by W. J. May
“Everyone’s regrouping at the bottom of the hill,” he panted. “If we really want to leave, we won’t get a better chance...”
He trailed off, staring between them.
“...what?”
They shared a quick look, then glanced in opposite directions.
“It’s nothing,” Evie murmured. “It’s just...your fangs.”
The vampire’s skin abruptly paled and he bowed his head—retracting them at the same time. When he glanced up a second later, he was back in control. Albeit a bit more shaken than before.
“Are we leaving?”
The friends shared a quick look, then Ellanden nodded.
“One at a time,” he muttered quickly. “This place is in chaos, but still, it will cause less attention. Just head straight up towards the peak. We’ll catch up with each other along the way.”
Asher stifled a shudder.
“And then we’ll just outrun the famed shifters of Belaria?”
The others paused, then Evie quickly moved them past it.
“One problem at a time. Landi, you go first.”
The fae didn’t need to be told twice. With his bow strapped to his back and a sword hanging by his side, he flew up the side of the mountain and into the trees. No one in the camp noticed. The children had already been confirmed as safe and they were still picking up pieces of what was left.
“All right,” Evie whispered, nervously drumming her fingers on her leg. “You’re next.”
She gave the vampire a gentle push, but he stayed right where he was—staring out at the camp with a look of total devastation. “My father will never forgive me for this.”
The princess followed his gaze for only a moment before turning to look him in the eyes.
“He will if it works.”
The two shared a fleeting look, then the vampire turned abruptly on his heels and sprinted off into the woods. The fae had left no trail to follow. But he wasn’t that far ahead.
Evie glanced once more at the burning carriages before taking a deep breath.
My turn.
Looking back, she would always remember the way it felt.
When she turned her back on everything she knew and gazed into the unknown. When she took those first fateful steps, a blanket of bloody leaves crunching under her feet.
There was no turning back now. The deed was done.
Whether or not they could see it through?
That was left to be seen.
Chapter 9
It was harder running away from the royal forces than Evie had thought.
Partially because they were sprinting uphill, over rugged terrain, having recently spent every drop of strength and adrenaline they had battling a swarm of painted lunatics. Partially because they were actually headed in the same direction as said lunatics, and every so often they actually caught a glimpse of one of them through the trees. But mostly because of the wolves.
Belarian wolves were famed throughout the realm. They could track their prey for miles, pick the slightest scent off the breeze. And it’s not like she and her friends weren’t leaving a trail.
She glanced to the left where Ellanden was running beside her, completely unaware that the burns across his chest were flinging little drops of blood. She glanced to the right where Asher was deliberately not looking, sprinting with tunnel-vision focus as they crashed through the leaves.
We’re making it too easy. Her heart quickened and she resisted the urge to glance behind her, lest the wolves were already there. As soon as they realize we’re missing, the game will be up.
However impossible, they quickened the pace—avoiding the grass as much as possible and sticking to the rocks. It was a mixed bag. Harder to track a scent over boulders, but easier to see the blood. And at this point, Ellanden was hardly the only one bleeding.
“Shit,” Evie cursed quietly, pressing her palm against a laceration at the base of her collarbone. Considering it was their first actual fight, the friends had done extraordinarily well. But the men they were fighting had skills, too, and each kill hadn’t come without consequence.
Asher immediately stopped in his tracks, pulling the others to a halt with him. “Are you hurt?”
Obvious question, he was staring at the blood. And there wasn’t a moment to lose.
“Who cares?” Ellanden glanced quickly at the princess, gauging the seriousness of the wound before lifting his eyes back to the mountain. “There’s no time—we have to go.”
“This isn’t going to work,” Asher said quietly. His eyes were anxious but his voice never lost that eternal calm. “If we vanish during the retreat, our guards will assume we were kidnapped. And if we keep running in the same direction, it will only shorten the time until we’re found.”
Ellanden and Evie shared a quick look, turning back with increasing impatience.
“Okay, so what should we do?” the princess asked quickly.
The vampire thought a moment, then lowered his eyes from the path they’d been travelling on to one that dipped beyond the other side of the peak. It was dangerous. It would take a lot of energy. But it followed the river—which was possibly the only way to mask their trail.
“You guys up for a little swim?”
Ellanden followed his gaze, shaking his head.
“The current’s moving too fast and it will take us out right over the falls. There’s a reason the others are avoiding the river—we should avoid it, too.”
“The others are avoiding it because they have the option,” Asher said simply. “We don’t.”
The princess looked down at the rushing water.
Ellanden was right—it was moving too fast to be at all feasible. Even though the three of them were strong swimmers, chances were they’d drown.
But Asher was right, too—they didn’t have another choice.
“We go to the river,” she announced, skittering down the rugged slope at the same time. By now, people back at the camp must have realized they were gone. The water was their only chance.
The others were beside her in a heartbeat, bracing themselves as best they could against the impossible angle as they half-ran, half-fell down the side of the mountain. When they were about a quarter of the way there the ground gave out entirely, and they found themselves in a sudden free-fall through the air. Silent screams rose up in their throats but they swallowed them and kept it together as best they could, gasping at the sharp impact when they finally crashed back to earth.
The good news—anytime they were airborne, the scent was lost and it would be very difficult for a wolf to follow. The bad news—they were breaking a little more each time.
The prince rolled out of it, clutching at his shoulder; the vampire lay there a moment, blinking back the stars. The princess turned away from the others, unable to put any weight on her ankle, but before they could say a word a distant howl echoed through the trees.
Evie was horrified. Then, abruptly sad.
They’re calling for us. She recognized the sound and tenor. The closer the wolves got, she could start to pick out individual voices. They’re calling our names.
“Come on,” Ellanden panted. “We have to keep moving.”
The vampire rose shakily by his side, but for the first time since leaping out her window with a crumpled prophecy clutched in her hand the princess was suddenly uncertain.
Asher’s right. Our families will never forgive us for this.
It wasn’t that they were sneaking off. The three friends had snuck off before. They’d been caught and punished, and that was the end of it. But sneaking off after a violent raid on the caravan?
At best, their parents would think they were kidnapped.
At worst, their parents would think they were dead.
There could be no excusing that. Even if they fulfilled the prophecy, drove back old enemies, and restored balance to the land. There could be no forgiving such a thing.
“I hear Mace,” she murmured, almost to herself. “He’ll
be worried sick—”
“Hey, enough of that!” Ellanden commanded. “This was your decision, Everly. And for the record—it was the right one. This isn’t some childish rebellion. You think it’s a coincidence that the caravan was attacked just a day after the head of your mother’s council was poisoned at a royal banquet? The same night you were given a prophecy? There’s a reason we’re doing this. So let’s go.”
His eyes flickered back the way they’d come, then he forced them to the river.
“Cosette will be worried sick, too...”
FOR THE NEXT TWENTY minutes the three friends struggled down the side of the alpine peak, having a more and more difficult time the longer they continued. They were making great speed, but all the speed in the world wouldn’t help if they couldn’t make it down to that river.
They took several sharp turns, doubling back the way they’d come. Then all at once they were standing on the pebbly shore...looking out in dismay.
It was incredibly fast.
The princess knelt down and dipped her fingers into the water.
And incredibly cold.
“Well, it’s huge,” Asher said tentatively. “They certainly won’t be able to follow us.”
Ellanden stood bracingly on the shore, cradling his arm against his chest.
“Yeah, because anyone who sets foot in there will end up dead,” he muttered.
The princess flashed him a nervous look, then gazed out at the violent current. It was going just as fast as they’d been running themselves. So fast the water was frothing, and little white caps had appeared on the tops of all the waves. Some patches looked a bit safer than others, but judging by the direction of the current it wasn’t long before everything got sucked back to the center.
“All right, well...we’ll just stick together,” she said hopefully, checking her sword before lashing her bow and arrows more tightly to her back. “If someone starts to lose their footing, the others can pull them back.”
The boys shot her a disbelieving look, but they began adjusting their supplies as well. Any coins they happened to be carrying were tucked deep into pockets. Shoes were removed for good measure and tied securely to the backs of their cloaks. Finally, when there could be no more stalling, they took each other’s hands and stepped forward into the icy waves.
“Seven hells!” Evie gasped aloud, instinctively jerking back to dry land. It was even colder than she’d thought—sucking the breath and courage right out of her.
“Yeah, that’s pretty bad.” Asher lifted his eyes to the snowy peak of the mountain. “I’m afraid it all just melted from right up there.”
The fae had kept silent, but he started instantly shivering the second the icy water touched the burns on his skin. His teeth clenched as a tremor ran through his hands.
“Are you going to be okay with those?” Asher asked quietly, gesturing to the patches of raw and bloody skin all over his bare chest. “Should we...should we try to bandage you or something?”
“He has a point, Ellanden,” Evie added practically. “You were recently on fire.”
For some reason, the way she said it made everyone laugh. Even the prince had to crack a smile as he shook off the vampire’s helping hand, staring at the water with newfound determination.
“No bandages—she’s right. I was recently on fire. At this point, water could only help.”
None of the friends were quite sure it worked that way but, short of any better suggestions, they pulled in a deep breath then waded in up to their chests.
“Shit,” Ellanden hissed, bowing his head. “I changed my mind. Asher, carry me.”
The vampire clapped him sympathetically on the back as they waded in even farther, slowly making their way downstream. The cold was so intense it was getting difficult to breathe. And the current was so strong they were always a moment away from being swept right off their feet.
But the wolves were still howling in the distance, getting closer with every moment. So they continued their glacial pace—hands clasped tightly together beneath the rushing waves.
“Do you think we should just swim?” Evie asked after a few excruciating minutes. She was reluctant to release them, but at the same time, they were moving so slowly the Belarian shifters would simply be able to see them from the shore. “It would be a lot faster.”
Asher shook his head quickly, wet hair dripping down the sides of his neck. “We’d be pulled along too fast, dashed against the rocks. There’d be no better way to drown.”
Ellanden said nothing. He seemed beyond the point of speech.
Together, the three of them continued making their way forward—each one plagued by a growing list of worries they refused to allow themselves to say.
My legs are locking up.
I’m getting dizzy.
I’m losing a lot of blood in these waves.
They kept going until, at last, they reached a bend in the river where things widened out and the current slowed to a more manageable speed. Gasping and spluttering they climbed quickly up the rocky incline, so they were only submerged up to their waists.
“How far do you think we’ve come?” Evie panted, glancing back the way they’d come. “A couple of miles?”
The boys shared a quick look, then decided it was kinder to lie.
“Something like that.” Asher glanced back as well, straining to hear anything above the rushing waves. “We should really keep moving—you know they won’t stop the search.”
“Maybe not,” the princess countered, clinging to any last shred of optimism she could. “A lot of them were injured in the attack, and Cosette is still there with them. They’re not going to want to split their forces for too long. They’ll send a raven and wait for reinforcements.”
Ellanden let out a splintered laugh, shaking from head to toe.
“Really? You really think Mace and Hastings are just going to turn around? Wait for the ravens? You really think the rest of the Belarians aren’t going to search for their missing princess?”
She wanted to argue, but she was too tired and he was probably right. At any rate, the fae didn’t look like he could withstand it. She splashed a step closer, lifting her fingers to his chest.
“Truth: how are you holding up?”
He hesitated a moment, editing quickly, then flashed a brave smile. “I’m so numb, I can’t feel the burns anymore.”
She laughed quietly and gave his hand a squeeze. Asher was staring nervously at the blood swirling in the water. Bravery could stretch only so far before the body simply shut down in shock.
“Maybe we can cross to the other side of the river,” he murmured. “Get out on the far shore and carry on by foot. I’m not sure how much longer any of us can—”
Then, at that moment, the choice was taken away from them.
Because at that moment all three friends were swept right off their feet.
What the—
Evie barely had time to scream before her legs were knocked out from under her and she was pulled beneath the waves. An impenetrable wall of water closed over her head, and for a split second the world went so dark she was unable to see. All sense of balance and equilibrium was immediately lost. Her lips parted in another soundless cry as her face dragged across the rocks.
She was still holding onto Ellanden. Barely. But he was getting thrashed about in the current just the same as she. For a split second she felt his hand tighten. Another joined it, clamping onto her wrist. But a second later they were ripped away from each other, tumbling blindly in the waves.
She couldn’t tell where she was going, but she could tell she was going there fast. Her hair tangled in the water around her, flipping her body like a doll as it caught onto submerged rocks and trees. There was a horrifying moment where she thought she was simply going to black out, but her head broke the surface a second later and she pulled in a gasping breath.
The friends had wanted to lose the royal forces? Well there was certainly no keeping pace with them now.
They’d been dragged to the center of the river, and were being swept along at such a break-neck speed it would be impossible not to break bones.
On the other hand, they’d also lost each other.
“Ellanden!”
The princess knew she shouldn’t scream, but at this point she couldn’t help it. They were miles away from the mountain camp, and the roaring water instantly drowned out her cries.
She thought she maybe saw a glimpse of him, trapped in the current about a hundred feet downstream, but she couldn’t be sure. There was no sign of Asher. The vampire was simply gone.
“Ash—”
There was a tug somewhere around her ankles, and the princess was dragged beneath the water once more. At this point, she didn’t know what was worse: The cold, the darkness, or the dizzying speed. Probably the speed—because every now and then a different part of her would bash into the rocks hidden beneath the cresting waves. There was blood in the water. She felt sure that things had begun to break.
With a newfound sense of urgency, she kicked fiercely towards the surface—only to feel an invisible weight tugging her down. The edges of her vision had started to blacken. If she didn’t do something fast, she’d never make it to the surface again.
But just then, as she was about to lose hope, a tiny hand wrapped around her ankle.
The princess twisted around with a water-logged cry, trying to see through the clouds of bubbles, but it was no use. Whatever had grabbed her was pulling her slowly but steadily out of the darkness—to a place where the moon shone a bit more freely, away from the crashing waves.
But it wasn’t pulling her upwards and the princess was running out of breath. She was about to pass out completely, when a pair of lips closed over hers, forcing oxygen into her lungs.
Her eyes fluttered open, squinting in the shimmering water...only to see a lovely girl staring back at her. At first she thought she must be dreaming. Then the girl let out a sudden laugh.
“I don’t believe it! You’re that girl from the castle!”