* * *
I jerked awake. Surrounded by darkness, I listened. Only the thumping of my heart reached my ears. But an uneasy feeling stirred in my chest. I jumped to my feet. The barn door remained locked tight. What had roused me? I peeked out through one of the small knots. No moonlight or lanterns lit the farmhouse. No movement. No—
An ufa howled, which would have been creepy if it had been a distant keen. But when the noise sounded on the other side of the wall, it went straight past creepy and right into terrifying.
A loud thud shook the barn’s wall. The boards creaked. Alarmed, I backed away. More howls pierced the night. Shouts and screams followed them. Cellina’s ufa pack had found us.
Another thud vibrated. Cracks snaked through the wooden slats. I grabbed my pack and scrambled up the hay pyramid. When I reached the rafters, I kicked the bales, knocking them down.
With a crash, an ufa broke through the wall. It paused as if stunned. Crouched on a rafter, I knew I wasn’t high enough to stay out of its reach. The creature might not see me, but it could smell me.
Through the hole in the wall, I spied a fire. Ufas usually shied away from flames, but I doubted anything could scare the dead ones. The beast below me turned its head, sniffing the air. Smoke and the scent of burning wood wafted inside the barn. Just when I thought it couldn’t smell me, the ufa slunk in my direction.
I pulled the toxin sack from my pack. Perhaps I could rip it with my fingernail and squirt the toxin in its face. But when the creature lunged into the air toward me, I panicked and tossed the sack at it. The ufa snatched it with its teeth, popping it before slamming into the rafter.
The beam shook, and I lost my balance, falling to the ground. The good news, I landed on a pile of straw. The bad, the ufa landed next to me. Before I could move, the creature was on top of me, pinning my shoulders down with its huge paws.
Bracing for its teeth to rip into me, I shut my eyes. But it didn’t. Instead the ufa remained over me as if waiting for further orders. It had been on a seek-and-find mission, not seek-and-kill. Good to know.
The stench hit me a second before the ufa collapsed on top of me. I would have gagged if my lungs hadn’t been crushed under its weight. Using my arms, I pushed on the beast’s chest and wiggled sideways enough to make some breathing room. However, getting the dead weight off me would be impossible.
While I debated calling for help, a thud vibrated the floor boards of the barn, then a second. I froze as snuffling sounded quite close. Long sharp claws scraped at the ufa on top of me. It rocked, threatening to uncover me. I clung to its fur as the other ufa pushed its nose under my ufa’s belly.
My throat burned with the need to breathe, and I was on the verge of passing out when the ufas padded away. After waiting a few more seconds, I sucked in the foul air in relief. Still trapped, there wasn’t much I could do.
Eventually a voice hissed my name.
“In here,” I said.
“Thank— What died?” Enric asked, coughing. “Where are you?”
“Stuck under the ufa.”
He grunted and I pushed. Together, we moved the ufa’s body enough for me to squirm free.
Enric helped me to my feet. “You stink.”
He gave me an idea. I rubbed my back along the ufa’s fur, hoping to cover all my body with its scent.
“Now what? There are ufas all over the place,” Enric said.
“Thanks for the help, but this is where we part ways.” I picked up my pack and ran for the broken wall.
He followed. “I had to pretend to support General Jael, Avry. Otherwise I would have been locked in here with you.”
“Just don’t get in my way.” I’d decide later if I should trust him or not.
Climbing through the gap, I pressed against the barn, scanning the area. A few of Jael’s soldiers fought ufas. The tobacco shed burned, and the house appeared dark.
“The general fled south with most of her men,” Enric whispered.
“Noelle?”
“I didn’t see her with them.”
Jael probably left her behind. Again. Keeping to the shadows, I headed to the farmhouse. An ufa streaked pass, but didn’t stop. Broken furniture, splintered doors and other evidence of a fight littered the first floor. I ran up the steps to the bedrooms, calling Noelle’s name. She answered. Tracking her voice, I found her in a small room at the end of the hall.
Noelle lay on a single bed in an otherwise empty room, her hair tangled and sweat-soaked.
“Avry, I— You smell awful.”
“Come on,” I said, pulling her up.
She resisted. “I didn’t—”
“Tell me later.” I yanked her to her unsteady feet.
“No.”
“Enric, help me.”
“Here.” He handed me his sword, then crouched down and tossed Noelle over his shoulder before standing.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Where?” he asked.
“East.”
We rushed down the steps and crept out the back door. I pointed to the forest. Enric nodded. With my heart jumping in my chest, I led him across the open yard, expecting to be attacked at any moment. Behind us ufas howled, but I didn’t hesitate.
When we reached the outer edge of the woods, I said, “Go silent.”
The rest of the night we pushed to cover as much distance as possible. My goal was to reach the Lilys before Cellina and her ufas found us. I guess I should have been grateful for the ufas as they helped me escape Jael, but it was only a matter of time before they picked up my scent.
We rested briefly in the morning. Enric laid Noelle down. Her skin tone was one shade darker than death’s pallor.
She waved me over. I knelt beside her.
“I didn’t...trick you,” she said, tapping her chest with a closed fist. She held something. “Jael...” A violent shudder shook her. Noelle curled into a ball, panting. “Jael...set me up. I’m sorry I...”
“Shhh. It’s okay.” I pressed my hand on her forehead. The skin burned my fingers.
“No. Jael said...Prince Ryne was hiding in the east.” Noelle grabbed my wrist with her other hand. “I wanted you to...find him...to be...safe.”
A nice sentiment, but I was beginning to think he’d used me to keep Tohon occupied so he could rescue Estrid’s troops. Which was a great plan for them, but not so much for me. Plus I was tired of being a pawn.
Noelle noticed my expression. “Prince Ryne asked me.” Another convulsion struck her.
When she recovered, I asked, “What did he want?”
“Me to go with him.”
“When?”
“Right before...he disappeared.”
“So you knew he was leaving, and you didn’t say anything to Jael?”
She nodded.
“Why?”
She looked away. “He said something...about family...and you.”
“Are you going to tell me?”
“Ask him.” All her muscles trembled, and she gasped.
“He’s not here. And I doubt I’ll find—”
“He said...” Blood ran from her nose and streaked her cheek. “Said...when you’ve escaped...to go...”
I pulled her into my arms and rocked her as I used to do when she was little.
She thrust something hard into my palm. My fingers closed around it, but I leaned closer as she struggled to talk.
“To go...home.” Noelle exhaled but didn’t inhale.
I glanced at what she’d given me. My necklace with the hands pendant. As much as I wanted to cry and carry on, I couldn’t. Time was more an issue now than ever. I didn’t want the Lily to reject her because she’d been dead too long, like Ursan.
Enric crouched next to me. “Ah, hell. I’m sorry.”
“Can you carry her?” I asked.
“But—”
I explained about the Peace Lily. “It’s her only chance.”
Although he didn’t appear to be convinced, he said, “All right.”
I looped the necklace around my neck and then set a fast pace, heading straight for the clump of Lilys. Even though the odds were in our favor, I still worried and hoped there was a Peace Lily in the bunch.
We reached the area by late afternoon. After a few moments of frantic searching, I found one Lily tucked behind a row of trees. Death or Peace? I approached the flower. Nothing happened.
Relieved, I gestured Enric to join me. He held Noelle in his arms. Stopping under the plant’s huge petals, he waited.
Nothing. I sank to my knees. “Please?”
The flower dipped toward us. I had a brief moment of joy before the Lily snatched me.
“No!” I screamed and kicked, but its barbs soon wrapped around my arms, holding me tight while it injected serum into me. A chilly numbness spread throughout my body, robbing me of emotion. The crushing weight of grief lifted, the worry and anxiety about Belen, Ryne, Flea and the monkeys disappeared. I relaxed for the first time in months. Enjoying the sensation for a moment, I breathed in deep, smelling vanilla. Then I returned to the matter at hand.
“My sister?” I asked.
The Lily’s sadness washed through me. No magic.
Surprised that the Lily spoke to me, I floundered for a moment. “But—” Another blast of serum shot through me.
Rest.
* * *
I woke on the ground. Through the tree’s canopy, stars flashed like diamonds. For a moment I felt at peace, until the memories rushed back in one awful wave. I groaned as my grief returned, gnawing on my heart with its sharp teeth.
Enric leaned over me. “Are you all right?”
No. “I’ll live. How long—”
“A couple hours.”
I pushed up on my elbow and looked around. A small fire burned. A blanket covered my sister, and Enric had dug a grave for her. No, I’d never be all right again.
“What happened?” he asked.
I told him. My second attempt at using the Peace Lilys had failed. It seemed it would only save someone with magic or the potential for magic and only if they were freshly dead. Bitterness threatened to consume me.
He listened with sympathy.
When I finished, I lumbered to my feet and knelt next to Noelle, pulling the blanket down. I smoothed her hair and closed her eyes.
A whole list of I-should-haves bubbled to the surface of my mind along with the I-shouldn’t-haves. Mistakes made, regrets and wrong decisions popped up, as well. The I-wishes and if-onlys had their say, too.
In the end, all that wouldn’t change a single thing. And while I had hoped to change her future, the Peace Lily couldn’t. I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, whispering goodbye. Glad for this chance, wishing I had the same opportunity for Kerrick and Belen.
Together, Enric and I picked her up and laid her in the grave. We covered her with the loose soil, packed it down and added a thick layer of rocks so the animals wouldn’t dig her up.
I gestured to the grave. “How did you dig a hole so fast?”
“A collapsible shovel—standard equipment for a foot soldier.”
“Thank you for doing that.” Grief ate through my insides like acid. A burning pain ripped through me with every breath. Better for her to be buried than part of Tohon’s dead army was the only positive aspect.
I searched for a stone to mark her grave and found one along a small stream. Planning to return someday to carve her name into, I positioned it.
Before Enric could ask, I said, “We’ll camp here tonight and get an early start.”
“What about the ufas?”
I shrugged. “They’re after me. You can climb a tree and wait until they leave.”
“Just like that?”
“Yep.”
I grabbed my pack and went back to the stream. Scrubbing the foul odor of dead ufa from my skin and hair with soap, I tossed my stained uniform into a pile. Then I dressed in my travel clothes.
When I returned, Enric offered me some jerky. Unable to eat, I huddled by the fire, lost in memories.
* * *
“Where’s home?” Enric asked the next morning.
According to Noelle, Ryne said for me to go home when I escaped. However, I doubted he meant Lekas in the Kazan Realm. My hometown was southeast of here and at least a thirty-day walk. I fingered the pendant under my shirt as I unrolled the Lily map. The place that my heart now recognized as home was Galee. Where I’d apprenticed to Tara before the plague. Although that cave outside Grzebien where we’d hidden... No, I wouldn’t think about Kerrick and the boys.
Galee abutted the Nine Mountains and was about fifteen days away. However, the Healer’s Guild, or rather, the ruin that had been the guild’s headquarters, was only seven days northwest. And looking at it from Ryne’s point of view, it made the most sense. I told Enric our destination.
“Wouldn’t Tohon guess that?”
“Probably.”
“You’re not concerned he’ll ambush us along the way?”
Not really. “Do you have a better idea?”
“What if we encounter one of Prince Ryne’s patrols?”
“Then we’ll hook up with them, although I doubt it, since I plan to stay well to the east and skirt Zabin.” I tapped the map. “But I need to make a stop first.”
* * *
“More Peace Lilys?” Enric asked.
We had found another clump of Lilys about three days into our trek north. I sniffed the air, hoping to catch the light odor of anise among the sweet smells of lemon and honey. “I think that one’s a Death Lily.”
When I moved toward it, Enric yanked me back. “Are you crazy? I know you’re upset about your sister, but that’s suicide.”
I explained about my immunity. “I need better answers. Wait here, I’ll be back.”
The Death Lily hissed as I drew closer. Its petals parted, and in a flash, it scooped me up. Thorns pierced my arms, and my consciousness joined with the Lily. Through the connection, I saw Enric pacing nearby, and farther along the roots, I saw soldiers fighting, units creeping through the forest and others waiting in ambush.
It welcomed me. I imagined the scene with Noelle and the Peace Lily. It confirmed my guess that a Peace Lily could only revive those with magic or magical potential and freshness. “What about Tohon’s dead?” I asked. “He used the Peace Lily’s serum and then touched them.”
Stolen. No grow.
An image of Tohon placing his hands on a Peace Lily filled my mind. The Lily’s petals parted abruptly as if he had pushed a button. He grabbed the sacks before the petals snapped closed. I remembered how the Death Lily reacted to Sepp, pulling away. Was this the Peace Lily’s reaction to Tohon’s touch?
Yes.
That explained how Tohon harvested the serum. And he had plenty of Lilys to milk. But why did it work on those without magic?
No grow.
It didn’t. Not as it had with both me and Flea. We were alive and thriving...growing in plant speak, not like the dead.
Yes. Stop it.
I need more toxin, I thought.
Yours.
A glimpse of other Lilys dropping sacks came unbidden before the Death Lily retracted its barbs and deposited me onto the ground. I held its two bright orange sacks. Two more lay on the ground nearby.
“Are you okay?” Enric called.
I rubbed my arms. Grief’s claws gripped me again, squeezing my chest. Perhaps someday a Death Lily would keep me forever. But not today. Today I held the antidote to Tohon’s dead, and I would see this through to the bitter end.
* * *
We traveled roughly north for the next several days before we turned to the west, reaching the edge of the Healer’s Guild compound on the eighth day. Our slower pace was due to finding all the Death Lilys en route to collect their toxin. Also, we avoided any patrols and skirmishes. We’d decided to stay away from everyone just in case. Other than the creepy howling of ufas, no one bothered us.
Crouched in the bushes nearby, we scann
ed the complex, seeking ambushers. The Healer’s Guild had once been comprised of three magnificent buildings with marble pillars and smooth stone blocks. Smaller buildings that housed the healers, apprentices and staff had been scattered around the complex. All had been destroyed during the plague years. Their pillars broken, the stones blackened from the flames that had engulfed the interiors.
During the height of the panic, the people had blamed the healers for the disease and had vented their anger and fear on us. Only I had survived by hiding and running for three years. A wasted life until Kerrick and his companions had found me. All that time I’d thought the healers had been the scapegoats, but Tohon confirmed that the Guild did indeed start the plague when they experimented with Death Lily toxin, crossing it with another plant to produce what they’d hoped was an anti-venom. Instead, it had turned into a deadly and incurable disease.
Now vines covered most of the ruin. Small saplings and other plants grew between fallen blocks and cracks. A slight breeze blew. Nothing else stirred. However, there could be ambushers buried under the ground.
“There’s no one here. Are you sure this is the right place?” Enric asked.
“No, but there’s an underground records room that we’ll need to check before moving on.”
Even though the place appeared empty, we waited until twilight to venture out in the open. I led Enric to the unremarkable pile of debris that covered the doorway to the room. Clearing off the detritus, I unearthed the door.
“Doesn’t look like anybody’s been here in a long time,” Enric said.
“It’s supposed to look that way.” I pulled the door, and it opened without a squeak. A lantern with a new wick and oil hung just inside the entrance.
“You were right.”
Lighting the wick, I held the lantern aloft, illuminating the steps that spiraled down into the records room. When we reached the bottom, the area was just as I remembered—rows of dusty shelves filled with musty-smelling wooden crates. However, a stack of crates had been piled in the walkway with a paper resting on top.
Enric picked it up and said, “It’s for you.”
It had been folded in half with my name written on the outside. I opened it.
There’s a big storm coming. Seek shelter.
I must have groaned aloud because Enric grabbed the hilt of his sword. Waving the paper, I said, “Relax. I know where they are. Let’s go before it’s full dark.” I hoped I remembered where that cave was. The one we sheltered in during the blizzard.
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