Chapter 16 Valenna
Chapter sixteen
Valenna
At first, Valenna could only stare at the plant in horror. It reminded her of a vulture— its head was stripped of bark and covered with loose, scabrous flesh. It had bulging black eyes and a long, curved beak lined with thorny teeth.
A gawper tuber.
Rooted to the ground, the plant could only reach its neck and mouth within the clearing, but Evander and Haldir, too focused on murdering one another to notice the danger, rolled into the creature’s roots.
Valenna pointed. “LOOK OUT!”
With a heart-stopping shriek, the tuber lunged at them, its mouth gaping. Evander shouted in surprise and rolled one way, Haldir the other, and the tuber’s beak struck the ground between them. Then, it lifted its head and dove for Valenna.
Years of forgotten training returned to her as she lashed out with her dagger.
The blade stuck in the tuber’s beak, and the creature tugged Valenna off her feet.
She clung onto the hilt, her knees scraping across the ground, and dug the fingers of her free hand into the dirt.
Valenna cast around frantically for a plan, an idea, but before she could latch onto anything, Evander broke out of the darkness and slammed his body down on the tuber’s head, forcing it to the ground.
The tuber twisted, knocking Evander aside.
It was upon him in an instant, snapping its beak as he landed a heavy punch to its small eye.
It only snarled. Weaponless, Valenna jumped on its neck, grappling with its thrashing head.
Squealing, it shot out a rough branch, caught her ankle, and flung her with astonishing force.
She arced through the air and struck soggy ground, her ears ringing.
With bright spots darting in her vision, Valenna sat up and watched in horror as the tuber looped its branch around Evander’s leg and dragged him across the clearing.
Leaves piled under him as he clawed at the loose earth.
Then, Valenna glimpsed a flash of metal— Evander’s cutlass was tucked in his belt.
“Your sword, Vander!” Valenna cried, staggering to her feet.
The tuber closed its jaws around Evander’s shoulder and shook him. He yelled through clenched teeth.
“CUT IT!” Valenna shrieked. “KILL IT, VAN!”
He drew his cutlass, but instead of slicing the tuber’s head off, he slammed the hilt into its eye.
This was not what Valenna had in mind, but the tuber released Evander for a breath, just long enough for him to reach into his coat and pull out the glowing green jar.
He hurled it down, the glass shattering.
Luminous caterpillars crawled from the wreckage and fastened onto the tuber’s stalk, sinking their tiny pincers into its flesh with a faint chittering.
Squealing, the tuber reared back, and Evander gained his feet, swayed, and stumbled to his hands and knees, his head hanging.
Blood poured from his nose and down his neck from his ears.
Terror gripped Valenna. He was bleeding inside his head like the physician said he would.
“CURSE THE OATH!” Valenna screamed, rushing across the clearing. “CUT IT!”
He glanced at her for a fraction of a second with a look of mingled stubbornness and anger.
Valenna’s anger rose to meet his in equal measure.
She raised her hands, and a briar bush burst through the soil, its craggy arms wrapping around the tuber, thorns slicing its flesh.
The tuber screeched, then curled inward again, snarling, and went still.
The briars dissipated into sparkling purple ash.
Evander managed to get to his knees, then staggered to his feet. Valenna ran to him and dragged him behind her toward the safety of the trees.
When the tuber awoke, Haldir had frozen at the edge of the clearing, his face porcelain pale, his body rigid with fear. He shook out of his trance now and picked up Evander’s cutlass from the ground. His expression darkened, and he raised it over his shoulder.
“NO!” Evander shouted, lunging toward him.
If Valenna hadn’t caught Evander around the waist and pulled him back, Haldir’s downward swing would have cut off his arm.
There was a sick, wet slicing sound, and the gawper tuber lay limp on the soggy forest floor, its neck severed, its fat brown tongue lolling out of its mouth. Yellow sap pooled around it, like blood.
“What have you done?” Evander gasped, staring at the carnage in shock.
Haldir lifted his chin and walked past Evander toward the path.
“The oath!” Evander shouted, gesturing at the dead plant. “You broke your oath!”
Haldir pointed a shaking hand at the dead tuber. “It was going to eat us!”
“We had it under control,” Evander said, his voice strained. “If you hadn’t lost your head and angered the tuber …”
“If you hadn’t left me behind, I wouldn’t have been angry!”
“You. Were. Drunk,” Evander said through gritted teeth. “You’re. Always. Drunk.” He was a birch tree bent over by snow, ready to snap.
“Boys,” Valenna intervened. “Let’s just go back to the tavern. We’re tired, and we’ve been through an ordeal, and no one is thinking clearly …”
“Thomasina will hear of this,” Evander said, turning toward the path. “I’ll send her a sprite tonight.”
Valenna gasped. Of course Evander would tell Thomasina. Killing the tuber was akin to murder in his mind, but why goad Haldir, if he didn’t want a knife in his back …
Haldir bent down and snatched something from the ground.
The shotfire.
For an instant, Valenna thought he was going to shoot Evander. But instead, he grabbed Valenna’s arm and yanked her toward him. Before she could react, he was holding her against his chest, one arm tight across her ribs, the barrel of the shotfire pressed against her temple.
Evander whirled around, and his face washed white. “Let her go,” he demanded, almost irritably.
“Someone’s been keeping a secret,” Haldir snarled.
“Hal, you’re angry at me.” Evander took a few steps toward them. “Leave her out of it.”
A sneer cracked Haldir’s face, and he cocked the shotfire’s hammer. Valenna flinched and tried to struggle against him, but Haldir was massive, and his hold tightened, squeezing the air from her lungs.
“No!” Evander’s voice cracked, and he lurched forward, his hands out, pleading. “What do you want? Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”
“I want to shoot her in the head!” Haldir bellowed.
“NO!” Evander’s breathing was ragged and quick, sweat beaded on his brow. “You want to shoot me. I’m the thorn in your side. You hate me, and I’m right here. Don’t waste your only shot on her.”
“Stop it,” Valenna hissed. “Vander, shut up.”
She moved her hands up Haldir’s arm, debating if she could flip him over her shoulder. He was heavy, and she was out of practice. Her confidence sagged. One misstep, and either she or Evander could be killed in an instant.
Haldir turned the shotfire on Evander.
“Don’t!” Valenna cried. “Please, don’t!”
“I knew it!” Haldir crowed. “I knew it all along!”
Haldir’s free hand traveled to Valenna’s neck, closing around her throat. She inhaled sharply.
“What are you, darling?” he whispered, his breath wet against her ear.
“Some kind of witch? A dark sorceress? My father is a general in Sennalaith, you see, and I’ve heard stories about Cadmus’s missing witch child.
She’d be about your age. But if you show me a few of your other secrets, I’ll keep this one for you. ”
Valenna’s skin crawled, and she choked out, “I’d rather you shoot me.”
“Keep this between us”—Haldir nodded toward the dead plant on the ground—“and make me dragon master, and I won’t tell anyone about your strange, dark powers.”
“Yes,” Valenna rasped. Her head pounded, her lungs begged for air. “Of course.”
His face scarlet with fury, Evander threw away caution and strode toward them. Haldir raised the shotfire, but Evander only stopped when the barrel was flush with his chest. He had the wild look of a fox with its foot in a trap.
“Either shoot me or let her go,” Evander growled.
With a ringing laugh, Haldir shoved Valenna forward, and Evander caught her in his arms. He whirled around, shielding Valenna with his body as a shot cut through the night. Evander flinched.
Valenna screamed, twisting and clutching his arms. Haldir laughed again. He was holding the shotfire over his head, aiming it into the branches. He’d wasted the shot; a cruel game.
Slowly, Evander turned. He swayed as he stalked toward Haldir.
Haldir scoffed. “What are you going to do, you pathetic little …”
Evander snatched his cutlass from the ground and rushed at Haldir. In a blink, the blade was at his throat, cutting the skin under his Adam’s apple. “I could slash your throat and blame it on the tuber. No one would ever know, and I would be the next dragon master.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Haldir breathed.
“You put your hands on her, and you think I’ll let you live?”
Valenna had never seen Evander like this—unhinged, undone, and she feared he might really do it. She ran to him and gripped his arm. “He’s not worth it, Vander.”
Evander’s neck and cheeks were flushed, his breath quick and ragged. “I heard what he said to you.”
“He’s a fool. Don’t risk your life for him. If you kill him, you’ll be hanged.”
“That’s what’s so beautiful about it. They won’t have time to hang me,” he said.
Valenna didn’t understand what he meant by that, but she did understand the blood streaming down Evander’s neck, soaking his collar.
“Come,” she pleaded, pulling him away. “Vander, what if you collapse and leave me alone with him …”
He blinked rapidly, and she saw she’d finally reached him. Sliding the cutlass into his belt, Evander stepped away from Haldir, then put his arm around Valenna’s shoulders and leaned against her. “If that’s what you want.”