Nia flung her pack down and removed blankets and travel rations as she spoke. “Now we set watch and sleep. I want to be well-rested by dawn. Especially if I have to sneak you all inside. You need to learn how to move quietly.”

  Sofia shared a glance with Emilio, who shrugged. “How do we enter? Is the Grove guarded?”

  “Patrolled is a better term perhaps.” Nia unwrapped hard bread and took a bite. “The Summer Groves have become their own danger. Animals – and people – who get caught in it die. Another reason to wait for dawn, as even touching it can be dangerous, understood?”

  Solemn nods.

  “The patrols have no set routine and I expect them to be less frequent with so many Sap-Born out for the attack.”

  “How much time do we have?” Emilio asked.

  “We need to enter, find Sofia’s father and leave within hours.”

  “If he’s in there, any ideas on where he might be kept?” Notch asked Nia.

  “Efran wouldn’t hold him anywhere else. The First Tree lies within the grove, the traditional seat of power for the Braonn. The Grove has now become a place where experiments and strange magics occur. He will be there, deep.”

  “I’ll find out. With Argeon,” Sofia said, arranging her own blanket. “I can Spirit-Walk before we go in. Narrow the search.”

  “Thank you, Lady Sofia,” Nia said.

  Emilio drank from his flask. “And when we have Lord Danillo? Back to the Autumn Grove?”

  “Yes. It will not be where it lay before however. I will have to find it.”

  Notch paused at his pack. “How?”

  “Trust me.” Nia smiled. “Now get some sleep, all of you. Sofia, you take first watch, then Emilio, Notch and finally me.”

  “I can go last if you wish,” Notch offered.

  “Thank you, but I need to prepare.”

  Notch nodded, his expression curious. He said nothing, only laying on his blanket and closing his eyes.

  Sofia sat with her back to the others once she’d finished her cold meal. The rustling and muttering of everyone settling down soon passed. She shifted as the sand hardened beneath her. How was she going to sleep on sand?

  Here the Bloodwood was quieter. A breath of wind passed through leaves in the darkness. Time passed with only an ache in her limbs to keep her company. She shifted often. Damn sand.

  She rubbed her eyes when Emilio stirred, turning to face him. Was it his turn already?

  “Get some rest, lady,” he whispered.

  “I will.” She hesitated. “Emilio?”

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you for coming after me. Us I mean. I hope Seto didn’t force you?”

  “No. I volunteered.” Was he smiling?

  “I’m glad you did.”

  She tried to stand but could barely move, so stiff were her limbs. She growled, keeping her voice low. No need to wake the others.

  “Here.” He helped her up. His hand was warm and a shiver ran across her body.

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course.” Did he pause a moment before releasing her? No, she’d imagined his grip lingering. Sofia found her blanket before laying down to close her eyes. It took a long time to grow comfortable on the sand, but she lay flat and still and the tension flowed from her limbs when she did.

  “Sofia.”

  A hand rocked her, gently. Notch stood over her in the pre-dawn grey. The hollow was deeply shadowed. Tall trees loomed in black.

  “Time already?” Her head had only just hit her cloak, surely?

  “It is. Come, you should eat. Emilio and Nia are scouting.”

  She tried to turn onto her side and swore. Gods damn all sand! Her limbs were frozen. The stiffness was incredible for just one night. Moving her arm sent a series of loud cracks popping along her whole side. More pops and cracks when she stretched her legs, grimacing.

  At least the fevers had ceased.

  “Are you hurt?” Notch asked.

  “Just stiff from the cold, I guess. And the sand.” She packed her blanket away, gritting her teeth as she moved, still blinking out of sleep. The longer she worked, the easier it became to move. By the time she stopped to drink from her flask and chew through more trail rations, her limbs were responding properly. The food was tasteless, but fitting. Who wanted rich food right before sneaking into an enemy’s lair?

  Whatever happened today she would be ready. She shook her head, a rueful smile directed at the shadows. Fear lurked, but not for her life. At least, not the way she’d expected. What she truly feared was seeing Father again. Learning the truth. Gods, what if Tantos hadn’t been lying?

  Notch readied himself, running a whetstone over his blade. His expression was dark.

  “Is something wrong, Notch?”

  He shook his head. “Nothing that shouldn’t be wrong.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m just thinking about today. Getting rid of some black thoughts.”

  She nodded. “The odds are against us.”

  “They are.” He stood and now he grinned as he stretched his arms. “But they always are. The trick is to act anyway.”

  Leaves rustled. Sofia spun, hand on her belt knife, but it was only Emilio. “Our back trail is clear,” he announced.

  “Good,” Notch said, lowering his own blade.

  Nia slipped into the hollow on soundless feet. If Sofia hadn’t been facing the direction of the Sap Groves she’d not have noticed the woman. Her eyes were bright; hard to believe she’d taken the last watch. “Quickly. A patrol has just passed.”

  Sofia raised Argeon to her face. The cold bone widened her eyes. She didn’t call his attention, instead keeping the dim forest in focus, falling into step behind Nia.

  They wove through the sleeping trees in single file, crossing several paths and pausing often to listen. When Nia led them up a rise, where the trees thinned somewhat, Sofia found herself breathing hard. Was another patrol of Sap-Born close by? Nia motioned for them to lie at the crest, peering over it to look down through the maze of trunks.

  In the growing light, she caught glimpses of what appeared to be a crop. Orderly rows of trees and plants – smaller only compared to the giants that surrounded her – revealed the Summer Grove.

  “Wait for the light,” Nia whispered. “Any moment now.”

  Sofia held her breath as the sun peered through the trunks. Gold bloomed as light struck the Summer Grove. Small at first, the glow spread like a blanket. The groves covered much more forest than she first thought, stretching to the limits of her vantage point.

  The higher the sun rose the more colour it spread – oranges and ambers swallowing the green in the grove and splashing the trunks where they lay.

  “How much does it cover?” Sofia finally broke the hush.

  “As deep as it is wide,” Nia said. “It seems to be expanding more and more, each time I see it.”

  “When was that?” Notch asked.

  “Near to a year.”

  “Did you go inside?”

  She shook her head. “No. Only to watch.” Her face, as Notch and Emilio’s, was tinted gold – but for Nia it revealed a strange translucence when the light struck her at a certain angle. The Oynbae turned back to the grove and the moment passed. “If I had entered, maybe we’d have been better prepared for the Sap-Born.”

  “Or maybe you’d have died,” Emilio said. “Instead, you help your people now.”

  “I hope that is true.”

  The sun had climbed high enough that the grove of sap trees dulled their light to a soft glow. Individual trees were discernible once more.

  “I’m ready,” Sofia said.

  “We will keep watch,” Nia replied. “Be swift.”

  “I will.” Sofia drew Argeon to her and showed him a picture of her spirit-walking the groves.

  She blinked.

  The amber of the Summer Groves surrounded her.

  And so did her friends.

  She blocked out the twigs beneath her stomach, the smell of earth and decaying leaves, Notch and Emilio talking softly, until it receded to the edge of her awareness.

  Only the grove.

  At its edge, each sap tree stood in a neat row, surrounded by sturdy square boxes of wood, trunks bulging against some of them. A thick sap ran down each trunk, down each branch. The wooden boxes collected the amber, so that, when she leant over one, she could see it full to the brim.

  Other boxes overflowed, trails of heavy sap running down the sides to cross the path. She wove deeper into the grove. Yet other trees were burdened by great bulging discs of amber, or odd shapes, as if generations of sap had grown upon one another. One plant lay buried so deep that only the tips of its tallest branches grew free.

  The whole tree, imprisoned by its own sap.

  And yet, it’s bark appeared robust and the leaves peering through were smooth and green. At the foot of another tree a mouse lay entombed in the sap, its body twisted.

  She shuddered. No time for that. Sofia slipped down the row and turned at the first intersection. More golden rows of sap-trees, boxes overflowing. She made two more turns, making a slow path toward what she judged was the centre – before pausing. There had to be a better way.

  Why not spirit-walk as she had with the giant bell in the Shrine? Sofia reached for the nearest tree – pushing her hand – which was unresisting. She stepped forward, foot sliding through a box of sap. Another step and she was inside the tree itself, a golden haze surrounding her, before a third step brought her through to the next row.

  Faster.

  She ran across the row and leapt through the next tree and the next before coming to a halt. Barely two dozen paces away, a single Sap-man stood on tiptoes. He held a red-hot blade in heavy gloves and beside him stood a glowing brazier on wheels. The man sliced through sap that had crossed boxes, preventing the two trees from becoming a joined mess.

  Sofia slipped through the next tree. Find Father. Forget this strange place.

  Several rows later and she’d mastered the art of the slow exit, so as not to stumble across any more grove-tenders. She kept angling her path toward the centre.

  A child and another Sap-Man waited in the next row.

  He bent by the tearful boy, speaking softly. “How did you get here, little one?”

  The boy sobbed something about being lost.

  “It’s too dangerous for you in here. I’ll take you back.”

  Follow them.

  Sofia kept pace with the two, gliding close to the sap. Perfect. If they took her directly to the stronghold, she’d find Father in no time. She’d need markers. The mouse was one. But how many rows had she jumped through since the mouse?

  And where exactly had Argeon dropped her off?

  She faltered and the couple began to pull away. It was a problem for later, for now she just had to find him. She’d remember. She had to. Sofia caught up to the Sap-man and his charge, hopping over a flow of amber that crossed the entire path – something the man had lifted the child over.

  Shouting.

  Someone leapt to their feet beside her, calling her name. Sofia spun, but the row was empty. The man and child were turning a corner. More shouting and the clash of steel.

  Wait.

  Her body!

  Something crashed into her legs and the Sap Grove disappeared.

  Chapter 38

  Sofia sprang to her feet amidst chaos.

  Notch and Emilio fought back to back, surrounded by half a dozen Braonn. Nia stood nearby, blowing clouds of powder at a line of Sap-Born, who climbed the hill.

  “Get her out of here,” Notch shouted, parrying a blow, but Sofia had no idea who he meant.

  By the time Nia’s powder reached the Sap-Born, it had obviously lessened in potency, as several came on, veins glowing. Hammer-men kept close behind.

  Sofia drew in a breath as she spun. “Back.” Her voice boomed and the men surrounding Notch and Emilio stumbled. Notch pressed the advantage, cutting an enemy down and kicking another aside. Emilio was just as quick, blade catching the morning light where it whistled through the air.

  Nia grabbed her arm. “Lady Sofia. Can you stop them?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You must try.”

  Sofia clenched her hands into fists. What could she do? Last time, she’d only used – the trees! Maybe she could incorporate what was around her, as before? She showed Argeon an image of a tree thundering down, scattering the approaching line of Sap-Born.

  Nothing happened.

  “Quickly.”

  “It’s not working,” she cried.

  Nia leapt into battle as the men crested the rise. She dived and rolled, powdering one man and leaping away from a giant hammer blow. The veins of Sap-Born pulsed. One reached for her, but she swatted his hand away and ducked inside his reach, driving a knife into his stomach.

  Yellow blood flowed as he crumpled.

  Sofia drew her knife as Nia sprang away, herding her back. Notch swore from behind them but she didn’t take her eyes off the Sap-Born. Why wouldn’t Argeon help?

  “Stay low,” Nia whispered. “If I survive, wrap me in a blanket. All of me – do you understand?” Sofia nodded, but her pulse had doubled. What did Nia mean? The men had surrounded them now, cutting them from the other struggle. Was Emilio safe? She squeezed the handle of her blade.

  Nia threw off her jacket and kicked her boots free. The Sap-Born paused, confusion plain on their faces.

  “What are you doing?” Sofia hissed.

  Nia gave a cry of fury and pain.

  Her body changed.

  It began to elongate. She spread her arms and they formed pink wings, pant legs tearing as her calves became the bottom halves of her wings – a soft purple. Her under garments ripped as her torso grew larger then slender, her face slipping into an insect-like dot.

  “By the Gods,” Sofia breathed.

  She was a butterfly.

  Nia brought her wings together and a wind stirred the leaves. She flapped again and this time, a cloud of powder flew forth. Sofia fell back, shielding her face as the cloud, tinted pink and purple, enveloped the Sap-Born. They cried out, only for choking sounds to follow.

  Bodies thumped to the ground.

  Nia’s wings beat once more and then she collapsed. Sofia coughed, waving at lingering traces of powder as she crawled forward. Nia’s wings were near-translucent and her chest barely moved. Her body began to shrink, colours changing until a pale, half-naked woman lay in the rags of her clothing.

  Sofia spun. “Notch? Emilio?”

  Emilio groaned from where he lay on the ground, bleeding from a gash in his forehead, surrounded by bodies in green. Only four. Where were the others? Notch was no-where to be seen. Sofia dashed across the spur.

  “Emilio.” She shook his shoulder and his eyes fluttered but he did not wake.

  Stupid. Nia first. What had she said? A blanket. Sofia tore through her bag and found a blanket. She wrapped Nia’s lower half – even the woman’s legs looked see-through – and found a second and third blanket, covering torso and head. She kept the head looser than the others. Hopefully it was the right thing to do.

  How long before Nia recovered? Would she recover? Sofia checked each body on the rise. None lived. One man’s neck had been cut so deep that the black hole of his throat lay exposed. She turned away. It wouldn’t be long before others came to investigate – and where was Notch? The Sap-Born and their Hammer-slaves were all deathly pale, skin coated in powder. Sofia didn’t touch it.

  She returned to Emilio with water and cleaned his cut. It was not deep. Some tightness in her chest eased.

  He had to wake, but shaking him or hissing his name did nothing. Sofia sat back on her heels and stopped – fool! She removed a pale blue vial from her linfa-belt, uncorked it and held it beneath Emilio’s nose.

  His eyes rolled and he flinched. She replaced the vial as he rose to his arms, coughing. “Sofia?”

  “I’m here.”

  He surveyed the clearing with a frown, fingertips massaging his temples. “Then they took him.” He accepted her help to stand. “Where’s Nia?”

  “There. I think she’ll survive. What do you mean? What happened to Notch?”

  “When the Braonn saw Nia transform, they changed tactic.” He turned to search the ground, hand closing over a yellow pod and raising it. “One of them dropped me with a sling as the other two grabbed Notch.”

  “Then they wanted a prisoner?”

  “It seems so.”

  “We have to find him, Emilio.”

  “I know. He’ll be in the same place as your father, no doubt.”

  “I hope so.” They needed somewhere to hide and recover. More than that, they needed Nia. “Let’s take her to the hollow.”

  Emilio winced as he bent down, but scooped the blanketed Nia up. Sofia grabbed Nia’s pack and added it to her own, before leading him back to the hollow, where she crept to the log, putting her eye against a gap where the wood had began to rot. No-one had followed.

  “We’ll have to move soon,” Emilio said.

  Sofia didn’t turn from their back trail. “I’ll find a place.”

  Becoming two Sofia’s again, her spirit-form ranged out from the hollow while her body stayed put. The forest was still quiet as she passed through trunks and over trails, speeding away from the hollow. A stream trickled through stones and she paused. A narrow opening, a cave? She glided in as far as the light penetrated. Empty and dry. And far enough from the hollow to be safe. If only temporarily.

  She closed her eyes and when she opened them, her mask rested against the bark.

  “Anything?” Emilio carried Nia.

  “A cave. It’s some distance away but I doubt we can stay there forever.”

  “Hopefully until Nia wakes.”

  Heading through the forest a second time, her feet were calamitous compared to her spirit-walk. Emilio, burdened as he was, fared little better, but no-one appeared to stop them. At the stream, she paused to check their backtrail. A crushed plant, heavy footprints in the leaves. How obvious was it that they’d been this way?

  She brushed out their tracks as best she could while Emilio attended to Nia.

 

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