Chapter 17 The Badlands #2
We pressed on, and I found myself glancing back more often than I cared to admit.
Every snapped twig and shifting shadow setting my nerves on edge.
By the time the sun eventually dipped lower, bleeding sunlight through the trees, exhaustion weighed heavily in my limbs once more, my muscles aching with every step.
It was then that my boot caught on something hidden beneath the moss, sending me stumbling forward with a sharp gasp.
I barely had time to register the pain before my eyes dropped to what I had tripped over.
Bones.
Smooth and pale, curved in a way that made my stomach lurch violently.
I screamed, the sound tearing from my throat before I could stop it, and Aster was at my side in an instant, gripping my arms to steady me as I staggered to get up. My heart hammered so hard it felt as though it might burst from my chest.
“Look,” he said quickly, following my gaze. “It’s old.”
This did nothing to help.
The remains lay half-buried beneath the greenery, a skull weathered by time, roots threading through empty eye sockets.
Claimed by the forest. As my gaze lifted, dread pooled within my chest when I realized it was not alone.
Bones were everywhere, woven into the earth, hidden beneath moss and vines, quietly feeding the land above them.
“What… what is this place?” I whispered, my voice shaking. “I don’t understand.”
Aster’s expression darkened, his jaw tightening as he followed my gaze.
“I warned you,” he said quietly. “Not everything is what it seems.”
I swallowed hard, forcing the words past the tightness in my throat.
“Tell me.”
He exhaled slowly, as though weighing how much truth I could bear.
“The Badlands are beautiful, yes. But there’s a cost. Their beauty came from death.
It was once a peaceful, untouched land. That was before Medusa’s blood changed it,” he said.
“Not cursed but forever altered. The land learned from her power, learned how to take what dies and make something stronger from it. Nothing is wasted here. Flesh feeds soil. Bone becomes root. Even fear has a purpose.”
My stomach twisted as I looked at the forest again, at the lush green pressing up through what had once been living people.
“As I said, there’s a saying among those who know this land,” he added. “Beauty in death.”
A shiver ran through me.
“And the agreement?” I asked, something Aster had mentioned briefly while traveling here but hadn’t gone into detail. “Between Atlas and the Gorgon King?”
“No one from The?kós crosses into the Badlands,” he replied flatly. “And no one from the Badlands crosses into The?kós.”
I gave him a dry look in return, before asking the most obvious question. “So, what about us then?”
He met my gaze, deadly serious.
“We are trespassers, which means we will face judgment if the King so chooses.”
My eyes widened before I used humor once more to hide the fear.
“Great, let’s hope we catch him on a good day then.”
The forest seemed to lean closer at that, as though it also had ears like the Labyrinth, and the being watched feeling returned, sharper now, following us deeper into the trees until my legs felt heavy and my head throbbed with exhaustion.
Of course, Aster noticed.
“We should stop,” he said, scanning the area. “There’s water here.”
A narrow stream cut through the trees ahead, clear and softly bubbling, and relief washed through me as I lowered myself onto a fallen log. My muscles protested as I finally allowed myself to rest.
Aster stepped toward the stream before I could even comment further. From his belt, he unhooked a worn leather flask, darkened with age and use, the strap creaking softly as he worked the stopper free.
He leaned forward, letting the clear water spill into it, watching the current for a moment, then rising to his feet. When he pressed it into my hands, the leather was cool and damp, and I barely had time to murmur a thank you before lifting it to my lips.
The first swallow was heaven.
The water was crisp and cold, so clean it almost startled me, and I drank greedily.
The ache in my throat was easing with every mouthful as I realized just how parched I had been.
I hadn’t noticed how dry my mouth had grown, too distracted by everything else.
But now it felt like life itself was being poured back into me, and I didn’t stop until my lungs finally demanded air.
I lowered the flask, exhaling softly, then glanced up at him with sudden suspicion creeping in around the edges of my relief.
“Please tell me,” I said, eyeing the stream behind him, “there were no bones or dead bodies in that water.”
Aster barked out a laugh, the sound surprising in the quiet clearing, and he folded his arms across his chest as he looked down at me.
“It’s a bit late for that question, isn’t it?”
I wrinkled my nose in immediate disgust, my stomach flipping as I looked back at the flask in my hands, which only made his laughter deepen.
“I’m serious,” I said, grimacing. “I just drank half of it.”
He shook his head, still smiling, and reached out to tap the side of the flask lightly, as if to reassure me. “Relax. You’ll be happy to know it was just water. No bones. No bodies. Just clean, cold mountain runoff.”
“Oh, thank god,” I muttered, relief flooding me so hard it made me dizzy for a moment.
Without thinking too hard about it, I lifted the flask again and took another long drink, swallowing even as I rolled my eyes at myself, the cool water washing away the last of my hesitation along with my thirst. His mouth twitched.
“You also need feeding.”
Despite everything, a weak laugh escaped me.
“Try gathering some firewood,” he added, already shrugging off his pack. “I’ll go hunt.”
“Don’t go far,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. His expression softened.
“I won’t.”
Moments later, he vanished into the trees, his presence swallowed by the forest with unsettling ease. The clearing felt wrong without him. Too quiet. I moved to gather fallen branches, the feeling of being watched creeping back in full force, and when a twig snapped behind me, I froze.
“Aster?” I called, straightening.
But there was no answer.
I crouched again, tugging at a stubborn piece of wood tangled in vines, and when it came free, something pale rolled into view.
Another skull.
I screamed, stumbling backward, colliding with something solid.
“Oh, thank gods,” I breathed, forcing a shaky laugh as I turned. “That scared the hell out of me.” However, the relief died instantly.
It wasn’t Aster.
I had just enough time to register unfamiliar eyes before the world tilted violently sideways…
Then everything went dark.