Imust admit that the forest of Sijar was quite a scary place. Arriving at midnight certainly didn’t help its cause.
Wherever my flame illuminated, all I could see were armies and legions of insects. Bugs and eerie creatures that crawled or flew—or both—giving me the chilliest creeps. Not to mention the sticky spiderwebs that clung to my skin and clothes, and the invisible birds that made noises that sounded more like crying babies or screeching cats than anything else. Hairs on the back of my neck often bristled, and my heart fluttered at every sound.
“Oh, come on, I can sound much scarier than that,” Marshen teased, mimicking the sound of the haunting birds so very close to my ear.
“Stop that! You’re creeping me out,” I exclaimed.
“Stop that! You’re creeping me out,” he mimicked. My eyes widened.
“Ido notsound like that!”
“You soundexactlylike that. My ability is very accurate.”
“So your sound effects are not limited to roaring panthers and Daekon-possessed birds?”
“They’re not. I can mimic any animal soundandvoice.”
“That’s strangely impressive. Can you do Feder?”
Marshen’s lips curved upwards and he shook his head left to right. “May I interest you in one of these leather journals, perhaps?”
“Oh!” My hands went to my mouth and I barked out a laugh. “Now do Macy.”
“No, Marshen, the portrait’s not ready yet. A perfect face like yours requires time to capture its striking features.”
I gave him a grand eye roll before we burst into another laugh.
“Would you like me to do Aegir’s now?” Marshen asked, nudging me with a teasing elbow.
“Do you know who Alarik is?”
“I do. It’s kind of hard to mimic that one…oh, you’re telling me to shut up.”
“No, I’m telling you that if one word comes out of your mouth in Aegir’s voice, I swear to the gods, Marshen, I will chop off your fucking—”
Marshen’s eyes grew wide. “All right, all right. Yeesh, Delia. I was only joking.” He matched my quickened pace. “What happened to that guy’s tongue, anyway?”
“I don’t know.”
We decided to pull an all-nighter. We had rested well on our way here, and we both preferred to keep trekking north. Marshen had never been to the south region of Sijar, and so when dawn came, we had to rely on the sun, my compass, the directions given to us by fellow cartway passengers, and a questionable map that Marshen had sneaked from the ticket stall.
By nightfall, we were still in the midst of a thick forest, careful where to place our feet. The fog that crept around our legs concealed the thick roots and vines that covered the damp and mossy ground.
We were hoping to reach a village soon. We needed food, water, shelter, and horses.
We found none of that, unfortunately, and so we were compelled to seek shelter in this life-infested forest, high up inthe trees. I knew the shawl would prove to be a good purchase. I wrapped it around my head, covering my nose, my ears, and my mouth, in fear of curious insects. I shivered at the thought.
My exhaustion was just as heavy as the fog around us, and so I found myself drifting in and out of sleep. I was shaken awake. Marshen rumbled into my face, “Get up. I can scent people.”
I untied myself and took Marshen’s hand as he helped me climb down the tree.
“Should we follow them?” I whispered.
“Yes, let’s get our eyes on them first, then we can—”
A windy hiss cut through the air, followed by a sharpthunk. Our gazes shifted.I know that sound. Just as I suspected, an arrow was buried in the tree trunk, inches away from my head. The same tree we had been resting on.
Marshen did not have to whisper the word “run.” We had already thrown ourselves into a sprint. Marshen was much faster than me, of course. He was Fae after all—I was the weaker species. But I hung in there, falling short only by a few feet. I stayed as close to him as possible, for he was the only source of guidance to my human eyes in this gloomy forest.
