It was the dawn of the tenth day, and I was prepared as I was going to get. Slowly, I went through the ntal checklist, making sure to grab everything.
Food and water.
Rope.
White tree bark tinder.
The additional robe.
The surplus potions and poultices.
My sword.
After much consideration and going back and forth on the topic, I decided the best ti to leave this place would be early dawn. In an ideal world, it would be better to leave at night to maximize the ti my absence went without notice, but I had not forgotten that first harrowing evening in the Everwood and was under no delusions that such a venture would sohow work out better now. Worse, using the demon-fire would be a death sentence. It was practically a beacon in the forest at night and Barion could easily use it to track . If Barion erged at noon, that would still give a six-hour lead, and I wasnt about to squander that.
Now, tattered satchel over my shoulder, I crept down the stairs, careful to avoid the fourth and seventh step that squeaked horribly. The cottage was utterly silent and dimly lit by the first pale blue rays of morning light. I slowly turned the doorknob counter-clockwise and stepped into the brisk morning air of the clearing, transitioned the still-turned knob to my other hand and eased it close, every bump and squeak sending a stab of fear to my legs. I stood motionless for a mont to still the shaking. Then I slowly moved across the front of the house, careful with the placent of my feet. This was the critical mont.
At the edge of the wall, I leaned forward to look. The chains and padlock to the cellar were undone. Barion was down there. This was it.
Then the front door swung open.
Maya stared at , her tail twitching from side to side. My hands clenched into fists. How? How did she know? Part of briefly considered drawing my sword and attacking. But I knew what she was capable of. Even if I managed to wound her or land a killing blow, all she had to do was touch once and it was lights out. Mayas eyebrow raised, and I quickly moved my hand away from my sword. My initial panic subsided. It didnt seem like she was here to bust . In her left hand, she held a simple brown bag. After a mont, she looked over her shoulder at a nearby clump of trees then back to , indicating with her thumb.
I followed.
As soon as we got to the patch of trees, she turned to and began to speak, her words coming out in a tumble, her accent thicker than usual. "I packed you so at and bread. It wont keep for long, so make sure you eat it in the first few days. And Master Barion has a relationship with so creatures of the wood, so if you see anything that looks out of the ordinary make sure to stay out of sight. Not that you wouldnt anyway. Also, Im sure I do not have to tell you but do not use the demon fla. There is also flint and steel in the bag."
I was too shocked to speak a proper sentence. "Maya? How long? Why are-" Then I stopped. It made no sense.
"Let us walk so you may start building your distance." I followed her, our soft footsteps the only noise, the forest uncharacteristically silent. After a while she finally spoke. The words seed halting and unpracticed in contrast to before. "You know what is in the cellar." It wasnt a question.
"I have an idea."
Maya drooped in sha. "When Master Barion first visited the enclave, he offered a way to help my people. A way to regain our old magic. His offer was simple: we would fund his research and once he saw results, be among the first to reap the benefits. Part of our support was to provide assistants. There were three of us, once." She said bitterly. "At first, we were all on board. The original subjects were animals. It was difficult what we did to them, but they were just animals. Then, one day, Barion brought ho the first child." Maya shuddered.
"And things took a turn for the worse?"
"Yes," Maya nodded. "It is shaful, but at first I did not care. They were human, after all. Humans had only ever been a curse upon our lands, exploiting our weakness and extorting us ever since the human king broke our dinsion gate. Among the three of us chosen, I was the lucky one. My power cannot be used to cause painor so Master Barion thought. The other two wielded water and air. And the things they were forced to put the children through-" Maya closed her eyes, "they are things I will never forget. Eventually, I could not even hold on to my anger towards them. Human or not, they were just children." She hissed the last word.
"What happened to the other two?" I asked.
"They could no longer stomach what they were being asked to do. They had the sa look in their eye that I see in yours. Their nas were Conall and Teshur, and they ran. They tried to get to co with them, but I refused. I could not justify leaving. We had done so much bad. For no good to co of it seed wrong sohow. It all jumbled up in my mind. It seed better to stay the course for a little while longer, until there were results."
"My tutor back ho would call that the low road fallacy," I said quietly, trying to keep my voice free of judgent. "Its seductive. Makes you feel like you have to keep going down the wrong path to justify choosing it in the first place."
"That beca painfully clear when Master Barion brought them back." Maya said. "It was all too clear how poorly I had chosen when it was my people in the cage."
"Im sorry that happened to you," I said honestly.
"Do not be sorry for ," Maya said bitterly, "I am a coward, and I deserve this fate."
I had no idea what to say to that. It was a feeling I knew all too well. I saw the boy missing the eye in my mind, staring at , his face a silent condemnation. I hated the idea of leaving them. Even with the plan to bring the full weight of the imperial army down on Barions head, leaving the children to their fate for even one more day was too much.
"I believe Barion intended to replace with you, killing and severing the last living link to my clan," Maya said. I considered that, rembering how Maya had set up the first ti and sent into the cellar.
"Im surprised you were so friendly to then, considering," I said, careful to keep the edge of irony out of my voice.
"Its because I knew you would try to escape. The look in your eyes. The sa as Teshur and Conalls. That was when I decided to help you."
"What I dont get," I said, stepping around a particularly damp section of ground, "is why Barion would even try to replace you. Youre a life mage. What you can do is far more valuable than any poultice or potion."
Mayas expression soured. "Master Barion cares for obedience more than anything else. He wants to heal only the injuries that leave them on the brink of death, letting them suffer as much as possible. Over the last few years, I have been less than obedient."
Thats all it took for my view of Maya to finally shift. I had been fighting to keep it from happening for a while, ignoring her small kindnesses and the kinship I felt with her.
I stepped in front of her and stopped, my conviction strong and intense. Yes, perhaps thinking I could make two allies right away had been foolish. But I could at least make one.
"Co with ," I said. "Leave this place. We can get away and bring help. I have connections. We can do this together."
Maya looked surprised, and her face softened. Her tail stopped twitching. She smiled so kindly it broke my heart. "Thank you, Cairn. I believe that you wish to help. But I cannot leave them. They are my children and I am their shield. I cannot abandon them to Master Barion. Now go. The road is about ten miles that way." She pointed deep into the forest. "Ill stall for as long as I can."
I felt a swell of pain in my chest. "Ill co back. On Elphions na, I swear it."
Maya raised a hand in a small wave. "Goodbye, Cairn." Then she turned and disappeared into the Everwood.
I watched for a few monts longer, hoping she would change her mind, knowing she wouldnt.
It was rough going.
I used the direction of the moss to continue moving in the direction Maya pointed in. I didnt dare light a fire the first evening. When night fell, I climbed a tree, and using a rope Id liberated from Barions supply closet, tied myself to the branches. Sleep ca quickly, stress and adrenaline from the day fading away into black.
I woke soti during the night to the sound of a large animal trampling through the forest. Very large. The trees themselves seed to vibrate with its movents, it huffed and growled, tearing through the underbrush. I held my breath as it passed beneath, unable to see anything but the vaguest of silhouettes. Its body was massive, the size of two dire-bears put together. Only after it left did I allow myself to breathe normally, shifting in my makeshift perch between the branches and trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to sleep.
When I finally drifted off there was a battle in my dreams. A battle between two infernals, one that had brutally murdered my sister, and another that was sorrowful and kind. The two stark images of the sa person warred in my mind, each threatening to overtake the other. What was the missing piece? What caused Maya now to transform so drastically into the Maya that murdered so cruelly without blinking?
I set out at first light, snacking on the bread and at, my appetite spoiled from the restless night. There was so much about all of this I didnt understand.
Up ahead, in the clearing, was the body of a dead panther. It was torn open, violently attacked by another animal. I kept my distance and circled around it. From a distance, I could make out a section of its fur around its neck had been burned away. I stopped.
Could it possibly be the sa one?
It was too bizarre to be a coincidence. All at once, sothing felt horribly wrong. I backed into sothing warm. The impact knocked forwards off my feet. Foul breath blew past my face in a fetid huff.
A massive thing leered down at , twice my height. Its eyes were black, its face covered in dried red. A set of antlers cast shadows the size of small trees. Its body was semi-transparent, a ss of multi-colored organs visible below the surface of its gut. It opened its mouth, revealing dull blood-colored teeth and shrieked, its voice high-pitched and warbled. My ears popped from the sound and pressure, my hearing deafened.
Frantically, I stood to run, not caring for the direction, anywhere to put distance between myself and this monster. It lowered its head and shifted, the bone of its antler catching in the side and flinging into a tree. I hit with a crack, my left arm snapping, eyes watering as waves of pain washed over . I shook my head, trying to stay conscious as the blackness threatened to overtake .
"You stole from ." A familiar voice. Terror overtook . I turned to see Barion standing before the creature as if it was not even there. It looked like a twisted Elk. It watched as he spoke, an and drooling. "I took you in. Fed you. Cared for you. And you stole from ." Barion said, his easy going manner gone.
"I didnt," I said, hating the weakness of my voice, "I wouldnt."
"What do you call the clothes on your back? That food in your bag?" Barion crouched down, his pale face cold and pitiless. "And to think, I had considered that with so work on my part, one day you could stand by my side, an ally. What a fool I was."
"Liar." I spat in his face. There was a surge of sudden defiance in my chest. I was tired of simpering and sneaking and begging for my life. Barion didnt blink, the trail of bloody saliva moving slowly down his cheek. "Stand by your side my royal ass. You were going to imprison in the cellar with the rest of your failures."
Barion reeled back from that, hand shaking as he used the sleeve of his robe to wipe his face. "Is that what Maya told you?"
I froze.
"Yes, I knew it was her. Thats the worst of your thefts, boy. Your gravest sin. My dear assistant. I have no idea how you chard her, but I hope youre happy."
"Is she-"
"Dead?" Barion asked. "Oh yes."
My stomach dropped.
Barion continued. "I have no patience for disobedience. Still, I tried to make it quickshe served well for years, it was the least I could dobut she was oh so determined to fight to the last breath." He held up his right alabaster arm, showing a dozen jagged red scratch marks. My stomach turned.
Maya was dead because she helped .
"I thought you were iron, boy. I would have molded you into steel. A force to be reckoned with. But I was wrong." Barion grabbed my hair and pulled my head up. "Youre just at. Just like the rest of them. Offal. And I have only one use for offal." Barion threw my head back against the tree and stood. The impact sang discordant notes through my skull. He turned away to the monstrous elk. "Do as you please."
"Yesss." The elks mouth did not move, but I heard the word in my head as clearly as if it had spoken. It advanced on slowly, savoring the mont.
Fight. You have to fight.
I called the spark forth. The hulking beast regarded curiously, lowering its nose to sniff the magic held in my hand.
"Shall I tell you the one, massive weakness of demon-fire, child?" Barion said, still facing away.
In a blur of movent, the elk opened its mouth and chomped down on my entire arm up to the shoulder, fla and all. Its dull teeth ground. There was a horrible crunching noise coupled with a sucking sensation. Its eye watched , dark and empty.
I scread.
"It doesnt work on demons." Barion finished.
He might have said sothing else, but I could no longer hear him over the sound of my own keening voice. The monster swallowed greedily, and through its transparent skin I saw the ruined remnants of my arm pass down its throat. It made a wling noise and took a chunk out of my side. Then it bit again. And again. And again.
Again.
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