"Wh-what if I fall?"
"Don't."
She looked back. There was no other way.
"I'll go first," said Menduarthis. "But Hweilan, once I'm in, I can't come back for you. You understand?"
She swallowed hard and nodded.
Menduarthis pushed forward into the vines. They parted before him like smooth waters before a ship, then rustled shut behind him, thick as iron bars. He'd taken the light. Darkness engulfed Hweilan.
"Come along," he called, and she could hear the rustling of his movement.
Hweilan held her father's bow close, pulled her hood down as far as it would go, huddled in the cloak, and pressed forward. Even through all her layers of clothing, she could feel the vines. Not like wire at all. More like… snakes. They slithered and undulated around her as she moved forward, the thorns bending, pliable and harmless as feathers, just as Menduarthis had said. Unable to see anything, Hweilan squeezed her eyes shut and pushed onward, step by careful step.
She could still hear Menduarthis ahead.
"How much farther?" she called.
"Not long," he said. "Keep moving!"
She kept moving. Once, the bow caught on a particularly thick branch, and for one terrified moment, caught. Stifling a scream, Hweilan pushed hard. The bow broke through, and the branch snapped back, striking her in the face. Her hood caught most of the blow, but she still felt the branch brush across her nose and cheek. The thick autumnal scent hit her, but the thorns didn't even scratch, and she pressed onward.
Her eyes squeezed shut, her mind concentrating solely on forward, forward, forward, a slow panic began to rise in Hweilan. To fight it, she began counting her steps.
At forty-seven, another vine struck her face, harder this time. Still, the thorns brushed off her skin, but it startled her so that for an instant her step faltered. The vine's thorns stiffened, catching in her hood. A low moan escaped her throat and she surged forward. The thorns caught in her hood, pulling it off her head. She kept going. She heard fabric tearing, then she was through. The feel of the vines and leaves against her face sent her stomach churning, but she pressed on, even faster this time.
"Hweilan?" Menduarthis called, and she could hear the concern in his voice.
"Right behind you. How much farther?"
"Not long."
"You said that. Quite long ago, I'm certain."
"Keep moving."
She took a breath to scream at him, but a sound cut her off. Laughter. Light and gleeful. Almost childish. And very close.
Hweilan opened her eyes. Still she walked in darkness, vines and leaves and thorns thick about her, but she saw eyes watching her. Not the pale blue of the uldra. These eyes glowed verdant green. Two pairs of eyes off to her right, and one very close on her left. Just out of reach, in fact. Seeing her watching them, the watchers laughed, and the eyes were gone.
"Menduarthis!" Hweilan called, panic rising in her voice.
"Keep moving."
"There's something in here with us!"
"Many somethings," said Menduarthis. "Keep moving. We're almost through."
"Curse you, Menduarthis, how much far-?"
She shrieked as she fell forward into open air.
Menduarthis sat on a boulder a few paces away. The vine-wrapped trees still twisted all around them, but the light from Menduarthis's stone showed a small grove with paths branching off in several directions. He gave her a sheepish smile. "Not long," he said.
Then the thorns around them moved, and Hweilan saw that many of them were not thorns at all. At least a dozen figures closed in on them. Some stood on the ground, while others crouched on the thicker branches of the surrounding trees. They stood no taller than uldra, but their skin was green as moss, their meager clothing made up entirely of leaves. They had very narrow chins, almost pointed, tiny noses, and their sharp ears swept back, framed by thick brown or reddish hair that stood off their heads in lanky points. Theirs were the eyes she'd seen. Most held bows, arrows nocked and ready, but one held a sword of sorts in both hands. At least Hweilan thought it was a sword. There was no steel or metal. The entire thing-blade, hilt, handle-seemed made entirely of stiff vines, hundreds of sharp thorns sprouting off the blade.
"No sudden moves," said Menduarthis in Damaran. "Most of them know at least a little Common, so guard your words. Let me speak to them."
"Speak so I can understand you, Menduarthis," the creature with the sword said in Common.
"Forgive me, Grilga. This one"-he pointed to Hweilan-"knows little Common, and none of our speech."
"And who is this one?"
"A captive taken in my last hunt."
"The one who traveled with the Vil Adanrath?"
"That one, yes."
Grilga looked at Hweilan, his eyes narrowing in what she thought was a scowl. "And why is she here now?"
"Kunin Gatar ordered me to let her go."
Grilga's eyes widened, and he looked at Menduarthis. "Let her go?"
"I believe "Get that creature out of my sight' were her exact words."
"Gods' truth?"
"Gods' truth," said Menduarthis.
"Then why not kill her?"
"Had Kunin Gatar wanted her dead, I'm sure she would have said so-or done it herself. You know as well as I that our beloved queen is seldom unclear on such matters."
The other creatures giggled at this.
"I see blood all over her," said Grilga. "And I smell it on you, Menduarthis. Elf blood. Explain."
"You heard the horns?" said Menduarthis.
"We did. You have news?"
"On the way here, the girl and I met Tirron's riders on the ice. While we were… having words"-at this, a few of the creatures laughed softly-"we were attacked. By two. One was a Frost Folk warrior. The other… some vile thing I have never seen before. Whether they were the entire invading force or only part, I don't know. But Tirron's riders"-Menduarthis shuddered-"they couldn't stop the thing."
A collective gasp rustled through the group. Even Grilga seemed caught up in the tale.
"I took the girl and ran," said Menduarthis. "I can't be sure, but I think these invaders, whoever they may be, are after her."
All eyes turned to her, and several pulled their bowstrings to a half draw.
Hweilan looked back into the wall of thorns. The weight in her mind was growing heavier again, the pulsing alarm faster.
"Then I ask you again," said Grilga, "why not kill her?"
"Marauders invade our realm," Menduarthis said, anger in his voice, "kill our people, defy our queen, and you suggest we give them what they want? Besides, Kunin Gatar ordered her gone. Until Kunin Gatar orders otherwise, I hear and obey."
Hweilan watched the creatures. They glanced at one another, and every one pointedly avoided looking at Grilga, whose scowl deepened. It struck her how magnificent a liar Menduarthis really was. Everything he'd just told them was the truth. Every word. But the many words he'd left out made all the difference. It made her very glad that she'd insisted on seeing Lendri for herself. Menduarthis had been wounded defending her, and was even now committing treachery against his queen. She had no reason to doubt he was helping her. But why? I'm bored, he'd told her, starting to feel dead. True? Perhaps. But what truths was he keeping from her?
"If Tirron's people couldn't stop this thing," said Grilga, "and if it is hunting her, then where is it? And what of the Frost warrior?"
"I dealt with that one," said Menduarthis. "The other…" He shuddered. "I don't know. I destroyed the Byway Bridge. I'm sorry. I had to. But for all I know, that thing is on its way here right now."
The creatures all went very quiet. They cast furtive glances over their shoulders into the surrounding woods.
"What is this thing?" said Grilga.
Menduarthis glanced at Hweilan, then said, "I don't know. I've never seen its like. He seemed like a man-taller than me, but much stronger. A very formidable-looking fellow. Human by the looks. But I saw him take an arrow and a spear in his body-wounds that would have killed any creature with sense enough to die-and it barely slowed him. He ripped off an elf's arm with his bare hands."