The Woods Are Dark

Lilly took the saber away. “Okay. Get up.”

Cordie stood. She pressed her hand to her belly. “Christ, you cut me.”

“You’re lucky that’s all I did. That’s the worst thing you can do, say his name.”

“Nobody told me.”

“I told you.”

“You didn’t have to cut me,” she mumbled. She felt frightened and betrayed. “I thought you liked me.”

“Yeah.” Lilly shrugged, and briefly smiled. “Sure, you’re all right. But you can’t go around saying his name. It’s the worst kind of luck.”

“You did that ’cause it’s bad luck?”

“The worst kind. Some say he hears it if you say his name, and comes for you.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“Sure it is. You’d better hope so. You’ll get us both killed.”

“Grar said his name.”

“That’s okay for Grar. He’s the Mang. Like a witch doctor, you know? He’s got special powers.”

They reached the stream, and waded in. The cool water swirled around Cordie. It felt so good! She sighed. She drank until her belly felt bloated. Then, keeping her wounded hand high, she dropped below the surface. When she came up for air, Lilly was near the other side.

For an instant, she considered escape.

Stupid!

Even if she got clear of Lilly, she’d still be in the woods. Far from safety. If they caught her… No, she didn’t dare.

She swam, and followed Lilly ashore.

They walked for a long time through the heat of the woods. “How much farther is it?” she finally asked.

Lilly shrugged. “Who knows?”

“Don’t you know where we’re going?”

“Sort of. I’ve only been there once, though. It’s a good place to stay away from. You wouldn’t catch me near it, except for Grar. You do what he says, you know?”

“I found out,” Cordie said.

“Yeah. Shit, if I’d had any idea I’d get into a mess like this…” She swung the saber at a nearby sapling. Its blade hacked cleanly through the thin trunk. She swung again, and cut down a bush. Suddenly, she grinned.

A nasty grin that sent a shiver of fear into Cordie.

“Know what I could do?” Lilly asked. She looked at Cordie with narrow eyes. “I could cut you down. That’d fix everything.”

“That’s not funny.”

Lilly swung the saber wildly, chopping it through the air. “I’d say a Thak did it.”

“Grar! He’d find out.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Lilly!”

The girl’s eyes darted. “I don’t see nobody that’s gonna tell on me.”

“Just go back. If you don’t want to go to his place, just leave. Or stay here. I’ll go the rest of the way by myself.”

“That’s chicken.”

“No, it’s—”

“’Sides, I can’t. If you’re alone, the Krulls’U nail you. It’d get back to Grar, and he’d cook my ass.” She took a step toward Cordie.

Looking past Lillys shoulder, she gasped. “It’s him!”

Lilly whirled around.

Cordie ran. She heard a hiss of anger. Then quick footfalls. Ahead, she saw a clear way through the trees. Like a corridor. She leaped into it, and sprinted. Head down, arms pumping, legs flinging out as far and as fast as she could kick them.

At the end of the open area, she jumped over a dead trunk. She glanced around. Lilly raced toward her, hair flying, mouth a twisted hole, sword high overhead.

She dashed sideways. Circled a thicket. Skinned her shoulder as she passed too near a tree.

Then the trees ended.

She charged into a clearing.

And stopped abruptly.

Twenty or thirty Krulls turned to look at her. Many picked up weapons.

She spun around. Lilly burst from the trees, saw the group, and lowered her sword. “So,” she said. “Here we are.” She spoke loudly to the Krulls, apparently explaining Cordie’s mission. Then she took Cordie’s arm. “Come on.”

They stepped forward. The Krulls parted, and Cordie faced the landscape of pikes and heads. She jerked her arm free of Lilly’s grip.

“Your friends are in the cabin.”

She shook her head. She felt numb.

“Here. This is for you.” Lilly held out the saber, hilt first. “Use it on the guy.”

She raised her arm. Saw her hand close around the hilt. The weight of the sword dragged her arm down like an anchor.

“Get going,” Lilly said. “The quicker you get it done, the quicker we can get our asses out of here.” She saw fear in Lilly’s eyes. “We don’t want to be around when he comes back.”

Cordie couldn’t move.

Lilly pushed her, and she began to walk. The heads seemed to bob and sway in her vision. A bird fluttered down. A black bird. It perched on the nearest head, and pecked a gash in the forehead. The skin parted, but no blood flowed.

Something familiar…

That face.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“No fishies,” Lander said. He sat down next to the body in the sheltering bushes where he’d left it hidden. “None at all. Casey has struck out.”

He unbuckled her belt, and tried it on. A snug fit. So he used her knife to bore a new hole near its tip. It fit fine, after that.

He sliced through the thong at her throat, and held up the necklace for a closer look. The ornaments were dark with her dried blood. He counted them.

“Ha! Lander would’ve been thirteen. A baker’s dozen. Oh, villainy!”

He jammed the knife into her belly and pulled it out.

“Curious. If you prick us, do we not bleed?”

Tossing the necklace aside, he knelt over her. No more than a trickle of blood oozed from the wound. He cut into her again.

“Oh, this is wondrous strange.”

He slowly carved his name in the skin of her belly. Then he sliced a frame around it. He peeled the skin off, and held it up.

“Lander in the flesh!”

CHAPTER THIRTY