But there was nothing else we could do. If we gave in to our exhaustion, if we did not keep moving forward, those gaping jaws behind us would swallow us whole.
Forty
Tessa
Eyelids heavy, I held on to Midnight’s neck, the pounding of his hooves jostling my brain. It felt like my bones were melting, like the skin between my thighs was rubbed raw. The pookas had not let up at all.
“How much farther?” I whispered into his ear.
He didn’t answer. It wasn’t a yes-or-no question.
“Will we be there soon?” I tried instead.
A nod.
Relief rattled through me. Slumping against him, I tried to come up with a plan that would save us from certain death, but I was too tired to think straight.
“When we get to the other side,” I said, “we need to make sure the light fae don’t spot us.”
No nod from Midnight. That was a pretty obvious statement, I had to admit.
“What should we do?” I asked out loud, more to myself than to Midnight. If there were guards on the other side, I’d have to get away before they could sound the alarm. I could fight them, but...I needed gemstones. But if Ididn’tfight them, they would send word to the castle. Oberon would know I was coming.
There wasn’t much I could do about that.
“All right,” I whispered. “When we cross the bridge, just knock over any guards you see and then keep running to the right, toward the forest. I need enough time to climb down into the chasm. Can you do that?”
Midnight nodded.
I closed my eyes. Good. It wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was the only one we had. And I didn’t have any other options. If only there was another way to get inside that little pocket of land separated from the rest of the world. If only I could transform into a raven and fly, taking Midnight along with me.
Up ahead, a hazy sun seemed to pierce the mists. I sucked in a breath and sat up, heart thumping in time with Midnight’s gallop. We must be nearing the bridge. It was so light, even on this side of the chasm. How had I not realized that when I’d first stumbled across? It had been so dark, the shadows so cloying.
I could see everything now. The warped, rotting planks of wood where the bridge began. At the far end, two hazy figures stood watch. Their massive steel blades gleamed, reflecting the light from the eversun.
“Two of them, Midnight,” I said as a new rush of fear chased away my exhaustion. My skin seemed to jump off my bones, anticipation throttling through me. “You can take two. Right?”
Midnight charged across the bridge with a neigh so powerful it could rattle the world. The soldiers jerked, whipping their swords from their shoulders and stumbling back. I held on tight as we galloped past them. Shocked shouts exploded from their throats, and then they sprang into action.
Suddenly, Midnight bucked. My hands slipped on his sweat-soaked mane, failing me. I tumbled off, soaring through the air. When I hit the ground, sand sprayed into my face.
I swiped the sand aside and rolled over onto my back, trying to recover from the new waves of pain wracking my body. What had happened? Why had Midnight thrown me?
That was when I spotted him in the distance, the fae soldiers circling him. And something strange was happening. The horse shuddered as he transformed. His skin rippled, the sleek coat melting away to reveal rough bark. His snout elongated; his teeth grew sharp. The entire creature grew, punching up from the ground so that it towered over the terrified guards.
The beast hauled back his clawed hand and swiped the fae aside, blood spraying the grass.
I swallowed down a ball of nausea. I recognized this creature. It was a joint eater. Tall, with skin the color and texture of a tree, the joint eater’s fangs were powerful enough to rip through armor. Spine curved, it lurked there, with blood staining his elongated claws, skinny and sharp like the whittled wooden dagger by my side. As he rose up to his full, terrifying height, his bones creaked like ancient trees swaying in the wind. And then his skin began to burn.
The Mist King’s words echoed in my ears. Pookas were allergic to moonlight. I bet they were allergic to sunlight, too. Maybe all the monsters of the mists were, which meant…Oberon’s protective circle had never prevented them from crossing the bridge, not like it did to fae. They just did not want to burn to death from the eversun.
I swallowed hard. “Midnight?”
“Run,” he hissed in a voice that was a slip of parchment rattling in the wind. “Get your gemstones. I’ll hold off anyone who tries to come for you. I can keep watch from the mists.”
I slowly stood, awe lifting my chest. “Thank you.”
Whirling on my feet, I did not stop to think about what I’d just witnessed. The truth about what Midnight was, hidden beneath the gentle exterior he’d shown until now. I sprinted along the edge of the chasm, my feet still aching with every step. Just ahead, the old familiar forest rose up, tall limbs scratching a clear blue sky. Beyond it sat my village. My heart ached to go there, to see familiar faces, to walk back into my faded blue home and sit in my favorite chair. Pick up a book. Read.