by Jeri Baird
Quiet snores replied. Zander would have to wake them all before Paal heard him and by then, the noise would likely make the snake strike.
The fox token might be his only defense. He inched his hand to the pouch at his neck, found the token, and flicked it to the ground. A red fox appeared. The hair on its back bristled as it crouched at Zander’s side. When the snake recoiled to strike, the fox snapped at the head and clenched it between sharp teeth. Zander uncoiled the limp body from his leg as the fox tugged it free and then disappeared.
Leaning into the tree, Zander fingered the red heart token. Calm spread through his body even as dizziness washed over him. He wasn’t sure if it came from his near miss with the snake or the bump on his head from the night before. He slapped at a buzz near his ear as a hornet stung his cheek.
Before they others woke, Zander left to find comfrey. He returned an hour later with a poultice on his cheek and enough wild strawberries to share for breakfast. Frantic faces greeted him.
Kaiya clasped her hand to her heart. “Where were you?”
“I thought you left.” Alexa’s red eyes stared at him.
Guilt stabbed at his gut. He hadn’t thought they would worry. His head still pounded, but he forced a smile to reassure them. “Hungry?”
Zander wasn’t the only one with a sting. He shared the comfrey he’d collected. Pale faces with dark circles under their eyes told him the wet questers did not feel prepared for the second day of challenges.
Neither did he.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Quest Day Three
Alexa
With the sun struggling to break through leftover storm clouds, the questers huddled in a damp circle. They had bread to go with the strawberries, but Alexa longed for the warm kitchen in the bakery she never thought she’d miss. Fresh mint leaves stuffed in her water skin helped push the sleep-deprived fog from her mind. After Puck’s visit, she’d had a hard time falling asleep.
As she chewed the last bite of bread, a thorn pushed into the hand she leaned against. “Ouch.” She pulled the thorn out of her palm and rubbed the puncture to stop the bleeding. Annoying, but she had more dangerous omens to worry over. She scanned each tired face surrounding her. “Let’s fight all the pig omens today.”
Shocked faces stared at her. Odo’s swollen eye and Kaiya’s bleeding thumb reminded Alexa of the omens they’d already battled. They would recover from those, but an unexpected pig or snake could kill.
Her determination hardened. They would survive. All of them. She ignored her gut’s reminder of the panthers, hoping they wouldn’t show until she and Zander left the others.
Zander draped his arm over her shoulder. “She’s right. Let’s fight the dangerous omens today.”
“What about the panthers?” Cobie asked.
Shrugging, Zander stared at his friend. “I think Alexa and I will be fighting those on our own. For now, let’s work together.”
A beam of sunlight broke through the clouds, and the warmth that spread across her face matched the pride that filled her. Alexa stood tall under Zander’s arm. “We can do this.”
“I’m tired of getting stung.” Kaiya rubbed at a welt on her wrist. “Let’s throw out all the turtle tokens.
The questers searched their bags, and soon, ten turtles milled around the tree. They tossed their hornet omens to the ground where turtles twirled in circles as they snapped them up and then wandered off.
Without the buzzing hornets, they could focus on the remaining eight pigs.
“I have an idea.” Alexa held up her hands. “Why don’t we climb the tree and throw out the omens? Then we’ll be safe if we make mistakes.”
Zander grinned and warmth flooded her. They would do this together. The quest wasn’t so hard after all. Her happiness overrode the prickle in her gut.
“Yes! That’s a brilliant idea.” Paal headed for the tree. “Let’s get up there before any pigs show up.”
Jarl and Zander boosted the others into the tree where they scrambled for places along the branches. When they were all in place, Zander pulled himself up to sit next to Alexa. “What’s next?”
“Pull out your pig omens. We’ll . . .” The sound of raindrops plopping on the leaves interrupted Alexa, but it wasn’t raining. Something soft fell on her head and began crawling through her hair.
“Ugh, a spider fell on my arm,” Cobie hollered.
Kaiya screamed. “They’re all over me!”
Spiders covered Alexa’s arms. “Get out of the tree! They’re everywhere.” She scooted for the trunk while brushing off the creatures. Thorns sprouted from the wood and stabbed her palms. Blood oozed from the punctures.
“Stars! Moira’s punishing us for cheating,” Paal yelled. “Throw out all the sparrow tokens.”
Alexa opened her pouch and screamed when a spider scuttled out. She knocked it away and grabbed the tokens. As scores of tiny tokens became birds, the sparrows darted between the branches snatching spiders.
Jarl dropped to the ground with a thud. “Jump,” he shouted to Bindi and Tarni. “I’ll catch you.” He yanked a thorn from his hand just before Bindi dropped. He caught her and quickly set her down as Tarni and then Yarra fell one after the other.
Zander jumped down next to him and together they helped the others out of the tree. Odo thrashed about as he brushed spiders off his head and tried to avoid the diving sparrows. Cobie and Waku calmly picked spiders off the others as they descended from the tree. Sticky blobs of white bird poop peppered their hair and clothes.
“I hate spiders,” Paal grumbled. “They’re even up my pants legs.”
Alexa was the last to drop from the tree. She shuddered at the thorns thrusting out all over the tree. There were still enough crawling spiders to make the branches look alive. The others would never trust her again.
“Move out from under the tree.” Zander led them to the clearing. He wiped bird poop off his forehead before he put his hands on his knees and bent over shaking.
Alexa rushed to him. “Are you hurt?”
He shook his head and then burst out laughing.
Alexa stepped back. “This isn’t funny.”
Cobie snorted and Kaiya giggled. Soon everyone but Alexa and Paal were rolling with laughter.
“I don’t see what’s funny. I hate spiders.” Paal stomped off.
Zander reached out to wipe a white speck off Alexa’s cheek. “It’s pretty funny.”
She struggled not to smile. “I guess hiding in the tree is out.”
A grunt from behind the tree sobered their mood. They turned as a razorback focused in on Odo. As it charged, Odo tossed a token in the air above it. An iridescent green butterfly floated down to drape its wings over the pig, inches from Odo.
The questers watched in fascination as the pig squealed and then went limp. A cheer erupted. Another omen defeated.
~
After two scorpions, a pride of peacocks, and a lengthy discussion, the questers agreed to Alexa’s plan. They’d take control and summon the omens, but from the ground this time.
The first time worked like they hoped. The knot in Alexa’s stomach released. They could still do this.
When Paal threw the next pig omen to the ground, it startled Cobie and he dropped the snake omen at his side. The snake locked its gaze on Kaiya instead of the pig and couldn’t be deterred. Zander threw out a bird token. An owl flapped silently toward the snake until the pig squealed and startled it. The owl changed course and landed in the tree, wide eyes blinking at the scene below.
“Run, Kaiya!” Odo screamed at his cousin.
Kaiya scrambled to get away as the other questers scattered. The snake slithered after Kaiya.
“Throw out another bird,” Odo yelled to Zander. He glared at Alexa, “Get rid of the pig.”
She tossed a butterfly token at the pig as Zan
der ran after the snake and dropped a bird token in front of it. Alexa sighed in relief as the hawk snatched the snake, and the butterfly killed the pig.
Odo whipped around to confront Alexa. “This isn’t working. Your plan almost killed Kaiya.” Jarl and Waku lined up next to Odo.
Zander moved to Alexa and draped his arm over her shoulder. He whispered, “We stand as one.”
Bindi, Yarra, and Tarni joined Odo.
Paal rubbed his hands together. “Odo might be right. Kaiya had all the correct tokens until you had us share them.”
Betrayal stabbed her gut as Paal moved next to Odo’s group and Cobie followed. Doubt filled her, but she held firm to her plan. She turned to Kaiya, who stood alone between the two groups. “I’m sorry. We might need to make some adjustments, but I think this will still work.”
“Not for me.” Odo shook his head. “And not for my cousin. We’ll finish the quest alone.”
“You can’t. It won’t work.” Alexa dreaded the reaction to her next words. “The tokens and omens are all mixed up. We don’t know which ones belong to which quester.”
The others’ voices rose in anger as they cried out their displeasure.
“Wait.” Kaiya held out her hands.
“I’m the one who almost died.”
One by one the questers stopped shouting and turned toward Kaiya.
“We’ve made mistakes and we’ve learned from them. I had a close call, but I’m all right because we worked together.” She stepped over to stand next to Alexa. “I trust the plan.”
Still angry, Odo pointed at Alexa. “If anyone dies, it’s your fault.”
“That’s not fair.” Zander looked at the others stone-faced. “We don’t know what would have happened if we’d each quested alone. We’re the unlucky thirteen. Remember what Melina Odella said about the last group of thirteen?”
Grateful for his support, Alexa took hold of Zander’s arm to steady her. “Kaiya’s right. I made some mistakes, but I know we can do this if we stick together.” She reached out for Kaiya’s hand and pulled her close. “If Kaiya can forgive me, can the rest of you?”
“What choice do we have?” Odo grumbled.
Paal broke from the group. “Let’s get rid of these pigs.”
The others nodded reluctantly and followed Paal to a cluster of bushes.
Alexa pulled her sweaty hair into a ponytail and tied it with a red silk thread. “Let’s do it.”
Kaiya tossed a pig omen to the ground, but with his back to her, Odo didn’t see her and threw out one at the same time. The boars turned to each other, hackles raised.
Before Alexa could toss the butterfly token, a pig charged her. Backing away, she tripped over a turtle. She thudded to the ground and blood flooded her mouth where she bit her lip. The pig grunted over her as if defending its prize from the other boar. With a pig on either side of her and the butterfly tokens in her bag, Alexa curled into a ball.
The stink of pig filled her nose as shrill squeals surrounded her. She cupped her hands over her ears. Zander shouted, but he sounded far away, filtered through the stamping hooves next to her head.
Cobie’s voice drifted through her dizziness. “There’s a butterfly token on your left side.”
As her fingers curled around the token, a pig stomped her hand. Fire radiated up her arm. Wincing, she flung the token over her head
She heard the swoosh of the wings and squeals from the pig. Paal reached in and dragged her away from the other pig as Cobie slung a snake omen in the air above it. Alexa shuddered as the snake repeatedly struck the pig. As the pig fell, a hawk swooped in and grabbed the writhing snake.
Zander and Paal knelt on each side of her, while Cobie hovered at her feet. Her twin touched her cheek, and she winced.
“Ouch.” She licked her swollen lip and tenderly felt her swelling eyelid.
He grimaced. “You’ll have a black eye. Let me see your hand.”
Trembling, Alexa held out her hand. Angry welts scraped across the top. She flexed her fingers. Nothing felt broken.
“Here, rinse your mouth.” Kaiya held out a water skin.
Cobie spread a comfrey and lavender poultice across Alexa’s hand and used a strip torn from his tunic to wrap it.
“Do you think you can stand?” Zander’s eyes tightened with fear.
Paal and Cobie each took an arm and eased Alexa up. When she put weight on her right leg, she buckled and cried out. “My knee.”
Zander helped lower her to the ground and Kaiya lifted her pant leg. The needle Alexa carried in her tunic hem was buried to the eye in the side of her knee.
Nerves made Alexa laugh. “Mother warned me about carrying a needle in my hem.”
Zander muttered, “Not so good at listening, are you, big sister?”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Zander
Zander couldn’t grasp enough of the needle to pull it out. His fingers would slip off, and each time he felt her pain as if it were his own.
“Odo? Bring me a couple of the longest hairs you can find from the dead pig.”
When Odo returned with three coarse hairs, Zander threaded them through the eye of the needle. He touched Alexa’s arm. “Close your eyes and take some deep breaths.”
He nodded at Paal who sat at Alexa’s side. “Grip Paal’s hand.”
“It’s all right if you cry,” Paal said as she grabbed for him. “I can tell it hurts.”
Alexa shook her head, but tears slid out the corners of her shut eyes.
Zander took a moment to center his own energy. “On three, Alexa. One, two.” He pulled on the hairs and to his relief the needle slid out on the first try.
Cobie spread lavender over the hole, but the deep puncture risked infection. She’d been brave—braver than he would have been. With her left hand swollen to twice its normal size and her right eye bloodshot and puffy, Zander worried if she’d be able to travel later. They needed to fight their panther omens away from the group.
After tending his sister’s injuries, Zander sent Cobie and Kaiya to search the woods for more herbs while Odo foraged for lunch. Paal hovered over Alexa as she rested against the tree.
Zander couldn’t shake the fear he’d felt while Alexa cowered between the pigs. He needed time alone, but he couldn’t go far in case an omen appeared. He wound down to the spring and filled their water skins. As he stood underneath a white willow sprouting new leaves, he imagined roots growing from his feet and joining the tree’s as it searched for water. Tension flowed from his body into the earth, and calm filled him.
When he opened his eyes, he was refreshed and ready to resume fighting. It only took a minute to rejoin the group.
Cobie and Kaiya had found a few twigs of lavender and mint, and Zander added them to the water. Paal laid two loaves next to the golden chanterelle mushrooms and cow parsley greens Odo had gathered.
As they ate, Alexa reminded them, “Four more pigs.”
Paal scowled. “Give me your butterfly tokens. You’re done fighting.”
Reluctantly, Alexa handed him the bag. Zander held his grin. She was a fighter, his sister.
The first two went as planned, but then an unexpected pig charged Zander, and Cobie wasn’t ready with the snake. The tusk gored Zander in the thigh, tearing through his pants and ripping into his flesh. Fire burned through his leg as he fell to the ground and rolled into a ball as the pig butted him. Grunting filled his ears. First Alexa and now himself—was this the curse? Another thrust knocked Zander against the tree, scraping his back and jarring his spine.
Distracted by Paal waving a stick, the pig stilled long enough for Cobie to throw out the snake. It struck three times before the pig collapsed.
Zander huddled next to the tree as he struggled to catch his breath. He glanced up and spied the hissing snake a foot away. The snake sidled closer. Zander had
the bird tokens in his bag. It was a definite disadvantage to one person carrying all the tokens.
The snake lunged. Zander dove to the side too late. The fangs struck his chest. As it recoiled to strike again, Zander closed his eyes waiting for the poison to spread through his body. It would kill him as surely as it had killed the pig.
The second blow never came. After a heavy thud, Paal exclaimed, “Got him!” Paal’s flushed face glowered. “I hate snakes.” The adder lay mangled under a gray rock.
After scrambling to Zander, Alexa pulled at his tunic. “Where did the snake strike?”
He rubbed his chest and started to laugh. As the questers stood in a circle around him, he pulled the heart token from his tunic. Two fang marks dented the wood. “I guess Melina Odella saved me today.” He moaned as he tried to stand. “Not so lucky with the pig though.”
Kaiya’s face crumpled, and Zander hated seeing her upset. He took her hand and pulled her in to sit next to him while Cobie pressed a poultice of lavender and comfrey onto his wound. He tried not to flinch when Odo tied a strip of hemp around his thigh. Odo had torn it from his tunic and after three days in the woods, it wasn’t the cleanest. But it was all they had.
“You’re going to scar,” Kaiya whispered.
He didn’t like seeing her worry. “But I’m alive.”
“You still have the panther to fight.” Her eyes filled with tears.
Zander took her hand to reassure her or maybe to reassure himself. She leaned against him as the others finished with the pig omens.
Odo tossed out a pig. Cobie threw out the snake. After the adder killed the pig it slithered over to Paal, who had his eyes closed as he leaned against a tree.
“Paal,” Zander yelled. “Pay attention. Throw out a bird.”
Paal grabbed a token and tossed it in the air, but no bird appeared. When it hit the ground, a brown and white retriever came to life and snatched the snake. It took a few seconds before Paal realized what had happened. “No,” he shouted. “Not Silk. I didn’t mean to use that one.” He ran a few steps before he dropped to his knees. “Come back, Silk!”