Page 113 of Eldritch (The Eating Woods #2)

CHAPTER SEVENTY

MAEVYTH

A clamor of noise roused me from dreams, and I sat up in bed, twisting toward an empty spot where Zevander had lain earlier.

Scanning the room showed no sign of him.

The only movement came from the flickers of fire in the hearth, but my gaze caught on an image across from me, chalked onto the wall.

A strange tree with some sort of massive hole in its trunk, depicted in frantic scribbles.

It reminded me of the one I’d seen in the book the priestess had shown me.

Frowning, I threw back the bedcovers and slipped into a thick black dress that lay waiting.

Carefully padding toward the image, I kept my eye on the hole, the darkest part of the drawing, and as I did so, a feeling of dread coiled around the back of my neck.

Pounding at the door wrenched me from my thoughts and my muscles jolted with a startled gasp.

“Maevyth!” the priestess called from the other side. “Are you in there?”

Quick steps took me to the door and I swung it open to Erithanya’s worried expression. Behind her, villagers bustled about, frantic and shouting. “What is happening?”

“The vein…it’s been reignited.” She tugged on my arm. “Come.”

A branching cold slithered over my chest. “Have you seen Zevander?”

“I haven’t. But you must come with me.” She gave a hard yank, but I drew back and twisted from her grasp.

“I need to find him.”

“Please.” Her eyes were genuinely pleading. “One of our own has been bitten. He’ll die. His mate is with child.”

I scanned over the crowd one more time, finding no trace of Zevander.

While my head urged me to ignore her and go after him, I allowed her to pull me along toward her cottage.

Once inside, the priestess hustled toward the shelves, swiping up jars and herbs.

Screams drew my attention toward the other room where Aleysia had been exorcised the day before.

I crept toward it and found the pregnant woman I’d met at the Somnial beside a man lying motionless on the floor. She sobbed into his chest, her arms stretched over him, as two other guards stood by.

“Get her away from him, you fools!” The priestess waved her hand as she entered the room. “He’s been bitten for goddess’s sake!”

The guards darted for the woman and hand thrashing through the air, she batted them off, screaming. “Leave me! Get away!”

I lurched toward her and placed a gentle hand on her outstretched leg. “Please. Let her help him.”

The woman lowered her arm, and her body shook with a sob.

I flicked my fingers, urging her toward me, and she scooted across the floor, until she curled up beside me, clutching at my arm.

Her trembling vibrated across my bones, as I held out my arm and allowed the priestess to prick my skin with her finger, and add my blood to a vial.

“You’ve treated the ones who’ve been bitten before?” I asked, looking toward the man on the floor. He’d turned paler—an unnatural shade of white that reminded me of the creatures back at the cottage.

“Not successfully.” She spoke low, glancing at the woman clinging to me.

“But perhaps your blood might make a difference.” Just as she had with Aleysia, she pricked her own skin, adding her blood to the mix.

Scurrying back to the guard’s side, the priestess spoke a chant.

She raised the vial up into the air and tore away the man’s shirt, revealing thick, black, pulsing veins, not unlike those on Zevander’s face, but these seemed to be the beginning stages of the carapace seen on the spider creatures.

No gash, like that on Aleysia and Zevander.

A bird swooped down from the rafters and flew itself straight into the wall, crushing its skull on impact.

Flinching, I turned away, burying my face in the Lyverian woman’s hair.

When the thumping sound faded, I turned to see the priestess gather up the bird, and she shook its blood over the fallen guard, then administered the elixir by pouring it down his mouth.

A sickly white pallor crept over the guard’s face as each second ticked off.

“Eryx?” The woman unraveled herself from my arm and leaned forward, reaching out a hand toward him. “Wake up.”

His body jerked, convulsed, but his eyes remained closed. Spiders crawled out of his mouth, one of them darting straight for the pregnant woman.

As I lurched to keep it from reaching her, one of the birds flew down and scooped it up into its mouth. More birds landed on the floor around the man, hunting the spiders, until every one of them had been consumed, then the birds flew back up to their perches.

The guard stilled again.

Silence settled over the room as everyone watched. Waited.

Seconds turned to minutes, and the pregnant woman whimpered as she rocked, holding her belly.

The priestess knelt beside the man, setting her fingers to his neck, then her ear to his chest. When she straightened, the expression on her face sobered. “The goddess has chosen to keep him.”

“No!” the woman cried out, crawling toward him on hands and knees. “Eryx!” Stretching across his lifeless body, she wailed, the sound of her cries stirring my worries over Zevander.

The priestess lowered her head and sighed. “What happened?”

One of the guards stepped forward, his lips quivering. “The man she arrived with,” he said, pointing his spear toward me, which trembled with his shaky hands. “I saw him. Moments before it cracked open and fire rose up from the rock. He did it.”

A sickness settled in my stomach as I swept my gaze over the faces staring back at me, angry and brimming with condemnation. Everyone except the priestess who seemed to chew on the accusation.

“You’re saying a man did this?” Frowning, she shook her head. “Was there anyone else with him?”

“No, Priestess. Only him. He spoke to himself, as if he were communing with the gods.”

“No.” She shook her head and slowly made her way toward me. “Only a god himself could ignite that flame.”

I stared off, silently absorbing her words. “Or a vessel?” Turning to face her, I searched for any possibility of truth in her eyes. “Perhaps he was chosen. Like me.”

“How? To be chosen by Deimos, a lesser god, would require?—”

“Sacrifice. He was sacrificed as a baby. Thrown into the flame and lived.”

A wheeze of breath escaped her. “And you brought him here? To us? To the vein?” Brows pulled tight, she shook her head. “I told you the danger and you kept this to yourself. Why?”

“Because I love him.” Tears wavered in my eyes.

“Because I am not the precious vessel who was destined to lay with your warriors and bear your children,” I said through clenched teeth.

“I love him, and I would put the whole world in peril to save him.” Hot tears spilled down my cheeks as anger and uncertainty burst inside of me.

“And perhaps that makes me just as evil and wretched as any of the gods you fear, but it’s true. ”

The priestess’s eyes softened and as she raised a hand to my face, I recoiled, but she rested a gentle palm against my cheek. “No, sweet child. It is the will of the goddess. Morsana chose Deimos. And she chose you well.”

Lips pressed together, I fought the urge to break. “Did you see where he went?” I asked the guard.

He shook his head. “My friend was bitten. We hurried back.”

“How did the guard pass so quickly? My sister carried her infection for days.”

“Your sister bore a scratch across her ribs. I have reason to believe the gashes inflicted directly may be the purest form of the plague. The origin.” She nodded toward the guard still lying on the floor with his mate beside him.

“He had no scratches. No bite marks that I could see. They crawled beneath his flesh.” She shook her head.

“The ichor in our blood has grown weak. Centuries ago, those spiders would have perished inside of us, expelled with ease. Each generation grows more vulnerable. Frail.”

“Then we learn how to be stronger. Not just future generations but now.” I turned toward the other guard. “How did you escape unbitten?”

“I stabbed the spiders with my spear.”

I swung my gaze back to the priestess. “You see? Not with magic, or blood. You fight.”

“For now. But when they infect those who carry blood magic, our spears will be useless.”

“You’re exactly right.” I turned away from her but as I strode toward the door, I felt a grip of my arm.

“Where are you going?” the priestess asked.

“To find Zevander. And keep those damned spiders from crossing into Aethyria.”

“ T he Rotting Tree.” The priestess stood alongside me and pressed her palm to the drawing on the wall that I’d woken up to earlier. “There’s still warmth. He cleaved.”

“He had to be with someone. Zevander doesn’t cleave.” Again, I found myself staring at what appeared to be a gaping cavity in the tree. “And what is this tree?”

“I’ve seen it.” The sound of Aleysia’s voice had me spinning around to find her standing in the doorway. A look of fear claimed her face. “That’s where I was kept before I escaped.”

“Can you take me there?”

Her face pinched to panic, and she shook her head. “You shouldn’t go there, Maeve. Terrible things…I saw terrible things.”

“I understand. I won’t ask you to come with me, but I am going after him.” I twisted toward the priestess. “Do you know where this is?”

She shook her head and sighed. “I would venture to guess your dragon knows where to find this tree.”

“Raivox?”

“They’re very wise creatures, the Corvugons.” She lifted my gloved hand and sighed. “Perhaps it’s time I showed you what this is.”

Flexing my fingers, I nodded. “Can you give me a moment alone with my sister?”

“Of course.”

As soon as the priestess exited the cottage and closed the door behind her, I felt the first fissure in my heart.

“You’re leaving,” Aleysia said before I spoke a word.

“I want to tell you to come with me, but …” I cleared my throat in a poor effort to swallow back the rising emotion. “Mortals can’t cross the boundary.”

“So, in terms of leaving , you mean Mortasia.”

A sharp sting burned across the rims of my eyes, and I turned away. “We could try something. Zevander captured the man who’s been stalking us. Theron. He could…force a bond. There would be an exchange of blood that might allow you to cross.”

Aleysia chuckled and I lifted my gaze to see her eyes wavering with tears. “Do you hear yourself? If I didn’t know better, I’d think Agatha had inhabited you just now.”

“It’s a terrible idea, I know. But Agatha sought our betrothal for personal gain. I only want to keep you safe.”

“And you have.” She sighed and strode toward me, lifted both of my hands in hers.

“You are the most selfless person I know, Maevyth Bronwick. And perhaps the most misunderstood. All our lives, you’ve lived as an outcast. Despised for reasons that you could not have possibly controlled.

For heaven’s sake, you were just a child when the world decided to cast you off. ”

Realizing where she was going, I shook my head. “Aleysia, please. Now isn’t?—”

“You will listen to me. Every word. If you go after him to that tree, I might not get to tell you again.” Her voice cracked on the last word and the tight squeeze of my hand emphasized her point.

“I want to wrap you in my arms and tell you not to leave, but you have to go. And you are strong and powerful. You exploded demons from the underground, so I know you can take care of yourself.” The two of us laughed, as morbid as her comment may have been.

“At the same time, you are kindhearted and vulnerable.” She exhaled a sharp breath and cleared her throat, as if to stave off tears.

“You have suffered the most despicable prejudice, and you faced it with such grace. You never once let the hatred of this world change who you were. You never judged me for the hardships I placed on you. You were prepared to watch me give birth to an illegitimate child and hold my hand through it all. Loyally and without question.” The waver of tears in her eyes had me looking away to hide my own.

“And you never asked for anything but love in return.”

“You are my sister. It is my duty?—”

“No.” Hooking my chin with her finger, she guided my face to hers.

“No, it was never your duty, Maeve. But it is your turn, my sweet sister. You love him and it’s abundantly clear that he loves you.

” She gave a tearful smile and glanced around the small cottage.

“I’m ready to make this my home. I have Father and Corwin. I’ll be fine.”

“You don’t even like Corwin.” I chuckled through tears.

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “He’s grown on me. And this is as good a home as any in this new world.”

“You don’t speak their language, though. You can’t understand a word they’re saying.”

Aleysia shrugged. “I’ve managed—I’ll learn. Father learned, and I can, too.” With my hand clutched in hers, she kissed my knuckles. “I’m going to miss you so much. But we found each other once. We will find each other again.”

“I came all this way…All I wanted was to find you. I can’t just abandon you. I won’t.”

“You’ve never abandoned me. Not once. You came back for me. You did as you’d hoped. You kept me safe. We’re simply parting ways. For now.”

“And if something happens?”

“Maevyth…you cannot serve as my shield your entire life. That leaves nothing for you. You have to let me go.”

“I can’t.”

“You will. And if the fates are kind, our paths will cross again.”

I threw my arms around her, holding her tight to me, the feeling that I might not embrace her that way again tearing through my chest. “I love you.”

“Only a fraction of how much I love you.”