Rift (34 page)

Eira’s heart bloomed at the memory. A single phrase uttered and this man—if she could call him a man—Bosque Mar had served her. She still couldn’t comprehend what he was. And she remained wary of his assertion that they could work toward the same purpose, yet his power appeared immeasurable. As an enemy, Eira would have viewed Bosque as the worst kind of threat. Still, he claimed he wanted not to fight, but to help her. But how?

Her musing flipped to the second riddle of the day: what had happened to Dorusduain.
“Dorusduain is a lesson . . . and an unfinished one at that,”
Bosque had said.

The lesson was meant for her, Eira had no doubt. But what he intended for her to learn sent alternating spikes of fear and exhilaration through her limbs.

Lukasz’s shout forced Eira out of her own thoughts. The soldiers had reached the edge of the forest, where the path disappeared among trees before revealing Dorusduain. The commander turned in his saddle, beckoning to the sisters. Cian and Eira rode forward. When they reached him, he asked, “Are you certain we must leave the horses here?”

“Eira and I are skilled riders,” Cian told him. “And I was nearly thrown by Liath. Something in the place creates terror in the horses. We’re better off on foot.”

“Leave two knights here to watch over our mounts,” Eira added.

“Fitch, Mercer,” Lukasz called out. Eira watched as two of the younger knights of the Guard brought their horses forward. She let her eyes roam over the soldiers, feeling her own age in contrast with their rosy-cheeked youth. She recognized Fitch, whose face was as pointy as a rodent’s, and lanky, tow-headed Mercer, but she barely knew them. Joining the Circle put her at a distance from new recruits to the Guard. This was the first time in months that either Eira or Cian had joined the Guard on a mission. Eira’s chest pinched, signaling how much she missed the camaraderie.

“Yes, Commander.” Fitch stole a curious glance at the sisters as he approached, making Eira tense.

We’re little more than mythical creatures to these boys,
Eira thought. She knew of the nickname “the weird sisters” that passed the lips of the younger ranks of Conatus along with stories of their exploits in battle before they’d joined the Circle. Though the name wasn’t meant to be cruel, Eira felt pangs at the aloofness that had grown between herself and the people she led.

When Mercer reined his horse alongside Lukasz, he too gaped at Eira and Cian before turning his attention to the commander.

“The sisters have informed us that the horses won’t tolerate whatever magics have been at work in this place,” Lukasz told the men. “You’ll remain here with the horses. Sound the horn if you’re set upon.”

Fitch was already dismounting; he seemed happy enough to stay behind, while disappointment was written across Mercer’s face.

“Yes, sir,” Mercer said, though his shoulders slumped a bit.

Lukasz stood up in his stirrups, calling to the Guard: “We’ll continue on foot.”

While Fitch and Mercer rounded up the horses, Lukasz led the rest of the company into the forest. Cian and Eira flanked the commander.

“Was it this quiet when you were here?” Lukasz asked Eira.

“Yes,” she answered. The sound of the knights’ chain mail and the clank of their weapons against armor was shocking amid the heavy silence.

Nothing had changed since their visit. Wildlife hadn’t returned to the forest. Not even a breeze stirred the leaves of the trees.

When they reached the village meadow, Lukasz raised his hand, bringing the company to a halt.

“Three groups,” he ordered. “I’ll lead the first group with Eira and Cian in a sweep of the village itself. Sorcha and Kael, pick your men and take point for the second and third groups. Sorcha, take the planting and grazing fields. Kael, head into the forest that borders the village on the east. At the first sign of trouble—or any evidence of what’s happened to the villagers—sound your horn.”

Lukasz nodded to the sisters. With weapons drawn they moved into the village. Like the silent forest, the village appeared exactly as Eira and Cian had found it. Everything abandoned. No signs of life. The only change Eira noted was that the fires had finally died, leaving gray ash in their wake.

The trio emerged from the first hut and Lukasz heaved out a long breath. “All the houses were empty like this one?”

“They were,” Cian said. “Every one of them.”

“Let’s make a quick job of this, then,” Lukasz said. “If nothing has changed, I doubt we’ll find anything here. We should separate to continue the search and rendezvous at the far end of the village. We’re likely better off searching the forest with Kael’s team.”

“I agree,” Cian said, moving off to the next thatch-roofed hovel.

Eira glanced at Lukasz. “Do you still think a warlock responsible for this?”

“I fear I don’t want to know what could do this,” Lukasz murmured. He left Eira standing beside the hut.

She hesitated, caught in the question couched in his words. She believed she knew exactly what had done this, though she didn’t know how or why.

A lesson.

Uneasy, Eira gripped her sword tightly and passed by the houses Cian and Lukasz searched. She opened the door to another hut, finding exactly what she’d expected. A dead fire. Bread that had gained spots of blue-green mold since she’d last seen it. There was nothing to see. Nothing to learn from this place.

Eira started to turn, but something stopped her. A flicker in her vision. Movement. Keeping her sword low, Eira pivoted, her back to the open door. Her gaze roamed the small space. Nothing was moving. Dim light filtered into the house, barely piercing the shadows. Eira frowned and then choked on her breath when one of the shadows moved.

She could barely make out its shape. It hung in the corner, camouflaged by the darkness of the house. She knew it was watching her. And when it moved again, she knew it was aware she’d seen it. It moved again and she became certain the shadow creature had wanted her to see it.

A wraith. One of Bosque’s minions. The very thing that had filled her dreams with cruel, wonderful laughter as it tormented Abbot Crichton.

Eira kept her eyes on the wraith. Now that her sight had adjusted to the low light, she could clearly make out its shape, a billowing cloud of smoke. Her pulse jumped in her throat, but the wraith didn’t approach her. It remained in the corner.

Slowly Eira backed out of the house into the light of day. Her heart thudded against her ribs as she closed the door, waiting. Nothing happened. The wraith didn’t emerge, didn’t follow.

Had it been there the first time? With Eira not knowing that such creatures existed, had it floated in silence in the corner of the house, escaping notice?

A disgusted grunt made Eira start.

“I thought we’d find something this time,” Cian said as she walked up to her sister, shaking her head. “But it’s all the same.”

Eira stood frozen while Cian surveyed the silent houses.

“I can’t bear this,” Cian said. “Will you finish searching the village with Lukasz? I want to get into the forest.”

“Of course,” Eira answered stiffly.

Two quiet voices were whispering to Eira. One urged her to tell Cian that something was horribly wrong. That they’d missed a vital clue because they hadn’t known how to see it. But the second voice compelled Eira to keep her secret, at least until she knew more about why Bosque’s wraiths were here.

“Thank you,” Cian said. She peered at Eira. “Are you all right?”

Eira nodded, still feeling every heartbeat like a hammer in her chest.

Cian laid her hand on Eira’s shoulder. “The emptiness. The silence. I know how horrible it is. We will make this right. I promise.”

Eira forced a smile and Cian went to tell Lukasz that she was forsaking her search of the village to join Kael’s team in the forest.

Suspicion pooled in Eira’s mind as she opened the door of the next house. With only slight variation, rotting leeks on a table instead of moldy bread, this home was a twin to the last. Eira forced herself to draw deep breaths as her eyes adjusted to the dim interior. Remaining near the door, she searched the corners of the room with her gaze until she found it. Tucked in the eaves like smoke that hadn’t escaped through the chimney was another wraith.

Without pause Eira slipped from the house, closing the door behind her. She would have wagered all her possessions that every hut in the village was now home to one of Bosque’s shadow creatures. And she was sure the wraiths had been there when she and Cian had first come to Dorusduain.

But what was the lesson? Did Bosque mean to show Eira his benevolence? Death had lurked above the sisters but had been held in check. Or was the lesson’s intention something else? Perhaps he wanted Eira to see the devastation he could unleash at will. Fifteen houses in the village. Sixty-some souls snatched from the village without warning.

A horn blast sounded from the forest. Lukasz burst from a doorway.

“With me!” he called to Eira as he ran. In an instant she was at his heels. They plunged into a forest as silent as that on the village’s western border. Eira listened as she ran, twigs crunching under her feet. She expected to hear shouts and noise of battle. But nothing had followed the single horn blast.

They came upon Kael, Cian, and the five knights accompanying him standing amid the tall trees, wearing confused expressions. But they weren’t fighting. Some of the knights didn’t even have their weapons raised.

Eira whirled at crashing sounds barreling through the forest toward them, but she lowered her sword when Sorcha appeared with her team.

Sorcha glared at Kael. “You’re supposed to blow the horn when you’re in trouble, not when you get bored.”

“I wasn’t bored; I was lonely.” Kael grinned at her. “Look at all the friends I have now.”

“Kael.” Lukasz didn’t join in the quiet chuckling of the other warriors.

Kael smiled slyly at the commander. “You said to sound the horn if we found any clue as to what’s happened. We may have found one.”

“It’s true,” Cian said. “Two creatures ran into the forest ahead of us. And they don’t belong here.”

“Did you recognize them?” Lukasz asked. “Creatures we’ve fought before?”

Kael coughed, glancing at Alistair, who stood beside him, scowling.

“They were hobgoblins,” Alistair growled.

“Are you certain?” Lukasz asked. “Hobgoblins aren’t enough to frighten away a village.”

“They were hobgoblins,” Cian told the commander. “Why they’re here I couldn’t say.”

“Hobgoblins point to warlocks,” Sorcha offered. “Perhaps after they’d gotten rid of the villagers, they sent the hobgoblins in to steal.”

“I didn’t notice evidence of stealing,” Lukasz said.

Sorcha shrugged. “It’s my best guess.”

“I sent Alan and Philip ahead to track the hobgoblins,” Kael told Lukasz. “Unless you’ve found something else, I’d suggest we follow them.”

“Sorcha?” Lukasz turned to her.

“Nothing in the fields but abandoned plows,” she said. “I agree with Kael—we should track the goblins.”

Lukasz nodded. “Fan out, but not too far. Make sure you keep a line of sight to Kael; he’ll lead the way.”

The Guard spread into a loose line and threaded through the forest behind Kael. Eira sensed the mood of the knights was both perplexed and sour. The continued, unnatural silence of the forest only heightened the tensions running through their company. Though each knight had been trained to move through the wilderness as quietly as a cat, the absolute stillness in this strange place made every rustle of fallen pine needles and gentle footfall deafening. Whatever lay ahead would surely hear them coming.

They’d encountered hobgoblins often enough. But these creatures were more nuisance than threat, dangerous only in large numbers and only if they caught you alone. When Eira snuck glances at her companions, she saw their furrowed brows as they tried to work out how hunting goblins could be connected to the missing villagers.

The Guard didn’t know the secret that thrummed in Eira’s veins. That village wasn’t empty; it was full of wraiths. And now goblins were sneaking through the forest.

Dorusduain is a lesson . . . and an unfinished one at that.

Eira’s skin prickled. Her lesson hadn’t ended. She was beginning to fear what Bosque wanted to teach her.

A short, sudden scream rose from the forest a short distance ahead of them. Kael gave a sharp whistle and the line of Guards broke into a run. A second shriek pierced the air and then ended abruptly.

“Alan! Philip!” Kael shouted. “Signal us!”

No answer came.

“Stop!” Cian cried. “Stop now!”

The line broke as some warriors responded to her call and others plunged on, hunting for their missing peers.

“Halt!” Lukasz’s deep voice pulled the still-running soldiers back to their commander.

Cian was turning in a slow circle, looking up into the trees. Both hands gripped her sword hilt.

“Be ready!” Lukasz called. The knights formed a tight ring around the commander and Cian, backs to Lukasz and weapons pointed out toward the forest.

“What is it, Cian?” Lukasz asked.

“The trees have changed,” she whispered. “Look at the trees.”

Eira followed her sister’s gaze, at first seeing only the dense clusters of pines tall and broad enough to blot out the sky. Looking more carefully, Eira noticed that some of the trees differed from the russet bark of the evergreens. Dead tree trunks, leeched of color, were smattered among the healthy pines. Spindly white branches at awkward angles sprawled through the air, grasping at nothing. The dark, vine-like foliage that hung limply from a few of the branches looked sickly as well—though Eira had a hard time believing that any tree so clearly devoid of life could sustain leaves of any kind.

“Disease?” Kael asked. “Is there a blight in this forest? It could have been spreading toward the village and the folk worried it would kill their crops.”

“Those aren’t trees,” Cian said.

“Stay here,” Lukasz ordered as he pushed his way out of the ring. Ignoring his command, Eira went after him as he walked to the nearest dead tree.