Page 74 of The Great and Terrible

He bowed his head as if he understood and entertained the same sentiment, then bounded for the woods. His loss was an arrow to my heart, but I, too, understood. Our lives were on different paths.

Jasher gently wiped the droplets of sorrow from my cheeks. “Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

“Yes, but this still hurts.”

“I expect a commendation after this,” Leona mumbled, peering from one fallen monstra to another. “A star of honor. Ballads sung about my bravery. Legends repeated for eons to come. Something!”

“I’m shocked we’re all still alive. But you.” Pale and trembling, Patch pointed a finger of accusation at me. “You caught fire. Materialized armor. Golden armor at that. Not even water maidens can do that.”

“I can’t explain it.”

Villagers peeked through the trees before returning to the town square in groups. “You’ve heaped punishment upon our heads!” someone shouted. “The royal army will come.”

“How did they kill the monstra?” Wonder and distress coated the question.

Sounds of agreement arose, quickly morphing into a songof rage and fear. Other bellows breeched the uproar. “Go!” “Leave us!” “We don’t want you here!”

“Did you forget we stopped the storm and prevented the death of one of your own?” I demanded. “Does a young mother with everything to live for ring any bells?”

The citizens of Gum Drop Lane meant business. They swiped up pebbles and rocks and hurled them at us, as if we’d ruined their lives rather than saved the day. A rock whizzed narrowly missed my cheek, rousing anger and hurt.

Jasher clasped my hand in his and, with the pack slung over his shoulder, propelled me along the same trail Nugget had taken. Patch and Leona stayed close to our heels. I wasn’t even surprised when we came upon the hat, allowing me to reclaim my property. Rather than wear it, I folded it into a square and pocketed it.

“Not to repeat myself, but Moriah caught fire, and she’s not a heap of ash,” Patch said, her voice tinged with hysteria.

“Keep yourself together until we reach camp,” Jasher commanded.

He maintained his clasp on my hand, shoving past sharp branches while the ladies hustled to remain five steps behind us. At some point, however, those branches seemed to move out of our path of their own accord. Insects and singing sirenes went quiet. Even rainbow birds kept their distance.

“I think the forest is afraid of you,” he muttered for my ears alone. Tension radiated from him.

“Me?” But that was ludicrous. A woodland wasn’t sentient. Was it? No, no. It had displayed no type of personality before this. “A forest is just a forest.”

“I’ve never seen it react to someone this way.” He picked up his pace. “We’re two days from Lux. Four if we go around this grove, which I think we should do. As the villagers proved, those snared by fear can do terrible things.”

Doubling our journey wasn’t an option. The longer Istayed in Hakeldama, the more danger I faced. I’d even begun to throw myself into life and death situations with utter abandon. For Daddy’s sake, I should leave as soon as possible. “Wewill be acting in fear if we forgo the shortcut. We’ve overcome every obstacle so far. That isn’t going to change.”

A long while passed before he nodded. “Very well.”

We continued on until sunset and made camp. Too exhausted for conversation, we ate the last of the jerky and fell asleep around the fire. I slept in the crook of Jasher’s arm again, clinging. But he clung to me, too.

When morning arrived, we cleaned up and set out, forgoing breakfast. Despite the lack of nourishment, everyone else’s mood was much improved. I felt as if I were being watched again.

Leona teased Patch about her tangles, and Patch seized every opportunity to poke me, shake her head, and muttered about otherworlders. Jasher whistled under his breath. I constantly glanced over my shoulder.

“Why are there so many birds?” Patch shooed a flock. One squawked at her, and she yelped, hurrying on.

Therewerea lot of birds about. They flew here, there, and everywhere, growing more and more agitated. Ultimately, they shot into the sky in unison, as though frightened away. Amid the sudden quiet, our group stopped.

“Something comes.” Menace radiated from Jasher as he palmed an ax.

I unsheathed my dagger, ready.

Up ahead, branches parted and leaves rustled. A pair of majestic black and white horses trotted forward, each bearing a single horn between its eyes. The black one possessed white wings and the white one possessed black wings, each feathery masterpiece arching backward.

“Pegacorn,” Leona breathed.

“Told you,” I sang. Not extinct.

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