Oaken (The Underground Series Book 1)

by Melody Robinette

  Glancing reluctantly to her right, she saw the steep, rocky cliffs in the distance that contained Vyra’s Lair. Her expression became dark and suddenly she felt much more prepared to kill as many Shadows as it took to get to their silver rose, the sweet and bitter taste of revenge resting on her tongue.

  It took Autumn a moment to remember why they were here. As much as she wanted to make Vyra pay for what she’d done to the Oaken family, she recognized that now was not the time to do so.

  Autumn and Avery finally made their way onto the rocky shore.

  “Hey,” she said, looking down at herself. “My boots and uniform are completely dry.”

  “They’re water proof,” he said. She supposed she could have worked that out given a few more seconds.

  Her hair, however, was not waterproof and she pulled it off of her neck to wring it out.

  “What’s that?” Avery asked.

  She turned to him in question. “What is what?”

  He approached Autumn with narrowed eyes and she jumped slightly as he trailed his fingers across her neck, right along the shadow of her faded bruises. She looked at him with wide eyes. How had he seen that? She could only barely notice the traces of Victor’s fingers that morning in her mirror and she even knew where to look. Maybe they were more pronounced in the sunlight.

  He tilted his head, looking at the marks in confusion and then looked down at his own hands. He came to stand in front of her so that they were face to face and placed his fingers along each bruise. Almost a perfect fit, Autumn was sure. His eyes widened in horror and she took a step back, letting her wet hair fall to partially cover her neck.

  “The turtlenecks and the scarves,” he said, realization dawning across his face.

  “Avery—” Autumn began.

  “Victor,” he growled.

  Autumn’s mouth dropped open, staring in horror as he punched a nearby tree letting out an angry shout. The tree split easily down the middle and collapsed into itself.

  “WHEN DID HE DO THAT TO YOU?” he demanded.

  Autumn flinched at his angry tone. She opened her mouth to answer, but nothing happened. He narrowed his eyes at the ground in concentration, obviously thinking something through.

  “The night you returned his rose. You were all upset. I thought it was because you felt guilty—but it wasn’t, was it? You were upset because he nearly killed you,” he said in a tortured voice.

  “He didn’t mean—” she began, finding her voice.

  “STOP defending him, Autumn!”

  “I’m not!”

  “He’s exactly what I always thought he was. A monster.”

  “Avery, please, just stop. You were right, okay? Just stop. This isn’t the time to go losing your head. We’re on Alder Island for goodness sake. We can deal with this later, all right?”

  Avery stopped shouting, his chest heaving. He looked over his shoulder at the immense forest, full of Shadows and Atrums and countless other horrors. “All right,” he said in defeat. “But if we happen to run into him, I can’t promise I won’t treat him like the Atrum he is.”

  Autumn gulped at this, but said nothing, hoping very much that they did not run into Victor. “Now, let’s go,” she said. Avery nodded.

  They traveled into the thick woods, keeping an eye on the rocky land to their right, so that they were able to figure where they were in relation to the middle of the island.

  “The farther we go, the thicker the trees will be,” Avery stated. Autumn already knew this, but she nodded anyway.

  Avery sliced marks in the trees they passed so they could find their way back to the shore, even though they had the boundary between the rocks and forest to guide them. She followed him silently, placing her steps where he did. They came across their first Shadow about five minutes in. Autumn immediately stunned it with her Song and Avery just as quickly snapped its neck.

  “That was easy,” Autumn said.

  “Don’t get too comfortable,” Avery warned. “The farther in we go, the more Shadows there will be. It’s the Atrums we have to worry about, though.”

  After another ten minutes, Autumn heard a twig snap and immediately shot an arrow in its direction. Avery disappeared into the foliage to see what she’d hit and came back holding a rabbit with Autumn’s arrow jutting out of its chest. She slapped a hand over her mouth in horror as he dropped the dead rabbit to the ground, pulling the arrow out of its carcass.

  “You might want to wait to shoot your arrow next time. That could’ve been another Warrior,” Avery said. Autumn’s eyes widened as she took this in. She could’ve just killed one of her friends. She shook her head at her own stupidity. “That was a good shot, though,” he said as he chuckled.

  “I can’t believe I killed a rabbit,” Autumn said, frowning sadly.

  “Big picture, Autumn,” Avery said as he casually sent an arrow through the skull of a Shadow behind her.

  Autumn shook her head clear. “Right.”

  After walking for half an hour and taking down another eight Shadows, Autumn realized why this forest looked so different from Arbor Falls. “Do Atrums not live in trees?” she asked.

  Avery shook his head. “They live in the rocks,” he said, nodding to their right. “Those are the Hollow Mountains.”

  “Oh. I thought that was just where Vyra—” Avery slapped a hand over Autumn’s mouth, silencing her.

  Voices. Shadows didn’t speak, but Atrums did. Autumn and Avery both stopped in their tracks, pulling out an arrow and aiming it at the spot where the hushed voices were growing steadily louder, leaves and twigs crunching beneath the owners’ feet.

  Suddenly Cera and Forrest entered through the trees and both let out loud curses as they ducked. Autumn and Avery’s arrows shot through the trees overhead as they realized at the last second who the voices belonged to.

  “Holy petalsies, you guys!” Cera exclaimed. “You just scared the hell out of us.”

  “Sorry,” Autumn muttered, threading her arm back through her bow.

  “Holy petalsies?” Forrest laughed, looking at his partner.

  Cera shrugged dismissively and turned back to Autumn and Avery. “Why are you guys so close to the Hollow Mountains?”

  “The rocks run down the middle of the island. We figured they would lead us right to the silver roses,” Avery answered.

  “Good idea,” Forrest said.

  “Yeah,” Cera frowned. “Except for Vyra lives somewhere in those mountains.”

  The four of them stood there awkwardly for a minute.

  “So, should we carry on together, then?” Forrest asked.

  The other three nodded. Autumn sighed in relief, immediately feeling safer with the increased number. She noticed that there was a bird resting on Forrest’s shoulder.

  “Is he your guide?” she asked.

  Forrest nodded. “He flies up for a bit and then comes and tells us which way to go. We’re nearly to the silver roses, I think.”

  “Good,” Autumn said in relief.

  “How many Shadows have you come across?” Cera asked as they began walking again.

  “Only about ten,” Avery said.

  “Really?” said Forrest, sounding surprised. “We’ve killed over twenty of them. Maybe there are more in the forest part than this rocky part.”

  “Any Atrums?” Autumn asked.

  “None,” Cera said.

  Autumn wondered if she was the only one a little unnerved by their lack of opposition.

  They heard someone running quickly in their direction and all four of them raised their bows in preparation to shoot. Suddenly Kyndel burst through the trees and then let out a piercing scream when she saw four arrows pointed at her chest, immediately disappearing. Autumn sighed in exasperation as they lowered their bows.

  “Kyndel, it’s just us,” Forrest said, suppressing a laugh.

  Kyndel reappeared, looking both relieved and terrified, her chest was heaving and sweat poured in rivulets down her face.

  �
�What happened?” Autumn asked with a frown. “Where’s Victor?”

  “They took him!” she said, slightly hysterical.

  “Who took him?” Forrest asked.

  “The Atrums!” she said, gasping for breath. “About ten of them showed up and then they all disappeared into thin air! Including Victor.”

  “All of them disappeared?” Autumn asked in disbelief. “How? Elves can’t do that unless it’s their actual Power.”

  “I don’t know, Princess, I was busy getting the hell out of there,” she snapped.

  “Okay, okay, calm down, Kyn,” Forrest said. “Summer here was only wondering how all ten of those Atrums could just disappear, taking Victor with them, without any outside magic.”

  “Well obviously they had outside magic,” Avery said. “The question is, from where. I’m guessing Vyra has recruited a couple of warlocks to do her bidding.”

  “Now we have warlocks to worry about too?” Kyndel whined. “How am I supposed to fight off a warlock on my own?”

  “You won’t be on your own. You’ll be with us. Right, Cera?” Forrest said, looking to his right, then realizing Cera wasn’t there.

  “Cera?” Autumn said, looking around.

  Her eyes landed on three Shadows holding Cera’s broken body, her eyes hauntingly blank. Autumn breathed in a shuddering gasp. Avery yelled at her to stun them and she had to force herself to breathe so she could let out a piercing jet of Song at the three Shadows. Their eyes rolled back, and Cera’s body slipped from their hooves, dropping with a sickening thump as it hit the ground.

  Ambush

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Avery and Forrest pounced on the three Shadows, Forrest stabbing one through the heart with his knife and Avery snapping the other two Shadows’ necks. The creatures slumped to the ground, forming a semi-circle around Cera’s body. A sob escaped Forrest’s lips and Avery’s strong arms caught Autumn as she lost the ability to stand upright. Silent tears rolled down her face as Avery pulled her close to his body. She couldn’t help but stare at Cera’s vacant expression, which had been full of life and laughter not long before.

  Taking a deep breath, Autumn stepped away from Avery, managing to stand on her own. Forrest knelt over Cera with his eyes squeezed tightly shut, tears streaming down his long nose and falling heavily to the ground. Avery moved to close Cera’s staring eyes. Autumn turned to see Kyndel staring at Cera’s body in apparent shock, her face a delicate shade of green and her tawny eyes sparkling with tears.

  “We can’t just leave her like this,” Autumn choked out.

  “We’ll have to bury her here,” Avery said.

  “Here?” Forrest asked in disgust.

  “What else can we do?” Avery said.

  “Carry her,” Forrest stated. Avery examined Forrest’s grief-stricken face and nodded, bending to pick up Cera’s limp body.

  “No,” Forrest stated. “I’ll do it.”

  “But, Forrest,” Autumn began, about to state that Avery’s Power would easily allow him to carry her.

  “It’s okay, Autumn,” Avery said softly. “Let him carry her.”

  Autumn looked at him with wide, searching eyes and understood that Forrest probably felt that it was his duty to carry his partner through until the end.

  “That’s two,” Kyndel said in a dead voice. Autumn looked at her questioningly and then realized that she was talking about Victor and Cera. Two less Warriors. Autumn refused to think they’d lost anyone else or examine her feelings about the fact that Victor might not be alive.

  “We should keep going,” Autumn said in a dull voice. “The silver roses aren’t far from here.”

  Forrest bent to pick Cera up into his arms, carrying her as if she were a small child, and with her petite frame, it wasn’t difficult to picture her as one. Cera’s big personality always overshadowed her small stature, but now that it was gone—Autumn shook her head to rid herself of these unwanted thoughts and trudged forward through the forest, the other three walking soundlessly behind her, the shock of losing Cera still hanging thick in the air.

  As they neared the middle of the island, the Shadows came more frequently, though the Atrums were still noticeably absent. Autumn and Avery did most of the killing. Kyndel walked clumsily behind them in silence, stumbling over the sporadic tree roots. Forrest followed, cradling Cera’s body tightly in his arms.

  Forrest sent the bird that had been silently perched on his shoulder up to see how close they were to the silver roses. When the bird returned, he tweeted softly into Forrest’s ear. “They’re just ahead of us,” Forrest said, the strain of carrying Cera’s body evident in his voice.

  The four of them quickened their pace slightly as they saw a circular clearing up ahead with a large, flat stone in the middle where five silver roses lay untouched. They broke into the clearing, looking at the roses in awe. Autumn’s heart rose and fell just as quickly. They were the first ones to make it there.

  Suddenly malevolent laughter filled the clearing followed by, “Why, hello there, Princess.” There was a flash of light and Autumn’s world went black.

  AVERY’s heart dropped to his stomach as he yelled out, “Autumn!”

  But it was too late. She was already gone, disappeared to some unknown location.

  Avery, Forrest, and Kyndel stood back-to-back in the middle of the clearing where the five silver roses lay forgotten on their flat, marble stone. Atrums and Shadows alike surrounded the clearing. The three Warriors stood in the eye of the storm.

  Avery heard Forrest whisper urgently and the bird on his shoulder flew quickly away.

  “Disappear,” Avery murmured to Kyndel. “Go get help.”

  “But—”

  “Go,” he urged.

  The Atrums were busy laughing and boasting about capturing the princess that they weren’t paying any attention to the three remaining Warriors. Kyndel took a shuddering breath before vanishing. Avery hoped she could find a place to escape in the tightening circle of Shadows and Atrums.

  “What do we do with those two?” a scratchy voice said.

  “I thought there was a girl too,” another remarked.

  “Nah, just that dead one right there.” The first one laughed, sending a wave of hatred and disgust through Avery. He felt Forrest stiffen beside him.

  “Miss Vyra said to get rid of ‘em.”

  “Excellent,” another Atrum said, cracking his knuckles and sneering at Forrest and Avery.

  “Get ‘em, Shadows,” the other commanded. “I have to save my energy for when the prince arrives.”

  Dozens of Shadows moved slowly towards the two Warriors, their hoofed feet pawing the ground menacingly. The Atrums, however, had made the critical mistake of leaving Avery and Forrest with their bows and arrows.

  Avery pulled out a handful of arrows and took down a line of Shadows in a matter of seconds. Forrest followed his lead. Avery emptied his quiver of arrows as Shadow after Shadow collapsed to the ground.

  “Oi! You were supposed to take their bow and arrows away, you idiot!” an Atrum exclaimed angrily.

  “Don’t blame it on—” The Atrum was cut off by an arrow through his heart.

  Avery and Forrest looked wildly around for the source of the arrow, seeing as both of their quivers had been emptied.

  Suddenly a thick fog rolled through the clearing, hiding the two boys from view, just as dark clouds appeared overhead. A ring of lightning struck the ground with a loud CRACK followed by shouts of pain from the Atrums.

  Avery ran forward to help the others. The fog was too thick for him to differentiate the Atrums from the Warriors so he stuck to the Shadows, snapping their necks as easily as if they were small twigs. He leapt over a Shadow’s body and landed on one of Crystal’s patches of ice. It seemed as though everyone else had made it this far through the Warrior Trial.

  Charlotte pulled her fog back in, revealing a clearing littered with the bodies of Atrums and Shadows.

  Avery’s stomach dropped as he scanned
the trees lining the clearing. More Shadows. Moving towards the clearing as slow and steady as Charlotte’s fog.

  “There’s too many of them!” Crystal shouted.

  Luke kept up a constant stream of lightning and wind, creating a barrier between the Warriors and the Shadows. His face was twisted in concentration and sweat streamed down his forehead. His legs were beginning to shake from the effort.

  Suddenly the clearing was filled with the sound of beating wings. Avery’s hair was blown back as he looked up at five pegasi hovering above them. Forrest’s messenger bird was flitting around their heads. The relief emanating from the Warriors was palpable as the pegasi landed beside them.

  “Jastin, Charlotte—take your rose and go tell Atticus what’s happened!” Avery ordered. “Kyndel and Crystal—go with them. Forrest—take Cera’s body back.”

  “Where’s Autumn?” Crystal asked in a slightly hysterical voice.

  “The Atrums took her to Vyra’s lair.”

  At this statement Luke’s Power failed, allowing the Shadows to break into the clearing.

  “Go!” Avery shouted.

  Forrest grabbed his silver rose before lifting Cera’s body onto a nearby pegasus, climbing on as the winged horse shot into the air. Jastin and Charlotte followed his lead. Kyndel and Crystal swiped their roses from the marble stone and jumped onto their own pegasus.

  Avery grabbed a rose and climbed onto Luke’s pegasus just as a Shadow leapt at him. The pegasus sprung into the air, leaving behind the Shadows and their echoing growls.

  “Where are we going?” Luke exclaimed.

  “To save your sister,” Avery stated as he turned the pegasus towards the Hollow Mountains.

  Vyra’s Lair

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Autumn blinked dazedly as her eyes came in and out of focus. When things finally stopped spinning, she found that she was no longer in the forest, but sitting in a dark, damp room made of stone. Immediately she was reminded of the time she visited Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin, an ancient, supposedly haunted, prison. At the time, it had been one of the creepiest places she’d ever visited. Now she would gladly live there after seeing this place.