By the time we leave the inn, the streets are vacant. My first thought is that it is because people have fled inside at my presence, but for once this is not the case. The glow of the moon above reminds me that it is the middle of the night and therefore most of the denizens of this town are fast asleep. Even Acari yawns, wiping sleep lazily from his eyes, despite the crispness of the night air.
I, on the other hand, am emboldened by the night. The absence of people, the glow of the moon, it fuels me with focus.
Something about the shadows between the houses makes my hair stand on end though. Without bringing alarm to Acari—who is probably too aloof to notice, even if I was being obvious about my suspicions—I scrutinize every obscurity we pass. When one of them moves, a human form sulking deeper into darkness, I am not surprised by Nerul’s presence, even if I am frustrated by it.
Having him so nearby adds pressure to my every action, and part of me had hoped we’d leave without his knowing.
I can’t mess this up—any of it—otherwise Nerul will return to the Council and report me. I’ve already delivered one unsanctioned kill. I don’t need any other infractions during this mission.
With Crow as our guide overhead, we make our way to the woods again, heading in the same direction where Acari and the princess were ambushed. It’s not surprising. Bandits tend to stay close enough to towns so they don’t have to travel far to obtain what they need, but not so close that anyone would stumble upon them. Though the site of the ambush would likely be designated as “too close,” my guess is their camp is not far from it. We might’ve even been able to find them on our own if we’d wanted to scour every inch of the woods without a care for time. But I don’t think time is something either of us are interested in wasting.
We pass by the tree of our initial encounter, then dozens more, until we’ve walked past so many stumps and branches and leaves that I can no longer keep count. My legs ache, an unfamiliar sensation wrenching them with each step. Walking for extended periods of time isn’t something I do often. Normally I just have Crow faze me wherever I am needed. But with Crow being severed from its connection to the princess, I am forced to do it the mortal way.
I watch the moon nestle behind the trees with each hour that passes.
When I hear leaves rustling nearby, I crouch on light feet. I am a leaf, blending in soundlessly with my surroundings. The prince, on the other hand, is as loud as a dog. Though he stops alongside me, he inadvertently kicks a rock and sends it skipping along the path into a tree.
I glare at him, but he seems confused and utterly unaware of the ruckus he’s making. When I pinch my own lips together, he seems to get the hint and at least tries to walk more quietly.
Eyes wide, ears open, I tug all of my senses to search the woods surrounding us. The trees are so dense in this part of the woods though that they act as a buffer between us and anything beyond the trees directly surrounding us. The silence is like a void. And my view is so encumbered, that I can’t even see Crow overhead.
But then, something shuffles just out of my sight. On one toe, I spin to face it, hands out, power ready. If we are under attack, then I have no choice but to let my Reaper magic flow so that I can complete my task. The Council will just have to get over it.
But it’s not something malicious and deadly, I find. Instead, an orange, glowing ball of fur with two alert ears and a swiveling tail hops from beneath the underbrush. I lower my guard at the sight of the harmless firefur, grateful for the light it brings into the dark woods. Although carnivorous, firefurs pose no threat to us, as they only eat the carcasses discarded by other predators.
“I’ve never seen a firefur before,” Acari says beside me, gazing at the creature with childlike wonder. “Not in person anyway, just the pictures they have in books, but even those don’t do it justice. Look at it! It’s fur really does look like it’s on fire. How do they do that?”
His eagerness ushers him forward, and the creature skitters back a handful of hops. At the same time that I realize the creature isn’t supposed to be hopping, at least not lopsided like that, Acari seems to as well.
“Oh no. It’s limping. I think its leg’s hurt.” Trying to get a better look, Acari squats low to the ground, his hand outstretched. “Come here, little guy, we can help—”
Before he can finish, the firefur hobbles back through the underbrush, scattering the dirt and fallen leaves on the forest floor and casting the two of us into darkness again.
I let my eyes readjust to the dark, but just as I’m about to resume our original path, Acari plunges forward through the foliage. His entire lower half is already submerged in the bush. He shields his face from the branches hanging overhead with one arm and points forward with the other.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to protect my face from any spiderwebs that might be—”
“No. I don’t mean why are you holding your arm out like that. I mean, why are you clawing your way through bushes in the middle of the night?”
His arms flap outward. “We can’t just leave it here. It’ll die. Or something will come and eat it and then it’ll die.”
“And what about your sister?” I growl, signaling behind me. “Aren’t you worried she might die?”
There’s a pause, one long enough to confirm that he
