Kari gasps, eyes wide, but she doesn’t respond. What does she know of the Night Bringer? I’d never heard of him before he forced me into a bargain, but I’m wondering if his legend isn’t as obscure as I’d once thought. Is he well known among the ruling courts? Are there legends I’d never heard of?
“If Rev dies, I go into the Schorchedlands anyway. If I go now, we can fight together and increase our chances of defeating an enemy that I know firsthand is near impossible to defeat. We need to be together, or you can guarantee you lose us both. Even if I go now and Rev survives, then I simply traded one form of banishment for another.”
The pressure on my chest lessens, but Ty doesn’t pull his hand back. Tears well in his eyes. “I can’t let you do this.”
I curl my fingers around the hand over my heart and squeeze. “I love you too, Ty.” I give him a sad smile. “But I have to do it.”
He closes his eyes and shakes his head softly, his shoulders sag in defeat.
“You’re willing to run off on some impossible mission,” I say softly, “which will likely result in your death, for the off chance you can help re-establish a nation for your forgotten people. Is this so different?”
“Yes,” he whispers, eyes cast to the ground. I know I’ve already won the argument, but he continues, “Because there’s hope, even if it’s small. If you go now, there is no hope. You’re lost, without any doubt.”
“I know you don’t realize it,” I say. “But I was lost a really long time ago.”
He shakes his head. “You’re wrong.” His fierce eyes meet mine again. “You think you’re a lost soul, destroyed in that battle ages ago. But you are the absolute strongest person I’ve ever met. Your soul may be scared. You might have pain. Your magic may be one of darkness. But you, Caelynn of the Shadow Court, are bright as the fucking sun.”
My mouth falls open as I examine his face. He believes it.
“It was only a matter of time,” he says more gently. “Rev saw it too. It was hard for him, but he was falling in love with you. He’d have loved you. And he’d have found a way to free you, eventually. I saw it. That future, where you could have been together. You could have been happy. I wanted that for you.”
I press my eyes closed, my lip trembles. “I couldn’t see it,” I admit. “But I wanted it too.”
Ty’s hand falls from my chest, freeing me.
I stand there, heaving in breaths, pain pressing down on me. Then, finally, I sniff and stand up straight, determination filling me again.
“Choice is up to you, Cae,” Kari says. “Are you staying or going?” She’s not trying to push me one way or the other.
“I’m going.” There’s no doubt.
She nods sharply. “Then come with me.”
My chin jerks back. “What? Where?”
“My court is one portal away. I’ll get you set up with all the supplies you need and send you on your way.”
I blink slowly. I have plenty of things in the Crumbling Court, but that’s an hour’s ride away. “Okay, then.”
I give Ty a long hug and thank him for everything. His friendship, his aid, his belief in me. All of it means the world. Then, I follow Kari toward a black stallion, eyeing us.
“For the record, I agree with everything Ty said just now.”
“Uhh, thanks, I guess?” Much of what he said was saying I shouldn’t go. Does she mean that too? Because she’s being rather supportive if so.
“But I’d do the same thing if I were in your position, and I’d destroy anyone who stood in my way. I don’t intend to be that person.”
“Thank you.”
Rev
The wind howls, blowing over my skin and tossing my hair wildly. Luckily, it’s just barely long enough to reach my eyes. I ignore the occasional sting and continue pressing into the roaring wind.
The air here is at least twenty degrees colder than the other side of the wall and much too dark to see.
If I’d thought this through, I’d have slept the night in that tame forest before entering the Schorchedlands. But I couldn’t think anything through before.
I still can’t think very clearly, if I’m honest. Rage still devours me from the inside out. Pain I couldn’t possibly explain presses down on me.
Her voice rings in my ears.
Caelynn telling me how she’s enjoyed murdering my brother. I shake my head. How had I ever let her get that close? How had I ever trusted her?
Bile rises in my throat. Never again.
Now that I’m here, I’ll never have to see her again.
Now, I’m here, and I simply have to deal with what’s ahead. I’ll focus on this mission and nothing more. She can’t hurt me again.
The world before me is so dark I can barely see where I’m stepping. How am I supposed to find a place to camp for the night if I can’t even see what’s around me?
There’s a faint clinking and the groan of pained spirits in the distance. They’re far off, though. Not a direct threat.
The ground here is soft and mushy, and as I march forward, it only gets worse. Soon my boots are sinking into the muck with each step. If it gets any worse, I’ll have to turn back, seeking firmer ground. I could easily get stuck in mud this thick. And that’s assuming this is simple mud I’m dealing with. I’m in the Schorchedlands, I remind myself, and the muck very well may be cursed or poisoned or alive. Many unpleasant options.
I blink, trying to will my eyes to focus in the darkness. No such luck. My fingers and lips are still numb, my brain a bit fuzzy. I won’t be entirely sober for a few hours still—all the more reason I should sleep.
Something pinches my shin, and I jerk back, only to wince at another sharp jab to the back of my thigh. I freeze and brush at my thigh. Something pinches my fingers, and I pull away a briar. Wonderful.
I groan and attempt a gentle reversal of my steps. I turn and retreat until I find my boots are on solid ground. Not entirely dry or firm but better.
The wind groans in my ear again; only this time, it sends a shiver down my spine. More groans fill the air.
That... is not the wind.
Phantoms. Wraiths. Cursed souls. That’s what populates this place. They’re not all fae but also animals and creatures whose souls couldn’t pass on to the beyond.
I pull out my iron blade. It’s dull, but it’s not the blade itself that will protect me. Iron can cut even through spirits. This small blade and my magic, those are my only real weapons against the inhabitants of this place.
While the spirits here don’t care one way or another if I retrieve the cure—they will kill anyone who gets too close, and they are especially annoyed with living beings impeding their eternal restless punishment. There are traps set every step of the way, looking to ensnare souls—living or non. They don’t care.
My heart beats louder, and I press closer to the edge of the thorn walls. Not exactly the ideal place to camp because if you roll too close, you may find a foot-long thorn slicing through your body easier than a sword. But I also know journeying through the Schorchedlands blind is a terrible idea. The closer to the center I get, the more dangerous it becomes. After walking the perimeter for a short while, I’m able to find a small copse of trees. I can’t tell what kind, but they’ll provide enough cover to act as a shelter for the next few hours.
The howl of a wolf, or something like it, calls in the distance, followed by several more groans and cries. I pull my thin blanket from my pack and throw it over my shoulders as lean my back against the tree, sliding to the ground.
I close my heavy eyes.
I’m here. I made it. The path ahead won’t be easy, but I can now focus on my quest.
I’m not a failure, I remind myself. Not yet.
In the morning, I’ll begin my long trek across these cursed lands and find a way to reach my destiny. For now, I’ve just got to survive until the morning.
Caelynn
Equipped with a new leather ensemble, several weapons and potions, and a backpack ful
l of supplies, I ride my new shiny, bright-white stead through the forest toward the Schorchedlands.
Luckily, the horse Kari let me borrow isn’t afraid of portals—the way Rev’s stag had been—because I’ve traveled through several to get here. After our stop in the Crystal Court, I rode my new stead through the back through the portal to the High Court, then through the Luminescent Court portal—the faces of those Luminescent guards we’re priceless—and then, finally, through the iridescent forest and to the portal that dropped me a mile north of the Wicked Gates. It sounds like a far way to travel, but it only took minutes. My horse hardly broke a sweat.
The pathway is dark, but I have no problem navigating ahead, and the filly is confident in my abilities. I quite like this horse actually. White isn’t my preferred color, but its confident gate and smooth stride is enough to make up for that shortfall. Besides, anyone, creature or person, who trusts me is welcome in my book.
The Wicked Gate towers over us, and I slow my horse to a trot until we’re directly below it. I hop off of her and pat her neck. “Thank you for an easy and pleasant ride.” I turn and look at the thorn wall before me. “Part of me wishes I could take you with me.”
The horse whinnies and stomps.
“Oh, hush. I’m not really going to. I know better than that.”
She snorts, and I laugh.
“I like you because you trusted me,” I tell her, rubbing her nose. I have no idea how much she understands. Many fae-realm creatures are significantly more intelligent than their human-world counterparts. In fact, rumor has it that animals here were once fae who transformed themselves into animals and became trapped. Still, I don’t have much experience with fae-realm animals to know how much of that is true. All I know is she seems to understand, and so, I’ll treat her as if she can. “I wouldn’t reward that trust by dooming you to the fate I’m dooming myself.” My face falls at that thought. I sniff and stand up straighter. “Kari will send someone for you in the morning. Don’t go far,” I tell her.
And then, I approach the magical gate before me.
The usually bright green wall of vines and thorns is dark and shadowed. I swear the vines shift and slither like snakes in places—but the moment I look, they freeze in their place. Or maybe it’s just my imagination.
I step into the small nook, shrinking beneath the imposing thorns pointing directly down at my head. Pointer finger out, I reach up toward one of the points—is it as sharp as it looks?
The vine over my head hisses.
I flinch. “What?” I ask as if the wall was sentient. I suppose it could be based on the way it treated Rev.
A faint chuckle rumbles through the whole wall around me. The thorns wiggle over me, and I squirm.
They’re poisonous, a smooth, echoing voice says.
My eyes grow wide. “Why would you put poisonous thorns pointing right at the entrance?” I say, stupidly talking to the bodiless voice.
Did you expect puffy clouds and rainbows?
I roll my eyes.
It’s a warning, foolish girl. Passing through me is equal to courting with death.
Been there. Done that.
Yes, you have. The voice tsks, the voice soft and distinctly female. A rather unpleasant turn of events.
My eyebrows pull down. “Who are you?” I ask the vines or wall or whatever it is that’s talking to me.
Keeper of the gate, she rumbles proudly.
“That sounds like a rough gig. How’d you get stuck with that?”
Saving the world often requires true sacrifice. You, Caelynn of the Shadow Court, understand that well, I suspect.
I purse my lips. I do indeed. Somehow, this being was trapped inside this wall in order to save the world? The books I read said nothing about a keeper of the gate. But it did explain the original purpose of the Schorchedlands—to keep terrible and powerful spirits inside. Is she one of those spirits trapped? Or is she doing the trapping?
I find it no surprise the one who outwitted the Night Bringer would be so intelligent.
I swallow. “Do you always flatter your visitors?”
Didn’t Reveln tell you of our interactions?
I wrinkle my nose. “You could have been nicer to him.”
He shouldn’t have come, she hisses.
I sigh. “You also could have told us that!” I shake my head. “Would have been nice to know that forces of evil wanted him inside.”
They also want you inside. Will that change your mind from entering?
I purse my lips. Touché.
I did what I could to keep him out. It is not generally in my nature to be quite so picky about who decides to condemn themselves, but I found any and every technicality I could in this case.
“To save him?” I ask.
To save everyone. I was able to obey my own laws while still doing my best to safeguard my charge.
“Your charge?”
These cursed lands. I protect them. You and your mate are... a threat.
“Us? You think we’re going to hurt the Schorchedlands?” How would someone even do that?
What you wish and what you will do are two very different things. You have a very interesting destiny Caelynn of the Shadow Court. I hope I’m around to watch you fulfill it. But your presence here does not bode well for my longevity.
“Your longevity?” I ask absentmindedly, trying to work through the bits and pieces of information the being is giving me. “What do you know? What is his plan? The more information we have the more likely we can do this right.”
You have the power to do terrible things, Caelynn. With that spellbook, you will have the power to release an evil being from its rightful cage.
“What?” I spit. “That spellbook is meant to put an end to the scourge.”
It could do that, she agrees. But it is not the only way to end the curse. This way was chosen for a very specific purpose that goes much beyond the scourge. There is a reason for the trials and who was entered and much more.
I swallow. Is she saying that the Night Bringer is connected to all of it?
You once ruined his plans, she tells me. It was a victorious day for the forces of good, the day Reahgan of the Luminescent Court died.
I suck in a breath.
I hope you will come out victorious a second time. But right now, you are following the adversary’s plan quite well.
My eyebrows pull down.
Find the answers, Caelynn. You have allies inside these walls, but they may not be who you expect.
I nod. Content with the information I have received. Any more and my brain might explode. I’m uncertain if I should trust an inanimate object, but nothing I’ve learned has changed my plans. I will go in. I will find Rev. I will make sure he gets out.
I’ll deal with the rest of it as it comes.
I slice my forearm and press it on the same knob I watched Rev use.
You wish to enter the Schorchedlands? The feminine voice purrs, much more inhuman than just moments before.
“Yes.”
You willing submit your body to the same permanent imprisonment given to scarred souls of the dead?
“Yes.”
Your only escape is in death, paired with redemption.
“Death would be a mercy.”
Indeed. Her voice sounds tired.
The vines twist and shift, slithering like snakes until a person-sized opening is laid before me.
When your enemies are defeated, and the world safe, perhaps we can become allies in our permanent prisons.
I suck in a breath, mind spinning to think of the years I’ll spend in this place after Rev’s quest is complete. Of how many this creature has already spent here.
Good luck, Caelynn of the Shadow Court.
I step out from her shelter and into the poisonous void before me.
It’s where I always belonged. And now, I’ve embraced this bitter fate of mine.
Rev
The sky on the horizon lightens into a musky red. I tak
e a swig of water and then pack up my things.
My head and heartache in sync. My muscles feel heavy and weak. But my soul is ready to complete this stupid quest and be done with it.
As a boy, I’d dreamed of being a hero, but I was never strong enough for it. One look at my perfect brother and I knew I’d never be like him. I’d never be good enough to step out from his shadow. And my father—well, he pointed out every flaw as cruelly as he could manage.
I believed, for so long, that I wasn’t good enough to do anything worthwhile with my life.
But I’ll prove them wrong. I’ll do this.
I clench the leather straps of my backpack and march forward, through the trees, toward the south wall.
The Schorchedlands are twenty-five hundred square miles. A perfect square, which means fifty miles on each side. It’s only twenty-five miles to reach the center, where the air is so thick with poisonous sulfur a living being can only survive for hours before succumbing to the death that presses in.
Which is exactly where I must travel.
But that relatively short trek is filled with spirits and obstacles that will make the trials look like a child’s game.
I have a rough map of the layout, but the last person to have come through the Schorchedlands was one hundred years ago, and so much of this place is based on the magic of the spirits inside there’s no telling how the terrain has changed in that time.
Once out of the copse of trees, I climb a set of average looking boulders and stop to admire the view. Well, admire is a strong word. There is nothing admirable about this place. It smells like decayed flesh, feces, and sulfur. The skyline is marred with a smog that wafts into the air so that even the sun and stars cannot be seen from this place.
I get my general bearings and pull out my compass. My path will be over the non-imposing level field of mud and muck before me. Beyond it is a shadowed forest.
There are no creatures to be seen at the moment. Everything appears simple. Easy.
Curse of Thorns (Wicked Fae Book 2) Page 12