by S A McClure
She raised an eyebrow. “The princess ordered you to take a village hostage and force weary travelers to fight a monster for you?”
He chortled.
“She wants the job done,” he replied vaguely.
It was all the answer Emma needed.
“Do you know how to kill it?” she asked.
“Rumor has it that it can only be killed by beheading and then burning the body. ’Course, you’ll need to bring the head back to me so that I can prove to Princess Saphria that the job is done.”
“Fine,” Emma said. “Anything else you can tell us about it?”
“I heard it can take the form of anything it chooses,” one of the men behind her said.
“It has great white fangs that its uses to drain your blood for a meal,” another one whispered.
“It is mist and shadow,” said another.
“You make it seem like this beast is unbeatable,” she whispered. She resisted the urge to peer down at her sister’s face.
“Whether it is or isn’t has no bearing on our deal,” Fooks said, casting a stern eye on his men. “You agreed to fight it. If you die, I promise I’ll give yer sister to one of the women in the town to care for her until she’s well enough to leave on her own.”
Emma bared her teeth. Leaving Iris here put her in danger. The coven could cast another curse. They could find her while she was in this weakened state. If both she and Micah left her unattended, there would be no one here to protect her.
“You have to let me go alone,” Emma whispered, meeting Micah’s gaze.
He glared at her and shook his head.
“You have to,” she plead “We can’t leave Iris—”
“Leave the lass with me,” a female voice boomed from behind them.
Emma turned to face a tall woman with tattoos coursing over her skin. Her dark hair was a mixture of braids and wild curls that left Emma with the impression that the woman could have been raised by wolves.
“Who are you?” Micah asked gruffly, stepping in front of Emma.
The woman cast him a sly smile as she looked beyond him to meet Emma’s gaze.
“I promise I won’t let any harm come to her,” she said.
Emma didn’t know why, but she trusted this woman. She’d never met her before. She didn’t have any reason to believe that she would protect Iris. But she certainly didn’t have any faith in the men holding them hostage. She didn’t doubt that, if left to their own devices, they would either physically or emotionally harm her sister. At best, they would simply neglect her until whatever side effects she was experiencing from breaking the spell wore off.
“Why should we believe you?” Micah barked at the woman.
She turned a steely gaze towards him. “Because I am the only person here who is willing to provide aid to your companion in your absence. I would suggest that you show a little more respect.”
Emma held up her hands in a placating way. She jerked her head towards Micah who leaned in close so that they could whisper to one another without being heard.
“What choice do we have?” Emma asked.
He slit his eyes and stared at her. She’d never seen him look so angry in their entire six months together.
“I should stay,” he said. “That’s what you wanted. To go face the beast on your own.” He lifted his hand as if he were going to touch her cheek. Sorrow filled his eyes and he balled his hand into a fist.
She blinked at him, surprised.
“We have an alternative,” she said.
“What? Leaving your sister in the hands of a complete stranger? No. That is not an alternative, Emma. What if she’s part of the coven? What if she was sent here and has orchestrated this whole debacle?”
She hadn’t considered that. It was possible. The woman was of the right age. And very beautiful. Emma wouldn’t have been surprised if she were part of a coven, even if she weren’t a member of the one trying to murder them.
“It’s a risk we have to take, Micah. They won’t let us leave here with Iris if we don’t fight the monster and we are too outnumbered to have a chance at fighting our way out. Especially with Iris in her current condition.”
He huffed. Resignation set his jaw firmly in place as he nodded once at her.
“Then it’s settled,” she said, a smile touching her lips.
“Yes.”
She reached out and squeezed his hand. He looked at her, surprise etched over his face. She smiled before pulling away from him.
“Fine,” she said, turning to the woman, “but I want to break bread with you first.”
The woman nodded. “But of course.”
Emma ordered two bowls of the tavern stew and a pint of cider each for her and Micah before wandering over the woman’s table. Micah carried Iris to the table and laid her on the bench to continue resting. Her chest rose and fell steadily, but she didn’t open her eyes.
Emma surveyed the tavern, then laughed as she realized this woman had been in the room the entire time. She’d been the lone traveler tucked away in the shadows when they first arrived.
“My name is Chiara,” the woman said, taking a seat across from Emma, mug in hand. She took a sip.
“Emma,” Emma said, pointing to herself. “This is Micah.”
Chiara nodded. “I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“Why are you helping us?” Micah cut in rudely. He glared at Chiara, his eyes so narrow Emma couldn’t see his irises at all.
“I thought you could use some help,” she replied with a shrug. “Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to make these scumbags pay for keeping me hostage here for weeks now. They discuss the most mundane things. Can you even imagine?”
“Umm,” Emma stalled, unsure of how to respond. “How did you get stuck here in the first place?” she finally asked.
“Went hunting for the beast. Ended up its captive for a while. Found my way to this village after I escaped.” She shrugged. “Now I can’t leave here unless I agree to fight the monster again.
Emma sat up a little straighter. “Wait, so you know what this thing is? You were captured by it?”
Questions slogged through her mind as her stomach growled. She wondered what the tavern had for dessert. She hoped it wasn’t bread pudding. She absolutely loathed bread pudding.
“Emma?” Micah asked. He tapped her arm.
She jumped as she was pulled from her thoughts. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “What were you saying?”
“I was saying that the beast didn’t take physical form in front of me. Or, when he did, he remained tucked away in the shadows, as if afraid to show me his true self. I’m still not sure why he didn’t kill me. I saw him butcher so many other people during my time captured by him.”
“How did you escape?” Micah asked.
Emma raised an eyebrow at him. There was so much suspicion in his tone that it made her doubt her earlier sense of trust for Chiara.
“Honestly? He let me go.”
“He did what?” Emma asked, dropping her hands onto the table and staring dumbfoundedly at Chiara. This representation of the beast did not mesh with how the men had described it. Maybe it just hated men.
“I’m not sure why,” she admitted. “One day, it just stormed into my room in the dead of night and broke my chain free.”
“Room? Not cell?” Emma clarified.
“Yes. He provided me with a room of my own. I still had to wear shackles around my ankles and sometimes around my wrists, but he didn’t force me to live in the dungeons.”
Emma toyed with a lock of her hair as she considered Chiara’s words. It was possible the beast had a soft spot for women. Or rather, a specific woman. She met Micah’s gaze. He shook his head, but it was already too late. She’d made up her mind.
“Chiara,” she asked, “can I ask you a favor?”
“It depends.”
“How would you like to face the beast with me and leave dear Micah, here, with Iris?”
Chiara
’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard several times. Her cheeks flushed ruby red. Her fingers curled into a ball and then unfurled as she stared over at Emma with unblinking eyes.
A dragon tattoo wound its way around her neck. As she shook her head, the dragon shivered as if ready to expand its wings and fly.
“I can’t go back to that place,” she whispered. “I wish I could help you fight it. Truly, I do, but I can’t go back there.”
Emma wrapped her hand around one of Chiara’s. “Shh,” she cooed. “It’s alright. I’m sorry I asked. I just want to protect my sister. At all costs.”
Chiara nodded, more tears springing to her eyes.
“It was awful there. There were days when I never saw the sun or starlight. The sister moons never bathed me in a bath of silvery light as they crested the sky at the night hour. I was trapped. Stuck in a room with little to entertain. No one to talk to.”
“I understand what that feels like,” Micah suddenly cut in. He leaned across the table, his brown eyes soft and compassionate as he tilted his head towards Chiara. “I was cursed for centuries. Locked in a wolf’s body, only able to become human when my master allowed it.”
He reached across the table and took Chiara’s hand in his own. “It is alright to be afraid of the shadows when you’ve been consumed by them. The scars they leave remind us that we are still alive. We are survivors. We are here.”
Emma stared at him. He’d never spoken that passionately around her before. He’d been gruff and tender and kind. He’d been pushy and confident and sincere. But he had never been passionate.
He squeezed Chiara’s hand. “I promise you this—when you choose to face your fears, to stare the shadows right in their ugly maws, and say, ‘you can’t control me anymore,’ you will discover your own strength. Never forget that you are forged of fire and brimstone but also compassion and love.”
A heavy silence fell over the table. A sliver of the barrier she’d kept sealed around her heart quivered slightly and broke into sparkling dust.
Chiara shook her head. “How can you possibly say that to me? You don’t know me. You don’t know the fires I’ve been forged in. Or how many cracks caused by being left alone in the dark were formed.”
“That’s true,” Micah admitted. “But I know a fighter when I see one. And you are most certainly a fighter.”
Emma gritted her teeth at the continued softness in his eyes. He was supposed to be on her side.
“Alright,” Emma said. She cleared her throat. “So it’s settled then. Micah, you’ll stay here with Iris and Chiara, you’ll come with me.” She didn’t care that Chiara hadn’t agreed to go with her yet. She just wanted to interrupt the moment Micah was sharing with the other woman.
Neither of her companions spoke. They just continued to stare at each other.
“Well, so much for trusting you,” Emma mumbled.
A tavern girl came to their table and delivered the bowls of stew and pints of cider.
“What was that?” Micah asked, drawing his attention back to her.
“Nothing,” she breathed.
She didn’t understand the emotions cycling through her. For the past six months, all she wanted to do was get away from him. Now, all she could think about was feeling his warmth on her skin again.
“So, you’ll go with me?” she asked Chiara.
This time, Chiara blinked hazily at her before saying, “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
She didn’t know what dangers would await them. She still felt like she could trust the woman, though, even with the uneasiness she felt at the way Micah responded to her. They needed out of this mess and quickly. Iris’s life depended on it.
Finding Liam depended on it.
She drank her soup and chugged her cider as she listened to Micah and Chiara continue to discuss the plights of being imprisoned by a much stronger master. She wished her experiences with Grandmother Rel could compare, but they didn’t. She’d been belittled her entire life. Beaten down by the unending ridicule from a woman who only wanted to take and take and take from her. She had hunted for them. She had fought to keep them warm in the dead of winters. She had taken the brunt of Grandmother Rel’s anger.
But it still didn’t compare to being imprisoned and forced to do the bidding of others without a choice.
She tapped her fingers on her mug as she considered what she was asking Chiara to do. To face one’s darkness was the most difficult task of all.
But, when she opened her mouth to tell Chiara she’d changed her mind, Micah grasped her hand in his own and squeezed. She glanced at him, surprised. He shook his head, a sad, crooked smile on his face.
It was then that she realized she wasn’t the reason Chiara had agreed to go. It hadn’t even been Micah’s words of encouragement.
Sometimes, facing the darkness was the only thing one could do to survive.
Chapter Four
Emma
As the earliest light of day broke through the trees surrounding the village, Emma hugged Iris goodbye. Her sister didn’t return the hug. She’d become more and more comatose as the night went on.
Tears stung Emma’s eyes as she whispered, “I love you,” before pulling away.
Outside, Micah handed her a quiver of arrows.
“Where did you get these?” she asked.
“Stayed up all night making them,” he said. He shoved the quiver into her hands. “Just take them, please.”
She looked from the freshly made arrows and then up to him.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she slid the strap over her shoulder.
“Anytime,” he said before turning and walking away from her.
She watched as he hugged Chiara, then placed a hand on her shoulder and said one final farewell. Her stomach churned. Last night, they had stayed at the table long after she’d carried Iris up the stairs to the bedroom Fooks had provided to them. She hadn’t slept well. Her head ached and felt as if it had been stuffed full of cotton.
“Are you ready?” Chiara asked as she stepped up beside her.
“Are you?”
Chiara laughed. “Yes, I do believe I am.”
Emma raised an eyebrow at her. She had seemed terrified of going back into these woods last night. Of facing the beast again. Yet, even as they strode down a narrow dirt path, there was something easy-going and pleasant about her. She just felt trustworthy. Emma didn’t know why or how.
Chiara guided them through the forest without hesitation. They were in a part of the woods Emma had never traveled through before. Although she felt the most at peace while among the trees, it felt strange wandering a forest she didn’t know like the back of her hand.
“How much further?” she asked.
Chiara peered through the trees. Her cheeks flushed and the tattoo on her neck danced as the vein in her neck pulsed in time with her heartbeat.
“Not far,” she said. She sucked on her bottom lip and for a moment, Emma thought she had changed her mind. But then, she set her jaw and her eyes grew concentrated and hard.
Emma smiled at her as she trudged forward. She had grit.
A large rock formation bubbled out of the ground like it was a fountain. Bulbous pillars supported what appeared to be a naturally formed dragon’s head with its maw stretched wide open. Emma gasped when she realized the dragon’s jaws turned into a cave mouth. Stalactites and stalagmites formed rows of pointing teeth as they entered.
“This is it,” Chiara whispered. She fumbled in a pouch at her side before pulling out a match and striking it against the cavern wall. The light flickered but provided enough light for Emma to find a bundle of torches stashed against one of its walls. She plucked one from the ground and handed it to Chiara just as the first match went out in a puff of smoke.
Chiara lit another one and dipped the single flame into the torch. After a few seconds, it roared into life. As they descended, Emma couldn’t help but imagine that they were willingly wandering into the dragon’s gullet.
The air turned icy cold. The torchlight provided little reprieve from the frigidity of the descent.
They stepped into a large cavern with high ceilings. Pools of still water reflected the ceiling so perfectly that Emma initially thought they were giant holes in the ground until she saw the ripples brought on by dripping water. Crystalline orbs glinted in the torchlight. They lined the path forward.
“What is this place?” she breathed as Chiara pressed her hand against one of the orbs. Pink smoke filled it and spheres of light began to ignite all along a path through the cave.
“This is the beast’s home.”
“Oh,” Emma replied. She had been expecting a dark tower or perhaps an ornately furnished castle. This cave seemed too full of wonder for it to belong to a beast void-bent on destroying everything.
Chiara took her hand and squeezed. “I know it looks beautiful, but trust me when I say that everything you find in this place was designed to lure you deeper into his lair.”
Emma nodded, unsure of what to say. Paths branched off from the one they were on. More crystalline orbs marked their entrances, and she wondered if they too were designed to light up the path.
“How does it work?” she asked.
“What?”
“The light? I mean, I’m assuming it’s some sort of spell. I’ve just never seen anything like this before.”
“Ah, I see,” Chiara said, “Well, I don’t fully understand it myself, if I’m being honest. I found a book once—”
“He let you read during your captivity?” Emma broke in.
“Of course, he did,” Chiara replied almost too quickly. “He’s not a monster, Emma. He wanted me to be happy.”
Emma raised an eyebrow at this. Hadn’t she just said the beast had kidnapped her and held her captive. The hair on the back of her neck rose and a shiver ran down her spine. “Uh-huh. Okay. If that’s what you have to tell yourself. Regardless,” she said, “how does it work?”
“Well, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Chiara replied with a wink, “I found this book once that was written in Szarmian. I couldn’t read much of it as I only know the basics, but it seemed to be some sort of science book.” She shrugged. “It had diagrams of underground pipes that forced luminescent gas through them. The gas turns into smoke in the spheres and emits light, like what you see here.” She gestured around the cavern.