“Well come on then,” Anna instructed, gesturing with her hand for Naoki to move forward. “You stand a better chance of tracking your mother than I.”
Naoki chittered again, then sped off like an arrow, making a beeline toward . . . well Anna didn’t know what she was heading toward, but she hoped it was Finn. She took off at a run after the dragon, hoping the beast would not leave her behind.
Finn wandered further into the dark, boggy forest. If it was simply a matter of waiting for the spell her body was under to wear off, all she needed to do was remain far enough away from Keiren to buy her that time. She could only hope that her mother had told her the truth, and that her companions were now safe with the Aos Sí.
She flexed her palm where Keiren had cut her. She’d been so close to giving away another portion of her immortality, not fully understanding what the consequences might be. If she gave away enough, would she eventually become a mortal woman?
She didn’t really mind the idea. Part of her felt like she had lived long enough. The hole her daughter had left in her heart seemed to be slowly eating away at her, even though she refused to fully acknowledge it. She was tired, and even with the company of her companions, she was lonely. No one could truly understand the burden laid upon her, as much as they tried.
She shook her head and hopped over a low, mucky puddle, her thoughts lingering on Iseult. It was so easy for him to put up a wall between them whenever he chose. She wasn’t even sure exactly what that imaginary wall was made of. He’d made it clear that he would not acknowledge any feelings he had for her beyond his duty, yet he also displayed moments of tenderness . . .
Completely absorbed in her thoughts, her foot touched down on something soft. She let out a yip of fright and tried to lift it again, but it stuck in the brown, gooey substance.
She pulled again, then frowned.
Crouching down with her other foot on moderately dry land, she began to untie her boot strings. As she picked at the knot, snarled with small brambles and mud, something warm and wet splattered on the back of her hand.
Curious, she turned her hand over to see a splotch of the sticky brown mud. Hmm. She hadn’t been moving enough to fling the splatter on herself. She glanced up, wondering if it had dripped from one of the branches above, then another splatter hit her hand.
She gasped, then looked down to see another glob flying upward from the muck to land on her breeches. Then another.
Her heart in her throat, she tugged on her foot, but the mud would not release her boot, and the knot in her boot strings seemed impossible to loosen.
Desperate, she groped at her waist for her dagger to cut the strings, but a big splatter of mud leapt up and smacked over her eyes. She gasped, and the sticky, smelly mud flew into her mouth.
Choking and sputtering, she fell to her side and tugged futilely at her boot, but her entire foot and calf was made slick by the mud. She gave a hearty tug, only to have her hands slip, the momentum tossing her fully onto her back. She could feel her breeches dampening as the mud climbed up her leg, engulfing it while tugging her toward the center of the muck.
She continued to fight like a rabbit caught in a snare, but the mud was too slippery. She spat out the remaining muck in her mouth and opened it to scream, but another splatter snaked through her lips, blocking her airways. She reflexively inhaled, then choked violently on the mud as it entered her lungs.
Distantly her mind registered a loud squeal behind her, but she could not focus on it in her panic. Her fright increased as something wrapped around her bicep and started pulling her away from the muck. The force at her back pulled so hard that her foot slipped out of her wet boot. They thunked to the ground, hard, but who, or what, ever was dragging her recovered and continued pulling. After scraping across rocks and sharp grass for what seemed like an eternity, the grip fell away from her arm and Finn’s back hit the ground. She rolled on her side and coughed up mud until she vomited, then lay heaving, lacking the strength to wipe the remaining mud from her eyes.
“You’re just always in trouble, aren’t you?” a woman’s voice muttered, panting from exertion.
Hot breath hit Finn’s damp, muddy face, then something warm and wiggly snaked across her cheek, removing a portion of the mud. The touch came again, right over her eyes, finally allowing her to open them.
Naoki, her white feathers dotted with mud, peered down at her with spherical, lilac eyes. Gasping, Finn wrapped her weak arms around her pet dragon.
“Oh yes,” the woman’s voice sniped, “thank the dragon.”
Finn rolled over with Naoki in her arms to see Anna sitting next to her.
“Anna?” she croaked through the grit burning her throat. “How?”
Anna rolled her eyes, then flicked brown muck from her hands. “How do you think? I’ve come here before.”
Finn sat up, pushing Naoki to her lap, though the dragon was now far too large to rest there. Thinking of Naoki . . . she turned her muddy face back toward Anna. “And you brought Naoki too?”
She shook her head. “No, she was here before I was. She ran off before the battle. She must have realized part of you was somewhere else and went looking.”
She looked down at Naoki again. Could it be possible for her to travel to the in-between at will? She shook her head, there were more important things to discuss, if only she could get her head straight.
“You said a battle?” she questioned, turning back to Anna. “Is everyone alright? Did Keiren interfere?”
“Who’s Keiren?” Anna asked, standing to brush the mud from her breeches. Clumps of it littered her dark hair, held back in a tight braid.
Finn looked past Naoki at her feet, one now bootless with her sock dangling from her toes. She didn’t feel quite ready to stand. “She’s Àed’s daughter,” she explained. “She’s asked Niklas to bring me here.”
“Ah,” Anna replied. “The one Bedelia mutters about from time to time? Well, we didn’t see any women there, just Reivers and that Traveler. Then the Aos Sí showed up and ended the fight quickly. We made camp with them, then I came here.” She peered around. “Where exactly is here?”
“I don’t know,” Finn replied, finally coaxing Naoki aside to stand. She was absolutely dripping wet with mud. Lovely. At least she wasn’t dead. “What did the Aos Sí want?”
Anna eyed her speculatively. “You don’t seem surprised at their mention.”
She blushed. “I’ve had a few encounters since I arrived. I knew they found you.”
Anna nodded. “Found us and saved us, because they want you to save them.”
Finn sighed. Was it truly her job to save everyone. “Did Iseult ask you to come?” she asked, ready to change the subject.
Anna smirked. “Iseult doesn’t know I’m here. I decided to come on my own, for Kai’s sake.” She narrowed her gaze, making Finn suddenly nervous. “You know,” she continued, “you’ll have to stop making these men crazy over you at some point. You’ll be the death of them.” She flicked a last splatter of mud to the ground. “Or me.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Finn replied.
Anna snorted, then started walking in the opposite direction of the animate muck puddle.
With a glance down at Naoki, Finn followed.
“Yes you do,” Anna continued. “Kai and Iseult both love you, but you only love Iseult back. Why won’t you let Kai go? He’s worried sick about you right now.”
She glared at Anna’s back as she followed her. “Is this truly the time to discuss this?”
Anna snorted again. “Why not? Now that I’ve verified you’re alive,” she glanced over her shoulder to show Finn her smirk, “largely because of me,” she continued, “my mission is accomplished and I simply need to wake up, then wait for you to wake up.”
“Any idea when that will be?” Finn asked, cringing as her bootless foot found a sharp rock.
Not turning around, Anna shrugged. “I was out for days when the same powder was used on me, but the Tr
avelers might have administered more while I was unconscious, so I don’t know. Now back to my original question. Don’t think that you can change the subject.”
“Kai is my friend,” she grumbled.
“He wants to be more than friends,” Anna snapped back. “You may have been naive when you first came back to this world after being a tree, but you have your memories back now, so don’t play dumb.”
Why on earth was Anna questioning her about this? She was trapped in the in-between, and had just nearly died not even knowing what would have become of her body resting in reality. Glancing at Anna’s resolute expression, she sighed, “I care about Kai. Perhaps it is selfish, but I’m glad he’s still around. I’m glad you’re around too, even if you’re behaving like an angry mother badger.”
Anna stopped and faced her. “Do you love him?”
Finn blinked at her for several seconds. “Shouldn’t we be finding a place to hide before the mud finds a way to follow us?”
Anna crossed her arms and waited patiently.
“What do you want me to say?” Finn snapped. “That perhaps I am in love with two men at once? That perhaps Iseult makes me feel safe, but Kai understands me better? That Kai, not even knowing my full past, seems to know me better than anyone else?”
Anna raised a dark eyebrow at her.
“What?” she demanded, fed up.
“Well,” Anna mused. “At least you’ve finally admitted it.” With that, she turned and started walking again.
Finn hurried after her with Naoki at her heels. “So you were just prodding me to get me to admit that I might love them both? Why?”
“Someone had to make you,” she explained. “And everyone else seems to be terrified of hurting your feelings. I wouldn’t be your friend if I wasn’t honest with you.”
Wait. Anna was trying to be her . . . friend? Finn couldn’t help but smile. She increased her pace to keep up with Anna’s determined gait. “Did I thank you for saving me back there?”
Anna rolled her eyes. “No, you did not.”
“Well thank you,” Finn sighed. “For everything.”
Anna glared at her, then seemed to comprehend that Finn was genuinely thanking her. She did not reply, but the small smile on her lips was acceptance enough for Finn.
Branwen’s eyes fluttered open. The white tent above her glowed softly in the moonlight. How long had she been asleep?
She turned onto her side with a groan as her thoughts caught up with her. Anders was dead. There was nothing she could do to save him like he’d saved her, and according to the female Traveler, she couldn’t even go back to the in-between to say goodbye.
She squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wishing to go back to sleep. Her entire body still ached, but the pain in her heart was worse. She needed to escape it.
“Will you have your brother’s death be in vain?” a melodious male voice asked.
Her eyes snapped open. In one corner of the shadowy tent lurked a Traveler. He looked similar to all the rest, minus the mischievous glint in his reflective eyes.
“What do you mean?” she rasped, too tired to lift her head from her pillow. “Is there a way to save him?”
“No,” the Traveler replied with a chuckle, “but there is a way for you to earn a normal life back at your family’s Archive where you will be safe . . . for now. Your brother gave his life so that you may live, it would be a pity if you did not make it home.”
She forced herself to a seated position, though her body stiffened, then spasmed in protest.
“What do you mean, for now?” she groaned, feeling nauseous. Her brother was truly dead. She had failed him, and she wasn’t sure if she could go home. Could she return to a normal life after all she’d endured?
The Traveler shrugged. “Many will die in the times to come. I cannot ensure your safety upon reaching the Archives, but I imagine you will be safer there than most anywhere else.”
She shook her head, then flinched at the sudden pain stabbing through her skull. “Tell me what you want from me,” she hissed, “then be gone.”
The Traveler steepled his fingers in front of his face and smiled. “I have many pieces on the game board. I have a sorceress poised to break the barriers to the in-between. I have a soulless man who will inspire a queen to help her, with the Gray Lady to show them the way. Now all I need is a wraith to provide them with a link to the other realm.”
She blinked at him, utterly confused as he continued, “You see, wraiths cannot travel to the in-between, because they survive on the energy that holds the barriers in place. They are bound to the land, but possess a connection to that other place that most cannot access. If enough power is filtered through a wraith, it will inflate the barriers until they burst.”
She shook her head, once again cringing at the pain. “I don’t understand, why are you telling me all of this. Queens and wraiths? This has nothing to do with me.”
He smiled. “You apparently have not caught on. Wraiths are formed when a trapped spirit is pulled from the in-between and given physical form. They no longer share in the connected life force of the land, rather, they are animated by the power of death, the great power that keeps the in-between separated from the land of the living.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re telling me that because I was trapped in the in-between for so long, I’m now a wraith, given life by the powers of death?”
Using small motions, he gently clapped his hands together, applauding her. “I see you are as astute as your brother after all.”
“Yes,” she replied, feeling a sudden lurch in her gut at the mention of her brother. She gritted her teeth against her threatening tears. “Yes, I am,” she continued, “which leads me to ask, why in the Horned One’s name would I want to help you?”
The Traveler snickered. “My people made you a wraith, and they can end you just as easily. That’s the entire point of creating a wraith to begin with. They are at the mercy of their creators, forced to do their bidding. If we take away that which animates you, then your brother died in vain. If, however, you choose to help us, I will release you from your contract and you can return to your family. You will still be a wraith, but you may live somewhat normally.”
If she had any energy she would have leapt from her bedding to throttle him. He was threatening to kill her if she did not help him, but he’d return her to her family if she did. Part of her didn’t care, but the other part knew he was right. If she died instead of trying to find a way out of her predicament, Anders’ death would be in vain.
“What do you want me to do?” she hissed.
He grinned. “You will go to Finnur and tell her the truth. She will understand that I have aimed to help her all along.”
She shook her head. Of course this was about Finn. “But that’s not why you’re doing this, is it? You want the barrier broken for some reason. Why?”
He laughed, then made his way toward the open tent flap. “You know all you need to know, wraith. Rest while you can. You have a long journey ahead.”
Branwen watched him go, then lifted her palms up in front of her face, observing them closely. They didn’t look unusual. She flipped them, examining her knuckles, fingers, and wrists. They looked the same too. She pulled forward a lock of her unruly russet hair, stroking it between her fingertips. It didn’t feel any different. Given all that, she assumed the rest of her was the same as she’d always been. Could she truly be what the Traveler claimed?
She laid back against her pillow, staring up at the tent blocking the moon from her view. “Oh Anders,” she muttered. “You have saved me only to sentence me.”
She turned on her side, further pondering her predicament. If she did as the Traveler asked . . . she sighed with a soft shudder. Was it even possible? Even after walking the long corridors of the in-between for so long, none of it had felt as dreamlike as her life did now, if you could truly call it a life at all.
Chapter Nine
Kai rubbed his eyes, tired
from staring at Anna so intently. She breathed evenly, her eyes gently shut. If she’d found Finn, they at least weren’t struggling.
He raised his gaze as Sativola approached, his plump face flushed with whatever liquor he’d managed to find. Catching his eye, Kai held a finger to his lips.
Sativola glanced down at Anna and nodded, then stumbled off to find his bedroll. Iseult and Bedelia held watch over Finn’s unconscious body nearby. They’d built a small fire for warmth, as it was needed. He turned his gaze back down to Anna, wondering if he should fetch another bedroll to keep her warm.
Shaking his head, he rested his face in his hands, elbows on knees, resigned to his duty. He hoped at least Bedelia would sleep soon. It wouldn’t do to have her, Iseult, and himself all unrested for morning.
A loud trill cut through the night air, and the soft murmurs still coming from the Aos Sí camp cut off. Another trill sounded. He would have thought it was a bird if it weren’t for the sudden silence from the Aos Sí. Something was wrong.
He nearly jumped out of his skin as Eywen suddenly appeared before him. Kai let out a brisk sigh. How Eywen could run so silently and inconspicuously in the bulk of that dully gleaming armor was beyond him.
“We must go,” Eywen hissed, meeting his eyes briefly, then turning his attention past him toward Iseult.
Iseult was suddenly at Kai’s side, cradling Finn in his arms like a sleeping child. He eyed Eywen, clearly waiting for an explanation.
“That call is used by the scouting parties of the Dearg Due,” Eywen explained, “blood sucking Faie. Their tracking skills are rivaled by none.”
“Whom do they track?” Iseult asked evenly.
Eywen stared off into the darkness. “Perhaps you, or perhaps I, the results will be the same. We must go.”
Before Kai could blink, Iseult was off toward the horses, Finn’s long hair draped over his cradling arm. Another trill sliced through the air, this time closer.
Kai fell to his knees. He grabbed Anna’s shoulders and shook her hard enough that she’d likely slap him when she woke. “Get up,” he hissed, glancing over his shoulder to see Bedelia and Sativola climbing atop their horses, their supplies strapped across their saddles haphazardly.
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