“I am here,” he said, his voice quiet, “because there is nothing left. Nothing to go back to.”
“Nothing?”
He shook his head.
“Did you have a family?”
“Yes.” Inari focused on the runes he etched, not meeting her eyes.
Aloisia didn’t push any further, noting the slight shake in his fingers. Instead, she watched as he traced patterns upon her arms. With each completed rune, a surge of warm energy washed through her.
“I’m sorry,” she said, breaking the hush.
“For what?”
“I promised to free you. You’re only involved in any of this because I asked you to help. Back in the cell, I promised to help you go free. Yet here you are. Though you wear no chains, you’re still as confined here as you were then.”
“It was bound to happen,” Inari said, his voice soft, his attention still on the runes. “And I would rather clear my name than be on the run here. Or have to flee this place, to find another place, perhaps even more distant from my home. Why run when there is something to fight for here?”
“Why won’t you speak of your past?”
He breathed a gentle laugh. “Some things are too painful to speak of. What is in the past cannot be changed, try as we may. Speaking of it will not change it, will not breathe life back into it.” He lifted his gaze back to hers. “Take care in those woods.”
“I will.”
Inari patted her hand, releasing her arm. “There you are. Those should help.”
“Thank you.” Aloisia rose to collect her bow. She slung it across her back with her quiver, their familiar weight welcome.
The shaman followed her out the door, where Kaja and Mavka awaited them. Mavka led Inari back into the hall. He glanced over his shoulder, clearly reluctant to allow her to go. Aloisia looked to the Dead Woods. Of course, there was a risk to this. Both the wisps and the Forgotten Gods lay within those trees. But she could not let this opportunity pass, no matter how slim. The final trial was so close now. Any way to prove definitively that Fynn was innocent, and Inari too, was something she would take a chance on, regardless of what danger lay ahead.
Kaja clicked her tongue, starting towards the trees. “You have a death wish. Going in there alone…”
“I won’t be alone. You’re here.”
“Yes, here. Not in there.”
“This will work. It has to.”
“First sign of danger and you come back, all right?” Kaja held her arm out.
Aloisia clasped her upper arm, and Kaja did the same. “Right.”
“I’ll be here. Just shout if you need help.”
“I will.” Aloisia shook her head. Their concerns were valid, of course, with the number of times she had almost died already.
Aloisia strode through the trees, her keen eyes searching for any sign of the wisps or the Forgotten Gods. The gnarled branches swayed overhead, creaking in the breeze.
“Vyö mäys,” she murmured. The familiar burning behind her left ear signalled the rune taking effect, her sight sharpening. “Vyö hylän.” The sting switched to her right ear and her hearing cleared, picking up sounds both near and far.
As she ventured further into the forest, unease wound between her shoulder blades. A rustle sounded to her left. Swift as lightning, Aloisia slid her bow from her back and turned to face it, an arrow nocked. But it was just a wolf dashing amongst the undergrowth. She let out a sigh, the tension on her shoulders releasing slightly.
Aloisia sucked in a few deep breaths, calming her racing pulse. She stalked deeper into the woods and chose a spot to wait. Lowering herself to the ground, the huntress kept her back to a tree and balanced her bow on her knees. And there she waited, listening to sounds of the forest and watching for the blue light of the wisps.
Time passed slowly as she leant against the trunk, her gaze flickering to the barren forest around her. Unable to see the sun beyond the canopy of twisted branches above her, she couldn’t know how far across the sky it had moved. She kept waiting, hoping the spirits would find her, hoping they would listen, hoping they would agree.
Aloisia peered upwards at the treetops once again and gave a sigh. Unease settled in the pit of her stomach. As time ticked on, the trial drew closer. Their plan had not even begun, the wisps an ever-elusive entity. There was too much at stake. She could not sit here forever. Perhaps they would have to take the risk and try to isolate one of the Forgotten Gods without the help of the wisps.
