more interested than usual. Because Mangdorians were involved?
“Yo, boss!” Maldynado called. “This fine mountain road is particularly well-maintained, don’t you think? Especially since it goes nowhere.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Amaranthe called back. “I looked over the map earlier, and there’s a recreational area and a small trapping community at the top. There’s some logging on the next mountain over, but it’s still original growth forest here. That in itself is odd considering our proximity to the capital.”
Despite the truck’s struggle with the incline, the road remained smooth with no potholes or gouges marring the concrete. Though branches grew overhead, lower ones had been cut back to ensure they did not impede a vehicle’s progress.
“We just going to keep driving until we reach the end?” Maldynado asked.
Something tan flashed from the trees behind Sicarius.
“Down,” Amaranthe barked, lifting the pistol and firing.
The ball took the cougar in the chest, but its momentum carried it into the lorry. Sicarius had rolled away before she voiced her warning, but she lost sight of him as the mass of fur filled her vision. She grabbed for a sword. Paws hit the floor of the bed, scattering the weapons and sending them out of reach.
Glowing eyes skewered her.
Claws flashed at her face. Amaranthe scrambled backward, and her shoulders rammed against the side.
Sicarius leaped in and plunged his black dagger downward. The sturdy blade crunched through the cougar’s skull, sinking to the hilt. The huge cat shuddered and dropped.
Amaranthe willed her heart out of her throat and pointed at the blade. “Clean that one extra well. It deserves the imperial treatment.”
She tried to push herself to her feet, but her palm slipped in blood. She thumped down, slamming her elbow on unyielding metal.
Sicarius gripped her other arm and pulled her up.
“Good shot,” he said.
“Thank you.”
She doubted the cougar would have landed on him before he sensed the attack and rolled away, but his simple praise warmed her. Though she had needed help to vanquish the darned cat, she was glad no accusation of acting like a footstool came from Sicarius’s lips this time. Indeed, he held her eyes for a long moment, and she thought a hint of appreciation lingered there.
“Amaranthe, are you all right?” Books scrambled out of the cab and looked her up and down.
The lorry had stopped, and the men piled into the back.
Maldynado put a hand on her shoulder. “Did you get gouged?”
As they surrounded her, Sicarius backed away. He retrieved his dagger with a yank.
“I’m fine.” She lifted her hands. “It jumped at Sicarius, not me. It came out of nowhere. Well, actually it came out of those trees over there.”
Even as she pointed that direction, Sicarius hopped to the ground and headed into the forest.
“More crazy glowy-eyed creatures?” Maldynado nudged the dead cougar. “Guess that means we’re heading the right direction.”
Amaranthe picked up the towel and wiped the blood off her hands. “So you’re saying this attack is good news, eh?”
“Maybe?”
“Let’s get this critter out of here,” she said. “Then you boys can fight over who gets to help me clean.”
They groaned in unison, all except Akstyr, who held up his book. “Not me, I’m on an extra important section. Need to keep studying.”
“I’m going to start learning magic so I can get out of work all the time,” Maldynado said.
“When do you do work as it is?” Books asked.
Amidst more sniping, the men rolled the cougar over the side and off into a ditch. Amaranthe risked Maldynado’s ire by using a bottle of his “safe water” for washing away blood. She paused. Blood stained the corner of the towel Sicarius had been using for weapons cleaning, and it held a faint glow.
At this point, she was not surprised, but she wondered again at the effects on people in the city, people who might still be drinking the water. Were these creatures worse off because they were closer to the source where the concentration might be denser? Or did these strange symptoms represent prolonged exposure?
Sicarius reappeared. “There’s nothing else in the forest, but there’s a road up ahead that isn’t on the map.”
They climbed back into the lorry and drove a quarter of a mile to a gravel lane veering to the right. A chain dangled between mossy posts on either side, and a rusty metal sign read: LOGGING CAMP.
“Could be nothing,” Amaranthe said.
“Could be a logging camp,” Akstyr said.
“A vehicle passed this way recently.” Sicarius, who had remained on foot, pointed to a muddy divot in the ground.
“Might as well check it out,” Amaranthe said.
Sicarius picked the lock on the chain, and the lorry turned onto the gravel road.
Overgrown branches slapped the cab and clawed at the sides. Amaranthe, sitting in the back, ducked frequently to keep pine-needle brushes from combing her hair. Sicarius did not return to the lorry. The bumpy road forced a slow pace, and he trotted ahead, sometimes in sight, sometimes not.
Miles rolled past. Amaranthe finished scrubbing the blood off the floor of the bed, tidied the gear, and loaded her weapons. As she worked, she tried to keep a watch on the woods as well, not sure what creature might leap out at them next.
Sicarius sprinted back to the lorry, arm raised for them to stop. The steam brakes squealed. Amaranthe grabbed the side to keep from being hurled on top of the gear.
“What’s wrong?” She jumped to the ground.
“There’s a lake ahead, and your soldiers are camped alongside it.” Sicarius’s gaze shifted to the black plumes of smoke rising from the lorry’s stack.
Amaranthe winced. The smoke probably wafted above the tree canopy. “Think they’ve spotted us?”
“If their man on watch is conscious,” Sicarius said.
“So there’s hope they haven’t?”
“Depends on whether the enforcers are in charge or the soldiers.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “Was that a slur against enforcers?”
The men had joined them on the ground, and Maldynado leaned an elbow on her shoulder. “Motley lot. Good thing you’re not one of them any more.”
Sicarius glared at him. Maldynado removed his elbow.
“Park over there and cut off the engine,” Amaranthe said. “Everyone, grab your gear. We’ll take a roundabout route through the forest to get to the lake. Sicarius, lead please. Basilard, can you cover our trail?”
Basilard rubbed his head dubiously. Maldynado, Books, and Akstyr leave trail like marching army.
“Do your best,” she said, delighted he had not lumped her in with them.
The swiftness with which her team prepared and departed made her proud. Though they chatted- bickered-a lot, they were developing an efficient, professional streak.
Maldynado paused to pee on a fern, not bothering to turn his back or give himself any privacy.
“There’s a lady here, you crude troglodyte,” Books said.
“I know. That’s why I’m displaying my wares.” Maldynado winked at Amaranthe.
She sighed and amended her earlier thought. Her team might be efficient, but the term “professional” was a stretch.
Walking through the forest without the benefit of a trail proved more difficult than her city-raised mind had thought. Verdant underbrush and brambles clogged the ground between the trees. Branches protruded in every direction, snagging at her weapons and rucksack. Invisible strands of something-spider webs?-stretched across every other gap and stuck to her face.
