Chapter 40 Rose
As Oonagh left the clearing in search of Wren, Rose was overcome by a terrible rising dread. The beasts went, too, their red eyes fading from the shadows as they followed their leader through the trees. Towards Wren.
Rose bit back her scream, growing desperate with panic. Wren wouldn’t stand a chance against Oonagh. All those beasts would savage her before she had half a chance to defend herself. No. Rose wouldn’t stand for it. She couldn’t. They had come too far and suffered too much to lose it all now. Rose and Wren had earned their thrones and their kingdom, and Rose refused to let Oonagh snatch it from them at the beginning of their reign.
She steadied her breath. She ignored the sweat dripping down her spine and the tears prickling in her eyes. She had to do something. Anything. But despite her determination, her hands were bound behind her back. So, too, were her feet. Rose was stuck. She thrashed and struggled, but the vines only bit into her wrists, drawing more blood.
‘Help!’ she hissed to the weeping trees. ‘Please! I have to save my sister!’
The trees stood motionless, watching her struggle. She was alone in this vast place, with no one to help her. Then she glimpsed a glowing seed, floating high among the canopies. A new breeze stirred, caressing her cheeks.
‘A witch of Eana is never truly alone,’ it whispered. ‘So long as she has her magic.’
Rose stilled as an idea occurred to her. If she could find a way to cast an enchantment, she could loosen her binds and wriggle free. But she needed earth, dirt, mulch, anything. She twisted her body, scratching feebly at the bark behind her. But the tree was too hard and her fingernails came away without purchase.
‘Come on,’ she muttered, digging into the trunk.
It was no use. She blew out a breath then closed her eyes, tipping her head back until it touched the bark. There were more seeds glowing in the dimness now, and Rose felt her ancestors looking down on her. She sensed they wanted to help her. That perhaps they simply didn’t know how.
‘Please,’ she whispered to the spirits of her ancestors. ‘I just need a little earth. Something to offer for my spell.’
At first there was nothing. Just Rose’s heart thundering in her chest and the distant thrum of growling beasts. They were getting louder, angrier.
Oh, Wren.
Then there came a faint rustling from above. Rose looked up to see a single leaf floating down from the canopy. It listed like a feather, gentle and slow, until it came to land on her shoulder. Rose twisted her hands behind her back until her palms were facing upwards. Her wrists screamed at the unnaturalness of the movement but she pushed the pain away, carefully tilting her body to one side. The leaf tumbled from her shoulder.
It floated to the ground but Rose jerked just in time, catching it between her forefinger and thumb. She curled it in her fist, eyes streaming with tears of pain and triumph. ‘Got it,’ she said, with a sob. ‘I got it.’
With the leaf safe in her hand, she closed her eyes, summoning an enchantment. Her voice shook as she whispered it to the forest: ‘From earth to dust, I ask these vines, to free me from their wretched binds.’
The leaf warmed in her hand. She released it, casting her offering alongside the spell. The leaf disappeared as it fell. With remarkable quickness, the vines snapped, uncurling from Rose’s wrists. She pitched forward, falling on her hands and knees as the vines released her legs. And then, at last, she was unbound.
There wasn’t a moment to lose.
Rose grabbed a fistful of dirt from the forest floor and scrambled to her feet. She might not have a weapon to fight Oonagh but she had her magic and it had not yet failed her. And better still, Rose felt the forest was on her side, too.
She set off in the direction of the growling beasts just as a shadow came darting through the trees towards her. In a panic, Rose fired her handful of mulch.
‘Stay back!’ she cried.
Shen skidded to a stop. ‘When did you learn to throw like that?’
‘Shen!’ Relief surged through Rose as she ran to him. ‘What are you doing here?’
He scrubbed the dirt from his face. ‘I came to rescue you.’
‘Oh.’ Rose grinned. ‘Well, I’m afraid you’re too late. I’ve already rescued myself.’
He looked her up and down, his frown dissolving into a look of such relief, his eyes shone. ‘You’re alive,’ he said then, as if he couldn’t quite believe it. ‘Rose, I thought—’ He shook his head, unable to say the words. ‘When you were pulled into that water …’
‘It’s all right, Shen. I’m all right.’ She pulled him close, and he laid his forehead against hers.
‘Rose,’ he said, suddenly hoarse. ‘I swear for as long as I live, I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.’ He held her face between his hands as though he was afraid she might disappear from him one more time. ‘Please, forgive me.’
‘Hush,’ she said, gently. ‘There’s no need to apologize.’
‘Then let me kiss you instead,’ he said, pressing his lips against hers with such urgency, Rose lost her breath. She pulled back, breaking the moment.
‘There’ll be time for this later,’ she said, reaching for his hand. ‘Wren’s in trouble, Shen. Oonagh’s here. And she’s not alone.’
Shen spun on his heel, a dagger already in his hand. ‘Come on,’ he said, leading Rose through the trees, both of them following the noise of growling beasts. ‘It’s time to end this once and for all.’
As they wound their way deeper into the forest, Rose became aware of shapes moving in the trees. She whipped her head around, readying a shout, but Shen squeezed her hand. ‘It’s all right,’ he said, in a low voice. ‘They’re with us.’
Rose blinked, then stared harder. As the glowing seeds gathered above her, they lit up the other figures. She caught the glint of weapons, heard the determined crunch of boot-steps moving in tandem with them. When she spied Lei Fan in the trees to her left, her heart leaped. She was leading her own battalion of Sunkissed witches. On the other side of the forest, Rose glimpsed Grandmother Lu stalking side by side with Kai Lo, her golden cane swinging as she guided a hundred more witches alongside them.
When Rose glanced behind her, she glimpsed the familiar green and gold edging of her own royal soldiers, marching steadfastly at her back. Suddenly, the forest was so full it felt as if it were moving with them, buoyed by a tide of witches and soldiers ready to fight side by side. Ready to win.
A new hope surged in Rose.
Shen caught the smile on her face. ‘Well. How do you like our odds?’
Rose was about to respond when a ragged howl rang out. The colour drained from her face as she thought of Wren, who was still unaccounted for. ‘We mustn’t underestimate Oonagh,’ she said, quickening her steps.
Finally, they came to a break in the trees. Up ahead, in the middle of a sprawling clearing, Rose spotted Wren and Oonagh standing apart from each other. Wren was holding a sword Rose had never seen before and Oonagh was goading her with that horrid taunting smile.
Rose made to run for her sister but Shen pulled her back. All around them, witches and soldiers had come to an abrupt halt. Rose saw then what she had missed the first time.
The clearing was surrounded by a ring of undead beasts.
High above them, even the glowing seeds had stopped floating, as if they, too, were scared to venture any further.
‘What now?’ whispered Rose. She could count fifty or so beasts from their vantage point in the trees but she was not foolish enough to think that was all of them. There could be ten times as many lurking in the forest or even patrolling its borders. ‘We can’t get to Wren or Oonagh without startling the beasts.’
Shen removed another dagger until he held one in each hand. ‘We’ll have to pick them off, one by one.’ He nodded at Lei Fan, and then to Grandmother Lu, giving a covert signal. They sank into a crouch, readying their assault. ‘Stay behind me.’
‘Absolutely not,’ said Rose. ‘Give me a dagger.’ Rose opened her hand, expectantly. ‘I’m a warrior witch now, too, remember? Now please give me a weapon. I know you’ve got at least five more on your person.’
‘Including the one you want,’ said Shen, removing a familiar gilded dagger from his boot. He pressed it into her hand. ‘You left this behind on Marino’s ship.’
‘Daybreak!’ said Rose, feeling the thrum of its magic against her palm. ‘Oh, am I glad to see this beauty again.’
‘It might be witch-made, but it doesn’t make you invincible. So, be careful,’ Shen said, imploringly.
‘Oh, please,’ she said, curling her fingers around the hilt. ‘When am I ever not careful?’
Shen tossed her a warning look but there was no time to argue the point. He was gone in the next breath, prowling through the trees like a panther.
Rose hurried after him.
Once he reached the edge of the clearing, Shen climbed ten feet up a nearby trunk and leaped soundlessly from above. All across the forest, the witches of the Sunkissed Kingdom struck just the same, descending on the beasts in a blur of black and silver.
Oonagh snapped her chin up, red eyes flashing. ‘Strike!’ she shrieked.
Her beasts sprung into action but for half of them it was already too late. The witches had gained the upper hand. As chaos descended on the clearing, Rose made a beeline for her sister. ‘Wren!’ she cried, swinging Daybreak wildly as she leaped over a snarling fox and nearly tumbled into the mouth of a snow tiger just as Rowena and Bryony toppled it with a combined gust.
‘Thank you!’ cried Rose, without stopping.
Wren turned at the sound of her sister’s voice. ‘Rose!’
They met at the far edge of the clearing, where Wren swung her sword wildly, fending off the skeleton of a roaring wolf. Rose jumped over its twitching body, flinging her arms around her sister and pulling her close. Wren sagged against Rose, her body shuddering violently as the sword fell to her side. ‘Rose, you’re alive,’ she said, with a sob. ‘I knew you were. I knew it.’
‘Hush now, it’s all right.’ Rose struggled to hold her sister up, startled by how ill she looked, how much weaker she had become in the days since they had last seen each other.
Wren hoisted her sword, her body tipping to one side as she tried to run back into the fray. ‘It’s time to end this, Rose. We have to fight.’
‘You can barely stand, let alone fight,’ said Rose, tugging her back. ‘And where did you get that thing?’
‘This is Night’s Edge. Eana the first witch gave it to me,’ said Wren. A frown, then. ‘It’s a long story.’
‘Tell it to me after the battle,’ said Rose, raising her own dagger to show Wren. ‘This is Daybreak. It looks as if we’ve both had some luck with weapons.’ She glanced over her shoulder to where Oonagh was standing at the other end of the clearing. Even though there were hundreds of witches between them and just as many beasts still snarling and snapping, their ancestor was staring straight at them.
Rose contemplated hurling her dagger at her but thought better of it. What if she missed?
Oonagh’s ice bears still stood on either side of her, but the rest of her beasts were falling one by one. Wren swung her sword, barrelling her way across the clearing. ‘We have to do it now,’ she shouted. ‘We have to break the curse.’
‘Wren! Come back!’ cried Rose but her sister was too determined. Even despite her ailing strength, there was no stopping her.
As the Sunkissed witches and the Anadawn army fought tirelessly against Oonagh’s undead beasts, their roars and growls began to die out. Soon, there were barely twenty beasts standing between Oonagh and the twins.
Rose might have felt hopeful – triumphant even – if it wasn’t for the mocking smile that had remained on her ancestor’s face. When Wren was almost upon her and the beasts were all but felled, Oonagh uttered a soundless command.
By the time Rose screamed, it was already too late.
The entire forest shook. The trees quivered and the ground trembled as a thousand more bodies burst up from the earth. Rose saw the whites of their bones punching through the mulch before she spied their skulls, toothless and gaping. They were human remains, some so ancient their very skeletons were crumbling, while others were still rotting, their lumbering bodies infested with maggots, their eyes turned red with bloodlust.
They swarmed the clearing in a hail of fresh terror, every bit as vicious and rabid as the beasts that came before them. Only the sudden arrival of Oonagh’s reanimated corpses inspired a kind of sickening dread that momentarily brought Rose’s entire army to a standstill. It was a mistake that cost them dearly.
As more bodies crawled up from the undergrowth, tearing through soldiers and witches alike, the Weeping Forest echoed with a new chorus of dying screams.