Darkness begins to descend, and with it come new sights and sounds. Fireflies flickering between the trees like stars come down to earth. The chirp of crickets, rustling under brush, and the occasional hoot of an owl that makes Sebastian jump. He got the scar across his cheek from an owl a few months ago. It’s a shame the Lady didn’t have a chance to use a healing talent on it before she lost her powers.

We keep moving until we reach another clearing—this one without any strange, confused men. We can move no farther tonight. We manage to use our cloaks from our packs as bedrolls, and then collapse upon them, side by side, under the night sky.

Sebastian tosses and turns until I fill his head with thoughts of the warmth and safety of a locked house and roaring fire. Soon his breathing evens out into a steady rhythm, and I let slumber carry me away too.

Chapter Six

When we wake the next morning with leaves in our hair and aches in our necks, nothing looks familiar. The trees are the same, and so are the soft, trundling minds of the small animals going about their morning. But there is no path anymore, no clear way forward. I can’t even tell which direction we came from last night.

We’re lost.

My stomach rumbles loudly, and Sebastian glances at me. We haven’t eaten anything since lunch at the tavern yesterday.

I’m scared, he thinks.

I am, too, but telling him that won’t help. The manic urge to just run, headlong and without heeding direction, fills me, but I manage to keep my feet in place.

“I guess we didn’t plan very well,” I say, trying to keep my voice light. It cracks anyway, and Sebastian flinches.

“There has to be a village around here somewhere, doesn’t there?” he asks.

I shrug. “I hope so.” Fear gnaws at my stomach, spurring me to put together our meager belongings and get moving.

As we walk, I think back to the times I traveled with the Lady’s men. Did they ever pass through here? Did I ever see them eating berries or leaves? I scan the underbrush for anything that looks like it might possibly be edible, but all I find are dried leaves, ferns, and broken branches. The lone good thing about the Lady was that she always kept her servants well fed. We would’ve been useless to her otherwise.

The day drones on, and our hunger becomes a sharp, pointed thing. By late afternoon, my legs wobble as we wind between trees. The forest is beautiful, and I might love this place if it wasn’t terrifying to be far from everything I know.

I spy a squirrel scampering through the leaves, and an idea strikes me. I grab Sebastian’s arm but don’t say a word for fear of scaring away the animal.

The animals are hungry too. Let’s follow them. They know where they’re going.

Sebastian smiles for the first time since we fled the body walker.