“Your strength and skill will be needed for what awaits on the morrow.” Mavka folded her arms around her and Aloisia leant into the embrace.
Aloisia gave the lead huntress a parting smile as she withdrew. She cast her gaze to Inari, still deep in concentration, the enchantments weaving beneath his fingers. With a last glance, she retreated to her home. The sun dipped beneath the horizon, casting a fiery glow across the guild and the Dead Woods beyond.
Aloisia woke the next morning, her ribs aching and exhaustion tugging at her once more. The runes Inari had etched along her arms had faded completely overnight. She rubbed her eyes, trying to get them to focus. Waking in her living room was strange, her bed still at its centre. A reminder of everything her body had been through and how weak she had been.
She stretched her arms overhead and took in the room, pale in the early morning sun. Inari lay on one bench beside her unlit firepit. The shaman was lying on his front, an arm hanging down to the floor and his face shielded by his deep auburn curls.
Silently, Aloisia placed her bare feet upon the wooden floorboards and padded to the door. There was a chill in the morning air, and she welcomed it. The breeze tangled in her hair, the grass damp with morning dew beneath her bare toes. Slowly, the dregs of sleep blew away like cobwebs, taking with it the lingering darkness of the day before, the darkness of the vision still clinging to her in sleep.
Back inside, Inari had stirred from his slumber.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, running a hand down his face.
“Better,” Aloisia said. “Not back to my normal, but better.”
Inari nodded. “Good.” He rose from the bench and began searching the pots and bowls on the side table, filled with concoctions he’d created. “I’ll renew those runes, and that should help. Perhaps another potion, too.”
She perched on the edge of her bed, watching him comb through each one until he’d settled on which ones to use. He returned, dipping a brush in a dark blue liquid, and began painting the runes upon her arms again.
“Are the enchantments ready?” she asked.
“They are. I hope they shall be powerful enough.”
Fear plucked at Aloisia’s nerves. Fear of facing the Forgotten Gods, of failing to capture one, and of what would happen should they fail.
Done with the runes, Inari returned to the side table and mixed another potion. He gave her the vial when done and she drank it without question. The taste was bitter as it caught the back of her throat.
“Are you sure you’re strong enough to come with us?”
“Yes,” Aloisia answered, more confident than she felt. Regardless of whether she was, she intended to join them.
Inari did not press the point further, the resolve clear in her charcoal eyes. He inclined his head, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “As you will.” He stepped out into the chill of morning.
Aloisia examined the markings on her arms as she collected fresh leathers from her trunk.
Let it be enough, she thought.Let this work.
Aloisia stalked through the Dead Woods, Mavka and Dhara to either side. With the fresh runes and potion, her energy was returning, the ache in her ribs dulling until it was almost unnoticeable. Kaja was further ahead, Inari and Ezra a little way ahead of her.
The weight of the chains on her shoulder slowed Aloisia’s pace. Her sisters were each armed with a similar length of metal links. With her hearing heightened, Aloisia tried to drone out the constant clink of the chains, focusing instead on sounds further away. One thing was certain, however: their approach would not go unnoticed.
While hunting was second nature to her, the unfamiliarity of this target set her on edge. They had encountered the Forgotten Gods on many occasions – and Aloisia had even tracked one before, though unawares – but they had never sought one out, not in the same way they did now. Her bow upon her back and the blades at her waist offered a small comfort at least, even if she were down one blade having given it to Inari.
On they trailed, searching deeper within the Dead Woods. Silence enveloped them, hanging heavily in the air. Only the chink of chains and the creak of branches broke the hush. Tension spun like a thread between the two groups, each awaiting a signal, a sign they had found their target.
Kaja whistled low, the mimic of a bird call, and they halted.
Aloisia readied her bow.
They waited.
Kaja looked over her shoulder, sparing a glance at her sisters, before turning her attention back to what she had seen. Moments later, a dark shape moved amidst the trees, followed by two more. Aloisia’s breath caught in her throat. This was exactly what they had been wary of – these creatures rarely moved alone.
Silently, Aloisia shucked her bow from her shoulder, nocking an arrow. Kaja signalled again, but she missed it. Dhara pulled her close to a tree trunk, shielding them from the view of the Forgotten Gods. The lead huntress placed a hand on hers, eyes going to the bow. A silent message.Don’t.
The shadow monsters were maybe twenty feet away, two ahead of the third. Like the ones Aloisia had encountered when tracking the footprints, when one had chased them, their grotesque forms were becoming more corporeal. Their elongated limbs still moved like mist, though they were taking more solid form. The trunks were marred with claw marks where the Forgotten Gods had scratched along the bark, keeping themselves upright.
The one at the back of the group moved slower, drawing further from its companions. Antlers protruded from its head; a gaping maw lined with dark, serrated teeth was the only feature upon its face. Aloisia was sure it was the one which had chased her and Inari.
