Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
BELLAMY
W e trekked through the jungle for hours, hiding every single time we heard a flutter in the air, which made the journey that much longer.
I didn’t see any sign of my brothers, and I hoped they were safe, but with the pixies looking for us, I couldn’t go searching for them now.
My back ached, my feet throbbed, and my dress was soaked with sweat. We didn’t say a word, none of us daring to draw the attention of the pixies.
Finally we approached two towering trees with thick knotted trunks, a sheath of vines hanging between them. I looked back and forth between Leoni and Driscoll, both marching forward and straight toward the vines. I grabbed their arms to stop them.
“What’s on the other side?” I tensed, preparing for some kind of trap. Maybe they’d brought me here to hurt me, to take my satchel, to stop me from enacting my plan.
In that case, I’d fight, and they’d regret trying to get in my way.
“We’re not tricking you, okay?” Driscoll rolled up the sleeves of his green tunic. “Through those vines is safety.”
“Not permanent,” Leoni mumbled, glancing over my shoulder into the distance, no doubt keeping an eye out for the pixies. “But for at least one night? We could have food, water, and somewhere to sleep.”
That sounded tempting. I slowly let go of their arms, wondering if I was being an idiot by agreeing to this. Probably. But I desperately wanted all those things Leoni had just mentioned, so I swallowed and followed them through the vines.
I sucked in a sharp breath when we got to the other side. Stars dotted the night sky, and a clearing spread out before us full of tents and a big crackling fire in the center of it all. Boys danced around the fire, whooping and hollering. Singing. Chanting. Some of them wrestled on the ground. Others were already dozing off in the soft grass.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“Welcome to Neverland,” Leoni said. “These are all boys whose shadows have been taken by Spirit Shadow. Many of them have been here for a long, long time. This is the community they created. A safe place for them, especially during the day.”
She gestured up at the wide expanse of sky where the sun no doubt shone bright during the day.
A few of the boys took notice of us, then took off running toward Driscoll and Leoni. “Who are you?” one of them shouted, eyes straying to our shadows that stretched out in the moonlight.
A few of them picked up spears that leaned against the trees, pointing the weapons straight at us.
“Wait!” Driscoll held up his hands. “We’re friends of Lochlan and Mal Aster.”
The boys slowed. “Are they back?” one of them asked, excitement dancing in his eyes. “Where are they?” He arched his neck.
I had no idea who Lochlan or Mal was or how they were connected to the boys, but it had seemed to calm them, some of them already lowering their weapons.
“Nope.” Driscoll laughed nervously. “Just us. I swear I’m way more fun than Lochlan or Mal.” He glanced at me and Leoni. “Them? Not so much.”
Leoni rolled her eyes and elbowed Driscoll. “Can we stay here for the night? We need a place to hide out and maybe to wash our clothes.” She gestured to her muddy trousers and blue tunic, which was pocked with rips and mud.
The boys looked at each other while all the others by the fire were starting to take notice, stretching their necks, some creeping closer to hear our conversation. I looked up, boys crouching in the trees. Bridges stretched between the branches, and little tree houses perched on them. What a peculiar place.
One of the boys scratched his head through his mop of curly red hair. “For Lochlan and Mal. We’ll help you because of everything they did for us.”
Driscoll breathed out a sigh of relief.
The boy with the curly hair raised his spear, the tip close to Driscoll’s neck. “But just one night, and then you have to leave. We don’t want no trouble. Last time a bunch of strangers came, we lost a lot of our own.”
Driscoll’s face fell, and Leoni’s eyes welled with tears. I wondered what had happened here. What they were referencing. Who this Lochlan and Mal were. So many questions, and maybe now that we had a safe place to stay for the night, I’d have a chance to get some answers.
We sat around the fire much later into the night, nearly all the boys now asleep in various locations around us. Some lay on the bridges above that connected the trees, others lay in the grass, others inside the tents. Driscoll and Leoni had told them we were here to learn more about the shadow king, and then distracted the boys with tales of their recent adventures—including Driscoll’s trip into the Wilds, where he met me.
It worked. The boys had all gathered around, sharing their rabbit stew with us while being entertained with stories of wonder, danger, and excitement. Now they’d finally passed out, and even though my eyes were heavy with sleep, I needed to get some answers about why Driscoll and Leoni had followed me, why they wanted that bolt, why they wanted to stop me from my pursuit of the shadow king.
I stared at them from across the fire. “Why are you here?” I asked with quick hand movements.
Driscoll leaned back on his hands, while Leoni sat cross-legged, studying me. “Because you’re about to use a dangerous weapon, and the effects could have horrible ramifications on all of us.”
I tilted my head, not sure what she was talking about. Yes, I planned to use the bolt to kill Spirit Shadow, but that would benefit everyone. I’d long known the shadow king was Spirit Shadow, one of the trapped seven spirits who had escaped his tomb sixty years ago and fled to this island, where he’d hidden away, collecting shadows and hoping no one would notice him. He’d been the reason my homeland of the star court turned into the Wilds, the reason why so many of my people died. And I wanted to get revenge, yes. But more than that, I needed the nettle weed that grew on his castle grounds. His castle was the only known place in the world where this nettle weed grew. It would be the only way to break the curse trapping my brothers as swans.
“Bellamy?” Leoni asked, and my head snapped up.
“I’m going to help the world by killing him,” I signed. “He doesn’t deserve to live. When he broke free of his tomb in the star court sixty years ago, he tore through my home and killed nearly everyone.”
Only a lucky few had survived, including my father, mother, and brothers. I’d been tucked away in my mother’s stomach, growing and safe from the carnage, but I’d learned about it as I grew older. My brothers and father had told me how terrifying it was, the chaos of it all. No one in the star court had known what was happening, why shadows had descended upon everyone, tearing through my people and killing them before the shadow king flew up into the sky and then disappeared. It wasn’t until later when his open tomb had been discovered that the survivors put the pieces of his escape together.
“Yes.” Leoni nodded. “We’re not arguing that he deserves to die, but you cannot use the bolt. It’s too dangerous.”
My eyebrows scrunched together. Again, I had no idea what they were talking about. That bolt was one of the infamous weapons created by the seven spirits. It belonged to Spirit Sky, and it was rumored that those weapons were the only way to kill a spirit, which was why they’d been hidden away long ago by the spirits.
Driscoll threw up his hands. “We found out what happened to the Wilds. Why all of you got trapped after Spirit Shadow fled and why your home got all warped and weird.”
I scowled at that. His words about the Wilds were true, but I was still protective over it. I’d never known the star court. I was born into the Wilds. Into a land full of dangerous plants, creatures, water. Nowhere was truly safe in the Wilds. But it was still my home. And it had always been a mystery. No one who survived Spirit Shadow’s rampage knew why our home changed. Why trees started growing eyes and hands. Why flowers could suddenly eat people. Why all the elementals turned into strange creatures—everyone except my father, brothers, and me. Even my mother hadn’t been safe from whatever had cursed the land.
Tears pricked my eyes as I thought about her, the last time I’d seen her over fifty years ago.
“What are you talking about?” My irritation was growing and my patience was thinning.
“Long story short, the frost queen got a hold of Spirit Frost’s axe.”
I blinked. Another of the dangerous weapons created by the spirits.
“And she used it to trap everyone in the star court. That’s all she’d intended to do. She drove that axe into the ground, wanting to create a huge chasm around the star court so no one could escape. But the magic warped your land. Her use of something so powerful had unintended consequences. If you use that lightning bolt to kill Spirit Shadow, you have no idea the damage it could cause. Yes, you could kill him. But you could also destroy this entire island. The entire world.”
His words slammed into me, making me jerk back. Bloody stars. That couldn’t be true. But why would Driscoll lie? Why would he risk coming to the shadow court, being trapped here just to tell me false information?
“We’ll help you,” Driscoll burst out.
Leoni shot him a sharp look.
“We’ll help you,” he said again. “I know you have to get that nettle weed and make seven sweaters for your seven brothers from it.”
Leoni spoke out of the side of her mouth. “This was not the plan.”
“She’s not going to let us have that bolt,” Driscoll said, gesturing to the satchel tucked into my side. “So we might as well offer to help her and then we can keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t use it.”
“I’m mute, not deaf,” I signed.
Leoni heaved out a sigh, then gave me a weighted look. “How do you know the nettle weed is what will save your brothers? How do you know it will break the curse?”
So Driscoll hadn’t shared everything with his friend. He knew why. I’d told him when he was in the Wilds.
“I saw it in a vision. A lake near my home that told the future.”
I still remembered dropping into that icy lake, being so cold I couldn’t move, so sure it was going to swallow me into its depths. But instead, it had shown me glimpses of the future. I’d seen this island. I’d seen the nettle weed, and I’d seen myself knitting the sweaters and throwing them on the swans. I’d seen the swans transforming into my brothers. And I’d seen a weapon. I’d seen myself driving it straight into Spirit Shadow’s heart. The vision had been too fuzzy to tell what the weapon was, but after the bolt had been brought into the Wilds, I just knew. I knew that I was supposed to take it and use it to kill Spirit Shadow. My future had been foretold. Leoni and Driscoll could do whatever they wanted. But they wouldn’t stop me.
Nothing would.
I peered at them both as they stared into the fire. Breaking the curse would be easier if I had help. Far easier than them working against me. So maybe I could let them think I wouldn’t use that bolt. I could let them help me save my brothers, and then I’d fulfill my destiny and kill Spirit Shadow like I was meant to.
“Fine,” I signed.
Driscoll looked from me to Leoni. “Did she just agree to working with us?”
Leoni crossed her arms, sending me a suspicious look. “She did.”
I made a face, signing as I begin to lay down. “Don’t get too excited. Tomorrow morning, we leave for Spirit Shadow’s castle.”