'How am I the butt-end of this parade when it was my idea to go back to the forest?' Cita sulked behind Aspen, trailing by 10 yards or more.
**You're too soft,** Aki laughed from where he plodded beside Cita. **Remember?**
**
"Are we ready?" Bilal asked.
"Not exactly." Rashida's tone was tart enough to pickle beets. "Though at least you have appeased Staryu for the time being."
Cita flinched and looked over his shoulder at the irate healer stomping across the courtyard.
"Someone," she hissed with an evil glare at Cita, "thought it would be a good idea to tell Ryka she could come. And Zara and Jay."
Bilal arched his brows in surprise and looked at Cita.
"I thought you didn't like them?"
"I don't. Keep your enemies close. And I'd feel worse leaving them with the Peacefallows."
Rashida crossed her arms and huffed angrily. "You don't think a whole family of flame sorcerers can handle three children?"
In the blue morning, the steading was overlaid with several shabby huts, and a choking, coppery scent invaded Cita's nostrils.
He swallowed and spoke over the screams ringing in his ears.
"Flame sorcerers. Not flame summoners."
A sharp whistle cut through the air, and Bilal snapped his fingers in front of Cita's face.
Cita recoiled and bit back a reflexive shout.
"Do you see those clouds up there?"
Cita frowned, turning his face upward to see what Bilal was so interested in.
Bilal continued, "The wispy, thin ones? They ride high in the sky — higher even than most mountains. They can usually be seen when the weather is clear, and there's not much wind. We should have a good day for walking, regardless of who is coming with us."
Cita racked his brain. 'Where are we going? What does he mean, regardless of who is coming?'
He looked at Rashida.
She watched him like an exotic bug.
"If the children are coming, we need to adjust Aspen's packs."
Cita stiffened. 'The 'children,' he says? They're Infected! Why would we take them anywhere?'
"Hold her steady."
Cita patted Aspen absently, lost in the thought while Bilal explained the best method of loading a pack animal.
**
Cita glared ahead at the twins, Zara and Jay, atop the packs on Aspen. Ryka paced on the left while Rashida strode at the right, staff in hand. Both remained vigilant, ensuring the toddlers stayed on the mare.
Bilal led with his tiny queen enthroned on his right shoulder.
Cita kept to the rear. Bilal had offered him the point position instead, but he'd declined. A tremor passed through his limbs as he continued to glower at the evil ahead of him. 'The back is infinitely preferable to the front, but it is deathly dull to walk without Bilal's stories.'
Faint snatches of conversation wafted back with the occasional infuriating giggle thrown in.
'They're talking about me.' Cita ground his teeth as they laughed.
**Does it matter if they are?** Aki asked. **You could kill 'em from here and not one of them could stop you.** He mimed throwing daggers at the vulnerable backs.
"So, what — just off 'em? First blade into Rashida, second for Ryka." His lips twisted over the word as if tasting something foul. "Not that I could count on hitting something vital with a thrown blade — there's a lot of bone protecting the important bits." He chewed his lips.
"But let's say it works and I take them down. Then startle the mare, maybe the twins get trampled, maybe they don't. That leaves Bilal —" Holding a hand to his suddenly throbbing head, Cita jerked. "No. No, that's wrong. We can't do that."
Aki shrugged.
**Suit yourself. Don't wait too long. Especially for that bi —**
"Aren't you supposed to be watching Mr. Smith?" Cita asked.
**Hmm? Oh. I left the spiders to watch him.** Aki smiled. **They can handle it for a while.**
Cita echoed his grin.
*****
They stopped before entering the forest. Bilal helped the twins down to stretch their legs and take care of necessities.
Cita sighed, lingering on the edges of the preparations. He eyed the trees with mistrust.
"Cita, I realize you are unaccustomed to such, but I need you to watch behind us and to the sides as we move."
Jolting back, Cita stared at Bilal, heart racing. 'Stupid! Don't get so distracted by the forest that someone can grab you again.'
Cita's brow furrowed. 'Wait. Again?'
"It is mostly harmless when we were on the open plains." Bilal's voice recaptured Cita's attention. "The forest is different, and we are already expecting trouble. Please, try to stay focused."
Cita hesitated. 'Sure, I can watch. But …' He nodded reluctantly.
Bilal found this response lacking; he waited with a single brow arched.
Disdainful green eyes glared before the miniature queen turned to groom her ruff, claws sinking into Bilal's shirt as she twisted. The warrior reached up a hand to steady her.
Cita sighed, looked down, and scuffed at the ground.
"I look at the forest, and it feels dangerous — like something's looking out of it, ready to eat us. Then I blink and … it's just a forest again, and the greatest danger is dying of boredom." Cita looked up at Bilal. "Sometimes I'm flat terrified, and the rest of the time, I want a nap."
Bilal looked through Cita and gnawed on his bottom lip. He beckoned Rashida over and related Cita's impression of the forest.
"His instincts were correct last time we were here. We should heed them this time as well," Bilal concluded.
"Instinct," Rashida scoffed. "Like the instinct that told him to shoot children? And according to him, either the forest is deadly, or it's not. How is that helpful?"
Cita flushed and looked down again.
Bilal shook his head. "As I told you this morning, you have no say in this save whether you come or stay behind. Not after yesterday."
Bilal waited for Rashida's stiff nod before continuing.
"Something deadly and hungry might be skilled enough to cloak its presence. Or more or less cloak it. And it is less troublesome to enter assuming something lethal waits within — which we already suspected — than to enter thinking all will be well."
Rashida huffed but held her peace under Bilal's withering gaze.
"But I am reluctant to take children into near-certain danger," Bilal admitted. "Perhaps they should wait here."
Rashida glared and folded her arms under her bosom.
An eerie cackling scream echoed out behind them, and they all turned toward the sound. One of the twins stood inside the forest's noon-time shadow, back arched at an unnatural angle. The sound emanated from the child.
Aspen danced away with her eyes rimmed white.
"Jay!" Rashida rushed forward.
"Wait," Bilal ordered. He grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "In the forest." He pointed into the trees.
Like a pocket-sized panther, the cat snarled and jumped to the ground. She vanished in the tall grass.
Two figures convulsed in the shadows of the trees.
Despite the dimness, there was little underbrush to obscure the sight. A smaller figure, deeper inside, hinted that one twin had run into the forest. Ryka must have chased after, then both succumbed at the same time.
The convulsions stilled, but the screaming laughter still rang through the air.
Bilal released Rashida.
"Tend Jay first, but be cautious. Cita, calm Aspen. Try moving her away from the forest. I will check on Ryka and Zara." Bilal tested his grip on the glaive. "Everyone be on your guard."
Bilal slipped past the howling Jay into the forest.
Rashida closed on the child and tried to soothe him.
Cita collected Aspen, who was content enough to be reined in, and watched Bilal creep through the trees.
Bilal knelt next to Ryka and reached toward her. He jerked back abruptly.
Jay broke loose and ran in an odd, loping gait toward his sisters.
A black shape near Bilal rose to four feet and raced to the other figure, now pale grey and four-legged.
"Wolves!" whispered Cita. "How did they turn into wolves?"
Ryka looked back at Jay, but seemed terrified, with her tail tucked between her legs and her ears pressed tight to her skull. She grabbed Zara by her scruff and ran deeper into the forest. Still laughing, Jay raced after them into the shadowed woods.
Deep inside Cita's skull, the darkness laughed. 'It begins.'