Page 5

Chapter

Five

The air stings my face as we descend. Sapphire’s wings beat slow and steady, each gust rippling through the trees below. The forest gives way to farmland, then rooftops. Skoro crouches beneath the early morning firmament, bustling and busy with village life.

I shift my weight, pressing closer to Einar’s back. Harek rides behind me, silent as always. Beneath us, the village looks the same but it feels different.

Harek and I no longer belong.

Smoke billows up from various points. Not just hearth fires, but bonfires. Everyone is busy at work.

Behind us, Vash is following. He’s high and distant, a black shadow pacing our flight. Watching, waiting.

Sapphire circles wide, low and slow, staying out of sight, before landing in a clearing just beyond the village wall. She lets out a low, guttural sound that curls through my bones. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully get used to the beasts.

Einar dismounts first. He doesn’t say anything for a long moment, just watches the village from the tree line. Then he pats Sapphire’s flank. “If you need anything, she and I will be waiting here.”

I nod, already unclipping my harness.

“But if anything goes wrong,” he adds, voice low, “send a flare. Or scream. We’ll come in a heartbeat.”

Sapphire rumbles again, as if to promise she’ll do more than that.

I slide to the ground. Harek lands beside me. We both pull up our hoods. I glance at Einar.

My father stands still as a statue, like a blade sheathed in patience.

Harek and I slip through the trees toward the side path, the one we took to avoid the main road before. It winds along the edge of the stream, half-overgrown, shielded by pine and fog even in the summer.

Once we reach town, I feel the weight of every glance despite the protection of our hoods. A boy hauling water from the well sees us and drops the bucket. He stares, eyes wide, then runs without saying a word.

My stomach knots.

Two women hanging linens freeze mid-motion. One whispers something sharp, and the other folds her arms and turns away.

We continue walking.

Every house we pass is marked. Not with flowers or harvest ribbons like last season, but with chalk lines, painted glyphs—protection runes, but warped and twisted into something repelling. I recognize one of them from old texts. It’s a banishment sigil.

They’re not just afraid of fae. They’re afraid of me.

Harek nudges me as we turn into a narrow alley behind the bakery. “Look up.”

A piece of parchment flaps against the wall, pinned by a rusted nail. My heart skips as I read it.

Beware the Huntress. Blood betrays.

There’s a crude drawing beneath the words—hair too long, blade too thick—but it’s obvious who it’s meant to be.

I tear it down and shove it into my cloak.

“Stay focused,” Harek murmurs. “We need to get in and out quickly.”

I nod, though my hands shake. My breath too.

The farm is only two streets away now. The sooner we reach it, the sooner I can see Runa. Brynja. Make sure they’re safe. Find out how my other siblings are doing. Life at home is bound to be rough on them.

Gunnar is without a doubt furious with me. I’ve cost him so much in his eyes. He thought he was going to get such a rich dowry from the marriage he arranged. I shudder at the thought of how narrowly I escaped that horror. Now my stepfather is wounded by me.

He knows I’m a werewolf. Certainly has told everyone in Skoro by now.

I’m a pariah in the place I grew up.

The sooner we can leave this place, the better. We make our way through the farm’s property, darting from building to building. I could make my way unseen in my sleep, I’ve done it so many times before.

I hesitate at the house, but the back door creaks in such a familiar way it’s like I never left. We slip inside in silence. It still smells like sun-dried herbs and wood smoke. Nothing has changed, yet everything has changed.

Harek stations himself by the door without a word, nodding for me to go on without him.

I move quietly down the hall, avoiding the step that always creaked, past the worn hearth and the dented cupboard, until I reach the room at the end.

Runa leaps into my arms before I can say a word. Her arms wrap tight around my waist, and for a moment, I let myself forget the glares, the whispers, the totems in the trees. I just hold her.

“I knew you’d come back,” she whispers.

Brynja stands behind her, arms crossed, jaw tight. Taller now, after only a few months. “You shouldn’t be here. They’re watching the roads. Watching us.”

“I had to check on you.”

“Well, now you’ve checked. Go. It’s too big of a risk. You’re lucky to have come when Father is at the market.”

I bristle. “He isn’t my father.”

“That’s why you can’t stay.” Her voice shakes, but she doesn’t look away. There’s fear in her eyes, but also anger. Not at me, but at what’s happening. Things none of us can control.

Runa pulls back, her eyes wide. “Did you see the sky yesterday? It turned green for a second. Like the aurora.”

Brynja rolls her eyes, but I see the way she glances toward the window. “She thinks it means something.”

“It does,” I say gently. “A shift in power. Something’s moving.”

Brynja’s expression hardens. “Maybe it’s you. Maybe you’re what’s moving all this trouble our way.”

Her words hit hard, but I don’t let it show. “Maybe. But I won’t let it touch you.”

She doesn’t respond.

Outside, a branch snaps.

Harek’s voice, low and urgent. “We have to go now .”

Runa grips my hand tighter, her voice barely a whisper. “Will you come back?”

My throat tightens. I want to promise and I want to lie, but she deserves better than a false hope.

“I’ll try.” It’s the best I can offer. “But if I can’t, if it’s not safe, then you run. Take Brynja and the others, and get yourselves out.”

Runa nods, too serious for her age. It breaks my heart that she has to grow up so fast.

Brynja steps closer, her eyes softening slightly. “You don’t have to protect us anymore, Eira. We’re not children. Even Runa is quickly becoming a young woman. Without you and Mother here, we’ve all had to step up.”

Guilt stings, but I have no choice but to leave.

“You’re still my family,” I say. “That doesn’t change.”

She doesn’t hug me. But she doesn’t look away when I step back, either.

That’s something.

“Wait!” Runa looks at me with a desperation I’ve never seen from her before.

I hesitate “What?”

Harek speaks again. “We have to go .”

“One second.” I turn to my youngest sister. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve been seeing things, Eira.”

My breath hitches. “What kind of things?”

She licks her lips and takes a deep breath. “Kind of like dreams when I’m awake.”

The shock on Brynja’s face matches my own. She grabs Runa’s arm. “Why haven’t you said anything before?”

I rest a gentle hand on Runa’s shoulder. “What did you see?”

She swallows. “A woman in the woods. Blood on the snow in the shape of wolf prints. A tower burning from the inside. Strange things like that. It’s hard to explain. They come in flashes, and then are gone just as fast.”

My skin prickles. “Did you tell anyone?”

“Not me,” Brynja mutters.

Runa shakes her head quickly. “They wouldn’t believe me. When it happened before, everyone said it’s just stories in my head, but it feels real. Like it’s going to happen.”

I glance at Brynja, who’s watching from the corner, arms crossed.

“She’s always been imaginative.” Brynja says tightly. “You know that.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming.”

Brynja nods. “Something’s wrong. I spotted a mysterious man two nights ago. He was too tall for anyone local, and he was watching the house.”

My stomach turns. “Did he come back?”

“Not yet.”

Runa grip my arm. “Do you think he’s fae?”

“I think he’s trouble.” I look between them. “And I think I need to make sure you’re protected.”

I reach into my cloak and press a charm into Runa’s palm. It’s old, carved from pale wood. “Keep this under your pillow. If you see him again, or if anything changes, you run.”

Harek calls my name again.

I ignore him. “There’s something important I need to tell you before I leave. Something you’ll have a hard time believing, but you need to trust me. It could cost you everything, and I can’t risk that.”

Brynja’s face pales. “There’s more?”

“Unfortunately.” I draw in a deep breath. “You’re all halflings. Mother was part of a werewolf pack before moving here. You can’t ever kill anyone, ever. Do you understand me? That will trigger the curse, and you’ll start shifting.”

A crash sounds outside.

“I have to leave.”

Harek appears in the doorway, his eyes wild

Runa clings to me. “Stay!”

Brynja steps forward then, the edge in her posture softening. “You don’t have to protect us forever, you know.”

“You’re still my family,” I say. “That doesn’t change.”

Then I run.