Orelia giggled when the wolf’s tongue flopped out of the side of its mouth. “You’re not so scary after all,” she said.
A branch behind her snapped, and the wolf’s head shot up. White eyes went over her shoulder before the animal bounded into the woods.
She whirled to see Vade had made it halfway to her. “You scared it off!”
“You were petting a wild animal! Who knew when it could have turned on you!” He lowered his daggers and blew out a breath. “Tredablo, Orelia, you could have gotten yourself eaten.”
She wiped the fur stuck to her hands on her pants. “I think you mean, ‘Thank you for diffusing the situation. I owe you my life.’”
Vade shook his head, but his shoulders relaxed. “How did you know to do that?”
“My familiar, Polly, has ears that glow a certain color depending on her mood, so I went off of that.”
“With no guarantee it meant the same for the wolf,” he chided.
“It worked, didn’t it? I was right,” she said with a proud lift of her chin.
Vade huffed. “Yeah, well, it may not work on the next creature we encounter.” He looked around. “We need to find a way out of here before the sun sets. It’ll be a dark moon tonight.”
She’d completely forgotten the end of the month had arrived. No dark moon had ever brought anything good in her life. Beron’s was always packed, and she’d spent every dark moon since she’d begun working for him in the brothel. The night seemed to call to the baser instincts of all, heightening the need to be violent to the pleasure girls. A dark moon only meant one thing in her world. Pain. A sickening twist of her stomach had Orelia anxious to get out of the Greywood.
“Which way do we go?” she asked.
“Umm . . .this way.” She knew by the tentative point of his finger that he was just as lost as she was but followed him anyway.
They continued on, this time with her at Vade’s shoulder. The trees continued blinking as they passed. Watching. Waiting. Not encountering any more half-skeletal animals should have lessened her concern, but it only made her anxious, especially as the minutes dragged on and they were no closer to finding a way out.
“I know this sounds crazy,” she said in a hushed tone, “but we don’t seem to be making any progress. Everything looks the same, but I know we aren’t going in circles.”
Vade’s eyes never stopped searching the woods. “Something’s definitely off. It’s like the woods are expanding.” He huffed a laugh. “Now, that sounds crazy.”
A noise sounded up ahead.
Vade shoved Orelia behind him so forcefully she almost fell. He squatted into an attack position, and she did the same.
A faint, green light emanated from a cluster of trees where the sounds were coming from.
“Fucking assholes!” a high pitched, feminine voice squeaked out.
The two of them crept closer, daggers at the ready. They peeked around a tree to see a small creature covered in moss, leaves, and vines. One of their iridescent wings was pinned under a boulder, the other fluttering erratically. The creature shrieked when it noticed them.
“It’s all right!” Orelia offered. “Here, let me help you.”
She started, but Vade grabbed her arm. “We don’t know what that is.”
“Go away!” The tiny creature’s voice was an octave above anything Orelia had ever heard. Barely two feet tall, with skin as greenas pond algae and humanlike features. She searched her memory for the species. Something that started with a ‘P’ . . .
“See? It doesn’t want our help,” Vade said.
“Let go of me. I was right about the wolf, wasn’t I?”
He held his grip.
Orelia placed her hand on top of his. “Just trust me. Please.”
After a few seconds of searching her eyes, he let her go with one of his signature I’m-not-happy-about-this-decision grunts.
Orelia slowly approached the creature she was sure started with a ‘P’.
