glowing eyes are seen from the murky pond.
The forest witch chuckles, and the atmosphere in the clearing changes once again, our gazes all pulled back to her. We had been fools to look away and fear the kelpie. They are dangerous creatures, but we allowed it to distract us from the monster just paces away from us. Dread and fear flood my system as I watch the creature’s beautiful face change into something horrific, her mouth opening into a huge maw with rows of gleaming teeth as she smiles at us. “You’ve been warned. I told you to leave, but you stayed.” Her voice is different now, melodic despite the change in her appearance. “You should be safe, magic breaker.” She licks her lips, her eyes flitting to the guys behind me. “But your mates might not be so fortunate.”
“Run,” I whisper, but I might as well have shouted given the reaction of my friends. The singing starts immediately, and she was right, it doesn’t affect me now like it did before, now that I know how it works, but the same can’t be said for the others. Naril and Vaeril are faster, but I see their bodies shudder and jerk as they fight against the magic. Vaeril glances over his shoulder at me, realising I’m farther behind. “Go!” I scream, needing him to be safe. He seems to be more immune than Naril, who is frozen to the spot, his body trembling. “Get Naril, get out of hearing range!” I demand, yanking at Tor’s arm.
Turning to look at the tribesman, I see the pain on his face as he fights against the song. Each step he takes looks like he’s pulling the weight of a mountain behind him. I suspect Vaeril is more immune to the witch’s song thanks to his bond with me, but Tor and I have not completed that bond yet, so he doesn’t have that benefit. “Tor,” I call, my fear rising as I see his eyes go blank, his body straightening suddenly. “Tor! Look at me!” I shout, shaking his arms until I see the light return to his eyes, his focus and mind returning. Grabbing his hands, I place them over his ears. I know it won’t stop the song, it’s already in his head now, but it should help if I can get him farther away. Slowly, I drag him from the clearing and into the forest until I reach the main pathway.
“I’m okay now,” he promises, standing straight as he lowers his hands, shaking his head. “What the hell was that?”
“A very old and powerful fae,” Vaeril answers, and I spin in surprise, seeing him and Naril making their way towards us with the horses following behind. Relief floods my system as I run my eyes over the two of them. They both seem uninjured, but Naril looks away from me, not meeting my eyes, and I realise he’s embarrassed.
“Let’s get out of here,” he mutters, and for once, I fully agree with him.
I hate travelling, it’s official. As a slave, I’d spent most of my time working in the castle in the capital, except for my first year where I worked in the farms. So other than when I’d been manacled, blindfolded, and thrown into a carriage, I’d never travelled much in my life before I was freed. It’s boring, and I hadn’t quite realised how big the continent was.
I end up thinking about that phase of my life a lot. I have plenty of time to do so, after all. I think about the hours we spent labouring in the fields, burning and dehydrated in the summer sun and freezing in the winter. The weather in the north of Morrowmer is harsh, and the farms, which are situated just outside of Arhaven, have very little shelter. The farms were worse than the city, the beatings and the way female slaves were treated was awful. I’m not sure why I was moved to the city. The official reason was that I was too young, but at nine, I certainly wasn’t the youngest slave there.
“Are you okay?” Vaeril asks quietly from my side, his leg brushing mine as he brings his horse closer.
It’s been two days since we left the wood elves and had the encounter with the forest witch. Ever since, I’ve felt their eyes on me, as if they’re expecting me to fall apart or spontaneously start producing magic. I surprised them when I managed to break all of