The Girl With Red Hair (The Last War Saga Book 1) (43 page)

“You’re right, Alexander,” Tannyl said with a subtle nod. “And if you tell me that I am not welcome, then I will leave you for good. And if you wish even more from me…” Tannyl pulled the hunting knife from his belt and flipped it around, offering the handle to Alexander.

Sachihiro didn’t know what shocked him more, Tannyl admitting his fault or offering a weapon to the enraged Alexander. His eyes flicked to Jaydan, but the man’s eyes were wide and locked on Alexander. Adelaide held a hand to her mouth and continued to silently cry.

Alexander studied the blade for a moment, his eyes hard. Sachihiro could see his hand tremble at his side, as if it wanted to grasp the knife and plunge it deep into Tannyl’s belly. Sachihiro could hardly blame the impulse. Tannyl was a scoundrel to be sure, but he had saved his and Jaydan’s life numerous times, and Sachihiro owed him much.

“Go on,” Tannyl said, thrusting the handle at Alexander. “If you seek vengeance, then take it.”

Alexander’s hand stopped shaking and his eyes locked on Tannyl’s. Then his hand was on the knife, gripping the carved wooden handle like an asp around a mouse. Tannyl gave the tiniest nod and let the blade go. He stood tall, a man accepting of his fate. Alexander took a short step forward and drew the knife back.

“Alexander, no!” Adelaide screamed.

Alexander stopped mid strike and looked at the girl for the first time since he had awoken. Then he collapsed.

It was only a blink, he told himself. But when Alexander opened his eyes he was standing in the center of the clearing again. The corpse of a giant dragon was within an arm’s reach, and the sun was just setting below the surrounding canopy.

It was still and quiet. Alexander looked around and rubbed the back of his neck. Was he dreaming? That seemed most likely, for he would never have stabbed Tannyl when awake. Would he? He remembered forgiving the elf… But seeing him standing near Adelaide had brought his rage to a head. Why did he hate him so much? His hand twitched.

“Addy?” he called. “Sachihiro? Jaydan?”

Not even the wind responded. It was growing dark far faster than Alexander thought natural.

After another moment of listening to the silence and raking his eyes over the carpet of corpses that littered the clearing, he called, “Tannyl?”

He received no response, but movement at the far edge of his vision caught his eye. It was just a passing shadow, a shade, a hint of something. He stepped forward, eyes locked on the spot. Had it been a girl with red hair? A burly musician? He didn’t like how quickly the shadows were lengthening.

Another figure darted past in his periphery, but when he turned, it was gone. “Addy?” he called again.

It was growing difficult to remember the previous moment. It was almost impossible to decipher the present.
Where am I?

Movement again. This time the entire border seemed to shift at once, convulsing forward like a black wave. Alexander spun and saw vaguely humanoid shadows drifting up like fetid fog from the edges of Hilaros’s draconic form. He backed away as fast as he could without stumbling. His senses were beginning to fade in and out. If it was a dream, why was his heart hammering so forcefully beneath his ribs?

A voice at his back sent him spinning around. It was muffled at first, as if he were underwater listening to a conversation above. As his eyes focused on the towering figure in polished armor, his ears focused on the gravelly voice. He could no longer feel his body.

“Sweep the area, you cursed fiends. Find the Chosen and kill them, but bring the girl to me.”

Alexander tried to turn, but couldn’t move. He tried to listen for a response, but heard none. Even in the pitch of night, the towering man shone like the sun. It blinded Alexander to the point that the glow became a deep, spreading darkness.
Can you fall asleep while dreaming?
Alexander wondered as his consciousness drifted off into the night like a vapor.

Tannyl didn’t have time to wipe the shocked look off his face, much less move to assist Alexander before he burst into motion again. He leapt into a predatory crouch and spun in all directions.

“We have to get out of here,” he shouted. “Now.”

“This again?” Sachihiro asked, coming over to rest a hand on Alexander’s shoulder.

Jaydan stood and approached as well, though with more caution. Tannyl was still trying to reconcile the fact that Alexander meant to kill him. In that moment before he collapsed, Tannyl had seen it in the man’s eyes. He knew the look all too well. He deserved to die, that wasn’t in question, but that Alexander hated him so much that he would do the deed himself…

“Alexander?” Addy asked with a whimper, still wiping tears from her face.

It was difficult to see Adelaide in such a way. Like she was still a child. Tannyl didn’t understand what had transpired that night in the clearing, but what he did know was that it had changed Adelaide. The girl he had spoken with that night after burying Fae’Na was no child. Since that moment, however, she had reverted to an impulsive youth that seldom listened to any but the voices in her own head. Still, Tannyl had made a promise, if not aloud, then to himself. He really needed to stop doing that.

Alexander stood rigid and stared at Adelaide. “We need to go, hon. It’s not safe here.”

“What do you mean?” Jaydan asked, having joined the others. “We’ve been here nearly a week and haven’t seen so much as an errant fly. Besides, you caught the worst of that battle and need more rest. I did the best I could, but you still need—”

“What we need is to leave!” the man exclaimed, giving Jaydan a look that dispelled further questioning.

Tannyl stepped up to Alexander so that he could look nowhere else but the elf. He caught his gaze and held it a moment. Alexander’s eyes were wide, but firm, an icy resolve there where it hadn’t been before. And Tannyl couldn’t be sure it wasn’t just the odd lighting in the Womb, but for a brief moment, the Farmer’s eyes glinted bright gold.

“Alexander,” he said slowly, hands extended in peace. “What happened?”

Alexander dropped his gaze and shifted his stance. “I… I’m not sure. But we need to leave. I think… Something is coming… I can’t explain it.”

Tannyl looked at Jaydan. His face was furrowed in thought, but he shrugged when he caught Tannyl’s gaze.

“The shadows!” Alexander exclaimed, like the realization had just come like a thunderclap. “It’s the shadows. They’re coming to kill us and to take Addy.”

Adelaide gasped and clutched at Alexander’s arm. Sachihiro and Jaydan both swore in tandem, but Tannyl remained calm. The elven hunter studied the tall, gaunt man that could have been Adelaide’s older brother if not for the different way they spoke. It sounded like the ravings of a madman, but Tannyl could see plainly that to Alexander it was as real as the ground beneath them. The others believed it as well.

“All right,” Tannyl said. “You feel up for the trip, Alexander?”

Alexander nodded. “Yes, but we need to go now.”

Tannyl held up a hand. “I understand. Sach, help Jaydan gather up the supplies we prepared. Alexander, your equipment is over near that stump. And the girl’s things are nearby as well.”

Adelaide’s eyes shot to him at hearing him refer to her in that way, a deep frown creasing her freckled face. He winked and her expression shifted to one of a child given an important secret. The four raced as he had instructed while Tannyl set to stowing his newly fletched arrows in his quiver and donning his leather vest. Whatever hurt and evil he had inflicted on the group, they still looked up to him, trusted him, and followed his words. That fact hurt Tannyl more than any other. He didn’t deserve their trust and respect. He deserved that knife Alexander had meant to give him.

His eyes flashed to Adelaide as she hung on to Alexander. Tannyl shook his head. Whoever or whatever she was, Adelaide was the link that joined them. He couldn’t decide if that was for the best or not. It made him uneasy, but beyond that…

“All right,” Alexander said, racing back to him with Adelaide in tow. “What now? You said you had a way out. A way to the Empire?”

Tannyl shook his head. “I died a Fae long ago,” he said with an utter lack of emotion.

“Wait,” Sachihiro said, stumbling to his side, a loaded pack slung over his meaty shoulder, his lute over the other. “So you can’t get us out?”

“You son of—”

Tannyl held up a hand, silencing Alexander before he could say any more. “No, I have no way of getting us out of the Wyld, but
she
does,” he said, nodding at Adelaide.

All eyes fell on the young woman with red hair who was clinging to Alexander’s arm. Her eyes went wide at the sudden attention and she leaned back.

“Addy?” Sachihiro and Alexander said at the same time.

Tannyl just smiled and nodded again.

“Addy, can you get us to the Empire?” Alexander asked, his tone clearly stating that he thought the idea preposterous.

She shook her head, eyes wide.

Alexander glared at Tannyl, but he didn’t show he noticed. He nodded at her. The scales along her cheeks were nearly indistinguishable from the rest of her skin. She shook her head again.

“What are you getting at, Tannyl?” Alexander asked. The previous edge to his voice had returned. The edge that wanted his life on the tip of a blade.

Suddenly, the air in the room swirled and chilled. The light from the nearby glow-torches faded. It felt like Tannyl was squinting, though he knew his senses were sharp. Jaydan looked around anxiously.

Sachihiro cursed. “Uh, I’m thinking we should be leaving now,” he said. He pointed to the outside of the room.

A dense fog, dark as pitch and cold as death, drifted up from the grassy ground. Thick tendrils rose and solidified into a convulsing wall of night. Ethereal claws twisted within the mass, and teeth gnashed without sound.

Tannyl grabbed Adelaide firmly by the shoulders and stared deep into her mismatched eyes, past the fear, past the doubt, and into her soul. She didn’t fight it. She stared intently back at him.

“Adelaide,” he whispered, the words only meant for her. “I need you to remember Hilaros. You have her within you. Find her like you did before.”

Her lip quivered. “I’m scared.”

Sachihiro cursed again. Tannyl knew without looking that the shadows were creeping closer. The shiver in his spine told him that.

“I know,” he said. “We’re all scared and that’s all right, but we need you to find her.”

Her eyes shifted to the periphery. The others were packed in tightly around them. It wouldn’t be long before the shadows reached them. And what then? Tannyl didn’t know, but his intuition told him it would be worse than a dagger to the gut.

Adelaide turned back and nodded. Tannyl stepped away.

Tannyl could now see the wall of black was only a few strides from them. It was unbearably cold. His breath frosted the air.

Adelaide took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her hands hung trembling at her sides. No one dared speak, either locked on the coming shadows or the strange girl in between them.

The scales on Adelaide’s face shifted to a soft gold. Her eyes shot open. They too glowed a brilliant gold, like they were not eyes at all but tiny coals burning within her soft face. Sachihiro cursed, though Tannyl couldn’t be sure it was because of Adelaide or the shadows. Both elicited terror.

Adelaide slowly lifted a hand and swiped at the air. It shimmered and shifted like she had brushed aside a curtain. She giggled. “It’s simple, really,” she said. Her eyes were pools of light, and the scales burned even brighter. “Well, go on.”

At the edges of his vision, Tannyl could see the shadows taking more discernible forms. Clawed hands reached for them. Only a long stride remained.

Alexander looked at Tannyl, eyes wide. Tannyl nodded at the shimmering portal.

Adelaide giggled again and took Alexander’s hand in hers. She grabbed at Jaydan with her other. “Do not be afraid,” she said, pulling them close and stepping into the displaced air. They vanished.

“Sweet Mother,” Sachihiro said. He looked at Tannyl, then at the shadows, and stepped into the portal. He disappeared.

The air shimmered and pulsed before Tannyl’s eyes. He glanced at the shadows. Nothing made sense anymore. But Adelaide was right. This was only the beginning. And for now, they needed him and he needed them. It was a vulnerability he was loath to admit, even to himself, but he could no longer deny it.

And as the claws of death lunged for the elven hunter, he stepped into the portal, committing himself not just to life, but to her.

To the girl with red hair.

And to whatever else awaited him.

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