A Dream Come True

  Despite drinking most of the panacea, Skye’s body felt heavy as lead. Each step was a struggle, but he stubbornly pressed on, reaching the edge of the forest. Through the dense cover of foliage, he watched the battle raging on the other side of the river.

  The sight was surreal. Not even giant trees could withstand a battle between channelers and elexii. Maples and pines lay as shattered trunks, their crowns ablaze, their branches broken, and their burning leaves scattered in the wind.

  Across the river, a horned pyroxos, its body wreathed in orange flames, clawed its way up the cliffside. Its fiery gaze locked onto a speedy carriage that had somehow survived the carnage, its roof punctured, its walls slashed and scorched. With a maniacal roar, the creature charged, hurling fireballs that exploded in brilliant bursts. Beyond the smoldering trees, the cacophony of explosions, roars, and screams grew distant, fading like a death rattle.

  “No one is coming for you,” Redeyes said.

  “Shut. Up!” Skye snapped, watching a faraway black cloud erupt with golden sparks. “Someone might be forced here like we were.”

  “Who? Wardens?” Redeyes chuckled. He mimed wiping a tear from his fiery eye socket. “Those coalsons who beat you, threatened you, promised they’ll torture you once back in the city—those are the saviors you’re waiting for?”

  “They don’t remember I was on their carriage,” Skye reminded the idiot. “I can convince them to take me back.”

  Redeyes tsked. “You’re delusional. And not only because you’re speaking to me.”

  Across the river, a wall of ice rose skyward, glinting for a moment before it shattered into an avalanche of shards.

  “Not all of them are monsters,” Skye said. “Ficar is a good warden. There must be others.”

  “Ah, but too bad none will survive,” Redeyes said. “I wonder if the elexii would continue and overrun Troqua as well. Good thing you told the Medhars farewell.”

  Skye punched Redeyes’s thigh only for his hand to pass through the charred stones. “SHUT UP!” he shouted as Redeyes guffawed. “I won’t let anyone hurt them!”

  Reeling with rage, he spun, searching the river for a way across. The waters churned and crashed below, deep and swift, as if the Aquaxii were rearing for a fight. Clearing a space among the detritus, he spread his map, guessing at his location from the river’s curve. It wound from the Avyhandouse Mountains in the north to Liarna Lake far to the south, stretching for miles. Without wings, reaching Troqua was impossible.

  No more blasts sounded in the forest. No shouts. No roars. Just the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves, and the steady rush of the river below. Hours passed under the rising sun before he admitted Redeyes was right.

  No one was coming for him.

  “What now?” Redeyes asked.

  The Avyhandouse Mountains loomed over a hundred miles away, and Kastrala was even farther behind. To his east, his friends remained oblivious to the threats brewing on the surface. He’d made promises to live, others to avenge his team. The dungeon, Basalt’s speech—they taught him what he sought couldn’t be achieved alone. He needed help.

  And help he’d find in Kastrala.

  Turning from the river, he started his long journey. “Now we march.”

  “To Kastrala? On foot? Alone?!” Redeyes asked, incredulous. “You won’t make it a quarter of the way.”

  “I won’t make it anywhere by standing here either,” Skye replied.

  “Ah, I see. You’re tired of this life, seeking a way out,” Redeyes gestured toward the cliff. “There are faster ways to go, you know. All it’d take is a single leap.”

  “I don’t want to die, alright? So stop it!” Skye screamed at him. He still had much he wished to do; he couldn’t give up on his mission yet. No matter how difficult it seemed.

  Fuming, he ducked underneath a low branch, searching for a distraction.

  The Smaragdine Forest was a labyrinth of untamed wilds, a land no one had crossed safely in centuries. Elexii were the chief threat, but murderous magical monsters, venomous vermin, and feral fauna were equally sinister.

  The trees towered above him, their gnarled trunks like ancient giants watching his every move. The path was treacherous, a tangle of arching roots and thorny thickets. He kept his eyes moving, watching for exploding mushrooms underfoot and demon wasps nesting above. Every whoosh of air or faint flutter sent him diving for cover, his bell ready to chime. Aeroxii were watchful aerial guards, but some birds of prey were too fast or clever even for them.

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  Skye trembled as he walked, though not from the cold. These were not the dangers of the Deeps, tamed and cataloged through centuries of human effort. This was an untrodden frontier. A realm as unknowable as the heart of the Scar. As ravenous as a baron’s greed.

  “And yet, you’re grinning like a fool,” Redeyes noted.

  “Don’t you get it?” Skye asked, pausing to admire a cluster of snow-white flowers dancing in the breeze. “All of this is new. Undocumented. If any soul has ever seen this before, they haven’t told anyone.”

  High above, a red-and-blue spider the size of his head wrapped a struggling squirrel in its web.

  “I wonder why.”

  Skye sighed. “I wonder how the ancient explorers felt, walking here for the first time.”

  “Considering how their expeditions ended, I really don’t want to know.”

  “All of these amazing marvels, all of these tantalizing secrets just waiting to be discovered.”

  “I don’t want to be tantalized by anything here.”

  Ahead, a massive tree shivered, and hundreds of little critters and birds ran or flew into hiding. Skye cast his curse then continued once the tree ceased its untreelike behavior.

  “It’s been fifty years since the last expedition. And now we are here! Making history!”

  “Oh, we’ll be history soon enough.”

  A shrub ahead glowed ominously as he approached, and so he gave it a wide berth.

  This journey was everything he’d dreamed of since he’d awoken in the Medhars’ house months ago. He didn’t care that he had no gear or food. It didn’t matter that he was alone. No human had ever walked where he walked now. Each step here marked a first for humanity.

  His was a legend in the making.

  “More like a tragedy.”

  **********

  Hours passed, and the forest only grew denser and wilder, filtering the sunrays into a drizzle. Itchy leaves and spiky burrs clung to Skye’s clothes, still wet from the aquaxii’s attack. A cloud of insects buzzed around him, and no amount of flailing or bell ringing drove them away. He cursed aloud, running to avoid them, then stumbled upon a sight that froze him in place.

  Ten geoxii stood in a ring, their movements silent despite their rocky forms. Their growing ground was small, having deforested only a single score of trees. Except for the giant in the middle, the creatures were the sizes of children, and their shapes not as varied as the ones he’d seen attacking the caravan.

  “Careful now,” Redeyes trilled excitedly. “Unless you want to test their reflexes.”

  Slowly, carefully, he backtracked, ringing his bell every few steps. The stunted monsters swayed and waved their jagged arms in unison, enacting some arcane ritual. With its massive fingers, the giant bent down, plucking a stone with deliberate care, then affixed it to the head of a smaller geoxos, like a mother feeding its child.

  A twig snapped under his foot.

  Every geoxos spun toward him in unison. The mother rose in an earth-shaking rumble, making a mockery of the moniker ‘giant’. ‘Colossal’ or ‘behemoth’ were more fitting, as its head pierced the canopy, the assortment of skulls decorating its form, clacking in concert.

  Ringing his bell frantically, Skye turned and bolted. He glanced back to ensure he wasn’t being followed, only for his foot to meet empty air.

  He tumbled down a steep incline, rolling over roots, rocks, and bushes. At last, he hit the bottom, landing on his back, moaning in pain. When he reached for the vial in the bag around his neck, he cut his finger on the broken glass.

  “Oh, no! Who would have foreseen this?” Redeyes laughed, standing over him.

  Frustrated, he tossed the useless container aside. After a moment spent catching his breath, he sat up with a grunt, inspecting his fresh collection of scrapes and cut. Thankfully, none were life-threatening, though his shoulder ached fiercely.

  Darkness pressed in around him despite it being daytime, and the mountains were playing hide-and-seek behind the canopy.

  “How can anyone be so foolish they lose track of a mountain?” Redeyes mocked, reminding him of his question during Rierana’s story.

  He chose a direction and began walking, only to change course after failing to spot the peaks. Lost, he decided to climb a tree to get his bearings.

  He found a leaning oak with thick, sturdy branches, wrapped his fingers around the rough bark, and climbed.

  “I don’t understand how we ever hoped to reach Kastrala,” Redeyes mused, walking horizontally across the tree in defiance of gravity while Skye sweated and toiled. “You are not remotely skilled, or prepared, or even lucky enough to make it.”

  Skye scraped his palms on the rough bark. Slick with blood, his hand slipped, but caught himself just in time. “Now’s not the time. Leave me alone,” he said, voice strained with effort.

  “Let’s assume the impossible happened, and you made it over the mountains,” Redeyes began with a flourish of his hand. “What then? What brilliant plan will you unveil to save Troqua?”

  Skye gritted his teeth, straining as he reached for a higher branch. “Kastrala is a powerful city. Its magical walls have withstood the elexii for centuries.” He pulled himself up, securing a foothold.

  “I’ll seek Duke Dedrion, and tell him that a band of Troquean wardens are behind the monsters attacking his city. Surely, he’d want to stop them.”

  “And what if he doesn’t believe you?”

  Skye paused to catch his breath. “I’ll go to Ferrugh and speak to the king.”

  Redeyes threw his flaming head back in laughter. “You couldn’t convince your own neighbors, and you think the king will jump to your aid? You think he’ll send an army to Troqua based on the testimony of some kid before even consulting his appointed duke?”

  Skye hesitated, gripping the bark tightly. His muscles burned, but Redeyes’ words stung even more. For a moment, doubt crept in.

  “If King Zakium doesn’t believe me, I’ll find someone who does,” he said eventually. Someone had to believe him, because he couldn’t imagine the consequences of his failure.

  “What if the king decides to apprehend you?” Redeyes asked, forcing Skye to look at him. “What if Duke Hishtem’s apathy isn’t negligence, but part of a grander scheme? What if this was all the king’s plan from the start?”

  The idea struck like an icy blade. Skye froze mid-climb, his mind spiraling with questions he didn’t want to face. Was it possible? Could Troqua’s suffering be deliberate?

  He shook the thought off and resumed climbing. Those were problems for later. The Smaragdine Forest was already a treacherous unknown; he’d deal with the mysteries of men when he reached them.

  At last, he spotted the Avyhandouse through a gap in the foliage. He paused, catching his breath as he wondered why had no foreign delegations ever visited Troqua before.

  **********