Chapter Eleven
By midday, we spotted the last outpost. This one was smaller in size than the one where we’d slept last night, but it was more heavily reinforced with a perimeter of spikes surrounding it.
The outpost had the same high walls of sharpened wood, but the wood looked newer.
Over the past hour, the landscape had been gradually changing.
We’d seen more trees, and the long grass had begun to give way to other sorts of ground cover.
Now, far in the distance, I saw trees stretching for miles.
The availability of wood must have made fortifying the outpost easier.
We all knew why they’d fortified this post. I didn’t want to think about it, but Finnrey had no reluctance.
“This is the last outpost before the forest,” she said. “Beyond this, we’re on our own.”
I scanned the area, seeing no signs of Hollows.
Yet.
I inhaled deeply and smelled nothing but dry earth and the pitch used to strengthen the logs making up the outpost.
“Hullo!” someone called. We glanced at the top of the outpost and spotted a figure waving.
I waved back but didn’t call out. I was keeping my eye on the forest in the distance.
I couldn’t see who or what was in there and didn’t want to alert them to our presence.
But the wave would show we were friendly until we were close enough to speak in lower tones.
Finnrey and I put our skullcrushers in our loops and motioned for the others to put their weapons away as well.
Taio had been leading our group, but now he dropped back to walk beside me.
Finnrey raised her brows at me, but I ignored her.
He was protective. It didn’t mean anything.
Another cadet had joined the first on the top of the outpost by the time we reached a distance where we wouldn’t have to shout. Both were young boys of fourteen or fifteen.
“I am Gaz of Westower,” Gaz said. “I am escorting Lady Mara to Zulen with these Zulenii.” He flicked a finger at the Zulenii. The guards leaned over the edge of the outpost to gape. “We cannot stop here, but if you have water or food to spare, we’d be grateful.”
The boys looked at each other, then withdrew and whispered together.
“Maybe you could fetch your patrol leader,” Gaz suggested.
One of the cadets shook his head. “The patrol left early this morning and hasn’t returned yet. We’re the only ones here.” He glanced at Taio, and I could see the boy thinking that perhaps he shouldn’t have divulged this. I was glad he had. It was good to know a patrol was out there. I felt safer.
“We can spare water,” one of the boys called. “I’ll lower a pail.”
“Thank you,” Gaz said.
While we waited for the pail to be lowered, we all finished the water in our flasks.
My throat felt better than it had since the fight in the arena.
The outside was still tender and, if Gaz’s dark expression every time he looked at my neck were any indication, I was still bruised.
But the swelling on the inside had gone down, and I could speak and swallow without pain.
“Which way next?” Gaz asked Nize. “I don’t like the look of those trees.”
“We could try going around,” Nize said. “See if it’s possible.”
“Before you plan the entire journey,” I interrupted. “We should probably consult the people who have already made it.”
Gaz and Nize looked at Taio. He had been staring off into the distance, but I was certain he’d also been listening. Now he looked at me. “We go through the forest.”
I opened my mouth to ask him to reconsider.
I knew this had been the plan back at Highcastle, but now that I saw the forest, I didn’t like it.
Gaz spoke before me. “The forest is too dangerous. We can’t see Hollows moving among dense trees, and if we run into a monster, it’s easier to fight in the open. ”
Taio pointed to the forest. “That is the way to Zulen.”
Gaz started to speak again, but Finnrey put a hand on his arm. I gave her a look of gratitude. “What if we went around?” I asked Taio. “It might take longer, but it would be safer.”
“There is no go around,” Omira said, moving to her brother’s side. “The trees go on...” She gestured with her arm to show a great distance.
“You really came through the trees?” Finnrey asked.
Omira nodded. “Yes. Not here. We did not see this outpost. But not far from here.” She pointed slightly south. “That is where your patrol found us.”
“Should we retrace your route? Go south and then cut through the forest?” I asked.
Taio shrugged. “It matters not. Fewer Twilight Men to the south, but we won’t be safe until we reach Lake Igo.”
I glanced at Finnrey. I had never heard of Lake Igo. I realized I didn’t know anything about what we’d find in Zulen. Were there villages other than Zleyval? Outerlands? Castles?
“You turn around now,” Taio said to Gaz. “Back to Highcastle.”
“We’re not at the border yet,” Nize said. “We’ll keep going.”
Taio shrugged and moved to the edge of the outpost wall to lower the pail the rest of the way. He motioned for all of us to dip our flasks in the water and then filled his last. We took turns splashing water on our faces with what was left.
We called up thanks to the guards and asked which way the patrol had gone. They motioned to the south and east. “Do they ever go into the forest?” Nize asked.
“They patrol the perimeter,” one of the boys said. “But we don’t go in there unless necessary to gather supplies or kill a Hollow.”
“When was the last time you had to kill a Hollow coming out of the forest?” Finnrey asked.
“Two days ago,” one of the boys said.
I closed my eyes and blew out a breath. Two days was nothing. There could be swarms of them in the tree line.
“One Hollow or a group?” Nize asked.
“Just one,” the guard said as the other boy pulled the empty pail back up. That did nothing to reassure me. Hollows tended to travel in packs. One might have stumbled out, but there could be ten more inside. Taio translated for the other Zulenii who muttered together.
We formed a circle. “It will take us an hour or two to reach the tree line,” Gaz said as Taio translated. “I know it is early, but I say we camp on the edge and go in tomorrow.”
“Waste of time,” Taio said. “We can camp in the trees tonight. Moving faster is better.”
Taio had a point about moving fast, but none of us were familiar with the forest. Perhaps we could make it through if we traveled fast tomorrow. “I agree with Gaz,” I said. “We camp on the outskirts tonight.”
Gaz glanced at me and nodded. It felt good to be on the same side as Gaz again.
“I also agree,” Finnrey said. If we’d been a patrol, Gaz and Finnrey would have had the most seniority.
This would have been the end of the discussion.
But Taio and the Zulenii weren’t part of any patrol.
They didn’t fit within our structure. And yet, everyone looked to Taio for the final word.
I don’t think Gaz noticed even he looked to Taio for the final decision.
Taio looked at me, then at the forest. “Fine,” he said and began walking toward the trees.
I tried not to think too much about what I’d just seen, but it was clear to me that Taio was now in charge.
I don’t know how he did it, but gradually we’d all begun to accept his authority.
I wondered if Gaz still wanted to kill him.
I glanced over my shoulder and caught Gaz staring at Taio with a look I couldn’t describe any way other than malice. I supposed that answered that question.
A moment later, Gaz quickened his stride and caught up with me. “Thank you for taking my side on this, Mara,” he said.
I knew this for an opening to mend the rift between us and took it. “I always want to be on your side. I don’t like it when we argue.”
“Neither do I. I don’t remember us arguing before.”
“That’s because I always had to defer to you.”
He bumped me with his shoulder. “And I kept you alive, didn’t I?”
I smiled at him. “You did. I knew you always had my back on patrol.”
“I still have your back.” We walked in silence for a moment. Then he said the one thing I’d been dreading. “Do you have mine?”
I looked at the ground, covered with shorter grass, twigs, and tree roots. This area had probably once been forest as well. “It depends, Gaz. If you try and kill Taio or one of the others, I can’t support that. I won’t be part of it.”
“You’ll protect him, not me.”
I looked up at him. “This is our team. I’ll protect the team.”
Gaz stared ahead of us. “Then I will too.”
I studied him, not certain how to take his words. Was he really agreeing to put his desire to murder Taio aside? His gaze slid to mine, and I stared into his clear, dark eyes. I was looking for truth. Gaz met my eyes, unblinking, then took my hand. “Friends?”
“Of course,” I said, but I still wasn’t sure if I’d seen what I wanted behind his eyes.
I wanted to believe him, though. Surely his plan to kill Taio, my mother’s scheming, and Cameed’s insistence on pretending to be me at the rite had just been abnormalities caused by the appearance of the Zulenii.
Our world had been turned on its side, but now it was righting itself and Gaz was beginning to see sense.
He squeezed my hand. His was slightly larger than mine but just as callused.
A few weeks ago, I would have been giddy at just the thought of holding Gaz’s hand.
Now I wasn’t sure what I felt. Omira was off to my left, and I caught her looking at us.
I felt my face heat and dropped Gaz’s hand on the pretext of bending to adjust my boot.
***