by S A McClure
She sighed, waiting for the potion to finish counteracting the ants’ poison.
A cool breeze grazed her cheeks as she stared off the mountain edge and out over the whole of Dramadoon. Mountain peaks crested white, fluffy clouds. Smoky hues of purple, pink, blue, and orange swept over the forest below her, giving the whole scene a surreal, dreamlike quality. A sense of calm settled on her as she watched the sun rise over the eastern peaks and bathe her kingdom in a soft, golden haze.
She understood why Emma had left her then.
She wanted to fight for this. To save something more than just a single life. Even if it meant abandoning her, Iris understood. More than anything, she wished she could tell her sister that.
Shaking her head, she swept the remaining bottles back into her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. She faced the cave mouth. It was a new day. Her head still ached, and she didn’t know if she would ever be able to ease the tension in her muscles again, but if she didn’t enter the belly of the beast now, she didn’t think she ever would.
Setting her jaw, she took the first step into the cave.
She had expected the cave to be cool. Instead, it was more sweltering than it had been outside. Iris shed layers of her clothing as she descended deeper into the mountain.
She didn’t know how far she needed to go. Grandmother Rel’s directions only guided her to the cave mouth, not beyond.
Her feet ached as she kept going. She had no concept of how long she had been walking. She thought it could have been hours or days. Her calves continued to quake with each step, and she knew she would struggle to stand again if she took a moment of reprieve.
So, she kept going.
Torches illuminated the walkway. It was as if Grandmother Rel knew exactly when she was arriving and prepared for her. Iris didn’t know if that brought her comfort or more anxiety.
She rounded a bend in the path and knocked into something hard and metal. She shrieked as she stumbled backwards and landed on her rump. A coat of armor was set up in the middle of the room. Scorch marks marred the metal.
She reached for her daggers, anticipating an attack that never came. Blinking up at the suit of armor, she kicked at it with her boot. It rattled hollowly. She breathed out a sigh of relief and leapt to her feet.
Tentatively, she lifted the helm’s visor. A skull stared back at her. She screeched and stumbled backwards. Her heart raced as, for the first time since entering the cave, she looked down.
Her eyes widened as she took in the path. Bones lined the pathway. They were so perfectly aligned on the walkway that there was no way they had naturally fallen there. Someone had taken a lot of time—or a lot of magic—to create the trail framed in bone. Gulping, she leaned down to try and tell if they were human or animal.
It was a mixture, if she had to guess.
She rose quickly and skirted her way around the armor.
Her footsteps echoed loudly down the path. The walls sparkled in the torchlight. She trailed her fingers over them, realizing that they were covered in thousands of crystals. A rainbow of color stretched down the path. If she weren’t walking to her potential doom, she might have found the scene beautiful. As it was, it only reminded her that she might never see a rainbow again.
A boney hand grasped her wrist and yanked her around. She attempted to slam one of her daggers into it, but the blade clinked against bone. She screamed when she saw the skull, still wearing the helm, smile at her.
The skeletal knight threw Iris into a dungeon. Its eyes flashed ruby as it turned the key in the padlock and stalked away.
Iron bars, too narrow for her to fit through, lined her cell. Regardless, she flung herself against them, hoping she could tear them down with her weight and momentum.
She bounced back, her chest and ribs screaming in pain at being smacked against the bars. The prison didn’t even rattle.
She tried slipping her arm through the bars to finger the lock. She thought she had a pin in her satchel that would work nicely as a picklock. She’d never successfully picked a lock before, but she was game to try.
Her arm was too big to maneuver through the bars.
Crying out in frustration, she sank to the ground and tried to think. Angry tears streamed down her cheeks. Emma had been right.
It had been a trap.
“You’re alone?” Grandmother Rel’s voice echoed through the bars.
Iris jerked her head towards the sound, but saw nothing.
“Maybe,” she said.
“You are,” Grandmother Rel replied, humor in her tone. “Wherever has my least favorite granddaughter gone?”
“Maybe she’s waiting outside the cave, waiting for me to return to her,” Iris said. There was a chance, however, small, that she wasn’t lying.
“She’s not,” Grandmother Rel said. “I would be able to sense her if she was.”
Iris shrugged.
“You don’t know everything, Grandmother,” she whispered.
Grandmother Rel’s eyes glowed in the darkness and smoke curled from her nostrils. Iris resisted the urge retreat. She forced herself to lift her chin and meet her gaze head on.
“I used to be so afraid of you,” she said. “I used to think that your disappointment in me was the worst thing that could ever happen to me.” With each word she spoke, she realized how far she’d come since her in isolation in Grandmother Rel’s cabin. “But now I see. It was you who should have been afraid of me.”
Grandmother Rel stepped into the light. Her creamy, smooth skin wrinkled as she frowned.
“Why would I ever be afraid of a slip of a girl like you?” she hissed.
Iris laughed. “You forget that you raised me. I know your weaknesses.”
Grandmother Rel snarled. “You know only what I chose to reveal to you, girl.” She spun around. “Look at me now. Younger, more beautiful than ever. My coven won’t recognize me when I seize back control.” She leaned into the bars as she spoke and smiled viciously at Iris. “I suppose I do owe you a bit of gratitude. You have successfully disbanded the strength of the coven who wanted to kill me.”
Iris balled her hands into fists and stood so that her face was only separated from Grandmother Rel’s by the bars.
“You’re a coward,” she said. “You let others do your dirty work for you because you’re too afraid to dirty your hands.”
“I’m smart,” Grandmother Rel corrected. “And if you had a half a brain, you’d see that I did what I had to survive.”
“By the stars, Grandmother! Do you even hear yourself right now? You didn’t have to raise us in isolation. You didn’t need to steal Emma’s youth to replenish your own. You didn’t need to take Liam from me. You made those choices. No one else. And, you will pay for them in the end.”
Grandmother Rel placed her hand on her cheek and tapped a long nail. “It strikes me that you aren’t grateful for everything that I’ve done for you. I tried to be a good caretaker. I tried to show you how much I care for you.” She reached her fingers through the bars and grazed Iris’s cheeks. “You were always my favorite, Iris. Always so… submissive. Eager to please me. It wasn’t until you met Liam in your dreams that you began to pull away from me.”
Her nails raked across Iris’s flesh, leaving tiny pink lines on her otherwise porcelain skin. Iris jerked backwards, pressing her hand against the scratches.
Grandmother Rel sighed. “I’ve decided to show you just how much I am willing to do for you, dear one.” Her lips curled in a dark, sly smile. “Liam was nothing more than a plaything for me, and I grow tired of his incessant thoughts of you.” More smoke billowed from her nostrils. “But as I said, I am willing to forgive you. I am even willing to give him back to you.”
Iris stared at Grandmother Rel, hope swelling inside in. She didn’t like the tone she was using and was wary of bargain she attempted to make, but she was so desperate to see Liam, to know that he was okay, that she was willing to make any deal necessary to do so.
“Prov
e your loyalty to me and I promise you can have him back. I’ll even give him to you unscathed.” She smirked. “Of course, his memories of his broken body and hours of torture will be yours to deal with.”
Iris flung herself towards the bars and forced her arms through them. She attempted to grab Grandmother Rel, to strangle her. To make her know just how much she hated her.
Grandmother Rel took a single step backwards and out of reach. Without another word, she turned to walk away.
“Let me see him!” Iris cried, giving in. “Please!”
“No.”
The word hung in the air, suffocating, as Grandmother Rel disappeared into the shadows. Iris stood for several moments staring after her.
She wished, more than anything, that Emma was there with her.
Chapter Twenty
Emma
Wind whipped through Emma’s hair as she rode hard down the forest path. She breathed in the hot, humid air and smiled. This was what true freedom felt like.
She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, letting herself believe that she was soaring through the clouds, on her way to explore the world. She wanted to see it all. The ocean. The deserts. The islands. She wanted to travel beyond the unknown and discover for herself what mysteries resided there.
But first, she wanted to serve her kingdom. Chiara had been right. They needed to give all that they could for the good of the whole. Not just an individual.
Thoughts of Iris crept along the seams of her mind, attempting to drag her into self-doubt. She flicked them aside. There wasn’t time for uncertainty. A darkness was growing. Iris had said so herself.
Things seemed to be clicking into place. The mysterious figures who’d attacked Iris and had been killing witches. The rumors they’d heard so long ago about the mad king. It all was part of a growing problem, even if she didn’t entirely understand it yet.
She wanted to be a part of the solution.
And so, she rode.
Besides, Iris had told her to go. That she didn’t need her anymore. Maybe she didn’t. It had been Iris who had saved them so often over the past several months. She didn’t have any reason to doubt that her sister would find a way to free Liam from Grandmother Rel and come to the capital.
You’re stronger together, a nagging voice whispered at the back of her mind. Emma sighed. She knew that was the truth, too.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
When it came to Liam, Iris was irrational.
She pulled back on the reins, slowing her mount’s pace, and turned in the saddle to see if Micah had been able to keep up with her. His long hair was tousled and framed his face in a halo of dark curls. He smiled at her and her heart skipped a beat.
“Are you riding towards or away from something?” he asked.
Emma pulled her horse to a halt and met his gaze. “What are you talking about?”
He brought his mount up beside her and took her reins from her. “You come storming into my tent, saying that you’re leaving and that I can choose who to go with: you or Iris. You gave no explanation. Just an ultimatum.” He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “As if I ever had a choice.”
She raised her eyebrows at him and blinked in an exaggerated fashion. “You did have a choice,” she said with a curt smile. “And you chose wrong.”
She yanked her reins out of his and pushed her horse into a canter. Conflicted emotions coursed through her. She wanted him to be with her, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling angry at him for letting Iris go off on her own. Of course, she knew her anger was more directed at herself than it was at him. But, she couldn’t tell him that. Not yet, anyway.
The path was just wide enough for them ride together side-by-side.
“Do you even know why you left her?” he asked.
She whipped her head towards him, a snarl on her face. Her retort died on her lips when she saw a dark shadow in the trees behind him, keeping pace with them. She opened her mouth to scream as the spider leapt from the trees and landed atop Micah.
For a moment, Emma continued riding, too shocked to react. Then, Micah’s screams broke through her thoughts and she turned her horse around. Reaching into her pocket, she drew the bow Eldridge had given her and pulled an arrow from her quiver.
Her mind cleared as she rode past the giant spider pinning Micah to the ground. Thick saliva dripped from its pinchers as it attempted to bite him. His arms trembled as he held it back. Thick strands of white silk curled around Micah’s legs, nearly immobilizing him.
She inhaled as she aimed, letting her muscle memory take over, and she exhaled and released the arrow. She didn’t wait to see if she hit her mark as she drew another one and fired again. And then a third time.
Black, goopy blood oozed from the puncture wounds, extinguishing the arrows’ flames. They did nothing to stop the spider’s attack on Micah. She rounded the other side of the spider, searching the tree line for any sign that there were others. She’d read once that they liked to live in colonies.
She prayed to the Creators that the books had been wrong.
She reached for another arrow to find that she only had two left. She shook her head and reprimanded herself for not taking the time to make another set of them. Arrows stuck out from the spider’s body, making it look like a pincushion. Despite the blood seeping from its wounds, it didn’t seem to be taking any notice of the arrows at all.
Her hand trailed along the hilt of the elfish dagger. She could plunge the onyx blade deep into its belly. Rid it of its essence. The dagger seemed to call to her as she held it grasped within her fist. She drew it, her hand shaking, and she peered at her reflection in its dark blade.
“Emma! Run!” Micah screamed, drawing her attention.
She glanced up in time to see that another spider was leaping from high above her. Saliva dripped onto her forehead. She didn’t have time to contemplate whether using the blade was the Light’s will or an action of Darkness. Clutching the hilt with both hands, she jutted the dagger into the air, letting the spider impale itself upon the onyx blade.
Its weight was almost overwhelming. She fell from her horse as the spider landed atop her. It twitched for several moments and she twisted her hands. It stilled, its full weight crushing her, before flopping onto its back, its legs curling inward.
Panting, she forced herself to ignore her disgust of the beast as she climbed atop it to wrench the dagger free.
She didn’t have time to think about what she’d just done. Micah had gone silent and his safety became her top priority. She wiped the spider’s ichor covering the blade on the leaves covering the ground before racing towards the spider pinning Micah.
She leapt onto its back with a scream. Its pinchers clicked and its entire body shook as it tried to shake her off. She wrapped her legs around its body as much as she could and squeezed. Its head rotated around until its multiple eyes met hers. She saw her anger, her vengeance reflected in its face as she slammed the dagger into its back.
She ripped the dagger free and leapt from the spider’s back. She rolled as she landed on the ground, then sprang to her feet and rushed to Micah. He was completely encased in the spider silk.
She dropped the onyx dagger to the ground and fumbled with the blade sheathed at her hip. Her hands shook as she sliced the silk down the middle. She moved slowly so as not to cut him in the process.
His skin was strangely pale as she cut away the last remnants of the silk. His lips were tinged blue.
“No,” she whispered, laying her head down on his chest.
At first, she didn’t hear anything above the pounding of her own heart. She closed her eyes and focused on calming herself. She breathed in deeply. And then she felt it. The slow, shallow rise and fall of his chest as he breathed.
She wrapped her arms tight around his chest. Her entire body shook as she cried tears of relief. She kissed his forehead. His cheeks.
His lips.
He didn
’t stir as she sat back on her haunches.
She’d never kissed anyone before other than her sister. She trailed her fingers of her lips and cringed. He was basically a corpse. Great. How was she going to explain this to him?
She started to crawl back to him. Rustling in the trees issued from just beyond the dead spider’s body. Reaching out, she grasped the onyx blade’s hilt and crouched beside Micah.
She scanned the trees lining the path. Shadows writhed as the wind shook the leaves and birds hopped from branch to branch. It seemed strange to her that birds would still be alive with predatory spiders in the area.
It struck her that she didn’t hear birdsong. Or the chatter of squirrels or chipmunks. In fact, as she listened closely, she didn’t hear the sounds of any forest animals.
She tilted her head back and stared skyward. Her heart stopped as she saw more spiders dropping from the sky. The onyx blade wouldn’t be enough to fend them off alone. There were three of them. One was larger than the two who had already attacked them. The other two were significantly smaller. Her skin crawled as she watched them descend.
She hated spiders.
They really were the only thing in the forest that she absolutely loathed above anything else.
She glanced around the path. Both horses were gone. She assumed they’d fled during the first round of attacks. Although she wished they were still there so that they might’ve had a chance to outrun the spiders, she hoped that, wherever they were, they were safe.
She flipped the dagger in her hand and crouched on the balls of her feet, ready to spring forward. It was already an unfair fight, made worse by the fact that she had no doubt they would attack her all at once.
Sweat slid down her brow and into her eyes, stinging them. She blinked rapidly, trying to ease the pain.
The first spider fell the remaining feet to the ground and landed with a reverberating thud. It clicked its pinchers, its multiple eyes angry and intelligent. Emma backed away to find that the second of the spiders had swung above her and was now behind her. The third blocked the path to her right.