Once the roast was ready, Talis devoured a helping, then ate some more until his belly felt like it would explode. Food had never tasted so good. Color returned to Mara’s face after the meal, and she sat next to him, curled up, and lay her head on his lap. He thought he heard her purring with content.
Out the next day, after trekking along the river for several hours, they found a trail leading north, and Talis studied the Surineda Map, realizing they were heading towards the village of Blansko. Half a day’s journey in they found the trail obliterated by an enormous rockslide that had felled giant soldier pines, creating an unsurpassable mess. Rikar suggested they loop around to the east and follow the river north. But before they reached the river, tall boulders hundreds of feet high stopped their way.
The only way was through the dark, pine forest. The branches pressed down at many places so low they had to dismount their horses and lead them through. They followed Rikar as he trudged into the forest, slowing as the woods enveloped them. There was something soothing about the air infused with pine and mountain herbs, and the calm from lack of wind. Talis inhaled and walked on.
A commotion above moved the limbs against each other. The eerie croaking and groaning of wood against wood. The sound unnerved Talis, but Mara smiled, and they kept on.
“Over there,” he said, pointing with his chin. They kept ahead towards a patch of twilight beyond the forest. After reaching a clearing filled with logs and boulders, he realized it continued into an even deeper forest.
He sighed. “Still more to go.”
After a long hike through a dense, suffocating part of the forest, torches in hand, they found an old tree lying on the ground, with termites devouring the wood. Too tired to go on, they decided to rest here for the night.
Talis knocked branches off the tree and grinned as he kicked a branch. It cracked and shattered in several pieces. He made a game where he was snapping the necks off Jiserian necromancers. It helped. Mara picked up a branch and swirled it around, giggling.
“This place is creepy.” She poked Talis.
“Are you kidding? I’m so glad to be out of the desert.” Talis spun around, trying to trip Mara. She jumped, and darted out of the way.
“Would you stop messing around?” Rikar sighed. “Just get some wood for a fire.”
Mara stuck out her tongue at Rikar, and punched at Nikulo’s belly. He blocked and danced left. Readying another jab to the ribs, Mara stopped and looked up.
“What's wrong?” Talis said, following her gaze.
“Not sure. I just had a weird feeling.”
Then he caught an awful smell. A mixture of wet, decaying leaves and fermented wheat. His shoulders stiffened.
“Light a fire so we can see better,” she said. The air had turned quiet and lifeless, and he wanted exactly the same thing. There was something here in the forest-with them-watching them.
“Let's gather some branches,” he said, his voice urgent. Mara nodded and they got to work.
Rikar glanced around and raised his torch. “Are you guys just trying to freak me out?”
“No,” Talis said, shrugging. “It’s just strange here.”
“Alright-” Rikar froze in his tracks as Mara screamed.
Talis whipped around and spotted her cringing on the ground, mouth hanging open, staring up.
13. ASSAULT IN THE FOREST
Up in the branches Talis could see hundreds of spiders. Four feet across, hairy, and drooling something black and wet. Their yellow beady eyes shone, staring hungrily at them. They were suspended on scores of thin, silvery cords.
Mara whipped out her daggers and rolled aside as a spider dropped over her. Talis grabbed his bow and quiver and raced to help, but his foot landed in a hole and he fell face first in the dirt, his bow flying out of his hands.
Talis spotted two spiders heading towards him and more charged at Rikar and Nikulo. They had to get out of here; there were too many spiders to fight. Three of them lurched at Mara and she dove away and slashed with her daggers. Talis picked up his bow and shot one in the back, sending a green spray through the air. The others zig-zagged over the forest floor as they chased Mara. Rikar ran after her but got in the way of Talis’s line of sight.
“Move!” Talis shouted, running after them.
Mara’s foot caught on a root and she fell and landed hard, her daggers skidding across the ground. She glanced back as the spiders hovered over her, then scrambled to find her weapons. Rikar zapped a spider with a lightning bolt, frying it into oblivion, but another spider turned, coiled up and prepared to strike. Talis launched another arrow, missed, then shot another, sending the creature spinning in a green, twirling mess. It splat on a tree, and its juices started eating away at the bark. What kind of poison was that? Then Talis realized that the spider’s bodies were filled with acid.
“Don’t waste your magic,” Nikulo shouted, running up to Rikar. “There are too many of them.”
“Behind you,” Mara yelled.
Turning, Talis spotted one mid-flight in its jump at them. Rikar quickly summoned a silvery sword and sliced the spider in half. More charged. He flinched, stabbing and cutting the fat beasts until a pile of green spider parts and goo lay at his feet.
“Don’t touch it…it’s acid! ” Talis shouted, pulling Rikar’s arm.
Mara backed into a corner, surrounded by spiders. She slashed stubbornly and they snapped forward and flinched back. Every time he scanned around, more kept coming. He shot the two creatures surrounding Mara, but others charged her. Talis felt a furry leg brush his hair. He fell, aiming up, and sank an arrow into another’s fat underside. He rolled away as it splattered onto the ground.
Talis grunted. He was out of arrows and there were too many of them, anyways. He grabbed a thick stick and glanced around. Yellow eyes danced in the dark. Mara went to slice a leg off, but another curled up and hurled a sticky glob of venom over her face.
She froze and fell over.
Talis charged at the spider, yelling and kicking it away from her. He brought the stick down hard against its neck.
Nikulo huffed up to them and stared at Mara. “What happened?”
“She’s poisoned,” Talis said, and slammed a fist on his leg.
“We’ve got to get out of here,” Nikulo said. Sweat poured down the sides of his head, and his eyes shone. A huge spider followed him, as if tamed and obeying his command. His hands were over his temples as he stared at the creature. It scampered over the ground and grappled two more spiders coming at them.
The creatures were everywhere. Hundreds of yellow, gleaming eyes locked on them.
“Which way do we go?” Nikulo said, and twirled around.
Rikar was feverish, exhausted from his use of magic. He summoned a curved blade, shimmering five feet across, and slashed as fast as he could. He was tiring and in danger of being consumed by magic.
“Be careful,” Nikulo yelled, whirling around to face his friend. Rikar was drenched in sweat and his eyes were locked, unfocused.
Talis knew he had to act, so he started breathing loudly, a hissing breath, the kind used to create Fire Magic. In a trance, the forest had turned blood-red. Nikulo reached out to stop him, then jerked his hand back in pain.
“Get down!” Talis shouted, and Rikar and Nikulo dropped. Through the haze of his view, Talis could see the spiders closing in on them.
Then an intense heat ignited from his palms, exploding out in all directions, a circular wave of fire ripping through the forest. Spiders ignited, curling up, and the trees flamed up. The air smelled like burnt hair and roasted chicken. Rikar and Nikulo rose, glancing around, shocked that the forest was aflame. They were surrounded by a circle of angry flames and the fire roared to an inferno, dashing up the trees.
Talis stared at what he’d done. How did he cast the spell without killing himself? He felt weak from the exertion, but his senses burned, vivid and alive.
“That was amazing!” Rikar said, his eyes surprised. “How did you
cast that spell?”
“I…I’m not sure how I cast it…” Talis glanced around, concerned that the flames were stalking towards them. “But we’re going to die if we don’t get out of here soon.”
“Help me carry Mara.” Nikulo bent down and they lifted Mara together, and hobbled in a direction without flames. The fire ring extended out a hundred feet, and as they passed the fire, Talis glanced over his shoulder. I did it, I really did it right, he thought, feeling a wave of confidence wash over him.
As they left the burning forest, Talis couldn’t help but notice Rikar and Nikulo glancing at him, their faces beaming awe and jealously. Finally they reached a bed of soft pine needles, and they lay Mara down.
Talis clenched Mara’s hand and searched for signs of life, but her body was rigid but still warm.
“She’s still breathing, but her body is all clenched up by the poison.”
Nikulo interrupted him. “Rikar, can you hold Mara? I'll need it to give her a potion. The spider's venom…locked the flow of electrical energy. If I can…release the poison's hold.” He placed both hands on Mara’s jawbones and his hands shook with intensity, waves of healing light flowing out. When the light built up inside her body, Mara’s face softened and the tension in her muscles melted away.
Then Nikulo took off his backpack and withdrew a sack containing several crystal vials. He noticed a glob of poison sizzling away at her jacket, and he took a knife and scooped it up, placing it inside one of the vials. Talis thought he glimpsed a curious smile crossing Nikulo’s face as if he’d just discovered something incredible.
“One more herbal remedy, I think that will do it…” Nikulo rummaged through another bag from his pack while Rikar assembled wood and lit a warm, crackling fire. Nikulo pulled out a potion, and inspected it with satisfaction. He opened Mara’s mouth and poured the liquid down her throat. Her eyes fluttered and color slowly returned to her cheeks.
Mara squinted and glanced around suspiciously.
“Why is everyone staring at me?” She tried to get up but Talis held her back.
“Rest-give yourself some time to recover.”
Talis told her the story of what had happened after she was poisoned and Nikulo interrupted him to tell the part about Talis casting magic. Mara settled back, face flushed from the fire, her eyes beaming in pride at Talis, and she reached out to hold his hand and soon she drifted off to sleep.
He felt a wave of homesickness strike his heart as he gazed at Mara’s face. She could have died out here in this cold and unforgiving land, and Talis knew he could never forgive himself if that had happened. Yet Naru might already be in more danger than here, maybe another attack had killed more people… The Elders of Naru were counting on them to help their city. Maybe Rikar was right to continue on their expedition. Every day counted…
“We’ve lost our horses and whatever we had in our saddlebags.” Rikar glanced around the dark forest.
Talis swung his backpack around. “Still have these… And I kept a good bit of gold and silver coin inside. We can resupply and maybe buy horses up ahead at the inn.”
“What do you think we’ll find out there on that island?” Nikulo said, his eyes tired and red.
Talis shrugged, staring into the fire. “It must be worth it…worth all the risk. You weren’t there to see Master Baribariso rise from his grave and transform into an immortal. When he pulled the Surineda Map from a mist, I knew this was a gift from the gods.”
“There are many gods and many masters,” Rikar said, his face dark and gaunt. “But I do not doubt there is something powerful and special out there on that island…”
“Something that could help in our struggle against the Jiserians?” Nikulo warmed his hands on the fire.
They watched the fire for what seemed like an ageless moment, and the heat felt good sinking into Talis’s cold hands. After he’d cast the spell against the spiders, it seemed like all the warmth had left his body, and the chill of the northlands had possessed him.
A sputter of sparks shook them out of their reverie, and Talis looked at Rikar, recognizing a wave of pain and darkness flash across his face. Rikar turned away, flushed with discomfort, and Talis wondered what thoughts were passing through his mind…
The next morning, Mara feeling bright and renewed, they hiked along the Turyan River, snaking left and right, and up through massive, granite boulders, finally arriving at a series of waterfalls. The first one was about fifteen feet high and stretched across the length of the river. Beyond, more waterfalls fell over jagged cliffs and tunneled through pines.
Talis stopped and inhaled the crisp mountain air, peering up at the falls. “How do we get around-”
“I found a path up ahead…there on the left.” Rikar pointed and started towards the trail.
Mist shimmered off the rocks as they climbed up around the falls and Mara stretched out her tongue and enjoyed the cool spray. The boulders glistened under the sun's rays and the air seemed charged with power. The mountains were more amazing than Talis had ever dreamed. All his life he’d lived surrounded by desert. He loved Naru, but the forest and the mountains of the northlands made him feel like a mouse among giants.
Rikar led them up the path as it curved, climbing higher through the boulders. Talis watched the river disappear off into the distance. He was leaving the desert and Naru behind. There was no going back. He’d left his family and he might not ever return home.
After the sun plunged below the mountains, they reached a field of apple trees. Farther up, they passed a barn and heard rapids churning down the river. An inn lay ahead with billowing smoke rising from a chimney. Stone walls and a slate roof so heavy it seemed as if the rafters would crumble under the weight. Wooden shutters covered the windows and a glow of orange light shone through. Talis tensed as a group of travelers milled out front, their clothes tattered, faces dirty and gaunt, eyes hopeless and suspicious.
They stared, watching the party approach.
14. THE INN AT BLANSKO
Talis arched upright and pulled off his backpack, and strode towards the inn's steps, so exhausted and cold he could barely walk straight. All he thought of was food and fire at the hearth and sleep. The front door opened with a creak as he stepped through into the warm glow. The air smelled like the roasts back home at the fall festival, of pork and smoke and sweet pies. He inhaled and found himself drooling.
The great room was lined with cedar planks and pine beams spanned almost forty feet across. The once noisy room grew quiet as they entered and all eyes turned and stared with suspicion. The barkeep, a short stocky man wearing a bloodied apron, scanned the newcomers as he ran his stubby fingers through his beard.
His expression darkened. “What do you want?”
Rikar strolled forward and handed the man a silver coin. “Food…and drink, for my friends and me.”
The barkeep inspected the coin. “From Naru-long ways from home, aren’t you?”
“If you care to show us to a table.” Rikar tapped his finger on the worn, wooden bar-top.
The barkeep grunted, as if annoyed by his comment, then motioned Rikar towards an empty table.
The tension melted and the room went back to talking, eating, and drinking. Two girls, of a similar age to Talis, sat together on a wooden bench next to the fire. They wore white silk dresses with lavender flowers embroidered along the bottom trim. One girl was taller and had vibrant silver hair and a mousy face. The other girl had flaming red hair and long, dangling earrings. Her face was painted white and chalky, cheeks rouged, a seven-pronged star drawn on her forehead.
Could she be a mystic? Legend had it they were trained starting at age three: to read faces, read minds, read tea leaves, read the wind, animal bones, and even the future. Their powers were legendary, and it was said that royal houses all over the world valued them at court for their divination skills.
Turning their heads, they giggled as Talis sauntered towards the fireplace, blushing when they caught his gaze. The
girl with the star seemed to know some secret about him that she was unwilling to share. Mara darted past and plopped herself onto another bench opposite the girls. He warmed his hands then sat next to Mara, yawning sloppily.
“I’m hungry and sleepy at the same time.” He glanced at the girl with the star, her grey-sapphire eyes danced as he looked at her. She whispered into the silver-haired girl's ear and laughed, tossing her head back, sending her long hair flying about.
The silver-haired girl blurted out, “Is she your girlfriend?”
The other girl paused a moment, leaned forward, and gazed into his eyes. Talis couldn’t break from her stare, and he could feel Mara seething next to him.
“Not yet…” the girl with the star said mysteriously. She laughed freely. “He doesn’t know a thing. Boys…” Mara blushed as he glanced at her, and Talis wondered if what the mystic said could be true.
Then Rikar and Nikulo strolled over to the fire and eyed the girls with unconcealed attraction.
“I’ve never seen a girl with silver hair.” Rikar grinned wolfishly at her.
She huffed, rolling her eyes. “Maybe if you took a bath more often girls could actually stand to be around you.”
Talis chuckled, then stopped, realizing he probably smelled just as bad.
“You’re travelers…like us? From the west perhaps?” Nikulo said.
“We’re just passing through,” said the girl with the star, and glanced shyly at Talis. “This is my sister Nuella.” Her eyes locked sweetly with Talis for a moment, and she said, “And I’m Lenora.”
Rikar bowed, trying to act like a perfect nobleman, but came off like he was arrogant and pretentious. He introduced everyone, staring way too much at Nuella in the process. She suppressed a glare each time he looked at her. Rikar was too stupid to even realize it.
Lenora bowed awkwardly, and sniffed suspiciously. “You’re runaways, like us.”
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