“What mission are they talking about?” I asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.
The Coracks went silent, waiting for Basil’s response. And all he came up with was, “My love, your mission is to survive until you can go home.”
In the darkness, someone snorted with irritation, probably Simon. I merely rolled over and pretended to fall asleep, free of guilt for the deception after Basil had offered me such a half-hearted answer. I’d ask someone else later, if I met anyone here I could trust with the truth.
As the trio of Coracks continued arguing, I figured out their names. Trina was the girl, and most of the bickering was between her and Simon. The other boy was named Gabe. He struck me as a kind of peacemaker, an odd trait for a Corack whose every waking minute was dedicated to making war against us. Clearly he had been friends with Simon, and yet something had gone wrong between them. Simon and Trina seemed to have been friends once too. But no more.
Eventually, Tenger ordered all of them to hush and told Simon to take first watch. The cave went quiet, except for Simon’s occasional footsteps as he paced back and forth. When he finally stopped walking, I took a chance and peeked up to see where he was. He stood at the cave entrance, almost perfectly still, and although it was dark I was certain that he was watching me.
I ducked my head again and stayed that way until I fell asleep.
Dawn had barely broken when Wynnow awoke everyone with a shout that oropods were headed our way. “Hurry! I’ll stay behind and shoot down any riders I can.”
I’d never in my life seen anyone move as fast as the Coracks did, gathering up last night’s supplies and practically flying onto their horses. Basil lifted me onto his horse and raced us out of the cave at a full gallop directly behind Tenger.
By the time we made it to the road, I glanced back and saw the dirt being kicked up by the powerful oropod legs. At the speed they were traveling, I doubted we’d get very far.
“Head toward the river!” Tenger shouted.
It was a smart decision. For as fast as they were on land, oropods could not swim, especially nothing as formidable as the Longfinger River ahead. It was wide and deep, and a person would have to be insane to consider crossing it. Yet once we reached its shores, Tenger immediately jumped in with his horse, holding tight to the reins as the current carried him downriver and the horse swam forward.
“Don’t follow them in,” I told Basil. “I can’t swim.”
“Yes, you can,” he replied. “And we have to go in.”
Seconds later, we were in the water too. I gasped with its chill, but Basil assured me we’d be safe. We were, until the water rose as high as my chest. Before I could help myself, the current took hold of my long skirts, pulling me out from beneath Basil’s arms.
He called for help and others of our group began shouting my name, but my head was bobbing in and out of the water as it carried me away. I rounded a bend, struggling for each breath but mostly swallowing water and feeling increasingly weighted down by my heavy skirts.
Within minutes, Basil and the Coracks were out of sight, as was any hope of rescue. I turned long enough to see that I was drifting toward the dead black trees of All Spirits Forest, and my heart froze. What had been fear before became a terrifying certainty that I was about to die. This was haunted territory, and no one loyal to Lord Endrick survived these woods. Ever.
At the border of the forest, my body slammed against a rock jutting from the water, hitting my right leg the hardest. I twisted around, desperate to get a hand on it. The rock was slippery, and spray blasted against my face, but I found a narrow grip and dug my fingers into it. The water was frigid, though I didn’t know if that was the cause of my shivering, or the sure knowledge that my life was as tenuous as my hold on this rock.
I had to hold on and go no farther. The dead were watching me. I knew that, as certain as I felt my heart pounding. A daughter of the Dominion was within their clutches. Claiming me would be a satisfactory revenge against Lord Endrick.
Above the noise of the river and the cries in my head to tighten my grip, I thought I heard a horse approaching, maybe someone calling my name. I tried to look, but the rock blocked my view.
It didn’t matter anyway, because invisible hands beneath the water seemed intent on grabbing my long skirts, tugging me off the rock, pulling me under. Keeping me under. These were the spirits of the dead, and no matter how I struggled upward, they were winning.
The clammy hands of half-life spirits clutched at me on all sides, as if competing for who could drag me to the river bottom the fastest. Their wispy faces crowded around me, angry and wild-eyed, drowning me. My last breath burst from my lungs and I inhaled water instead. I tried again to break free, but by then, I was so battered by the current that I couldn’t tell which
way was up. Even if I knew, it wouldn’t matter. They’d only pull me down again.
This was death.
This was worse than death.
Then, as quickly as they’d come, the spirits vanished, as if repelled. With one exception, a presence that seemed strangely familiar. I heard no voice, saw nothing in the blurry water, but I knew I was being pushed out of the deep river.
From out of nowhere, an arm reached around my waist from above and the pull became more tangible. I fought it at first, confused and disoriented. A few seconds later, my head surfaced, but I still couldn’t breathe.
“Stop fighting, let me help you!” That was Simon’s voice. He was holding on to me with one hand and to his horse with the other.
I wasn’t fighting him. I needed air, needed to escape the spirits who were still surrounding me, gripping at my throat. I thrashed around, suffocating even in this open air.
Simon directed his horse to swim to shore, and as the water became shallower, he pulled me into the saddle ahead of him. He immediately kicked the horse into a run, muttering something about me holding on.
As soon as we cleared the borders of the forest, sunlight hit my face and I drew my first real breath since going under the water. I choked on what I’d swallowed, then continued pulling in as much air as I could get. When I was more settled, I looked back toward the dead forest, hoping to see any sign of what had happened.