9. Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
Zev
Z ev’s teeth tore into the throat of a troll. Another came bellowing toward him, roaring so loud, it rang through his skull. Dyna slid across the mud in front of him, shooting off arrows as she did. They pierced the troll’s third eye, and it crashed at his feet. The creature was large, its scaled body covered in bony spikes. He had forgotten how unsightly they were. Its swamp stench overwhelmed his senses.
Dyna charged forward, and Zev sprinted after her.
She leaped up and shoved her blade through the neck of another troll. Dark blood sprayed, and it fell backward with her on its chest. She landed as Zev bounded past her with a snarl and leaped on the back of ten-foot troll.
Running for a tree, Dyna leaped off its trunk and she lifted her blade as her body arced for them. Steel flashes in a rapid slash through the troll’s throat and the head landed by her feet.
Zev stared at her a moment, shocked by how deftly she moved. How swiftly she killed them. No hesitation at all.
Dyna turned around, her face speckled with dark blood like war paint. Her hard green eyes scanned the area for any more beasts, but the others had already finished them off.
He couldn’t have been prouder.
But disquiet hovered around Lucenna and Rawn as they exchanged a look.
“Well done, lass,” Klyde said with a low whistle. “But let’s not take any further risks, aye? Best to leave the trolls to those who have experience in disposing of them.”
Dyna rolled her eyes. “I had no trouble taking them down, Captain. If I need your aid, I will let you know.”
She flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed it as she marched on with Zev following behind. Only confidence radiated off her petite frame layered in leather armor.
The mercenaries watched her pass warily.
Lord Norrlen called his name under his breath. Zev met his gaze and was made to step aside with him and Lucenna.
“The captain is right,” Rawn said quiet enough for only them to hear. “There is no need for Lady Dyna to take unnecessary risks when we have employed the mercenaries to escort us.”
Zev sat on his haunches and yawned. He was finished with overprotecting her. Dyna was strong enough to defend herself now, and they had all seen to it through months of training. He wasn’t about to let others disparage her abilities.
Lucenna narrowed her eyes. “You don’t agree.”
He watched the mercenary’s made sure the trolls were all dead but stabbing them through their skulls.
“Zev.” Lucenna stomped her foot. “This is a serious matter. Dyna has been pushing herself more and more, and we’re worried about her.”
There was no need to be.
It only bothered them because she didn’t need their protection anymore. They had to accepted it like he did. Of course, Zev would always stand by her side, but she could finally stand on her own. They should commend her for that.
“She’s not sleeping. Haven’t you noticed?”
Zev blinked at Lucenna. No, he hadn’t.
Once Dyna no longer woke up screaming from her nightmares, she told him he could go back to staying in his own room again.
Rawn nodded in confirmation, his expression grave.
“Sometimes I hear her speaking late at night,” Lucenna continued. “Whenever I asked her about it, she merely explains it away. She’s unraveling, Zev. You know what I mean. It’s easy to shroud ourselves in lies, while hiding the truth we ignore inside.”
He knew exactly what that was like.
The impression of the Madness was still there, like the grooves of an old scar. It went to show how deeply ingrained it had been a part of him for all the years he had tried to hide how wrong he was. Zev had not had the time to think about who he was now without it. All his attention had been on Dyna.
On making her stronger. Better.
Had he underestimated how deep her scars went?
Zev scanned the camp for her, but she was nowhere in sight. Springing up on his paws, he sniffed the air. He swiftly caught Dyna’s scent. He turned to go after her but growled at Rawn and Lucenna in annoyance when they tried to follow.
They stayed behind with the mercenaries as Zev ambled through the bushes. The scents of the forest were strong beneath the damp coating of rain from last night and the arrival of spring. He noticed the faint tracks of her boots in the mud, and they led him a few yards away from camp until he heard her faint voice.
“We aren’t far from Dwarf Shoe now,” she said. “The journey may take perhaps a fortnight.”
There was a pause as the wind picked up, rustling the leaves loudly.
“Of course, I will. They wouldn’t understand.”
Zev came through the bushes. Dyna yelped, jumping to her feet with a start. Her pack dropped from her lap and splashed into a silvery plate.
“Zev, you startled me,” Dyna said, sounding rather annoyed.
Who was she speaking to? A sniff of the air proved there was only them. He canted his head.
At his visible confusion, she glowered and gathered her things. I came here for a moment to myself. You don’t need to follow me around like my constant shadow. “I’m fine.”
Taken back by her sharp tone, he lowered his ears.
She sighed down at her soaked satchel and lifted it off the shiny plate. It caught the sunlight as she dumped out the water. It was a rather fancy dish to drink water out of. The Celestials had left it behind.
Why keep it?
Dyna shoved it into her satchel and slung the strap onto her shoulder. “Forgive me for snapping at you. I’m a little tired is all.”
She did look tired, now that he was finally looking for it. Exhaustion lined the purple shadows beneath her eyes.
Dyna petted his muzzle, and he licked her fingers, tasting the salt on her skin. “We should go back before the others come searching for me, too.”
They returned to find the mercenaries had hung up the fur pelts up to dry. To repel the trolls, Klyde said. The stench would repel anyone. Zev laid by the fire so he could hinder some of the smell beneath the burning wood.
“According to the map, we are two days away from the gorge,” Rawn told them quietly as Dyna took a seat beside Lucenna.
“Good,” the sorceress replied. “May our luck hold up until then, but I am still surprised we’ve managed to avoid the trolls.”
Dyna frowned. “Well, don’t wish misfortune on us now. How far is the Morphos Court from Troll Bridge?”
“The Morphos Court lies at the center of the Wyspwood, my lady,” Rawn said. “Perhaps fifteen miles from the gorge.”
“The detour won’t be too far then,” she said. We must stop by to gather Princess Keena on the way.”
“You are assuming she will want to join us,” Lucenna said, arching a brow.
Dyna shrugged. “She’s one of my Guardians. Why wouldn’t she want to join me?”
Again, taken back by her matter-of-fact tone and how easily she was open to adding another to their group, Zev shifted out of his wolf form. “Dyna, we haven’t discussed much about the princess or if she’s even trustworthy,” he said, quickly tugging on a pair of trousers. “There is a chance she knows more than she let on about Leoake.”
He glanced down at her arm where her geas in the shape of an oak used to be. Dyna mentioned the Druid had moved it, but she was still bound to an unknown promise. He would come claim it soon, and Zev sensed its imminent arrival like the incoming rain. Whatever favor Leoake wanted, it was bound to carry a heavy price.
“Even if she did know about the Druid, it does not change the fact that she is one of my Guardians. She’s part of my prophecy.”
“Tarn’s prophecy, you mean,” Lucenna corrected with a frown.
Dyna gave her a look. “It may have been given to him, but it’s mine, too. I need all—” She cut herself off and said, “I will need my Guardians if I am to reach Mount. Ida. The more I have the better.”
“Does this mean you intend for Commander Von to join us as well?” Rawn asked.
Zev stiffened.
When had Dyna revealed that Von was the sixth Guardian, he didn’t want to believe it. He would have preferred it to have been Klyde. A familiar face seeking revenge? The captain fit the mark.
Why would Von join them when he still served Tarn?
Dyna avoided his gaze. “I know he’s done wrong against us … but its only because he had to. Von is meant to join us.”
It stung Zev a little that she would decide that without discussing it with him first.
“And how do you plan to take him away from Tarn?” Lucenna asked her next. “We don’t even know where they are.”
Dyna was quiet for a pause, then said, “Our paths will cross again.”
The conversation ended as the mercenaries gathered for their evening meal. They ate stale bread and dried meat. No fire was allowed.
Discreetly traveling the Bridge would only get them so far.
That night, Zev took first watch with Klyde. He remained on constant alert, sniffing the air for that tell-tale troll stench. But all he heard was the whisper of the breeze and the chatter of nature among the steady heartbeats slowing as the others fell asleep.
But one stayed awake.
Dyna’s eyes shone in the moonlight as she stared blankly at the leaves above them, lost in thought.
Was it the darkness that kept her awake?
Was it his absence? She never cried for Cassiel again after that day in the courtyard.
Zev thought it was because Dyna had moved on, but there were five facets of grief. And he remembered exactly which one he had fallen into before he went mad.