**ASH**
As the five of us wander away from the Northern Gate, my eyes scan the trees around us. We are still an hour’s ride away from the Great Fae River, and until we have reached it, we are somewhat vulnerable.
At the present moment, we are deep within the Woodland Realm, and the creatures here will have felt our entry.
I am at the lead, with Daphne and Petra behind me, then Klyesque and Dionie behind them. As I am the strongest, and in no real danger, I should be at the crown of our simple cavalry. Klyesque is a seasoned warrior, not much will be getting though her, and although Dionie is not quite as capable as she, he too can handle most of what may come for us.
“Dracuum roam these woods, do they not?” Petra asks from the safety of the middle of the pack.
I nod, remembering that Petra has been to Faery only a few times since her birth. She is River Fae, native to The Land of Fury and made a changeling from birth to suit my purpose. Living among the mortals of Hadimere Palace, to take the place as a tribute’s maid when it came time. She is young and capable, but as new to magic as they come.
I smile when I think of how happy her mother will be when we arrive home in Fury Rekyr, and of how her magic will flourish once she is back in her origins.
However, it is fitting that for now, she and Daphne ride together at the center of our small pack.
I grit my teeth thinking of my treatment of Daphne back at the cottage. I couldn’t control my temper. Something that is very uncharacteristic of me. I lost it, and I nearly harmed her by my very own hand.
*I grabbed her! Too roughly!*
And at the time I truly didn’t care. I was angry, so angry. Everything that Hayden said about her bounced around in my head until I was determined to get a confession out of her. Telling myself that if it was true, if she’d been with him, I would hate her enough to sacrifice her as I had originally planned to do. But the moment she fell into my arms, weak from heartache, all I wanted was to forgive her.
Although, I am still angry, I must find a way to ascertain the truth without wounding her again. The sight of it nearly felled me. I ached within and was in danger of doing something too damaging to take back.
*If she has in fact been impregnated by that spoiled little idiot, I don’t know what I will do with her.*
*I cannot forgo all that I have worked toward simply because I fancy her!*
*That cannot be allowed!*
Even now, as I look at her, I am worried. The fear that gnaws at my insides is not one born from doubt, but one at home with forgiving her.
She is making me weak, and I hate it.
*You do not even know if she’s done anything!*
*Bloody stop it!*
*Goddess, how might I squelch this fire that burns for her?*
“Ash,” Daphne whispers, riding up next to me. “I meant to speak to you about my sisters.”
*Damn.*
I had all but forgotten about them.
“Your sisters,” I prompt softly.
“I was wondering - well - I mean I-I was hoping that-um - I mean *if* - maybe-”
“Quiet!” I snap, instantly alert.
I allow myself a moment’s reprieve as I survey our surroundings, my hand rising upward to halt the steps of our travels. The woods around us have gone eerily silent. Not a whisper of leaves, nor crackle of a branches sounds. The bubbling brook is all that is to be heard and even *that* seems muted.
“Do you hear it?” I hiss as Klyesque trots up from the back, taking a defensive stance on Daphne’s right side.
“Yes,” she whispers. “The birds. They are-”
“-silent,” I finish for her.
Glancing at Daphne, I can see the fear in her eyes and for a moment all else is forgotten. “Listen to me,” I say in a harsh whisper, sliding off my horse and catching her eye. I signal Petra to come down from her steed and take my place upon Delago, ignoring the question in her eyes. “When I tell you both to go, you are to race ahead of us.”
“Wh-what? N-no!” Daphne protests. “I don’t want you to leave me again I-”
“Listen to me,” I snap again, nodding as she falls deathly silent. “You will command Trielle to take you to Castle Fury as Shadow. The moment she begins moving you must hold on for dear life. Both of you.”
“Why?” Daphne whispers.
“Because when a Shadow Steed moves as Shadow, she becomes-”
My words freeze as the ground shakes on my left side. The tremor is quick and heavy enough for a few of the leaves to fall from the trees only a few yards away.
“Ash, they must go,” Klyesque says as she draws her sword, spinning her horse in a circle to gauge the threat on all sides.
“Petra,” I say, catching her eye.
She nods in understanding. Then turning to Daphne, she wraps Trielle’s mane around Daphne’s hands. “Prepare yourself,” she whispers, doing the same for herself with Delago.
I snap my eyes closed as another tremble in the ground echoes through the trees on the right. Gathering my magic, I prepare for the inevitable.
Boom...another tremor...boom...then another.
“No!” Daphne hisses. “I’ll not leave you!”
I choose to ignore her and lean toward Delago quickly to whisper a command into his ear. If Daphne will not leave wllingly, I will force her.
Just as the trees on each side of our company rip into splinters and scattered leaves, I shout, “Go!”
Delago takes off in a blur of shadow and smoke and I smile knowing that the pair of them, Trielle and Delago, cannot be separated. Trielle rears up, sparking in a blaze of red to protect her rider, encasing Daphne a shiver of gold flame. Trielle will protect Daphne with her life, this I know. It is a all that comforts me when I hear the sizzle of Trielle’s hooves as she escapes into the distance as a whisp of furious fire.
Glancing away from them, I turn my attention to the pair of Dracuum that are but yards away from us.
“Now,” I say in a voice dark with power, “They may come for us.”