It didn’t take him long to find the logs that Raskyuil had dropped when they were attacked. Their arms laden with their respective burdens, they made their way in the same direction the crocotta had gone as they returned to camp, a strange silence stretching out between them.
Chapter 16
Diana frowned at the silvanus lying on a mossy log at the opposite side of the fire. He had stripped off his armor and lay in nothing more than his pants, the sculpted muscles of his chest and abs bare as he stared up at the leaves above them. She knew that he had to be grieving, because somehow she felt a strange echo of it within her own heart. But there was no knowing by looking at him. Silvas’s face was flat, expressionless, and beautiful in an otherworldly sort of way that was equally terrifying. He was inhuman, and yet in the flickering light of the fire he could have passed for a marble creation from the masters of old. He left no clue as to what he was thinking or feeling, and she didn’t even know how to broach the subject as he had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in receiving any comfort.
It was a change from the hungry stares as they stood beside the carcass of the wyrm. As he had stood there, naked and aroused, she had been tempted by the responding heat in her own blood. Diana had been aware of an echo of his presence moving beneath her skin as if he were already moving within her, exciting her need. But that was before.
Diana turned her gaze toward the flames, trying not to think of it as she burrowed deeper into the warmth of her cape.
This is so awkward.
At least the air no longer stank like the wyrm. After they had gathered the firewood, Silvas returned alone to take care of its corpse so it wouldn’t attract any predators to feed on its diseased flesh. That it had so easily dispatched the silvanus who protected this part of the forest was going to give her nightmares. She couldn’t stay awake forever, especially not with the distance they had to go tomorrow.
With a grimace, she settled into a bed of old leaves and soft grass and mosses and tried to get comfortable. Yet, as she looked up at the leaves, they appeared to be like moving shadows above that reminded her so much of the wyrm that anxiety rolled off her in waves and her thighs and arms tensed.
“Go to sleep,” Silvas muttered, the interruption of his deep voice through the silence startling her.
He had to be kidding. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep when every stir in the forest made her think of the wyrm. Even closing her eyes, fear surged through her that another would come upon her while she was unaware and snap her up in its jaws before she even had a chance to wake.
The lucomo sighed. “I can taste how strong your fear is from here. As sweet as its flavor may be, you require rest.”
Grateful for the distraction, she rolled her eyes. “Why do you keep saying that? You realize enjoying the flavor of my fear makes you sound just as bad as any of the tainted monsters you speak of.”
He raised an eyebrow, his glowing eyes cutting to her. “How so? Does my enjoyment harm you in anyway?”
“No, but terrorizing people is cruel… What if someone had a heart condition? Besides, some of the species out here eat flesh. You admitted it. I really can’t see the difference,” she said.
“Can’t you?” he asked as he rolled to his side, his eerie eyes staring through the flames at her. “Everything within the forest obeys the laws set forth within nature by the gods of the cosmic order, the highest of the gods whose very being make the succession of life possible. Even destruction and periodic dissolution of laws is part of that fundamental order necessary for growth. The Tainted Ones, however, thrive on chaos. It is not a matter of what is perceived to be right or wrong, nor what is pleasant or unwelcome to humans. Many spirits enjoy strong emotion and energy without causing harm, just as much as we enjoy the smoke of burnt offerings. Those that would harm you I suggest you stay clear of. In the end, however, it is about what threatens the very cosmos and violates the cosmic laws set forth in nature.”
“I can’t say that the cosmos or any god in particular gives a shit about the human race from what I’ve seen,” she said. “Our world is completely destroyed.”
His laughter broke through the dark, and for one shining moment, a smile lit up his face. “Ah, the human assumptions again.” He clucked his tongue at her and shook his head with a playful pout, his ornaments swinging against his antlers. “Poor humans, your civilization has toppled like it has continuously over millennia, to make room through destruction for change so that something new can come forth. No doubt there was some god who fundamentally set the events into motion as their duty, but there have been gods and spirits that have intervened as it was their purpose. The rise of Tainted Ones, however…” He paused and frowned. “This is unprecedented and disturbs me. It can only mean that there are great changes to come that will be felt through the cosmos. Perhaps they have already begun, and I just didn’t see it for what it was at the time.”
He fell silent and lay back once more, his brow knitted in a puzzled frown.
“And the wyrm…?” Diana asked. “Are they one of the tainted creatures? Raskyuil seemed to consider them more like highly intelligent beasts. Just how fine is the line between what’s tainted and what’s not?”
“Many of the beasts and mortal beings, even ones with long lifespans, can become tainted. It is a fundamental corruption that begins at their core. For those who are sentient, it is more difficult. There needs to be a seed of darkness within them. Once they are tainted, it eventually wipes away the blessings of the gods, and they are forced to feed upon souls to sustain themselves. It makes them stronger, and those who have glutted themselves no longer age. Some of the worst among them cannot be killed but must be trapped and put into slumber.”
Diana shot up to a seated position and gaped at him. “Are you saying that people can become infected and turn into immortal monsters—like fucking vampires?”
“The analogy is perhaps accurate, although vampires themselves are not tainted—at least not to a degree that is problematic, as they consume blood and refrain from devouring souls. Though I don’t particularly enjoy their company,” he amended with a lopsided smile. “The wyrms are one of the most susceptible species due to the fact that they live deep within the earth. Some are favored among certain gods for their fierce protectiveness over places held dear to them, but that alone will not save them. Their nature as dwellers within the deepest caverns make them vulnerable, just as vampires have their thirst that makes them vulnerable, and mankind has qualities that make them vulnerable and turn them into terrible abominations.”
She chewed her lip as she considered his words. Rarely had she heard of a person that she could consider truly evil. In human history, it had been the exception rather than the norm. Even during the height of the crisis, when the ravagers burst from the underworld and created havoc on Earth before they mysteriously disappeared, she knew that the ugliness was from the creatures.
Only later did humans learn that not all ravagers were terrible monsters. Rather, the worst of the destruction had been carried out by humans in the grip of madness. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that there was probably a divine purpose behind it, or that a god might have willingly set them loose on the world.
Such a deity wasn’t one she cared to know.
All of that, however, compared to what was staring at her now… Soul-eating monsters that thrived on mass destruction, killing the living and devouring their souls to give their bodies life. This was far worse than the ravagers, and that was saying a lot, considering that the ravagers had been a plague. Terror slipped up her spine as she imagined entire towns filled with dead people, their flesh torn, and their souls ripped away and consumed.
“Your fear is climbing,” Silvas observed calmly.
“For good reason. I’m fucking terrified. Now I wish you hadn’t told me. It would be easier to face all of this without knowing just how terrible these things are. They will destroy what is left of us, won’t they?”
She swallowed the terror that beat at her. She had to have courage. For some reason, his words gave her a glimmer of hope, and she was able to find her inner strength. Just being near him seemed to help. But she had to know…
“The silvanus who was dead in the woods… did he look like that because his soul was eaten? Is that how all the victims of the Tainted Ones appear?”
Silvas looked at her sadly and shook his head. “The silvanus appeared that way for the same reason a faun might, or one of the lesser spirits… Because while we are material substances, we are not technically flesh and bone they way mortal beings are, despite our similarities. The bones that remained were compression of his being at the moment his soul was destroyed.”
“So a human would be…” She gagged on the bile that rose up her throat at the thought of encountering rotting human remains, horror frozen on their face from their final moments as their soul was torn out of them. Tears trickled down her cheeks, and her throat burned as her entire body began to tremble.
The sound of rustling fabric and soft jangle of metal didn’t prepare her for the sudden presence of the lucomo. Dropping down at her side, his arms banded around her and pulled her against his chest. Although he held her stiffly, his words gave her some measure of comfort.
“We will destroy Cacus. I swear it. There is little I can do about the creatures outside of my domain, but I will make certain that this threat, at least, is neutralized. The Eternal Forest will not be a source of suffering and destruction.”
She leaned against him, pressing her cheek into the tunic covering his chest, and she mutely nodded. It was no guarantee, but it was something—and she would take every fighting chance that came her way.
Slowly, his warmth penetrated her, forcing her body to relax.
“Sleep,” he whispered down into her hair. “We have far to go. Another day of travel and then we will be entering the Hyperborean Mountains.”
“I’m afraid a wyrm will return if I fall asleep,” she whispered, hating her weakness.
She felt his hand touch her hair before stroking through it. One stroke followed another until he was soothingly petting her in a way that had her relaxing even further into his embrace.
“It can’t creep up on me. I will smell it. You can trust your safety to me while you slumber.”
Diana looked up to meet his colorless eyes. His gray pupils appeared even larger in the dark. “You promise?”
“Yes,” he murmured.
She believed him.
Chapter 17
The mountains were brutal. She thought that traveling through the forest had been rough, but it had nothing on the mountains. Miles of blinding white stone stretched ahead in an unwelcoming craggy landscape. Worse, as they climbed higher, the temperature gradually shifted to a bitter cold. She was certain that soon the rock would give way to snow and complete her misery.
It was bad enough that the cold wind seeped into her bones. Diana was besieged by tremors that shook her entire body in an attempt to keep warm. She cursed the mountain and wanted to curse the stubborn silvanus. She missed the warmth of Silvas’s body now that she trailed behind him. After they left the foothills, they started the climb on foot once Silvas considered it too unsafe for her to remain clinging to his back. The distance between them grew as the hours of silence continued to lengthen, broken only by orders the lucomo issued in a clipped voice. He did not so much as look back at her even then.
She didn’t understand why he was even bothering to drag her up the mountain in his wake. He should have just sent her with Raskyuil. The injured troll at least would have been better company. Silvas did not appear to need her assistance or desire her presence. She could have fallen off the mountain and he wouldn’t have noticed since he didn’t deign to glance her way.
As much as Diana hated to admit it, that hurt. It made her angry, and she cocooned her heart in those feelings to protect it from the dismissal. The more she struggled to follow him up the mountain, the more resentment began to burn in her belly.
Eventually, she noticed that she was lagging farther and farther behind. Silvas walked so far ahead of her that he often disappeared into the landscape, visible only by the strands of white hair blowing on the wind. Not only could she barely see him most of the time, but the strange awareness between them had vanished as well, leaving her feeling even more alone on the mountainside.
Something was different the day before. Yesterday, they traveled through the forests without saying more than two words together when they stopped for breaks. Each time, Silvas shapeshifted into an enormous white crocotta that put Keena and Keech to shame.
It was perhaps a good thing that he was so large since she ended up having to strap the bundle of his armor to the saddle harness that Dagani had worn. Diana hadn’t seen him go to retrieve it, but when he produced it for her with instructions on how to put it on him and strap down his armor, she had felt a new rush of sympathy for him.
Not that she gave to voice to it or acted on it. The hard look in his eyes as he spoke made it clear that any softer sentiments would be unappreciated. His expression told her all that she needed to know about his expectations. He expected compliance and nothing more. He didn’t want her sympathy or any comfort, despite what little he had offered to her when she was scared. At that moment, she understood just how much a stranger the ageless lucomo was.
This perception was reinforced every time he regained his true form. He hadn’t been inclined to speak, and Diana was left to her own thoughts more often than not. Truth be told, she wasn’t certain what she expected him to say to her. What did they even have to talk about? She snorted as she recalled Raskyuil’s concerns that the lucomo would want to keep her.
Not fucking likely when he seemed to be happy to forget that she was even there.
The last words he had spoken to her were when he had allowed her a rest break just before they began their ascent. He had explained in as few words as possible that they would need to climb the mountain rather than fly up. He didn’t know where the strix was nesting, and if he took the form of a griffin or roc to approach, she would be forewarned of their presence.
Diana didn’t have a clue what a roc was, and since he had seemed to be in a hurry to convey information and depart, she held her tongue and fell into step behind him. The hope that she would find some kind of companionship with him—even if it were a peculiar brand, like what she had found with the troll—vanished.
With a disgusted click of the tongue, she kicked the loose stones in front of her. Why was she allowing this to affect her so much? So what if he was ignoring her presence? It was no different than how most of the guys in her town behaved toward her once she showed no interest in sacrificing her freedom for the promise of safety and comfort—as much of it as they could promise—that they offered.
Diana wasn’t even sure when she began to look at her captor as any sort of companion. She had to be crazy to even consider it! She had to depend on Silvas to survive, nothing more. As long as he didn’t let anything kill her, he could walk miles ahead for all she cared. It wasn’t like she even noticed how far away he was when his pale form disappeared.
It was ridiculous to feel such unease with the distance between them. She was doing fine.
A snowflake dropped on the tip of her nose, and she cursed under her breath. Naturally, it would start snowing. Why not? It was bound to happen. Diana had just been waiting until they hit the higher elevations and encountered snows that not even late spring could completely remove from the peaks.
Squint
ing against the curtain of snowflakes, Diana realized that she couldn’t see any sign of Silvas. There wasn’t even the telltale flick of his tail, or the flutter of his hair in the wind. Her unease grew into a quaking panic, and something wrenched in her heart as if a void had sprung up inside her.
Silvas was gone.
As the first fingers of panic twisted within her gut, Diana’s first instinct was to shout for him, but she clamped her mouth shut against the impulse. She didn’t have a death wish. She didn’t want the strix to find her first and discover her alone and helpless on the side of the mountain. Fear crawled through her as she imagined the monstrous sorceress landing in front of her on the snow, her wings swooping as they beat the air. Long, clawed fingers stretching for her…
Shivering, she pulled her cloak tighter and distracted herself by inventing new curses to send after the lucomo. Diana continued to climb, fully aware that snow slicked the stones, making every step treacherous. Her pace slowed even more as the falling snow become thicker, a northern wind churning it, whipping it around her like an impassible wall, making the world an indistinct mass of white. The white rock had been bad enough, but now she was snow blind. The wash of falling snow had turned the entire world white without even a break of blue sky visible now.
She slowed, feeling the ground with each tentative step before putting her weight on the deepening snow. Her muscles quivered with each step. She could feel the dull ache building around her joints and the pressure that felt like it was squeezing her skull, but there was little she could do about it. Fear was like a living entity crawling through her, beneath her skin like shards of ice sinking into her blood.
The strix was out there was somewhere, possibly even hunting her now…
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