Eventually the sun rose, lighting the tops of the trees. From high in the canopy, the light spilling over the forest gave him hope. Not far off he could see old stone towers crumbling into ruin as thick vines and trees grew over and around them.
Osmund let out a sudden loud snore, and Elric almost fell off his branch. It took a full minute for his heart to stop racing. Using his foot, he nudged Osmund awake.
He snorted, and blinked open his eyes. “Wait, what?” he grumbled. “Stubborn goat.”
“Osmund, wake up!” Elric gave him a second gentle kick. “It’s morning.”
Osmund sat up and let go of the tree to rub his eyes. The sight made Elric’s stomach do a little flip as he clung to the branches tighter. Osmund stretched and looked around.
“Any sign of the reaper we heard last night?” Osmund asked.
“Nothing.” Elric peered down into the tree, but the ground below them still looked dark and forbidding. “But I doubt he has moved on. We have to be careful. Do you know what those ruins are?” he asked.
“Those are the remains of the great elf city, Merit. After the Grendel destroyed it, the remaining elves ran off into the woods. I don’t know where they are now.” Osmund started climbing down the tree. “And trust me, we don’t want to find out.”
“But those ruins could be a good place to hide. There has to be shelter there,” Elric said. “Do you think Wynn might have found them the way you did?”
Osmund held up one finger, and crinkled his brow in a serious manner. “First rule of the forest: If there is a hole, something will fill it. Those ruins are probably crawling with dangerous darkling creatures and elves who are thinking exactly the same thing.” Osmund swung onto a lower branch, and Elric inched down after him. “When Wynn was lost in the woods near my house, she insisted on staying in one spot. She said her mother told her to do it. I had a hard time convincing her to come with me back to my hut. If Wynn escaped the reaper, she’s likely hiding in place behind a tree nearby, the way she did before.”
Elric nodded. “That makes sense, and if it’s true, that means she is close.” They hadn’t wandered far from the dead reaper before they lost their light and had to climb the tree.
“Don’t worry,” Osmund said. “We’ll find her.”
“She’s been in these woods for two full nights.” Elric carefully lowered himself to the lowest branch, then swung down to the ground. “How could she possibly survive out here that long?”
Osmund placed his hand on Elric’s forearm and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t give up. The darkness of these woods can steal your hope. But hope is the best weapon we have here. You don’t really believe she is gone, do you?”
Elric closed his eyes and just let himself feel. Beneath the fear, and the twisting worry that stole his will to eat, there was still light and life in his heart. “She has to be alive,” he said. “I believe it.”
A warm feeling swelled in his heart. He had to find her. He opened his eyes. “This way.”
For hours, they cut through the brush searching for any clue that Wynn, or any other living thing was nearby. The palms of Elric’s hands burned with ripped-open blisters from pulling on vines and dead branches. His neck and shoulders ached so badly he hunched his back as he walked.
Elric wiped a hand over his exhausted eyes, and did his best to maintain his spirits, but it was difficult. It was as if the air of the wood itself had the ability to press all the good feelings from his heart, and steal them from his mind. He became cold inside, and focused on his task, which was useful in the moment. He could feel the storm in the air. The dry crackle of electricity had the hairs on the back of his hands standing up, as unpredictable gusts of wind made the forest sound alive.
“Elric,” Osmund shouted from a thicket nearby. “Over here.” By the tone of his voice, Elric knew he didn’t want to see whatever Osmund had to show him. Still he hurried to his side. Osmund pointed down at a soft patch of dirt with the head of his ax.
It was only a partial print, but it was enough. There was no mistaking the enormous claw marks. It was the reaper, and the print was fresh. It broke a thin layer of dry mud into flakes around the edges of the imprint, unlike the tracks they had found from the slain beast. They had been made in wetter clay and the impressions in the mud looked smooth. The reaper that made this track had to be the one they had heard during the night, and it was very close.
Elric swallowed a lump of fear as it formed in his throat. He looked ahead and found another partial print, and another. They pattern was loose and erratic. “This one is searching,” he reasoned. He could picture it with its long snout to the ground, wandering back and forth across the narrow trail looking for a scent.
Osmund nodded. “For Wynn.” He gripped the handle of his ax. “Or us.”
Elric looked at the direction the prints were pointing. “I think we should follow it.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Osmund said with a dumbstruck look on his face.
“What if it’s getting closer to Wynn?” Elric crept down the path.
Osmund caught the hem of his tunic and pulled him back. “What if it’s getting closer to us?”
“Then I would rather have it
