Page 37 of Mirror of Malice
“How did the Huntsman get into Mosswood Forest?” Charming asked. “Did he just punch his way through the border?”
Hammer pounded a fist on the table. “We cannot let that menace roam here, put our people in danger.”
“He’s very powerful,” Shadow said. “Made from earth magic.”
Penn looked at me. “What do you know about the Huntsman?”
I hesitated. “My father gifted him to my stepmother when they first married, a personal guard for the new queen. He’d been magnificent. My father used his magic to create the Huntsman, who was made of the strongest tree bark, vines, thorns.” He was made to be indestructible and was ultimately my father’s downfall. “If only he’d known his own creation would eventually turn on him.”
Everyone stayed silent, staring at me, some with open mouths, others with looks of pity in their eyes. Penn’s face was unreadable.
I cleared my throat and looked down at the table. “I assume he’s only become more powerful, my stepmother using whatever dark magic she possesses to strengthen him. Maybe that’s how he broke into the forest?”
“Or maybe our border didn’t recognize it as an enemy threat because it’s not human,” Brains said, tugging at her brown curls. The only thief I hadn’t trained with yet, but from her nickname, I gathered she was the intelligence behind these missions.
The flap to the tent opened and Lightning slipped in, bald with tattoos covering every inch of his head. I’d rarely seen him, and he didn’t talk. Shadow said he’d always been like that, silent, brooding, and intense. During our session he simply startedrunning, and I had to follow him for three torturous hours as we jogged, jumped, climbed. By the end of it, I’d fallen to my knees, vomiting everywhere, and when I’d looked up, Lightning was gone.
Penn nodded at him as he joined us at the table.
Wayfinder stared at the map, frowning. “Why wouldn’t the queen have sent the Huntsman before this? Tried to penetrate our border and overtake us?”
“She wouldn’t do that,” I murmured, also staring at the map, at the little castle that represented my home. My former home.
“Why?” Penn asked.
“She just wouldn’t,” I said, voice sharp.
Shadow’s eyes widened, and I nodded at her to let her know I was okay. I hadn’t meant to display any kind of emotion over it, but answering that question would open up too many wounds that I wasn’t ready to face. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready.
Charming hunched over the map. “Well, I hate to break it to you all, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to flirt the Huntsman out of here. I’m willing to try, though.” He winked at the group.
Shadow rolled her eyes. “How do we know where he even is?”
“Is it a he?” Wayfinder asked, stroking his clean-shaven jaw. “I mean, it’s made of tree, so?—”
“Can we focus?” Arrow pursed her bright red lips, flipping her long, wavy hair over her shoulder.
Lightning grunted, which I took to mean he agreed with Arrow.
“The Huntsman was spotted here.” Penn pointed to a circled area on the map. “By one of our villagers who was out foraging. He’s getting closer to finding her.” He tilted his head in my direction, and chills ran up my spine at the thought of that thing coming after me.
“Are you okay, Lilypad?” Penn asked, voice quiet.
“Yes,” I said with a shaky voice. “I’m fine. It doesn’t respond well to arrows or swords, or any weapons, really. You can fight the Huntsman with your earth magic, or at least contain him with it.”
I remembered my father telling me that the Huntsman was strong but not invincible.Never give your magic more power than you,he’d said as I watched him create it. I’d begged him to make me my own guard, but he’d said I didn’t need one because I had him, and he’d never let harm come to me.
If only I could’ve made him the same promise.
Brains drummed her fingers on the table. “So how about we come in, full powers blazing. We can recruit others from the village, and all of us can use our collective magic to kill him.”
Penn stared at the map, no doubt mulling over the words.
“Yes.” Hammer tugged at his braided beard. “I’ll give that Huntsman a piece of my mind.” He gave a jagged smile. “And a piece of my fist while I’m at it.” He punched his fist in the air.
“No,” I said. “Brute force isn’t the way to go.”
Penn peered up, gaze leaving the map to look at me. “Then what do you suggest?”
