“I feel it, too,” he says.
My focus is drawn to the fruit growing from the black tree.
Cold fear creeps down my spine. “Malak altered the nature of apple trees.”
“Maybe his sister does the same.” Erik appears to study the tree in the distance and the snow all around it. The strain around his eyes increases and he pulls back a little. “I don’t like this, Asha. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“We could wait,” I say. “But for how long? We have no guarantees that Thaden will reach us anytime soon. Whatever lies ahead, I’d rather approach it during daylight.” I meet his eyes. “Doing nothing is not an option. Neither is turning back.”
He hesitates, the tension in his features becoming more intense, but he finally gives me a nod. “If there’s danger ahead, we’ll face it together.”
Slowly, I rise to my feet and slip my satchel from my back.
I pull out my toolbox but leave the silver medallion within it, along with the device I pulled from Erik’s heart. I tap the plain, black band as softly as I can, awakening it. Rolling up my right sleeve, I press it to my bicep, where it wraps around me.
I consider the dragon-imprinted band. I can only use it overlaid over the band on my left hand. Otherwise, its power is too strong. But I can’t ignore the possibility that I might need it.
I slip it into my pocket.
Erik, too, takes off his satchel, carrying only his weapons.
Taking a deep breath, I center myself. Then I hold my spear ready as we step out into the clearing.
Our footfalls crunch gently in the snow as we test the surface, sinking inches, but it’s no worse than the depth of the ash in the wasteland, which I taught myself to navigate.
Carefully, we approach the center of the clearing. Erik scans the horizon while I focus on the tree and its closest surroundings, including the snow drifts that appear deeper on the right side.
I miss a step when I make out white objects sticking out from the drifts.
Another chill rides my spine.
“Those are bones,” I whisper.
They’re pure white with deep teeth marks, as if they were gnawed clean. There are too many bones to count, all scattered around the clearing, some poking out of the snow in neat rows that indicate they could be rib cages.
“These were four-legged creatures,” Erik says with a low growl as he studies the nearest set of bones. His lips twist. “Wolves and deer. Judging by the size of the teeth marks, whatever killed them was larger than them.”
“A dragon?”
He scans the horizon and then the bones again. “Smaller than a dragon.”
I blow out an exhale, steadying my nerves, and we continue toward the tree.
As we near it, its ropey trunk becomes clearer. Each thick strand is glistening and slimy, all knotted together and reaching up and outward into the shape of dark branches.
The crimson apples gleam where they hang, swaying from short stems when the breeze picks up.
Snowflakes blow across the clearing.
“The heartbeat is coming from the tree,” Erik says, keeping his voice low, holding his spear ready. “From the other side.”
My own heart beats faster as we take a wide path to the left, where the snow is shallower.
As we pass by, the boughs creak and sway, a groaning sound in the heavy silence.
The other side of the trunk comes into view.
I freeze, my breath stilling. “What…?”
