But now, as Stellen falls silent for a moment, I have a concern for my bodily needs and an uncertainty about whether I have time to address them. “Uh…I really need to…”
He nods quickly. “As do I.”
It seems he was already ahead of me because he points to a spot to my left. “Walk four paces that way into the mist. The ground is clear, so you won’t trip even if you can’t see well. I sense there’s a boulder to the left that should provide shelter for what you need.”
The best I’m going to get.
I hurry into the fog, praying the Alak-Teah won’t see my rushed approach as a threat. Or be offended that I’m about to use their beautiful forest to relieve myself.
Within moments, I find the boulder, figure out how to adjust the cloak, take care of myself, and make it back to the clearing.
I find Stellen washing his hands in the pond, as if he had all the time in the world.
I bend to do the same, my sense of urgency clashing with the peace around me.
As if he reads my thoughts, Stellen says, “Take peace where you can find it, Thyra.” He leans back from the water, pressing his palms to his knees. “Like snow on a battlefield. Every snowflake is perfectly formed. No matter the blood splattered across it.”
He cups his hands around the water and drinks before rising to his feet and waiting for me to do the same. “Come.”
His hand finds my elbow as we step around the rock pools and into the mist.
A minute later, we step from the fog into the forest, its webbed boundary ahead of us along the path.Now that I’m able to study this part of the forest, I make out the same thick webbing spread across the top of the forest between the boughs above us. A barrier against anything and everything outside.
If I were to fly over the top, this place must appear as an enormous impenetrable cocoon. Its contents are a mystery.
The tilt of Stellen’s head makes it clear he’s listening intently as we approach the end of the path and reach the webbed boundary.
The opaque wall prevents me from seeing what lies outside the forest, and I strain to hear…anything at all that might tell me what’s going on.
Stellen has paused in front of the webbing. He leaves his swords in their scabbards, the rips in his clothing gaping a little as he raises his hands to the webbing.
“I must use my Voice one last time to part this webbing, but the moment we’re exposed, I’m certain danger will be upon us. Step directly ahead. The snow cover will be shallow now.” He gives me a cold smile. “An uncanny outcome of our nighttime snowstorms is that the wind clears the ground. Sometimes, it exposes things that should stay buried.”
He turns back to the webbing. “Now. Be ready.”
I’m not sure how fast I can move in the cloak. It’s bulky by design, intended to keep me warm, not agile.
Even so, I say, “I’m ready.”
Stellen hums a note. Clear and crisp.
The webbing parts in an instant, unraveling from a point above us and pulling apart as sharply as if he’d slit the shield from top to bottom with his sword.
He moves swiftly, drawing both of his weapons from their scabbards as soon as his boots crunch the snow.
As I step forward, he moves rapidly out in front of me.
I wasn’t expecting him to turn himself into a shield.
In the seconds before his body blocks my view, I take in the scene in front of me.
My heart shoots into my throat.
Twenty paces away and to my right, Stellen’s white wolf, Nara, paces back and forth, snarling savagely.
Nearby to Nara, Lilis is down on her knees in the snowy field, her damaged armor glinting in the early morning sunlight.
Her porcelain face is bruised. Blood flows from a cut above her eye,drip-drippingpast her chin. Her purple eyes are wide, tears mingling with blood on her cheeks.
