Tree of Ages Box Set Page 11

  He had been walking slowly, keeping a close eye on the ground for a good hour or so, using tracks and broken branches to guide his way. He should have watched Finn more closely. It was obvious how much she was affected by the forest, but he had not expected her to gallop off so suddenly.

  He stopped and listened. For a moment he thought he had heard voices, but those voices were soon drowned out by the sound of the ocean. Yet, there was no ocean to be found anywhere near the Blood Forest. He strained to hear over the sound of the crashing tide, but the voices eluded him.

  With a deep breath of frustration, Iseult continued his tracking. As long as he did not lose the trail, he would find them eventually. He ignored the sound of the sea, but never-the-less he was assaulted by memories of the only place he ever thought of as home. Memories he had not allowed himself to dwell on for many years.

  Kai could tell it was getting dark, though with the thickness of the trees, it wasn't a drastic change. Regardless, it was becoming difficult to see, and he thought they might have to stop and make camp soon. He was grateful that a portion of their party's food was in his and Finn's saddlebags, and he always carried a flint and other small tools with him. He considered setting a rabbit snare, but was fearful of what they might catch.

  Finn had fallen silent a long while back, and he hoped she was not bespelled once more. Being lost in the forest was bad enough without having to worry about his only companion running off on him. Kai glanced over at Finn in an attempt to calm his nerves, but she only gazed down at the back of her horse's neck with a dejected expression on her face.

  He pulled his horse to a stop as they came upon a clearing, at least as much of a clearing as could be found in the dense woods

  Finn gave a questioning look as Kai tightened his grip on her mule's reins, bringing her to a stop beside him.

  He observed her for a moment, and she seemed clear-headed enough. “We should stop for the night. It won't do us any good to walk over a hole in the ground and break one of the horses' legs.”

  After a moment of consideration Finn nodded and dismounted. Kai did the same, then tied his horse and her mule-creature to a nearby tree so he could unpack the few things they would need. It was probably unwise to make a fire, but the temperature of the forest had shifted back to freezing, so he planned on making a fire despite his better judgment, though he didn't unsaddle the horses. It would be his fault if they ended up with saddle sores, but if he unsaddled them, then it would be his fault that they weren't able to make a quick getaway in the event of an attack. He wasn't sure what type of creatures might mean them harm within the Blood Forest, but he had no desire to find out.

  Finn followed his lead as he set to gathering kindling and some small dead logs, then sat across from him while he built it all into a proper stack for a fire. As he was striking his flint, she cleared her throat.

  Kai paused what he was doing and looked up at her.

  “I was just wondering,” she began, not meeting his gaze. “What did I say while I was . . . entranced?”

  Kai went back to his flint until he got a few sparks going. He blew on the tiny embers as the kindling caught, then looked back up at her. “You said you saw your family, and that you hadn't seen them in one-hundred years. You also said you were a tree,” he laughed. “A load of midden obviously, unless you're not a real girl after all.”

  The color drained from Finn's face. “Yes, a load of midden, obviously.”

  Kai stood and backed away from the fire to dig into his saddlebag for something to eat, pondering Finn's reaction. He should have been thinking about rationing their food, but his stomach was so empty and cramped that he didn't care. If it came to it, he would set a snare, and they would eat whatever he caught. With his hands full of most of his portion of the provisions, he walked around the fire and handed Finn a strip of dried rabbit and a piece of crumbly bannock. She raised an eyebrow at the food.

  “My secret stash,” he explained. “Hard bread and cheese every day wears on a man's soul.”

  Finn laughed softly, then looked at the fire. “Do you think perhaps the others will see our light?”

  Kai stuffed a piece of bannock in his mouth and shrugged. “Perhaps. Though anything else in these woods might see it as well. I wouldn't have made a fire at all if this forest kept to normal temperatures.”

  It was a sobering thought. They had not even come into actual physical contact with any of the Tuatha, and they had already been led astray and separated from the rest of their party. Hopefully they were still near the outskirts, and would be able to get out. Then they could regroup and come up with a new plan.

  Kai shook his head, the only problem was telling which way out was. He could have sworn they were walking back in the direction they had come. He'd even seen their hoof-prints, but they never reached the edge. He did not express his fears to Finn though, for it would do little good.

  “Did you see anything?” Finn asked suddenly.

  It took Kai a moment to figure out that she was still wondering about her Faie-influenced actions. “You mean earlier, when you ran off?”

  Finn nodded as if afraid of the answer.

  Kai considered questioning why she thought he might have seen anything, but decided the woman had probably been through enough. “I saw only you and that fool horse of yours standing alone in the woods.”

  “You didn't hear anything either?” she pressed anxiously.

  Kai narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “No . . . ” he trailed off.

  Finn nodded, not catching his suspicious gaze as she stared down at the fire with a distant expression on her face. “Good. That's good.”

  Kai watched Finn for several minutes as her face wrinkled in confusion, then smoothed out into contemplation. The woman had so many secrets that they were coming out of her ears, he thought. With a quick nod of his head, Kai decided he would take the time to find out every single one. Knowing the secrets of others was always useful in one way or another.

  “We should get some rest,” he suggested. “Tomorrow will likely prove to be a very long day.”

  Finn nodded, still deep in thought. Kai fetched their bedrolls and unrolled them near the fire. He insisted that Finn sleep closer to the warmth, but really he just wanted to trap her in between the fire and himself as much as possible. He did not fancy the idea of waking up alone.

  The sound of the ocean crashed all around him, nearly deafening Iseult to any other noise. He held his hands to his ears with his horse's reins looped around his elbow. What he could see of the sky had grown dark, and he kept a very slow pace in order to not lead his horse over any burrows or other holes in the ground.

  He squinted his eyes in the darkness, trying to see more than three feet in the distance. Where just a moment before was solid black, he saw a distant light, like the light of a campfire, and hope blossomed inside of him. Perhaps he had found some of his companions at long last. Hopefully he had been the only one separated, and he could convince Finn to leave the Blood Forest at once. Only a fool would argue with him now. Iseult shook his head. There would be arguments, he had no doubt.

  Iseult made his way toward the light, and found that he was making remarkable progress as the luminescence grew closer and closer. Then he realized that he was standing still, and the light was still coming toward him at a steady pace. His horse wickered nervously and tried to tug backwards on the reins. Iseult backed up and hoisted himself into his saddle, steadying the nervous beast. The light had picked up its pace and was less than ten feet away. He knew running would risk injury for his horse, but he had no choice.

  He turned his horse to escape the way he had come, but was confronted with lights coming at him from all directions in perfect unison. From a distance the light had seemed like the light of a fire, but closer he could see that the flames were far too white to be from any normal campfire.

  His horse stomped its feet and skirted from side to side, unsure of where to run. He hardly noticed as the sound of the ocea
n crashed louder and louder still, seeming to intensify as the lights neared. Soon all Iseult could see were the lights, blindingly bright, and he could hear the sound of his mother's voice welcoming him home.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Anders woke, he was glad to see that the old man had not left them in the night. The trio had made camp shortly after dark, then took turns resting. As an added precaution, only one person slept while the other two remained awake . . . just in case. He had first stood watch with Àed, followed by a shift with his sister, making him the last to sleep.

  He and his sister had lost their belongings along with their horses, so they each had taken turns crawling in and out of Àed's bedroll. Anders could replace his bedding and clothing once they reached another burgh, as his coin pouch was still on his belt, but other things were not so easily replaced. Along with several one of a kind texts, they'd lost all of their cartography research, making the trip they'd taken thus far useless. He had detailed everything, from the smallest stream to the barest rise of hills, in order to make the most detailed traveler's map the Gray City had ever seen. It was all lost.

  “Quit lollin' about and put up me bedroll ye lout!” Àed barked, seeming wide awake despite lack of sleep.

  Anders sighed and rose from the bedroll. Àed was waiting by his horse, with its reins looped around his right hand. It was just their luck that the only horse left was Àed's mule-creature. Anders eyed the mule-horse skeptically. It would probably keel over well before they reached the edge of the forest.

  “Where is Branwen?” Anders grumbled as he rolled up the bedding.

  The old man glared back at him. “She's right here ye blind fool.”

  Anders looked past Àed, but his sister was nowhere to be seen. As panic took him, Anders asked again, “Where. Is. Branwen?”

  Àed looked over his shoulder to find that the woman was indeed missing. “Faierie-bladdered fools! She was right here a moment ago. Get things packed up already before she gets herself caught in another Faie net!”

  Anders scrambled to hastily gather up their few belongings, though he felt compelled to just leave them. As soon as everything was strapped to the mule-horse's saddle, they began their search. Àed kept a pace that Anders could barely match, though both men were on foot. Anders wanted to ask how they would find his sister, but did not want to interrupt the aged conjurer as he scanned their surroundings through barely open eyelids. As he followed Àed numbly, Anders found it a wonder that the old man did not trip himself up with the way he was going about things. He appreciated the urgency Àed had placed upon the situation, though his heart had wedged itself up into his throat, making it hard to breathe as they hurried forward.

  Suddenly the old man darted away from the path, like a hound with the fresh scent of a rabbit. Anders sincerely hoped that the rabbit they were chasing was Branwen.

  Neither Finn nor Kai slept much, and it was not only out of fear of lurking Faie. They had heard a man shouting for much of the night, calling out for someone in the dark. They would have liked to pass it off as more Tuatha tricks, but both Finn and Kai had heard it quite clearly and couldn't help but wonder if it was one of their companions.

  They had searched for the source of the shouts, but wherever they walked, the sound never got any closer. Eventually they had given up, though the yells continued.

  It was with heavy hearts and eyelids that they began their travels that morning. They kept a slow pace, searching for signs of a path, or more importantly of their friends. They went on that way for quite some time, recognizing some areas as they passed through them, while others looked completely foreign.

  Finn's thoughts continuously returned to her encounter the previous day, after she'd ridden away from the group. She hadn't meant to take off so abruptly, but she also hadn't felt in control of her own actions. She'd sensed a presence not long after entering the forest of the Faie, a presence overwhelming and all-encompassing. She knew with a surety she had never felt before that she needed to reach its source.

  The presence called out to her as she escaped her companions, urging her to find it. Then she'd seen it in the near distance. Trees just like her, transforming into people. She'd tried to speak to them, but they'd disappeared as Kai found her. She'd kept her eyes on the trees of the forest ever since, hoping for another sighting.

  Many of the aged, knobby trees they currently passed looked familiar to her, and she was sure that they must be nearing the edge of the forest, when they came upon an unusual sight that they had definitely not come upon previously.

  The mounds rose two to three feet above the ground, covered in an even layer of vibrant green grass. There were eight in total, arranged in a circle around an empty central point.

  “Barrows,” Kai commented.

  Finn nodded, she had thought the same thing, and was sure she had seen such barrows before, but she dismissed the thought quickly. “We should not linger here. I would not linger upon such burial places even outside the Blood Forest.”

  Kai shook his head, gazing off into the distance. “Nor would I, but I believe I see a person over there.”

  Finn looked to where Kai pointed. Indeed there was the dark shape of a distinctly feminine form. “Is . . . is she dead?” Finn asked, hoping that it was not one of their companions.

  Kai shrugged. “There is only one way to find out.”

  The pair dismounted their horses and approached the shape cautiously. As they neared, Finn saw long, red hair fanned out around a still, pale face.

  “Branwen!” Finn shouted as she rushed to the woman's side. She grabbed Branwen's shoulder and turned her onto her back, causing her limbs to flop about bonelessly.

  Kai tied their horses' reins to a nearby tree and joined Finn. He leaned over Branwen and checked the fallen woman for a pulse, looking stern and disconnected. “Her heart beats steadily, but much more slowly than is normal.”

  Finn laid a hand gently against Branwen's cheek, willing her to wake up. Feeling silly for even trying, Finn removed her hand, then slowly Branwen's honey-colored eyes opened. Finn gasped in excitement, then let out a sigh of disappointment as Branwen's half-open eyes looked right through her.

  “Branwen?” Finn questioned, but Branwen remained unmoving, except for the occasional rise and fall of her chest. Finn leaned back on her heels against one of the mounds, and jumped off just as quickly. It had felt as if the mound was alive, like some great sleeping beast. She stifled a shiver as goosebumps erupted across her arms and legs.

  Her eyes met Kai's. “We must move her from this place,” she said quickly, wanting to be as far from the mounds as possible.

  Kai nodded, looking just as shaken as Finn felt. “I couldn't agree more.”

  Together Kai and Finn helped Branwen up from the ground. Branwen was not much help, and did not respond to any orders they tried to give her. It was easy work lifting her though, as she was not a particularly large woman.

  Finn and Kai managed to carry Branwen to the horses, then hoisted her onto Kai's mount. She sat up in his saddle, but made no move to take the reins. Kai ended up walking beside her to make sure she did not lose consciousness again, while Finn walked ahead with the reins of both horses.

  Neither spoke until they were far out of sight of the mounds, and then a little farther still. Once the eerie feeling of the barrows had subsided, Finn stopped walking to look back at her two companions nervously. “Do you think she will come out of it?”

  Kai cast a worried look at Branwen, then turned back to Finn. “Let's just get her out of the forest. Perhaps she will come out of whatever trance she is in once we're away from Tuatha magic.”

  Finn swallowed a lump in her throat. “What if she doesn't?”

  Kai gave her a look like she was being silly, making light of a serious situation. Finn might have been appalled if she didn't suspect he did so for her benefit. “There is no use worrying about it. What will be, will be, and there's little we can do to change it,” he replied.

&nb
sp; Not wanting to revert to silence, Finn glanced back at him once more as she started walking again. “What about the Travelers and Liaden? We likely did not come close to finding her, and already we must leave the forest.”

  Kai's expression shifted, though Finn had turned to watch her footing so she did not see it. “I will see you out of the forest, then I will return to find her.”

  Finn nodded her head thoughtfully. She kept her gaze forward to watch where she was walking, but couldn't help asking another question. “Are you in love with her. Is that why you must find her?”

  Kai laughed, causing Finn to jump. She cast a glare over her shoulder at him. “Are you Faie-charmed? That wasn't a funny question.”

  Kai chuckled again. “If only you knew how funny it actually was. I view Liaden like a sister. Well, a very angry, older sister. She's family, at the very least. Also, she only likes women, so I wouldn't waste my time there.”

  Finn scoffed. “You can love someone that is like a sister to you.”

  Kai tsked at her. “Oh, but you did not ask if I loved her. You asked if I was in love with her. There is quite a difference.”

  “Oh shut up,” Finn grumbled, embarrassed.

  “Would you be jealous if I had said yes, that I did love Liaden?” Kai prodded.

  It was obvious to Finn that she was being teased, though she still did not appreciate Kai's question. “I would think that a rather silly thing to be jealous of,” she replied curtly as she walked a little faster.

  “Oh?” Kai questioned. “Most women would argue that love is most definitely a thing to be jealous of.”

  Finn smirked, though Kai could not see it. “I imagine love from a man like you would only bring a woman misery. So to answer your question, no, I would not have been jealous had you admitted to loving Liaden.”