“You smell that?” she asked the others. “I smell rain, I think.” She gently released Magda’s hand and walked deeper into the cave, following the thick silvery trails as stalagmites and stalactites formed a latticework pattern in the tunnel. They had just enough light now that their eyes adjusted to keep moving.
“Rain? What rain?” Patch scrambled to follow her, loose rocks sliding beneath his feet. “Wait, girl, wait!”
But Kate wasn’t waiting. She smelled petrichor, the scent of rain-soaked soil. It was the smell of a place that humans could live in and grow crops in and only humans could smell it. She’d learned that in some science class years ago.
She grinned as she continued to follow the slowly glowing trails of light as they grew brighter and brighter. She slipped through a small gap and stepped into a vast opening that was as big as a football field. Beautiful crystals grew out of the stones everywhere. But it was the thousands of glowing lights around and above her that made her suck in a breath in awe. The world glowed blue and green like a thousand stars in the night sky.
“Beautiful...” Magda spoke behind Kate.
“Yes,” Kate agreed. “Beautiful.” She walked deeper into the cave and stared at the pulsing lights. She got a glimpse of one of the stars up close and she laughed. It was no star.
“These are glowworms,” she whispered to Patch and Magda.
“Worms, eh?” Patch grumbled. “They good eating?”
“Probably not. They are a bit like fireflies. I’ve never seen them in real life.” She swayed a little on her feet.
“Kate need rest,” Magda said. “Kate is bleeding.” The troll tried to catch her arm.
“I’m fine, really.” Kate waved Magda away, but she wavered and the pain in her head grew stronger. Magda caught her, then lifted her up in her arms and carried her.
Kate felt too weak and too tired to protest. Her head lolled back as she looked up into the night sky of glowworm stars. Had Roan ever been here? Had he ever seen this? Kate wished he had. It was one of the most incredible things she’d ever seen. And she could just picture how his blue eyes would reflect the stunning light. Surely he knew about it. He was a king, after all, and this was his labyrinth.
“We have to summon the king.” Patch’s voice sounded so far away now.
Roan... Roan could help me...Kate’s thoughts danced in a circle within her head, spinning out and back inward until little else made sense except that she wanted Roan to come.
Kate stared at the beauty of the stars above her as they slowly vanished into darkness.
“She’s fading...”
ChapterNine
The dark woods were full of strange and wonderful creatures, like the dryads who sang to trees to make them grow and the dwarves who dwelt in the Black Hills in their palace of Vol Buldohr, where they whispered incantations over their treasures of gold.
—Anon.,Tales from the Twilight Court
Roan knelt on the ground,the tip of his sword buried in the fire-blackened earth as he stared helplessly at the dying dryad before him. The beautiful creature’s tawny eyes were filled with unspeakable pain.
Roan, Hagni, and a group of Unseelie Shadow Guards had traveled to the woods just moments ago from the palace and had come upon the destroyed forest and the massacre of the dryads. Fires set by Seelie warriors were still burning and caught upon the wind, blowing embers over the ruined landscape. But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was the lone surviving dryad before him.
Lady Kyma, the queen of the dryads, had skin the color of night and hair like snow. She was an ally, afriend, and Roan was going to do all he could to save her.
He gathered the ancient soil in his hand and settled it in Kyma’s palm, closing her trembling fingers over the soil. He opened his mind, body, and soul to the magic in his blood. His hand shook as grief and rage warred within him, and he wasn’t sure which emotion would conquer him.
“Save my sisters...” Lady Kyma begged, her gaze starting to drift into the distance.
“They are gone,” Roan whispered. “You are the last, my lady.” He could barely speak the words that cut like broken glass as they left his lips. The truth,this truth, above all others, was one he wished was a lie.
He didn’t dare take his gaze away from the dying dryad. If he did, he would be forced to look once more upon the charred remains of the noble trees that had formed the dark woods. Trees that held power and secrets too old to name. Trees that deserved to grow beneath the moonlight and give life to the fauna within.
At the base of those wrecked trunks lay the broken bodies of Kyma’s sisters, the other dryads of the dark woods. Beautiful tree spirits who had caused no harm to anyone, even though they dwelt in the land of the Unseelie. If Roan dared to face that destruction again, his rage would take over and he would not be able to save Kyma’s life.
I must save her. She is the last of her people, the last dryad of the dark woods.
Kyma’s gaze returned to his as he clutched her soil-filled hand and brought it to his lips. Roan wove a healing spell with the ancient tongue of theSidhe, giving her what he could of himself and his power. The energy flowed into her, seeking out the places where she was wounded. The burns, the cuts... so many wounds. It was nothing less than barbarism.
“Let me join my sisters, Roan.” Kyma’s once musical voice was now a rasp of sound.
