Twisting boughs and dense foliage made twilight of noonday sun. By nightfall, midnight would seem bright as dawn.
Rosalie curled tightly to Healer. Strange clicks and grunts came and went throughout the impenetrable understory. Animal calls the little Yesha had never heard before. Curiosity, a need to know these creatures’ forms filled her, but as alien shrieks split the canopy, her scales trembled, coils tightening around the demigiant’s shoulder.
“It’s alright, wee one,” Healer’s rumbling voice called to her. “Even in this awful place, Estoria’s eyes are upon us. She’ll not let nothing harm us.”
So close to him, Rosalie didn’t need to listen with her ears. She could feel his voice throughout her body. If only she could believe him.
“Of course, Mr. Priest, sir,” she agreed despite her doubts. Because no god has ever sent one of its servants into harm’s way…
Her stomach rumbled. Worry for the forest had claimed her appetite that morning, and the lack of breakfast was beginning to fog her mind. She could think of little else beyond food, but after that thing copied Echo’s face, caution rendered its necessity moot.
Glancing back, she focused through her the heat sensing pits of her snake form. Just the two zephyrni women behind them. Mira’s hand blazed white as she gripped Echo’s hand. She sighed with relief. The two hadn’t parted since the elf shot the imposter duchess.
“Not much longer,” Vadanian whispered back to them. “There’s a cave ahead. We’ll be stopping to eat and rest within the hour.”
“In a cave?” Echo stammered out. “I mean no offense, Master Vadanian, but wouldn’t a clearing be wiser?”
Rosalie silently nodded.
The elf shot the duchess a flat look. “Oh. Right. Sure. I forgot. You’re the one that knows this cursed forest.” Shaking his head, he ran his thumb along the flights of his arrow. “A clearing in this place is about a death sentence. A million eyes could be on you, and you’d not see a single one. At least with a cave you’ve only got two directions to worry about.”
“I’m afraid I have to agree, my lady,” said Mira. “We don’t know what might already be watching us. Heading into a clearing gives them any number of angles they could launch an attack from.”
“There ya go, bird knight,” said Vadanian.
Feathers fluffing, a sharp breath puffed from Echo.
Pressing deeper in the Falefal, Rosalie refused to stay still. Aside from their nu-sadis guide’s eyes, they were relying on her heat vision. Not that she told them that that was why she chose the form of a snake, and not something like her fearsome battle cat or the massive crocogator she’d faced the demon with back home in the marsh.
Sometimes she pitied the unchanging races. Always stuck in one shape. Never being able to learn how the animals they shared the world with experienced life. Granted, it would be nice to not be mistaken for a human toddler in her natural form.
As they pressed deeper into the forest, she kept her serpentine senses open. Not that there was much to detect. Neither bravery nor desperation guided many creatures into the confines of the Falefal. Rosalie doubted she detected much more than a stray mouse or sparrow all day.
That was probably the worst of it. There simply wasn’t anything to see, granting even greater credence to its haunted legend. After all, dead things weren’t exactly known for their warmth.
Ahead, she detected a sharp drop in temperature. A simple hole opening into the earth where cooler air persisted. The cave they were looking for.
Crick!
The sharp snap of a twig drew their attention. Heads jerking sharply, a massive form filled her heat vision. A creature, equine in shape, its shoulders sat about the height of Mira’s head. Its coat was a dull silver-gray as though tarnished. Mane and tail glistened white as moonlight in forest’s shade, and upon its head rose a splendid, curving horn.
But the way it looked at them. Eyes narrow. Nostrils twitching as if tasting them from afar. It made the Yesha’s scales crawl.
Echo’s brow furrowed. “A unicorn? Here?”
Bow rising, Vadanian loosed from half draw, arrow narrowly missing its mark.
“The devil are you—!?”
A horrible shriek silenced Echo as the unicorn reared. Not a whinny or a neigh, nor any other sound Rosie had ever heard a horse make before. The creature screamed, screamed like a woman who’d just been stabbed.
Razor hooves slashed the air. Lips pulled back revealing gnashing fangs. The unicorn or whatever it was lowered its head and charged, saber-like horn leveled on the forest elf.
Rosalie struggled to keep her eyes on it as Healer wheeled, drawing his mace. Too late. The unicorn flew by, cudgel smashing through empty space.
Vadanian moved like the air itself. Springing aside, he simply wasn’t there when it arrived. Two arrows sprung from his bowstring.
Thunk-Thunk!
They stuck into the monster’s side.
Steel rung from Mira’s scabbard as she leapt at the beast. Arctic chill poured out. Endless steam poured from Frost Fang’s pale-blue blade as never-ending ice thrown upon burning coals. No crimson spurted from the wound it left, only frozen droplets at the magic sword’s frigid bite.
Snorting in pain, the unicorn turned on the knight. With a sharp jerk, it stabbed into a gap in her armor. A muffled scream filled Mira’s throat. Face contorting in pain; she brought her pommel down on the creature’s neck, dislodging it.
Arcane words floated from Echo’s mouth. Energy crackled down her arm. Eyes flashing, she thrust her palm at it sending a half-dozen bolts of concentrated light screaming out. Each found its mark, loosing a heavy thud as they exploded across the unicorn, knocking it back.
Unwrapping her coils, Rosalie sprang from Healer’s shoulder. The viper stretched out, swelling to eight feet in length. Huge limbs of rippling muscle squelched out from the serpent’s body. Thick fur replaced shiny scales. Hollow fangs hardened into saber-teeth aimed at the monster’s neck.
A deep feline growl filled the Yesha’s throat as she missed her mark but barely. She might not have been able to clamp her jaws down and sever its spinal cord, but ferocious teeth left deep gashes down the side of its neck.
“The hell is this thing!?” Mira demanded.
“Falefal unicorn,” Vadanian said simply. “The forest’s warped them. They’re predators of the highest order.”
Rearing, the unicorn slashed with its hooves. Rosalie yelped as fur and hide split beneath their razor edges. Turning on the spot, it bucked with its hind legs, sending Mira tumbling.
Three more arrows screamed from Vadanian’s bow. Each found its mark, though the thick bones of the Falefal’s perversion prevented them from doing much damage. At least, they would hamper its movement.
Healer lunged. Wrapping his great arms around the beast’s neck, the demigiant twisted his hips and tossed the unicorn to the ground. Shock filled the creature’s face as the priest brought his mace down on it, shattering its horn.
Six more crackling bolts ripped from Echo. The great predator didn’t even get a chance to shake its head as they slammed into its head one after another.
Wincing through the burning pain, Rosalie sprung. Latching her claws into the unicorn’s shoulders, she tore back, anchoring herself and it to the ground. Drawing back, her jaws opened wide. Saber fangs trained on its neck, she clamped down with all her might.
A horrible whinny escaped the beast. It twitched once. Twice. Then fell still.
The little Yesha rolled away, letting her form revert to its natural state. She clutched at the bleeding wound across her chest. Hissing breaths filled her as her mind lit with fire.
“Hold on little one,” said Healer as he knelt in prayer.
Golden light filled his eyes. Pressing a hand to her, words calling for relief in the name of Estoria filled him. Gradually, the pain filling the shapeshifter lessened as flesh knitted closed.
“Bugger,” Echo scarcely breathed. “Is there nothing normal in this bloody forest?”
“On the contrary,” Vadanian said as he retrieved his arrows. “Ain’t nothing much more normal than predator and prey, la? We were just on the receiving end of the natural order this time, your highness.”
Echo gritted her teeth. “Things that steal faces. Unicorns with fangs. I swear, if I have to fight some sort of sentient moss…!”
“In that case,” an evil grin filled Vadanian, “we best stay out of the swamp…”
She shot him an incredulous look.
“Come… my lady,” Mira coughed as she struggled to regain her breath. “Let’s get inside and eat.”
“I’m with the walking dinner bell,” Vadanian said as Healer tended to the knight. “Eat now whilst we can. Let me get my bearings. Never know what’s where when in this bloody forest.”
The duchess’s eye twitched. “Lovely.”
The cave was nothing more than that: an opening into the earth. Although Rosalie wouldn’t consider the Falefal particularly warm or uncomfortable—at least, compared to the sweltering summers of her Larris Marsh homeland—the temperature dropped noticeably as they slunk inside.
Stagnant air filled the shallow cavern. A mineral pool fed by dripping water blocked the far end from deeper travel. Not that any of them were inclined to go spelunking in the first place.
If it wasn’t for the fact that they’d just killed a unicorn that was trying to eat them in a cursed forest where every tree had at least one body in its roots, the Yesha had to admit it might’ve made a nice place for a picnic.
“Alright then,” Vadanian said as they settled down for lunch. “That’s about it for the quiet part. It’ll be rough going from here.”
“That was the quiet part?” Echo sputtered.
“Didn’t stutter, did I?”
Strangled sounds filled Echo as she looked to the others.
“I think what my lady means is, how much worse are things about to get?” said Mira.
“Heaps? Loads?” Vadanian shrugged. “Hard to say if I’m to be honest. Every time’s different. Might not be much worse, a few more of them things that like to play dress up with your mates’ faces, another man-eating unicorn or two, at least one ghost looking to warm themselves by the fire, but it could be absolute hell from here on out.”
“Don’t reckon you can give us no idea of what you consider hell then, eh?” said Healer.
“Can’t say I can, old man. Even I don’t reckon I’ve seen everything this forest’s got up its sleeve. Wouldn’t even put it past it having some sort of dragon or some such in it. And where we’re heading? That’s uncharted territory to be sure.”
Echo rocked forward. “I thought you said you knew where Ja-Harris’s tower was!?”
“Aye, I do,” Vadanian affirmed. “But knowing where something is and ever going there is two different things, ain’t it?”
Laying a hand on Echo’s shoulder, Mira pulled her back. “You’re saying no one has ever gone to that tower?”
He nodded. “Not for lack of trying, mind. But that tower?. If it’s his, he doesn’t seem the sort that like guests. High walls that grow if you try and climb them. Powerful gusts that kick up out of nowhere if you try to fly. Even if you do make it inside, I hear tell he’s got things in there. Men in armor from the look of ‘em, but rumor is, they move without ever getting tired. Keep coming no matter how hard you hit them. Hiding don’t do no good neither. It’s like they don’t even need to see you to find you.”
“Any idea what they could be, my lady?” Mira said to Echo.
The duchess shook her head. “Not exactly. There are a number of things a master wizard could summon or create that match such a description. None are particularly pleasant.”
“Ain’t too late to turn back now if you lot are losing your nerve. I’ll even refund you half my price,” said Vadanian.
There was a long pause as they mulled over his words. But even as they sat there, the truth of Narsis’s words echoed collectively in their heads: If you’re looking for forgotten things, it’s best to start in forbidden places.
“You all heard the man,” Mira muttered. “Eat up. We need to press on sooner than later. How long until we’ll need to set camp?”
“If we hurry? Should be able to log a few more hours so long as the forest decides it wants to leave the trails where they’re supposed to be anyway.” Vadanian glanced to Echo. “Don’t suppose you know any of them fancy hut spells, do you?”
Lips screwing, Rosalie could see Echo’s thought of, “Do I?” written on her face as clearly as if she’d spoken it. Retrieving her spellbook, the noblewoman poured over it as they ate, finally settling on a page as the elf snuffed the fire.
“Not exactly a Lestainer château, but this might do,” said Echo.
“How long’ll it take you to cast it, love?” said Vadanian.
“An hour?” Echo estimated. “Perhaps a half if I cut some corners. I’ll admit this field of magic isn’t exactly my forte.”
“Let’s figure for the full hour and some change then, la? Better safe than sorry.”
“Fair,” she agreed.
Finishing their meal, Rosalie prepared to transform back into a snake to help keep watch. It wasn’t a preferred form of hers, she really rather preferred having limbs, but the heat vision had its perks. She waited for the demigiant to shoulder his pack and let her self-image drift to that of a cottonmouth, but as her limbs began to shrink in, she heard something.
“Rosie?”
She halted her transformation, not even half formed.
“Rosalie?”
The Yesha’s nose wrinkled. That voice. It was so familiar. How?
“Rosie, darling, where are you?”
Straining her ears, she turned her head to listen to what she knew couldn’t be.
Echo turned to her. “Something the matter, Rosie dear?”
But the shapeshifter didn’t hear her. Her entire focus was on listening.
It couldn’t be them. It couldn’t! Leagues from the Larris Marsh? After so many years? There was no way!
“Where are you, buttercup?”
She gasped. “Papa?”
“Rosalie! Tea’s going cold!”
“Mama!?”
Abandoning reason, Rosalie leapt for the mouth of the cave. Her arms compressed down into wings. Feathers sprouted across her whole form as her clothes slid inside of her shrinking figure. Her nose joined with her jaw to create a beak. Before anyone could react, a falcon blazed out into the scant forest light.
About the Author
A. S. Raithe is a fantasy author living near Pittsburgh with his wife and children. Always the creative type, it wasn’t until high school and being introduced to a local bestselling author that he found his passion for writing. He took time away from writing to attend college before being convinced by his wife to pick it up again shortly after their wedding. Outside of writing he enjoys exercise, baking, gardening, folklore, music, and hiking.
