by T. A. White
She wrapped the belt around the man’s arm about two inches below his elbow and tightened it as much as she could, creating a tourniquet.
"She's right, lass," the man said in a pain filled voice. There was resignation there. "It's safer to let them end me."
"Safe isn't always best," Eva said fiercely. "Reece was going to create a poultice. We need to get you to the healer and let him do his work."
Eva lifted a challenging stare to Fiona, the unspoken leader here.
Fiona watched her for a moment, and Eva thought she would insist on killing the man despite her protests.
Fiona's lips quirked and she nodded. "You heard her. Get him to the healer." Fiona glanced at Laurell and tilted her head at Eva. "Go with her. Try to keep her out of trouble."
"You're getting soft," Laurell grunted.
Fiona arched an amused eyebrow. "Don't let Hanna hear you say that. She'd never let me live it down."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Eva shoved her shoulder under the man's arm, heaving him up and supporting his weight as Laurell led the way to their exit point. The skin below the tourniquet had blackened, tiny veins of green spreading out from the sting like branches on a tree. His breathing was labored as beads of sweat ran down his forehead.
"We're almost there," Eva assured him.
At least she hoped so.
The transformation was happening too fast. Faster than anything Eva had ever seen.
Laurell paused at the door to the outside, looking left then right before doing a visual sweep of the frame to make sure no bugs waited.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Laurell asked. "It's likely safer inside."
"That isn't an option. He won't make it if we wait for the battle to be over." Eva was concerned about how quickly his skin was changing. It hadn't progressed past the tourniquet yet, but it was only a matter of time.
She didn't know at what point the infection became irreversible, and she had no plans to find out. It was either take the risk or let Laurell kill him.
Approval shown in Laurell's eyes. "I think we're rubbing off on you, Lowlander."
Eva's smile was fierce. "Ever consider it might be the opposite?"
Laurell snorted. "Don't go getting all sassy on me. We still have a way to go. You don't want to upset your escort, now do you?"
"You're both crazy," the man panted. "I'm going to die before we ever take a single step."
Laurell didn't bother hiding her grin. "You heard the man. No turning back now."
Eva grinned back. "That never crossed my mind."
Laurell ducked low, darting outside. Eva remained in place, waiting as Laurell did a visual sweep. Seconds later, Laurell beckoned and Eva helped the man outside.
They hurried across the small lane, passing the stable and several groups working to destroy the bugs scuttling their way. Eva spotted Hanna on a roof, her expression determined, bow in her hand as she targeted the bugs from above with fire arrows.
Two of the brightly colored bugs scuttled up the wall toward Hanna. Eva started to shout a warning. There was a whistle in the air as a dagger impaled each bug.
She glanced over to see Laurell's hand drop to her side. "You owe me, Snake."
"Just consider it payback for the time I saved you in Xante," Hanna shouted back.
Eva rolled her eyes at the interchange, too busy supporting the other man as they half-ran half-walked toward another group of Trateri.
Catching sight of them, the healer hurried over. "How long ago was he stung?"
"A few minutes."
"He has a chance then," the healer said. He touched the tourniquet. "A better one with this. Quick thinking."
"I thought the poultice was supposed to work," Eva said.
"It does, but the rate of transformation is quicker than anything the pathfinder predicted," the healer said. "It's not natural."
Reece raced out of a side street, a horde of bugs scurrying after him. He passed two Trateri crouching on either side of the road. They stood as soon as he passed and touched torches to the ground.
There was a whoosh as the street caught fire. The bugs screamed as the flames cooked them.
"I don't think anything about this place is natural," Eva said, gazing at the chaos.
Laurell appeared, her eyes ablaze, a fierce smile on her face. Her blades were splattered with the sap that was the bugs' life blood and Eva caught remnants along her shoes as well.
"Aren't you supposed to be inside there?" Laurell asked the man beside her, jerking her head at the building in question.
"Safer out here. Easier to see the bugs coming," the healer's helper grunted.
"You're supposed to be resting," the healer said crabbily.
"There's no rest when there are things to kill," Laurell said easily.
The healer gave her a long look. "Say that when you pull your wound open again and I refuse to close it. We'll see who desires rest then."
A fiery arrow sailed over their heads.
"Retreat to the secondary location," Hanna called. "Bugs are swarming a few streets from you."
Laurell waved a hand in acknowledgment. "You heard her. Everyone needs to move."
The healer muttered under his breath as he shuffled around his makeshift triage space. He slapped a pot of pleasant-smelling blue paste into Eva's hands and then added several sachets containing the same stuff to her pockets.
"Hold this for me, will you?"
He was gone before she could answer.
Those near them helped the wounded. The man she'd brought already had paste smeared over his entire arm. His color looked better and he didn't move as slowly as before.
Her arms full, Eva kept pace as their group moved toward a line of warriors who were guarding their retreat.
They hurried around the corner and down several streets, bugs encroaching all around. Their group spilled into a courtyard, a large circular space with a stone patterned interior and a fountain in the middle. Buildings loomed around them, their windows darkened. On one side was the stables where they'd left some of the mounts overnight. Eva could hear the horses, already uneasy at the sound of battle only a few steps away.
Jason hurried into the space a few seconds later supporting Ollie.
Handing off the healer’s supplies, Eva darted over to them, taking Ollie's other side.
"What're you doing out here?" she asked.
"Their building was overrun," Jason panted, catching his breath. "Ours too. This seemed like the safest place."
"I think you're right," Ollie said, noticing the warriors as they spilled in from the different side streets.
"I don't see the general, do you?" Jason asked.
"Probably taking care of the battle on a different front," Ollie said.
He resisted when Eva started to lower him to a seated position.
"We need to check on the horses and get them to safety," Ollie said stubbornly. "The warriors' focus is on beating these things back. We're the only ones who are going to care about the horses."
"You're not going anywhere," the healer called from his spot several patients over. "You're no good to anyone with your leg like that."
"Jason and I will go," Eva said when it looked like Ollie would protest. Jason looked over at her and nodded. "We'll bring them here. There's a couple of hitching posts over there."
It wasn't the best solution, but it would have to do. Better, it was in the middle of the warriors. The horses would be protected—at least as much as she could make them, considering the dire situation. Eva didn't know if they'd be any safer outside, but at least they would be able to run away. Locked in the stable their options were limited, especially with the bugs intent on spreading their seeds far and wide.
Eva stood and pointed at Ollie. "Stay here. We can handle this."
She ran before he could protest, ignoring the shouted, "Wait."
There was a pause and then Jason clamored after her.
They reached the stable and darted inside
.
"You take that side," Eva ordered. She flung open two of the stalls, grateful the horses still had their halters on. Not wanting to chance them panicking and taking off, she attached two leads to them and trotted toward the post.
They resisted until they caught her scent before quieting and following her. They trusted her. Recognized her from weeks of her caring for them.
Jason was only seconds behind her. Their first group tied off, they hurried back to the stables, leading the next pair out.
Laurell intercepted them, taking the lead of one pair. "What do you think you're doing? You were supposed to stay right beside me."
"Someone has to make sure they're alright, or do you want to walk back to the Keep?" Eva knew the answer before Laurell even spoke. No one wanted to travel that distance on foot.
Laurell's eyes flashed. "You're more trouble than you're worth, Lowlander."
"So people keep telling me. Over and over again."
"Stay in the courtyard," Laurell ordered. "It's safer there. I'll take these."
Eva danced back before Laurell could grab her, pointing as she did so at where they'd been tying the rest of the horses off. "Take them over there. I'm getting the next group."
"That's the exact opposite of what I told you to do," Laurell shouted.
Eva waved one hand over her shoulder to show she understood, but she didn't pause as she jogged back to the stable. She wasn't leaving the horses in there.
She flung open another set of doors and tripped back at the sight of a horse crawling with bugs. Pained neighs greeted her.
The horse collapsed onto its side as the bugs, at least ten of them, darted along her body. Large bumps from where she'd been stung riddled her coat.
Even as Eva watched, the mare began to convulse, the poison working its way through her system, her limbs stiffening as they turned to wood and green vines ate away at her from the inside out.
"No," Eva cried, starting for the horse. To do what, she didn't know.
Hard hands grabbed her and yanked her back.
Caden's furious gaze met hers. "You can't do anything for her now."
He dragged her toward the front of the stable as Eva resisted. "You don't know that. I have the poultice."
It was true. She'd handed off the bowl, but she still had the small sachets stashed in her pockets.
He shook her, his furious gaze swinging toward her. "There's nothing you can do."
Her shoulders slumped and grief welled. He was right. There had been dozens of stings. The poultice wouldn't even begin to cover them.
The look he sent her said he knew she knew that too and wasn't going to waste precious time arguing about it.
She gave him that. He'd been right to stop her. "There are still other horses in here."
To that, he flicked open several stalls, barely pausing as he dragged her in his wake. Horses burst out and streamed past them.
"We have to put them on leaders," Eva protested.
"No time. They either survive or they don't. This at least gives them a chance," Caden said brusquely.
His pace didn't slow and they were off again. It took him no time to undo all of the stalls and throw them open, never once losing his grip on Eva.
It wasn't lost on her how many of the horses didn't erupt from the stalls. They'd lost more than a few to whatever these things were.
"That's the last of them," Jason called, rushing over from the other section.
"Good, we're getting out of here," Caden ordered. "Follow us and don't fall behind."
Jason nodded, the younger man's face tense but trusting.
Caden started back toward the front, only making it a few steps before he stopped. Bugs, dozens of them, waited by the door. Two horses galloped toward them, the first was quick to stomp anything that got near him, disappearing into the night seconds later. The second wasn't so lucky. Two of the bugs leapt, stinging him before falling to the ground dead. The horse's scream of pain echoed in the small space. With it came the scent of smoke.
Eva was distracted as the horse galloped after the first. She sniffed. She'd been right the first time. It smelled like smoke. Worse, it smelled close.
Smoke started pouring from one side of the stable, filling the stalls before snaking out into the hall. She grabbed Caden's sleeve and pointed. "We need to get out now or the bugs will be the least of our problems."
She didn't know which was worse, burning to death or becoming one of the woodling spawn. Both scenarios were abhorrent.
"I think there's another way out the back." Jason fled the way he'd come, Caden and Eva racing after him.
It was growing hard to see in the stable, haze from the smoke covered everything. The fire crackled in a thunderous roar, spreading fast, like it had a life and mind of its own, consuming wood and hay as it frantically burned through fuel.
The high-pitched shrieking of the bugs assaulted her ears as they rushed through the low visibility, Jason a barely distinguishable figure ahead of them.
It was becoming hard to breathe as Caden tugged her forward.
They stumbled out of the stable, coughing so hard they could barely stand. Caden's strong arms braced around her back as he practically propelled her forward.
Eva glanced frantically around. "Where's." Cough. "Jason?"
A thump sounded and Caden collapsed to the ground, bleeding from a wound on his head. Laurell stared at her over his body. The warrior jerked forward a step, her movements awkward.
"Run," Laurell managed to gasp out even as her arms reached for Eva. Her sleeve slipped back, revealing skin transitioning to wood, green lines where her veins should have been.
Eva barely evaded her reach.
There was a sharp cry behind her and Eva spun in time to see Jason crumple to the ground, Vincent and several throwaways were arranged around him. She opened her mouth to warn them when a sharp pain in the back of her head sent her sprawling.
She caught a glimpse of Laurell's jerky movements as she shambled toward Eva, the throwaways laughing as they joined her.
"Not so mighty now, are you?" Vincent said as Eva slipped away.
*
"Psst, Eva," a low voice niggled into Eva's consciousness.
She started to stretch, her head pounding, only to stop when her arms refused to move more than a few inches. The thought that she might be in trouble rapidly roused her.
She opened her eyes to examine the odd place she found herself in. Vines flourished, a tangled nest of wooden snakes, where they crept across the ground.
Older trees arched high above, even as their trunks and roots were entangled by the same vines she now realized held her immobile.
"Don't struggle. It only makes them tighter."
Sure enough, the vines tightened slightly as if in response to her aborted tug.
Eva craned her neck, careful not to move too much. "Jason?"
"Yeah, they got me while I was coming out of the stable. I'm pretty sure the throwaways are the ones who set fire to it," he said tiredly.
"Where are we?" Eva asked, hoping he'd been awake for at least part of their abduction.
"Your guess is as good as mine," he said morosely. "I was out until a little bit ago."
Eva looked around, trying to see beyond their burrow of vines. These trees were scarcely seen in the Highlands where the elevation was higher and water less plentiful.
You wouldn't know that to look at these; their crowns were wide and the leaves a deep green. It reminded her in a way of the forest near her old village. These trees didn't have much in common with the hags in the way of appearance, but they had the same sense of agelessness, as if they'd seen all the strangeness this world had to offer, and stood tall in spite of it.
Beyond the trees, Eva caught sight of dull gray. It seemed they were underground, or in a room of some sort.
She squinted up at the canopy. How was that possible? Trees like this didn't grow in darkness.
Blue glimmered above. Sky. Not entirely u
nderground then.
As interesting as the place was, she pushed the questions surrounding its existence away. It wasn't important right now. What was, was getting out of this mess.
Vines completely wrapped around both her and Jason. Closer to the tree trunks, Eva caught odd bumps under the vines. Her stomach sank. Why did she think those bumps might have once been human?
She looked away, straining to see in the other direction.
Laurell stood at attention, her expression blank. Her skin had a faint woodish cast, almost making her blend in with the trees around them. It was why Eva had missed her the first time.
"Laurell," Eva said with an ache in her voice.
The warrior was different than those she'd discovered in the garden. Her frame still held a human solidness, her body not completely wooden. Her clothes hung on her oddly, her sword peeking out through the vines that encased her legs.
Her friend didn't answer. Her eyes were open, her expression agonized. She knew what was happening to her. Knew it but couldn't do anything to stop it.
There was a small rustle and then the feel of furred feet running up Eva's side. A lupine head popped through a gap in the branches and the fox regarded Eva, its tongue lolling out of its mouth in an expression that asked why she was resting here when there were adventures to be had.
"How is that thing here?" Jason asked in surprise. "I thought those bugs turned anything living into one of the wood people."
Eva shook her head. "Maybe he’s immune because he's a mythological?"
She didn't know. Either way, she was glad to see him. She didn't feel quite so alone with him present, which was ridiculous since Jason was here too.
"Someone's coming," Jason murmured.
"Can you hide?" Eva asked the fox, not wanting him to be discovered. Her guess that he might be immune because he was a mythological was just that, a guess. She didn't want to risk his life on such a small chance of success.
The fox disappeared into the branches, his coat helping him blend in surprisingly well. There was only the faintest rustle of leaves before she felt his warm weight settle against her side.
Eva relaxed back into her prison, closing her eyes until she peered out at the world through narrow slits.