“Use your Beast! It’s a higher class!”
Barclay could think of many reasons why that was a terrible plan. First off, he didn’t even know how to summon his Beast. And even if he did, they were already dealing withonevicious monster. They certainly didn’t need to deal withtwo.
As he hesitated, the Styerwurm whipped around, whacking Barclay on the stomach and sending him flying down a hill. He tumbled to the bottom and landed painfully at the edge of the creek.
A red light burst out of the Beast’s stomach and beamed into the sky. As Barclay climbed his way up the hill, he watched in horror as its flesh broke apart and a bloodied hand appeared out of it, reaching for freedom. The slice grew bigger and bigger until it was human-sized. First Mitzi fell out, then Viola after her. Barclay caught them both before they took the same tumble down the slope.
The Beast, in a considerable amount of pain, let out a moan and turned around. It slithered away, and far in the distance, Barclay saw it once again bury its head in the earth.
“Yuck,”Barclay said. Viola and Mitzi were covered, every inch of them, in stomach juice. He held one hand to his mouth and used the other to wipe the filth off his clothes.
Viola’s curly buns were soaked, and the wispy hairs around her temples were plastered to her face. She wiped the pink gunk off her forehead, only for Mitzi—perched on her shoulder—to shake herself off and fling bile everywhere.
Viola glared at Barclay. “This is your fault!”
“My fault?” he echoed angrily. “You’re the one who got yourself eaten.”
“Becauseyouleaned on that tree that wasn’t a tree!”
“Becauseyouwere being so touchy!”
Viola’s nostrils flared, and she jabbed her finger into Barclay’s chest.
“You’re lucky I thought of something, or I’d bedead, no thanks to you. I don’t care if you’re getting your Mark removed. You’re a Lore Keeper, and you could have saved me. Just like I saved you.”
Barclay swallowed. Shehadsaved him. Even though Barclay didn’t want to be a hero on an adventure, if thiswerean epic story, she would be the hero, and he would be the world’s absolute worst sidekick.
NINE
After three more days of traveling, the pair had only gotten grumpier. Barclay was exhausted from lying awake every night, terrified they would encounter another humongous, hungry Beast. Viola was irritated from eating almost nothing other than the mushrooms Barclay foraged. And Mitzi was worn out from using her light Lore so much to keep them warm. They’d rarely spoken except to complain about the cold or their sore feet, and so Barclay jolted in surprise when Viola suddenly announced, “We’re here!”
At first, Barclay didn’t know what she meant. There was no wall, no road, no point where the forest ended and civilization began. But then he saw that the grass and weeds below them grew from the cracks between cobblestones. Trees sprouted up in the middle of streets, lanterns dangling off their branches with fireflies glowing within the glass. The stumpy, ramshackle cottages clustered together like toadstools, decorative wreaths of moss and thorns hanging on their doors. Ivy crept along each building as if the earth was trying to swallow the town whole.
If Sycomore was a bit strange, the people wereoutrageous. Even Viola, covered head-to-toe in gold pins, didn’t stand out much. They wore long cloaks of fur or tweed. Feathered hats, pointy hats, flat hats. Shoes ranging from thigh-high boots to delicate glass slippers. Their features, too, varied widely, with skin in a range of shades different from Barclay’s ruddy pale or Viola’s light brown. Though most were bundled up for Winter, golden tattoos still peeked out from people’s skin, writhing and moving much like Barclay’s own.
Andeverywhere—on people’s shoulders, poking at windows, playing on chimneys, climbing trees, flying overhead—were Beasts.
A scurry of chipmunks, with tails of thorns and bramble, darted in circles around Barclay’s feet. Beehives crystallized in ice bobbed on a few of the trees and tolled like bells as the wind rocked them back and forth. Up ahead, a Beast like a giant moose with golden antlers had fallen asleep in the center of the road, forcing pedestrians to walk around it. Barclay even passed a man carrying a shovel and a bucket whose sole job seemed to be cleaning up droppings along the streets.
Barclay and Viola had not been very friendly since the incident with the Styerwurm, but nevertheless, Barclay still shrunk behind her as they walked, clutching his Beast-warding charm, which—as per usual—seemed to do nothing to keep the Beasts away.
“This is Sycomore,” Viola explained. “It’s the largest Lore town within the Woods, and it has everything you need. There are apothecaries, Beast kennels, trinket shops, Lore doctors, and one of the six locations of the Guild.”
“Where do I need to go to remove my Mark?” Barclay asked. “To a doctor?”
“To the Guild. But I should probably come with you—it can be confusing here.”
“Great. Then let’s go.” The sooner they found someone to help him, the sooner his problem would be fixed and he could go home.
“I have errands to run first,” Viola told him.
“For what? More ingredients for your trap for Gravaldor?”
He hoped that wasn’t the case and that Viola had changed her mind. If Viola had accidentally gotten herself swallowed by a Prime class Beast, then how would she best a Legendary one?
“No,” she sighed. “I’d need the Mourningtide Morel, but it’s impossible to find after the first snow. My only other chance is Midwinter, which isn’t for a few weeks. And if I’m going to stay in Sycomore for a while, I’ll need supplies.”
If she was going to stay in Sycomore for a while, she hadtime—Barclay didn’t. But she was already marching into one of the closest stores. Its windows glittered with gold, and its sign was written in a script Barclay didn’t recognize. The symbols were jagged and hooked like the curls of a claw. After a moment examining it, Barclay realized with a start that he could read it.The Draconis Emporium.
