Wyrd Blood

by Donna Augustine

  I didn’t like it and I did. It wasn’t like that look, the one he had when our magic was reacting all sorts of crazy. This was something else. Not as hot, but warm and gooey.

  I took a couple of steps away. Karma and gooey wasn’t good either.

  “You mean like I juiced up Burn?” I asked, getting us back on track and away from any feelings that were warmer than ice cold.

  “Yep.”

  “How?”

  “No idea.”

  We all stood on the bank of the Brim River, watching the strange purple current. Before the war had happened, this had been a normal river.

  “I’ve heard it burns some people alive,” Ruck said.

  I’d heard the same. There were plenty of stories about strange things in this forest, but I’d been hoping some were false. “Why don’t we all dip a finger in and see what happens?”

  For a bunch of people who’d agreed to follow the worm’s advice, no one seemed to trust the worm now.

  “I’ll go first.” I knelt on the ground, rolled up a sleeve, and saw that Ryker was doing the same. We shoved our hands in at the same time. The stuff might look weird, but it felt like thawed spring water as it rushed over my skin.

  I pulled my hand out. “Feels normal to me.”

  Ryker removed his hand and shook off the moisture.

  I sat back on my heels. “Maybe it’s all made up?”

  “Rivers aren’t purple when they’re normal,” Ryker said.

  Ruck moved forward and thrust his hand in but pulled it out quickly, waving it about and screaming bloody murder. His flesh was bright red, and I knew it had to be throbbing.

  “Burn, you try,” Ryker said.

  Burn didn’t look too eager, but he did it anyway. “It feels like warm bathwater.”

  “It was warm for you?” Ryker asked.

  “Was it cold for you?” I asked Ryker.

  He nodded. The river water reacted to magic. The more you had, the more it felt as it was supposed to.

  We all looked at Sneak.

  Sneak walked over and dipped a hand in, letting his fingers flutter for a few seconds, as if he enjoyed the feel. He finally lifted them out. “Hot bathwater, but nice.”

  I did the math. Four with magic, and two without. I wouldn’t be able to carry anyone across, but we had carriers to spare.

  “I’ll cross first,” Ryker said. He looked at me. “Once I get across and it’s fine, you follow.”

  It made sense. I’d seen firsthand how he could clear out an area. If there was something waiting on the other side of the river, he’d flush it out.

  Burn walked toward Ruck. “I’ll take Ruck.”

  “Then I’ll get Sinsy across,” Sneak said.

  Sinsy and Ruck were agreeing, but neither seemed confident. I knew if that water was capable of boiling me, I wouldn’t want to go across on someone’s shoulders.

  “From the looks of it, the water gets pretty deep. You’ll have to go on their shoulders, on unsteady terrain,” Ryker said.

  He was giving them a chance to change their minds, and I was watching closely, hoping at least one of them would take him up on the offer. This was what I’d wanted from the beginning: them away from this danger.

  “We’re good,” Ruck said for the both of them.

  Maybe it was my imagination, but there was a flash of disappointment on Ryker’s face. He didn’t hesitate long. He turned and stepped into the river. “Don’t cross until I get to the other side.”

  We all watched him cross, getting in deeper and deeper until his shoulders barely cleared the water by a couple of inches. I wasn’t sure I breathed until he got across the hundred-foot expanse.

  It was as if it hit us all at the same time. Sneak was too short to get Sinsy across, even squatting on his shoulders. He was at least four inches shorter than Burn and five or so shorter than Ryker.

  “I’m too short to get her across without her getting burned,” Sneak said. He was devastated.

  “Maybe we should all turn around and you guys should go back to the—”

  Sinsy was shaking her head before I’d finished my sentence. “Absolutely not.”

  Burn patted her on the shoulder. “Bugs, you go across. I’ll bring Ruck and then come back for Sinsy.”

  Out of the five of us on this side of the bank, I was the only one who didn’t seem on board with the new plan.

  Ryker gave me a signal that the other side was clear, but I stalled. “Maybe we should worm it.”

  Sinsy shook her head and waved her hand. “This will be a breeze. We don’t need the worm.”

  They all stared at me as if to say, Get going. It was a river. A funny one, but not the end of the world. I nodded and headed in.

  I was on my tiptoes and bouncing off the bottom by the time I hit the middle of the river. The current was pushing me farther downstream as I pushed forward. Ryker stood on the bank, at the ready to jump in after me.

  “I got this,” I yelled, feeling better as the ground rose and I made it past the halfway point. Moving quicker now, I grabbed the stick Ryker held out to me. Then he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me the rest of the way out.

  I’d just gotten to dry land when I heard one of the scariest sounds you could hear in these parts. It was a horde of chewers. They’d been wolves once upon a time, until the War of 810 had turned them into something much fiercer. I’d heard them before on the outskirts of the Ruined Forest, but they didn’t usually leave the woods.

  I spun, trying to determine where the sound was coming from, and saw one burst from the forest across the bank. The last of our group was quickly surrounded as a pack of twelve emerged. They would’ve looked like regular wolves except for the fangs that hung down twice as long as they should. The eyes glowed red, and they swiped with claws coming out of their paws.

  “Get in the water,” Ryker screamed across the bank, already heading back across to help them.

  They all turned, backs to us to face the chewers. “Hurry!” I screamed as I jumped in myself, Ryker ahead of me.

  Burn was using his flame to ward them off as Sneak slashed his sword. Sinsy let an arrow fly, but it fell short. Ruck was squatting down, dagger in hand. They all were backing toward the water.

  Water that had grown a lot warmer since I’d first crossed. It wasn’t quite burning yet, but it was becoming uncomfortable.

  “Go back,” Ryker yelled to me.

  He must’ve felt it too. But I couldn’t go back. Not with them stuck on the other side. If I could just get to Burn, we could torch the chewers like we had our other attackers.

  I watched as Burn held a flame up, trying to get Ruck on his shoulders while still keeping the chewers at bay. Sinsy was behind Sneak.

  And then the current kicked up. I’d barely made it the first time, and we must have been getting to high tide.

  I slipped and went under. When my head bobbed back up, I was a good ten feet farther down the stream and Ryker had changed directions, heading toward me.

  “Help them,” I tried to yell, but I went under again. I tried to inch toward the shore with everything I had, the water becoming uncomfortably warm. I didn’t know if I was going to drown or boil to death first.

  A strong arm pulled me up, heaving me along. We crashed to the shore, the skin on my legs stinging.

  When Ryker didn’t rush back in, I knew I wasn’t going to like what I saw. I glanced upstream to see Burn and Ruck standing there, bent over and clearly exhausted. Sneak was just coming out of the water, and my stomach knotted at the anguished expression he had.

  There was no Sinsy. I scoured the water and didn’t see her, but I saw the pack of chewers on the other side, all gathered around, a limp hand extended out. They were eating her.

  I got to my feet and would’ve run right back into the water if Ryker hadn’t latched on to my wrist.

  “She’s already dead,” Ryker said. “It’s too late.”

  He was right. There wasn’t even a moan or a twitch of her li
mb.

  He let go of me and I fell to my knees, emptying my breakfast. It wasn’t that I was a stranger to death, or even killing. But this was Sinsy, my family. She was like a sister to me. She’d only come because of me.

  “Why did you come back for me? I was fine. I could’ve made it.” And even if I hadn’t, maybe Sinsy would still be here. I couldn’t seem to get up. Just stayed there, kneeling with my palms flat on the ground.

  “No, you wouldn’t have.”

  “I’m half dead anyway. Even if I can break Bedlam’s ward, the Debt Collector might kill me anyway. You saved me because of Bedlam.”

  His eyes narrowed, and I wasn’t sure why that hit a nerve, but I’d finally riled him. “You want to rage against me because your friend died, go ahead. I’d make the same choice another fifty times.”

  He walked away.

  Sneak made his way to the bank and collapsed to his knees.

  Ryker stopped in front of him and laid a hand on his shoulder, and I heard Sneak say, “I lost sight of her for one second and they had her. I couldn’t get them off her. They ripped her throat out.” The last sentence was gravelly, as if it tore at his insides.

  “It’s not your fault.”

  Sneak’s head dropped, and he stayed like that. I turned away when I couldn’t bear seeing his pain anymore. Coupled with mine, it was too much to bear.

  I was leaning against a tree when Ruck walked over and sat beside me, taking my hand in his and gripping it hard. The pain he was feeling, the agony he held back, was in the strength of that grip.

  I wasn’t going to cry. No. Even if I wanted to curl up in a ball and wail for days. I’d let her down. I should’ve refused to go once Ruck and Sinsy decided to come along. But I hadn’t. Deep down, I’d been happy to have my people with me.

  “It’s not your fault. It’s not his, either. Sinsy made her own choices.”

  I didn’t say anything because I couldn’t. If I let loose right now, I might explode, and I didn’t know what I’d say or do. I was barely holding it together.

  His eyes went to my ankles. “What happened to your legs?”

  I ran a hand over the blisters. By the time we’d taken our last steps out, the water had felt like it was boiling. “Apparently magic only keeps the water cool for so long.”

  Chapter 27

  We walked in silence. Ryker kept his distance and didn’t bother me about practice. Didn’t say much of anything. No one did. We all settled down for sleep early.

  Sleep didn’t come for me, and I was grateful. I knew I’d dream of Sinsy if I did. I lay awake instead, rethinking every moment before her death. If she’d gone before me, if I’d asked the worm, if I’d gone across a little faster, would she have already been in the water when the chewers came? Every possible variable ran through my head. Would she still be alive if even one of those things had happened?

  I heard Ryker, Burn, and Sneak getting up. I squinted and watched them leave the area, probably to go hunt breakfast.

  Five minutes wouldn’t put a ton of distance between us and them, but it was all we had. I jumped to my feet and shook Ruck. “We’re leaving.”

  “We’re breaking camp already?” Ruck asked, eyes barely open as he looked around. “Where’s Ryker and—”

  “They’re close by and we have to leave.” I tried to pull him to his feet.

  “You mean leave without them?”

  “Yes.”

  He pulled away from me. “No. You’ll die.”

  “And if we go with them, you’ll die.”

  “We’re not leaving. I could die. You definitely will. It’s a death sentence for you.”

  “We don’t have time for this. Get up.” I grabbed Ruck’s arm again and tried to drag him to his feet. He wouldn’t get up, and he was too strong to force.

  He pulled his arm free. “No. I won’t leave knowing this is your only chance.”

  “I can’t see you die.” Why didn’t he understand? He had to leave.

  Ruck tilted his head back, his stare intense. “You are the strongest person I’ve ever met. You are going to do this, and then Ryker is going to help you fix this with the Debt collector. You’re not the only one who gets to try and save people.”

  I heard a noise and knew it was Ryker because of the wave of magic that was also heading our way. Great, our opportunity was lost.

  We’d stopped to make camp for the night, and I watched Ruck eating roasted meat in between Sneak and Burn. He wouldn’t leave and now he was avoiding me, so he didn’t have to hear me tell him how he should go.

  He thought he was saving me by staying. He wasn’t. Even if we made it out of the forest alive, if Ruck came with us, he would be dead, just like Sinsy. Why couldn’t he see this? If I ever made it back to the Valley, I didn’t know how I’d tell Marra her sister was gone. And then I’d watch the rest of my crew die in the war that would follow. There was only one option left.

  I walked over to where Ryker was standing beside Burn, eating dinner. The two of them looked like they were in the midst of a strategy session, which they probably were. Ryker wasn’t the small-talk kind, and I doubted he was gabbing about some local fauna.

  I stopped in front of Ryker, took the dagger that hung from my hip, and threw it into the dirt between us, the handle wobbling a moment.

  He looked down and then met my stare. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  He knew exactly what I was doing. I was calling him out. There wasn’t a person in this world that didn’t know what throwing a knife down in front of someone meant. The silence that swept through our little group proved it. All you heard were the crickets.

  “No.” The word sounded like thunder clapping down between us. He took his time turning toward Burn, giving me his back.

  He couldn’t turn down a challenge. No Wyrd Blood could. You didn’t walk away from a challenge unless you were a coward, which Ryker was not. “I threw my knife in between us.”

  I stood, staring at his back as he spoke to Burn. It was more of a monologue, as Burn was having a hard time keeping his concentration, splitting it between the two of us.

  “I issued a challenge,” I said.

  I felt a hand tugging my arm and saw that Ruck had snuck up on me. “What are you doing?”

  I shrugged it off and forced myself in between Ryker and Burn, giving Burn my back. It wasn’t much of a fight, as Burn stepped back, eager to stay out of what was about to go down.

  “I issued you a challenge. You have no choice.”

  “I just made one.”

  Ryker’s eyes weren’t as hard as I’d thought they’d be. We both knew the outcome. I wasn’t challenging him with any hope of winning—not the fight, anyway. I had another win in mind.

  “Accept the challenge or I’ll make you.”

  “Don’t do this. It won’t end well.” His voice was so soft that, even in the silence, I wasn’t sure if anyone beyond us heard. It was as close to begging as I’d ever imagine Ryker getting.

  I felt the tendrils of his magic snaking out, prodding at me. Pushing me back, trying to subdue me or hint at how bad it could be. I knew how bad it would be. I’d die. But I was dying anyway. And if my death kept Ruck alive, I’d offer my life up on a platter.

  What Ryker didn’t understand was that I was ready to die. I wasn’t doing this to prove a point or because I thought I’d win. Odds were against me working something out with the Debt Collector. Chances of making it out of Bedlam were even worse. Even if I made it past those, once the war started because of my actions, I was really on borrowed time. My life was worth nothing at this point, but Ruck could go on, and so could Fetch and Marra. If I’d done this sooner, maybe Sinsy would’ve been with them.

  Ryker waited, his magic near smothering me until I could barely think straight. He thought it would scare me off, but it urged me on. He was dangerous. He was a storm brewing, and I didn’t want anyone I loved around when the sky burst open and rained down hell. I wanted this storm to wipe me out of the eq
uation.

  I stiffened under his gaze, but I knew most people here would’ve crumbled. Maybe I was too stubborn by half, as he often accused me of, but I’d chosen my course and I would hold to it.

  I’d never done what I was about to attempt. Never even seen it. I’d only heard it whispered of, and the retellings had only been a handful. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do it right, but I didn’t let that stop me. I clapped my hands together in front of me, focusing as best I could on where they joined, not sure if I’d appear to be applauding him sarcastically or achieving my goal.

  Ryker’s eyes narrowed, confirming I had it right. He knew what I was about to do, and I saw his head shake slightly. A final plea to turn away from my decision? I still wasn’t sure why he cared. He hated me. I hated him. This wasn’t such a bad thing. I was helping us both. I’d scare Ruck away and keep Ryker from starting a war.

  I pulled my hands apart slowly, and the glow I’d hoped for was there. I opened them up, as if a book lay upon them.

  If Ryker’s magic was stronger, and I knew it was, once I demanded the challenge, he’d be forced to fight. A lesser Wyrd Blood could call out someone of greater magic and force a fight, but it didn’t work the other way around. The idea behind it was that if someone with lesser magic was so wronged by someone stronger, that they were willing to risk death, then they should have their opportunity. Or that was the common belief.

  I opened my mouth, nothing left but to say the words, and I hesitated for a split second as I saw regret in Ryker’s face. What was that for? It couldn’t be because he truly cared if I died. I felt the magic waving in my hands, and there wasn’t any time to hesitate or debate. When I’d heard the stories, no one had stopped and restarted again. It was now or never. I wasn’t going to end up as the only person who began a challenge and then tried to suck it back in.

  “By the magic in the air, the magic that surrounds, the magic in my blood and yours, I challenge you.”

  The magic vibrated. A swell of air seemed to burst around us, propelling everyone back. It knocked Ruck on his ass, as a field of magic surrounded us, creating a force field that would keep Ryker and I in and the rest out until the end of the fight.