"I have to find them," Wynn said, and another tear slid down her face. "You cannot follow us. If Magiere knows, if she sees you, she will try to take your head. So will Leesil."
Now she was telling him what to do?
"Don't you miss the guild?" he asked. "Our evenings together?"
"Oh, Chane. " Her voice broke as she dropped her head low. "Go away! Even if I do, it was not real. You lied about what you are, and now I have to lie to Magiere and Leesil for you. Get on your horse and escape while you can."
Wynn stood up, bracing herself with one hand on the workbench. When Chane reached out to steady her, she froze for a moment. She did not pull away from his touch but neither would she look at him. She put the crossbow strap over her shoulder and walked to the door.
"I know everything has been spoiled and lost for you," she said barely above a whisper. "And I am grateful you were here tonight, but you must go away. Get as far from us as you can."
Wynn left him standing there, and Chane did not try to stop her.
Chapter 9
S hadowed silhouettes flitted between the trees to either side of Magiere as she ran through the woods trying to escape. Each time she swerved to chase one down, it faded back into the forest beyond her reach. These skulking companions made hunger burn in her throat. When her night sight widened, she saw the glint of crystalline eyes in each dark presence.
Undead trailed her every move.
"We hunt," a voice whispered off to her right. "And you hunt."
"We hunger," from her left. "And you hunger."
One of the dark shapes appeared ahead of her between two wilting fir trees. Magiere slid to a stop, her grip tightening on the falchion's hilt.
Its eyes were like stars dragged down from the sky and entombed in the forest. They fixed upon her.
"You belong with us… you know this."
Magiere darted away and thrashed through the low branches. Night's chill ate into her but didn't slow her down. She ran faster, as if loss of body heat freed her. More shapes appeared in the trees, but these huddled upon the ground, alone or together. She heard their snarls, and beneath, the smothered whimpers of their victims.
They were feeding.
Magiere's rage grew. She swerved toward one shadow crouched by a cluster of bushes and raised the falchion to strike it down.
It vanished, and her hunger swelled instead of receding.
What remained was a young man prone upon the ground, limbs flailed out and vacant eyes staring up into the forest canopy. Beneath his slack jaw, blood leaked from his torn throat, and forest needles slowly fell upon him from above. She sensed a remaining trickle of life within him and saw her own hand reaching down for his throat.
Magiere lurched back.
Bodies lay everywhere upon the forest floor. Men and women, old and young. One girl child with eyes wide open sat limp against a tree like a doll on a shelf… like the stuffed doll the girl held in her lap. Bite wounds across her pale body showed through tears in her dress and wool sweater.
"No more left," came another whisper through the trees. "No more blood… but you still hunger. We still hunger."
All around Magiere, corpses decayed in the mulch.
"Must find more… more life… and we follow if you lead. Lead us on, little sister. Your time is coming."
Magiere's hunger surged again. Holding it down forced a whimper from her.
"Leesil," she whispered, over and over with eyes closed, until his face filled her thoughts. When she opened her eyes again, the dead were still there, all about in the forest.
A white flicker passed through the trees ahead, appearing briefly here and there between the rotted trunks. Magiere's senses opened wide in fright.
She heard soft breathing and the barest rustle of footsteps in the mulch. The pound of its heartbeat seemed to vibrate upon her skin.
This was all she heard-no other sounds, no living thing in the forest. Not even herself. Only one heartbeat instead of two, for beneath the cold spreading within her, her own heart had stopped.
She was dead-and she was starving. The voices of the undead in the dark had whispered for her to find blood… to feed.
The figure slipped from the trees and into the clearing where she stood.
Leesil stared at her with amber eyes, white-blond hair hanging loose around his tan face. He held out his left hand like an offering.
Magiere saw the scars of her own teeth upon his wrist. Inside she recoiled, but her body crept forward.
"No, Leesil," she sobbed.
The words were difficult to say as her teeth grew and her jaw expanded. Magiere tried to halt, but her feet stepped forward until she felt the heat of Leesil within reach. Rage surged through her for no reason. Hunger deepened in a spasm that made her drop the falchion.
"Stop me, please," she begged him. "You have to… once and for all."
"You are alone in this thirst," he said, and Magiere heard the undead gathering, closing in around them through the bone trees. "I'm all there is. And my blood is all that's left for you."
Magiere seized Leesil's arm, tears blurring her vision, and pulled him sharply toward her. Her jaws widened as she buried her face in his throat.
Welstiel crashed through the brush in search of Magiere. He wasn't certain why she had suddenly fled into the forest, but he suspected.
That dead thing in the crossroads had slipped something in her thoughts.
Magiere had fallen prey to a command, a suggestion or impression now fueled by her own thoughts and emotions. Lost in her own mind, she was capable of anything, from cutting her throat to drowning herself in the river. He had to find her.
Welstiel stopped, listening, trying to sense for Magiere's presence. He heard thrashing amongst the trees off to his right. Branches ripped at his cloak as he ran toward it. He slowed to a stop in the forest when he spotted Magiere ahead in a clearing. Bloodied scratches marred her arms and face from running through the brush.
He hesitated, seeking for any way to approach her unseen, and circled wide through the trees to get ahead of her before she bolted again. She spun around, frantic as she looked about the clearing, then closed her eyes tight as she whispered.
"Leesil… Leesil… Leesil…"
Her eyes snapped open, and she stared directly at Welstiel.
She saw him.
Welstiel ducked through the trees, hoping it had been happenstance, but her gaze followed wherever he went. All his plans melted in that moment. She would not continue this journey or the quest he hoped to steer her toward. Instead, she would turn to tracking him. There was nothing more to do but resolve this crisis.
He stepped from the trees to face her, holding out an empty hand. Hopefully he could stall long enough to free her of the phantasm clouding her mind.
"No, Leesil," she sobbed.
Welstiel froze. In her delusion, Magiere thought he was her half-elf-and hunger and dread were plain upon her pale, scratched face. If Magiere ever believed she had fed upon-killed-her closest companion…
His mind worked quickly. There was opportunity here.
She could never face what she had done-thought she had done-or return to Miiska and the pathetic life she had tried to build with Leesil. Magiere would be adrift without purpose. Grief and self-hatred addled a mind, made a person most pliable.
Welstiel carefully wriggled his hand from his glove, snatching it with thumb and forefinger before it fell. He worked the brass ring off his finger, knowing what this would do to her. Without the ring's protection, her instincts would sense his nature immediately.
Magiere shuddered.
Welstiel knew this was dangerous, but the possible advantage outweighed any cost. She certainly could not kill him.