29. Maddy
Chapter 29
Maddy
W e move quickly through the canopy, toward Featherblade. Thyrvi's paws make less noise now, and for all her proclamations, I'm sure she's moving slower than before. Erik will heal her if she's hurt, I tell myself, forcing away worry. Adrenaline is still buzzing through me, but it seems to be sharpening my focus, rather than being a distraction. We move past a small clearing, and I'm about to ask Thyrvi how far we are from the boundary when I freeze.
Navi is lying broken across a wide branch, her body twisted at impossible angles. Her eyes are open, still showing the terror of her final moments, and red feathers surround her.
"No," I whisper, running and then dropping to my knees beside her. "No, no, no." My hands hover uselessly over her body, ice spreading across them. "I should have made her stay. I should have—" The words catch in my throat.
"You could not have prevented this," Thyrvi's voice rumbles in my mind. "She chose her path."
"But she was right about your being loud, and I didn't—" I choke on a sob.
A shadow passes overhead. Then another. And another.
I look up through tear-filled eyes, and acid fills my throat. There's far more than three up there now.
I move my eyes to Thyrvi. She's standing awkwardly, blood still leaking from her wounds.
We can't fight. But I can't leave Navi's body here, either.
There's a squawk, and then the birds overhead begin to circle.
Shit .
Staffan's tale flashes through my mind.
"Thyrvi," I whisper urgently, "I have to send you away, but it will be quick. I promise."
She protests, but I send her to the darkness.
Above us, the air fills with the sound of wings beating, and more awful shrieks.
They are diving. I force myself to go limp, falling beside Navi's body. My arm brushes hers. Her skin is already cold.
The shrieks descend. My eyes are nearly closed, but I can see them landing around us, their talons scraping wood. The stench of rot and blood fills my nose. One lands so close its wing brushes my face, and the feathers feel like hot knives against my skin.
I will my body not to freeze in response.
I don't breathe. Don't move. Don't even let myself think too hard, as if they might sense my consciousness. A beak prods Navi's arm. I suppress an instinctive sound of horror.
Time stretches. My lungs burn. The birds make clacking, whistling noises to each other as they move, but I can hardly hear it over the pounding of my heart and the rushing of my blood.
I've never felt more alone in my life than lying next a corpse, pretending to be one myself. The fear is crippling, and my mind is spinning so fast that I'm sure I'm going to give myself away.
A squawk louder than the rest comes from above.
I almost flinch. The birds all freeze and tip their beaks skyward, then a mass of beating wings starts.
As one, they take off, launching themselves back into the canopy.
I take slow, heaving breaths but don't dare move until the forest is silent again. When I'm certain they've gone, I croak Thyrvi's name before rolling away from Navi's body to retch.
"You should not have done that," Thyrvi grumbles as I heave.
"We couldn't fight that many," I answer, sitting back on my heels, still sucking down air.
"We must return her," Thyrvi says, swinging her head toward Navi's body. I don't want to look. In fact, I don't want to be that close to a corpse ever again in my life.
I stare at Thyrvi instead. The bloody wounds have returned with her, the scarlet drying to dark brown.
"Are you strong enough to carry her?"
Thyrvi doesn't dignify my question with an answer, instead giving me a long look, then gently gathering Navi's broken form in her massive jaws.
I'm sure she's been picked up and dropped, as I see no blood on her. Just impossibly broken bones. My stomach lurches, and I look away, getting to my feet.
"This way," Thyrvi says, and begins a slow lumber through the foliage.
Each step I take, I hear Navi's words.
"You're out here for the wrong reasons."
I try to replace it with the conversation I had with Staffan, try to remember what I told him. The Oskorela is here to teach us these lessons. To teach us how to survive, and how to deal with death. I know that.
But I also know that my magic and Thyrvi's strength could have saved her.
Something glints in the shadows, catching my eye.
A small chest sits open on a gnarled root, a single gemstone gleaming inside.
"Thyrvi, wait a moment."
I reach down to pocket it mechanically. I don't take the time to inspect it. I assume it's Featherblade's reward, but I couldn't feel less deserving of such a thing right now.
The feather is what I came for. I'm here to save Sarra, and I will.
In a few short minutes, we reach the boundary. Relief courses through me, and the first thing I do is look for Kain.
I don't see him. As we continue in silence toward the High Hall, fae emerge from buildings as we pass. First just a few, then more, gasps and then whispers filling the silence.
Erik stands on the steps with Harald, their faces falling as they register what Thyrvi is carrying in her huge jaws.
The other rooks gather in a circle, their faces tinged with fear. Some back away, treating me and Thyrvi like we carry some contagion of death. I don't blame them.
I catch words in the whispers.
" Shrieks ."
"But Navi was so strong…"
"No val-tivar ."
"Who's next?"
I ignore them all, not stopping until I reach Erik and Harald.
"The shrieks," I say, my voice raw and strange in my ears. "She went off alone. We found her…" The words stick in my throat.
Harald steps forward, his usual fierce demeanor softened. "I'll take her," he says.
"Erik," I whisper, unable to look away from Navi's still form, "you're the most powerful healer in the Yggdrasil . Isn't there anything…?"
Erik's expression shifts into something I would almost describe as haunted. "There are ways," he says quietly, "to reach beyond death's veil. But the price…" His snake shimmers into being across his shoulders, and he touches its scales reverently, as though drawing comfort. "I will not do it, and she would not want me to."
The weight in his voice silences any further pleading. I pull the shriek feather from my bag. "Then will this at least save my friend?"
His eyes move from Navi to the feather, and something like hope flickers across his face. "Come to the healing rooms. Now."
The crowd parts as Erik gestures for me to follow him. Only one figure doesn't move. Kain.
The fire leaps in my stomach at the sight of him. His eyes are burning, and his wolf is salivating beside him. Every muscle in his body is so tense that he looks like he may shatter at any moment. He's watching Thyrvi give up Navi's broken body. Harald gestures to him to help, but he doesn't move. Instead, he fixes his eyes on me.
I force my feet to move, to follow Erik.
I'm not alone now. Kain is here, and he won't leave me.