We stepped out of the door into a square so silent that it absorbed the sound of our footsteps. I turned to find Drayce pulling the door shut with his shadows and making it disappear.
Dread crept beneath the leather of my armor, and I rolled my shoulders, trying to shake it off. As soon as we defeated Queen Melusina and the Fear Dorcha and awoken Prince Calor, he would lend us his carriage to return home.
A female voice groaned. It was Erin, bucking on Aengus’ back.
“Put me down,” she said. “I’ll show you where to find the Fear Dorcha.”
“Show us, then.” My gaze slid to Drayce.
His green eyes reflected in Crom Cruach’s golden light like those of a cat, and the corner of his lips curled into a skeptical smile. Erin was more likely to lead us into a trap, but we would follow her when she eventually reported to her master.
Aengus set Erin to her feet, and she led us along the left side of the square. Her hooves clopping against the cobblestones was the only sound, breaking up the unsettling silence. We passed an empty fountain, stores with open shutters displaying moth-eaten clothes and rotted produce, and faeries slumbering on benches carved from wood.
Erin hopped over a pair of young boys with wings so dark I couldn’t discern their pattern.
“Where are you taking us?” I walked a wide circle around the fallen faeries.
She turned her head to the side. “His den is on the village outskirts.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. “This had better not be a trap.”
At the end of the square was a winding road that sloped up a gentle hill. Whatever was at the end of the road was too far for me to see even with our combined torches illuminating our way, but after ten minutes of walking uphill, the houses stopped, giving way to gardens that were now reduced to soil.
Erin continued up the slope, and we passed a forest of gnarled trees with twisted trunks and branches that turned down to the ground. It was as though the lack of sun had caused their limbs to wilt and try to get sustenance from beneath the soil.
Something rustled at the edge of my awareness. Drayce, who walked on my right, squeezed my hand.
“Did you hear that?” I asked.
He shook his head.
I licked my lips and swallowed hard. Maybe it was my imagination or the rustling of my leather armor.
The road meandered around the hill, and Erin continued a few paces ahead, her tufty yellow tail swinging from side to side. Cathbad walked on my left, his steady presence and the rhythmic clomp of his staff hitting the cobblestones soothing my frazzled nerves.
Our glowing lights illuminated a round, twelve-foot-tall shape that filled the entire road. At first, it appeared to be a hut but as we approached, our lights picked up a rough, reddish surface and long, thick branches protruding from its crown.
My feet halted on the cobblestones. It was a tree. A massive, swollen, gourd-shaped tree that had sprouted in the middle of the road. Drayce and Cathbad stopped at my sides, both speechless at the peculiar sight. Erin trotted forward toward the tree and sniffed at the roots.
She raised her head and turned around, her green eyes reflecting in our lights. “He’s in there.”
“You go in first,” said Aengus.
“Your Majesty, he’ll punish me if I betray him.” Erin walked toward us, her limbs trembling. She stopped at the edge of the tree’s canopy. “This is as far as I can take you.”
I inhaled a deep breath, ready to demand answers, but Aengus rushed between Cathbad and me, pointing his glowing torch at the doe’s eyes.
He snarled, “Listen, you traitorous—”
One of the branches lashed out, grabbed Aengus by the waist, and scooped him up into the air.
A gasp tore from my lips. I staggered back and gaped at the struggling warrior. “What is that?”
Drayce raised his arms, his shadows spilling from his fingers. They wrapped around the branch holding Aengus.
Rosalind launched herself into the air, and one of the branches twisted toward her. She flew backward, out of reach.
My heart pounded, and my mouth opened and closed. I had to think this through before the tree strangled one of us. Aengus screamed and hacked at the branches, making my ears ring. Why wasn’t it attacking Drayce or me? Was it because we were of use to Melusina? My throat dried. She had fed on Drayce when the druids had died, seen Drayce in the face of the gancanagh. And she needed my body and blood more than ever.
Cathbad knelt at my side and rifled through his huge sack. The tree also wasn’t attacking him.
“The branches only reach within its canopy,” I said.
“Aye,” replied the druid. “Trees will have such limits.”
The branch cracked overhead, and Aengus flew toward a maw of jagged teeth. Drayce wrapped a shadow around his waist, but a red tongue snaked around the warrior and dragged him into the mouth.
My stomach dropped. “No.”
“Aengus!” Rosalind dropped to the ground.
The branches stilled, and the road fell silent. If Aengus was still alive, the tree had muffled his screams. A pair of yellow ears poked out from behind the trunk, followed by wide, green eyes.
“What did you do?” I screamed at the doe.
“Sorry!” Erin disappeared around the tree, her hoofbeats fading down the road.
“No!” I placed my torch on the ground, pulled out the Sword of Tethra, and cut my left palm. If I could get that thing to swallow me as well, I could cut us both free.
Drayce grabbed my arm. “If he survived a millennium in the mist, he can fight his way free.”
A snarl tore from my lips. I pulled myself free and lurched forward. One of the branches swung
