ChapterFour
Terror threatens to clog my throat. My resolution not to beg or cry is nearly destroyed when the darkness on the other side consumes my vision.
The king chuckles, no doubt seeing my wavering conviction. “Nothing to say now, I see.”
Glancing at the fat bastard, I bare my teeth at him like a feral animal. “Fuck you.”
The guard on my left shoves me forward, telling me he’ll happily push me inside due to my disrespect of the king if I don’t walk willingly. Leave it to the guards, the prisoners in the Gilded Lands, to think themselves better off than we are. Just because they are treated a little better doesn’t mean they aren’t also prisoners of this world.
Tugging down the hem of the silk slip I’m wearing, I take a halting step forward. The people around me, my people, watch me with various expressions on their faces. Some look unbearably sad, while some look gleeful at my demise. I’ve caused enough trouble over the years to make many of them, especially the men, happy about this outcome, but I don’t care about any of them.
I take another step, slowly moving toward the gap. I know I only have so long, and once I’m on the other side, the magic will sense it and the vines will close behind me.
The darkness before me is terrifying, but something about it also calls to me. Perhaps some sort of death wish makes it easier to take another step, and then another, and then another. I hold my breath as I become even with the vines, almost expecting something to jump out and attack me. I know that won’t happen. Whatever magic made the barrier means that the creatures can’t attack while the hole is open.
I glance to the side and see my father there, his disdain written clearly on his face. Despite my sacrifice bringing the family gold, he doesn’t care. I’ve somehow won, somehow gotten the upper hand over him, even if it’s with my death. That thought makes me smile at him, and it only seems to anger him more. What a worthless man.
Kai stands beside and slightly behind him, fresh tears rolling down her face. As I step across the barrier completely, her face is the last thing I see as the vines begin to knit back together. They move like snakes, slithering between and around. Before I’m hidden from view completely, I mouth, “I love you,” knowing she’ll be heartbroken at this outcome.
But she’ll be okay. She’ll be happy, and that’s all that matters.
The moment the vines close completely, what little light streamed in from the Shadow Lands disappears, leaving me standing in the darkness for long minutes as I wait for my eyes to adjust. The oppressive darkness makes me shiver, along with the chill from the lack of sunlight. Once my vision adapts, I realize it’s not completely pitch-black. There’s just less light filtering in through the trees here, as if the forest is meant to be this way. I stare at the twisted and gnarled trees, at the way they form shapes that should be impossible for a tree to make. Thick green moss grows on them, coating them until they are almost fuzzy with it. There is so much black here, so much animosity. The ground, also black, sinks beneath my feet like sludge. There is no color anywhere, only shades of black.
I peer up at the sky, but it rolls with shadows, and there’s a scent, like rotting flesh. I nearly gag before I slow my breathing and swallow back the bile. When the sickness passes, I blow out a breath, pull the small bag from beneath my shift, and drape it over my shoulder, wearing it as it should be. This is it. This is what I’m faced with now. I have no choice in the matter.
I’m tempted to turn around and try to climb over the barrier, but I know the magic won’t allow me to. The barrier prevents anything from crossing, or at least that’s how it’s supposed to work. I only know what they have told me.
The darkness beckons me forward, so trying to hold on to the same bravery that had me spitting obscenities at the king, I begin to move deeper into the darkness. Something howls in the distance, and I pause, but when it doesn’t get closer, I keep going. They hadn’t given me proper boots. I’m wearing soft slippers that match the slip, so when I step on a branch wrong, I curse at the sharpness of it.
I groan at the sting, knowing I’ve probably cut my foot open, but I can’t stop here and check it, not until I’ve found somewhere safe to settle—if there is such a thing here. I don’t know how badly I’m bleeding, but I can feel the moisture staining the slipper. I’ll have to fashion something better for shoes soon. Perhaps make some sort of better clothing too. This isn’t the proper attire for survival.
The noises reach my ears a moment later, as if the magic of the barrier muted them all. One moment, the world is silent around me, and the next, the sounds of a forest reach my ears. The hums of the insects come through first, and while they are not threatening, they lend to the dangerous atmosphere with their clatter. It isn’t the insects that have fear trickling into my throat, however.
It’s the other sounds.
Hoots, hollers, growls, howls, and deep, reverberating snarls echo through the trees around me as if welcoming me to their home. It’s more like a welcome to the dinner table, I think, as I take precautions to move as quietly as possible. Unluckily for me, I’ve never been light-footed. Kai had been better at sneaking about. I’m far better at making a racket and waking the entire village.
I’m unsteady on my feet as the cut begins to burn and ache, but I have to keep going. I have to. If I stop, I’ll be a sitting duck, and I need to survive. I have to, for Kai, and then when I do, I’ll return and start a revolution that the Shadow Lands severely needs.
A big fuck you to the king.
The sound of a stick breaking to my right has me freezing and jerking my head in that direction. I wait, searching for the source, but when nothing immediately attacks, I ease forward again. My heartbeat is so loud, it’s echoing in my ears. I pray that the monsters in this forest can’t hear it, but it’s a foolish hope.
They are monsters, so of course they can hear my heartbeat and smell my blood.
Realizing my mistake, I hiss in a breath and rip a thin strip from my silk shift. I swiftly ease off the slipper and wrap up the cut, trying to staunch the bleeding as best as I can. It’s pointless now since the slipper is dotted with the blood. What a fool I’ve been!
Still, nothing immediately comes out of the darkness, so once I’ve wrapped it well enough, I move forward again. This time, I pull the small paring knife from my bag and hold it in my hand just in case.
I won’t be a gift wrapped in a pretty bow for the monsters.
I won’t accept my fate.
I won’t go down without a fight…
ChapterFive
Keeping my eyes peeled, I lighten my steps as I make my way through the darkened forest, trying to stay as quiet as possible and draw as little attention as I can. I see the shadows shifting, and I swear at one point, I even see glowing eyes peering through the leaves of a thorn bush.
