“The ship to the Great Lands is leaving,

So, Sister, climb aboard.

And be granted safe passage by the Guard and his Sword.

To the Lady, she waits for you; all sorrows be healed.

And may you finally find rest behind her mighty Shield.”

As the last word lingers in the air, I place a hand on my chest, bring it down slowly in front of me, then raise it to the sky. The others do the same as we honor those taken from us. Anger stains Lorna’s face. Lin wipes tears, and Torrent’s head hangs low, his chin facing the ground.

She watches me. I sense her stare more than see it. Her hand isn’t raised; she doesn’t care to pay tribute to our dead. I finally meet her eyes under their furrowed brows.

Her stare is a threat. Her glare, a warning.

“So, what are we going to do about food?” Lin asks, taking a sip of water from the pond we found nearby. I fill my leather pouch and scan the curtain of trees.

“What we have will only last us a day or so. We need to find the nearest village. Then we can plan.”

“Village?” Torr mocks, laughing at his own words. “You think we’ll find anyone anywhere in this haunted death trap?”

Lin nods in agreement, sipping more water from his cupped hands before answering.

“I hate to admit it, but the blubbering buffoon is right. Your map doesn’t show any sign of civilization within these trees. Besides the army outposts on the Verdanian border, there are only the bandit camps near the river; nothing else.”

Torr grunts in displeasure, but Lin resumes. “And save for our horses, I haven’t seen one creature; there’s nothing to hunt in these woods. If a village exists, the people must only eat plants.”

“Even if this place did have creatures, I wouldn’t risk eating one,” Torr says. “Who knows? What looks like an innocent bunny could turn into a man-eating goblin.” He strokes his thick beard and grimaces.

I take a final pull and swish the tepid water around my mouth. They’re right. I haven’t seen one animal since entering The Wood. Perhaps the mist devoured them, too. Or maybe something worse happened.

“What about the girl?” Torr shoots me a grin. “Does the curse still count if we roast her up first?”

“That’s disgusting and shameful, Torrent. Even for you,” Lin groans.

Torr shoots up his hands and shrugs. “What? The King can’t pay any coin to a bunch of starved corpses in the woods! I was only giving you an option, that’s all.”

“That option is called cannibalism, you idiot.”

“That would suggest that girl is human. She’s not. She’s Verdanian, Lin. Which means she’s more of an animal than the stray dogs we feed back home.”

“There’s only one filthy dog here,” he scoffs and rolls his eyes.

Torr slaps Lin’s back with such force that he barrels forward.