He cleaned and sheathed his blade. Then he walked to meet Daris, who set Sol gently down on the ground. Lew rushed forward to tend to Sol’s wounds.
As Casrian approached, Daris stood to greet him.
Before he could speak, Daris wrapped an arm around his neck and drew him close. “I thought you were dead.”
Daris stank like a horse. His body was covered in blood. They’d been friends forever and Daris knew that Casrian hated to be embraced. Daris came from an affectionate family. He did not. But he’d never been so glad to feel his friend so warm and alive.
He slapped Daris on the back. Solid flesh. Not a trick of the witch. Rowan had actually done it. She’d found them alive. He closed his eyes.
When Casrian stepped back, his voice was rough. “I was unconscious for two days with a fever. I came as soon as I was able.”
Daris scowled. “Alone?”
“I came with a local guide. When I heard your voice, I raced ahead. Sulen had no one. I sent word to the capital for reinforcements. Have you found the witch?”
Daris shook his head and drew him aside so Lew had room to work.
Kenet joined them, as the second most experienced soldier on their patrol. “It’s a bad one, Captain. The rot goes deep. We couldn’t find you after the fight. At first, we thought the familiar had taken you. We gave chase. When we realized our mistake and tried to go back, the trail was gone and every path led us deeper into the woods. We haven’t located the nest. These things have been chasing us for days. There were seven. We’ve killed five.”
“I killed two this morning, smaller than these.” He braced himself and asked the question he’d been dreading. “Where’s Asher?”
His fears were confirmed by the grief that darkened Daris’s face. “We don’t know. He was on watch two nights past and he disappeared in the night. We attempted to track him and we were driven back by this thing.” He kicked the corpse on the ground. “Mat died two days ago. We weren’t able to bury him.”
“Edar?”
Daris shook his head. “Dead as well. He was wounded yesterday, but didn’t tell anyone. The wound festered. He passed only hours ago. And then we were attacked. The familiar took Sol’s horse out from under him. He’s injured as well.”
He felt grief for the loss of both men, but he didn’t allow himself to dwell on it. There would be time to mourn them later when everyone was safe.
Casrian glanced at Sol, wondering how badly he was injured. He was still conscious, stifling his grunts of pain as Lew packed the wound. They all had enough training to treat basic wounds, but Asher was their medic. He’d have to ask Rowan?—
Daris’s attention shifted to a point behind him. He lifted his chin. “That your guide?”
Casrian glanced over his shoulder. Rowan. Relief sighed through him at the sight. He hadn’t realized how much tension remained in his shoulders until he saw her and it eased.
She hesitated at the edge of the clearing, getting her bearings. Her gaze swept over the men, lingered on the familiar’s corpse, lifted to him. He could feel the weight of her gaze even from a distance, noted the slight loosening of her slender body when she saw him and began to move forward.
“You brought a woman out here?” Daris asked, a strange note in his voice.
Casrian grimaced. “She knows the woods and has training as a healer. She saved my life.”
Daris only grunted.
Kenet’s eyes narrowed as he watched Rowan approach. Kenet had a tendency to be standoffish with everyone out of uniform. “You count it as a good thing that she’s familiar with the Black Woods?”
His suspicion was obvious and understandable. The woods were corrupt. Anyone connected to them was suspect until the rot was cleared.
“She’s lived on the edge of the woods since childhood,” he told them. “They’ve only turned dark within the last couple of years.”
Kenet’s brows rose. “And yet she remained.”
“She didn’t have a choice.”
Daris’s gaze flicked to him, a concerned frown drawing his brows together. “That squatter’s village we skirted on the way in?”
He nodded and surprise crossed Daris’s face. Rowan was close enough to see clearly now, though she remained out of earshot.
Still, Daris lowered his voice. “What was she doing there?”
