20. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty
Astrid
Deeper in the forest, the underbrush becomes thicker. It would be easier to get through this if we were closer to the hunting grounds. I'm forced to stop to cut through it every few minutes. If I focus on anything else my arms will give up. We. Need. To. Keep. Moving . Each word thought is punctuated by a slice of my blade.
“There’s a light.” I vaguely hear my sister’s words as I swing my sword, but I don’t process them until I stop. I swipe at the sweat that coats my brow.
“What did you say?” I ask, turning to watch my sister disappear into the woods. “You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I groan as I follow her, letting the trees consume me. With no sight of her, I glue my eyes to the ground, tracking my sister’s smaller footsteps in the soft earth. I follow until I lose the trail.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” I stamp my foot with each word, letting my frustration consume me. To stave off the panic, I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Listening to the woods, I release my breath into the silence and I keep walking.
I feel like I have been walking for days when in reality it has only been a few hours. I can’t believe Embla wandered off. Doesn’t she remember what happened last time, and the pain it caused. We don’t have much time as it is. Now I’m wasting even more of it looking for her. Frustrated, I stomp through the woods, coming to a stop when a tent hidden amongst large stones blocks my path. It's familiar, it looks like a farm district tent especially with its green color. Who would be camping out here?
“Hello?” I call out as I get close. “I’m friendly, I promise.” I half-heartedly shout not expecting anyone to be around. “I’m looking for my sister,” I continue. The bushes rustle and my eyes snap in the direction. I walk over, looking to see if anyone is hiding underneath. The shadows clear to reveal Effie huddled under its branches.
“Astrid! You made it!” She rushes out from under the foliage wrapping warm arms around me. The impact throws me back a few steps, but then I'm hugging her back.
"I didn't think I would find you this quickly.” I pull back holding onto my friend’s shoulders as I look her over, checking for any injuries. Effie looks like a wild woman. Her locs have fly-aways sticking up at odd angles as leaves and twigs wrap through the twisted hair. My eyes continue roving over my friend until my blue eyes meet silver ones.
“Thank the gods it's you, are you alone?” Effie asks, checking the space behind me.
“Embla was with me, but I have no idea where she went. She said something but I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn’t hear her,” I admit, hanging my head. “She left me, again.” I rub my palms against my eyes until lights burst behind my eyelids. I’m exhausted.
“Were you able to pick up her tracks?”
“I lost them a ways back.” I press my fingers against my temples before meeting Effie’s concerned gaze.
“She couldn’t have gone far alone. I’ll help you look,” Effie offers, gathering the little supplies that she has, I help her take down the tent and shove it into the bag I gave her.
“Why would she do this? The last time she left me like this, it was a disaster.” I groan.
“She could’ve been lured,” Effie says, her head swiveling as she checks our surroundings.
“Lured? Lured by what? I’ve only heard of the wolves that roam these woods.” Panic rises from deep within me. If she was taken by one of those wolves I don’t know if I’m going to be able to find her in time, that is if she hasn’t been eaten by now.
“The underlings of this forest have been starving since Demendia closed its gates, they wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for an easy meal,” Effie says, her head snapping to the other side of us where a twig cracks. She pauses for a second, listening. When there’s nothing, we continue. Falling in step with Effie is as easy as breathing. Our natural rhythms close enough to sync our steps as we creep through the woods until we reach the edge of a giant campsite.
The trees have been ripped from the ground and used to make three large crudely built shacks. Dry grass spills over the dirt covered ground, and in the middle of the camp is a large fire. Three large trunks are positioned together in a triangular shape to make what looks to be a ragged tripod that holds the largest cauldron I have ever seen.
Around the firepit are three giants with skin as gray as stone and not a lick of hair. Their bodies are wide and squat. The giant furthest from this side of the clearing has a bulbous nose and large cheeks. He turns to pick at the plants along the furthest edge of the clearing. The second has a long, thin head with a hooked nose and is chopping vegetables smaller than its palm. The last is hunched over the firepit, his chin coming to a point, and his nose juts from his face.
“Puny human,” the giant on the left says, his voice like rocks grinding together. The collar of Embla’s shirt is pinched between his thumb and forefinger. He drops her into the cauldron with a splash that echoes each of Embla’s movements.
“Fucking day trolls,” Effie hisses under her breath, pressing her back into the trunk of one of the trees. “They’re going to eat her if we don’t do something.”
I mirror her, pressing into a tree until I'm sure the bark is leaving marks. “What can we possibly do?” I throw a hand at the clearing as anxiety sinks its claws into me. We didn’t even make it out of Demendia’s woods, and Embla’s in mortal danger. I can’t keep her safe for a day, how am I supposed to keep her safe throughout our journey? If I returned home without Embla, Papa would turn me away. She is the one person I have to save and she wandered into a camp full of trolls. “Hm, tell me? They’re literal giants. Are they vulnerable to anything? They look like they’re made of stone.” I try to control my volume, but it rises with panic.
“Ash, easy,” Effie says standing in front of me to get me to stop walking. “They are made of stone. They don’t usually stray from the highest reaches of the Dwarvish Mountains. I wonder how they got to this side of the continent. Effie mutters half to me and half to herself. “We do have the upper hand, their eyesight is notoriously bad, and we can use my shadows as cover to sneak in and get Embla out.”
“That’s better than going in without a plan,” I say, readying myself to do whatever is necessary to get my sister back.