by Emma Hamm
Amicia dashed the guilt and fear from her mind. There would be time for mourning, but that time was not now. The creatures were in the forest with her, and that made this place infinitely more frightening.
What had her father used to say?
The Dread cannot stand fire. It is their greatest weakness. If you are ever lost in the forest, or if you are ever hunted by their kind, then you need to know how to start a fire, my dear girl.
But Father, she had asked. Won’t a fire bring them to me?
If you are in the forest, little one, then they already know where you are.
She remained flat in the mud for long heartbeats, straining her eyes to find what she would need. Dry twigs, enough kindling and logs so the fire would sustain itself for a long time. She just had to get through the night, and then she had bested them.
One night. She could get through a single night.
Amicia crawled through the mud and the slush to a small incline that led deeper into the forest. She had to get out of the wet, bog-like area and to somewhere it would hopefully be drier. Then she could gather all the materials needed for her plan.
Though her progress was slow, she crawled her way across the forest floor. Bugs bit at her skin, leaving itching welts that stung whenever she touched them. A few times she heard breaking tree limbs and had to freeze for long heartbeats before the sounds died back down.
But, by the time she found what she needed, none of the Dread had found her. Moving quickly, she gathered armfuls of bark and broken twigs from the undergrowth. She scooped handfuls of leaves into a ring around herself and buried logs underneath the leaves. The Dread would not attack her if she had protection through the night.
Amicia had one chance at this. Everything had to be perfect.
Finally, she had set up her own personal ring of tinder that would keep her safe. As a precaution, she also gathered a small bundle of thick logs and stacked them in the center.
She bent down and set to work. Her father had taught her how to light a fire with just two sticks. All it took was friction, enough movement to cause the smallest of sparks. Then, she would catch it in the dry leaves she had found and transport it to the ring.
Easy enough.
Except when she rubbed the sticks together, nothing happened. No spark. Just the bark coming off the twigs from her movement.
Come on, she thought, pressing them together harder. We’ve done this before, Amicia. Come on.
Twigs snapped in the forest beyond. It wasn’t the sound from an animal passing by. This was made by a large creature who had somehow, impossibly, found her.
Letting out a low hiss, Amicia pressed the sticks together frantically. She thought she might have a little more time than this, and yet, now they had found her. The twigs shifted, moving with a speed she hadn’t known possible even as her palms grew slick with sweat.
A small plume of smoke grew from the movement. She squeaked in excitement, then dove to the small embers. Cupping them in her hands, she blew on them until the flame grew to life.
Sounds of movement grew louder and louder, but she couldn’t be distracted. If she lost this tiny flame, then there would be nothing else for her. She would be captured, and the rest of her life would be spent as a winged monster.
Amicia wouldn’t abide by that future. She couldn’t.
Blowing hard on the fire that began to burn through the leaves to her palms, she made her way to the ring she’d set up around herself. Carefully, she placed it down and gave it one last lungful of air.
The fire burst to life. It filled the ring of twigs and leaves she’d set up with a great gust The sound seemed to echo through the forest.
The sudden flames illuminated a monstrous face.
A Dread who stood close enough it might have reached for her.
She stumbled back and landed on her bottom, hands pressed into the earth as she stared up at the creature. In response to the flames, it lifted an arm to cast a shadow across its strange eyes.
For a heartbeat, she thought it would come through the fire. It stared at her with a single-minded intent that made her think her father had been wrong. That these creatures didn’t care at all if there was fire. That it would come for her as it had her entire kingdom.
The creature took a step back. Its strange, elongated legs bent, and it moved away from the light. Arm still lifted to cover its face, the beast unfurled leathery wings and burst into the air through the canopy of leaves. The fire sputtered, but remained glowing strong.
Amicia shuddered. Fear and relief made her entire body shake until she could hardly hold herself together. She felt as though she might shatter.
She’d survived. Her father had been right.
She curled her arms around her knees, drawing them tight against her chest and tried to stop shivering. She should sleep. The night was young and the fire would keep going for a little while longer, but she didn’t know when it would stop. What if the creatures were just waiting for the right moment?
A cold breeze blasted by her. The flames shuddered along with a cold chill that danced down her spine. She would not get any sleep, not when the bitter winds of autumn tried their best to take away her safety.
Curling into a tighter ball, she tried to ignore the mud drying on her face and sticking her clothes to her sides. She would survive this. She had to.
Amicia stared into the forest, watching the reflection of the fire bouncing upon eyes that saw better in the dark. She didn’t know if those were the eyes of the Dread watching its prey or some other animal in the forest that stalked her now.
Either way, she wouldn’t sleep this night.
Chapter 4
Something cold touched the tip of Amicia’s nose. Once, twice, three times. She wanted to continue sleeping on her side and go back into happy dreams. The tiniest of brushes made her snort, then open her eyes.
The fire was nothing more than a weak smolder. Her father must not be working on a project this morning. If he had remembered the fire, then maybe he had remembered breakfast as well. Her stomach growled.
She pushed herself up onto her elbows and stared down between her hands. The ground was crystalized with frost.
The ground?
All the memories rushed back through her, striking over and over like a sledgehammer breaking through precious stone. The Dread. They had attacked her home; she had been the one to destroy everything, and then…
“Father,” she whispered, tears welling in her eyes once more. “Father, what have I done? What did you make me do?”
She pushed herself up, stumbling onto her feet and staring at the forest now flooded with light. A faint dusting of snow-covered everything but the circle of flame as far as her eye could see. The first snow had always been her favorite; the way it danced down from the sky made her laugh with glee.
Her father used to place her on his knee when she was little and it snowed. He’d point at every single snowflake and say each one was unique. Special.
Amicia lifted a hand and caught a few of them on her palm. They melted, but they were coming down thicker and thicker. This wasn’t just the first snow, but a storm that threatened to cover the entire forest in a blanket she wouldn’t be able to survive.
She had to find shelter. The trees wouldn’t keep her safe from the snow, but she also didn’t want to leave her circle of safety just yet.
This land was foreign. Amicia hadn’t even seen maps of this area before. There never had been a reason for her to leave the safety of Little Marsh. What had her father been thinking? Sending her out into the wilds on her own with no training on how to stay safe didn’t seem the smartest task he’d ever given her.
But that wasn’t fair. He’d wanted her to live. He’d had faith that if something like this were to happen, she would know how to take care of herself. That she would continue to survive because he and all the people of Little Marsh hadn’t.
“You can’t stay here forever,” she muttered. “Find a way.”
/> She decided the only way to find a shelter was to continue forward. She couldn’t go back to Little Marsh. The Dread were probably still swarming the place, looking for survivors.
Which meant she had to continue through the forest. The mere thought made her knees weak. The Dread were already here, she’d seen them last night, and somehow she was certain they would attack once her fire was out.
So, she would have to take the fire with her. Amicia bent down and grabbed a large branch. She tore a small strip of fabric off the bottom of her skirts and wrapped it around the end. That would burn for longer than just a plain stick. She’d have to keep ruining her apron, but the damned thing was already mud-splattered.
She trudged through the forest, brandishing her makeshift torch high above her head. Let the Dread come to her if they dared. She would fight them as she had before. The creatures were not as nimble as she.
The snow continued to fall, blanketing the earth in a thin layer of shimmering ice. Her books kept her feet warm, and she was grateful for the socks preventing frostbite from eating her toes.
She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself. She would have given anything for a shawl. Even just a scrap of fabric to wrap around her arms and shoulders.
The pine trees grew laden with snow, their branches bowing down and touching the ground. The snow deepened. Soon, Amicia was trudging through snow halfway up to her knees.
I will endure this, the words echoed in her mind, forcing her to move forward. She could survive. She would survive, for what other choice did she have?
The cold bit through her clothing. Her breath fogged in front of her face, and she couldn’t quite feel her fingers any longer. She tried very hard not to think about what that meant, but it wasn’t good. People died very fast in the cold.
She peered through the snow and the icy storm. A hut, that’s all she wanted to find. Something, anything, to give her a little shelter. She couldn’t even build a fire with all the twigs and branches, wet and cold. A thin layer of ice covered everything, warmth disappearing from the world.
As if by magic, the storm stilled for a heartbeat of time. Amicia stared forward at a chateau stretching as far as her eye could see. A great monolith of a building, stunning and splendorous in sudden clarity.
This place must have once been a sight to behold. She could hardly fathom the sheer size of it, as it seemed to go on for miles. A lake surrounded the chateau, though the waters were now frozen. Great pillars stretched up from the corners of the building, high up to the many stories. From the windows, she counted at least three levels where people might have lived.
Gold and silver gilded the entire building. Gardens stretched in a maze around the sides, and she wondered if they went all the way behind the chateau.
“What is this place?” She whispered the words, and the wind took them from her lips. Pulling them away and dashing them toward the chateau as though the castle might answer her question itself.
If someone so grand had lived near Little Marsh, wouldn’t she have heard of it? Surely, the villagers would have spoken of the great lord, or prince, who lived far away in the woods.
She didn’t have time to ponder what strange anomaly had brought her to this place. It was serendipity, and she was saved. The servants wouldn’t turn her away from a warm fire and perhaps a few bites of bread before they sent her on her way.
The storm picked up again, but she knew where to walk now. Putting one foot in front of the other, she forced her body to continue moving. Her knees shook, wanting to collapse with the weight of exhaustion and cold. Her shoulders ached from keeping her body straight, and her heart thundered in her chest.
Amicia touched a foot to the ice and paused when the entire lake heaved a gurgle of protest. The ice was only recently frozen. Though it had been a cold fall, she still wasn’t certain the lake was solid.
But, she was so close to warmth. She could almost feel a fire crackling at her side and her toes finding feeling once more.
There hadn’t been a road to the chateau. Only the great lake circling it. The mere idea of having to trek around the entire chateau to double check was enough to make her body tremble. She couldn’t manage that. It wasn’t possible for her to continue on much longer. If she risked walking around the chateau, then she would find herself face down in a snowbank and that would be the end of her.
She placed her other foot on the ice and tried to disperse her weight. Amicia had once seen a man fall through a pond in Little Marsh. He’d been playing with his friends, jokingly trying to run across the not quite frozen water.
The man had fallen in four steps away from the land, but it was still too far for him to find his way back easily. He’d laid across the ice and crawled his way back once he’d pulled himself out of the frigid water.
Of course, the pond had been much smaller than the lake she now struggled to cross. If she fell through in the middle of this lake, then she wasn’t getting back out. Her skirts weighed enough to drag her to the bottom.
Amicia shifted the torch lower, staring down at the ice to guess its thickness. White bubbles had lifted and frozen in place, giving the entire lake a spotted texture. She wasn’t sure why the snow wasn’t sticking to the surface. The white flakes blew across the ice until it resembled a mirror.
Every step felt as though it would be her last. Every time she moved, the lake seemed to as well. Amicia paused each time, exhaled long and slow, then continued forward.
It might have been hours to cross the lake, or only a few moments. However long it took, she found herself with her feet touching land.
The muscles in her legs loosened in relief, sending her down onto one knee for a moment. She pressed her fist into the cold ground. Would she ever catch her breath again? She heaved gulp after gulp of the frigid air until her lungs ached.
You made it, she thought. Now get back on your feet and continue.
She shoved herself to standing and shuffled forward. This close, the chateau appeared even larger. It loomed over her like the peak of a mountain, dark and ominous.
From across the lake, it had seemed only a forgotten lord with a handful of servants might inhabit such a place. Now, staring up at the broken windows and aging pillars, Amicia wasn’t so certain there would be anyone within the walls at all. Perhaps the Dread had already done their work here.
Some inner voice whispered she was in danger, and she hesitated. Shards of broken glass littered the ground, not ice. Vines and branches poked through windows where plants were growing within the walls.
No one had been in this chateau for years, it appeared. This place had long been abandoned.
The question was why? Who would leave such an opulent home to rot? Or had they?
A bitter wind blasted through her clothing, sending goosebumps across her flesh. But this time, she didn’t feel the cold. Not at all. Instead, all she felt was a numbness that frightened her more than the Dread.
There was no choice. She had to go inside this forgotten chateau.
Amicia circled the building, looking for a side entrance that servants might have used. That seemed far safer than waltzing in through the front door. Although it looked abandoned, she didn’t know what creatures had made this place their home.
A small door on the side of the building had been left open. Perhaps in their attempts to escape? Amicia imagined the Dread attacking a building like this. How they would have destroyed the windows, torn up the beautiful artwork within the walls of this place. They would have turned something so lovely and beautiful into nothing more than rubble.
She placed a hand on the open door. Three deep grooves marred the mahogany wood, nearly from top to bottom. Her fingers didn’t even reach between the expanse of them. Whatever had made such a mark was a great beast indeed.
Her stomach twisted. She should go. She should leave this haunted place, but there was nowhere else to go.
“Strength,” she muttered to herself. “What would Father say? Be strong, because the
re is no one else to be strong for you.”
Repeating the words and hearing them in her own voice, not her father’s, only made her remember just how alone she was.
Tears pricked her eyes, but she dashed them away. She had little time for emotions like this. First, she needed to find herself a safe place to rest her head.
Holding the torch higher, she stepped into the abandoned chateau.
This was the servants’ quarters, and the door led into the largest kitchen she had ever seen in her life, although it had been a hollow shell for many years. The blackened remains of food littered a large table that could have seated twenty people in the center of the room. One wall was lined with so many stoves she couldn’t imagine how much they might have cooked at once. The other wall was lined with pots and pans, each with a thick layer of grime.
Despite the clear neglect and age, this place was still beautiful. The table’s gilded legs might have shone if she polished well enough. Each stove was carved with a story, although she was too tired to figure out what they were. A fairytale, perhaps? She couldn’t hazard a guess. None of the depictions were familiar.
The kitchens were a fine place to sleep for the night. She could even check to see if there was charcoal or wood left in the stoves. But she wanted to know what this chateau was. If the floors of the kitchen were made of the finest marble, what did the rest look like?
Curiosity sang in her ears like the ringing of bells. Her father used to tell her stories about chateaux such as this place. He’d claimed they were a haven for tinkers. Secret doors. Hidden switches. Passages that led all throughout the castles so servants would never be seen by nobility.
She wondered if any such secrets were hidden within these walls.
She made her way through the kitchen, then pressed a hand against the door leading out. Her own curiosity was getting the better of her, but she still closed a hand on the doorknob. Anyone could live in this chateau. Even the Dread might have taken it over, although she couldn’t imagine the creatures living in such a beautiful place.