Page 83 of Down from the Tower

It’s kind of eerie thinking that we’ll see so many dead soon. “Why do they go to The Barrens?”

He purses his lips, looking wistful for a moment. “The Barrens used to be an area further north, covering a sparse landscape that stretched from the thorny barrier of Thornton Palace up to the edges of the Red Forest, closest to the Mad Queen’s court. It was just an area where life didn’t really grow. But when Legs started using her magic, and the Queen added in her dark twists and poisoned the land, The Barrens stretched further. The land couldn’t handle the evil that leaked from the lands, and many Flowerborne rose from that spot before the earth was too tainted for them to continue. The edge of The Barrens is also near the stone plates that fell on us, turning us to Reapers.”

My eyes widen, forgetting all about the map. In his tale the stones sounded far away near the castle, not close to where we would go. “But the stones don’t exist anymore, do they? Since you fashioned weapons to reap out of them?”

“There’s still one, another pile of stones a bit away. There used to be a blade plunged into it, but some years ago Arthur came through and pulled the sword from the stone. That’s Excalibur, the deadly blade he wields.”

Pieces fall into place in my mind. “The stone where Excalibur was found is on the Queen’s lands?”

His brow twitches. “Yes.”

“So…” I lick my lips, dread settling over me. “So if there’s truth to the soldiers crawling through Mystica, and allying to attack Tressa?”

“There could be,” he agrees. “As far as most of the country knows, Excalibur rested in Camelot until Arthur pulled it free of the stone. It’s a secret he keeps from outside kingdoms, and only the Knights of the Round Table know anything about it. They’ve had an agreement for a long time.”

I shift away when he moves to pull me in, calling the shadows around us. If we start hopping it’s almost impossible to talk, and I want answers. “So how do you know?”

He blows out a breath. “Do you think we ran back to our old lives after death greeted us? We traveled through the Red Woods for a time, and crossed back and forth between there and Sherwood trying to learn how to exist in our half-alive states. We found the stone when we were traveling. Legs saw us one day, warning us that the Queen’s guards trample through every so often, and if she knew we had died at that point, she didn’t let on. When Lucius asked about the other stone, she admitted it belonged to Excalibur. I didn’t know the relevance of that until a few years later when I heard of the King of Camelot making waves across Mystica.”

I hold out my hand, and he slides his fingers against my warm palm as I process what he’s said. “We better get going before someone finds us. But I do want to know about Legs and all these secrets that keep surrounding my life.”

Zarev gives me a half smile, before pulling me against his body. I close my eyes, enjoying the warmth of him before the shadows surround us, whisking us away.

I study the map that night and well into the morning. Zarev dropped us far enough from The Barrens that I didn’t hear or see much last night, and it makes me antsy for today. I’ve folded and unfolded the letters a dozen times while he studies our surroundings, using skills I don’t have to listen to the wildlife around us.

His fingers rub at his chest, and I worry that will be a problem he’ll have to carry forever. Midas’ gift is supposed to turn the living to gold. But if Zarev’s half alive, he’ll be half-turned forever, and I’m not sure I can live with the guilt.

His head cocks to one side, listening. “I’ll take us across quickly,” he says, but when I follow his line of vision I don’t see what’s caught his attention. Maybe he’s just lost in thought. “Once we shadow hop to the other side we’ll have to slip past the border and see who is hiding over there. You’ll see the spirits when we hop.”

Nodding, I shove the map into my pocket and double check the letters are secure. I need to focus, and Zarev is too tense for my liking. He stares off into the distance again, and I can’t help wondering if going to the Red Woods brings back unwanted memories. Has he avoided the place all this time?

It wouldn’t surprise me. The Mad Queen seems to make enemies out of everyone.

When he’s ready, he wraps his arms around me and we disappear into the shadows. Traveling the short burst from our campsite to the edge of The Barrens only takes a single jump, and my eyes widen when I get my first glimpse of them.

The land reminds me of sand, like the pale spots I saw along the far edge of the docks in Tressa. I’ve never spent time on a beach, and I’ve only seen sand in pictures or from a great distance.

But the barrens aren’t beautiful. It’s surprisingly warm as Zarev leaves the security of Sherwood, a humid wind slamming into the shadows. For a moment I wonder if his shadow magic can travel someplace without shade, but there’s rocks and dead trees across the space.

He uses those to hop, but a smaller landing space seems to cause him to move faster. He said that he has to use a shady spot to blend with the shadows, sliding the inky blackness across space to move almost invisibly. If the space is small, it's easier for the disguise to fade, so we move quickly across The Barrens.

Then I see the spirits.

At first we’re shifting too fast, almost at a blinding speed, and it’s hard to pick them out. But in the shade of a tree for a few seconds I catch the faces of a few.

I almost lose my grip on Zarev. It’s impossible to talk when we’re part of the shadows, which ’s the only thing that keeps me from screaming. Their faces are horrid, contorted, like they’ve been pulled and torn and twisted; their bug eyes are enough to convince me that these spirits are different from Modred or even the ones Zarev mentioned from the gingerbread house.

Then we’re off again, The Barrens zipping by, and we either move too fast or there aren’t any other spirits nearby as we finish crossing. When he touches down on the other side I gasp, staggering to my knees. Zarev helps me down, kneeling in dewy grass with me.

Grass. Not weeds or dirt or sand, but grass. Prettier and greener than anything in Tressa. I hold my head for a moment, one hand pressed to the ground as I try to catch my breath.

“Going through different climates is harder on the body,” Zarev explains, rubbing soothing circles along my back. “Take your time. It’s disorienting to go from a cool forest to the heat of barren lands into the humidity of the Red Woods.”

He’s right, it’s much hotter here than in Sherwood. How far did we go? He wrapped us in shadows before I could see the edge of Sherwood, and I couldn’t gauge how far across it was.

It felt like a lifetime, but maybe it was only a few minutes.

When I can breathe again, I lift my gaze. The weeping willows are some of the biggest I’ve seen, but they are a mix of teal, sunshine yellow, and blood red. Looking around I see there’s an assortment of different trees in every color imaginable.

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