Page 38 of Cry of the Firebird

The forest wascold and damp from the rain the night before, the scent of sweet pines and the thick earthiness of rotting leaves filling the air.

Anya held the drum in one hand, the runes in the other, and Eikki's journals were in a bag beside her. Warm and dry inside her thick coat, she had been sitting on a rock for an hour trying to find the courage to try out the drum.

Yvan hadn't been enthusiastic about letting her out of their sight, but she couldn't handle the thought of people watching her fail. She hadn't wandered far in the forest but just enough to be out of sight of Trajan's house.

Anya turned the drum over in her hands. It was shaped in a rough oval painted in the symbols of the Saminojddrums. She had seen such drums when Eikki had taken her to the Midsummer celebrations. There had beenjoiksinging, which Eikki loved and had left her brain buzzing.

In the center of the drum was a large cross with a reindeer in the middle of it. Scattered around the drum were small drawings of churches, birds, stick figures, trees, a wolf, a bear, and more reindeer.

I know I've seen these markings before. It took Anya a few minutes of flicking through Eikki's journals before she found a small sketch of a drum and read out the scribbled note.

"The drums are read from top to bottom. The top is north, most often crowned with a cross shape—the Northern Star. The next three layers represent the Heavenly Realm, the Earthly Realm, and the Underworld. Ask it a question and cast your bone to see your answers."

Anya re-read it twice while checking her drum. There was a cross, encircled with antlers on one of the four arms of the larger center crosspiece. The north, the heavens. She didn't know what all the other symbols meant, but she understood how a compass worked. Maybe it would work that way too?

Anya placed the drum in front of her on the ground, took out her runes, and randomly picked one. It was smooth in her hand and had a scratching in it like a slanted L. Her fingertips tingled as she sorted through them to find the one that Yvan had shown her.

Baba Yaga had said to dropRaidhoon it, and Yvan explained it looked like a crooked R. She finally found it and turned it over in her palm until the stone turned warm. Silencing all the voices in her head, Anya stretched her hand out over the drum.

"Show me the path to Paris," she said.

Heat rushed through her, making her ears pop, and she dropped the runestone. It bounced once on a bird, then jumped to land on a string of crosses before stopping on a stick figure wearing a dress. She ignored the thrumming under her skin and tried to imagine it landing on a compass. Southeast.

"Okay, maybe that's the way…" Anya breathed out, picked up the rune, placed it into the bag, and tucked them into her coat pocket. She had just stood up when a deep growl echoed through the trees. A gray wolf appeared in view, not ten feet from her, and her heart stopped.

"The Master wants you," it rasped through its teeth.

"So which one are you? Vischto or Vischtan?" Anya stepped backward carefully, and the wolf growled.

"Vischto, and I'll be the one that is honored for finding you."

"My friends know where I am," Anya said, taking another step.

"The Master knows where you are too, and he's coming for you." Vischto crouched down, and Anya turned and bolted.

In the same instant, something huge and black sped past her, followed by a yelp. She stopped and turned as a giant wolf wrestled with Vischto with brutal ferocity. Vischto bit viciously at Izrayl's back, making him buck as he tried to throw him off. As panic built up in her, Anya's body tingled, and searing pain streaked down her arm.

"No! Stop!" Anya held out a burning hand, and the heat rushed thick and fast from her. It hit Vischto in the side, sending him to ground screeching and howling. Izrayl fell back as the wolf transformed into a skinny, naked man with black eyes filled with agony. He writhed, scratching deep red gashes in his pale flesh. His breath hissed out of him as his body exploded, showering them in ash.

Anya's hand was still outstretched as her legs gave way, and she crumpled on the ground. Izrayl morphed back into a human body covered in Vischto's bites and scratches. She felt him lift her, but she couldn't move or speak, her face and lips completely numb.

"Bloody Yvan is going to kill me," Izrayl muttered, moving quickly through the forest towards the house.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

"What happened?" Trajan demanded as soon as Izrayl walked inside. "Give her to me and get Cerise to help you with your wounds. You're bleeding everywhere." Trajan carried Anya quickly up the stairs to her room.

"I'm 'k…" Anya mumbled through numb lips. "Vissto."

Trajan wrapped her in a blanket and held her tight.

Yvan stormed into the room. "What the hell happened?"

"Go and see Izrayl. They were attacked. Get Anya some coffee or something to warm her up. She is shivering," Trajan commanded.

Yvan glared at him but did as he was told. "We should never have let you go in the forest alone," Trajan said, rocking Anya gently.

"Just cold…" Anya managed, resting her pounding head in the groove of his neck. She breathed in his warm autumn scent.Trajan.

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