Page 49 of Down from the Tower

“Shadow hop?”

He nods. “I can’t with this damnable gold in my chest. It returned even though I carved it out, which means it was already deeper inside me than I realized. It’s keeping me from healing fast, so I don’t have enough magic right now to zip us over there. If anything happens, I need to be able to fight. Shadow hopping will sap my energy and we could both be badly hurt.”

I swallow. “And… Modred?”

“His soul can keep stalking us until I’m able to reap him. Or if he’s loitering once Ray arrives, he can deal with it. For now, Modred is harmless.”

“How do you know when he’s dangerous?”

Zarev raises an eyebrow, and I almost regret the question. “Well, you killed him, didn’t you? Once hate manifests, he’ll try to kill the person who ended him. Once that happens, I’ll have to reap his soul no matter what. We can’t have a spirit killing the girl who gifts life, now can we?”

Zarev can last a lot longer than I can without nourishment. I drink down most of our water again, and I still don’t know when we had time to fill it up since last night. When my stomach growls barely an hour after we started walking, he shoots me a sideways glance. “We can pick some berries soon.”

I glance at him. We’ve walked all morning, the rocks and sticks making the soles of my feet ache again. If they didn’t make me bleed I would just shove the shoes back on. I’m sweating as we move, and Zarev adamantly refuses to carry the corset or shoes that I refused to leave behind. It’s not a lot to carry, but I’m feeling fatigued far too soon for us to make a lot of progress.

The only time he helped was when I braided my hair. It’s a little easier to deal this way, but the dress fabric doesn't make the greatest tie and I’ll need to redo it again soon. Messing around with Zarev left it even more tangled, and I would give almost anything for a sturdy comb and brush set right now.

We haven’t talked about Modred, much less whatever is building between us. The one time I tried to mention either subject to Zarev he grunted and said nothing. I haven’t bothered to try again. Maybe again later in the day.

I lick my lips, finding them chapped and dry after walking for the whole morning. “I’ll need more than berries at this rate. I’m starving.”

He raises a brow. “Are you willing to wait while I hunt and skin something then?”

Oh, I forgot he’d need to go through each step to cook something. The chefs always handled that back in the castle, and the cook prepared my meals most nights. I slowly shake my head, deciding I can’t watch Zarev kill an animal to eat right now.

He shrugs. “Berries it is.”

We stop walking a few minutes later, Zarev’s hand landing on my arm. “Here. We can pick these. The blue and the bright red are good. Dark red and purple are poisonous.”

I look at him like he’s grown a second head. They all look vaguely similar to me.

He sighs, reaching down to grab the edge of my skirt. I raise a brow as he lifts the hem before shoving it into my hands with a smirk, watching as my items tumble yet again. “Use the skirt to collect them. Gather some up and we’ll eat as we walk.”

It sounds reasonable enough, even if I glare at him as I adjust, grab my things, and narrow my eyes when I stand again. He really isn’t helping, but I suppose he’s toting along a blade the size of me and the gold still stuck in his chest.

Zarev picks a couple berries, dropping them into my skirt when he’s satisfied. “Like those. Pick the berries like those. Just bring them back over here before you eat them.” He points over his shoulder. “I’ll start this way. Just pick from the bushes along the path. We don’t need to go too far in. The deeper you go into Sherwood the more likely you are to meet a monster.”

Monsters. We haven’t encountered one of those yet, unless you consider Zarev one. I suppose Modred could be one by his own right too, though I haven’t seen the spirit since he tried watching us.

It seriously ruined the mood for me.

I decide to take Zarev’s suggestion, hurrying off with my shoes and corset clasped in one hand while I hold the skirt, picking berries with my other as I walk. I can clearly see Zarev as I walk picking berries on his side of the path, his strange eyes occasionally looking across the landscape. He’s been tense since last night, and it makes me worry about what we might run into out here.

Although the forest is beautiful, with trees taller than I’ve ever seen and colorful birds all over the place, I have to remember it’s deadly too. I don’t know what’s hiding in the bushes, or what I would do if something jumped out at me.

“Have you decided to fix me yet?”

I glance up to find Zarev shaking his head, Modred’s ghostly form floating nearby. He somehow looks more like a ghost than he did before, which is strange to say. He’s more wispy, and really floating instead of trying to touch the ground with his feet. He gets in Zarev’s face, who uses the scythe to turn him into a breeze.

When Modred reappears, he’s standing beside Zarev instead on the opposite side of the berry bush. “You owe me. Princess Murder over there killed me and you don’t even have the grace to send me onward.”

“I need magic to do so,” Zarev replies, staring at Modred. For the first time he has to look up because Modred’s decided to float. “I’m healing. It should be okay to do so by tonight. I’m not using my magic to stay invisible while we travel, so it’s not sapping my energy. Be patient. Had you not pushed her we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Modred sneers, glancing in my direction. “You’ve already made her indecent. She barely looks like royalty now. How the mighty have fallen. Stop wasting your time on the princess and fix me!”

Zarev stops picking, turning to face the spirit. “You’re letting your soul get angry. If I had enough magic I would send you on and be done with it.. But things are different right now. You act like you understand death so well for someone newly dead. You’ll be out of this land soon enough, and what happens to your soul next is out of my hands.”

I frown, listening to his words. Zarev doesn’t explain much about himself, and whether he’s a death bringer or just someone cursed, I want to know what makes him so hostile.

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