Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Senara
The sun had not yet crested the horizon when Thorn and I slipped out of the capital, the hoods of our cloaks pulled low to obscure our features. My heart raced as we passed the city gates, half-expecting guards to halt us at any moment. The streets were quiet though, most fae still asleep with the exception of the guards who were more concerned with threats coming from outside the wall than stopping us from leaving.
As we trekked into the countryside, my breath caught in my throat. The blight had spread further, the corruption creeping across the once-verdant fields like spilled blood and ink.
"By the gods," I breathed out, my voice barely more than a whisper. "Has it really worsened this much in only a day? Didn’t we come by here yesterday morning?"
Thorn's jaw tightened, his eyes reflecting the grim reality. "It's bad enough that the outer settlements might not survive the month. From what I have read, spilling the blood of the corrupted gives the blight a foothold in the land, making it spread faster."
We trudged through fields of lifeless crops, each plant disintegrating into dust at our touch. A sickening knot formed in my stomach. How were we supposed to live without food?
"We need to move faster," I urged him. "Every moment we waste?—"
A vicious snarl interrupted me, making my heart leap into my throat. I spun around just in time to see a fae break free from the underbrush; its eyes radiated an eerie light and corruption seeped from its skin.
"Thorn!" My warning came out as a shrill cry.
This wasn’t the first corrupted fae we’d encountered, so Thorn was already springing into action, his sword cutting through the air with an audible swish as he unsheathed it. The corrupted fae charged at us with claws bared, but Thorn intercepted it with a swift slash across its chest. A spray of black ichor erupted from the wound and sizzled upon hitting the ground. The thing had dodged slightly, trying to get to me, so Thorn’s strike hadn’t taken it down.
I narrowly evaded its clawed grasp and plunged my dagger deep into its throat. With a gurgling sound, it collapsed.
Startled, I looked up at Thorn. "That makes three today."
His nod was solemn and heavy-hearted.
“The corruption seems to be getting…more intense.”
He grunted his agreement before he added, "And there'll be more as this as we get further into the corrupted areas."
I cleaned off my blade while trying to suppress the rising nausea within me. These were once fae who had now been distorted into vicious creatures by this curse. How many more would have to suffer before we could put an end to this?
"We can't keep battling them forever," I pointed out grimly. "Our supplies are finite, and we're only two."
A softness replaced the stern look on Thorn's face. He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. "We'll figure it out, Senara. We have to. All we need to do is make it to the Veil of Life and the elves' territory. Once we’re there I’m sure they’ll at least let us resupply before kicking us back through the Veil if they refuse to speak with us."
His touch brought me a sliver of hope and I managed a weak smile in return. "You're right. We can't lose hope when we’ve only just started." I couldn’t help but feel that my words were a lie when I looked around and saw what was clearly once a lush valley reduced to dust and darkness.
We continued our journey through the blighted landscape, each step reminding us of what was at stake. The walls of corruption seemed to close in further with every passing moment, making it harder for me to breathe, like it was becoming a physical entity that was pressing against us.
How much longer could the fae lands withstand this? The day grew long and soon enough we had to stop for food and to find shelter for the night. The problem was that the blight had killed everything in sight so there was no shelter to find, only half collapsed trees and the occasional corrupted fae.
As though sensing my train of thought, Thorn said, “It worries me that we’ve only been seeing the corrupted in ones and twos. Usually they travel in groups, better to overwhelm settlements that way. So where are they all?”
Dread chilled me to the bone at his words. “Maybe we shouldn’t stop for the night and should just press on?”
“We won’t do anyone any good if we’re exhausted. Normally I’d suggest sleeping in the trees for some safety, but I think climbing those branches might be more dangerous than sleeping on the ground. I don’t think we should have a fire though.”
“Agreed on all counts.” I nodded firmly at him.
Thorn rubbed at the back of his neck. “It’s going to get cold overnight and with no fire, we should, uh, stay close to preserve body heat.”
“Is this your way of saying you want to cuddle?” I forced a grin as I spoke to try and lighten the mood.
He just shrugged. “Cuddling is practical.”
I snorted a genuine laugh.
“I want my back to a tree, though,” he added, as though that would make it all more respectable.
The truth was: if we were that close, I was worried about what would happen. Could we keep our hands to ourselves?
I felt a blush creep up my cheeks as I nodded in agreement. "A tree it is, then."
We found a sturdy oak that seemed less affected by the blight than its neighbors. It was still clinging to life, at least partially, though probably not for long.
As night fell, the temperature dropped rapidly. Thorn settled against the trunk, and I hesitantly positioned myself between his legs, my back to his chest. His knees were raised, making his muscular thighs press against my arms, while his own arms rested on his knees, somewhat encircling me, though he still had his hands loose and his sword at the ready. I could feel the steady rise and fall of his breathing.
"This isn't so bad," I murmured, trying to keep my voice light despite the tension I felt coursing through me. We’d had sex before, been in so many positions, had hands and mouths all over one another, yet somehow this felt just as intimate. Had we ever actually cuddled before? I honestly couldn’t remember.
Thorn's chuckle rumbled pleasantly against my back. "No, it's not."
We sat in silence for a while, both hyper-aware of our proximity. I tried to focus on our surroundings, listening for any signs of danger, but all I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. It felt like a drum beating a staccato rhythm as it counted down to something else going wrong.
"Senara," Thorn said softly, his breath warm against my ear, making me shiver slightly. "I know this isn't the best time or place, but... I need to tell you something."
I turned my head slightly, meeting his intense gaze, the kiss of the sun making him glow in the darkness. "What is it?"
He hesitated, then leaned in closer. "I?—"
A blood-curdling screech pierced the night air, causing us both to jolt upright. In the distance, we could see a mass of writhing shadows moving toward us at an alarming speed.
No, not shadows, corrupted fae.
"By the gods," I gasped, barely comprehending what I was seeing.
"It's a horde!" Thorn yelled even though I was still right in front of him, frozen in shock. He was on his feet a second later and was pulling me up with him. "We need to move. Now, Sernara!"
I wasn’t sure whether it was the use of my name or my brain finally catching up to what was going on, but suddenly everything that had been frozen was moving at hyper speed.
Us included.
We sprinted through the blighted landscape, the sounds of pursuit growing louder behind us. Death was nipping at our heels; there was no time for thought, not if we wanted to survive, all we could do now was move. Our only hope was to outrun the corruption and make it somewhere safe before the horde could overwhelm us. The Veil of Life was still days away so I knew there was no chance of us making it there. If only we’d been able to steal one of the horses from the city; but the need to make it out unnoticed had made that impossible.
As we ran, the corrupted fae's screeches grew louder, their eerie cries echoing through the night. My lungs burned, and my legs ached, but I forced myself to keep pace with Thorn, as my pack thumped against my back in a rhythm that would have been soothing had we not been running for our lives. His hand gripped mine tightly, pulling me along when I stumbled.
"There!" Thorn shouted, pointing ahead with his free hand.
Through the gloom, I could make out the silhouette of a stone structure. It wasn’t large, an old watchtower or something similar, its stone structure barely visible in the overwhelming darkness.
We veered toward it, hoping against hope that it would provide some refuge from the horde. As we neared, I realized that to say the tower was in disrepair would be a vast understatement. Its walls were crumbling and possibly missing in places, and what was there was covered in a sickly black growth.
But it was our only option.
Thorn reached the door first, slamming into it with his shoulder and a grunt. It burst open and we tumbled inside, shoving the rotting wood shut behind us. Thorn quickly barred the door with a fallen beam while I searched for anything else we could use as a blockade.
"Up the stairs," Thorn panted, grabbing my arm. "We'll have a better chance of defending ourselves from above."
I knew as well that if the tower was tall enough it would also give us an escape route from the horde. Albeit a permanent one. Neither of us would want to join their numbers though, of that much I was sure.
We climbed the winding staircase, the sounds of the horde growing closer with each step. At the top, we found ourselves in a circular room with arrow slits looking out in all directions. I glanced up, remembering the last time I’d been in a tower and had been tricked into going on the roof, only to be locked out up there. Not something I was looking to repeat, but there was a hatch if worse came to worst.
"Look," I wheezed as I was still catching my breath. I pointed to a pile of debris in the corner. "There are some old arrows here."
Thorn nodded grimly. "Good. You take the bow. I'll hold them off if they make it up here."
I nocked an arrow and took position at one of the window slits. While I wasn’t the best archer, I wasn’t terrible, either. Usually, I only missed if my targets were a good distance away.
Below, I could see the writhing mass of corrupted fae, their eyes gleaming in the night as their lanky, twisted forms became silhouetted by the moonlight.
The first of them reached the tower, clawing at the walls with inhuman strength. They used to be fae, I knew that, but the strength they possessed was so much more than I would have expected. It made the ones I’d first encountered when we were on our way to the capital city seem positively tame.
I loosed an arrow, watching it strike true in the creature's chest.
It fell with a shriek, but two more took its place.
A quick glance at the oncoming horde told me everything I needed to know. "Thorn," I called out, my voice tight with fear. "There are too many. We can't hold them off forever."
He moved to my side, his face set in determination. "We don't need forever. We just need to survive the night. The sun will weaken them."
As if in response to his words, the horde let out a collective roar, redoubling their efforts to breach our sanctuary. The tower shook with the force of their assault, old mortar sifting away from the stones it had been holding together, and I feared it would crumble around us at any moment.
I continued to fire arrows into the mass below, each shot finding its mark, but it seemed to make little difference. For every corrupted fae that fell, three more appeared to take its place.
Suddenly, a clawed hand burst through one of the arrow slits, grasping at the air. Thorn reacted instantly, bringing his sword down on the creature's arm, severing it at the elbow and making the creature howl in pain.
It wasn’t the only one that had made it up the tower, though. Thin, sinewy arms were shoving their way through the gaps in the stone as though they were willing to pull the tower apart brick by brick if they had to.
“Why are they so focused on us?” I breathed. It wasn’t that I thought if I could understand them then I could fight them better; I knew that there was nothing going on in those heads other than a need that had driven them to madness.
Thorn's eyes met mine, a grim understanding passing between us. "They're drawn to our life force," he said, his voice barely audible over the cacophony of screeches and scraping claws. "The corruption seeks to consume everything untainted, and if my guess is ,then we are the only things left in this region that the blight hasn’t claimed."
A chill ran down my spine at his words. We were like beacons of light in this blackened landscape, our very essence calling out to these twisted creatures.
Another arm burst through a gap in the stones, this one managing to grab hold of my cloak. I yelped, stumbling backward and nearly losing my footing.
Thorn was there in an instant, his blade flashing in the moonlight as he severed the creature's grip.
"We can't stay here," I gasped, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might burst from my chest. "The tower won't hold much longer."
As if to emphasize my point, a large chunk of the wall suddenly gave way, crumbling to the floor and leaving a gaping hole. The corrupted fae surged forward, their distorted forms silhouetted against the night sky for a brief moment before they began wriggling and writhing against one another in an attempt to get into the room all at the same time.
Thorn grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the hatch in the ceiling. "The roof," he shouted over the din. "It's our only chance!"
I nodded, swallowing hard as I remembered my last experience on a tower roof. But this time, being locked out wasn't our biggest concern.
We scrambled up the ladder, Thorn pushing me ahead of him.
As I emerged onto the roof, the cool night air hit my face, a stark contrast to the stifling atmosphere below.
Thorn followed close behind, slamming the hatch shut and dragging a piece of fallen masonry over it.
For a moment, we stood there, panting, the sounds of the horde below slightly muffled now.
But our reprieve was short-lived. The first of the corrupted fae began to claw their way over the edge of the roof.
"What now?" I asked, my voice trembling as I nocked another arrow.
Thorn's eyes scanned the horizon, searching for any sign of hope. When he turned to face me I knew that there was nothing else left. It was written all over his face.
This watchtower was going to be our grave one way or another.
“Do you trust me?” he asked quietly.
I glanced up at him and nodded.
His sword flashed out and sliced one of the corrupted fae in two, each half tumbling in a way that it knocked two other corrupted fae down from where they’d been trying to climb up.
“I need to hear it, Moon Maiden.”
The nickname struck something within me and I felt lighter.
The words tumbled from me with nothing but sincerity behind them. “I trust you.” It was one of the things I knew to be true about myself. After everything that had happened.
He slid an arm around my waist and pulled me against himself. “This is going to hurt. I’m sorry.”
Panic flared bright and hot within me. I wasn’t ready to jump off the roof quite yet, but it seemed that Thorn had come to that conclusion earlier than I had.
He clutched me, holding me close as he backed us toward the edge.
My breath began coming in gasps as I started to have to fight not to struggle against him.
I trusted him.
I did.
But was I ready to die with him?