Something moved within the tree crowns, a sliver of silver hair coming into view before it disappeared again behind dark leaves. I blinked, thinking I’d imagined it, when it showed up again, peeking over thick branches before moving on, keeping our pace.
“What is that?” My voice wasn’t more than a puff of air.
“The warden of the forest,” Darcke replied as he pulled on the reins, making the mare slow as he steered us on the narrow path. “The huldra.”
“She’s real?” I kept looking for her, my muscles coiling each time a pair of glittering blue eyes twinkled my way between the branches.
“I’d say so.”
A giggle layered over us, echoed by the rustle of wood and fueled by howling wind. The sound filled my mind first, then moved into my limbs, making my bones ache. Darcke shifted again, his body caging mine when the sound burrowed throughthe trunks, making the trees vibrate like they were joining her in laughter.
“She’s lonely,” I said as something pulled deep in my gut.
“No, she’s not.” Darcke’s fingers tapped my side again. “She wants us to stay so she can rip our veins out of our bodies and plant them like roots so we continue to grow her forest.” His chin dug into my shoulder, and I kept my head turned forward as his hot breath trickled over my skin. “You see those trees over there?”
Standing amongst the ash and pine were crimson oak—the trees that rose from warriors who’d fallen on sacred land like Morkskog. Their crowns looked like hands reaching for Valhalla, and sap the color of bright blood dripped along their trunks, feeding the rich soil beneath.
“That’s other heirs,” I replied.
Darcke nodded. “And their seconds.”
A woman’s face peeked from one of those crowns, her smile so bright it took more power than I wanted to admit to turn away, but finally I was able to twist my body until I could focus on Darcke instead.
“What do you think we’ll face out here?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Nothing good.”
I frowned at the sliver of awareness filling him, but before I could ask, that giggle sounded again, too pure and childish to belong in these dark woods. The wind mimicked her, whispering through the trees until each one woke, their leaves drifting in the opposite direction of the breeze.
“I don’t like this,” I muttered. “She’s creepy.”
“She’s a protector,” Darcke said as the huldra jumped from one tree to another, her eyes always on us, as if she was patrolling her border. “She is the reason these woods have survived for millennia. She does what she needs to do to keep it that way. Whatever sacrifice it requires.”
“Sounds like you’re impressed by her,” I replied, my head whipping back and forth as the warden of the forest followed us, her laugh continuing to shatter the thick silence.
“I understand her.” Darcke pulled on the reins. “There’s a difference.”
As the mare slowed, I met the huldra’s eyes once more. There was a determination in the pale blue—a fierceness, a will to do whatever was needed. The woman gave me a slow smile before she spun, revealing a backside that looked like a hollowed rotten tree trunk.
“A pretty lie with a dark shadow,” I whispered, my stomach clenching.
Perhaps I understood her as well.
An hour passed, then another. We kept riding, and the spirit of the woods kept following.
“What do you think she wants?” I asked.
The huldra threw herself from tree to tree, not once letting us out of sight. The forest turned as well, trailing her wherever she went, like warriors following their commander.
“To test us,” Darcke replied, something within him steadying as he turned his head from side to side.
My chest fluttered, my nerves igniting as I followed his gaze. There was nothing but trees and trees and trees. Ash and pine and crimson oak standing in neat rows, as if the huldra tended to them like my sisters did the vegetable garden back home.
After we remained quiet for more long moments, a thicker darkness fell, like evening had arrived even though barely any light had found its way into this overgrown forest. The shadows continued creeping in, settling over my skin and then seeking their way through my limbs.
A yawn overtook me, and I loosened my shoulders.
“You can rest if you want,” Darcke said, his arms moving to hold me steady. “I’ll keep us on track.”
