Into the Nightfell Wood

by Kristin Bailey

Osmund stared at him. Elric watched an internal war play out on Osmund’s face.

  “The Grendel is after her. There are reapers in the woods, hunting,” Elric said. “Please,” he begged. “Don’t abandon her, too.”

  Muttering a curse, Osmund strode forward, tossing the turnips into Elric’s arms. “I swore if I ever had the chance, I would never go back!” he shouted. “I’m only doing this for Wynn.”

  Elric dropped the turnips and hurried after him as Osmund dislodged his short-handled ax. “Thank you,” Elric said under his breath even though he knew Osmund couldn’t hear him. He lifted the medallion at his neck. Its glow was nearly gone.

  They rushed through the woods, Osmund leading the way, but he paused at the edge of the stones. Elric charged through to the center of the mossy ring. Looking like a man at the gallows, Osmund stepped over the threshold. “No matter what I say, play along,” he warned.

  Elric didn’t have time to ponder what Osmund meant by that. “We’re here!” Elric called, holding his medallion high, and the ground dropped away.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Wynn

  WYNN BACKED UP FROM THE smoke and shadows in front of her. Then she remembered the fearsome cat was behind her. She stopped. She couldn’t move, and her thoughts muddled in her head.

  Shadows were bad. The fairies said the Grendel dressed in shadows.

  The curling smoke and darkness spilled down, spreading across the forest floor.

  A girl emerged from the cloak of shadow. Long, softly curling hair the color of midnight surrounded her. She held a worn and knotty staff. A dress formed of black smoke trailed behind her as she approached. She had scars on her face, like she had been attacked by an animal once. She stared ahead, somewhere between Wynn and the cat behind her. Her eyes were very dark brown and half hidden by thick lashes.

  “Go back to your little stick city, elf,” the girl said, crossing her long staff in front of her. “Before I change my mind about sparing you.”

  Wynn was so scared, she barely understood the words the girl had said. “I don’t know,” Wynn mumbled, because she had no other words that her mind could put together quickly.

  The girl took a step forward, and Wynn had to take a step back. She almost slipped into the ditch.

  “What do you mean, you don’t know?” she demanded.

  Wynn didn’t have the words; they wouldn’t come.

  The girl charged forward with her staff. She hit Wynn in the arm, and Wynn fell on her side. The girl reached down, grasping for her, and touched her hair. She let go like Wynn was on fire. With her forehead furrowed, she backed away. She touched her own hair and frowned. “What are you?”

  “My name is Wynn.” She said each word carefully. “What is your name?”

  The girl didn’t answer; instead she peered over Wynn’s shoulder at the other side of the ditch.

  The enormous striped cat leaped over the ditch and circled around the girl. It pushed its head under the girl’s outstretched hand and closed its eyes for a moment. The girl stroked the cat’s head, then let her hand rest on the beast’s striped shoulder.

  “I’m not in the habit of talking. You have one last chance. What are you?” she asked. The cat’s large yellow eyes fixed on her. “Shadow doesn’t recognize your kind.”

  Wynn thought about her answer. “I’m a girl,” she said, carefully forming her words.

  The big cat stepped forward. It huffed, sniffing at Wynn’s shredded skirt. Wynn reached out and patted it on the head.

  It backed up, coming down on its haunches until it sat awkwardly with its back feet splayed out. It blinked its big eyes. Just then it looked very much like a large, confused kitty.

  Wynn laughed.

  The girl peered at her, her eyes staring. “What was that sound?” she asked. Her voice sounded strange, like she was surprised.

  Wynn looked around. “What sound?” A howl rose deep, deep in the woods. Another reaper. Wynn covered her ears and ducked.

  The girl turned her head, and the big cat made the rumbling noise again. “There’s another reaper somewhere in the wood. You had better find your way home, girl.”

  Wynn hiccupped. “I am lost,” she said. She missed Elric. “I don’t know where to go.”

  The girl tilted her head toward the big cat, and the cat looked up at her and raised its striped brows. Both the girl and the cat let out a huff at the same time. The cat’s stripes faded to white as it stood and resumed its position at the girl’s side. Her hand returned to the cat’s shoulder.

  Together they turned their backs to Wynn, and the cat flicked the pale tip of its tail. Finally the girl said, “Come with us, and you might survive the coming night.”

  Wynn did her best to follow the girl and the big striped cat. It was hard. The light was fading quickly, but the girl didn’t slow down at all. She walked with one hand on the cat’s shoulder, and prodded the roots and branches around her with her staff.

  Wynn had to climb over the roots and rocks. Sometimes she fell behind. She wasn’t as good at crawling through the forest. This wasn’t like the woods she had grown up in. There, the trees gave each other room to grow. These trees grew close together and were bigger and more twisty than the trees in the Otherworld. Every time Wynn stared into the shadows, she thought she saw eyes staring back. The big cat flicked the white tip of its tail, and Wynn hurried to catch up.

  They reached a hill, where the roots of the trees became like the rungs of a ladder. It was hard for Wynn to climb in her dress. Shredded bits kept tangling around her legs, and getting under her toes. She wished she had smoke clothes like the girl. Her legs moved freely through the smoky dress. On her back, there was a strange mark. Wynn caught a glimpse of it every time the thick curls of the girl’s hair swung to the side. It was a circle, paler than the rest of her tawny brown skin, with a star in the center, and what looked like flames. It reminded Wynn of the seal in the palace, but it was different. The flower seal was calming. This looked fierce.

  “What is that?” Wynn asked.

  The girl paused. She turned slowly back to Wynn, but not all the way, only enough to tilt an ear toward her. “What is what?”

  “The mark on your back?” she asked. “It’s pretty.”

  The girl moved away again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The girl’s hair fell over the mark and hid it from her.

  Still, Wynn was glad she wasn’t alone. The forest wasn’t as dark here. She could see the sky through gaps in the twisted branches. The light was fading. There was no color in the sun setting, the way there usually was when she looked through the shield that protected the fairy lands. Here the pale gray sky slowly turned to black. Still, the trees didn’t look as angry in this part of the woods. They seemed more like the ones in the groves she used to play in.

  Enormous mushrooms grew in clusters. They had red and orange caps sprinkled with white splotches. Ferns also curled up from the forest floor, giving the woods a soft and feathery look. It felt better here. It felt less sad, less scary. The woods were almost pretty. As the girl passed, the ferns uncurled their long fronds toward her. As Wynn reached them, they recoiled as if they were sad the girl had passed.

  The girl paused on the crest of the hill, turned, and sat on a rock. She crossed her staff in front of her and stared at Wynn.

  “Well, why don’t you answer Shadow’s question?” The girl gave her an expression that reminded her of Elric when he got impatient because she forgot something.

  Wynn clung to the root she had been climbing and blinked at the girl. “I don’t know.” She didn’t remember a question. “Shadow can talk?”

  “Of course she can.” The girl let out a huff that almost sounded like a laugh. But it wasn’t really a laugh.

  “I don’t hear.” Wynn reached the top of the roots and sat on the ground. She rubbed the bits of dirt and small rocks from the bottoms of her bare feet. “I don’t hear animals talking.” That was something fairies could do. But only if they were very
old like Elk, or royal like the queen. Even then, they couldn’t talk to every animal. No one ever knew what Mildred was saying. It drove most of the fairies batty. Wynn looked at Shadow. “She growls.”

  “Oh.” The girl looked confused. “How awful for you. I’m sorry. I haven’t met a girl before.”

  “I haven’t met a Shadow before. I haven’t met a you before,” Wynn said.

  “Shadow is a tigereon, the last of her kind in the Nightfell Wood,” the girl said.

  “I don’t know the wood,” Wynn said. “There are elves here. Are you an elf?”

  The girl gave her a sour look. “Absolutely not. The elves would kill Shadow, like they did the rest of her kind. We stay to ourselves.”

  “You are all alone?” That didn’t sound very nice. This was a scary place to be alone.

  Shadow rubbed her thick head against the girl’s side. The girl scratched the tigereon’s rounded ear. “We like it that way.”

  Wynn didn’t like to be alone. She missed Mildred. She hoped Mildred was safe. She was worried about Hob, too. He hit the tree so hard when the reaper threw him. What if he was dead? The reaper dragged her too far away for her to find him again. She couldn’t help.

  Wynn wiped her eye. She felt very sad and didn’t want to climb through the forest anymore. She crossed her legs under her ripped and muddy skirt. It didn’t glow the way it used to. She pressed a hand to her side. It was bleeding, and she had no honey to put on it to help it heal.

  The smoke-and-shadow girl stood and took a step closer to her. The warm scent of a campfire surrounded Wynn and made her feel a little better. She tapped Wynn on the knee with her staff, then held out a hand. “Come on. My home is not far. It’s a safe place to sleep.”

  Wynn took the other girl’s hand. She pulled Wynn to her feet.

  Wynn’s tummy growled. Shadow made a huffing noise and walked away into the ferns. Her stripes turned a dark green. The tigereon crouched low, slinking through the underbrush, until she disappeared. Wynn moved to follow her white-tipped tail.

  The shadow girl crossed her staff in front of Wynn. “Stay back,” she warned.

  “Is it something dangerous?” Wynn asked. She hated the reaper, and she didn’t want to meet another one.

  “No,” the girl said. “It’s dinner.”

  Dinner! Wynn was excited. She was really hungry. But then she heard something that made her feel sick in her middle.

  Awwwwk . . . bok . . . bok . . . bok.

  “Mildred!” Wynn cried. She ran forward, leaping over roots and rocks as she scrambled through the ferns toward the crouching cat. Shadow pressed low to the forest floor, the colors changing in her stripes. Her hips shifted from side to side as she prepared to pounce.

  Wynn threw herself toward the creature. She grabbed the tigereon’s twitchy tail and pulled.

  Shadow whipped around and snarled at her. Her thick muzzle drew back from enormous white fangs as her iridescent whiskers pressed flat against the sides of her head.

  “Leave her alone!” Wynn shouted. She pulled hard on Shadow’s tail. The cat took a half-hearted swipe at her with her paw. Wynn jumped on her back and clung to the fur on her sides.

  The tigereon spun in a circle, trying to reach Wynn.

  “Mildred is not for eating!” Wynn shouted.

  Mildred leaped up with a panicked squawk. She flapped her wings furiously as the beast stretched and snapped. Mildred landed on the cat’s head and pecked her.

  “Mildred! No, bad chicken!” Wynn called, even as she clung to the cat’s back. “Get away.”

  Mildred never ran from a fight. She was the bravest chicken Wynn had ever known. Wynn had to save her before she was gobbled up.

  She reached out and grabbed one of Mildred’s legs. Then she threw herself off the back of the squirming cat and rolled through the dirt, holding Mildred close to her heart. She would run if she had to. She didn’t care if she got lost in the woods again. Mildred was worth it.

  “You find something else to hunt,” Wynn said, kicking dirt at the large cat. “Mildred is mine.”

  Shadow roared at her, so Wynn slapped her on the nose. The cat’s eyes went wide, and she snorted and shook her head.

  “That’s enough of this,” the girl said, tapping Shadow with her staff. “Shadow, leave it be.” The girl turned her dark eyes to Wynn. “What is this thing to you?”

  “Mildred is mine. I love her.”

  Wynn tucked the chicken under her chin, and Mildred let out a soft coo. Shadow hung her head. She looked angry. Her ears pressed back on her neck and her tail thrashed behind her. The girl stroked Shadow’s flank, and the big cat hissed.

  “I know you’re disappointed, and I’m sure the strange creature is tasty, but I think this one is not for eating,” the girl said to the cat. “Leave it be.” The girl gave the beast a pat on the side of its strong neck. It growled at her. “You should probably apologize for slapping Shadow and pulling her tail,” the girl said to Wynn.

  “Thank you,” Wynn said to the girl, then turned to Shadow. “I’m sorry. Mildred is my friend and I love her.”

  “Whatever that thing is, keep it close,” the girl said as she turned away from Wynn. “Love is a rare thing in these woods.” Her hand stroked the tigereon’s back.

  Wynn cuddled Mildred and pet her neck. Everything that felt empty and achy in her body felt full and better now. She was so happy to see her hen again. The girl set off down a narrow path through the woods, using her staff and keeping her fingertips on the shoulder of the tiger. Wynn followed, carrying Mildred and snuggling her close.

  Night was falling quickly, but somehow there seemed to be light. Small white flowers grew along the path. Like the ferns, they glowed as the smoke-and-shadow girl passed by. Their little spots of light shone brightly against the dark forest floor. Strange bugs floated around, dancing through the curls of smoke and darkness trailing off the girl’s shoulders like a cloak; they flapped their wings like butterflies but gave off a faint blue glow. Wynn heard the splashing water of a creek nearby.

  All around them were large boulders. Some of them were square. Boulders shouldn’t be square. These were stone blocks someone had shaped long ago. Moss clung to their sides, hiding patterns that had been carved into them. The thick coating of moss grew in a squishy layer over the flat stones under their feet. Wynn turned around and stared into the fading light of the wood. Crumbling stone towers from a ruined city reached up higher than the tops of the trees that grew between them. The forest had taken the city back. Ahead was a crack between two boulders. No, it was a doorway.

  The girl motioned for them to come inside.

  Wynn ducked through the doorway, and placed Mildred on the floor. The hen stayed close to her ankle as the big cat slid past them and melted into the dark. Mildred gave Shadow an angry tut. She wasn’t ready to be friends with Shadow. To be honest, Wynn wasn’t sure what she thought of Shadow, either. Sometimes she seemed nice, but she had tried to eat Mildred. Wynn didn’t want to have a friend that had tried to eat her other friend.

  Wynn entered the doorway, and it was like stepping into a very dark cave.

  Inside, she couldn’t see a thing.

  “It’s dark,” she said, and kept her body pressed against the stones to the right.

  “Does that matter?” the girl asked.

  “I don’t like it,” Wynn said.

  The girl sighed. A fire sprang to life in the center of the room within a small circle of stones. The girl didn’t seem surprised, but Wynn was. The fire didn’t burn sticks or grass. Instead it licked over a pile of ordinary-looking rocks.

  “Is this better?” the girl asked. Bright tongues of flame danced through her curls for a moment, then faded.

  “Yes,” Wynn murmured as she looked around. They were in an old room. On one side a wall had collapsed and was now a pile of rubble. The roots of a tree gripped the chunks of stone and held them. On the other wall was a faded mural of hunters holding fearsome contraptions and firing arrows
into a dying tigereon that was caught in a trap. Shadow blinked her large gold eyes at the mural, then turned back to Wynn. Wynn frowned.

  Poor Shadow. That was a terrible picture. Maybe if she had something to draw with, she could fix it for her. Wynn eyed the fire. Charcoal would work, but there was no wood in the fire, only rocks. The rest of the chamber was cramped, but relatively comfortable, with a pile of soft mosses and springy ferns in the corner. Wynn sat on a rock with a flat top, one of the blocks of stone that had fallen from the old wall.

  “This is your house?” Wynn asked.

  “At the moment,” she answered with a shrug. “It’s nice to have some company. You may stay as long as you want. The reapers won’t find you here. The smell of smoke that lingers in this part of the wood masks our scent, and the reapers are afraid of fire.”

  Wynn was confused. The smoky smell came from the girl herself.

  “I need to go back to the fairy palace,” Wynn said. Mildred strutted over to Shadow and gave her paw a peck before jumping on the tigereon’s hip and settling down to roost. Shadow growled at her and twitched her tail, but didn’t try to eat her. Wynn turned to the other girl. “Can you take me?”

  “No,” the girl answered. “You don’t want to go back there. You can never trust the fairies.”

  “The fairies are nice!” Wynn said. Mildred clucked in agreement.

  The girl didn’t blink. Her dark eyes caught the flickering light. “I’m sure they are very kind as they sit in their protected little bubble and let the rest of the world around them rot under the stench of the Dark One.”

  Wynn didn’t know what to say. She had to concentrate hard on the girl’s words. Shadow curled up behind the girl. She lounged back against the cat’s striped side. “If you think the fairies are going to risk their precious safety to save you, you’re going to be waiting for a long time. They will never set foot in this wood. This is your world now.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  Elric

  ELRIC BRACED HIMSELF AS HE fell through the fairy portal. Now that he knew what to expect from the fall, he was determined not to lose his balance this time when he landed. His feet hit the floor hard, but he managed to stay upright, even though he stumbled a little to the left. Osmund took a quick step back, but used his woodcutter’s ax to steady himself.