Page 84 of Down from the Tower

“I thought this was the Red Woods,” I breathe.

“Red for the dirt that used to cover the land. The Red Queen took over and killed so many people here the water in the streams turned red too. But this is the edge of Wonderland, and everything here is beyond imagination.”

Standing, I look at rows of flowers so tall they match the trees, and a few caterpillars crawl on by that are the size of children. I shift away from those, trying to take in the strange opulence that’s on the other side of a wasteland.

I turn to Zarev. “All this beauty and yet the space between two woods is uninhabitable?”

He shrugs. “It can’t be undone. Wonderland gets much of its beauty from people with too much power and vivid imaginations. It doesn’t extend to The Barrens. That’s where magic goes to die. I am Death and I can’t even open the rift there. That’s why the spirits wander. Until they step out of The Barrens into another part of the land, there’s nothing we can do.”

It’s hard to imagine The Barrens when I’m staring at all of this. Distracted, I move forward and brush my fingers over some leafy greens, wondering what type of plant this is. “What about the Flowerborne?”

“They aren’t going to be this close to the border, Princess. If they escape Legs, they will rush to leave the woods. I don’t know if she’s maintaining them or not, but outside of here they don’t have someone to control them. Hanging by the border is the last thing they want to do. In The Barrens, if they cross there, it’s a fifty-fifty chance that they cross without wilting and dying. Most of those plant-people aren’t the smartest. Some are only alive for a few moments before Death takes them.”

I swallow, trying to wrap my head around the morbidity in such a vibrant place. “So, how do we find Legs?”

Zarev scratches his chin, looking around. “She used to keep her house a few miles in. We can hike there so my magic isn’t totally sapped by the time we arrive, and in case we encounter anyone from Wonderland.”

“Do you think the Queen’s guards would come this direction?”

His lip twitches. “I think her army is everywhere. But Legs always did her own thing, and if the Queen isn’t collecting her flowers, I doubt Legs would go through the trouble of reporting us to her majesty. The Queen isn’t exactly her favorite person.”

I nod, turning again to take in the sights. I’d rather stand here and admire the scenery instead of looking for someone who may or may not even want to talk to us. A couple pieces of paper and a man she barely knows are hardly convincing enough to make this person want to see us. And if she knows anything about Tressa, she might not even want to see me if she works for the Queen.

But what do I know? Midas could be colluding with the Queen and it wouldn’t even surprise me anymore. Just because there’s words in the wind that she might want to seize the land doesn’t mean they aren’t working together.

Zarev’s fingers brush along my spine, offering a sense of comfort. “Don’t step out, but if you peer through the trees here, you can see The Barrens. I could feel you pulling to look when we hopped but we can only afford a quick glance.”

I offer him a grateful smile. As tedious as it is, he's humoring my need to explore, and I’m happy he can indulge me for a moment even if the view might be horrendous.

Stepping closer to a row of green-blue trees, I peer through the leaves and branches. My breath catches when I spot a spirit only a few yards off, floating sluggishly across The Barrens. I can’t see his face from this direction, but two more going the other way distract me.

One is a woman, and it looks like someone used a pair of scissors to slice open her head. As horrifying as she looks, it’s the man next to her that makes my heart stop.

I jerk backward, running into Zarev’s chest. “That’s Modred.”

He leans around me, peering through the trees. “It is.”

“How did he get this far?” I try to remember what the spirit was doing the last time I saw him. Maybe he’s as directionally challenged as me, but I didn’t think we’d see him this far from the gingerbread house. “What’s he doing out there?”

“The Barrens trap the spirits,” Zarev breathes. “Once he crossed into the land he became stuck. The Barrens are a lifeless, hopeless place. They remind the spirits of what they lost and how they died.”

I swallow. “So, that’s why his face is half-melted off?”

“Yes. If it melted completely he’d be bones and spirits hold on to bits of their lives, no matter how long ago they passed. Modred got left back in Sherwood, and when Ray found us he dealt with the spirits those two mimics stole. If Modred had just waited, he wouldn’t be suffering this fate now.”

“So there’s nothing you can do?” I sigh, turning to look at Zarev and he shakes his head. Anger causes my pulse to spike and my voice to raise. “That isn’t fair! Killing him was a mistake! I didn’t know that I could hurt people, or melt them, or…”

“You don’t know anything about your gift,” he corrects and the reality of that stings. “You knew you could recapture youth, now you know you can heal but that’s all. Melting flesh? That’s apparently a part of you, too. Your hair is strong as rope yet you barely ever use that power.”

“Except to strangle that one mimic,” I mutter. My extracurricular activities with Zarev don’t count. I’m not working on strengthening my powers when we’re in the middle of sex, I’m focused on controlling him without pain.

Zarev nods, grasping my shoulder to turn me away. “I told you. There’s nothing to be done about this. If my magic can’t do anything to help them pass on, then stepping foot into The Barrens is a risk not worth taking. The spirits would swarm you, and enough evil and angry spirits can kill someone living.”

I shudder. That’s not a death I want to experience.

He guides us away from the treeline, walking aimlessly, it seems to me, through the garden. We avoid rows of lilies and daisies that are painted in colors that make my eyes bulge at their vibrance. There’s more life here than anywhere else I’ve visited, and it seems backwards since so much evil lives in Wonderland.

It's beautiful here, making me forget that Wonderland seems to be feared by so many. “Do you know how to find Legs?”

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