Bargaining

Bilal bolted into the forest, following the children.

Cita urged Aspen over to Rashida, who stood gaping at the retreating figures.

"Here, take her," Cita said as he shoved the leadline into Rashida's limp hand. He unslung his bow and pulled an arrow from his quiver. He sprinted after Bilal.

"Try to catch up!" he yelled at her.

"Wait! We can't just run in! We need a plan!" Rashida shouted after him.

"No! Your blessed Staryu already carved him up. He needs someone at his back."

Cita dashed through the trees with reckless haste, ducking from row to row and dodging volunteers in the irrigation channels.

'Volunteers? Why would I call the stray trees that?' He shook his head and focused on not losing sight of the dark, one-winged back ahead of him.

Motion drew his eye, and he saw a black tail like an exclamation mark darting in front of him.

Cita huffed a laugh as he realized that the cat was outrunning him. When he looked up, he couldn't see Bilal's back anymore. Grimly, he pushed himself harder, trying to keep up. His breath sawed in his throat.

"I'm… really … out of … shape," he gasped, then kicked himself for wasting even that much air.

Cita zeroed in on the jaunty tail ahead of him, put his head down, and sprinted. He was so focused he nearly ran into Bilal's back.

Bilal turned and caught him by the upper arms.

Cita jerked back before realizing who had grabbed him. Relaxing, he leaned wheezing on a trunk. He clutched his bow and arrow in shaking hands.

"Cita, you should not rush heedlessly into danger, nor push yourself beyond your limits," Bilal chastised in a hushed, mild tone. "It serves no purpose to arrive unable to defend yourself, much less lend aid."

The queen laced herself around Bilal's ankles, reclaiming her property.

Cita nodded as his breathing eased. "Yeah," he gasped. "I wasn't thinking — just trying to keep you in sight."

"Think. It is a good way to stay alive," Bilal counseled. He turned back to scan the forest.

"Where are the … kids?" Cita asked as he tucked his arrow in his quiver and re-slung his bow.

"Gone." Bilal's answer was curt. He shook his head and continued, "Wolves could outpace me, particularly through the trees. But Jay … he is not yet four. To outrun a grown man, through a forest like this …" Bilal shook his head. "It strikes me as unnatural. I have not heard that Baron Dorf's lands harbor beings that can shift into animals, either."

Cita shrugged. 'I couldn't care less, but Bilal won't let them go without a fight.'

"Can we track them?"

"Yes, but we should collect Rashida before we proceed onward. I would worry about losing the trail, but …" Bilal's lips twisted as he looked over Cita's shoulder.

"Ah. Nevermind. She has caught up."

Cita turned and looked. He couldn't see anything in the dim light filtering through the branches, but he heard a tart voice approaching steadily.

Cita frowned. He looked up. There weren't any leaves on the branches overhead. 'Any that were hanging on must have been torn off in that storm.' He looked down. There were only a few stray clusters of leaves, flattened by the rain into wilted clumps.

"Bilal." Cita paused, trying to articulate what felt so wrong. "There's no leaves."

Bilal looked at him in surprise.

"Yes. Leaves fall off when the weather turns colder."

"No." Cita shook his head and tried again. "There are no leaves — not on the tree branches, not on the ground. Where did they go?"

Bilal looked around with narrowed eyes.

"And there are no leaves on the branches," Cita repeated. "Why's it so dark in here?" The fine hairs prickled on the back of Cita's neck.

"Last time we were here, it was overcast," Bilal recalled. "It made sense that the forest was dark. But today." He shook his head. "There are few clouds, and the sun shines brightly. Or it does outside the forest."

The gloom pressed down on them like a physical weight.

"You shouldn't have run in here like that!" Rashida began scolding as soon as her eyes alighted on Cita.

She had taken the time to strap her basket-pack onto Aspen's harness. She held Aspen's lead in one hand and her staff in the other.

"Rashida, that is not helpful," Bilal interrupted. "What is done is done. Cita thought of something — why is it so dark in here?"

"I fail to see how that has any bearing," Rashida scoffed. "Forests are dark."

"Forests are dark when something blocks the light. There are no leaves, and the branches are thin enough to allow light through. There is no cloud cover today, either."

Bilal's calm reasoning broke the rising wave of Rashida's scorn, and she fell silent.

"We need to continue after the children, but be wary. There is something uncanny about this place."

"Well, that's why we came to investigate, right?" Cita took a deep breath and steadied his hands.

"Which way did they go?" Cita asked, looking to Bilal for guidance.

Bilal met everyone's gaze, knelt briefly so that the kitten could scramble back to his shoulder, and led the way deeper into the forest.

They weren't on a trail, but the sparse underbrush made their path easy enough. Cita began to see some of what Bilal was using to track the children — a broken twig here on this tree, a smeared print in that mud, a shed fluff caught on the bark.

As they trekked deeper into the woods, Cita clenched his teeth to still their chattering. His bare fingers felt icy, and he tucked them under his arms.

Rashida frowned at him.

"Hold a moment," Rashida called to Bilal. She approached Cita, towing Aspen with her, and laid a hand on his forehead.

Cita recoiled, and a reflexive, "D-d-don't t-t-touch m-me," escaped his chattering teeth before he could stop it. He clenched his teeth again, avoiding Rashida's scrutiny by looking down. He felt more than heard Bilal come back to where they had paused.

"Hmph. It's not a fever again," Rashida observed aloud. "And it's not that cold."

She rummaged in one of the packs on Aspen and pulled out some knitted mittens. She thrust the wooly accessories at Cita.

"I c-c-can't shoot with these!" he protested. 'Can't I at least use the fingerless gloves the Peacefallows gave me?'

"You can't shoot if your fingers are numb, either."

Cita gaped at her. 'How does she know I can't feel my fingertips?'

"I'm a healer," she snarled, "not an idiot. Wear them."

Cita fumbled his hands into the mittens.

Bilal scowled at the trees.

"This is a damned place. Devouring the flesh and spirit of those that enter. We must find the children quickly. Jas povtorno nema da uspeam!"

'I will not fail again.'

*****

Silent as a ghost, Bilal slipped through the forest.

'Silent, but not peaceful.' Cita frowned at the black wing arching in front of him. Like a leashed sighthound with its prey crossing the horizon, it quivered and flexed as the defined rows of trees faded into random growth. As their path began to climb, Cita lowered his head and slogged along, panting through chattering teeth. He bumped into Rashida before he noticed she had stopped.

Bilal stood in front of her. He stared up at a massive boulder jutting above the treetops. The trail curved around the edge of the boulder, angling steeply upward.

"This is not right," Bilal muttered. "There was no hill inside the forest. How have we climbed so high? And where did these rocks come from?" The warrior leaned a hand against the boulder.

A cackling scream rose from the other side of the boulder.

They raced around it and slammed to a stop again.

The forest opened abruptly, and a massive chasm cut across the landscape. Although the sky was still cloudless, the sun struggled to illuminate the rocky terrain. A narrow trail led between the abyss and the side of the boulder, which seemed grown into a mountain.

About thirty yards up the trail, Ryka, now a rangy black wolf, crouched with legs braced and head lowered. Behind her, Zara, in the form of a grey pup, cowered. In front of her, the goblin-like Jay crouched, lurching to the left and right. Knobbly, elongated fingers with crimson-stained claws searched for a way past the wolf's snapping jaws.

Intent on intervening, Bilal darted forward, glaive in hand.

Cita scrabbled at the mittens, struggling to yank them off. Images cascaded through his mind, but he had no time to process them.

"Don't leave the forest's boundary!"

"What?" Bilal jerked to a halt.

The feline leapt from his shoulder and ran toward the clearing. She froze, back arched, and hissed at the treeline's edge.

Energy crackled through the air.

Ryka's head jerked up.

Jay darted forward. Clawed fingers slashed at Zara, tracing four parallel lines down her muzzle. Blood welled, staining the grey fur, and the pup yipped.

A black arrow slammed home in Jay's shoulder.

Unbalanced, Jay tumbled off the trail and into the yawning gorge.

Ryka snapped forward, trying to snatch the falling boy. She flinched back with a yelp as those eerie fingers clawed at her eyes. Thwarted, Ryka stared into the chasm as the cackling faded and then stopped. She whirled, growling, and sapphire eyes flashed to Cita. She lowered her head again, tail straight and low behind her.

Cita already had another arrow nocked and drawn.

"No!" Bilal stepped between the combatants.

As if given a focus, the energy arced through Bilal's flesh. With a strangled cry, he fell to the ground.

"Bilal!" Rashida cried. She took a step forward.

Cita whipped around and shot his arrow into the ground at her feet.

"No! Stay inside the trees!"

She glared at him but held her ground.

He nocked another arrow. Sucking a deep breath, he crossed the boundary.

Lightning raced up his limbs. He ground his teeth against the familiar agony and forced his body to take another step. Then another. He stopped once he stood between Bilal and the unseen being that lay ahead.

Sultry laughter reverberated through the air.

The black wolf cringed back and swiveled her head around to search for the source. She crouched, shaking.

The grey pup whimpered and bolted. She ran past her sister toward the forest's edge.

"Ah ah ah," the sultry voice chided.

Red-orange eyes widened. The voice echoed through his head. Nausea flared, and his skull throbbed like someone was trying to split it.

The pup yelped and crumpled. She dragged herself along, refusing to be stopped.

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you?"

Energy arced around the pup. With a scream, she halted three steps from Cita's feet.

Blue eyes met red and begged wordlessly.

"Stop it!" Rashida screamed. She shrieked.

Cita looked over his shoulder and saw the smallest tendril of lightning arced into the forest. The healer writhed in its grip.

"Let them go!" Cita snarled.

"Aw, you'd spoil my fun? Just like one of my brother's pawns," the incorporeal voice scoffed.

"Your brother, huh?" Cita snapped. "Let me guess, you want your price — like he did."

"You think I want my brother's leavings?"

A shimmering in the air, like the heat waves over an open fire, spun across the barren trail, leaving a bitter cold in its wake. Laughter echoed again.

"I think you want something. You're hungry. Even after you ate all those people in the forest. Aren't you worried you'll get fat?"

The laughter cut off with a snarl.

"Insolent brat."

"I've been called worse." Cita shrugged while cold sweat trickled down his neck. "Come on. You wouldn't be here if you didn't want something. Maybe we can swap."

"You would bargain with me?!" The entity paused. "Very well. If you complete a simple task, I will give you the pup. She's too small to be much fun. You can bring her back when she's tastier."

"What task?" Cita asked.

"Tell the fleshy being that calls itself Baron Dorf to send more snacks. I'm tired of the petty bits he throws my way."

Cita's chin jerked up and he inhaled sharply.

"That's… quite a task. Especially for such a paltry price. I don't care what happens to the pup."

"You would cast her aside after she tried so hard to reach you? Maybe you're not my brother's pawn, after all."

Silence weighed heavily in the air.

"I could just kill you now," the entity offered.

"You could try. But wouldn't it be more fun to find out if I am your brother's pawn?"

"What do you propose?"

"I'll find your Baron Dorf. Pass along your message. In return, I get the pup and the warrior."

"The warrior? He's contaminated by that blasted Staryu. Broken. Worthless. What do you want with him?"

"Call me sentimental," Cita answered with forced levity. "And if he's worthless, it's no loss to send him with me."

"Hmm."

Cita faced the not-empty air. His breath misted in the chill. Sweat beaded on his brow and dripped until it froze.

"All right." Amusement danced through the air. "You have a deal. Deliver my message, and then you can have your warrior and my pup."

Cita choked at his miscalculation.

"I need the warrior first. He knows this place. Unless you want to wait?"

"I think … not. I'll send a toy to show you the way. Better hurry, though. Staryu isn't gentle on her playthings when they stray." Sultry laughter filled the clearing.