Page 43 of Into the Heartless Wood
She drags me through the trees.
Deeper into the wood.
I let her.
Because she pulls me
away from the wall,
away from Owen.
He is safe,
at least
for now.
She pulls me on,
until we are so deep into the trees
the rain does not touch us.
Dawn breaks beyond the wood.
The rain fades.
There comes the clang of hammers,
the grate of voices.
An axe bites wood.
A tree falls to the earth.
I jerk away from my sister.
She watches me. “The Soul Eater has sent them. They poison the wood. Mother needs their souls. The trees need their absence. Sing with me, little sister. Let us destroy them.”
I shudder at the name of the Soul Eater,
the monster even monsters
know to fear.
But I told the boy:
I am not going to kill anyone. Not anymore.
I tell my sister: “I will not.”
She seethes with anger.
She grabs my hands.
She snaps my fingers off,
one
