Spirit’s End

CHAPTER 12

Eli woke up to the familiar feeling of Josef’s boot in his ribs. He rolled over with a grunt, blinking in the dark.

“Hour till dawn,” the swordsman whispered. “Time to go.”

With a noncommittal grumble, Eli sat up off the board floor and rubbed his aching eyes. Oh, the comforts of home. He arched his shoulders to get the kinks out of his back and looked over. Josef and Nico were standing under the tiny street-level window set high on the wall. The street lamps’s glow filtered down through the wood-thatched shutter, the only source of light in the small basement they’d taken over for the night. When Josef saw him looking, he tossed Eli something small and dark. The thief caught it by reflex and looked down to see a round loaf of dark bread.

“Eat,” Josef said, eyes narrowing as Eli took a small bite. “Quickly.”

“It will be faster if I don’t choke,” Eli said, chewing thoughtfully.

Josef’s scowl deepened. “It would have been faster if we’d used the night to get out of town.”

“Some of us haven’t been living like a king,” Eli said pointedly, breaking the bread in two. “And unlike you two monsters, I need normal, human amounts of sleep. I’ve had a very rough few days, thank you very much.”

Josef shook his head and turned back to the window, glaring suspiciously at the passing feet of the early-morning traffic. Beside him, Nico leaned against the wall staring intently at the Heart of War’s blade, which was leaned up beside her.

Eli shoved the bread in his mouth, wondering what the demonseed saw when she looked at Josef’s sword. Not for the first time, he wished he could see as she did, as spirits saw. He’d been curious his whole life, but when he’d asked Benehime, back in the days when he still asked her for things, she’d just laughed and told him there was nothing to see.

That line of thought brought him right back to the place he didn’t want to go. Eli slumped on the ground, chewing mechanically. The first rule of thievery said that the only person you had to be honest with was yourself. It was the rule he broke more than any other, and he always, always regretted it.

Eli’s hand slid under his shirt of its own volition, feeling the smooth, unburned skin of his chest. Yesterday he’d almost believed that all he had to do was get to the Shaper Mountain, get his lava spirit back where he belonged, and then everything would be fine. He’d have Karon, he’d have his freedom, he’d have Josef and Nico, and the world would be roses. No more dealing with his past, no more walking the edge of Benehime’s displeasure. Paradise, or as close as he could hope to come. Now, with the rush of his escape gone, the truth was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Eli closed his eyes and forced himself to face reality. There was no way Benehime would actually let him go. They’d argued before, never that badly, but if Benehime could be convinced with words alone, he’d have been rid of her a long time ago. Whatever freedom he felt was an illusion, nothing but slack in his long leash. Any moment, she’d pull it taut and he’d be right back in her lap again.

Eli grimaced and tongued the bread that had gone to sawdust in his mouth. How stupid, getting his hope up. He should know better by now. She was the only prison he could never escape.

Across the room, Josef said, “What?”

Eli jumped. “What?” he repeated dumbly.

“You’re looking uncharacteristically gloomy,” the swordsman said, folding his arms over his wide chest. “That’s usually a bad sign.”

Eli sighed. If Josef was noticing, it must be bad. “Just feeling sorry for myself,” he said, all smiles as he polished off the last crumbs of the bread. “I’m a tragically heroic figure, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Josef grumbled, pushing off the wall. “But if you’re done with your sulk, we need to talk business. I’d like to know how we’re getting to the Shaper Mountain without walking halfway across the continent. You said you had a plan.”

“Yes,” Eli said, clearing his throat to buy some time. Josef was staring at him like a hawk, his whole body poised like he was about to charge. Nico was looking at him as well, one skeletal hand picking idly at the coat that pooled around her like spilled ink. Under such scrutiny, Eli couldn’t help but think how many times they’d sat like this, hidden in some hole while he laid out his brilliant plan to turn everything around. Trouble was, this time he didn’t know what to say.

He took a deep breath and started with the truth.

“We have to move fast,” Eli said. “I saved Karon from the volcano who expelled him years ago. My body was the only home he had left. Unless Benehime sent him to another volcano, which I doubt she was thoughtful enough to do, he’s fighting for his life as we speak. If conditions are right, he can keep his core alive for several days, but if Benehime dumped him somewhere cruel, like into the sea or under a glacier, he’s already snuffed out. The only way to know for sure is to ask the Shaper Mountain. If there’s a chance Karon’s still alive, I need to get to him fast. Anything less would be an insult to all the times he’s saved our lives.”

“If that’s how it is, why did you go to sleep?” Josef said, crossing his arms.

“Because I was tired,” Eli said, rubbing his eyes. “Because running off on no sleep is a quick way to make mistakes we can’t afford, because I need every bit of my mind together before I try to get the Teacher to do me any favors, and because if we can do this like I’m hoping we can, Karon’ll be back in my chest by this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?” Josef said, loud and incredulous. “Powers, Eli. We couldn’t fly there that fast. What the…”

His voice trailed off when he saw Eli wasn’t looking at him but at Nico. Josef looked back and forth between them, his scowl deepening, but it was Nico who spoke.

“The white gate in the air,” she said softly, her dark eyes boring into Eli’s. “You’re going to open the hole through the world again.”

Eli shook his head. “I can’t do that anymore.” He stopped a moment, surprised at how strange it felt to admit that. But it passed quickly, and he pressed on. “The only one who can help me now is you.”

Nico’s eyes went wide, and Eli held his breath. She knew what he was asking. He could see it on her face. But before she could answer him, Josef’s voice fell like a sword stroke, cutting the silence clean through with a single word.

“No.”

The anger in Josef’s voice made Nico cringe. She shrank back, feeling like a coward as she hid beneath her hood. Across the room, Eli’s eyes flicked to the swordsman, his boyish face falling into an uncharacteristic scowl.

“Josef,” he said, his voice as light and pleasant as the morning breeze. “I respect your opinion, I really do, but this isn’t your call.”

Josef didn’t move. He didn’t have to. Nico could feel the tension rising in him, ready to spring. “Do you even know what you’re asking?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be asking.”

Eli smiled and stood up, walking across the room to fall to a crouch in front of Nico. He reached out and snatched her hand before she realized what he was doing, clutching her thin palm between his long, nimble fingers. She stared at him, thrown off guard not just by the contact but by Eli himself. This close, she could see the faint glow of the light he’d shown her up on the roof back in Osera, when they’d first found out she could see as spirits saw. His spirit wasn’t open now as it had been then, but Nico could see that the mask he usually kept so smooth was beginning to fray. She stared at him, gripping his hand just as tightly as he gripped hers. What had happened in the days he was away from them? What had that woman done?

“Nico,” he said, his voice earnest. “I know you can take people with you through the shadows. I saw you do it in Osera with Josef. Den also carried me that way, back in the mountains when he took me from Izo’s. He carried me hundreds of miles over impassible terrain, and then he took me back again, walking through the shadows like they were his own private highway. That’s how I knew I could ask you. You’re stronger than Den ever was.”

Nico began to tremble. “I’m not—”

“You are,” Eli said fiercely. “I saw you in the valley outside Izo’s. Even when you were lost in the demon, you stopped yourself from hurting Josef. You saved him even though you didn’t know yourself, and then you beat the demon. You conquered the enemy even the Shepherdess couldn’t best, and you did it on your own. That’s the only reason I’m asking this, because I know you can do it.”

He inched closer, pushing her hand against his chest, his blue eyes earnest and pleading as his heart thudded against her fingers. “All Karon did was care for me,” he whispered. “Because of that, and because he spoke his mind, the Shepherdess threw him away. I couldn’t do anything to stop it, but I refuse to let him die, not if there’s the slightest chance I can save him. I’m begging, Nico, if I’ve ever done right by you, please take me through the shadows to the Shaper Mountain. I know it’s far and I know it’ll be hard, but I’ll help you any way I can. Just please, please help me undo this wrong. Help me save Karon, if there’s anything left to save.”

Nico closed her eyes and stared at the darkness behind them, the endless, empty blackness. The Demon of the Dead Mountain waited there for her. She’d beaten him inside her own head, but the shadows were his world, not hers. Alone, he couldn’t touch her, but she wasn’t sure she could protect Eli and Josef from the demon’s grasp. Even if she could open her spirit wide enough to shelter them, the Shaper Mountain was a long, long way away. They would have to cut the journey into several small jumps, and there would still be long periods in the dark where the demon could work his way in.

But that wasn’t all. Something had stirred in her yesterday when Eli said they were going to the Shaper Mountain, something far below her conscious mind. A deep, throbbing pain, the kind that meant she was treading dangerously close to memories she’d suppressed. The pain was there even now, bleeding through the wall of her memory.

She took a ragged breath. Whatever the memory was, she didn’t want it. She’d locked her past away for a reason, and the pain alone was enough to warn her that going to the Shaper Mountain was a bad, bad idea, however they got there. And yet…

Nico opened her eyes to see that Eli hadn’t moved. He was still crouched in front of her, his face so full of hope and trust she wanted to cry. How could she disappoint him? He and Josef were so strong, and she was always so weak. Always the soft spot, the brittle link, and now he was counting on her. Depending on her.

She didn’t realize her hand was shaking until Eli moved his other hand to join the first, pressing her trembling fingers against his shirtfront with both palms. She was the one who could see souls, but his eyes were the ones that looked through her, reading her fears like posters.

“I know you can do it,” he said again. His thumbs rubbed against her skin as he spoke, a soft, soothing motion. “All you have to do is get me there. I’ll do the rest.”

“You can’t.” The words were so tremulous, so afraid that Nico almost didn’t recognize her own voice. “The shadows are the demon’s realm. You don’t understand, the fear—”

“How can I be afraid if you’re with me?” Eli said, his face breaking into a smile. “You beat the demon already, remember? If you can master your own soul, you can kick him out of the shadows.” His voice warmed as he spoke, suffusing Nico with confidence and hope. “This is your chance to take his final stronghold, to beat the demon once and for all. You can do it, and we’ll do it with you. You’re not alone, Nico. We’re a team, now more than ever. All you have to do is help me get—”

He never got to finish. One moment he was in front of her, gripping her hand, the next he’d vanished. It was over so quickly Nico didn’t realize what had happened until she saw Josef was standing beside her with Eli dangling in front of him, his wrists bound in the vise grip of the swordsman’s fist.

“Josef!” Eli shouted, his feet kicking. Josef didn’t move. Nico couldn’t see his face from where she was, but she knew from the set of his shoulders that he was furious. Killing furious. Behind her, the Heart of War began to shake.

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Josef’s voice was low and cold, and each word was sharp as a dagger. “Don’t you dare try to con her.”

Eli’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t—”

Josef dropped him before he could finish. Eli fell with a grunt, hitting the floor hard. He scrambled to his feet and stepped back, putting a foot between himself and Josef, who’d moved in to block Nico with his body.

“Josef,” Eli said, his voice pleading. “I don’t know how you got the impression I was—”

“You don’t?” Josef growled. “Then you must think I’m an idiot. I’ve been with you on a lot of jobs, Monpress. You think I don’t recognize how you work?” His hand whipped back, finger pointed directly at Nico’s face. “You were talking to her just now like she was a damn door. Powers, man, you were even stroking her hand.”

Eli closed his eyes, throwing his head back in frustration. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh sure,” Josef said. “You had nothing but Nico’s best interests at heart while you were trying to convince her that helping you get where you want to go was the next phase of her battle with the demon. Like taking you to the Shaper Mountain was her damn destiny instead of your self-serving idiocy.”

He took a step forward, looming over Eli, and for the first time ever Nico was glad she couldn’t see Josef’s face.

“I warned you before,” Josef growled. “Don’t ever try to con me. You’re not stupid, so I’d figured you’d understand that that warning extended to Nico as well, but guess I underestimated what a selfish bastard you could be.”

“Josef, come on,” Eli pleaded. “I wouldn’t do that to you, to either of you. I’m your friend. I’d die for either of you. You know that.”

“I do,” Josef said. “But I also know that you’re a con artist, a thief, and a stubborn bastard who doesn’t take no for an answer, even from us. Now shut your mouth before it runs you any deeper into trouble. Nico’s not one of your idiot spirits, and she’s not taking you anywhere.”

“I’ve never thought of her that way!” Eli shouted, clenching his fists. “You’re the one treating her like an idiot, Josef. You think she needs you to stand up and say what she will and won’t do? You’ve been all mother hen with her ever since you found her, but Nico’s her own person, and she can make her own decision.”

Josef clenched his fists as well, his white-knuckled hands moving to his sides where his twin swords rested. “She has enough to fight without adding you to the list,” he said, his voice thick and dangerous. “Now back off, thief, before I—”

“Stop it.”

Both men jumped as Nico stomped forward, pushing herself between them. She grabbed Josef first, wrapping her hand over his shoulder and pushing him down with a burst of her demon strength. He folded like a collapsing chair, his legs buckling as he landed on his rear with a slam. She did the same to Eli, though more gently. The bewildered expressions on their faces as they hit were so similar that Nico almost laughed.

She suppressed the urge at the last second. Laughing would ruin the moment, and she only had the nerve to do this once.

“Josef,” she said. “Your support and protection are dearer to me than you can ever know, but this time it’s not necessary. Eli wasn’t conning me. He was trying to make a point and getting carried away like he always does, but that doesn’t mean he was wrong. We are a team, now more than ever.”

She stopped. Her voice was faltering and she didn’t want to lose her courage. Breathing as she’d heard Tesset do so many times, she found her calm again. Only when she was utterly in control did she speak again.

“We are a team,” she repeated, her eyes flicking back and forth between them. “And you two are the only family I’ve ever had.” She looked at Josef. “Eli might be a con artist, but he stood by me in Osera when you were out cold and no one else thought I’d make it. His voice was the one I heard in the dark. You saved me on the mountain years ago and you’ve saved me countless times since, but so has he. He’s saved you as well, and you’ve saved him. We’re all tied together by so many life debts now we can’t begin to untangle them, but there’s no need to. I don’t need debts to help either of you. When friends are so close they’re blood, you don’t need anything but a request to walk into a sword with your head held high.” She turned back to Eli. “That’s how I feel, but I don’t need to ask to know you agree. After all, you already walked into the sword for us in Osera the night you stopped the sea.”

Eli shook his head. “That was different,” he whispered. “I’m not—”

“It wasn’t,” Nico said, drawing strength from the iron certainty in her own voice. “And you are. So go ahead. Ask me.”

Eli glanced up at her. “Ask you what?”

“Ask me to take you through the shadows to the Shaper Mountain.”

Eli took a hissing breath, glancing at Josef, but the swordsman’s face was closed, his eyes focused on Nico. “All right,” Eli said, turning back to Nico. “Take me. Please.”

“I will,” Nico answered without hesitation. “And I’m not doing it because I want to face down the demon or because I think it’s a good idea. I’m doing it because you need to get there, and because you asked.”

The look Eli gave her then was so bewildered Nico couldn’t stop the enormous smile from breaking over her face. She fell into a crouch beside him, bringing her head level with his. “Of course I’ll do it, stupid thief,” she said, punching him softly on the shoulder. “We’re a team, aren’t we?”

For three heartbeats Eli didn’t move, and then his face broke into the most beautiful, joyful expression Nico had ever seen.

“That we are, Nico,” he said. “That we are.”

“Well, I’m not going.”

Nico’s and Eli’s heads both snapped toward Josef. The swordsman was leaning back on his hands, but his face was deathly serious.

“Nico’s a free woman,” he said. “She can take you wherever she wants. But I’m not moving a step until I get a promise.”

Eli went very pale, and though his body was still, Nico could see his spirit trembling. “What kind of promise?”

“If we’re a team, you need to act like it,” Josef said flatly, looking Eli up and down. “I’ve followed you for years now, no questions asked. I’m not saying we should change that. I kept my secrets as tight as either of you, after all, and I’ll never forget that you were the first ones at my side when my past caught up with me. But this isn’t another heist. I don’t know what you’re wrapped up in, Eli, but even I can see it’s big. Bigger than us. Too big to walk into blind. So before I agree to throw my lot in with you once and for all, I want your word that, from here on out, you’re going to tell us what’s going on. No more secrecy, no more glib brush-offs when I ask you a question. I don’t care if you’re the prince of the spirit world or just a big-mouthed idiot who talked himself in over his head. From now on, you tell us what’s coming as best as you can, and when either of us asks a question, you answer it straight. Promise me that and I’ll follow you to the end of the world or wherever it is you’re headed.” Josef raised his hand, holding it in the air between them. “Deal?”

Eli glanced at the offered hand, and then he raised his own, clasping Josef’s palm. “Deal.”

Josef gave Eli’s hand a hard shake as his glare dissolved into a smug grin. “I would have come even if you hadn’t promised,” he said as he released him. “You know that, right?”

Eli’s jaw dropped, and then he kicked Josef in the shin. “You are such a jerk. You know that, right?”

“You’ve told me as much before,” Josef said as Eli’s kick bounced off him easy as a child’s. “I’m glad I got the promise, though. Despite all your other faults, you’ve always been a man of your word.”

“Gee, thanks,” Eli grumbled, glancing at the window. “Now, if you’re done being a pain, can we get going? Daylight’s burning and we’ve got a long way to go.”

Josef shrugged and stood up. He grabbed the Heart of War and slung it onto his back, fixing the strap over his other blades. Nico grabbed their bag and started to put it over her arm when Eli stopped her.

“I’ve got it,” he said, sliding the bag over his shoulder so that it rested on his hip. “You just worry about getting us there.”

Nico nodded, fighting the icy spike of fear that stabbed her stomach at the mention of leaving. But she’d made her promise, and nothing was going to stop her now. For the first time in many months, maybe the first time ever, the three of them were all on the same page, united in purpose. She was going to do her part or die trying.

“Grab on, then,” she said, steeling her voice against the fear.

Josef’s arm was around her waist before she’d finished, pulling her close. Eli latched on next, wrapping himself around her shoulders.

“Isn’t this cozy?” he said, smiling over her shoulder. “Wrapped up together like coins in a cloth.”

“Just make sure you stay that way,” Nico said, planting her feet. “And whatever happens, whatever you feel, whatever you see, do not let go.”

She waited until both men nodded, and then, with a final, deep breath, Nico stepped them backward into the shadows and vanished without a trace.

Eli gasped as the darkness ate them whole. The first thing he noticed, aside from the black shutter that had closed over his eyes, was the cold. It sank straight to his bones, as sharp as broken glass. So sharp, in fact, that he had trouble breathing. But the biting, breathless cold faded to a minor inconvenience once the fear hit him.

Pure terror gripped him like a giant’s hand. He could actually feel the weight of it pressing on his heart, stopping it cold between one beat and the next. Lungs frozen, heart stopped, Eli’s body sank, a dead weight sliding down Nico’s arm. His fingers twitched uselessly as they slipped from her coat, and he started to fall. In the parts of his brain that still worked, he cursed himself and fought to grab hold again, but it was no use. His body was a wooden doll, an empty vessel crushed by fear. Another second and he would fall into the dark entirely, and the grasping mouths that nibbled at his arms would fall on him in earnest and eat until there was nothing left.

But just before he fell away altogether, something strong and warm shot around his chest, pulling him tight. He looked up to see Nico looming over him. There was no light, but he could see her pale face clearly. Her eyes were as bright as lanterns, and her arm was wrapped around him, holding him up as they slid through the dark.

Eli didn’t know how long they traveled. It could have been minutes or days or lifetimes. The dark had no end. Nico’s arm kept the cold away, and though the fear never abated, Eli found he could manage it if he clung to Nico’s small, wiry body with his face buried in her coat like a child’s.

He couldn’t see Josef, but he could feel the swordsman’s arm wrapped around Nico’s waist. His fingers were pressed as tight as Eli’s own into her coat, and Eli took some bitter comfort that Josef felt the fear, too. The only one who didn’t seem to feel it was Nico. She stood above them, her pale face calm and determined below her glowing eyes as she stared into the dark ahead of them.

And then, just when Eli was sure he’d never see daylight again, they burst out of the blackness and into blinding light.

The three of them stumbled and fell as one, landing on something soft and sweet smelling. Eli blinked rapidly, willing his eyes to adjust, fearing they wouldn’t. He wouldn’t have been surprised to find he was blind. It seemed impossible that he could face so much darkness without suffering some consequence. But his sight slowly returned, and the first thing he saw were his hands digging into newly plowed dirt.

A field. They were lying on a tilled field in the shady lee of a stone shed. The land was rolling, a gentle country of undulating hills. There was a low, red farmhouse on the ridge above them, and above it, Eli could see the shadow of mountains in the distance.

“We’re three days’ ride north of Zarin.”

Eli jumped. Nico’s voice was surprisingly loud, and he rolled to see her and Josef standing over him. Nico frowned at his surprise. “Sorry,” she said.

“Not your fault,” Eli assured her, pushing himself up. “Are we in the foothills yet?”

“Almost,” Nico said, nodding at the mountains. “We’ll be there after the next jump.”

Eli eyed the distant mountains. “That’s a long jump.”

“It’s good to do the large ones first,” Nico said. “Before we get tired.” She held out her hand. “Ready?”

Eli wasn’t, but he grabbed her hand anyway, pulling himself tight against her. Josef did the same, wrapping his arm around her waist again. As Nico took a deep breath, Eli examined her face covertly under lowered lashes. She was pale, but that was usual for Nico. Her breathing was steady and her shoulders were straight, all good signs. Still, he could see the first hints of dark shadows under her eyes, and he was about to suggest they should rest a moment when Nico pulled them back into the dark.

This time Eli was prepared for the cold and the fear, but it didn’t help a jot. He went stiff just like before, and he would have fallen again had Nico not gotten a good grip on him this time. He could feel her spirit now. It was open and roaring, surrounding them in a bubble of her will so solid Eli felt like an idiot for not knowing she was a wizard from the very first time he met her. Nico’s will didn’t ward off the dark or the cold or the fear, but as he clung to her coat, Eli had the strong suspicion that, were it not for her protection, they would never have made it through with their souls intact.

This time, their trip through the dark was noticeably shorter. Just as Eli had dug in to weather the terror and the cold, it was over. They popped back into the light like a surfacing cork and toppled over onto the pine-strewn floor of a dark, mountain forest.

Eli rolled as he fell, landing on his back in the soft, cool loam. His vision returned more quickly this time, and he looked around to take stock. It wasn’t good. Josef was up as usual, but Nico was still down beside him. She was lying on her back in the pine needles. Her eyes were closed, and her pale face was the color of chalk. Josef was hovering above her, his brow set in a permanent scowl.

“We’re resting here,” he announced, looking at Eli like he was daring him to object.

“Fine with me,” Eli said, letting his weight press him into the ground. “Where’s here?”

Josef glanced up. “Going by the trees, I’d say we’re exactly where Nico said we’d be, in the forest covering the foothills of the Sleeping Mountains. The road we took across the northern kingdoms on our way to Gaol cuts through here somewhere, probably south of us.”

“Ah, memories,” Eli said, pushing himself up with a groan.

With some difficulty, he scooted himself over to the nearest tree and propped his back upright against its scaly trunk. Josef did the same, laying the Heart across his knees. Assuming the swordsman was right about their location, they were already halfway to the mountain.

Not bad, Eli thought with a grin. The morning sun was still low. At this rate they’d be knocking on the Shaper Mountain’s slopes by noon. But then, they couldn’t keep up this rate, could they?

He glanced at Nico. She was lying perfectly still on the forest floor, the gentle rise and fall of her chest the only sign she was alive. In addition to the usual deathly pallor of her skin, the dark circles under her eyes were now deep and pronounced, and her cheeks looked hollow. Worse, her coat was twitching.

The movements were small and subtle, so small that Eli would have dismissed them as a trick of the wind if a wind had been blowing. But the forest floor was still. The coat was moving on its own, inching around her like it was trying to fold her into a cocoon.

Eli bit his lip. That was bad. The coat Slorn had made was as loyal as a Spiritualist’s spirit, and it knew Nico’s body better than she did. If it wanted to wrap her up, she was in a bad way. But the movements were still minor, and despite the dark circles, Nico’s face was peaceful. A good thing they didn’t have much left to go, then.

An hour later, Nico suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. Josef’s arm shot out just as fast, steadying her shoulders. “You all right?”

Nico nodded. “I’m rested enough. We should go. Next time might be longer.”

Eli cursed under his breath. “Nico, we can take as long as you—”

“I can do it,” she said, cutting him off as she stood up. “Come on, let’s go.”

Eli took a deep breath and reminded himself that if Karon’s core hadn’t faded by now, the lava spirit could certainly wait until nightfall. With that truth firmly in his mind, Eli made a great show of not hurrying as he stood up, stretched, brushed the pine needles and dirt from his clothes, and finally stepped in to stand with Josef at Nico’s side. He took his now customary position at Nico’s shoulder and looked up, filling his mind with daylight as Nico leaned back into the tree shadow and the darkness ate them once more.

This jump was even shorter than the last, but when they emerged again, Nico collapsed in a heap. Josef fell to his knees beside her, pulling her into his lap while Eli slumped to the ground and focused on assessing their surroundings.

His eyes were getting faster at recovering, and almost immediately he saw they were in another forest, a familiar one this time. They were sitting on the sandy bed of a dry creek. The banks were crowded with beautiful, spindly, golden-leafed trees, their dove-gray trunks ringed with white. Nico had brought the three of them out in the shadow below a large outcropping of water-worn stone at the center of the dry stream bed. Off to their left was a long, flat sandbar strewn with leaves and feeling somehow empty, as though it were missing something.

Which, of course, it was. This was Slorn’s Awakened Wood, and Slorn was what was missing. While Josef pulled Nico out of the rock shadow into the sun-warmed sand, Eli wondered briefly what happened to the house on chicken legs with both Pele and Slorn away. Did it wander on its own like a dog waiting for its masters? Or did it sit empty like any other building, gathering dust as its awakened parts fell asleep?

“Eli!” Josef’s voice snapped him out of his dreaming. “Get over here.”

Eli was at Nico’s side in an instant. “What?”

“I was afraid,” Josef said, looking at him pointedly.

“Josef,” Eli said tenderly. “She’s going to be fine.”

“No,” Josef said, rubbing a frustrated hand through his cropped blond hair. “I meant when I was moving her, I felt a small flicker of fear.” He leaned in close and dropped his voice. “Demon fear.”

Eli stiffened. That was a different matter. He looked down at Nico. Her coat was moving more than before, bundling itself tight around her until all he could see was her face.

“Her coat’s in place,” he said. “That should block any fear. Are you sure it wasn’t just left over from the jump?”

Josef shook his head. “I specifically felt it when I touched her.”

Eli bit his lip. “She’s tired. It’s possible her control is slipping.”

“Powers help us if it does,” Josef said, his hand flicking to the Heart’s hilt. “If the League finds us now, she’ll be a sitting target.”

Eli could only nod and nudge the coat tighter around Nico’s body. “Let’s sit in the sun for a while,” he said softly. “When Nico wakes up, we’ll see what she wants to do.”

Josef nodded and sat down by Nico’s head. Eli took a similar position by her feet, pulling his legs up in front of him and resting his knees on his chin. They sat like that for a long time, neither saying a word. Still, it was hardly silent.

As always, the Awakened Wood was buzzing, the trees whispering together like gossipy old ladies. Eli fought the urge to roll his eyes. At this rate, the entire northern forest would know where Eli Monpress, the girl in Slorn’s coat, and that man with the Heart of War were. Fortunately, the three of them would be long gone before that became a problem. Eli glanced at Nico again. Should be, he amended, squeezing his hands tighter.

An hour later, Nico still hadn’t moved. Eli fidgeted in the warm sand, glancing at Josef whenever he dared. The swordsman was still as stone, watching Nico from beneath hooded lids. Eli was about to suggest a game of Daggerback just to break the tension when he realized something was wrong. He froze for several seconds, listening as hard as he could, and then he shot to his feet and started marching toward the tree line.

“What is it?” Josef called behind him.

“The forest is silent,” Eli called back, breaking into a jog.

The Awakened Wood was never silent. Ever. In all the times Eli had been here, he’d never heard all the trees fall quiet at once. Something was wrong. He could actually see it as he came closer. Despite the stiff breeze blowing down from the mountains, every one of the narrow trunks was perfectly still, their branches frozen in place.

Even the leaves were motionless, their narrow, golden shapes as still and sharp as knives against the pale blue sky. Frowning, Eli reached out to touch the closest trunk. The wood was tense beneath his fingers, taut as a drawn bowstring just before it snapped. Eli snatched his hand away, but before he could think of what to say, the silence shattered.

It broke like glass, and the trees surged together as one word echoed through the forest.

“Gone!”

The trees screamed in a single ragged voice so loud that Eli clapped his hands over his ears on instinct, even though he knew it would do no good. Nothing physical could stop that raw terror, that crippling, hopeless despair.

“Gone!” they roared again. “Gone, gone, gone!”

With each repetition, the unified voice began to splinter. The tremendous roar sent Eli stumbling back, putting several feet of distance between himself and the trees that were now thrashing furiously, transforming the graceful, golden Awakened Wood into a storm-wracked sea.

“Eli!” Josef shouted. Eli turned to see the swordsman sheltering Nico with his body, staring at the rocking trees in confusion. “What is going on?”

Eli had no answer for him. He could only cringe in horror as, with a final, sobbing wail, the trees tore their roots from the ground and began to rip each other apart.