I consider her eyes. They’re jewel green, bright against the drab gray of the woods. “What kind of earthwender are you?”

“Forger.”

That would explain it. Forgers can shape and bend metals with more ease and precision than any blacksmith.

“My master, the one who taught me how to refine my craft, learned under a Kazan weaponsmith,” she says. “Kazan weapons are superior to our own. They’re forged from rare metals mined from the hearts of their mountains and imbued with shadow crafts unique to each clan.”

Our attempts at conversation grow infrequent as the day slips by. The constant tension exhausts everyone. We gnaw on strips of dried meat and rice balls to assuage our hunger, but we don’t stop to rest. What feels like an eternity later, Ronin speaks for the first time since leaving Spinner’s End.

“The encampment isn’t far now.”

Relief courses through me just as the soldier behind me screams. I turn, drawing my swords even before I spot the trouble. A pair of distinctly human arms thrust out from a tree. Jagged bone tears through the black-blue skin of the corpse that’s taken hold of one of the soldiers—Audri’s her name, I think. Its mangled fingers score her throat and grip the edges of her breastplate to drag her into the tree. The other soldier grabs hold of Audri’s waist, his neck muscles straining as he pulls with little effect.

Phaut immediately jumps forward to help, but Audri’s frantic screams rouse the other trees. My swords strike the corpse’s arms. It releases her as another body rears out from the recesses of the tree. I recoil, gasping. The new creature’s skull is crushed on one side and its head hangs awkwardly, as if its neck is broken. A rattle issues from its mouth as it wrenches Audri hard, tearing her from both Phaut’s and the other soldier’s grasps.

Phaut nearly tumbles into the tree with her. I dive for Phaut’s legs, knocking her into the dirt. Audri’s screams grow muffled, her upper body buried within bark as we try to get a hold of her kicking feet.

“Help!” I scream at Ronin, who isn’t even watching us. His sharp eyes dart from tree to tree.

All around us, chunks of bark litter the roots as corpses twist and yank their emaciated limbs out from their wooden prisons.

“Oh, Sisters,” I breathe, redoubling my efforts to free Audri. Panic sprints through my chest as the bodies move in my peripheral vision. My magic builds, bright and thrilling. My skin feels like it’s been set aflame, heat shooting through my shoulders, down my arms.

Then Audri’s shrieks abruptly stop and her lower body goes limp. I gasp, shock dousing my craft.