I pressed the heel of my palm to my forehead, struggling to pull the memories forward, but they remained fixed like octopus suckers.
What was I forgetting?
It hovered on the tip of my tongue.
Shaking my head to clear it, I approached the hole. I extended my arms first, hopping in place until my head went through next, and the edges compressed around my chest and my belly. On the other side of the wall, the scent of pine needles and rotting leaves filled the air. I wriggled and writhed until I was free, landing hands-first into the soft, spongy bracken.
The damp leaves clung to my sweaty skin. I scrambled to my feet and looked around. The sky was blocked by a canopy of ancient trees, their branches forming an interconnected web above my head. Darkness extended, like a hungry fog, between the thick trunks of the trees. The deepest part of the forest. Empty of life, save for me.
I turned back to the stone box, but it was no longer there.
I was free. Or perhaps, my prison had simply grown.
Chapter Twelve
Maeve Cruinn
Forward, backwards. Left, right.
I paced the clearing, trying to decide which way to go.
I was never very good at deciding.
I didn’t have much experience in making my own choices. Ever since I was a youngling, after my mother had passed, I’d been told where to stand. What to say. What to eat and when.
The forest was so dark I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. If I fell over, I wouldn’t have known the ground from the sky.
What was the point of opening my eyes at all, in such darkness?
Which way?
Any was better than none.
I chose forward.
The moment I put one foot in front of the other, the leaves gave way. A path formed, of compacted dirt and stones. The path was lighter than the forest floor, giving me some semblance of direction.
If there’s a path, perhaps, there’s a destination. I reasoned to myself.
The darkness watched me. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I kept moving as fast as I could without breaking into a run. Whatever hid in the shadows was a predator, and predators gave chase when prey ran.
Sweat clung to my brow and rolled into my eyes, burning. My breath caught in my lungs, and my heartbeat roared in my ears.
I had spent what amounted to weeks with Cormac Illfinn in the lagoon, and he had not shown a single sign of weakness. No hunger twisting his stomach, or thirst clogging his throat. He did not sleep, not like I did. All of my shortcomings compounded, leaving me faint.
Something rustled in the darkness.
The only sound in the empty forest was my labored breath.
I stopped and spun on my heel, searching wildly in every direction for the source of the sound.
If Manannán mac Lir was testing me, would he send a beast for me to fight? Or a puzzle for me to solve?
I had no idea what a ‘trial’ meant to a god.
“That path is dangerous.” A voice whispered, bouncing around my skull. “Perhaps, you should take the road less traveled...”
Fear lodged in my heart like an arrow.
