Chapter Sixteen
Several hours passed before Fitz stopped near a huge, fallen tree and declared, “Let’s take a break.” Moss and other plants had grown up over the trunk, providing a soft cushion over the bark. It also potentially hid any rot underneath.
He kicked the trunk—thump, thump, thump—then gingerly sat on it to test if it held his weight.
When nature’s chair didn’t cave in under him, he sighed in relief and removed his pack.
“Everyone should eat a few bites and drink some water. After what happened last night, I don’t want to linger in one place too long, so we should get moving again as soon as we’ve caught our breath. ”
Before sitting down, Angelica pulled a blanket out of her pouch and flung it casually over the fallen tree. Delilah skipped over to sit next to her, only half landing on the blanket, and Maximus settled down on the ground beside them.
I leaned against a nearby tree and ate a strip of jerky, washing down the dried meat with a few gulps of water. “Do we know where there’s a fresh water supply?” I asked, testing the weight of my canteen.
Fitz pulled out the old maps of Traumstead and traced a squiggly line down the middle. “A small river runs through the forest, and we might find some other streams along the way.”
“Is it safe to drink the water here?”
“That’s why we bought the purification potions. A few drops in everyone’s canteen will make it safe to drink.”
What if something drowned in it? I didn’t voice the thought aloud. I took a few more sips of my water, then capped the canteen and straightened. “Let’s go.”
“Do we have to?” Delilah groaned, tossing her head back. “My feet hurt, my shoulders hurt, my eyes hurt. Everything hurts. I hate quests. Why did we choose this over marriage again?”
“Because you didn’t want to spend the rest of your life wed to Angelica,” I replied.
“Oh, right.”
Angelica scowled at us both and swept to her feet.
“I’d much rather keep walking than sit here and be insulted.
” She turned on her heel, presenting us all with her back as she stormed off.
A dark smudge stained her white blouse. The squiggly line resembled an S, and it undulated with every step, the flowing fabric giving it life.
Then the stain started crawling up her back.
“Angelica,” I called, keeping my voice calm as I lowered myself to the ground, searching for an appropriately sized stick. “Stop.”
She paused and glared over her shoulder. “Oh, this should be good. Are you going to apologize for once? Or continue insulting me?” The long, loose curls of her golden hair brushed against the dark spot, agitating it into moving faster.
“I’ll apologize, but I’m too embarrassed to look you in the eye while I do it, so turn around.”
“Why should I—”
“If you want an apology, turn the fuck around.”
“You are the most annoying—” she fumed, but she turned around as instructed, still muttering to herself.
As I approached, I could see the shape better.
The creature was as long as my palm and had countless tiny legs.
Two large pincers clamped onto Angelica’s shirt, keeping it in place as it crawled up her back.
Probably the only reason she hadn’t felt it yet was because of the loose fabric, so the creature wasn’t directly touching her.
I raised my stick to gently brush it aside, hoping it would choose to let go on its own.
“Well?” Angelica demanded, stamping her foot.
The rough motion sent the creature swaying back and forth, only hanging on by her hair. Angelica instinctively reached behind her to brush the feeling away.
I slapped her hand, then smacked the creature, sending it flying into the nearest tree.
“What is going on?” Angelica demanded, turning toward the movement. Her eyes widened when she finally spotted the creature.
I expected screams and panic. I just didn’t expect them to come from behind me.
I whipped around to find Fitz jumping up and down, batting at the hoard of leggy creatures crawling all over him. Several had disappeared beneath his brown waistcoat, turning into long, squirming bumps.
“Get them off, get them off, get them off!” Fitz managed to shed the waistcoat, flinging it toward me.
I ducked. “Stop thrashing around so I can—”
One disappeared down the collar of his shirt and his screams rose to a pitch shrill enough to shatter glass.
Maximus grabbed Fitz’s collar, ripping the fabric with one swift yank. Several of the creatures flew through the air, then scattered into the shadows. Two still clung to Fitz, one digging its legs into his skin, the other hanging on with its pincers.
While Maximus held Fitz still, I used the stick to dislodge them. Tiny dots of blood decorated Fitz’s pale skin.
I turned to check on Delilah, expecting her to be in a similar predicament.
She was crouched on all fours, tail flicking behind her.
Wiggling her hips, she adjusted her position, then pounced, snatching up one of the creatures in her hand.
It struggled in her grasp, legs thrashing wildly in the air, pincers working overtime.
No matter what it did, it couldn’t attack her or escape.
She turned the creature around this way and that, tugging on both ends as she examined its head and belly.
“What is it?” I asked, eyeing the log as I slowly approached.
“A Black Burrow Centipede.”
“Yes, of course,” Fitz said, straightening his glasses. “They were probably under the log, rather than in it, which is why nothing came out when I kicked it.”
“Are they poisonous?” I asked.
“Venomous,” he corrected. “And yes, they are, although their size determines its effectiveness.” He pulled at the scraps of his shirt, exposing a bitemark, already swollen into a small, red lump. “I should be fine.”
“How big do they get?”
“These are just little babies,” Delilah said, finally tossing aside the centipede she’d been tormenting. “According to the Chambord Scholar’s Association, the largest one on record was ten feet long.”
“Really?” I asked, nodding along. “Ten feet long? And these are babies? So, we probably disturbed a nest.”
“Yes, probably,” Fitz agreed, his tone absentminded as he poked at his wound. “Can someone get me a first aid kit?”
“Fitz,” I said, snapping my fingers to get his attention. “We. Disturbed. A. Nest.”
“I remember it well,” he replied dryly. “I’m the one with injuries and a ruined shirt to show for the experience. While I appreciate your quick thinking, Maximus, could you try to spare my clothing next time? I only brought four shirts.”
Maximus didn’t answer, his gaze locked on the ground. “Do you feel that?”
A tremor rumbled through the ground, growing steadily stronger. I stumbled back a step, catching myself on a nearby tree. Something cracked overhead and Maximus tackled Angelica out of the way before a branch fell where she’d been standing.
An enormous creature burst through the earth.
It stretched toward the canopy and shrieked in rage.
My eyes widened, trying to take in the monstrosity.
Dozens of legs as thick and sharp as one of my swords covered its body.
The pincers opened and closed, audibly slicing through the air as it searched for the fools who had disturbed its children.
An arrow cut off its roar, bouncing off its armored body before falling uselessly to the ground.
“Damned lying salesman,” Fitz swore, his hands trembling on his bow as he backed up several steps.
Delilah jumped onto the creature’s back, digging her claws into its exoskeleton. The sounds coming from her mouth were half roar, half-hiss, rivaling the centipede’s shriek.
While she had it distracted, I drew my swords and drove one into its side. Several black, armor-like segments made up its body. The weakest points were the joints between the segments, and one of my blades slipped directly between two to bury into its side.
A second blade pierced it from the other side, the sharp, golden point almost stabbing me in the eye. “Watch it!” I yelled at Angelica.
“Sorry! I’m not used to fighting with other people!”
No level of sincerity would make me forgive her if she stabbed my eye out.
The centipede dropped to the ground, dragging the three of us with it. I released the sword stuck in its side, but for some reason, Angelica and Delilah both held on.
Angelica flipped herself over to straddle its back, and both girls ended up riding the thing like a damn pony.
“Over here!” Maximus called. He’d picked up the branch that had fallen, hefting it over his head.
Angelica twisted the sword in the centipede, and it writhed to the side to escape her, changing its course to head straight for Maximus.
He swung the branch toward the creature’s head, hitting both girls in the process. Delilah’s angry shout cut off as leaves filled her mouth. She tumbled off the back of the centipede and landed at the ground near my feet.
Angelica also fell off, taking her sword with her. The golden blade was covered with thick, slimy ichor, dripping onto her once pristine clothes.
After the centipede shed both riders, it dove back toward the ground, burrowing itself deeply in the earth before anyone could pursue it.
I helped Delilah to her feet. She’d spit out most of the leaves, but bits of greenery stuck in her sharp teeth.
Fitz ran back to the group, his bow still clutched in his hand. “Everyone, get moving before it attacks again.”
We grabbed our packs and hurried away from the small clearing.
Once we’d put some distance between us and the centipede’s territory, Delilah cheered. “We won!”
“Won?” I gaped at her incredulously. “How do you consider that winning?”
“We didn’t die, did we? So, we won.”
I snorted, but honestly? She wasn’t wrong. We survived. And I didn’t need Wilde’s help to do it.
The forest tested my optimism a few hours later as a giant tentacle dangled me upside down over a toothy abyss.
“Why is it tentacles?” Fitz shouted as he sunk arrows into one of the writhing appendages. “We’re nowhere near the ocean!”
“It’s a Deep Forest Devilfish!” Delilah shouted from the sidelines.
She couldn’t get close enough to use her claws or fangs without risking two of us being captured by the damn things, so she stayed well out of its way.
“They hide in the ground like trapdoor spiders, waiting for prey to step on them!”
“Dammit! This is the Grimnight Forest not the All the Monsters Hide Underground Forest!”
The tentacle wrapped around my waist was twice as thick as my arm and a mottled brown, gray, and green that helped it blend into its forest surroundings.
Both of my swords were dug into its meat, but if I finished the cut, I’d drop straight into its mouth.
The only reason it hadn’t eaten me yet was because the others were distracting it.
If I could grab a tree branch … The closest one was to my left. I released one of my swords and reached for the branch, stretching my arm as far as I could. The tips of my fingers barely brushed the bark before I swung backwards.
At first, I thought it was just my own momentum. Then the tentacle swung me in the other direction. The tree trunk rapidly grew in my field of vision, and I held my hands up to protect my face.
I stopped short of the trunk before being flung in the other direction again. The world spun around me, too fast for me to see why the monster was writhing around. Bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed it back down.
The tentacle finally slowed to a stop. I’d completely lost my grip on my swords. One of them had come loose at some point. I didn’t know if it had been thrown into the forest or devoured by the gaping abyss. I blinked, trying to bring my vision back into focus.
Gazing down at the monster, I saw what caused its sudden struggle: a boulder sat in the center of its mouth. Small undulations reverberated through the tentacle as it tried and failed to spit the obstruction out.
“Can someone get me down?” I asked, voice faint.
The tentacle trembled. I closed my eyes, bracing for the fall. From that height, I’d be lucky not to break anything.
The trembling turned into shaking, rattling me hard enough for my teeth to clack together. Suddenly, it relaxed. The end wrapped around my waist unwound, gently lowering me to the ground.
Someone grabbed me and pulled me away from the beast. On my way, I grabbed the sword, pulling it out of the tentacle with a long, wet squelch.
I looked up into Maximus’ sweaty face. His clothes were askew, one shoulder of his shirt ripped, and a thick red band covered the visible parts of his chest. “Did you wrestle the tentacles?”
He nodded. Once his breathing calmed down enough to speak, he said, “There were too many of them. Had to find something else. Found the rock.”
“Thanks, buddy,” I said, reaching up to pat his stubbly cheek. “You did good.”
A faint blush colored his face and neck, and he ducked his head bashfully.
Behind us, the creature gagged and smacked at the rock with its tentacles. Apparently, it couldn’t decide whether to spit or swallow.
Angelica flounced over to us. Green splattered across her front, joining the other stains from the day’s battle. She pulled a handkerchief from her pouch and dabbed uselessly at the ruined fabric.
Fitz stumbled and collapsed against a nearby tree. He was covered head-to-toe in monster blood and his glasses were smeared in green and hanging at an awkward angle.
“Has anyone seen my other sword?” I asked, hoping the devilfish hadn’t swallowed it.
“Right here!” Delilah called, running over with it clutched in one hand.
“Don’t run toward anything you don’t want to stab,” I chastised her.
She slowed to a dramatic tiptoe, exaggeratedly raising each foot to avoid any uneven ground. It took her a full minute to reach me and lay the sword next to my hand.
A quiet temptation whispered through my mind: This forest is Wilde’s domain. He could help you fight the monsters, or better yet, avoid them altogether.
I gritted my teeth. I didn’t need his help. I stood up and sheathed my swords. “Let’s find somewhere to camp for the night.”
This was my mission, the royal champions’ quest. No matter what the forest threw at us, we could defeat it together.