⋆˖☽ Chapter 12 ☾˖⋆
3056 Words
The tremendous downwash of Zarina's and the emerald dragon’s wings had already faded into the canopy, leaving them nothing more than a shadow swallowed by the clouds. Just like that, we were alone in the woods.
Dry earth and brittle leaves crunched beneath our boots as we navigated around the ancient trees. High above, the Chitterwings trilled. Their soft, melodic chatter cascaded through the branches.
Up ahead, the narrow path forced Mira’s shoulder to brush against Mikaeus. A sudden, deep flush darkened her cheeks, and she mouthed a frantic, silent sorry. Mikaeus kept his gaze locked dead ahead, offering no reply, not even a shift in his posture. Even so, Mira continued to speak to him in low murmurs, the coldness that usually anchored her eyes lifting to shine just a fraction brighter.
Emeric shadowed them, walking exactly five paces behind. I brought up the rear, my senses sharp. The phantom sway of the dragon flight still echoed in my legs, though the stomach-churning nausea had finally bled away. Still, my muscles remained coiled tight. Every snapping branch, every rustling shadow, every trick of the dappled light yanked my attention. I was anticipating whatever nightmare might leap from the treeline.
Emeric’s pace began to drag. He drifted back until he was just to my side, slightly ahead. His spine remained straight, the posture of a soldier, but his shoulders sagged under an invisible weight. He didn't speak. His gaze was locked on the path ahead, but I could feel the suffocating pressure of his attention pressing against me.
A Jasperwing's haunting, solitary song drifted through the canopy from somewhere far away. There is no tranquility here, I thought, my grip tightening on my bow.
Emeric slowed, his footfalls matching mine while maintaining a strict three-pace distance. In my peripheral vision, his eyes held a deep, unspoken sorrow. Just as quickly, the vulnerability vanished, locked away. His jaw tightened, a muscle jumping in his cheek before he forced it to relax.
My fingers tapped a silent, restless rhythm against my thigh. I turned my head just a fraction.
"Is there something you want to say?" I kept my voice steady, pitching it low enough that the crunch of leaves would mask it from the others.
His head snapped toward me, his heavy boots faltering in the dirt. I paused, matching his sudden halt. A storm of emotion I couldn't entirely decipher flashed across his weathered face. For a second, I thought he might actually speak. Instead, he snapped his gaze forward, swallowed hard, and marched quickly ahead, falling into step beside Mira.
She glanced at him, her eyes raking up and down his tense frame. "Everything alright?"
"Yes." The word was sharp, curt, and entirely unconvincing.
Mikaeus leaned close to Mira. "Keep the pace," he murmured. Mikaeus let himself fall back, slipping into the space Emeric had just abandoned until he was walking beside me. He was so close the fabric of my sleeve practically brushed his side.
Mikaeus kept his voice to a hushed murmur, though a deep, unmistakable current of worry hummed beneath his words. "How are you feeling?"
"Better now." I paused, searching for the right word. "I didn't realize riding would be so—"
"Difficult?" he interjected gently.
"Yes." I dragged my hand through my windblown hair, my fingers snagging on a stubborn knot. I pulled hard until it finally gave way with a faint snap.
"It's always that way." He shrugged, and for a fraction of a second, our eyes met in shared understanding. "My first time..." A grimace crossed his face at the memory.
But he didn't finish the thought. He let the sentence trail off into the quiet woods, leaving a comfortable, breathing space between us. It was as if he was waiting to see if I would press further, or perhaps deciding he'd rather not share the indignity at all.
Around us, the forest remained its somber, shadowed self, devoid of immediate threats. The silence stretched, and my curiosity finally won out over my vigilance.
"What was it like? For you, I mean?"
His head perked up in mild surprise before his shoulders relaxed into a soft, genuine chuckle. "It was eventful, to say the least." His gaze grew distant, a wry smile touching his lips as the memory played out before him. "I ended up vomiting on my mother, myself... and Zarina. I can't say she was too enthralled about that. None of us were."
"I wouldn't think so," I murmured, the ghost of a smile tugging at my own mouth.
"My point being, do not worry," he said gently, his tone returning to an earnest warmth. "It was only your first time. It will get better with practice."
My stomach churned violently at the mere thought of getting back on a dragon.
"But for now, we are on the ground. In the forest." He let his footsteps slow to a complete halt.
I took one more step before stopping entirely, turning back to
face him. The ambient light caught in his eyes.
"This is where you are happiest," he noted. His voice was laced with an unexpected, quiet sadness.
"It was. And I still am. It was my home..." I braced myself, instinctively locking my chest tight, waiting for the familiar, blinding pain to rise. I waited for the memory of Caelfall to cut its jagged way through my heart.
But the sharp edge was gone. Time had worn it down, leaving behind only a dull, hollow ache. A bruised emptiness. "Things are different."
In the distance, Emeric and Mira's footfalls had faded; they had drifted too far ahead, leaving us isolated in the cathedral of trees. Mikaeus held my gaze for a long moment before he finally broke it, nodding once and starting to walk again.
"I... I see," he said softly.
As we rounded the bend in the path, the Chitterwings' cheerful trill began to fade. A few of them abandoned their branches in a panic, scattering blindly into the air with frantic flaps.
My eyes darted across the treeline, scanning the dense foliage for any slight shift in the shadows, but I found nothing. Beneath the trees, the familiar miasma snaked lazily along the forest floor. It seemed thicker here, almost darker, as it coiled around the fresh imprints of Mira's boots—though perhaps my exhausted mind was just imagining it.
"Mikaeus!" Mira's voice echoed from ahead, tight and urgent.
His footfalls quickened, leaving me further behind as he hurried to catch up to her.
My stomach dropped with a familiar, hollow weight. I watched the distance grow between us, finding a cold, stubborn comfort in the space.
Further in the distance, another flock of Chitterwings erupted from the canopy—a much larger group this time, a chaotic flurry of feathers. A sudden rush of wind howled through the trees, carrying the scent of damp earth and trailing an icy, unnatural shiver directly down my spine.
Instinctively, my fingers found the smooth, polished wood of my bow.
Something is disturbing them.
I froze, ignoring the wind to strain my ears.
Snap. Crunch.
Twigs were breaking beneath the steady, heavy rhythm of deliberate footsteps. And there were far too many of them to be a coincidence.
Up ahead, the others ground to a halt, their gazes locked dead on the treeline to our right. Emeric’s massive hand settled heavily on the hilt of his greatsword, the leather creaking in the quiet. Mikaeus’s spear was already gripped tight in his hands.
I scanned the shadows, my eyes darting past the obvious trees to the deep underbrush behind them.
Then—a subtle, unnatural shift in the foliage. A gleam of leather where there should only be bark. Just enough to give him away.
A scout.
In one fluid, thoughtless motion, I slipped my bow from my shoulder, nocked a steel-tipped arrow to the string, and let it fly. The bowstring hummed a vicious, resonant note.
The shaft whistled through the narrow gap between Emeric and Mira, crossing the distance in a heartbeat. It buried itself squarely in the skull of the hidden Vow member. The brush thrashed, branches snapping as the dead weight crumpled to the forest floor.
Emeric whipped his head back, his eyes wide, shooting me a profoundly stunned look before his gaze tracked the invisible path of my arrow into the bloody brush.
Mira unsheathed her twin daggers, slipping like a shadow behind Emeric just as a Vow member charged her. He slashed in a cross arc, but she was already gone—ducking smoothly beneath the steel and lunging into his personal space. He tried to twist away. He was too slow. Without a wasted motion, Mira drove her dagger deep into the side of his neck and ripped it free. Blood poured in a hot rush over his collar. The man swayed, the spark of life flickering out in his widening eyes. He reached out a desperate, grasping hand, but Mira simply took a calm step back. Letting him claw at empty air before collapsing. His blood sank into the damp earth of the forest floor.
Nearby, heavy branches snapped in a rhythmic, rushing crunch. Another Vow member was closing in. I drew my bowstring taut, tracking the sound through the dense foliage, waiting for the perfect moment to release.
But Emeric beat me to it. He surged forward, planting his heavy frame directly in the path of the oncoming threat. His massive greatsword was already raised high, the muscles of his back tight beneath his armor as a Vow soldier burst from the treeline.
Emeric swung. The greatsword cleaved through the air with a low hum, carrying enough momentum to slice the man in two. Desperate, the soldier raised his own blade to block. The clash of steel rang through the trees. The man's entire frame shuddered under the crushing pressure of Emeric's swing; his arms buckled, throwing him backward as his boots skidded through the dirt.
The Vow member shifted his stance, trying to step inside Emeric's guard to crowd the longer weapon. Even from behind, the muscles across Emeric's shoulders locked, and his stance lost any hint of defense.Digging his heel into the dirt for leverage, Emeric brought the greatsword down in a vertical arc. The soldier barely dodged it, Emeric fluidly flipped his grip, ripping the heavy blade back up at a sharp, unnatural angle. The steel bit deep, tearing through the man’s armor and shirt, leaving a trailing spray of crimson across his chest.
"Keep him alive!" Mikaeus's voice boomed over the ringing steel.
There was no time to pause—and no mercy to be found in Emeric. The momentum of his strike was already spent. Before Mikaeus’s order could even settle in the air, Emeric followed through, finishing the brutal upward slice. The man's lifeless body crumpled to the ground, ruined and split.
As another enemy burst from the trees, Mikaeus charged, his spear leveled. He lunged, piercing the arriving Vow member straight through the shoulder. The sheer force of his momentum drove her backward, pinning her flush against the trunk of an ancient oak. Her head slammed against the bark, and dark crimson began to seep from the wound, staining the wood around the spear shaft.
Her trembling arm lifted, raising her sword in a pathetic final defense. "D-don't..." Her voice wavered, but it carried an undeniable, fierce strength. Her eyes narrowed into a glare fixed on Mikaeus.
I ignored her, my eyes scanning the deep shadows of the canopy. I listened. I waited. Odd. When they grouped us for the Cursed Moon, it was a squad of five. We had only seen four. I swept the treeline, searching the gloom for the missing scout, but the forest was still. Only a single Chitterwing landed on a nearby branch, its head c*****g innocently back and forth.
Mira stepped up beside Mikaeus. Her hand shot out and clamped around the pinned woman's wrist. She wrenched it back with a violent twist until the Vow member's fingers gave out. The sword clattered against the thick roots of the tree.
Emeric and I closed the distance. As we approached, the captive's deep brown eyes darted to me. A silent gasp escaped her lungs. Instant recognition flashed across her face, bright as a spark in the dark, before she averted her gaze.
I took a slow, steadying breath and trudged closer to the tree.
She sucked in and spat at Mikaeus. The bloody saliva landed directly on his cheek, slowly dripping down his jaw. He didn't flinch. He simply tilted his head, calmly wiping his cheek against the fabric of his shoulder.
"What—" I began.
"Do not bother asking," the captive interrupted, her voice wavering despite her defiance. "I..." the air in her lungs rattled. "Will not say a word."
Emeric stepped into her line of sight. His greatsword was drawn again, the razor edge held perfectly still just inches from her throat. "I do not think you under—"
"I understand perfectly," she seethed, spitting the words like venom. "You dragon scum."
Emeric didn't argue. He calmly sheathed his greatsword. A barely noticeable twitch pulled at the corner of his lip as his hand reached out and wrapped firmly around the wooden shaft of the spear still pinning her to the tree. Slowly, he twisted it. Just a fraction.
Her eyes widened with agony, as she clamped her jaw shut, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a scream. Trembling, she jerked her head away. Her eyes flicked to me for a fraction of a second before locking back onto Emeric, burning with rage.
I knew why she was here. I knew it with every fiber of my being. I closed my eyes for a brief second, grounding myself against the rising panic in my chest.
"Ruslan." I spoke the name aloud, letting it carry its own weight. "He sent you. You're searching."
I took another step forward until I was standing shoulder to shoulder with Emeric. Leaning in close, I let my breath ghost across her face, dropping my voice into a whisper meant only for her ears. "You're searching for me."
As I pulled back, her eyes darted to the side. Her nostrils flared.
"What does he want?" I demanded.
In response, Emeric twisted the shaft of the spear again. Harder this time. Flesh tore. Her head snapped back against the rough bark as tears prickled at the corners of her eyes. Her resolve cracked. A short, ragged scream tore from her throat, leaving her body trembling violently.
"Speak," Emeric commanded, his voice devoid of mercy.
A brittle, wet laugh escaped her lips. "Why?" she wheezed. "I die no matter what."
"We will not kill you," Mikaeus interjected, his tone shifting to something almost coaxing.
"No?" she mocked, her chest heaving. "But," she gasped for air. "The Commander's doll will."
Emeric's brow furrowed. "Who?"
A dark smirk twisted her lips. Her head dropped forward in exhaustion, only to whip back up. Her dead-eyed stare locked entirely on me.
The heavy gazes of the others shifted, falling onto me, burning straight through to my core.
I am not his, my fingernails digging so sharply into my palms they threatened to draw blood. I am no one's.
"She won't speak further," Emeric stated, his tone flat. "She is just wasting our time."
"He's right," Mira agreed coldly. "And she can't live."
Their voices sounded muffled, distant. All I could hear was the rushing in my own ears.
Without another thought, I ripped my dagger from its sheath, lunged forward, and plunged it deep into her chest. A gurgling sound filled her lungs as dark blood spilled over the guard of the blade.
A bloody smile twisted her lips.
"Do...ll..." she choked out.
The light faded from her eyes. Her head dropped forward, her muscles going lax against the spear.
Mikaeus wrenched his weapon free from the wood, and the woman's lifeless body collapsed to the forest floor. A deeply conflicted look passed over his features as he stared down at the corpse.
"She wouldn't have talked," I said, my voice defensive, too loud in the sudden quiet.
"I know." Mikaeus's tone was surprisingly soft.
"Useless," Emeric mumbled under his breath, his jaw tight.
"Not entirely." Mira stepped closer, her eyes calculating as they swept over the dead woman. "We found out they are searching for someone."
My hand trembled as I clenched it closed.
"Yes," Mikaeus agreed. He stepped directly in front of me, looking down into my face. "Are you—"
"Yes," I cut him off, speaking the harsh truth before he could even finish the question. "They are looking for me."
I braced myself. I waited for Emeric to point out that I was a liability, to say that this was exactly why they shouldn't trust me. But when I looked up at him, he didn't glare. He simply broke eye contact and looked away into the trees.
"Why?" Mira pressed, stepping into my line of sight.
"I... I do not know what he wants from me."
"How—"
Mikaeus held up a single hand, stopping her next question. His gaze still fixed on me. "We need to keep moving. We must make camp before the moons rise."
No one argued. Silence fell over us as we fell into step behind Mikaeus, leaving the ruined bodies to the earth.
As we walked, something in my gut twisted into a tight, freezing knot. A distinct, cold prickling sensation crawled up the back of my neck. We were leaving four bodies behind.
I do not know what will follow.
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- Writer
