Parijatdvipan soldiers. Coming closer.
And among them—
Something tugged beneath Priya’s breastbone. A phantom ache. A loss.
Abruptly she washerselfagain, not hollow but overfull, heart pounding and lungs aching, fear and anger crawling up her spine. She was the ugly, human creature that loved Malini, and had to stand against her forever and always.
She knew who was coming. She knew who stood achingly close to Ahiranya’s soil, and who had come to kill her and all she cared for.
Malini, she thought. And felt herself reach, through green and earth, an awful yearning and horror gaping inside her.
Malini. You’re here.
MALINI
Ahiranya was a dark and imposing presence before them. At the forefront of her army, on her war chariot, Malini drank it in: the vast swathe of the trees. The utter silence surrounding the forest, a hush without birdsong or human voices to cut through it. Even the sound of her army—all groaning chariot wheels, heavy hooves, booted feet—seemed oddly muted.
The first time she’d come to Ahiranya, she had been a prisoner. She hadn’t seen much of it when she’d arrived—only what she could glimpse when she parted the curtain of her chariot. Only what had filtered through her numb misery. But even her shallow recollections were enough for her to see how utterly Ahiranya had changed since then.
The dust-strewn road, surrounded by homes and blasted, wizened trees, was gone, swallowed by verdant forest. There were immense tree trunks, cleaved and sharpened like blades, ringing the deeper forest like walls.
Stay away, everything said.Get out.The way a venomous snake wore its colors on its flesh. Just the same.
She felt a whisper against her ears. A breeze, or her name. She resisted the urge to shudder. She felt watched.
“Send forward the men,” she said to Mahesh. He raised a hand in signal, and a line of foot soldiers walked light-footed toward the forest, sabers in hand.
Of course Malini felt unease. She had expected to. She’d seen the guts and innards of that forest. Had walked through it, and survived it; had kissed Priya beneath a waterfall deep, somewhere, in its heart.
She knew there was a great deal to be afraid of.
What she had not expected was the other feeling that ran through her. It was not emotion. It was like a guiding star, tugging her blood as the tide draws the sea. The trees and thorns were a warning, but they beckoned to Malini all the same.
She wanted to walk between them. Into them.
Strange. Strange, and foolish. Her scarred chest throbbed.
There was a scream as one foot soldier suddenly plummeted, vanishing into the ground. Another fell, caught in a snare.
Traps, of course.
A gesture from one of her generals, and another cadre of soldiers moved to locate any traps they could. Blades were wrenched from the ground. Another man located a pit and marked it.
Once that laborious work was done, the next line of foot soldiers were sent toward the forest. She and her generals watched grimly as the soldiers slipped between the trees, melting into darkness. Malini gripped the hilt of her saber. The cool weight of metal grounded her.
There was a hush in the air. A heartbeat passed. Another. Then the cries began in the forest. Screams, then silence.
“The forest truly is impenetrable,” Mahesh murmured.
Malini nodded once. Their sacrifice of soldiers had proven it.
Now she only had to test her flames against the forest.
“Arrange your archers,” she ordered Khalil. “Make sure they’re prepared.”
“They’ll be ready for my signal,” he replied.
“Lord Mahesh,” she called. On his horse, Mahesh turned. Inclined his head. “Bring your men forward.”
