Rosslyn tucked her head and rolled as she landed on the ground outside Stalenton.

Her body was only lightly reinforced with Mana. Some intuition told her that they might not get away as easily as the lack of glaring obstacles suggested. She needed to save her strength.

The landing was relatively quiet. Even if there had been someone on the wall to hear, they likely would have missed it amidst the usual night sounds.

She heard several thuds after her. A couple of the soldiers were as quiet as she was, so that she would have missed them if she was not listening out. Another pair of soldiers would, she thought, have been caught if those who came before had not murdered the guards on duty on that section of wall.

But they all crawled forward once they struck earth, keeping low so that they would not break their stealth now that they had escaped the city.

They kept going this way until they had reached the tree line.

The Deformed Forest again, Rosslyn thought a bit nervously. It was dark within its borders even during the day, with lanterns.

But for at least the first minutes of this trek, it would be dangerous for her and her companions to use any light source. So close to Stalenton, there were surely scouts who would see torches or lanterns. They would have to navigate through near total darkness.

At last they were all huddled together beside the trees.

“What now?” asked a voice that Rosslyn instantly recognized as Iomhar.

“Next, we find the path and go back the way we came,” replied the voice of Sir Lachlan immediately.

“No,” Rosslyn said, her voice cutting clearly through the night. “Now we find our own path through the forest. We cannot take the route we came by. It is likely that Lord Baranack and his comrades in the Empire will have laid some trap there. Once he had us in Stalenton, it was unlikely that they would ever let us leave without a fight. There was nothing beyond the expected security, which means that either he did not betray us to them—unlikely—or there is some plan in place in the event that we attempt to leave.”

She felt the air go out of the group. As soon as Rosslyn had voiced her thoughts, the truth of them was obvious to everyone.

“Well, at least we may defy their plans now, then,” Carolien said evenly.

“Yes,” Rosslyn agreed, smiling at where she imagined her stepmother was. “I believe we have the advantage now.”

She understood that the soldiers with them were probably more disturbed by the idea of going through the Deformed Forest without a path to follow, at night, than they were by the prospect of some imperial trap. But hopefully they would shift their perspectives to think along the lines that Carolien was trying to encourage. Though Rosslyn did not want to leave them behind, she was all but certain that if the group tried to take the path that had brought them here, they would be caught or killed by some force from the Empire.

“We do not know what lives in this forest, but we know it is monstrous,” Sir Lachlan said, voicing what Rosslyn imagined were the unspoken concerns of the soldiers as a whole. “If we face the Empire’s people, at least we know what we are fighting.”

“The Empire created these abominations,” Rossyln said. “Remember that. The worst the creatures in the woods can do to you is try to eat you. If the Empire captures us, they will want to torture us for information before they kill us. And that is the least of it. The tales that are told of their experiments on humans are heinous. We must escape without succumbing to capture at all costs. Better to die quickly in the forest than to live screaming in the Emperor’s prison cells.”

The atmosphere changed again. Rosslyn knew she had disturbed the members of the group by reminding them of the Empire’s atrocities and the risks of capture, but she hoped they would take her intended message to heart.

We cannot afford to make any mistakes tonight. We made it out of Stalenton. That means we have a chance. Unless the army is somehow concealed in this very spot, we can get home. The only question is the best method.

“How can we pass through the forest without lanterns?” Sir Fergus asked.

“We deliberately did not bring lanterns,” Carolien replied before Rosslyn could say anything. “We cannot afford to bring lights into the forest. Enemies both human and monstrous will be able to see us from a great distance if we do.”

“I will not order anyone to join us in the forest,” Rosslyn added. “I do not want to leave any of you behind, but I appreciate that the dangers here are unknown. If you are unwilling to take an untested path, you can make your way around the perimeter of the forest to reach the border. It will take you an additional day, though. I cannot recommend that anyone follow that path. The Empire will certainly be on the lookout for us by then, if they are not already.”

There was silence for a few seconds as the soldiers chewed over her words.

“All right.” Rosslyn did not recognize the voice of the speaker, but she sensed movement from all around as people nodded in agreement.

“No one wants to be left behind, and we cannot use the cleared path, so please lead us through the forest, Your Highness,” said another voice.

“For the Princess’s safety, one of you should walk in front of her,” Carolien replied instantly, her tone brusque. “The rest of us will form a protective circle around her—”

“No, stepmother,” Rosslyn said quietly. “The forest is too dense for that. I agree that one can walk ahead of me. The others should move in single file behind me. Each of us will hold hands with the person ahead and behind.”

That way, we should all notice immediately if someone gets picked off, she thought.

“Yes, Your Highness,” said a glum voice that Rosslyn had trouble placing.

Niall, she finally thought.

The others quietly repeated his words.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The group lined up in accordance with her orders.

“All of your names will be remembered regardless of what happens here,” Rosslyn said, trying to cheer them up a little. “We will live on in poems and songs. If we make it through this forest, you will be known the rest of your days as heroes. Sir Bridei of the Southern Wilds, Lady Caitriona Ariss, Domnall of Couzens, Sir Fergus Allanach, Sir Lachlan Creag, Leith of the Watchwater…” One by one, she named each of them in turn.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

That seemed to raise their spirits a bit. There was a general change of postures as if everyone was steeling themselves to do their duty. She could not be certain if it was the thought of being remembered after death—which she had always heard and read was something knights and warriors cared deeply about—or if the effect was simply because she remembered all their names.

Then Rosslyn and her party made their way into the thick of the dark forest, not bothering to look for the path that would only tempt them toward a likely trap.

Sir Fergus took point ahead of her, and she took his clammy hand in hers as they stepped into the unknown. Carolien was behind Rosslyn, gently holding the Princess’s hand in her soft but firm grip.

As Rosslyn stepped over a thick, gnarled root the width of her thigh, it was as if someone had snuffed out a candle.

The stars have gone out, she thought for a wild moment.

But no. The Deformed Forest was simply that dense. Starlight and even moonlight could not pierce through the tree canopy. Suddenly she was in a place of complete pitch darkness. Only sunlight would alleviate it, but by sunrise, they needed to be long gone from here.

She reminded herself of what was at stake and advanced stoically forward. She, Sir Fergus, and Carolien walked together into the thick tangle of branches, trying to bend or snap those that obstructed their path as quietly as possible.

Almost immediately, there were problems as someone behind Rosslyn stumbled over a branch or a root. She heard the ring of drawn steel as one of the people in line—she imagined the one who had tripped—positioned to hack at a piece of tree that had offended them.

“Stop!” she hissed, turning to stare at the line of people behind her. “No weapons unless something attacks you. If we start hacking branches apart, we will attract attention as surely as if we brought lanterns!”

She dimly saw the outline of the figure holding the sword against the distant glow of reflected city and star lights. Then the figure put the sword back in its sheath.

Rosslyn nodded and took a deep breath.

“We must move more slowly,” she whispered to Sir Fergus and Carolien. “Everyone’s nerves are already on edge. If we have too many of these accidents, I suspect our journey will end poorly—and far too prematurely to inspire any songs.”

She heard rather than saw Sir Fergus’s expression change. He snorted and smiled. His lips made a quiet, fleshy sound as they peeled back over his large front teeth.

“That sounds like a good idea, Your Highness,” he said. “You know, many I have served with do not realize that you are so thoughtful. I mean no offense. Just that some of the career soldiers look at you and see a girl young enough to be their daughter. But I am beginning to understand there is more to you than that.”

Rosslyn smiled thinly back at him. “Thank you, Sir Fergus.”

I suppose it is a compliment.

For over an hour, the line of escaping Claustrians moved slowly and cautiously through the forest. Rosslyn raised her foot high with each step to avoid tripping over any of the thick roots and branches that littered the ground. More than once, even she wished for the safety and relative smoothness of the path.

Despite the slow pace, whip-thin branches sometimes seemed to appear almost out of nowhere. Rosslyn’s superior senses allowed her to avoid the branches lashing at her face and arms, but she imagined that those behind her were suffering.

She and Carolien whispered warnings backward at first, but the thick tangle of branches was too pervasive. They ultimately stopped rather than issue a constant stream of chatter that might compromise their security.

Part of the concern about making noise was that there were monsters in the woods, as there had been on their first trip. This time, the creatures dared to get closer to them than they had when Rosslyn and her party had been safe inside carriages.

Creepy long-necked owls with near human faces poked their heads curiously through the twisted, tangled branches. Monkeys with vicious, curved teeth like predatory cats and glowing orange eyes took the place of the owls as the group advanced to another section of forest. The strange red-eyed deer approached close enough that Rosslyn could have fed them by hand—if they did not appear more interested in the idea of eating her.

Rosslyn was constantly ready to fight, always infusing Mana through her body as the group pressed deeper into the forest. Perhaps for that reason, the creatures seemed to sense the threat she posed and ultimately allowed her and her group to pass unscathed.

But the sight of the bizarre and horrifying creatures had an effect on her and the soldiers’ morale.

It was at the hour mark that someone passed word up to Rosslyn requesting permission to light a torch. The soldiers all had flint and tinder among their gear, and someone had the idea of breaking off a tree branch to make a torch.

Rosslyn pretended to consider this idea before vetoing it. She had, in fact, already thought about this earlier. But the forest was too dangerous for torches, especially given that they were off the path. Lanterns were one thing, but an open flame in this place might set the entire densely packed forest on fire while they were right in the middle of it. There would be no easy escape from that.

Even assuming that Rosslyn and Carolien outran the spread of the fire and abandoned her soldiers to their fate, they would have set in motion the destruction of the strategically valuable forest barrier and attracted a great deal of attention. The latter was unacceptable.

Given what Rosslyn now knew, she could not afford to be captured. Even though her father had other children who could inherit the throne, the information Jocelyne had provided suggested that the Kingdom was in grave danger from more than Lord Baranack. The King and his generals needed to be told what was coming.

“Tell them no torches,” Rosslyn said. “We cannot afford to light the forest on fire around us. Wait until we get a bit further in, and I will use magic to light our way forward. No fire unless we are under attack and willing to risk burning the forest around us.”

Sir Lachlan nodded and passed the word down.

And the long walk through the darkness continued.

Another half an hour passed before Rosslyn felt a tug from Carolien behind her.

“Yes, stepmother?” she asked.

“They are asking about light again,” Carolien replied.

Rosslyn smiled and suppressed a sigh.

“I understand,” she said.

“I think that a few of them are at wit’s end,” Carolien added quietly.

Rosslyn nodded. “Very well,” she said. “We will take the risk.”

Divine Sword, First Form, Radiant Light. A magical technique that Rosslyn felt brought her closer to the Goddess whenever she used it.

A warm white light radiated from all around her until, as was her habit, Rosslyn channeled that light into her sword. It felt strange to essentially become a living torch, and if she moved the light away from her body, she had to continually order it to follow as she moved. The easiest method for her was to place the power in an object she was holding, which here meant her sword.

“Thank the Goddess!” The voice of Sir Bridei came, relieved, from some distance behind her.

There were other similar exclamations as a little of the fear that had begun to rise in the soldiers’ hearts receded. They probably had a feeling of being a little closer to home, Rosslyn imagined.

She knew there was a legend that only the pure of heart could harness the Goddess’s divine light. Of course, she herself did not believe in such stories. She knew she would be unworthy if true purity of heart was required. But if some of the soldiers believed it, perhaps they would move forward with greater courage.

The Princess and her band walked further into the forest. They advanced for another hour, and although the beasts of the woods did not shy away from them entirely now that she had activated her magic, they kept a more respectful distance than they had before.

Rosslyn began to think they would make it through the forest with no trouble, no need to fight at all.

Then, as she stepped over a particularly thick root, she heard a hiss of air whizzing nearby. She instantly raised her sword to protect her face—and a metal object too small and fast-moving for her to see with the bright light shining in her eyes glanced off her blade and spiraled into the darkness somewhere.

Rosslyn’s body instantly tensed. They were under attack.