Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
When the first hufen attacked, we were not prepared, and had no idea what was happening to our people. We quickly learned, however, of the infection. Of the blight that was passing over our land. Caused by darkness. And only healed by death.
— From the journal of Violet Andrever
Still dripping sweat from my morning training, I walked back to my room to find Griff waiting outside my door, an odd place to find him for starters. His usual controlled demeanor seemed forced, his body tense. Wordlessly, I opened the door, and he followed me in.
He had started dropping his mask around me, and while I appreciated that, the look on his face made my stomach drop. “What happened?”
“There’s been a hufen attack. Rathnure Village was decimated.” I could see the indecision warring across his features, weighing his need to protect me with his duties to Serentyn.
“Take me with you,” I blurted out.
His jaw tightened, the muscles in his arms bulging as he crossed them over his chest. “Absolutely not.”
I approached him and rested a hand on his arm, feeling that familiar jolt of energy. “They’re my people, Griff. This is my home. I need to know what’s happening out there.” I paused, knowing how this would sound. “And something is telling me I need to go with you.”
He stared long and hard at me. I held his gaze and didn’t back down, letting him see my determination. I saw the exact moment he weakened, his shoulders dropping.
“If I take you,” he said, stressing the if, “I need you to do exactly what I tell you. No arguments. No heroics. Can you promise me that?”
“Yes, I promise,” I whispered.
His eyes softened almost imperceptibly, before he sighed heavily, jerking his head to the door. “Get your gear. Fast.”
I hurriedly changed out of my sweat-soaked clothes, strapping Anamlae to my hip. Throwing my travel coat on, I followed him quickly out of the castle and past the barrier, my heart racing. I couldn’t believe he was actually taking me with him.
“Finn, I’m taking the princess with me.”
“What?” came the immediate shocked response. I still had no idea why I could overhear their telepathic conversations. Yet another mystery I needed to solve about my growing powers. But it did give me valuable insight. Sometimes.
“Griff, no, she’s not ready—”
“She’s ready,” he interrupted, opening his arms to me. “Cover for us.”
“Dammit, Griff!”
I stepped into his embrace, feeling his arms tighten protectively around me. I tucked my head under his chin, breathing in his familiar scent of salt, steel, and something uniquely him, as we spun into the ether.
When we landed, I immediately felt a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. Even the warmth of Griff’s arms couldn’t counteract it. The wooded landscape stretched before us under an eerie gray sky. Though no snow was falling at the moment, the air itself felt heavy, oppressive.
I looked around hesitantly, the sense of wrongness deepening with each passing second. There were no sounds. No birdsong. No leaves rustling in the breeze. Just the quiet rasp of our breathing.
Griff still hadn’t released me, and I opened my mouth to ask a question, but his tense expression kept me silent.
He pulled my hood up over my hair, his fingers lingering.
“Keep this on as long as you can,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper.
“You’re too damn recognizable. Let’s not announce your presence if we can help it.
” His hands rested on my shoulders, gripping them tightly. “Remember your promise.”
“I’ll do what you tell me,” I whispered back.
He gave me a hard look, as if he was debating returning me immediately to the safety of Valdris, but instead, he motioned me to stay behind him as he led the way through the woods.
Snow crunched under my feet as we followed some invisible path that Griff could sense.
With each step, the wrongness grew thicker, more sinister.
We had walked for about a quarter of an hour when Griff stopped so quickly I almost collided with his back. A figure stumbled out of the gray shadows in front of us, gasping when they spotted us.
“Champion? Is that really you?” The relief in their voice was palpable, but underneath was barely contained terror.
“What happened here?” Griff’s voice was the steady calm I had come to expect from him, giving no sign of the tension I knew lurked beneath.
“They came out of nowhere, Champion. No warning. No time. But I shouldn’t be the one telling you. The chieftain would want to explain.” Their eyes darted to me curiously but I kept my face in shadow.
“Lead on.”
Griff gave me a meaningful look, and I kept close to him. The scent of burning thatch and wood scorched my nostrils, making my eyes water. I saw the smoke first, plumes of dark columns rising into the gray sky.
As the woods thinned, a village—or rather what remained of a village—came into view.
People were crying and moving through the wreckage, trying to salvage what they could from the ruins.
Half of the houses were still burning, roofs collapsed into smoking heaps.
Livestock ran amok through the streets. Children wailed while parents desperately tried to comfort them, all the while looking for missing loved ones and attempting to rescue whatever belongings hadn’t been consumed by flames.
The sounds of devastation tugged at my soul, a pain so sharp I pressed my hand to my chest to keep from crying out.
Was this what Griff had to deal with every time he left? How often was this happening? And how in Erde’s name would these people—my people—recover?
Griff stopped me with a hand to my shoulder before approaching the village chieftain. I waited where he left me, catching fragments of their conversation.
“Was anyone touched?” I heard him ask.
The chief shook his head grimly. “But we haven’t accounted for everyone yet.”
A whimper caught my attention. Tucked out of the way, nestled against a half-collapsed house, was a small child, crying and clutching a soot-stained doll.
With a glance at Griff who was still deep in conversation, I moved off the path to kneel beside her as people continued hustling back and forth, cleaning up the debris of the village.
“Hey there,” I said softly. “Can I clean your doll?”
She nodded and held her out to me.
I wiped away the grime as best I could, then pressed a kiss to the doll’s head. “Good as new.”
“Will you help us?” she asked in a small voice.
“I’ll do anything I can.” The promise resonated deep in my bones. These were my people.
Someone called a name and my new friend’s head popped up. I watched as she ran to a woman who caught her up in a fierce hug, admonishing her for running off. Standing off to the side, I was wondering how best to help, when a man passing by looked me over.
“Can you carry a bucket?” he asked.
“Of course. Put me to work.”
As I joined him, I spared half a glance at Griff.
I had broken my promise to follow his direction, but he had left me as soon as we arrived.
Not that I blamed him—he had plenty of more important things to deal with.
But I couldn’t just stand there and watch when I could be helping.
He must have felt my eyes on him because he gave me a terse nod, before turning back to his conversation.
We worked for hours. I furtively used my channels to calm the fires, bring up water, encourage the earth to heal.
When at last the final fire was extinguished, the draining exhaustion that only came with channeling power flooded through me.
I sagged against a tree as one of the men who I’d been working alongside offered me a water flask.
“I don’t even know your name,” he said. “Just that you came with the Champion.”
I hesitated for half a second. “Lily. Nice to meet you.”
“I’m Ler. Thank you for your help.”
I was struck by how these people, whose lives had been shattered, could still thank a stranger.
After surreptitiously refilling his flask with my water channel, I handed it back to him and continued helping wherever needed.
Every time I looked over at Griff—which was more often than I cared to admit—his eyes were on me. It was as if he was worried that I might disappear into the night if he didn’t consistently check on me.
As I was working to clear away debris, he extracted himself from his conversation and approached. “Lily?” he said quietly.
“You seemed like you didn’t want anyone to know who I was,” I said equally as quietly. “And ‘Lexa’ is too well known with this.” I gestured at my hair, which had escaped its crown braid.
Griff reached out, almost involuntarily, to smooth the heavy tail that laid across my shoulder before we both turned back to the work.
It had been a long day, and work would continue into the night. But I wasn’t complaining. This was the most useful I’d felt in months.
After sharing a simple meal with the villagers, people began making arrangements for sleep.
Griff materialized beside me. “I should get you back.”
I swiped a hand over my face, pushing hair aside. “And if I wasn’t here? You’d stay until the work was done.”
He hesitated, then nodded.
“Then I’m staying.” My voice was soft but firm. I saw the doubt in his face and decided to make it easy for him. “Griff, if you want me to go back tonight, you will have to forcibly remove me from here.”
Amusement flickered through his eyes before someone clamored for his attention. He took several steps away, conferring with the chieftain and other town elders about preparations for protecting the village during the night. They offered him a place at their campfire.
“That won’t be necessary.” His tone changed, becoming stiff. “I’ll be staying with—with Lily.”
All eyes shot over to me. A knowing grin crossed the face of one of them, and I decided to play along, sashaying over to tuck my arm through Griff’s elbow. His entire body went rigid.