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“This is complete bullshit.”
Myris’ grumbly comment hung in the light air of Lorah’s office. Our robed leader shot him a glare, one that looked like it had punched him in the face.
“No,” she said. “It is not.”
Myris’ lips snapped shut and he leaned back on his heel, shifting his stance. His weight wobbled from leg to leg as if he was unsure which one to try balancing on. It looked, for a moment, like he’d forgotten how to stand, rendered ignorant even on that by the simple intensity of Lorah’s reply.
Lorah turned away from Myris, moving her gaze back toward the stack of papers on her desk. She scowled at them, the lights in the room flickering slightly as she did.
“He’s not our leader,” Myris said, suddenly remembering how to speak. “He shouldn’t be able to just order us around the way he is.”
The older ranger stared at his leader firmly, but without any malice. He made sure to keep that away from his gaze. Lorah barely seemed to take notice, still looking through the papers on her desk. Then, looking up while brushing a strand of platinum hair from her vision, she smiled at him.
“Yeah, well, we need him,” she said. I couldn’t help smiling myself. “And this task is in line with your duties as a ranger in the first place. You of all people should know this, Myris.”
The older ranger swallowed, taking a half step back under the weight of her warm words.
“Yeah Myris,” came an arrogant voice that was a pleasant surprise to hear. I whipped my head around to catch Jason still leaning against the wall next to the door. “This is something we should have expected to do anyway.”
My lips broke into a grin and my grin broke into a laugh.
“Right, Jason,” I said. He snapped his gaze to me. “Like you haven’t been complaining about it since I told you this morning.”
His lips contorted into a sneer and he averted his eyes, mumbling something out under his breath. I only laughed again, stifling the sound as to not get Lorah glaring at me.
We’d chosen Jason to be the third in our party, and as annoying as he was, I was glad for it.
When I’d first told Myris about the task Marc had given us, he hadn’t believed me. It could’ve been because he was still recovering from nearly becoming a frozen corpse somewhere in the forest. Or it could’ve been just because he didn’t want to believe it, but either way his reaction was the same. He’d just scowled at me, telling me that there was no way Marc would’ve offered the job to me.
I nearly rolled my eyes just thinking about it.
Myris still didn’t like me, and it showed. Even after I’d saved him in the forest, dragging his world’s damned half-conscious body all the way across the forest, he was still the same person. He was grateful, I could tell in the way he no longer scoffed at me whenever I started a conversation. But that didn’t mean he liked to show it.
“Marc is important,” Lorah said, still not looking at the ranger trying to keep her attention. “He’s a good lord, he has power, and we have to make a good impression.”
Jason almost snarled, mumbling something about knights under his breath. My neck tensed up and my hand fell by my side but again, I held my tongue.
I didn’t know what had happened between the rangers and the knights in the mountain states, but something told me it was a long explanation that I didn’t exactly need to hear.
“And he was right, too,” Lorah continued. “Farhar has been an important ally of Sarin for decades. One of our town’s very first lords ever came from there. We share a forest and we share a bond. Plus, we do share the problem of terrors with them. If their guard had come to me requesting assistance, I would’ve given it in an instant in the same way Marc has done.”
Myris shook his head. “But you’re our leader, Lorah.” She met his gaze for a moment, nodding. “He’s a knight from a place I’ve never even been to.”
“He’s also our Lord,” I found myself saying, straightening my posture. Myris shot a glance back at me, one that could’ve burned holes in my skin. I could feel Jason rolling his eyes behind me without even looking.
“Exactly,” Lorah said. “But that’s not the point either way. We’re here to protect. We have a bond with Farhar, and in their time of need, we will protect them.” Her words came out warm, but there was an edge in them—an edge that seemed built up over years. “I remember hearing stories about the ‘city on the other edge of the forest’ when I was a little girl… This goes deeper than Marc—it goes deeper than any of us.”
My eyebrows raised, interest sparking within. It was the first time I’d ever heard anything about Lorah’s past. And before a week ago, I hadn’t even known what Farhar was, but ever since then, I’d gotten some idea. The city on the other edge of the forest was a small town much like Sarin, but it had existed for much longer.
Apparently, from the stray information I’d gathered and a few stories Kye had told me, it had been founded by a powerful mage who’d taken an interest in our forest. The story made sense, with my knowledge of Ruia so far at least, but something about it still bothered me. Looking past the fact that there even was a powerful mage, the story just didn’t seem to line up with current events.
“Why is Farhar in such need of our help?” I blurted out, my curious gaze falling on Lorah. She looked up with an eyebrow raised, but didn’t answer my question. “I mean, I know they’re dealing with terrors as well, and I know that they don’t have rangers, but don’t they have something else.”
“Something else like what?”
“Something like the guard you mentioned earlier,” I said quickly, trying to force the puzzle pieces to fit in my mind. “If Farhar is older than even Sarin is, why aren’t they equipped to deal with the terrors? They must’ve been through enough cycles to know.”
Lorah’s expression darkened, a sight unusual on the light-mage’s face. Her silver-trimmed hood slipped on her head. She pursed her lips.
“From what I know, the guard in Farhar is really good, too,” Jason said from behind me. His voice wasn’t sarcastic anymore. It wasn’t frustrated. It wasn’t even arrogant. He sounded just as curious about my question as I was.
“I’m not sure,” Lorah said finally. All eyes in the room darted to her. She smiled, exuding a confidence that didn’t seem to fit with what she’d said. “But the terrors are much worse this cycle, and they may not have prepared for the winter.” I nodded. “They could have gotten hit worse than we did.”
A dark edge entered Lorah’s voice for her last few words and her eyes stopped meeting with any of ours. I shivered, memories flashing up in front of my eyes. I remembered the image of the source, the dozens of crawling terrors all waiting to feed on my fear.
Myris shifted in front of me again, his eyes suddenly stricken with something I rarely ever saw on the older ranger’s face.
Fear.
My hand clutched the grip of my blade by my side and Marc’s words repeated in my head. I clenched my teeth. The image of the reaper rose up, its terrifying, bony smile mocking me for everything I had.
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The bringer of decay was a servant to the World Soul. It had control of the flow of magic energy. It only made sensethat it would use it in the worst way possible.
The sick and twisted logic wrapped itself around my skull, building resolve within. Before I’d lived in the body I currently owned, I’d never even seen a terror. But now, thinking back to the few interactions I’d had with them, I could only agree with what my lord had said. I wanted to end them—to send them right back from whence they came.
“That could be it,” Jason said. His voice was hollow, barely retaining the confident tinge I associated with him. Lorah nodded, meeting his gaze. Then she met Myris’ gaze. Then she met mine, nodding again as if she understood every single thing that had gone through my head.
“It’s an important task,” Lorah said, walking now with a sudden burst of movement. “You all knew things would be changing.”
She walked away from her desk, passing a speechless Myris, a curious me, and a resigned Jason on her way out the door.
“Rise to the occasion,” she said, leaving her words hanging in the air before the door slammed shut and she left us standing in silence.
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Blood roared in my ears, pumping with an intensity I only ever felt in battle as I broke the weakness in Jason’s guard and slammed into his back.
Jason stumbled forward, reeling from my shouldered strike on his back, and cursed into the air as he tried to look back to me. But by the time our eyes met, my blade was right at his neck, and he didn’t dare move another inch.
“Son of a bitch,” he said, trying to tear the curse away from the air. A grin sprouted on my face.
“You yield?” I asked, already knowing the answer. Jason glared at me, pushing my blade away with his.
“Yes, I yield. Your blade was at my neck. You know how we do this.”
I took my blade back, relaxing my grip and letting it tilt in my hand. “I do. But it’s way more fun to hear you say it.” Jason had to resist the urge to roll his eyes
“Whatever, it was just an oversight in my form.” Jason tried making an excuse. “You still tired yourself out way more than I did.”
He smirked. The accelerated sound of my breath stuck out like a sore thumb in the sudden silence. I bit back the sound, trying to calm the intense beating of my heart. “Excuses, excuses,” I said instead.
“Don’t get like that. That was only one-one, you know.”
I wanted to continue smiling—to nod at him in an attempt to match his arrogance. But as he stared at me, an annoying sparkle in his eyes with his fingers still twirling on the hilt of his blade, I couldn’t.
“You only won the first one because you went all out,” I spat.
Jason tilted his head, still smirking up a storm. “Excuses, excuses, Agil.”
I rolled my eyes, the sudden calm after the fight letting me once again feel the burning cut in my shoulder. It really wasn’t that bad; I could ignore the pain easily. But it still hurt. We were supposed to stop our blades before we made any actual contact, but he just hadn’t been able to stop his.
Jason noticed me rolling my shoulder—the one with the new tear right through my uniform. “Stop making a huff. It’s really not that big of a deal. Galen’s here for a reason.”
My smile came back lighter than before. I clutched my sword tight again, feeling the way it responded to my movements, and let out a breath. The small sting in my shoulder didn’t matter, it would heal in no time. But at least I’d won.
A slamming door echoed out through the lodge. I furrowed my brow, already turning on my heel.
“You two still sparring?” the voice of a particular brown-haired huntress asked. My smile deeped, this time in a much less arrogant way.
“Yes, they are,” a deeper voice said. I blinked for a moment, turning on my heel yet again to catch Myris standing in the entryway that led to the hallway beyond. His bow was strung over his back, and he carried his stocked bag in his hands.
Jason whirled around. “Hey, we were waiting for you, old man.”
Myris didn’t budge, his gaze only imperceptibly hardening on the swordsman calling him out. The older ranger moves his eyes off of Jason and on to me, the corners of his lips tweaking upward the tiniest bit.
“Well, I didn’t want to interrupt your duel,” Myris said. “It’s always an interesting experience to watch two people fight using an inferior method of attack.”
My eyes widened, primal anger flaring out within me. I didn’t even notice how tight my grip had become until Kye spoke again.
“Aren’t you all supposed to leave today?” she asked, walking past Jason and I on her way to the back of the lodge.
I glanced at her, the smile on her face snuffing out my anger in an instant. I nodded instead. “Yeah, we are.”
“We were just waiting for someone to get ready,” Jason said, exaggerated irritation in his tone. Kye met my eyes, half-rolling them and earning a low chuckle for me before she walked off.
“Well, one of us has to be prepared,” Myris said flatly. His smile tweaked upward as Kye walked past. “And I’d rather be completely sure of it than taking a chance on either of you.” Myris held up his bag. I had to stop myself from scowling at him.
I sheathed my sword, feeling the weight of it fall by my sword. Jason did the same, already walking toward the wall of the training room next to the weapon rack where we’d left our bags.
He picked up his bag, instantly slinging it over his shoulder and smirking at Myris. “Well, if you’re finally ready, let’s get going.”
The older ranger nodded, taking no visual notice of the insult hidden in Jason’s tone. I swallowed a laugh, picking my own bag up of the ground. My brown, well-sewn cloth bag was only half as stocked as Myris’ was, filled with only my necessary rations, a change of my ranger’s uniform, and a few extra spots of equipment. It was the same bag I’d used on my trip to Norn. Just another thing to be familiar with, I told myself, already feeling the preliminary strain in my legs.
“Good,” Myris finally said, walking away from the doorway and straight across the room. Jason and I followed in toe. “We should set off then. We want to be able to make a good amount of the journey before night falls upon us. Especially with the forest so near.”
I could feel blood pumping in my ears a bit louder, memories quickly rising up. I blinked away the images of the terrors before they could even coalesce. I didn’t need to see them again. I already knew.
“How far away is Farhar?” I asked. Myris slowed his steps, narrowing his eyes at me. I bit back a retort, swallowing my pride. It was just another piece of information that I had no way of knowing but that he expected I already did.
“It shouldn’t be more than a few days of travel out.”
Jason nodded, looking more and more disinterested with our bland conversation as he sped up and swung the door open in front of us. In a second, we were out in the brisk air.
“On foot, at least,” I said, the words slipping out without much thought. If we’d been traveling on horses, I was sure we could’ve gotten there much quicker.
Myris tilted his head. “Of course. How else would we get there?”
I blinked, his sudden ignorance not making any sense. “On a horse?” I offered. The older ranger jerked his head back, and I even heard Jason scoff a few paces in front of us.
“Where in the world are we supposed to get a horse?” he asked, talking down to me as if I were an overly imaginative child. It didn’t help that he was nearly half a head taller than me. I opened my mouth, only confused sounds and half-words making their way out.
“From someone with more coin than they know what to do with, obviously,” Jason laughed in front of us. The tips of my ears burned and I did my best to keep the redness away from my face.
“Whatever,” I cut in. “We’re traveling through a forest anyway. It’s not like a horse would be of too much use.”
Myris nodded slowly, obviously not convinced, but he didn’t say anything. I could feel the way his eyes bore into me, searching for the missing piece of the puzzle that would explain the inconsistencies in my words.
I barely even noticed the way I was gripping my sword as I shook my head and walked over to where Jason stood in front of the lodge. Myris just nodded, continuing to watch me on my way. I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to look back.
Above us, up the short hill just adjacent to the lodge, Sarin sat peacefully. The wooden houses and shops, built in scattered rows around the cobblestone streets pulled a smile from my lips. I could hear the dull commotion of the mid-morning rush and, even all the way down where I was, I could smell the bustling market.
I heard voices yelling, talking, laughing, and even some singing on the town above. Really straining my ears, I could pick some familiar voices out amongst the crowds. Or maybe, I was just imagining it, but it felt good all the same.
“You two coming?” a low, irritated voice rang out through the clearing. I blinked, turning to see Myris who, at some point, had walked toward the forest.
“Who put you in charge?” Jason asked, pushing himself off the lodge’s front wall and walking toward the grey-haired man.
“Do you know the way?”
Jason’s confidence wavered for a moment. “Uh, no. I’ve never been.”
“Exactly.”
I shook my head, walking toward them with purpose in each stride. “What’s the path there like anyway?”
Myris’ gaze hardened a bit, but he didn’t say anything. “Well, we could go the long way to Farhar—around through the plains. We might even run into some carts going to Sarin on our way there. Or,” he stressed the word, dragging it out as he gestured to the forest, “we could make our way there through the woods. There’s a much more concrete path in its direction that starts a ways in. We just have to find it.”
I felt the air lighten a bit and energy danced in Myris’ irises. I squinted at him, nearly taking a step back before I remembered his magic. His magic was a lot like Kye’s only more situational. He enhanced his senses, and had some connection between them and the world. I didn’t entirely know how it worked—it wasn’t like he was one to tell me—but it did have the consequence of making him an amazing tracker.
“Okay,” Jason said, staring at the tree line ahead. “Then why don’t we get going? It’s not getting any earlier.”
Myris grumbled, the sounds coming out more like a growl than anything. “Yes, we have a lot of distance to cover.” He nearly spat the words straight through his teeth.
I stifled a laugh, walking with my head high and a smile plastered right on my face. Jason’s smirk just deepened and Myris curled his lip, turning back toward the forest again.
The sun beat down on my neck, letting droplets of sweat file down my neck despite the brisk winter breeze. He was right, after all. It really wasn’t getting any earlier and we did have a lot of distance to cover. We really had to get walking.
Somewhere ahead, through a forest of unspeakable terror, Farhar waited for our assistance.
And so we walked. After all, that was the only way we were going to get there.