Once she was in the tunnel, she moved much more rapidly. She had taken her time with Tiberius, not wanting to make him go any faster than he was comfortable, but now she dropped down the tunnel at a dizzying pace.
She found the spot where the creature had attacked them. The wood all around the spot was splintered. The bright wood under the dark bark was almost like an open wound. Sap dripped from the worst of the smashed branches, and there were tufts of fur pinched in the tree bark. Their packs were still intact, and she retrieved them both. Climbing with the added weight of two heavy packs would be difficult, but she didn’t want to leave anything they might need behind.
Lexi knew that following the creature was a bad idea, so instead, she climbed further down into the dark tunnel, hoping she might somehow get ahead of Tiberius and find a way to help him.
It grew darker the further she descended, and Lexi had to rely on her ears rather than her eyes. She could still hear the smashing and cracking of the large creature eating its way into the forest, but it seemed to be moving away from the tunnel. Lexi could only hope that Tiberius wasn’t still trying to lead the creature away from Lexi. She was safe enough; she only needed to find him so they could get back to the ship.
She had to slow down to listen in the gloomy forest. Moving through the darkness without making a sound was something she understood very well. And while she had never been in a real forest—had never even climbed a tree for that matter—she found moving through the tunnel easy enough.
It was too dark to see Tiberius through the thick limbs and trunks, but she heard him. The forest was full of sounds, the wood creaking, small animals scurrying about, birds fluttering, but nothing was like the sounds of tired exertion that Tiberius was making. He was grunting, his clothing snagging and scraping on the rough bark.
Lexi settled into a crook formed by a thick limb as it joined a large, angled trunk and waited for Tiberius to appear. It was dark, even though glittering light could still be seen far overhead. The amber sunlight simply didn’t reach down through so many tangle branches. It was almost like seeing the stars in the night sky. All around Lexi the tunnel was dark, with only a slight difference in the shades of darkness to indicate a wooden bough that was closer than another.
“What are you doing here?” came a tired voice from the gloom.
“Waiting on you,” Lexi said. “You sound surprised.”
“I thought you would have gone back to the ship.”
“Not without you.”
Lexi couldn’t see Tiberius, not even as a shadow in the darkness. His voice seemed close, but she couldn’t see him at all.
“How did you get away from the creature?” Lexi asked.
“Cloaking spell,” Tiberius said. “It was the only option I had.”
“I can’t believe that beast couldn’t just follow you by the noise you were making.”
“In case you didn’t notice, the giant fur ball with teeth was making quite a bit of noise itself.”
Lexi smiled. “The cloaking spell—that makes you invisible, right?”
There was a slight pause, then Tiberius suddenly appeared in the darkness beside her. He was little more than a dark blob in the gloom, but Lexi felt better seeing him just the same.
“Yes,” Tiberius said. “Sorry I didn’t drop it.”
“No,” Lexi said. “I was just curious. What now?”
“Well, I’m going down,” Tiberius said. “I need to see if there is anything at the bottom of the tunnel other than that creature. But you don’t have to come with me.”
“You know I’m not leaving you,” Lexi said. “Lead the way, but take your pack—it’s killing me.”
“You got the packs?” he said in surprise as she handed him the canvas bag.
“Of course,” she replied. “Someone has to keep a level head around here.”
“You’re amazing,” he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice.
“Don’t get sappy, just find a way down.”
“You’ve got it.”
They had to descend by feel, and it wasn’t long until the darkness around them was complete. Even the tiny specks of light overhead disappeared. Lexi’s stomach growled, and she realized that night must have fallen.
“Ti, we need to find a place to rest,” she whispered.
“I know, but I was hoping we might get to the ground before we stopped.”
“How will we even know?” Lexi asked.
“I guess I need to try the light again.”
“What if it draws more creatures?”
“I’ll keep it dim, and we'll have to shade it as much as possible.”
Lexi wasn’t crazy about the idea, but she didn’t have a better one. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but finding a place where they could rest through the night would be difficult in the darkness. For all she knew, they could be taking refuge in the giant creature’s den. And there would be no relief from the darkness in the morning. They would have to use the light eventually.
“Okay, but be careful,” she warned.
As Tiberius chanted the spell, Lexi’s hand went to the handle of the Wangorian dagger. The weapon was small but solid, and just holding it sometimes helped calm her nerves. A tiny dot of light appeared between them. It was so dim that it looked almost like a firefly. The light did nothing to illuminate their surroundings, and all Lexi could see was a shadow beyond the light that she knew was Tiberius.
The light grew a little stronger, and Lexi could finally see the trees around them. Overhead, the light seemed to to drift up into the trees, which were so dark they seemed like living shadows. Below them was nothing but darkness.
“There’s no place to take shelter here,” Lexi said, examining the trees around them.
The limbs and trunks were so entangled that she knew finding a gap between them that she and Tiberius could squeeze through would be impossible.
“Should I increase the light?” Tiberius asked.
Lexi wasn’t sure. The light was reassuring, and on the one hand, she wanted more of it. But it also made her feel exposed.
“Do we have a choice?” she said.
Tiberius looked at her for a long moment, then shook his head. “Here goes nothing.”
The light began to descend and brighten at the same time. They had to climb further down to see anything other than the tree tunnel they were in. Finally, after several minutes, the trees around them began to spread out, making the tunnel widen. There were gaps in the trunks and branches, but Lexi didn’t notice any of that. Instead, her eyes focused on what appeared to be a stone wall.
“Is that the ground?” Tiberius asked.
“Has to be,” Lexi said.
“And that wall? Is that part of a building?”
“Keep climbing,” Lexi said.
The limbs were further apart, the tree trunks becoming vertical and making the climb much more difficult, especially for Tiberius. They made their way across the tunnel until they were right beside the wall. They could see the rotting remnants of roof beams. The roof had long ago caved in, but the walls had been made of mortar and stone. Lexi put her foot on the wall and tested to see if the structure would hold her weight.
“It’s solid,” she said after a moment.
“I guess we’re at the bottom, or close to it.”
“Should we keep moving?” Lexi asked.
“I’m thinking that creature we saw was nocturnal, but at some point it will come back this way. I’d rather not be here when it does.”
They moved slowly out across the wall, and then came a smaller tree that allowed them to make their way down the wall to the ground. Lexi felt good having solid ground under her feet again, even if the soil of that ground was damp and spongy. The smell of damp earth and decaying vegetation was strong. As Tiberius let his magical light shine brighter, they could make out the remains of buildings and homes among the massive tree trunks. Gnarled roots ran along the ground in places, and piles of stone from collapsed structures
made walking treacherous.
There were also large mounds made of fallen branches, leaves, and dirt. Lexi guessed they were animal dens of some type. They kept moving until they found a sturdy-looking building. The roof had fallen in, but there was space just inside the door that was clear of debris and where the wooden floor was still intact.
“This looks like a good place to spend the night,” Ti said.
Lexi agreed, and they settled in. They both sat down and leaned against a wall in the corner of the old building. The roof beams angled down over their heads and were covered with debris from decades of forest growth above. In normal circumstances Lexi might have felt claustrophobic in the small, dirty space, but the sturdy stone walls gave her a sense of security. She liked being in something that was obviously manmade after being in the overgrown forest, which seemed like nature’s insane attempt to take over the world.
“You hungry?” Lexi asked.
“Famished,” Ti replied with a smile.
She pulled out the salted meat rations and two small loaves from her pack. The food was mostly eaten in silence. Tiberius had dimmed his magical light so that it was merely a soft glow. It gave them enough illumination to eat and see one another’s faces, but nothing more. They didn’t want to attract any unwelcome attention.
“So what now?” Lexi asked, stifling a yawn.
“Now we rest. In the morning we continue the search for the Emerystone.”
“Do you really think we’ll find it?”
“Our chances seem to be improving. Besides, I don’t want to think of what might happen if we don’t find it.”
She leaned her head against Tiberius’ shoulder. Nothing in her life had ever been safe, and while she didn’t like the fact that the world seemed to be falling to pieces around them, she didn’t feel distraught the way her friends did. She had confidence in Tiberius and in herself. She knew that no matter what happened to Avondale or the other cities, the two of them could make a life for themselves somewhere. Her only fear was the possibility of losing Tiberius. That thought made it hard to breathe, so she pushed it out of her mind, closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
Chapter 13
Olyva
The trip back to Avondale was much more rigorous than the trip down the mountain. Olyva and Desyra had found a small stream at the base of the mountain. The weather in the blighted lands was much warmer than on the mountaintop, so they wouldn’t need shelter as much as water and a place where they could stay together until it was safe to return to the city.
Desyra had been full of questions, keeping up a steady stream of conversation until the trek up the mountain forced her to concentrate just on the climb. Mount Avondale wasn’t like Hamill Keep. There were no sheer cliffs to scale, no craggy spines to traverse, just a long, gradually increasing slope that slowly wore them both down.
As they got closer to the mists, Olyva felt a sense of relief. She knew the mists were the final barrier on the climb back up to the city. And even though she relished the warm, almost intoxicating amber sunlight that filtered through the mists, she knew the pure, bright, direct sunlight above them would fill her with a much greater energy.
“You look tired,” Olyva said with a smile as she tried to ignore the burning pain in her legs.
“Exhausted,” Desyra moaned.
“Just think, Rafe carried me up the mountain to Hamill Keep, and that’s a much more difficult ascent than this.”
“I would … have left … you be … hind,” Desyra said between gulps of breath.
“How about we stop for a rest?”
“Yes, please!”
They sat down and ate the last of the rations that Olyva had brought. Olyva nibbled at a piece of bread, while Desyra munched happily on bread and cheese, some dried berries, and a honey cake.
“Why are you wasting your water?” Desyra asked in surprise.
Olyva was pouring the last of the water in her canteen over her feet. Since her encounter with the sentient trees, she preferred to hydrate by soaking up water through her long, root-like toes.
“I’m drinking,” Olyva said.
“You can’t drink like that.”
“I can. My toes are like tree roots. I can soak up water with them and…”
She let the words trail off as her whole body tensed. She could hear something moving toward them. Something was slowly slinking down the mountain, its rough hide scraping on the scrub brush. The sound was barely audible, even to Olyva’s enhanced sense of hearing, but it traveled on the wind, and she recognized it. Something was moving toward them, stalking her. She could read the sounds almost like words on a page.
“What’s wrong?” Desyra asked. “Olyva, are you okay?”
“Something is coming,” Olyva said, focusing on her sister’s pale face. “Get on your feet.”
“What is it?” Desyra said, her voice pinched with fear.
“I don’t know yet, but we’re going to be all right.”
Olyva wished she sounded more convincing. She had a spear and she felt confident using it to defend herself, but she was afraid the creature stalking them would somehow get past her and hurt Desyra.
“You have to stay behind me,” Olyva said. “If I turn, you move behind me. Don’t look at the animal, don’t run away. No matter what happens, you stay right behind me. Do you understand?”
Desyra was trembling, but she nodded her head.
“If something happens to me, you run straight up the mountain. Don’t stop and don’t look back. You run as long and as fast as you can. Get to the city and tell Rafe what happened.”
“I’m scared,” Desyra said.
“Me too,” Olyva admitted. “But I knew this was a possibility. Trust me, I can keep us safe.”
“Are you sure?”
Olyva tightened her grip on the spear. “Yes,” she said, fixing her resolve.
There was a deep-pitched rumble, and Olyva somehow knew that it was the creature taking a deep breath. She also knew it was about to come bounding out of the mists. Her thoughts about the creature were intuitive, as if the knowledge was inside her even though she had no idea how she could know anything about the beast.
She leveled the spear and wished she had another. If Rafe were there, she could tell him where to cast his spear, but she had only one weapon. She couldn’t risk losing it if she missed her throw. As confident as she was about where the creature was gathering itself to attack, she wasn’t sure she could throw her weapon that far.
“It’s coming,” Olyva said quietly. “Keep your eyes on me.”
She felt Desyra take hold of the back of the long shirt Olyva was wearing. Then a shape came flying out of the mist. It was dark, with stiff brown fur that was striped by tapering bands of black. The beast’s head was round, with a thick beard of white whiskers standing out from the bottom jaw up and around the crown of its head. The beast’s mouth was open, and large pointed teeth were clearly visible.
Olyva’s toes dug into the rocky soil, and she leaned forward. She felt a surge of strength flowing up from her feet, as if she were a mighty oak tree facing a winter storm, not a woman with a spear facing a charging beast that was twice her size.
Even though the creature was bounding toward her at incredible speed, Olyva could see the muscles flexing and contracting beneath the beast’s dull coat of fur. A deep growl erupted from its throat and rose to a high-pitched crescendo, but Olyva didn’t move. She kept the spear held straight in front of her, her own muscles tensed and ready to thrust her weapon into the beast’s heart, but at the last minute, the creature veered away.
It raced past, just out of reach of Olyva’s spear. One massive paw came swinging toward them, the curved claws raking nothing but air. It slid on the loose, rocky soil as it tried to stop and turn back. The creature was fast, but its footing was uncertain, and Olyva had more than enough time to turn downhill. Desyra wasn’t as fast. She scrambled around behind her older sister, and Olyva saw the beast’s eyes watching Desyra hungrily.
She got the impression that the animal wasn’t interested in her—it wanted Desyra. Olyva didn’t know if that was because Desyra was smaller and weaker or if it was because of the change the Hosscum trees had done to her. But above all else she knew she would die before she let anything happen to her baby sister.
“You can’t have her,” Olyva said, brandishing the spear. “There is nothing here but death.”
The animal screeched again, baring its fangs and swiping at the air with its massive, claw-lined paw. Olyva twirled the spear over her head and then brought the point down in a speeding slash that made the weapon whistle through the air.
The animal’s hind legs gathered beneath its belly, and Olyva knew instinctively that it was going to charge her again. She let one leg slide forward a single pace, then her toes once again burrowed into the ground. The spear rose to shoulder-level, and Olyva held it lightly in one hand. She had seen Rafe throw his spear, and she did her best to mimic him. She let the weapon balance in her palm, while her other arm pointed straight out in front of her. The spear moved back slowly; the metal point balanced so well it didn’t waver or sway.
“Run,” Olyva whispered to her younger sister.
“What?” Desyra asked, her voice a raw croak.
“Run!”
Desyra turned and scrambled up the hill. The animal saw her go and jumped forward at the same instant. It was no longer charging toward Olyva but angled slightly so that it could race past her and run down the little girl. Olyva knew she was taking a horrible chance. If her cast missed or if the spear didn’t kill the beast, it might reach her sister and devour her before Olyva could stop it.
She tracked the bounding creature with her spear, waiting an agonizing moment that seemed to stretch out in a long, dreadful eternity. Then she threw the spear. The animal was barely more than a spear’s length away, and its body was stretched out before Olyva, its front paws reaching out and its rear legs propelling it up the mountain. The spear slammed hard into the animal’s side. Her throw wasn’t perfect. She had been aiming to hit the beast just behind its front shoulder, hoping to drive the spear’s steel tip deep into its chest. But the animal was moving so fast that the spear sank into the beast’s soft belly instead, just below the thick rib cage. The spear tore through the flesh and organs, causing the animal to collapse. The rear legs twitched but couldn’t hold the animal up.
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