Page 166 of Dawn of Chaos and Fury
Or maybe she was inside at a desk by herself, never allowed to be around others. Being kept solely for another.
Eviana gritted her teeth. This was why she was here. She wouldn’t let that happen to her. She’d die before that came to fruition.
“Fucking Silas,” she muttered when her braid got caught on some low hanging branches as she tried to quietly maneuver between the trees. The children wouldn’t venture near, that wastrue, but disturbances in the trees still sometimes warranted an investigation by the Estate guards.
Finally freeing herself, she turned to continue on, then went still.
A young female stood several feet away. She couldn’t be any older than seven or eight years. Her hair was more red than brown, and her turquoise eyes were hard as she narrowed them. She wore the same simple clothing as the other children. The grey color was stark against her skin tone, a shade lighter than Eviana’s, and gods, she was beautiful.
“Who are you?” the child sneered, her lip curling as she surveyed Eviana.
The obvious disdain was a little jarring, but she didn’t react. She was too well trained to show surprise. Instead, Eviana asked, “What are you doing in these woods? It’s dangerous.”
The girl’s lips curled into something far too sinister for someone who should be innocent. “Is it?”
“Yes,” Eviana answered. “So I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?”
The child shrugged casually. “I’m not allowed near the other children so I come here.”
“Why?”
She shrugged again. “It’s safer.”
That was an absurd statement.
“What are they protecting you from?” Eviana asked tightly.
“Oh, they’re not protecting me from them,” the child said with an eerie giggle. “They’re protectingthemfromme.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Eviana snapped, stepping closer. “You’re a child.”
“Am I?”
“Yes, you are, but you are in danger.”
“The woods don’t hurt me,” she said with that dark smile.
“The Dreamlock Woods hurt everyone, child,” Eviana retorted.
The child glided forward as though she were floating, her well-worn sneakers not even leaving prints behind. “What do you fear most? The Dread-Nymphs?”
“No,” Eviana answered. “The Sprytes are worse. You do not wish to ever cross paths with one.”
“Clever,” the child mocked, stretching out an arm to glide her fingertips along the leaves of a fern.
“You should go back,” Eviana said, the words making something in her chest ache. But she couldn’t take her quite yet. She didn’t have an escape plan in place. Lange had wanted to know what their plan was, and she didn’t have that either. Then again, she hadn’t expected the girl to simply walk up to her in the Dreamlock Woods.
The girl was drifting closer when Eviana asked, “How often do you come here?” Because none of this felt right. Something was off.
“Sometimes I am sent here. Other times I come here myself. I’ve been coming to these woods as long as I can remember,” she answered.
“And you’ve never seen a Dread-Nymph? Or a Spryte?”
“Oh, I see them all the time,” she answered, gesturing to her right.
Eviana stilled, her eyes falling closed. Of course this was all a godsdamn trap.
She turned slowly to see the towering woman. Her flowing dress was made entirely of greenery and florals. Antlers jutted out from her flowing hair the color of tree bark. Ivy wound around her head like a crown, and her eyes were red as blood.
