge as a chill breeze swept through the fog, making it swirl in the air. It looked like people were approaching, people, and then beasts. My eyes itched as I stared harder, trying to figure out what was real and what was just my brain, trying to make sense of things.

  "You still there?" Thomas's voice came through the air, and I thought he was to the left of me, though I couldn't tell how near or far.

  "Yes," I replied. I didn't want to say more. Didn't know what to say, or what direction to give.

  Another rumble sounded, closer to us this time. It sent a shiver along my spine, though my blood ran cold at the chittering that came after.

  What the hell was that?

  I did draw my dagger then. There was no way in all the hells I wanted to be weapon-less when that thing came for us. My back was hard against the tree and I shimmied around it, careful not to let my feet get dangled in the undergrowth. It felt like there were strands of gossamer tickling my skin. I didn't like this. Not at all. I wished that Thomas was right next to me now.

  But then I realized something was close to me.

  Something? Or someone…

  "If you're a beast, I will bury my blade in you," I whispered.

  "Not a beast. Well, unless you'd like me to be." The voice was low, amused. And it belonged to someone unknown to me.

  Yet, I didn't get a threatening feel from them.

  "Friend?"

  "Oh yes," he said softly. And then I felt fingers around my left wrist and a shock of heat raced up my arm. He let out a gasp of shock as well and a flare of light cut through the fog as it shot up his arm, embedding an arrow Mark there. "What in this world…" he said in wonder, his grip dropping from mine so that he could trace fingers across his own skin. "Did you do this?"

  "Not exactly," I admitted, "but I guess you could say that."

  Keep your arrows close. Zodi's voice repeated those words in my head again, and I knew for sure that this was what he meant. Thomas, and now this man. They were my arrows. My protectors?

  "Intriguing." The light from the arrow was still glowing and I could see him now. Taller than me, with long blond hair, partially tied back, braids here and there. His earlobes were long, large black piercings stretching them out. He had pale green eyes, like the leaves of new trees, and a grin that made my insides tingle.

  "Come," he said, gripping my hand with his. The light dimmed from his arm and the mist seemed to close in around us again.

  "Thomas is with me. I can't leave him."

  "We won't." He gripped my hand firmer, reassuring me, and it struck me as so strange that this felt comfortable, natural to be holding hands with – trusting – someone I had only just met.

  He was doing something with his other hand, and I heard a noise in the distance, like he'd thrown a rock to cause a distraction. That low rumble bounced through the air, the chittering as well. I realized with dawning horror that it was the sound of legs, many legs. The creature was large and the fog swirled as it moved. I could only hope that Thomas was somewhere safe and not in the path of this beast.

  I still gripped my blade in my other hand, k
ept it low and by my side so as not to accidentally cut my companion. The beast let out a screech that made me want to bury my head in my hands, but there was no time as this man drew me on, closer to the sound.

  I had to trust him, even though my heart thrummed in my chest and every hair on my body stood on end. And then he let out an echoing screech and I stopped, tugging back, trying to pull away from him. He turned to face me, pressed in close so that I could make out the features on his face.

  "This is how we hunt," he whispered. More shrieks filled the air and I realized that they weren't from the creature, but the men who lived in this forest. The sounds bounced off the trees, seeming to intensify, like there were a hundred screaming beings in the forest.

  But we'd have sensed them if there were that many. I knew. There was some trick to this that I didn't understand yet.

  The man drew me forward and then he let go of my hand and pulled something from his belt. There was a small flash of light, and then a fuse caught and he tossed the object into the air. It arced into the mist, cutting through the thick white and illuminating what lay below.

  I choked out a gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth to dull the noise as a giant spider became visible. It's eight legs were thick, ending in vicious points. Its body was bigger than a horse, and its head lifted up, watching the light as it travelled, the sparks glinting in its many eyes. The flare caught on something and swung in the air like a pendulum and the spider stayed still, riveted by the sight.

  "Fire, while we can still see," he said, nodding to my bow.

  It took me a second to make myself move but then I lifted my bow and nocked and arrow, aiming at the spider’s joints, the soft part between body and head. I let loose one arrow, and then another before the first had even hit its target. The spider screeched and turned towards me, and before the light flashed out, I saw an arrow come from the other direction.

  Thomas. It had to be. I thought I'd caught a glimpse of his blue fletching. My heart soared in relief and I fired off a few more arrows, even though there was no light to cut through the dense fog now.

  The spider was making an awful noise, and I looked around to find that the man had gone.

  Crap. I was alone, in the fog, with no idea of the terrain.

  "Thomas?" I called, even though it might give my position away.

  "I'm okay!" he yelled back, closer than I expected him to be.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, inhaled, exhaled slowly to try and calm my mind, to try and ground myself in the now and get a sense of what was around me. The spider was still making noises, and if I was right, they may be death throes. I forced my eyes open and moved towards them, bow slung again, my knife in my sheath and my hands out in front of me, toes feeling the ground for roots or other barriers.

  Another light flared, but this time it wasn't flying through the sky. It was being held steady and through the fog I could see the shape of a man. The man, the one who now had an arrow on his arm, whose connection to me could not be denied. I moved towards it slowly, hoping that Thomas would do the same. The hulking shape beside him was still and as I got closer, I could see more of the spider revealed. It bled thick green liquid from several places, and somehow, the man had almost chopped its head all the way off.

  "Wow," I said in appreciation, and surprise. "How?" I looked around, trying to find the other men who I thought I'd heard. "Where are the other hunters?" I asked.

  "There is only me. The screaming was from the birds. You set them off and they echo."

  "You did this by yourself?" My eyes went wide.

  "Well, you helped some." He grinned, and then tipped his head to the left. "And your friend."

  Thomas came into view on the other side of the corpse. He was shaking his head as he looked at it. "I'm very pleased we have none of these back home," he said, as he walked around it to my side.

  "Will there be more?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder. Thomas put a hand around my waist and squeezed me. I leaned into the touch, the physical presence of him so solid and real.

  "No, they hunt alone. They need a big area to ensure enough food," the man said. He moved towards me and held out the blazing torch, indicating that I should take it off him.

  I gripped the handle, holding it aloft and towards the beast to get a better view of it.

  "I'm Farrow, by the way. Who are you two?"

  Thomas glanced at me and gave a little shrug, to which I blew out a breath and shook my head. I guess this was my mission, not his. "I'm Jaelyn, and this is Thomas. We were trying to make it to the Court of Leaves, but I think we might have gotten a little lost."

  "A lot, more like it." He smiled at that, and then unhooked something from his belt before heading to the rear of the spider. "Could you bring the light closer?" he asked, setting to work without even a glance to see if I'd comply.

  "What are you doing?"

  "I need the gossamer. We use it for hunting, among other things." He did look up at me then, as if to gage my reaction. I kept my face blank though, not wanting to seem too interested. "I appreciate your help in bringing this beast down."

  "Glad we bumped into you. It could have gone badly if we hadn't," Thomas said. "How far from the Court of Leaves are we, exactly?"

  Farrow kept his focus on the extraction process, drawing the gossamer into a finely craft bag. "A few hours walk. I'll take you there after this, if you'd like."

  "Thank you," I said. It felt awkward, standing here in the dense white fog, watching a man I didn't know do something I'd never seen before. There had been something between us though, and I could still see the arrow on his arm, bright and clear. Thomas obviously caught sight of it too because he tilted his own arm at me in question.

  I nodded, still unsure how I felt about that.

  Keep your arrows close.

  9

  Jaelyn

  We left the carcass behind and followed Farrow's lead back to the court. There was no way I couldn't trust him; he was one of mine.

  Or, one of Anya's? I didn't want to think too closely about that because it meant that Thomas was as well. I was a stand in for the True Queen, one of those assigned to help her take her throne, but perhaps any men, or arrows, I collected would remain mine when I passed everything to the princess.

  If that was how it worked. I wished there were people still alive to tell me these things, because the Herald certainly hadn't been inclined to.

  The mist burned off, the sun becoming a much more obvious orb of heat as we travelled, and I was grateful for the shade of the tall trees above us. A river flowed nearby, burbling in a manner which seemed completely odds with the terror I'd felt earlier when the spider came out to play.

  We'd been travelling in relative silence, even though myriad questions bubbled in my mind. I wanted to know more about Farrow, about this court and what we could expect when we got there. But I also didn't feel quite right showing how naive I was, how sheltered I'd been about the rest of the world outside the main court of our queendom.

  I didn't want him to think less of me, I realized. The thought made me glance at Thomas, who looked completely unbothered by our new companion.

  I wondered if that would still be the case when he realized that with the Mark on Farrow’s arm had come some kind of instant connection between the two of us…

  "You're here for the quiver, aren't you?" Farrow asked.

  I pulled up short, taken utterly by surprise. "What?"

  He turned around and cocked his head to one side. "You have the Mark, and it's time to gather the belongings. It's the Dawning. You're the True Queen. Are you not?" Farrow raised an eyebrow and placed one hand on his hip.

  "N—" I started to say, but Thomas stepped in front of me.

  "How would you know that?" he asked.

  "She's got the Mark. You've seen it, surely." Farrow looked indignant. "I'm not trying to play games here, or mess around. We have what you're looking for, and it's yours. I don't know why you came through the forest instead of a
long the road. Time is ticking."

  "She's—"

  I moved ahead of Thomas and cut him off, terrified that he might say that I wasn't the only one with the Mark. This could be an easy win for us, and I wasn't going to risk losing that. "I'm trying to avoid excess attention," I said quickly. "I'm not quite ready to… Well, you know, be seen that way."

  "Understood." Farrow gave a nod, and then headed off again. "We can see my father in private, get the quiver, and be off in the morning."

  "Your father?" I asked, rushing after him. He slowed his steps until I was walking alongside him.

  "He's regent of the court," Farrow said. "Trust me, this is going to be fine."

  Thomas drew up beside us then and caught my gaze. Trust wasn't something we always did easily, but I knew I could. I just had to convince Thomas that he could as well. We walked on until the sun began to sink below the canopy, and it was only then that I noticed the glimmer of lights above. Not glow worms or firebugs, but actual lights, strung through the trees to illuminate walkways I hadn't realized were there.

  "Come," Farrow called. I realized I'd stopped walking and was staring at the Court of Leaves. Why had no one ever told me about this? It was magical, creative. Beautiful.

  We followed him to the base of a tree, its trunk so thick that it would take twenty folks holding hands to stretch around it. Farrow reached up and rang a bell, and a few moments later a scraping noise vibrated through the air. I glanced up to see a platform being lowered. We stepped back, waiting for it to reach the ground. Farrow got on, and then seeing the look of trepidation on my face, reached out and gripped my arm, drawing me onto the planks of wood that made up the floor.

  "It's safe. Just hold on to one of the ropes."

  I did as I was instructed, and Thomas followed suit. Then Farrow rang the bell again and the platform jerked into motion. I let out a little yelp and Farrow grabbed me around the waist with a chuckle.