by Candy Crum
Pulling herself together, Arryn went to grab her staff, bow, and quiver. Then she and the tiger quickly made their way out of the Capitol building, careful to avoid any attention. The sun would begin to rise any time now, and she had to be out of the city before that.
They returned to the wall, Arryn having stopped on the Capitol lawn to heal herself before climbing up and returning to the tiger cub. Just as he’d been told, the little guy had stayed put, lying down to remain out of sight.
The mama jumped down from the wall, but Arryn had to use vines to lower herself and the cub to keep from injuring themselves. Taking a deep breath, Arryn summoned all the strength she had left, her eyes turning black as she allowed magic to swell around her once again. In the blink of an eye they were gone, teleported over halfway to the Dark Forest.
When they landed Arryn collapsed to the ground, her breathing shallow. Her body was exhausted, and she could barely keep her eyes open. The tiger laid on the ground and allowed Arryn to climb onto her. It reminded her of the day she competed in the Versuch. Nika had worn her out physically, but she’d done it to herself magically.
Cathillian had put her on Chaos' back and she'd passed out, not unlike now. Darkness surrounded Arryn as consciousness began to fade. She used her last waking moment to tell the tiger to head west and not to stop until she reached the Dark Forest.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Cathillian awoke to the sound of repeated screeching above his hut. It took a second, but he felt Echo’s familiar energy, so he threw the blankets back and rushed out of bed. When he arrived outside, he saw Echo perched on his house, and Elysia, the Chieftain, Samuel, and a fully healed Celine coming to see what the commotion was about.
"What is it, Echo?" Cathillian asked.
Echo called to him again, and Cathillian reached through the bond to see what she had observed.
His eyes widened. "It's Arryn. She found Arryn!" When he looked around, he saw similar looks of excitement on the faces near him. Tears filled Celine's eyes as she reached out and hugged Samuel without thinking. Cathillian continued, "She found Arryn up north, riding back here on a… Riding a what?"
Elysia stepped forward. "What is it?"
Cathillian's jaw was slack as he turned away from the golden eagle to face his mother. "She says Arryn was riding on a tiger. A huge white tiger. She had a tiger cub with her, too. Said she was headed toward Arcadia, and she'd come to the Dark Forest soon."
The Chieftain and Elysia looked at one another. "Surely, she wouldn't try to take Talia out by herself," Elysia said.
Nika snorted. "Have you met her?"
Cathillian nodded. "Nika's right. There's no doubt in my mind that Arryn went after her."
Elysia started to protest, started to get upset with the possibilities, but Samuel stepped in. "In case all of ye fergot just who we're talkin' about here, the girl was taken weeks ago. Wherever she was, she survived it. And if she has two white tigers with her, well, those're snow cats. It's too warm in the valley fer snow, so that means she was way up north—I'd say in the mountains. If she was dumped up there, and lasted two weeks, she ain't dyin' today."
The Chieftain smiled. "She's stubborn. Takes after me."
Elysia sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "We can argue the stupidity of that statement later. Right now, I want our warriors to fan out on the eastern and southern sides of the forest just past our border, no more than twenty feet apart, to search for her. Familiars, too. Keep the Schatten in the trees by the barrier."
Cathillian smiled, fighting back the emotions he been holding in since she disappeared. There would be time for those when she was with them. Right now, he just wanted to focus on searching for her.
***
Arryn was still unconscious, but the tiger trekked on. The cub managed to keep up on foot. Arryn had gotten them close enough it had been relatively safe to make the rest of the trip at a leisurely pace. It had taken nearly all day, but they were now moving through the forest.
This was all unfamiliar territory for the tiger, but she didn't mind. A couple hours later, the tiger became aware that Arryn was losing her balance. The big cat growled loudly, trying to wake her mistress, but it did no good, so she quickly dropped to the ground to keep Arryn from falling such a long distance.
Even after she landed on the cool ground, Arryn remained unconscious. There was no way for the big cat to put her back up, so she did the only thing she could think of.
The tiger grabbed Arryn's cloak, dragging her as she headed toward the barrier. In the unfamiliar territory, the tiger felt out of place and overly cautious about which animals might attack. She knew what creatures existed in the mountains, but had no idea what to expect in the forest, and her fur could be seen a mile away in this environment.
A loud growl echoed in the forest, and the tiger stopped and looked around. She pinned her ears back and her lips curled over her teeth for a moment before determination pushed her on again.
The tiger grasped Arryn's cloak again and continued pulling her, but much faster this time. Another roar, only this time much closer. The animal was big; the tiger was sure of that. It was also approaching very quickly.
Not giving up, she continued to tow Arryn, hoping that whatever she was seeking in the Dark Forest would find them.
Sounds of heavy footfalls filled her ears, and the stink of a large animal approaching filtered through her nose. The tiger dropped Arryn's cloak and stood over her, facing the direction the animal was approaching from.
A massive black bear jumped out from behind the tall overgrowth, lurching forward and roaring. The tiger returned the greeting, pinning her ears back and leaning forward, letting loose with her own war cry. But as big as she was, the bear was still almost twice her size.
He charged and the tiger leapt forward, not wanting to let him anywhere near Arryn. The bear rose to his hind feet, towering over her for a moment before he dropped and swatted a massive front paw at her. She managed to jump back, but then charged forward again. She found an opening to go for his throat.
Just as she was about to take it, voices filled the area.
"Zobig!" a man cried out.
The bear stopped in his tracks, continuing to growl as he backed away. The tiger remained in her crouch for a moment, still roaring at the bear and all the approaching people, then quickly retreated, straddling Arryn and lying on top of her, remaining mindful of her weight so she didn't crush her.
The bear took a few steps forward, and the tiger roared again.
"Zobig!" a man shouted again as he ran into the area, followed by several more. "Easy, boy. Look, she's protecting her."
The tiger's ears stayed pinned back and her jaws parted as she growled deep in her belly. Her eyes darted from person to person, ready to pounce on anyone who got too close. The tiger cub stayed close, hiding behind his mama where he knew he belonged.
A woman with long blonde hair that hung in a braid over her shoulder stepped forward with tears falling onto her cheeks, and a man who looked quite a bit like her ran forward and dropped to his knees. The tiger didn't understand their expressions, and she refused to take any chances.
"Easy, girl," the kneeling man said. "We’re her friends. The grumpy old bear is, too."
The old man who had stopped the bear from attacking stepped forward. "He thought you'd hurt her. He was protecting Arryn from you, but now he knows."
The kneeling man spoke again, tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. "She is yours, and you are hers."
He leaned forward, carefully and slowly crawling towards her and Arryn. The tiger was cautious, but held her ground, letting him approach.
"I'm Cathillian," he told her, slowly reaching out.
That word. The tiger recognized that word. Arryn had told the bird to “tell Cathillian she would come back to the Dark Forest soon.”
The tiger relaxed some, her mouth closing and her ears rising as she leaned forward to sniff the hand of this man for a moment. The
n she slowly backed away, allowing him access to Arryn, but stayed close and mindful of his every move.
***
Cathillian had never seen anything like her—the animal was beautiful. He'd seen panthers and leopards, but she was far larger than any big cat he'd ever seen. Given the way she had protected Arryn and the fact that she'd brought her back to the Dark Forest, there was no doubt in his mind.
She was Arryn's familiar.
When the tiger had backed away and he saw that Arryn was whole, his heart felt like it would stop in his chest. His friend appeared weaker than he’d ever seen her before, and she had come back with a familiar. He wanted to rush over and pull her into his arms, but he had to be careful. He didn't want to do anything the tiger would interpret as threat.
Slowly, he made his way to her side, gently putting his arms under her and continuing to judge the reaction of the big cat as he moved. His eyes turned dark green as he called upon his magic, pushing it forward to heal her of what he was certain was magical fatigue.
Within moments, her breathing sped up to normal, and her eyes began to flutter open. When she looked at him and smiled sleepily, he pulled her tightly against him in a big hug.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," Cathillian said.
Arryn sighed. "Trust me, I don't think anyone here is happier to see anyone than I am."
He laughed. "I can't even begin to imagine. You'll have to tell us all about it. You also have to tell us all about your new friends here."
"They're clingy. I escaped from the mountain, and they tracked me down. Stalkers," Arryn said. The tiger grumbled, lightly swatting her on the hip with her large paw. "Ouch! They have bad attitudes, too. Being hit with one of those is like being kicked by a horse with hooves twice the size of Chaos'."
Cathillian laughed and kissed the top of her head. "Welcome home, Arryn."
Epilogue
Scarlett stood outside the Capitol building wondering what she would find inside. She sensed nothing, so she knew anyone she’d find in there wasn't going to be alive.
When she walked inside, she could smell it—the stench of death had already permeated the building. She made her way from room to room and found three people dead in one, but the corpse she found on the landing above the stairway to the dungeon made her smile.
Rebecca.
Arryn hadn’t killed her herself, that was for sure. It had been an animal of some kind. The woman had been mauled to death. It had been a terrible way to go, but “terrible” was how Scarlett liked it.
Finally, she made her way to the Chancellor's office, opening the door and walking inside. Even Scarlett gasped in shock, her eyes wide as a smile spread across her lips.
Talia was dead.
Talia wasn't just dead, she was dead dead. She'd been impaled several times, and her head had been severed from her body.
"Well, she did say she’d do that," Scarlett mused.
She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see her four mystic friends entering the room.
"Wow," one of them said. "This is one hell of a mess. You weren’t joking about getting her out of the way."
Scarlett shrugged. "I didn't do this, but I'd like to think I helped."
One of them, a man, stepped forward, his eyes wandering around the room before coming to rest on Scarlett. "What now?"
Scarlett smiled. "We start planning." She turned to the window and looked out at the city. "We convince the city of the truth, that Arryn killed Talia and her followers. First things first, though—we need to influence the Guard. We're going to need all of them to be absolutely loyal to their new Chancellor."
She couldn't help but feel triumphant as she gazed over what she now saw as hers. It was all she’d dreamed of since learning of Adrien's death, and with the help of the people behind her, nothing could stand in her way.
***
Arryn had fallen asleep almost immediately after lying down in her hut, and she stayed asleep for hours. After Cathillian's healing, only a little rest was all she needed to feel more like herself. Not the coma-like sleep she’d needed the other times.
She was awakened by laughing and carrying on outside, so she got up and went to see what was going on. Stepping onto the cool forest ground, Arryn sighed in contentment. Home.
As she made her way forward, she saw friends, both new and old, sitting around the fire as they laughed and told stories. Cathillian, Samuel, Celine, Amelia—even Maddie—sat around the fire, and of course the Chieftain and Elysia were there, too. It looked like everyone she really cared about had gotten out of the city.
But there were far more than that.
It had been years since she'd seen their colors, but she recognized uniforms of the Cellan guards who were standing around drinking and carrying on. As she watched everyone, she realized that the myth of the murderous savages who were the terrifying and elusive druids was dead.
Everyone here was getting along great. Those people would take back the stories and tell them to their children, and their children's children. It would begin to build a bridge after all the years of hate.
Arryn sat down on the ground across from the warm fire. She had been there for no more than a few seconds when the cub pounced on her, curling up in her lap and purring like a kitten. She smiled and scratched his neck.
The mama made her way to Arryn as well; everyone stepped out of her way as she flopped down next to Arryn.
"What is the name of your familiar?" the chieftain asked.
Arryn looked up and smiled. "You mean to say ‘familiars,’ as in ‘both of them.’"
The Chieftain's eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. "Look at you! I guess it was worth the wait, huh?"
She nodded. "More than worth the wait. I always thought I'd end up with a wolf or a fox. As for names, I haven't given them names yet."
"That's not a bad thing," Cathillian said. "If a familiar is bonded within the forest, it's customary to have a ceremony. You’ve been to a couple, mine and Echo’s included, but I’m not sure if you actually knew what was going on. Well, it's not really an official ceremony—it's just a party. Family, friends. We gather and celebrate the coming together of two companions. The druid picks the name of their familiar during the gathering and announces it to everyone in the tribe."
"Am I excluded because I didn't bond with mine in the Dark Forest?" Arryn asked.
Elysia laughed. "Not at all—that's why we're all here. We assumed you'd already named them, but since you haven't, let the ceremony begin!"
Arryn looked at her beautiful familiars, thinking hard to find good, strong names. She was great at coming up with nonsense names, but that was because she couldn't name every animal she spoke to. If she had, she would've named hundreds by now.
"I'm going to call my mama cat ‘Snow.’ When I met her, I was holding her cub. He was covered in blood, and she thought I'd hurt him. I passed out in the snow when she attacked me. Nothing was more beautiful or terrifying than seeing her in her natural element. I woke up in a cave, where she’d dragged me to safety after she realized I'd saved her cub. And this little fuzzball here, I will name ‘Dante.’ The name itself means ‘enduring,’ and he is quite the strong little guy."
The Chieftain stood and raised a cup that she had no doubt was full of wine. "To Arryn and her companions, Snow and Dante!"
Everyone cheered and shouted their names. As Cathillian had mentioned, she vaguely remembered a gathering like this for Cathillian and Echo, but it had been much smaller. She hadn’t truly realized what it was for until now.
Amelia came over to sit next to Arryn, handing her a glass of the Chieftain's wine. "It's done, then?"
Arryn nodded and took a sip, sighed, and smiled as she took another. "Yes, it's done."
Amelia sighed and nodded. "Did you rip her fucking head off?"
Arryn smiled. "Funny you should ask that!"
They sat and talked for a while, and everyone quieted down as Arryn told her story. She started from t
he beginning, reliving every moment of it. The crowd was in awe of everything she had been through and survived.
Cathillian looked at her with pride, but also with something more. She tried to push that out of her mind as she finished the story by telling everyone her biggest accomplishment—what had happened in Arcadia when she returned.
"The mystic is still alive?" Cathillian asked.
Arryn nodded. "Had she been there, I'm not sure I would've been quite so lucky. There's still a fight ahead; I have no doubt about that. But tonight, we're all here. We're all safe. We're all alive. Let's take the night to celebrate. We can feel like shit in the morning."
Everyone cheered and raised their glasses, Samuel cheering louder than anyone. She'd meant what she said about wanting everyone to celebrate their good fortune, but it didn't stop her from worrying about what tomorrow would bring.
Mystical magic was not something she was very familiar with, and she would need its help to defeat her enemy this time around. Luckily for her, she was surrounded by the best damn army Irth had ever seen.
Author Notes - Candy Crum
Written September 14, 2017
Book three! I’m so excited. This is a big one—one I’ve been so, so crazy over since the beginning. It’s quite a bit different than anything I’ve ever written before, and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks!
This one had a lot of emotional bits for me. I actually cried writing a couple of the parts because I was so excited. I’ll give you a hint without spoiling… There is a part where Arryn meets a blacksmith named Roger. While she’s there, a visitor (or two) comes to the door. That was a huge moment that really had me fighting back.
I admire Arryn a lot, and I think we as readers enjoy reading about strong characters because we want to see those qualities in ourselves. The ability to fight through anything, to never give up, to force success even when things are at their worst. I love that. That’s certainly a huge motivator for writing them anyway!