Page 47 of Claimed By Night

“What?”

She swallow an’ look all kinds o’ confused. “I can’t explain it. I don’t know how I know Baron’s not dead; I just do.” Then, she look at me an’ her eyes go all wide an’ I’m thinkin’, like, she definitely crazy. “I just know… Baron’s alive.”

“Look, angel. Your head ain’t screwed on straight. Baron’s gone.”

She nod but she don’t seem convinced. “Angel,” she say like she ain’t never heard the word before.

“Why don’t you show ‘em your wings, anyway? It’d make things lots easier for me… well, for us.” I move closer to the fire, the air ‘round us feelin’ colder still. The warmth starts to make my eyes droop.

“I can’t,” she say. I notice her eyelids startin’ to droop, too. Her breath gets real slow.

I feel like I could fall asleep, but even though I can’t see it no more, I know that big tall wall o’ the city is right behind us. And maybe it’s jist on account o’ my overactive imagination, but I can’t help but feel like that howlin’ is gettin’ louder.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SILVANUS

The Raven Forest,

Shadow Realm

The forest floor stretches infinitely beneath my bare feet. I feel the trees shake the earth as their spiraling roots reach out to greet me. It is here—in this forest, outside the edges of an inhospitable city—that I have been called. I am father to these forgotten trees, deformed and rotting, that rise from the ground despite never knowing sun. But, as there is light, so too must there be darkness. And I welcome the darkness as gently as I welcome the light.

Shielded behind the thick base of a tree, I watch them: five beings. Three are creatures of the light, two of darkness. Those of the light grow weaker as the seconds turn to minutes and the minutes turn to hours. And one, the female, is closer to death than any of them realize. She is the reason I have come.

I grab hold of the bark and centipedes, thick and black, crawl out to greet me. And with them, giantDrehegs, many-legged insects with long antennae that twitch in response to me. The wind whistles my name as it blows through the skeletal trees. Creatures of this dark realm have already noticed my arrival and they shyly venture forth. I hold out my hands and welcome them, encouraging them, speaking the language of the wind.

A serpentineHireb, blue and rubbery, crawls along the forest floor with its twelve legs before clambering up the bark of a tree just beside me. Its lightning breath incinerates its prey before it constricts them with its coils and eats them alive. But it does not threaten me and neither do I threaten it, for I am as much a part of theHirebas it is a part of me.

Fashes, awakened plants gifted with the power of intelligence and mobility, cautiously poke their heads out fromaround the stationary trees. Conifer-like needles grow across their bodies in clumps of dagger-like points—needles which can puncture armor. But theFashes’main defense is the poisonous pollen they release when threatened. That pollen will dissolve the flesh of a creature within seconds.

The dwellers of the shadow forest assemble in and around me. As I walk forward, they part ways, allowing me passage. I stroke the head of anUluucbas I glide by and the crustacean-like creature purrs up at me, brandishing its massive claws. Reaching down, I run my fingers along the jagged, golden shell of the creature’s horned back. Though the night creatures welcome me back to their forest openly and joyously, I explain I cannot tarry. I do not mean to offend but I am needed, all the same.

I am here for the female.

When I reach the edge of the fortified clearing, I realize I cannot proceed forward. Wards protect the perimeter of the camp and while I could cross them easily, I do not want to draw attention to myself. Thus, the female will have to come to me.

She sleeps beneath a dark tree, her white and tangled hair fanned out beside her. Her skin glows weakly with the power of light, but that glow fades even as I watch. There is an innocence about her that does not characterize the others. She is not well, however, and her power wanes with each breath.

I watch as the two shadow figures take leave of their comrades and disappear into the forest. Meanwhile, the male of light retires to the far corner of the encampment and loses himself to his own mind.

Briefly, I stop the flow of time for all creatures of the forest, save myself and the female. The sprite beside her is halted mid-speech and stands with an open mouth. I smile, finding the image humorous.

According to my intentions, the sprite will appear invisible to the female, as will the male of light. She will imagine she has been left alone.

I inch toward the fire, still burning, and sniff the air. The forest is silent, but this silence is misleading—I could summon a forestry cacophony, if I so chose. I could make the ground blossom with insects, the sky above become thick with bats, the unending night darken with terror. Such is the sway I have over the natural world.

***

EILISH

I awake at the sound of a loud crack, as though something heavy has stepped on a dry twig. I have the uneasy sense I’m being watched. When I glance around, though, I find I’m alone by the fire, now reduced to simmering coals. The night is even colder than I remember and the thin sheet around me does little to quell the icy tongue that licks at its edges.

Fear takes hold of me as I strain to listen for more sounds, pulling myself to sit upright. With the waning light of the fire, it’s impossible to see anything beyond the redness of the coals and my own body. A chill creeps over me that doesn’t have anything to do with the cold night.

Where is everyone? And why am I alone?I suddenly worry for them, for Dragan, mostly.

Crack.

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