The fire crackled. Small moths flirted with the dancing flames. Crickets sang a song of loneliness.
Each chirp lent its weight to Cita's eyelids. Despite his resistance, each blink came slower. His head drifted toward his chest. He jerked it back up, staring around wide-eyed.
Motion caught his frantic gaze. A line of fist-sized red spiders crossed the dark, stubble-free ground, passing through the firelight and moving on.
Cita pushed off the scarred terrain and followed.
The trail ended at a collection of spider silk cocoons nestled in verdant grass. The cocoons ranged in size from about four feet long to over six feet. All were at least two feet in diameter.
Hundreds of arachnids, most larger than the ones Cita had followed, crawled over the cocoons. Some spun more thread over their prizes. Others moved them, rearranging the pile to some mysterious purpose. A writhing wave of spiders covered something hidden on the far side.
Behind the nest, Nocturne grazed peacefully. He whickered at Cita but returned to his grass without approaching. The stallion appeared unconcerned by the spiders crawling between his hooves.
Cita circled the piled cocoons cautiously, treading lightly. His fingers drifted over his belt, but his daggers were nowhere to be found. He gritted his teeth and took a final step around the nest.
Half-free of his cocoon, Mr. Smith clawed at the spider silk and batted spiders away. His contorted face was still cast in shadow, but bright teeth flashed white through the melee.
"You again," Cita sighed.
Mr. Smith froze before turning his head toward Cita. His hands resumed their efforts.
"I don't know where else you expected me to be, boy," he said.
"Whatever. I don't have time for you. Have you seen Aki? I need to talk to him."
"Oh, yes," Mr. Smith huffed. "He's right here in my back pocket. I'll have him out in a trice."
Cita rolled his eyes and sank to his heels in the lush grass.
"Maybe I should shoot you again."
Mr. Smith's hands slowed.
"Now, now. You know I've done everything to help you, from the first day you walked into my classroom. Is that any way to repay me?"
Bile rose in Cita's mouth. He swallowed it down.
"Instead, why don't you free me?" Mr. Smith continued. "It could be almost as good as before, even if we can't go home. I'm sure there's plenty of opportunities here. Let me guide you."
Cita closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. 'Don't let him win.'
"Come on, boy. You want it. Someone to tell you what to do, how to fit in. Someone to cover for you when you screw up. Someone who knows where the bodies are buried. Or … not buried, in your case." Mr. Smith tilted a slick grin toward the cocoons.
As if sensing the attention they had drawn, the cocoons began to shift and rock. Soft, muffled screams grew until they echoed through the night.
Cita shoved away from the nest, stifling a shout behind gritted teeth.
Hard ground smacked the back of his head. Harsh stubble poked through his clothes.
Cita clenched his eyes shut, focusing on the sensations of his physical body.
"What was that?" Kody asked.
"Cita. I think he finally fell asleep," Ash answered. His voice was low, nearly drowned by the crackling fire.
"Oh. That's a good sign, right?" Kody asked. His voice rose hopefully.
A sigh answered him.
"Okay, but what are we going to do? We have to tell him!" Kody said.
"Tell him what, exactly?" Ash asked.
"Tell him what we saw! Then we can work together to stop it."
"We don't know what we saw," Ash countered.
Cita's eyes snapped open. His breath froze in his throat.
"Shh! Don't wake him!" Kody said.
Cita released the air gently and forced his breath to come slow and even.
"What else can we do?" Kody asked into the stillness. "Are you sure you didn't get anything from the Elders' records before Grauntie Sophia caught you?"
"I …" Ash shifted, rustling in the stillness. "We try to help. And the first thing we help with is keeping watch. So get some sleep. I'll wake you when it's your turn."
"Fine. But I still say we should talk to him."
Cita tracked a lone spark, drifting upward and fighting against the darkness of the night.
The fire crackled. Moths danced with death. Crickets played a requiem.
*****
Cita's eyes burned. Rising in the predawn light, he quenched the fire with a thought. He grabbed Aspen's brush and began currying her off.
Kody was the first to react to the morning chill. He rolled over and stretched, casually whacking Ash.
Ash grumbled and rolled away.
"Cita? What are you doing?" Kody asked. "The sun's not up yet."
"The demon said Staryu wouldn't like Bilal being captured. When he saved me, she made him cut off his hair. What's she going to do this time?"
"Yeah, but … it was just hair." Kody shrugged. "If that's all she wants …"
"Just …" Cita glared at him before shaking his head. 'It doesn't matter, remember? He'll either help save Bilal or not.' He checked that his daggers were in their sheaths.
"Nevermind. Our guide is here." Cita jerked his chin to the east.
A black rabbit watched them, red eyes glowing.
"Geeze." Ash sat up and rolled his eyes at his brother. "At least I know when to hold my tongue. And weren't you supposed to be keeping watch?"
"Hey! So I fell asleep." Kody poked Ash, who blocked him. "Nothing happened."
Ducking his head, Cita turned away from their antics and tried to reassemble Aspen's harness.
Ash thumped Kody upside the head and rose.
"That looks a bit of a mess. Did you unbuckle every strap?"
With a trembling lip pinned between his teeth, Cita continued fumbling at the leather. Tiny, tight plumes misted around his face.
"Here, breathe," Ash soothed. "She's worn this harness a lot. We can tell how it should be set from the shiny spots." He demonstrated, pulling straps away from Cita and buckling them together. He moved quickly but made sure Cita could see what he was doing.
"Thanks," Cita whispered. "I … it just wouldn't come off."
"It's tricky at first. You'll get the hang of it." Ash picked up the packsaddle. "Shake off her saddle blanket and put it on her back. Don't forget to smooth it. Wrinkles are bad."
"Yeah, I had that much figured out," Cita grumbled. "What about the thing that goes on her head?"
"Here," Rashida said.
Cita jumped as she came up behind him.
"Like this." She showed Cita how the leadline clipped into the halter Aspen was picketed with overnight and collected the tether. "Grab my packs next."
"Hey. Eat this. I'll get the packs." Kody handed Cita an apple and took the packs to Rashida. "You don't eat meat, do you?"
"I'm not hungry," Cita protested.
"Yeah, right," Kody answered with a grin. "You didn't sleep much and you barely ate. Gotta feed the beast."
"What did you say?" Cita asked. An icy trickle raced up his back.
"Feed the beast?" Kody quirked his lips. "It's just an expression."
"Yeah," Cita agreed shakily. 'Is this how they plan to help?' "Yeah."
He looked at the apple for a long moment before taking a bite. Juice exploded across his tongue. 'How can it still taste like ashes?'
He glanced toward the black rabbit. It waited but was farther away.
"We should hurry up. Our guide is getting impatient."
Ash followed Cita's gaze to the rabbit. "Why are we following a rabbit? It looks Infected."
"The demon said she'd send a … toy … to guide us to Baron Dorf. I think that's it."
"The demon calls the Infected toys?" Kody asked. He tied the last pack to Aspen's harness.
"Maybe?" Cita scratched his head and slipped bites of apple to Aspen. "So the first time we were in the forest, there were … kinda Infected?"
"You remember that?" Rashida asked with a sharp glance. She scowled.
Can she see me now? Does it matter? Cita shrugged.
"Yes? Well, bits … There were these dark animals, eating —"
"Never mind what they were eating!" Rashida shook her head. Black strands of hair whipped her face, and she dragged them into a bundle and began braiding with shaking fingers.
"Then the town — it was destroyed by the Infected." Cita chased the flitting memories and pinned them in place like a butterfly collector mounting his newest treasure. "And the demon said she's hungry — which makes me think the Infected are somehow feeding the demon."
"That's … tenuous," Kody hedged.
With a frown, Ash looked at his pack beside the dead fire.
"It's the best I've got," Cita said, staring at his white knuckles before unclenching his fists. He shook his head and grabbed his pack.
"Whatever. Time to go." He walked toward the Infected rabbit.
It hopped away.
"Cita! Wait!"
"I can't wait, Rashida," Cita shouted without looking back. "You said it yourself — Staryu is petty. The demon is just as bad. Between them, they'll tear B—" Cita ground his teeth and his eyes burned.
"I won't let them tear him in two," he whispered.
'Won't you?'
Cita shuddered. The voice wasn't Aki, and it wasn't Mr. Smith.
'That's the voice that's been translating …'
He stretched his stride. His thoughts kept pace.