Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Asense of eerie foreboding has settled over The Perilous.
Everyone seems to feel it as we make our way slowly through the treacherous woods, jagged rock formations and caves here and there hiding Makers know what.
Everyone seems more tense, more alert, heads whipping at every beat of wings and snapping branch.
“Something is out there,” I say when we stop to rest midday. I scan the thick forest around us, their branches looking all too much like bony, reaching fingers.
“Did you see something?” Odessa asks, hand reaching for her bow leaning against the boulder beside us.
“No, I can just…feel it. Can’t you?”
She nods. “I feel like we’re being watched.”
“But…” I lick my dry lips. “But the scouts would have seen if there were…enemies out here, right?”
Odessa laughs. “Yes, there are no armies lying in wait, don’t worry. No, whatever’s out there isn’t human.”
“Oh, because that’s so much better,” I hiss, making her laugh even harder.
The stories around the campfires these last few nights have spoken of all manner of beasts found out here.
Ice dragons who can breathe fire, frost cats that can stalk their prey as silent as Noxum himself with fangs as long as my hand, arctic bears with blood red eyes and paws the size of dinner plates, wolves larger than horses, basilisks forty feet long, bats that feed on blood—none of them sound like anything I’d like to encounter.
They’re all regarded as silly tales, just legends and myths, but that feeling pressing against me, that unease swirling in my belly, makes me wonder if the legends might just be true.
“It just feels like something is coming.” I rub the heel of my hand against my chest, the strange feeling welling there making me want to claw through my skin and bone.
“Have you seen Mia?” Odessa asks, scanning back through the long line of soldiers and wagons as best as she can. I frown. She normally comes to find us as soon as we stop.
“No,” I say slowly, an icy pit forming in the center of my stomach, but I try not to let any worry show in my voice when I continue, “She’s probably helping Ansel with the provisions still, that’s all.”
“Uh huh,” Odessa says absently and I can tell she has a pit of her own to mirror mine. There’s just something about this day, about these woods…
“I’ll help you look. Come on.”
We set off through the throng, making our way through the line, asking along the way if any has seen her.
“She was here,” Ansel says with a frown.
“She went off that way, but I thought she was going to relieve herself, so I didn’t go with because…
you know. She’s a girl.” Ansel is fifteen and an imbecile, though good-hearted.
“But that was…hells that was ten minutes ago, at least. I got busy with the rations…” He looks worried, his doe eyes nearly drowning with it.
Odessa immediately strides off in the direction he pointed, away from the bit of forest that passes as a path we’ve been traveling, and into the deeper, more unruly woods. I follow, and unsurprisingly, Blackheart is at my side in a few moments. I saw him watching our exchange with Ansel.
“And where are we off to?” he asks.
“Mia,” I say, not bothering to be biting or mocking, the worry making it impossible to focus on anything but putting one foot in front of the other and finding that little girl.
“Fuck.” He shifts subtly then, his entire body focused and tense, eyes scanning the trees. I stumble through the underbrush, roots and bushes hidden beneath the snow, though I manage to stay upright. Thank the Makers for the trousers. I can’t imagine trying to do this in a fucking dress.
“Mia!” Odessa calls.
“Mia!” Blackheart and I both yell in unison.
Over and over we yell, making our way through the brush, getting farther from the rest of the group, deeper into these Makers’ forsaken woods, that feeling of unease doubling, tripling, making it hard to breathe.
“Mia! Where are you?!” Dessa shouts again and I can see her starting to fray. “Mi--”
“Dessa!” we hear from off to the right. Odessa turns to the sound and bursts forward, faster than I’ve ever seen her move.
I follow as best as I can, but can’t move nearly as nimbly.
I remember that she was raised in a place like this, Duskthorne with its constant snows and imposing mountains and forests.
Blackheart seems torn between staying behind with me and getting to Mia.
“Go, you idiot,” I snap. “She might be in trouble!”
He nods and takes off, quickly leaving me behind. I’m out of breath by the time I reach them, bursting through the last row of trees, afraid of what I might see—only to have a shaky laugh burst from my lips.
Mia is sitting in the snow in the middle of the small clearing, a pure white rabbit in her arms. She glances up at me and grins.
“Look, Tess! White rabbits are good luck, you know!” She strokes the rabbit, his floppy ears admittedly adorable. I shift my gaze to Odessa who gives me a look that’s somewhere between exasperated, relieved, and amused.
“Make good stew, as well,” Blackheart says casually and all three of us stare at him incredulously.
“Not that I would cook this one, of course,” he adds hastily, eyes darting between the three of us.
My lips curl upwards but then that uneasy feeling skitters up my spine.
Though I don’t hear a sound, I know deep, deep to the very core of my being, that there is something behind me.
Something big. Something not human. My heart seems to stop but also race all at once and I can’t seem to breathe at all.
My power flares, ice coursing through my entire body.
Useless, of course, with Blackheart blocking me, but it still rises up, ready.
“Tess,” Blackheart says quietly, tension thick in his voice. “Don’t. Move.” He pulls his sword free in the blink of an eye.
“Great Makers,” Odessa whispers, grabbing for Mia and pulling her up, putting the girl behind her protectively. Mia’s eyes are wide and she clutches the rabbit to her chest, whether to shield him or for comfort, I can’t be sure. Probably both.
I can feel the beast moving closer at my back now and every instinct is telling me to run, screaming at me to get away, to do something—but then all at once, they stop.
Something shifts—the entire world, part of my soul. Everything—and I’m suddenly unafraid. I feel a strange connection snap into place, like a fiery vine wrapping around my heart, the other side wrapping around his, a warmth filling my entire soul.
Because I know the beast behind me now, as if I’ve known him my entire life. He is a friend. He is a part of me. He is—
-Mine,- a voice whispers through my mind. I gasp quietly and Blackheart tightens his grip on his sword, raising it.
“No,” I tell him. “No, it’s alright.” Despite knowing that everything is alright, I still swallow hard and take a deep breath before I start to turn.
“Tess,” Odessa hisses.
“It’s alright,” I tell her again and Blackheart’s eyes fly wide.
“Great Makers,” Blackheart whispers, lowering his sword, mouth going slack. “It’s...bonded her. Fucking hells, it’s a familiar.”
“What?!” Odessa whisper-yells back. “That’s rubbish from campfire tales! Bedtime stories we tell children! Familiars aren't...real?” she finishes, though it sounds far more like a question than a fact. “At least not anymore.”
I’ve heard stories as well, about Gifteds who bond with exceptional beasts.
They protect their bonded one, love them, and bolster their power, making them far stronger than a Gifted could ever be on their own.
Legend says that a familiar is only called to bond when the Makers themselves demand it, when something important is on the horizon. I never believed a single tale.
Until now.
I fully turn and come face to face with ice-blue eyes, almost the same shade as Odessa’s, though these are ringed with deep gold that seems to glow like the sun.
He’s huge, easily the size of a small horse when he’s standing upright, but sleek, and I know without a doubt he’s agile as the wind.
His fur is white as the snow surrounding us, with black and gray patches that I would guess help him blend into the rocks and trees, and I can only imagine the dagger-like teeth he’s hiding.
“He-hello,” I whisper, feeling a little silly.
-Hello,- the frost cat replies inside my head.
“Holy ruddy fucking fuck,” I whisper and I would swear the cat arches a brow. Do cats even have brows? I clear my throat lightly. “My name is…Tess,” I say, not sure that lying to your familiar is a good idea. The cat tilts his massive head.
-No, it is not.- I glance nervously over my shoulder, having no idea how to explain. -You may speak to me this way as well. Without words- My brows fly up at that.
“Really?”
“Is she…having a conversation with it??” Odessa whispers incredulously before Blackheart shushes her.
-Try. Imagine a pathway between your mind and mine, and direct your words there.-
I take a deep breath and do as he says, looking inside my mind and finding a silvery doorway of sorts. I push it open.
-Umm…like this?-
-Very good. It would be a shame if the Makers bonded me with an imbecile.- I huff out a nervous laugh. Is this frost cat…making jokes?
-My name is Thea.-
-Why do you lie when the humans can hear?-
-That is a very long, complicated story and I promise I will tell it to you later.-
The cat inclines his head. -Alright. You may call me Soren.-
I nod and start to turn to the others, but quickly whip back to Soren.
-You won’t hurt them, right?-
-Not unless they give me reason to.-
I’m not sure what would qualify as a reason, but decide that we’re safe for now. I turn back to find Odessa staring in absolute shock, Blackheart with that intense calculation, and Mia grinning like she just gained a new pet.
“Um. This is Soren. He says he won’t eat you.”
-I said I wouldn’t unless they give me a reason. That is an important distinction.- he says and makes a chuffing sound from behind me, his breath tickling the back of my neck and ruffling my hair. I pull my lips in to hide a smile.
“Unless you give him a reason to,” I add.
“This is…great fucking Makers, Tess, this is insane.” Odessa shakes her head and runs a hand over her braids.
“Can I pet him?” Mia asks, peeking around her sister’s back, still holding the rabbit.
“He’s not a housecat,” Odessa scolds from the corner of her mouth, as if Soren won’t be able to see or hear.
-I like the young one. She may pet me.-
“He says yes, Mia.”
Her eyes light up and she sets the rabbit down, patting him once more on the head before running forward without a care, as if she truly is running towards a housecat instead of a lion-like beast that could rip her to shreds with ease.
“Careful,” Odessa warns, stepping forward hesitantly, clearly torn between protecting her sister and not wanting to anger Soren.
Mia stops beside me and reaches out a hand, palm facing outward, and waits, letting Soren make the decision.
I give her an appreciative glance. She truly has an affinity for animals and I wish so badly for a moment that I could show her the menagerie back at Lyanna.
Soren lowers his head and presses his nose into her waiting palm.
She giggles and moves her hand down the side of his face and neck.
“He’s so soft,” she whispers in wonder. “And handsome,” she adds, smiling at the cat.
He chuffs again, clearly pleased. I can scarcely believe this is truly happening, but the utter rightness running through my veins like a rushing river makes me know that this isn’t some sort of strange dream.
I turn to Blackheart, suddenly worried that he’ll try to turn the cat away.
“He has to stay with me. I can’t…he can’t…” I close my eyes, trying to sort through everything flowing through my body and mind right now. We are connected. We are bonded. His strength is my strength, my pain his pain. We simply cannot be apart now.
“He stays,” Blackheart says firmly. I blink and surprise and he goes on, “The legends of Gifted familiars are revered in Duskthorne, from the ancient days of Hypathia when Gifteds were thought to be touched by the Makers themselves. There hasn’t been a familiar in a century, at least, not that I’ve heard record of any way.
” He looks at the enormous cat with something close to wonder. “He stays,” he says again.
I incline my head in thanks.
-That was an excellent choice. I would have hated to have to tear him to ribbons. He is…important to us.-
I narrow my eyes, not having any idea what that might mean.
Us as in Soren and myself? Us as in Gifteds?
Us as in the world? I choose to ignore his comment because I’m honestly a little afraid to go down that road.
I don’t need Blackheart to be important to me in any way.
Once we reach Duskthorne, I’m no longer his charge.
I’m Dorian’s property until the ransom negotiations, and then when Hastings disappears with the coin…
well, I don’t know what happens to me, but I know that Blackheart won’t be around to save me from it.
Caring about him at all, letting him be important to me, will only lead to more hurt in the end.
“I’m going to go make an announcement and try to prepare the men,” Blackheart says, striding back in the direction of the rest of the group but giving Soren a wide berth, keeping an eye on the cat.
I can only imagine how everyone is going to react to a frost cat in their midst. They’re almost as legendary as ice dragons, and rare to be sure.
“I can’t believe this,” Odessa says, sidling up beside me. I let out a long, shaky breath.
“You aren’t alone there.”
“Well one thing is for sure,” she says, watching Mia pet the great beast like it’s a puppy before turning her gaze to mine and smiling, “things are never dull with you around, princess.”