Somehow, I always ended up back here – in some secret heart of the Forbidding as it tried to fold me in and fold into me. I did not enjoy the process any more than I did the last time. I flinched from its mental touch. It seemed to almost glow when it touched the feather in my chest.
YOU ARE BOUND, TOO. SSSURPRISSING.
Great. Juste had even surprised the Forbidding. He’d surprised dark magic. He should be proud.
NOT DARK. FUNDAMENTAL.
Sure.
I tried to ignore it as it shuffled through my mind.
“How much further do we have to travel down this ‘gap,’ Marcel?” I asked.
No answer. I turned to look and saw he was slumped over Osprey just as Osprey was slumped into me. Both unconscious. Both in need of help. And I was leading them into oblivion. I swallowed down my curse. What was the point in cursing when you’d gone so far into insanity?
The sun was still setting. And it stayed like that – a thin band of red across the rim of the sky even as what felt like hours ticked by. I could have sworn we’d ridden for half the night – my mouth was certainly dry enough, my belly empty and my bladder in need of relief. But though it felt like hour upon hour, still that narrow band of sunset remained.
Ixtap had said that time in the Forbidding acted differently. And when I used the undertrails, things were certainly different. I’d traveled a great distance in the blink of an eye. This felt like that again, except that instead of experiencing the blink of the eye, I was experiencing everything that happened in between.
At least we weren’t being hunted in here. I saw no Wings or their spirit-birds flashing above me. I heard no shouts or hooves. It was just me and the nervous carabao, my two unconscious friends, and the ever-rolling, ever bubbling Forbidding.
When the path turned a final time and we stepped into something new, I could hardly trust my own eyes. My mouth dropped open with surprise.
Chapter Six
THE PATH CAME OUT INTO a clearing where a river rushed over tumbled rocks cloaked in moss. A small bridge spanned the distance and on either side were buildings. My mind was listing them before I even asked it to. A waterwheel. A large well. A town square. What looked like an inn. Several freestanding homes. And tents everywhere like the festival had come to town. It was as if a village was just sitting here in the heart of the Forbidding. It was impossible to believe. And yet it was here.
The small patch of buildings and greenery was surrounded by Forbidding, dark and clawing, but there were areas where it had been freshly burned and others where the tentacles had been cleared back. Curious, I glanced behind my shoulder. The small path entered through an actual gap between two rocks. It felt almost too much like my own imagination. I shook my head to clear it.
Around the perimeter of the town were people. They faced the edge of the Forbidding, their mouths open and arms up. It was a moment before I realized that they were singing. The song lodged into my mind almost immediately and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was listening to the song even when I was well away from the singers.
The sunset splashed across the buildings as a bell began to ring and people tumbled out of them headed toward a long, low hall. Some moved to replace the singers joining in the song and shifting it slightly to a lower note. They looked like normal people. Men, women, and children – dressed in somewhat worn clothing, but they were like I’d expect at home. They even wore swords at their sides. That got my attention. Swords. And not a Claw to be seen. Was this a hidden village I’d never heard of? Perhaps they had been overlooked by Le Majest.
And then someone noticed me, pointing with a gasp. A large man disentangled himself from the crowd and hurried toward us but there were already others coming from either side. Men with weapons drawn and grim expressions. I drew my own sword. They wouldn’t take Osprey from me without a fight. I glanced behind me, but some trick of the light made the path nearly impossible to see. I’d try negotiation, but if that failed, I’d have to go right back into the gap, whether I could see it or not.
I shifted in my seat, hands twitching as I tried to read their eyes and expressions, eyes darting to one and then the next and then ...
Alect!
He trotted toward me with a huge smile on his face, waving frantically.
“Aella!” he called, his youthful face lighting up with excitement. He was holding a sword in one hand, sweating and huffing as if he’d been hacking at the Forbidding.
My heart stuttered in my chest.
I’d thought I’d never see him again. That maybe I’d die, or he would, or something else would happen that would bar us from each other forever. I fought back tears, as my smile widened. He was here. He was safe. I could hardly believe what I was seeing.
I couldn’t get down from the back of the carabao – not without dumping both Osprey and Marcel onto the ground, but I didn’t have to. Alect was there in a flash, wrapping his arms around my waist in a rough hug and then talking a league a minute.
“Aella! You’re here! I thought I’d never see you again! You wouldn’t believe where we are. Did you have any idea there were actual outposts in the Forbidding? I didn’t. They hold back the dark magic with singing. Singing! Can you believe it? You’d be terrible at it since you’re such a bad singer. There’s hundreds of people here and we drill every day while the older people plan. We’re going to fight the Empire, Aella, and now you can fight with us and use whatever you learned. Even bees have to be good for something, right? And Retger got back last night. But I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to him. They keep him cooped up in the command room and when he’s eating he’s always talking to this pretty girl he brought with him or they’re worrying over another sick man they brought to the healer. Oh! We have a real healer here. A Wing. Can you believe it? Her bird is an owl which doesn’t feel much like healing to me, but she told me to shut my fool mouth when I said so.”
My mouth must have been hanging open as he dropped back to the ground and gestured to the guards who were looking back and forth bemusedly.
“These are Francen and Chesma and they’re on gap duty today. This is my sister, Aella! The one who was stolen. She’s going to be a Wing.”
“Maybe not anymore,” I said, my eyes wide as I realized that dozens of people were gathering now. And they weren’t harried and ragged like I’d expected. They were dressed in something that could be considered a uniform. Forest green wool jackets buttoned with a double row of steel buttons. No embroidery. Breeches in a light fawn color. Their faces were hard and stern and while they smiled slightly at Alect, they watched me guardedly. Eyes flicked over my hands and neck as if they were looking for a tattoo. They wouldn’t find one. Yet.
“Alect! I can’t believe it’s you,” I said when I finally had a chance to cut in on his excitement. I grabbed his hands, gripping them as if I could hug just that part of him. I couldn’t get down from the back of the carabao without letting Osprey or Marcel drop but I wanted to squeeze my brother and tell him what he meant to me. “Can we get my friends to a healer? It’s so good to see you, but they’re in bad shape.”
“Of course, we can,” he said, leading me after him. “You’re going to love Sawet. She can heal anything.”