Eyes of the Woods

by Eden Fierce

  “Clemens!” Emelen yelled.

  My eldest brother burst through the small group of newly claimed and dove over the wall. I looked to Emelen, whose eyes were still a brilliant blue. She pressed her trembling lips together, and sparkling tears streamed down her face.

  “The pumpers!” I yelled.

  Emelen climbed the scaffold, and when she finally reached the top, she turned the knob with her long, elegant fingers. She grunted against the resistance, but finally the liquid fertilizer began to shoot out several feet over the wall.

  With her other hand, Emelen grabbed a torch and hurled it over. It spun, and then disappeared amid the nightwalkers. With a roar, a blaze ignited, taller than the stone wall itself. Nightwalkers trying to breach the wall cried out, but they didn’t stop. Burning nightwalkers fell over the stone barrier, moving more slowly, but still trudging forward toward the barn.

  Emelen stepped carefully across the scaffold, finally reaching the other pumper. She struggled with the knob, crying out as it finally turned.

  A milky white Eitr sprayed across the burning nightwalkers, extinguishing the fire. At first they were amused, thinking Emelen had made a mistake, but then they fell off the wall and onto the ground, writhing in agony.

  They called for Heinrich, who stood back, watching his army’s demise with equal frustration and horror.

  A nightwalker targeted Emelen and lunged at her, knocking her from the scaffold and pinning her on the ground, some five meters below.

  I watched in horror as it took a mouthful from her neck and spit out her flesh. My instinct took over, and before I could blink, I tackled the nightwalker to the ground. She writhed in my hands, swiping at me, scratching at my eyes and throat with her nails. I held her to a torch, and then threw her directly into the stream of Eitr. She cried out but was silent before she hit the ground on the other side.

  I crawled over to Emelen, who was choking on her own blood. She spat out, and crimson covered her chin, just the way mine had. Her eyes, full of terror, looked up at me, but she couldn’t speak.

  I leaned down and sank my teeth into the other side of her neck, into the tender muscle between her shoulder and throat.

  “It’s coming, Emelen,” I said, my voice breaking. “Hold on.”

  Her fingers dug into my arms.

  “Hold on,” I said again, willing her to live until the venom took hold and reversed her death.

  Her fingers relaxed, and her arms fell limp at her sides.

  “Emelen? Emelen!” I cried. I threw my body over hers as the fighting continued around me. By his scent I knew Daniel was near, tearing into any nightwalker who came close.

  My sobs could be heard throughout the compound, mixed with the screams, cries, and screeches of battle. The pumpers were reduced to tiny streams that made a puddle on the ground. Minutes passed by, and it seemed the war would never end.

  The dogs that helped guard the compound cried out as they were slaughtered by our enemy. I thought of all the times hearing their barking had made me feel comfort, but they were easily overtaken by the nightwalkers. Our defenses had meant nothing.

  Daniel knelt beside me and held my cheeks in his hand. Shadows from the fires that had broken out flickered across his beautiful face, and humans and nightwalkers running behind him seemed to be in slow motion. More were climbing over the wall. We were losing the compound.

  The nightwalkers poured through the gates, crashing and stomping over Mother’s garden, the flowers that had symbolized the peaceful part of my childhood. Now the stems were laid over, the petals scattered across the dirt.

  “It’s over,” I said. During moments like this, I wished I could cry.

  “Don’t give up,” he said. “Don’t give up yet.”

  But then the sounds around us changed.

  Cheering. I could hear cheering and cries of excitement. Daniel left me for the wall, and he began cranking the gate open.

  Before I could ask him what he was doing, a river of immortals streamed through, charging the courtyard. Not us. Not the humans, not the ragged, scalded nightwalkers who fought for Heinrich.

  “They made it!” Daniel said, his eyes bright. “Ilana came back!”

  Within minutes a pile of dead nightwalkers began to form.

  “Ganon!” Daniel said, pointing to a giant of a man with long, dark hair and shoulders broader than my father’s.

  Daniel continued to protect me as I hovered over Emelen’s body, adding to the pile even from where he stood.

  The night grew quiet, and Ilana stepped inside the compound, with Heinrich’s neck in her grasp. She threw him to the ground, and he sat up on his knees. He peered over at the pile of dead, the only nightwalkers still loyal to him.

  Ilana stood tall. “You’ve dishonored our kind, Heinrich. You dishonored our laws, and for that, the price is death.”

  “I fought for immortals,” he spat. “It shall forever be known that Heinrich was a martyr for our freedom.”

  “It shall forever be known that Heinrich caused the death of thousands of immortals,” Ilana said. “It will be known that you caused the second Fall. You were greedy and corrupt. And you will forever be a lesson to the claimed.”

  Father stepped forward, and with a grunt, he swung his ax, severing Heinrich’s head from his body.

  Kyah’s loyalists and the newly claimed cheered as Ganon added Heinrich’s body to the pile. Daniel doused it with the last of the fertilizer, and I threw a lantern to the top. It burst into flames, and the survivors danced and raised their hands in victory.

  A hand reached out and squeezed mine. I turned to see Clemens standing there with Lukas, both with smiling faces. I hugged them, sobbing happy tears to see they were alive.

  “Emelen!” Clemens called. “Emelen!” He looked to me, and then to Father. “Where is she?”

  “I tried to claim her. I tried…”

  “What do you mean?” Clemens said, taking a step toward me.

  “Clemens.”

  My brother turned to see his wife standing before him. Her collar was soaked in her own blood, but her neck was pristine. She had healed. I had claimed her.

  Clemens hugged her. I hugged her. Father hugged her.

  “We did it,” Daniel said. “It’s a new era. We’ve stepped into a time of peace.”

  “Of a truce,” Ilana said with a smile.

  Daniel pulled me against him and planted a firm kiss on my lips. I intertwined my fingers behind his neck and pulled him even closer.

  The humans slowly filed out of the barn and the house, searching the snow and ash with wide eyes. Our faces were covered in soot so that no human or immortal could be told apart but for our eyes. We were one people. United in the face of annihilation.

  Johanna Wayland ambled behind her mother, her face streaked with soot, her eyes still human. She glanced up at Lukas, hoping to catch his eye, but he couldn’t seem to take either of his off Ilana.

  She shot an unforgiving glare in my direction, but Johanna Wayland had been rendered insignificant against everything that had happened in my life since I had died.

  Ilana stole a telling glimpse at Lukas, and even though it was no longer beating, my heart felt like it exploded. There was something there. They had bonded in the woods, and we were free to love who we wanted. Now that eyes of every color had been opened, everything would be different.

  When the sun rose and the fire had been reduced to embers, the humans returned to their homes, and the immortals back to the trees.

  “They no longer need to hide in the woods,” Father said.

  Ilana smiled. “That’s home for some of us. It will take a while, especially for those who didn’t witness what happened here. We’ll need humans to spread the word. Some of us will need to show them they have nothing to fear.”

  Father nodded. “And so it will be done.” He looked to me with hope in his eyes. “Eris? Where is your home?”

  I looked to Daniel. “Wherever he is.”

  The morning su
n exposed the ruins of the battle we’d just fought. Mother was sleeping in her bedchamber. Since we needed only a few hours of sleep a day, the rest of us stood outside, trying to clean up the wreckage the battle had left behind.

  “I wish Jonathan could see this,” I said.

  Lukas’s half smile didn’t go unnoticed, and I hugged him. “He would have loved this,” Lukas said. “I wish he could have experienced it.” His eyes stayed dry, but it was becoming natural to see someone cry without tears. I held him tighter.

  Slowly, one by one, the humans stepped out into the sunshine from the barn. The snow had covered the most gruesome sights, and the pile of nightwalkers was all but ash.

  The hope in their eyes was comforting. They didn’t give us a wide berth, but walked past us, many of them shaking our hands or giving us hugs.

  A small girl tugged on my belt. “You have pretty eyes.” Her eyes were bright blue and without fear. Like her, the next generation would have no prejudices, no lies for their fears to feed on.

  I knelt down beside her. “Thank you. I like yours too.”

  “Were they always like that?” she asked. I felt Daniel behind me, and he ruffled her mousy brown hair.

  “No. They were blue. Like yours.”

  Her father swept her up and away, turning to give me a quick look of disapproval before leaving the compound.

  “It won’t happen overnight,” Daniel said, reaching for me.

  I took his hand and stood. “You would think since we saved their lives…”

  “They’ve been told for generations to fear us. It might take that long to change their minds.”

  “Fear is a dangerous thing,” I said.

  “We’ve fought worse.”

  Daniel and I walked back to the nests with Ilana and Ganon. They regaled us with the story of how she finally found them hiding in a cave near Skoran. She had almost given up hope. None of us missed the way she said Lukas’s name, and the way she spoke of his promise to visit our coven.

  When we arrived back at the nests, it was quiet. Evander’s throne was empty, as were much of the grounds. We were three of only a dozen of the Onan coven who survived. We were glad to see a few had stayed behind, hidden with their children, refusing to choose a side.

  Ganon and Ilana said their good-byes, and he returned to his territory alone. He had a few in his coven waiting for him, but not many more than we had left in ours.

  Daniel and I walked to the river with our fingers intertwined. The edges were still, with a thin sheath of ice. The waterfall had slowed, parts of it frozen. The center of the river still flowed. I stripped off the top layers of clothing and smiled when the ice crunched under my bare feet as I broke through. I waded out until I couldn’t touch anymore. The water was ice cold but not uncomfortable. It felt thicker, refreshing. I scrubbed the soot from my skin and leaned back, looking up at the sky, letting the sunshine pour down on me through the gray winter clouds.

  “You’re absolutely beautiful, do you know that?” Daniel said, treading water not far from me. I sat upright and swam over to him. He wrapped his arms around me. “From the moment I first saw you, walking carefully along the forest floor, your eyes sharp, your movements nearly silent, you captivated me. Eternity wasn’t something that excited me until now.”

  Snowflakes tickled my face and then vanished. My wet hair was slicked back and away from my face, fanning out and dancing along the surface of the water. As the ash washed away, the buttery color began to show through. I leaned in to kiss him.

  “Betrothal wasn’t something that excited me until now.”

  Daniel kissed me back, and amid the flurries of snowflakes, I felt a warmth inside me that I hadn’t felt since I fell from Hopper’s Tree.

  “What now?” I asked.

  “We teach the humans that they no longer have to fear us. We teach the immortals that they no longer have to hide. And I court you, everyday, until you’re ready to wed.”

  “And then?”

  “We combine our nests. Or we move into my family home, or the Helgren compound, or even split our time between all three, and live the rest of eternity in bliss.”

  Bliss. Forever, I will live in bliss.

  the end

  The biggest of thank you’s to my mom, Jamie. I’m not sure I would be an author without you. Your support, role model, and encouragement have meant everything. Thank you for all the hours you spent on your “summer off” to work with me on my debut novel, for your advice and guidance, in books and in life.

  Thank you to my best friend and cousin Tori for being one of my first readers. Even when my own confidence falters, your belief in me never failed.

  To my teachers: Mrs. Gizzo, Mrs. Kelly, Mrs. Brock, and Mrs. Siders. Your enthusiasm for my dream will always be deeply appreciated, it’s what sets apart great teachers from good teachers. You’ve taught me lessons that come from much deeper places than a textbook.

  Thank you to my editor Elizabeth for not only making this novel better, but for your encouraging words in your notes.

  To my publicist Autumn Hull from Wordsmith Publicity: you took time from your day to help mold this book into to what it is. Thank you so much for your honest and helpful input, and for using your know-how to spread the word!

  Sarah Hansen of Okay Creations created this cover to fit my exact needs, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. Thank you, Sarah, for listening, and working extra hard to turn my vision into a reality.

  Thank you so much to the formatter Jovana Shirley of Unforeseen Editing. Your hard work was the tip of the spear in getting this book ready on time!

  To Nana for always being there, in either body or spirit from the moment of my birth until now. Some people have grandmas, and some have Nanas. I love you!

  Thank you to the MacPack for being such a driving force behind awareness of this book! You are my first fans, and I’ll never forget it.

  To my friends who’ve supported me in my writing journey, and listened to me talk about this story for two years: you know who you are, and years from now when I think back on this time, I’ll remember your thoughtfulness, kindness, and support.

  EDEN FIERCE was born on August 25, 1999 and lives in Enid, Oklahoma with her parents and two siblings. Eyes of the Woods is her debut novel, although it’s only one of nine novels she has completed. Eden enjoys writing, reading, and high school cheer and volleyball.