Page 28 of Once the Skies Fade (Immortal Reveries #2)

Chapter 28

Matthias

F rom the haggard looks of everyone gathered outside the castle, it was plain that no one had gotten any rest since the dinner last night. Even the queen’s general appeared less put-together than usual, her body rigid and muscles tense despite her casual stance. She didn’t bother with any pleasantries but dove right into her instructions, lightly kicking a wooden crate sitting beside her.

“Once the sun peeks up over the horizon, you will enter Vael Forest at your assigned positions.”

Everyone stiffened at the mention of the enchanted woods. Reaching into her pocket, she produced a circular gold pendant barely larger than her palm, dangling at the end of a black cord. She held it out in front of her and pivoted so we could all see—as best we could in the pre-dawn light—the fox and ivy leaf design carved into it.

“Twelve medallions bearing the Vael family crest have been distributed throughout the forest. Your objective is two-fold. First, survive. Second, retrieve one of these medallions. Return to these steps once the skies fade with the setting sun, and not a moment before. Each survivor who arrives on time with a medallion in hand will qualify for the next round and earn forty points. For every quarter hour you are late, though, ten points will be deducted. Lose all forty points by arriving late, and you will be disqualified. Should you survive with no medallion in hand, you will be disqualified and remain at the castle until the tournament’s conclusion. You can collect multiple medallions, but you will only receive points for one of them; any extras retrieved will earn you nothing.”

She tucked the medallion into her pocket and pulled out another, this one a black vial attached to a gold chain.

“A dozen pendants similar to this one have also been hidden somewhere in the woods. While these are worth no points, they provide immunity from the forest’s dangers, but not from one another.”

A couple of the Arenysen males—Aric and Fritz, I believed—turned to sneer at me over their shoulders. Apparently Isa had been right about my being a target. I winked, and as expected, they looked at each other, bewilderment plain on their faces. I returned my attention to Isa.

“You must remain in the forest until sundown. And yes, we do have guards stationed around the perimeter to enforce this rule; anyone who steps out of the wood’s bounds—including to arrive back here early—will be deemed in violation of their oath and promptly executed.”

Beside me, young Beck gulped loudly, and had I not shared his apprehension, I might have laughed.

“To keep things as fair as possible, you will each be supplied with a pair of daggers and a compass. Any personal weapons you have on you must be turned in. These will be returned to you upon completion of the trial. The sun will be rising shortly. Please step forward to receive your weapons and entry point assignment.”

At this, a valet from the castle staff stepped forward from behind the general and lifted the crate in his arms so the general could select the weapons as each of us approached. My stomach flipped and twisted like a fish struggling to return to water. Isa hadn’t described the specific dangers the forest itself posed. Did everyone here know of its enchantment? Did they know what to expect? Did any of us?

Not my problem.

Get in. Get the medallion. Get out.

That’s all you need to do.

Positioned at various locations along the castle’s entry road, we all stared into the forest’s darkness, periodically checking the horizon opposite the castle’s entrance for the first sign of the sun. The Arenysen general, mounted on a black horse, paced up and down the line, ready to give the call to begin at any moment. Standing halfway down on the north side of the road, I waited between Oryn and Graham, who stood fifty yards on either side of me, to my right and left, respectively.

Remembering Calla’s warning, I had sheathed both of my daggers at my belt. Graham appeared to be the only other one to have done the same, which was to be expected, I supposed. As advisor to the crown, he would certainly know the ins and outs of this forest and its enchantment. I anxiously tapped the handle of one of mine, waving my other hand discretely to catch Oryn’s attention. Gesturing to my stowed weapon, I hoped he’d understand my advice, but his face twisted in confusion. He was still holding one of his weapons in his hand when the first slice of sunlight kissed the horizon.

“It begins!” Isa bellowed, easing her horse into a trot as she passed down the line of competitors.

I held my breath as I stepped forward, as if that might keep the woods from noticing my intrusion. The dense tree limbs immediately blocked out what little sunlight there was, blanketing me in an eerie darkness that tugged at the hairs on my neck and trailed icy whispers up my spine. As I moved deeper into the forest, I could hear the vines begin to crawl along the earth, following me.

A scream rent the still air, startling me, but it was somewhere in the distance, on the other side of the forest. I winced when it was abruptly cut short, not letting myself wonder who had just died. Watching both the ground for obstacles—and murderous plant life—and the branches for signs of the pendants, I made my way painfully slowly through the trees, but at least I kept moving. At this time of year, we would have a good thirteen hours before we could return to the castle. I tried not to think about how difficult it would be to stay in motion for that long—and even then, there was no guarantee that strategy would work the whole time.

Still, it was the best plan I had until I could find one of those vials.

The thick foliage made it nearly impossible to hear anything beyond my own heartbeat. No insects chirped. No birds cried out. There was nothing but the soft thud of my boots against the leaves and dirt.

A flash of movement to my right yanked my attention around, and my hand flew instinctively to my weapon, but I didn’t draw it.

I stalked forward, my eyes surveying my surroundings, watching for another sign of whatever prowled nearby.

Lengthening my breaths to quiet them, I listened.

There. Something to my right. A low growl rumbled.

Tightening my grip around my dagger’s handle, I ducked under low branches and crept slowly toward the sound.

A dull thumping sound hit my ears, and I froze for the briefest of moments to listen closer.

That wasn’t some beast growling, but someone groaning, struggling.

Shoving aside the fronds of a large fern, I darted around a large tree and stopped short.

A pair of feet hovered half a meter above the ground, heels hitting a massive tree’s trunk as the male struggled to free himself, but his movements were slowing. Glancing higher, I caught Oryn’s frantic gaze and blanched face. Thorned vines, twisted together like the strands of a barbed rope, wound around his neck and squeezed tighter with each attempt he made to free himself. His bloodied hands—now empty—clawed at the vines as he grunted from the exertion, but he was quickly losing the strength to keep his arms lifted.

I pulled my dagger and with a flick of my wrist sent it flying toward the vine. The blade sliced through a couple of the strands, leaving only one. His body fell a few centimeters, but he never reached the ground, as three more vines shot down from the branches above to take the place of those I’d severed.

I needed to get up there and cut him free.

“Stay awake,” I ordered, but Oryn’s eyes were already fluttering closed, his movements growing weaker and weaker.

A thick branch jutted out from the tree directly above Oryn, and I darted forward, retrieving my dagger from where it had fallen into the leaves on my way. Placing my blade carefully between my teeth, I scrambled up the tree as fast as I could, cursing with every slip of my foot and every piece of bark that broke away under my grip.

As I crawled onto the branch, inching along on my belly, I noted the vines appearing behind me, slithering straight for my feet like two blind snakes.

What the fuck had I gotten myself into?

Connor was going to owe me multiple bottles of that damned brandy when I made it home.

I managed to reach the vines that held Oryn hostage—pulled taut under the weight of his now-still body—and with one quick movement sliced through all of them. Waiting only long enough to ensure no new vines caught him, I swung my legs over the side of the branch just as the vines reached my heels. I smirked as if they could see me and dropped to the ground beside Oryn.

My friend’s coloring was slowly returning to normal, his lips no longer that ghostly blue. His eyelids fluttered but didn’t open as I shouted his name. “Oryn! Oryn, you need to wake up. We need to keep moving.” I slapped him on the cheek in an effort to rouse him.

Without warning something clamped down on my ankle and pulled.

“Fuck,” I barked as one of the stars-damned vines started to drag me away. Twisting around onto my back, I hauled myself up to sitting and slashed through the vine with my dagger. At least General Isa had supplied us with good weapons. That did little good for me here, though, because no sooner had I freed myself from that one, than another latched onto my wrist. It yanked me toward the tree, spinning me around on my backside so that I now faced Oryn, who still appeared only semi-conscious. The forest appeared to be leaving him alone—for now, at least.

But I was on my own.

The vine squeezed my arm until I dropped my weapon, though I managed to draw my second dagger from my belt even as the possessed plant continued to pull me along the ground. Grimacing from the vine’s grip, I twisted my wrist until my hand could grab the vine, and then, with one burst of energy, I hauled myself up closer to it so my other hand could cut me free.

Immediately I tucked the blade back into my belt.

“There!” I shouted at the forest around labored breaths. “I’m unarmed. Not a threat. You can leave me the fuck alone now.”

Surprisingly, it seemed to work—well enough, anyway—even when I reached down to retrieve my other dagger I’d dropped. The vines still crept toward me from multiple directions, but they kept their distance as I rose to my feet and backed away to check on Oryn. His eyes were fully open now, but he didn’t seem at all aware of where he was.

“You okay?” I asked, though he was obviously not.

He slowly looked my way, his features relaxing when reality dawned on him.

“What in the fuck is wrong with these woods?” He choked out the question in a hoarse whisper.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” I asked, surveying the surrounding woods and noting how the vines and branches and ferns—every living piece of this forest—all seemed to be watching us, waiting for us to make a wrong move.

Oryn scoffed, and his voice came out a strained croak. “If you find possessed flora intriguing, I suppose.”

Offering my outstretched hand to help him up, I laughed. “We can discuss its merits once we survive this, but if we’re going to do that, we need to keep moving. Think you can walk?”

He nodded as he slowly pushed himself to stand, stumbling a bit and muttering his gratitude when I steadied him.

“I dropped my blades somewhere around here when that demon plant grabbed me,” he said, searching the ground.

I joined him in his hunt for the blade, all the while keeping my eye on the encroaching forest.

“Aha, here’s one at least,” he finally said a few minutes later, pulling a blade out of the leaves and wiping the dirt off on his pants.

“Make sure you keep it sheathed unless you absolutely need it. This forest doesn’t seem fond of weapons.”

“It doesn’t seem fond of anything.” He slipped his dagger into his belt and gave it a couple taps with his hand. “So where to now?”

“Wander aimlessly until sunset?” I suggested.

“And hope we come across two medallions?”

I pulled my mouth into a casual frown as I bobbed my head in affirmation. “Would have been nice if they’d given us some clue as to where to find them. Even hidden in plain sight, it could take us forever to find one of the twelve, let alone two of them.”

“Should we split up?” Oryn asked, stepping over a fallen log and eying it suspiciously as if expecting it to try and eat his foot. “We could cover more ground that way.”

“Perhaps,” I said, continuing to trudge on. “But what if you get in a mess again?”

“What if you get in a mess? They’re after you just as much as they are me,” he argued, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Exactly my point. It’s up to you though. You’re welcome to take on all the demon plants by yourself if you want.”

He jerked his head around one way and then the other, almost stumbling over his own feet as he went. “Nah. I’ll stick with you, I guess. But let’s hurry up and find our medallions.”

“And then try to stay alive long enough to get them back to the castle,” I added, barely hiding my laugh when his face fell.

We walked on, and I had to admit, having an extra pair of eyes did help, allowing us to move faster through the ferns and around the trees. He watched the ground while I scanned the trees, hunting for any sign of gold anywhere.

“What in the…” Oryn mumbled. I pivoted around. He was staring down at the base of an old tree with gnarled roots that jutted out of the ground in various places. He pointed a shaky hand at the tree. “Do you see this?”

I leaned closer, periodically looking about to ensure the forest wasn’t about to ambush us. “We can’t stand still for too?—”

My mouth went dry, hanging open, unable to say the final word of my warning. Tucked in among the tree’s roots, a skull stared up at us with gaping holes where eyes had once been, its jaw hung open at a grotesque angle, as if silently screaming. Not far away, a hand—well, what was left of it anyway—twisted up from between two other roots that had grown close together.

“It’s as if…” Oryn started.

“The tree ate them,” I finished his thought for him.

Slowly he turned to face me. “Don’t let me get eaten.”

“I’ll try,” I said, shrugging off the tingle that rose up my back, but the sensation didn’t go away. As if suddenly remembering where I was, I spun around and swung my arm straight into one of the thickest vines I’d seen, so large my strike didn’t budge it at all. It continued to track its way over my shoulder ,moving slowly, like it thought I wouldn’t notice.

Dumb plant.

Dropping into a crouch, I escaped the exploring vine only to find more slinking toward me along the forest floor.

“We need to get out of here,” I said, but as I tried to scramble away, my hand slipped off the root, right onto the dead guy’s bony face. Hastily I jerked back, but my sleeve had caught on one of the teeth, ripping the lower jaw away. Tearing it loose, I went to return it back to its resting place when I noticed something lodged in his mouth.

Grimacing, I slipped my hand inside, my fingers fumbling around until they wrapped around something cold and delicate. Lifting it up, I stared at the black vial now dangling from my fingers. I could have kissed that poor dead face, because while it might not be the medallion we needed to win, this would certainly help.

I scrambled over the roots and nearly tripped as I rounded the tree. Oryn, bent over, worked to catch his breath. Slipping the gold chain over my head, I was about to hold the vial out for him to see when I stopped, rethought that plan, and tucked it into my collar. He might be an ally, but he was still my competition. I had no problem keeping him alive—and would do it again as often as I could—but I had no idea if he’d show me the same courtesy.

Guilt soured my gut, twisting my insides uncomfortably with my selfishness. I couldn’t share the vial with him, and I couldn’t afford to fail this trial. I’d just need to do my best to keep the male alive by any other means.

Grabbing his arm, I gently pulled him upright.

“We can’t stand still for too long, and we certainly can’t sit or lie down to rest at all. Unless we want to end up their breakfast.” I dragged him away from the tree and urged him forward.

As we marched on, deeper into the forest, I noticed that for the first time since I’d entered, the woods didn’t pay any attention to me. Vines still crept slowly toward Oryn as he passed them by, but on my side the forest appeared to be like any other boring wood.