would not penetrate my fabricated darkness.
With the glamour cloak in place, I walked down the slope into the swampy basin.
The smells here were foul and potent; rancid water, putrid carcasses, rotting fish and the oily, reptilian stench of the hobyahs themselves. They hissed and snarled at each other in their garbled, burbled language, punctuated by one recognizable word:
The interior of the tiny shack reeked of a foul incense, stinging my eyes and scratching the back of my throat. A squat, potbellied hobyah sat beside one wall on a pile of animal skins, chanting and waving a burning stick over a pair of limp figures. Puck and Ariella, sprawled out on the dirty hut floor, their faces pale and slack, hands and feet bound with yellow vines. The shaman jerked his head up as I came in, and hissed in alarm.
Quick as lightning, he lunged for his staff, standing in the corner, but I was faster. Just as his claw closed on the gnarled wood, an icicle shard hit him from behind. It should have killed him, but he turned and shrieked something at me, rattling the bones atop his staff. I felt a ripple of some dark glamour go through the air, and lunged forward, slashing with my blade. The shaman’s mouth opened, and he spit something at me, an acidic yellow substance that burned my skin where it hit, right before the blade struck home. He screamed a death cry and dissolved into a pile of squirming snakes and frogs. One down, but the other hobyahs would not be far behind.
My skin tingled and was starting to go numb where the shaman’s spittle had landed, but I couldn’t focus on that now. Kneeling beside Ariella, I cut her bonds and drew her into my arms.
“Ari,” I whispered urgently, tapping her cheek. Her skin was cold to the touch, and even though that was normal for Winter fey, my stomach twisted. “Ari, wake up. Come on, look at me.”
I pressed two fingers to the pulse at her throat, but at that moment she stirred and her eyelids fluttered. Relief shot through me like an arrow, and I resisted the urge to hug her close. Opening her eyes, she jerked when she saw me, and I pressed my finger to her lips. “Just me,” I whispered, as her eyes widened. “We have to get out of here. Quietly.”
A shriek came from the entrance of the hut. A hobyah stood there, red eyes wide as he stared at us. I hurled an ice dagger at him, but he darted away, hissing, and fled into the camp. Cries of alarm and rage echoed beyond the door, and then came the sound of many bodies rushing toward us through the water.
I cursed and lunged upright, grabbing my sword. “Get Puck on his feet,” I called to Ariella, crossing the floor to the entrance. “We’re leaving now!” The first hobyah rushed into the shack, saw me, and lunged with a howl, stabbing his spear at my knee. My sword flashed down and sent the hobyah’s head rolling toward the corner, before both parts dissolved into a pile of writhing salamanders. Another darted through and hurled its spear at my face. I ducked the projectile and sent one of my own at the hobyah. The ice shard hit it square between the eyes and it slithered away in a tangle of snakes and lampreys.
Stepping outside, deliberately blocking the entrance to the hut, I raised my sword and met the horde of hobyahs swarming me from every direction. “Hobyah!” they screeched as they rushed me. “Hobyah hobyah hobyah!” Spears flew at me, though I managed to dodge or block most of them, lashing out at any hobyah that got too close. The pile of newts, frogs and snakes grew at my feet, but there were always more attackers, more hobyahs dropping from the trees, erupting from the water, or climbing over the roof to leap at my back.
A huge black bird suddenly exploded from the hut behind me in a flurry of wings and feathers. With an enraged
“I assume there’s a plan?” she asked, pale but calm as a mass of frogs and snakes suddenly rained down from the trees. Puck dropped onto the roof of the hut with a crash, daggers already in hand. I smiled at Ariella.
“Always.” As the swarm of hobyahs began edging forward again, I put two fingers in my mouth and blew out a piercing whistle.
A sudden, haunting howl echoed it. The hobyahs cringed, spinning around, their eyes going wide with fear.
The Wolf hurled himself into the midst of the hobyahs with a roar that shook the ground, and the creatures screamed in panic. “Dog!” they shrieked, throwing up their hands and running about in terror. “Dog! Dog!”
The Wolf bared his teeth. “I. Am not.
I took Ariella’s hand and pulled her away, Puck close behind and muttering curses. The hobyahs didn’t try to stop us. Together, we fled the camp, hearing the Wolf’s roars and the hobyah’s squeals of panic echo behind us.
“ASH,” ARIELLA SAID, grabbing my arm, “wait! We’re not being followed. Stop for a moment, please.”
I staggered to a halt, ignoring the urge to put my hand against the nearest tree to stop the ground from spinning. The chaos in the hobyah village had long faded behind us, but I’d wanted to get as far from the creatures as possible, in case they decided to come after us once more. If the Wolf left any alive.
My chest and shoulder still burned where the hobyah shaman had spat on me. Ignoring the pain crawling down my back, I leaned against a cool, mossy trunk and gazed around, trying to get my bearings. The trees here were giant, ancient things, and you could almost feel their eyes on you, cold and unamused by the intruders in their midst.
“Well, that was all kinds of fun.” Puck blew out a breath and raked a hand through his hair. “Just like old times. Except for the whole getting drugged and having to be rescued thing. That’s gonna sting later, I just know it.” Groaning, he sat on a nearby rock, rubbing a bruise on his shoulder. “Nice of you to come after us, ice-boy,” he drawled. “If I didn’t know better by now, I’d almost think you cared.”
I forced a smirk in his direction. “It wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying if I didn’t get to kill you myself,” I replied, and Puck grinned.
A cool hand touched my cheek. I looked up into Ariella’s concerned gaze. “Are you all right?” she asked, placing the other palm on my forehead. I closed my eyes against the softness. “You’re burning up. What happened?”
“You smell sick, prince,” the Wolf growled, coming out of nowhere. “Like weakness. You won’t make it to the End of the World like that.”
“The shaman,” I replied. “He … spit on me. Did something to me, I think.” The burning in my chest and shoulder had gone numb and was now spreading throughout my body. I realized I could no longer feel my arm.
“Hobyah venom is hallucinogenic,” the Wolf continued, curling his lip. “You’re in for an interesting night, little prince, if you wake up at all.”
The trees were beginning to move strangely, centuries-old giants swaying like willows. I squeezed my eyes shut to clear the visions, and when I opened them again, I was lying on my back while tiny lights danced and swirled over my head.
Someone’s face bent over me, starlight eyes filled with worry. She was beautiful, a vision come to life. But she was fading, growing dimmer and dimmer, until only her eyes were left, staring at me. Then they blinked, and the world cut out altogether.
CHAPTER NINE
IN DREAMS
Where am I?
Mist surrounded me, coiling along the ground in ragged patches, blanketing everything in white. The air was cool and damp, holding the quiet stillness of early morning. I smelled pine and cedar and heard the soft
